The Zapata Times 8/18/2012

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Med school starts in ‘14

Auditor examines now-closed sheriff’s checking account

By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

A Zapata County checking account whose legality has been questioned will be audited by an independent firm, commissioners unanimously decided at a meeting Monday.

Commissioner Jose E. Vela has said a sheriff ’s office check-

ing account, which has since been closed, was never authorized by the court and had been excluded from the county audit since 2009, when it was opened.

Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, however, has contested that commissioners approved the account and that he sent monthly bank statements to County Treasurer Romeo Salinas and County Audi-

tor Triunfo Gonzalez.

The court awaits a report from firm Flores Auditing PLLC, based in Laredo, which Commissioner Eddie Martinez said would likely be available by next Commissioners Court meeting on Aug. 27.

Martinez said the questions surround whether or not the account was included in the county

audit. “(The county auditor) seems to be of the opinion that it hasn’t been excluded from the overall audit,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s been included. We want to make sure that it is.”

He added further that commissioners had been requesting the

Ideas included “a one-stop-shop so that people don’t — companies and businessmen don’t have to repeatedly fill out the same form over and over again,” he said.

The discussions took place a month and a half after the Mexican presidential elections, which shifted power back to the Institutional Revolutionary Party after 12 years out of office. Arnulfo Valdivia, a representative of President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, said the border region could pio-

See COUNCIL PAGE 12A

See MEDICINE PAGE 12A

TRADE, SECURITY BALANCE

Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne, right, answers questions asked by the media as he leaves La Posada Hotel in Laredo on Thursday afternoon during the Council of the Americas conference.

Former ambassador: Allow business more leeway THE ZAPATA TIMES

LAREDO — Former Ambassador John Negroponte told reporters Thursday that for the decade after Sept. 11, security has been the main focus of border policy.

“That was probably most appropriate and quite natural under the circumstances,” he said.

“We also need now to right the balance and focus also more on the issue of competitiveness, of facilitating commerce.”

Negroponte met Thursday

with representatives from more than 30 public and private organizations from the U.S. and Mexico as part of the Council of the Americas. The group met in a roundtable discussion at La Posada Hotel for talks on how to facilitate U.S.-Mexico trade.

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 1989 to 1993, Negroponte was based in Mexico during negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He said that in the two decades since, bilateral trade has quadrupled.

Trade between U.S. and Mexi-

co totaled $500 billion last year, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Entities represented at the roundtable included the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, Chevron, DHL, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Wal-Mart de Mexico and Texas A&M International University.

TAMIU business professor Tagi Sagafi-nejad said much of the discussion focused on streamlining the inspection process for goods.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EDINBURG — The first class of medical students in deep South Texas will graduate in 2018, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa announced Friday.

Cigarroa set an ambitious timeline for what until just recently seemed a long-fought for, but ultimately unfulfilled, goal in Texas’ border region.

The first class of medical students in a dedicated South Texas track will be admitted in 2014. They will train their first two years at the existing UT Health Science Center in San Antonio before moving to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for their final two years.

The students will graduate under the accredited San Antonio school.

But by 2018, Cigarroa hopes the South Texas medical school will attain its own accreditation, which would make it a free-standing medical school where, in theory, students could spend all four years.

“It is truly going to be a medical school that serves a region and not a city,” said Cigarroa, himself a doctor and Laredo native.

The new school will be built around existing UT System health facilities in Cameron and Hidalgo counties, including the Regional Academic Health Center Medical Research Division building at the University of Texas-Pan American campus in Edinburg where Cigarroa spoke Friday, as well as buildings in Harlingen and Brownsville.

In 2011, UT System regents voted to invest $30 million in science and health education in South Texas and in May, they endorsed developing new medical schools in Austin and South Texas.

The first South Texas class is expected to have 15 students. But by 2018, Cigarroa said they expect to admit about 50 students each year.

Already, there are about 100 medical students in various facilities around the Rio Grande Valley, having chosen the border to spend their final two years of medical school.

University officials and local politicians who pushed the issue for years believe it will result in more doctors setting up their practices

See ACCOUNT PAGE 12A

COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS

By ANDREW KREIGHBAUM

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION

Unemployment numbers increase in Valley cities ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The unemployment rate increased in the Rio Grande Valley and across the state in July despite continued job growth, according to state jobless data released Friday.

According to Texas Workforce Commission figures for Valley metropolitian areas, unemployment rose in the BrownsvilleHarlingen area to 11.6 percent

from June’s 11.5 percent as in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area, where unemployment increased to 12.3 percent from the previous month’s 12 percent.

In other cities along the Rio Grande, Laredo’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.8, which is onetenth of a percent from June’s 7.9 percent rate. El Paso’s unemployment rate also dropped, from June’s 10.2 percent to July’s 10.1 percent.

In other South Texas cities, Corpus Christi (7 percent) and Victoria (6.4 percent) remained unchanged.

Commission figures show the state added 17,800 non-farm jobs in July. But that wasn’t enough to keep up with rising population, causing the jobless rate to tick up from 7 percent in June.

Statewide, unemployment rose for the second consecutive month to 7.2 percent in July.

The reversal comes after Texas saw eight consecutive months of falling unemployment through April. Nationally, the unemployment rate is at 8.3 percent and also climbed last month.

Despite back-to-back months of rising unemployment in Texas, state workforce officials touted July, marking two straight years of monthly job gains.

“Our state holds the best promise of finding a job and

achieving success,” said Ronny Congleton, the agency’s commissioner representing labor.

Education and health services accounted for seven out of every 10 new jobs in Texas last month.

The leisure and hospitality sector took the biggest hit, shedding 6,500 jobs.

Unemployment rates are adjusted for seasonal trends in hir-

See EMPLOYMENT PAGE 12A

PAGE 2A

Zin brief CALENDAR

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

AROUND TEXAS

TODAY IN HISTORY

SATURDAY, AUG. 18

ASSOCIATED PRESS

El Centro de Laredo Farmers Market celebrates National Farmers Market Week today from 9 a.m. to noon at Jarvis Plaza in downtown Laredo. El Metro parking garage will offer free parking during market hours.

MONDAY, AUG. 20 TAMIU’s Office of Student Affairs will host an International Student Orientation from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Student Center Rotunda. All tuition and fees will be due Aug. 21 to avoid late fees. Call 956-326-2280.

TUESDAY, AUG. 21 TAMIU’s Office of Student Affairs hosts an International Student Orientation from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Rotunda. All tuition and fees will be due today to avoid late fees. Time and location is to be determined. Call 956-326-2280.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22 The U. S. Small Business Administration in collaboration with the TAMIU Small Business Development Center will host a free financial seminar for new and existing small businesses, starting at 1:30 p.m. at the TAMIU Student Center, Room 225. Call 956-3262827 or sbdc@tamiu.edu Register online at http://sbdc.tamiu.edu.

THURSDAY, AUG. 23 The Laredo Chamber of Commerce 2012 Distinguished Business Awards are today from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Laredo Country Club, 1415 Country Club Drive. For sponsorship or ticket information, call 956-722-9895.

The Anatomy of a Business Plan Workshop is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Fee for the workshop is $20, and each participant receives Linda Pinzon’s “Anatomy of a Business Plan: a Stepby-Step Guide to Building a Business and Securing your Company’s Future.”

Call 956-326-2827 or sbdc@tamiu.edu.

Register at http://sbdc.tamiu.edu.

The Laredo Development Foundation, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce and TAMIU’s Small Business Development Center will host the Governor’s Small Business Forum, from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the TAMIU Student Center Ballroom. Call 956-3262827 or sbdc@tamiu.edu. Register online at http://sbdc.tamiu.edu.

The Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity will be welcomed at an event today from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m at St. Peter’s Plaza, Matamoros Street and Davis Avenue. There will be art, music, local stories, a press conference and a prayer service. For more information, email peacecaravanlaredos@gmail.com.

FRIDAY, AUG. 24 The Bethany House Gala is from 6-11 p.m. at the Laredo Civic Center, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. Call Elia M. York at 956-724-7141 or elia@killamcompanies.com.

SATURDAY, AUG. 25 The Fifth Annual Football Tailgating Cook-off is today from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. at El Metro Park & Ride, on the corner of Hillside Road and Daugherty Avenue. Admission will be $1 for adults.

MONDAY, AUG. 27

Photo by Eric Gay/file | AP

A man leaves the pharmacy at Nuestra Clinica Del Valle in San Juan, on July 12. Police in Dallas are investigating allegations children are being offered cash and gifts to come in for dental work by a dentist in Dallas whose clinic receives Medicaid funds. Federal law prohibits the solicitation of Medicaid patients.

Cops eye fraud claims ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — Police in Dallas are investigating allegations that children are being offered cash and gifts to come in for dental work funded by Medicaid.

The allegations include claims from children and parents that they were “recruited” by dental practices. One teen said she was paid $10 to be driven to a clinic, All About Dentistry, where she had seven fillings.

Afterward, the receptionist asked Keke Gray about her parents. “(The receptionist) said, ‘You don’t have those kind of parents who would come up here and complain or anything like that, right?”’ said Gray, 17.

Federal law prohibits the solicitation of Medicaid patients. Stephanie Goodman, spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Hu-

man Services Commission, said federal regulations are intended to allow Medicaid providers and other doctors to compete on equal footing.

Dallas Police spokesman Lt. Scott Walton said police were looking into the reports.

“The circumstances of these incidents are being investigated to determine what criminal offense occurred,” he said. The owner of All About Dentistry, Dr. Hamid Farahani, said he uses unmarked vans to bring children from southeast Dallas neighborhoods to his clinics. Others have said they were aware of cash, gift cards and meals being offered for new patients.

One woman was taped being stopped by a van from Access Dental with her kids by her side.

“Today he offered me a free pizza dinner,” Juanita Bonner said.

Law enforcement center named for slain trooper

Man gets 7 years for grenades, drugs

Woman wounded in shooting improving

BIG SPRING — A law enforcement center has been named for a state trooper who was slain in 1994.

Dedication ceremonies were held Thursday in Big Spring at the Troy M. Hogue Law Enforcement Center. The complex is the new home for the Big Spring Police Department and the Howard County Sheriff ’s Office.

A DPS patrol boat named for Hogue was also displayed.

DALLAS — A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a drugs and grenades investigation.

A federal judge in Dallas on Thursday afternoon sentenced 32-year-old Shane Wilson of Midlothian.

Wilson in May pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.

COLLEGE STATION — A Houston woman seriously wounded this week when a man began shooting at a Brazos County constable trying to serve court papers is improving.

Friends of 51-year-old Barbara Holdsworth posted Friday on a website devoted to her recovery that she remains in intensive care but is awake at times, off life support and able to interact with family and hospital staff.

Officials say nearly 1M fish die in red tide GALVESTON — Wildlife officials estimate nearly a million fish have been killed by the algae bloom known as red tide.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offered the estimate after a flyover Thursday in the Galveston area.

Tens of thousands of dead fish began washing up on beaches last weekend.

Storms leave thousands without power TYLER — Storms have knocked out power to several thousand homes and business.

Oncor on Friday reported more than 5,200 customers without electricity, mainly in the Tyler area. Utility crews worked to restore services.

Jury convicts teacher in student-sex case FORT WORTH — A jury has convicted a high school teacher accused of having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home.

The jury took less than an hour to find Brittni Nicole Colleps guilty Friday. She was charged with five counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher.

Compiled from AP reports

First day of school for Zapata County Independent School District.

AROUND THE NATION

FRIDAY, SEPT. 21 The Sun Country Fishing Tournament begins and runs through Friday, Sept. 28, at Falcon Lake.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 22 The Bud Light 2012 San Antonio Division tournament takes place at Falcon Lake.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18 The Anglers Quests tournaments begin, to run through Sunday, Oct. 21.

SATURDAY, OCT. 27 The Bass Champs South Region Championship takes place today and Sunday, Oct. 28.

SATURDAY, NOV. 17 The Bud Light Tournament Fall 2012 San Antonio Division tournament returns to Falcon Lake.

— 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.

January trial for ex-Penn State officials HARRISBURG, Pa. — The trial is scheduled to begin early next year for two former Penn State officials accused of lying to a grand jury and burying an allegation of a child’s sexual abuse in the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

A judge on Friday ordered jury selection in the trial for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz to begin Jan. 7.

However, Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover was still considering motions by the men’s lawyers to throw out the charges.

Curley is on leave from the athletic director’s post and Schultz is retired from a senior vice president’s post.

Court dismisses suit over Custer museum raids BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal court dismissed a lawsuit from a Custer-themed Montana museum

Today is Saturday, Aug. 18, the 231st day of 2012. There are 135 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right of all American women to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

On this date: In 1587, Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina.

(However, the Roanoke colony ended up mysteriously disappearing.)

In 1838, the first marine expedition sponsored by the U.S. government set sail from Hampton Roads, Va.; the crews traveled the southern Pacific Ocean, gathering scientific information.

In 1846, U.S. forces led by General Stephen W. Kearny captured Santa Fe, N.M. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge connecting the United States and Canada.

In 1958, the novel “Lolita”

by Vladimir Nabokov was first published in New York by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

In 1963, James Meredith became the first black student to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Bethel, N.Y., wound to a close after three nights with a mid-morning set by Jimi Hendrix.

In 1976, two U.S. Army officers were killed in Korea’s demilitarized zone as a group of North Korean soldiers wielding axes and metal pikes attacked soldiers.

In 1983, Hurricane Alicia slammed into the Texas coast, leaving 21 dead and causing more than a billion dollars’ worth of damage.

Ten years ago: In a tearful farewell Mass in his beloved Krakow, Pope John Paul II told more than 2 million Poles that he would like to return one day — but that “this is entirely in God’s hands Five years ago: Tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean’s path as the storm began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti. NASA, meanwhile, ordered space shuttle Endeavour back to Earth a day early out of fear Dean might disrupt flight operations.

One year ago: President Barack Obama and European leaders demanded that Syrian President Bashar Assad resign, saying his brutal suppression of his people made him unfit to lead. Vice President Joe Biden met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Today’s Birthdays: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is 85. Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski is 79.

Attorney and author Vincent Bugliosi is 78. Olympic gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson is 77. Actor-director Robert Redford is 76. Actor Christopher Jones is 71. Actor Henry G. Sanders is 70.

Rhythm-and-blues singer Sarah Dash (LaBelle) is 69. Actor-comedian Martin Mull is 69. Rock musician Dennis Elliott is 62. Comedian Elayne Boosler is 60.

Thought for Today: “In the end it is worse to suppress dissent than to run the risk of heresy.” — Judge Learned Hand (1872-1961).

CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501 Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226 General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510 Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531 Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559 MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505 Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565 Managing Editor, Mary Nell Sanchez........... 728-2543 Sports Editor, Adam Geigerman..................728-2578 Spanish Editor ........................................ 728-2569 Photo by Krystin McClellan/The Jonesboro Sun | AP

Teresa Carter, mother of Chavis Carter, 21, of Southaven, Miss., died following a traffic stop this week. The officers who made the traffic stop said Carter committed suicide while handcuffed in the back of the police car. director seeking $188 million in damages from the U.S. government for a five-year investigation into alleged artifact fraud.

No charges were ever filed against Custer Battlefield Museum director Christopher Kortlander.

He said the investigation destroyed his business and scuttled plans to sell Garryowen, a small town he owns within the Crow Indian Reservation near Lt. Col. George Custer’s infamous “last stand” at Little Bighorn.

Compiled from AP reports

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

THE BLOTTER ASSAULT An assault incident was reported at 3:45 a.m. Aug. 11 in the 1000 block of Miraflores Avenue.

ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN Garza Farm and Ranch Supply owners reported an attempted break-in 8:32 a.m. Tuesday.

BURGLARY A person reported at 1:15 a.m. Sunday that their vehicle had been burglarized in the intersection of 20th Street and 21st Brazos Street.

Deputies responded to three burglary of a vehicle calls between 1 and 3 p.m. Tuesday off the 4000 block of Hwy 83.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF Criminal mischief was reported in the 400 block of Miraflores Avenue 3:31 a.m. Sunday. A juvenile was involved.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT Deputies responded to a disorderly conduct call at 11:43 p.m. at a 7 Days Express convenience store Tuesday.

THEFT Theft was reported in the 5200 block of Davis Lane at 4:16 p.m. Tuesday. Items stolen were valued between $50 and $500.

Local

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

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Zopinion

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

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

OTHER VIEWS

Names not the same elsewhere A “

USTIN — Something’s been bugging me for a long time. Actually, lots of things have been bugging me for a long time but I see no immediate need to trouble you nice people with all of them. But indulge me on this one, please.

Why don’t we call other countries what they call themselves? That would seem the neighborly thing to do, but we don’t do it. This probably is why there are so many wars.

I’m reminded of this weirdness during the Olympics. Last week in London, Lithuania’s basketball jerseys said Lietuva on them. Its fans chanted ”Li-tu-va, Li-tuva,” not ”Lith-u-a-ni-a.

Lith-u-a-ni-a.”

So, it seems, that nation calls itself Lietuva.

What then is Lithuania?

Is it a name we made up for somebody else’s country? Why do we do that?

Don’t you think you should be called what you call yourself ? ”Hi, I’m your new neighbor, Bill Jones, nice to meet you.” ”Likewise, but I’m going to call you Strom Thurmond.”

I called Inga Lukaviciute in the Lithuanian Embassy and asked this: What is the name of your country? ”In English, it’s Lithuania,” she said, ”but in Lithuanian, it would be Lietuva.”

I think we should say what the Lietuvans say.

William Altman, honorary consul for Lietuva/Lithuania in Houston, told me ”Lietuva is Lithuanian for ’land of the rain’ as the country is very green and lush and gets significant rainfall each year.” So why don’t we call it Rainland?

There’s Iceland, Greenland, Switzerland, Swaziland and England, but I don’t think anybody is using Rainland.

Lietuva is not the only country we don’t call what it calls itself. What we call Sweden calls itself Sverige on its hockey uniforms. Finland’s uniforms say Suomi.

Norway’s say Norge,

KEN HERMAN

meaning that’s what that country calls itself or it’s hockey team is sponsored by an appliance company.

We’re not the only ones who do this. The French refer to England as Angleterre. There is some justification: ”Terre” is French for ”land” and ”angle” is French for ”eng.”

Some other countries call us something other than what we call ourselves. But that’s because our nation’s name is made up of regular nouns — ”united” and ”states” — occurring in most languages. So in French we’re les EtatsUnis. In Spanish, we’re los Estados Unidos. I’m OK with that — OKer than I am with us referring to Lietuva as Lithuania.

Let’s close this year’s Summer Olympics experience with reader Nancy Wedemeyer’s keen insight into the next one, scheduled for August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, which means the next Summer Games will be held when its winter in Brazil. (Ms. Wedemeyer evidences an enviable eye for the extraordinary.)

Two previous Summer Olympics were held south of the Equator, where the seasons are the reverse of ours: Sydney in 2000 and Melbourne in 1956. But both were held in spring, not winter, in Australia.

We are four years from the first Summer Olympics held in winter, which means hurdlers in snowshoes. Actually, the weather should be fine in Rio (it’s been in the low 80s this August), but this still is wrong. When the Summer Olympics are held in winter, then global warming has won.

(Ken Herman is a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. Email: kherman@statesman.com.)

Good ones getting away THE WASHINGTON POST

A comprehensive study three years ago by the New Teacher Project showed how U.S. schools fail to recognize teacher quality, instead treating all teachers the same.

Now comes an even more devastating finding from the group: Even when schools know the difference between good and bad teachers, they make no special effort to retain the good ones.

Just as the previous report spurred improvements in teacher evaluation systems, this study should prompt changes in how teachers are treated.

The aptly named report, "The Irreplaceables," concludes that the real teacher retention crisis in urban schools is not about the number of teachers who are leaving but the loss of really good

ones. The two-year study identified the top 20 percent of teachers whose students consistently make the most progress on state exams. Not only do these teachers on average help students learn two to three additional months’ worth of math and reading compared to the average teacher (and five to six months more compared to low-performers), but they also get high marks from students.

Yet the researchers found little effort by districts to hold on to these top performers.

The study identifies some simple, low-cost strategies that could help boost teacher retention, such as giving positive feedback. Other reforms will be harder to accomplish. Paramount is doing away with lockstep compensation systems.

COLUMN

Obama is part of stalemate

By JONATHAN GURWITZ SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

On the campaign trail in Virginia last week, Vice President Joe Biden warned a mixed race crowd that if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win in November, ”They’re going to put y’all back in chains.”

Speaking in Iowa, President Barack Obama tossed out a one-liner referencing a three-decade old story about Romney taking a family vacation with his dog in a carrier on the roof of a station wagon.

So much for hope and change.

Here it’s worth quoting Obama four years ago, as he accepted his party’s presidential nomination: ”If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things.” Run from the slave trader. Vote for the guy without the dog on the roof.

There are some wonderful ironies in the Obama-Biden strategy of jokes and chains. Back in 2006, Biden

cozied up to an audience in South Carolina with the story that his home state of Delaware was ”a slave state that fought beside the North. That’s only because we couldn’t figure out how to get to the South.” Back then, slavery was funny stuff. Y’all.

In his semi-factual memoir, ”Dreams from My Father,” Obama discusses eating dog meat with his stepfather in Indonesia. ”Tough,” the author notes parenthetically. Again, funny stuff.

So is this what Americans have to look forward to through Nov. 6 — racebaiting and dog jokes?

Whatever chance there is that the presidential election will actually be decided on substantive issues, it was enhanced by Romney’s selection of Ryan as his running mate.

Ryan has actually authored a budget that puts the country back on a path toward fiscal responsibility.

The House of Representatives has passed the Ryan plan — twice in the last two years.

Last year, the Democrat-

controlled Senate voted down the Obama budget, 97-0. This year, the budget presented by the president was so unserious that Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to even bring it up for consideration. The last time the Senate actually passed a budget was in 2009.

That’s par for the course.

From spending to taxes to entitlement reform, Ryan and Republicans have put forward proposals commensurate with the threat to economic prosperity and national security posed by trillion-dollar deficits, a $16 trillion debt, and a Medicare trust fund that — according to its trustees — will be insolvent by 2024.

Democrats and the White House have done nothing.

Actually, worse than nothing. Obama appointed a bipartisan debt commission in 2010 to create the ultimate grand bargain — a package of necessary budget, tax and entitlement reforms for which commission members said, in their final report, they ”were willing to put our differences aside to forge a plan be-

cause our nation will certainly be lost without one.”

The warning was lost on the president. He shelved the recommendations of his own debt commission. Now in 2012, with no record to run on and no serious proposals of their own, Obama and the Democrats are left to tell jokes and scary stories.

Speaking in Ohio last month, Obama said that there’s no lack of ideas or solutions for the nation’s problems. ”What’s holding us back,” he said, ”is we’ve got a stalemate in Washington between two visions of where the country needs to go. And this election is about breaking that stalemate.”

That’s a far cry from Obama’s soaring rhetoric in 2008 about ushering in a new era of politics. And the president was pulling another political prank if he was including himself among the problem solvers.

But about the need to break the stalemate, he was — unusually for this campaign season — factually correct. (jgurwitzexpressnews.net)

US needs to do more for Syria MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

U.S. should do more to shape Syria’s future It was called the Arab Spring when it began — a wave of popular movements rising up against longtime strongmen, first in Tunisia, then in other nations including Egypt

and Libya. But it is in Syria where the connotation of "spring" as a hopeful beginning has lost all meaning in the deepening violence of civil war.

Even Tunisia, thought to be the most likely soil for a moderate Arab democracy, is now threatened by frequent protests

by ultraconservative Muslims who seek to turn the country into a strict Islamic state.

But the situation in Syria is most worrisome.

There, more of the anti-regime forces are made up by better-organized Islamic militants raising the banner of jihad. The risk

is that as the civil war drags on, it will radicalize more of the population and that will give the Islamists a larger say in any post-Assad government.

While few would advocate American “boots on the ground,” it is time for Washington to take a more assertive role.

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 name-call-

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

ing 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.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

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6A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

Archery contest announced Market offers SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Academy Sports plus Outdoors and The Zapata Chamber of Commerce announce the First South Texas Archery Shootout, scheduled for Sept. 2223 in Zapata.

The event, which will require pre-registration, will take place about three miles off of U.S. Hwy. 83 on Mesa Salinas Road.

Shooters will see four, of a possible 10, 3-D pop-up targets and one running target in a random, computer-generated sequence. Each contestant will shoot five arrows per round with two rounds per cycle.

Four divisions: Youth (18 and under), Traditional (long bow and re-curve), Intermediate and Expert will compete for awards and prizes.

The targets will be at distances from 15 to 50 yards depending

on the division. Youth and Traditional divisions will not have shots farther than 40 yards.

Each division will shoot two back-to-back rounds in four cycles for a total of 40 scored shots making the final shootout score.

No cross bows will be permitted. The event will begin at 8 a.m. on Sept. 22 with Youth, Traditional, Intermediate and then Expert divisions competing. Once all shooters have completed a cycle, the sequence will be repeated until all divisions have shot three, two round cycles.

The fourth cycle will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 23. Once the scores are totaled, awards and prizes will be presented to the top three scores in each division. The prize package will include: an event trophy, event cap designating the recipient as a “Champion Archer,” and a $100,

$50 or $25 gift card from Academy Sports plus Outdoors.

Registration is $100 and will include an event t-shirt. Similar shirts will be available for noncontestants.

Academy Sports plus Outdoors will conduct two in-store registration sessions, the first on Sept. 1, at the McAllen store, 3901 Expressway 83 (at Ware Road) (956) 217-7600 between noon and 4 p.m., and the second at the Laredo store on 5720 San Bernardo (I-35 at Mann Rd) (956) 523-8300 on Sept. 8, between noon and 4 p.m.

Event promoter Perdido Land & Cattle, LLC, will provide equipment and technical expertise.

Those interested can also obtain a registration form from Perdido Land & Cattle by contacting Gil Gámez at (512) 4264255 or gilgamez@sbcglobal.net.

food, items and live music SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

LAREDO — Come celebrate National Farmer’s Market Week, Aug. 5-11, by visiting the Farmer’s Market today and buying from area farmers and vendors.

El Centro de Laredo Farmer’s Market is held every third Saturday of the month. The August market will be today from 9 a.m. to noon. The nearby El Metro parking garage offers free parking during market hours for market shoppers.

Jewels & the Sky will provide musical entertainment, and there will be a Capoeira demonstration. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music.

Unsold items will be donated to the food bank or to Volunteers Serving the Need.

SÁBADO 18 DE AGOSTO DE 2012

Agenda en Breve LAREDO 08.18— Mercado Agrícola “El Centro de Laredo” de 9 a.m. a 12 p.m. en Plaza Jarvis. Estacionamiento gratuito en El Metro Transit Center.

08.18— El Consulado General de México en Laredo invita a la Jornada Sabatina 2012 de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m.

08.18— Festival del Libro se presenta en Biblioteca Pública de Laredo, 1120 E. Calton Road, y presenta a más de 20 autores e ilustradores locales y de Texas, con talleres, lecturas y mucho más, de 9:30 a.m. a 4 p.m. El evento es gratuito y abierto al público en general.

08.18— El Laredo Noon Optimist Club presenta el Torneo de Baloncesto en Interiores “3-on-3” en el Centro de Salud y Bienestar “Haynes”, 2102 Clark. Más información llamado a Juan Loera Jr. al (956) 764-6178 y 235-4595.

08.21— Hoy es la fecha límite para inscribirse y participar en el “Foro de Pequeñas Empresas del Gobernador” que se realizará el 23 de agosto en TAMIU. Inscríbase visitando sbdc.tamiu.edu. Evento gratuito. Informes en el (956) 326-2827.

08.22— La Administración de Pequeñas Empresas de EU y el Centro de Desarrollo de Pequeñas Empresas de TAMIU invitan a un Seminario Financiero Gratuito a la 1:30 p.m. en el aula 225 del Centro Estudiantil de TAMIU. Informes en (956) 326-2827.

08.23— Hoy es el primer día de clases en TAMIU. Inscripciones tardías continuarán hasta el 29 de agosto, pero todas las tutorías tardías y cuotas deberán ser pagadas completamente para el 19 de septiembre. Más información en (956) 326.2250.

08.23— Foro de Pequeñas Empresas del Gobernador se presenta de 7:30 a.m. a 1:30 p.m. en el Student Center Ballroom de Texas A&M International University. El foro permitirá a dueños de pequeñas empresas obtener oportunidades para socializar y conocer recursos diversos recursos disponibles en el Condado de Webb. Evento gratuito.

08.23— Atención a la Lactancia Materna se llevará a cabo en el Lobby del Centro Femenil del Doctors Hospital, 10700 McPherson Road, de 2 p.m. a 5 p.m. A las 2 p.m. habrá una exhibición con documentos educativos y premios; a las 4 p.m. habrá un panel de discusión y una presentación. Más información en 1-877-992-1711.

08.23— “Series Clásicas de Otoño” en Cinemark presenta “Jaws” a las 2 p.m. y 7 p.m. en Cinemark Mall Del Norte.

08.24— Taller para Entender el Crédito y Presupuesto se ofrecerá de 9 a.m. a 11:30 a.m. en el aula 126 del Western Hemispheric Trade Center en TAMIU, a cargo de la asesora certificada en negocios, Tina Rodríguez. Más información en el (956) 326-2827.

08.24— “Noche de Sueños”, la Gala a beneficio de Bethany House por su 30 Aniversario, se celebrará de 6 p.m. a 11 p.m. en Laredo Civic Center, 2400 avenida San Bernardo. Evento semiformal. Conferencista invitado Eduardo Verástegui; artista honoraria Cristina Zorrilla Speer; entretenimiento “HotCakes”. Informes al (956) 473-9330.

NUEVO LAREDO, MX 08.18— Estación Palabra presenta “Bazar de Arte” a las 12 p.m.; Lecturas antes de abordar “Lectura de Narrativa y Poesía Libre” con la presentación musical de Alberto y Anahí a las 3 p.m..

Zfrontera

PÁGINA 7A

FRONTERA

‘Caravana por la Paz’ llegará a Laredo POR VERONICA PADILLA ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

“Caravana por la Paz con Justicia y Dignidad” estará en Laredo el miércoles 22 y el jueves 23 de agosto para reflejar lo que dicen es el recuento de seres humanos que han fallecido a causa de la guerra de las drogas.

Igualmente pretende crear un diálogo entre temas como: política de drogas, política de seguridad de EU/ayuda extranjera, tráfico de armas, lavado de dinero e inmigración.

Javier Sicilia y otras víctimas de México y Estados Unidos están realizando un viaje de 6.000 millas a través de 20 ciudades de EU, culminando en el Día Internacional de Acción por la Paz en Washington, D.C., el 10 de septiembre.

La caravana pretende crear un movimiento

binacional contra lo que insisten es una fallida guerra contra las drogas que ha dejado a más de 70.000 personas muertas en México en los pasados cinco años.

El poeta mexicano Sicilia encabeza la caravana a la que se han unido familiares de víctimas quienes cuentan su historia a la vez que conforman lazos con comunidades locales en EU que también han sido impactadas por la guerra de las drogas.

La meta de la caravana es involucrar a la comunidad para poner un fin a la guerra contra las drogas y empezar el proceso de sanación, ha expresado Sicilia.

“Nuestro propósito es honrar a nuestras víctimas, hacer que sus nombres y rostros sean visibles a ambos lados de la frontera”, dijo Sicilia. “Viajamos por los Estados Unidos para incrementar la atención a este dolor insoporta-

Foto por Howard Lipin/UT San Diego | Associated Press

El activista Javier Sicilia guarda silencio en el muro fronterizo con México durante la visita de la Caravana por la Paz en Border Field State Park, el 12 de agosto en San Diego, California. ble y las perdidas sufridas a causa de esta guerra — así como la enorme responsabilidad compartida para proteger a las familias y comunidades a ambos lados de nuestros países”.

La Caravana por la Paz se espera en Laredo durante la noche del miércoles 22 de agosto, para continuar el jueves 23 de agosto con un evento en Plaza St. Peter de 8 a.m. a 11:30 a.m., incluyendo una conferencia de prensa.

Sicilia inició el movimiento tras que su hijo, Juan Francisco, fuera asesinado el año pasado.

TAMAULIPAS

MIGRANTES

PASO EDUCATIVO

Programa ayuda a ciudades de origen POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El Gobernador de Tamaulipas, Egidio Torre Cantú, expuso el Plan de Educación para la Entidad, en el Polyforum de Ciudad Victoria, México.

Estado ha invertido casi 2 mil millones de pesos en área TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD VICTORIA, México — El Programa Estatal de Educación da un paso importante en el fortalecimiento de la educación para los tamaulipecos, aseguró el Gobernador del estado Egidio Torre Cantú durante la presentación del plan durante la semana.

Dijo que la educación “es tema central de su gobierno porque es detonador del crecimiento y palanca del cambio, es el instrumento que tenemos para formar ciudadanos más productivos, más responsables y más comprometidos”.

En lo que va de la actual administración, que inició en enero del 2011, se han asignado 1.895 millones de pesos en recursos.

Tan solo en el presente año se han invertido 108 millones de pesos en desayunos escolares del Sistema DIF Tamaulipas; 830 millones de pesos para ampliar y modernizar la infraestructura educativa; 442 millones de pesos en becas y estímulos académicos;

110 millones de pesos en mobiliario escolar que benefician a más de 436.000 alumnos de educación básica de casi 2.700 escuelas; 60 millones de pesos para dotar de útiles escolares a todos los alumnos de educación básica de todas las escuelas públicas del Estado; y, 294 millones de pesos en programas educativos.

“Queremos un Tamaulipas bien educado”, dijo Torre. “Tenemos todo para hacerlo, tenemos todo para seguir construyendo un sistema educativo de calidad”.

El Secretario de Educación de Tamaulipas, Diódoro Guerra Rodríguez, dijo que se busca la transformación del sistema educativo, el desarrollo de competencias para una vida armónica, así como garantizar la cobertura, calidad, pertinencia y equidad de la educación a toda la población.

El Programa Estatal de Educación fue diseñado “con base en el análisis de indicadores nacionales e internacionales”, para lo cual se plantearon seis retos principales: Escolaridad: Desde una

perspectiva regional, orientar los esfuerzos para que ningún municipio quede fuera del avance educativo.

Acceso, permanencia y conclusión de educación básica: Lograr que todos los niños y jóvenes tamaulipecos accedan, permanezcan y concluyan su educación básica.

Educación Media Superior: Lograr que todos los jóvenes tamaulipecos asistan a la educación media superior.

Pertinencia y calidad en educación superior: Orientar, con pleno respeto a la autonomía académica de las instituciones, la pertinencia y calidad de la educación superior.

Pertinencia en el posgrado: Reordenar y ampliar la oferta de programas y orientar la matrícula hacia las necesidades de desarrollo del Estado.

Apropiación del avance del conocimiento: Direccionar las actividades científicas y tecnológicas para contar con un mayor número de miembros del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores.

La Secretaría de Desarrollo Social en México (Sedesol) promoverá en la frontera sur de Estados Unidos el programa “3x1” con mexicanos radicados en el extranjero a fin de invertir en obras de impacto social en sus comunidades de origen.

“Nos interesa crear infraestructura en las ciudades de origen de los migrantes radicados en este país (EU)”, dijo el representante de Sedesol en la zona este de EU, José Roberto Galíndez.

El programa “3x1” funciona con aportaciones de clubes o federaciones de migrantes, gobierno federal, estatal y municipal.

“Por cada peso que aportan los migrantes, los tres niveles de gobierno ponen 3 pesos”, explicó Galíndez.

Con el dinero recaudado se ejecutan obras que benefician a los habitantes de las comunidades originarias de los migrantes, que pueden ser relacionadas a pavimentación, agua potable, educativo, salud, deportes y becas.

Galíndez dijo que los estados que más reciben inversiones son Zacatecas, Michoacán, Jalisco y Guanajuato, “aunque las 32 entidades federativas pueden acceder a estos programas”.

Actualmente hay registrados 2.200 clubes de mexicanos los cuales han gestionado a través del programa “3x1”, 16.500 proyectos en las comunidades de México.

Los clubes se componen de al menos 10 personas.

Clubes de migrantes en California ocupan el primer lugar de inversión, con el 50 por ciento de estas, en tanto que Illinois y Texas se disputan el segundo lugar.

Más información en el Consulado Mexicano de su región, donde deberán registrarse y de ahí decidir el proyecto que deseen ejecutar, enviar su solicitud a Sedesol, quien concluye el proceso con la municipalidad de origen del migrante.

SUBSIDIO

Instalarán nueva línea de distribución de agua TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

WASHINGTON — Fue anunciado un préstamo de 800.000 dólares a la ciudad de Cotulla por parte de la Administración de Desarrollo Económico (EDA por sus siglas en Inglés) del Departamento de Comercio de los EU. El objetivo será apoyar la expansión y reconstrucción de las líneas de agua de Cotulla, con lo que se espera la ciudad sea más atractiva para los negocios y que nuevos empleos lleguen a la región.

Se espera que el proyecto logre crear 130 empleos nuevos y genere 3 millones de dólares en inversión privada, de acuerdo con los

La inversión federal anunciada para Cotulla responde a la necesidad inmediata de mejorar la infraestructura pluvial. estimados del beneficiario.

“Las inversiones en infraestructura son esenciales para el fortalecimiento de la competitividad económica a largo plazo de los Estados Unidos, especialmente en regiones rurales”, dijo el Asistente Secretario de Desarrollo Económico de los EU, Matt Erskine. “La expansión y mejoras del sistema de agua de Cotulla estimulará la actividad económica y expandirá las oportunidades de empleo tanto en la ciudad de Co-

tulla como en todo el Condado de LaSalle”.

A decir del Congresista Henry Cuellar, “sin acceso confiable a agua limpia, las comunidades rurales se enfrenta a una barrera de crecimiento”.

Cuellar sostuvo que la inversión federal anunciada para Cotulla responde a la necesidad inmediata de mejorar la infraestructura pluvial, pero además “traerá beneficios a largo plazo al crear empleos, y hacer que los tejanos

regresen a trabajar”.

Esto, sostuvo, ayudará a la economía de EU. Los fondos de EDA serán usados para mejorar el sistema de agua de la ciudad de Cotulla al instalar una nueva línea de distribución en el cuadrante noroeste de la ciudad cerca de la Interestatal 35. Esto permitirá un nuevo desarrollo comercial en esta área, mientras mantiene los niveles adecuados del servicio de agua en cualquier otra parte de la ciudad.

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

Investigations place three women in jail

By STEPHANIE IBARRA LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Photo by Mona Reeder/The Dallas Morning News | AP

Customers at Stan’s Blue Note restaurant/bar in Dallas react to a plane flying above them on an aerial route of spraying pesticides Thursday night to kill mosquitos that carry the West Nile virus. Patrons watched as the plane flew over the area dropping the insecticide.

Aerial spraying to fight West Nile virus

By SARAH KUTA ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — Unfazed Dallas County residents took to recreation areas and running trails one day after airplanes dropped gallons of pesticide from the skies to fight the nation’s worst West Nile virus outbreak.

After a round of spraying was cut short by rain Thursday, four more planes were scheduled to cruise over the rest of the county Friday night.

The virus spread by mosquitoes has left 10 dead and more than 200 sick in Dallas County, which is home to 2.5 million people and the city of Dallas. Officials say it will be a record year for West Nile virus, and about half of the United States’ cases are in Texas.

Although commonplace in other major cities, the efforts have provoked a debate in the Dallas area between health officials try-

ing to quell the disease risk and people concerned about insecticidal mist drifting down from above.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said that the insecticide, Duet, poses no significant threat to humans or animals, though it is toxic to fish and other types of aquatic life.

The first round of aerial spraying covered 52,000 acres in north and east Dallas County on Thursday evening before storms grounded the planes, said state health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams. Health officials also set traps Friday to determine the spraying’s effectiveness, and another aerial mission is scheduled for Monday night to catch mosquitoes hatched over the weekend.

In east Dallas on Friday morning, dozens of people ran, walked and biked around White Rock Lake, apparently unconcerned with the pesticide sprayed

hours earlier.

Darren Willis, 37, of Garland, caught several fish at the lake, which had been doused with insecticide Duet just hours earlier. He said he stayed indoors during the spraying, but wasn’t concerned about lingering chemicals.

Other residents weren’t as confident. Some holed up inside their houses to minimize contact with the pesticide, which they fear could harm their pets, children and personal health.

Adrian Serrano, 28, isn’t sold on the EPA’s seal of approval. He didn’t plan on leaving his house Friday, and shut off his air conditioner. His concerns are mostly for his family — two small children and a pregnant wife.

“I’m worried about them breathing it, and it could damage them,” Serrano said in a phone interview from his home. “I just don’t want them to get exposed to it.

Three separate investigations headed by the Zapata County’s Sheriff ’s Office have landed three alleged thieves behind bars.

Amada Manuela Flores, 31; Claudia Elda Guzman, 38, and Aleida Castillo-Moran, 22, have been arrested on theft charges.

According to Sgt. Mario Elizondo, each of the women reportedly stole several thousands of dollars worth of items while committing their respective crimes.

Flores was arrested Monday after investigators connected Flores to $16,000 missing money from an account associated to a local

CASTILLO-MORAN FLORES financial business, Elizondo said.

Guzman, arrested on Aug. 3, and Castillo-Moran, arrested on Aug. 1, allegedly stole from residential homes they had been employed as maids at for several years.

Elizondo said approximated $4,000 worth of jewelry was reported missing from a home in the 900 block of Laredo Avenue and another $4,000 worth of jewelry was missing

from a home in the 300 block of Fresno Street.

While much of the jewelry has GUZMAN been recovered by investigators, Elizondo said “over $10,000 of jewelry is still unaccounted for.”

Guzman was held under a $5,000 bond by Justice of the Peace Jose C. Gutierrez and Castillo-Moran was given a $25,000 bond

by Justice of the Peace Anna Guerra.

Flores was given a $30,000 bond by Guerra.

(Stephanie Ibarra may be reached at 728-2547 or sibarra@lmtonline.com)

Condemned Mexican National loses appeal ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — A Mexican man on Texas death row for strangling and raping a teenage girl in Waco 25 years ago has lost a federal appeal, taking him a step closer to execution.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Friday, refusing Ramiro Ibar-

ra’s claims of mental impairment, deficient trial attorneys and that he IBARRA should have received protections under an international treaty covering foreign nationals. Ibarra, from Mexico, was in the U.S. illegally.

One judge would have allowed appeals regarding poor legal help at his trial.

Court records show 16year-old Maria Zuñiga was killed at her home in 1987. Ibarra was a family acquaintance arrested the day her body was found but was released because of an improper search warrant. He wasn’t arrested again until 1996.

National

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

GOP, Dems battle on campaign trail

By STEVE PEOPLES AND KASIE HUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER — The newly shaped Republican presidential ticket is fighting growing pains amid charges from President Barack Obama’s re-election team that challenger Mitt Romney favors his new running mate’s controversial plans to overhaul Medicare and cut trillions of dollars from social programs.

The debate moves across five swing states as both campaigns operate at full strength for a second day.

Romney will spend Tuesday in Ohio on the final day of his multistate bus tour, having dispatched his vice presidential pick, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, to court voters and donors in Colorado and Nevada. For

all the advantages of having a running mate to share the workload, the Republicans are working through the challenge of planning double the events, coordinating messaging on the road, handling new security stresses and simply getting to know each other.

All the while, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are linking Romney to Ryan’s House Republican budget proposals, which could affect millions of Americans — seniors in particular — if enacted.

Obama is holding events in Iowa on the second day of a single-state bus tour, while Biden, who played the role of Obama’s attack dog on Monday, is set to campaign in rural southern Virginia.

Two days after formally

selecting Ryan to complete the GOP ticket, Romney publicly praised his running mate’s work as necessary to protect the longterm survival of Medicare, the government-run health insurance program for the elderly.

Ryan has “come up with ideas that are very different than the president’s,” Romney said in Florida, the state with the highest percentage of residents age 65 and over. “The president’s idea for Medicare was to cut it by $700 billion.

That’s not the right answer.

We want to make sure that we preserve and protect Medicare.”

Romney did not say so, but the plans Ryan produced in the past two years as chairman of the House Budget Committee retain

US retail sales rose by less than 1% in July

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales rose in July by the largest amount in five months, buoyed by more spending on autos, furniture and clothing.

The Commerce Department says retail sales rose 0.8 percent in July from June. The increased followed three months of declines, including a 0.7 percent drop in sales in June.

Retail sales totaled a seasonally adjusted $403.9 billion in July, up 21.4 percent from the recession low hit in March 2009.

All major categories showed increases, a sign that consumers may be gaining confidence after the longest stretch of de-

clines since the fall of 2008.

Auto purchases rose 0.8 percent. Excluding autos, retail sales also increased 0.8 percent.

Consumers paid more for gas in July than June, although that had little impact on the data. Retail sales excluding gasoline station sales were up 0.8 percent, the same as the overall increase.

The retail sales report is the government’s first look each month at consumer spending, which drives roughly 70 percent of economic activity.

The economy has shown some modest improvement in July. Employers added 163,000 jobs, the best month for job growth since February. And consumer confidence rose for the first time

in five months. The combination appeared to translate into more spending.

Job growth hasn’t been enough to push down the unemployment rate.

It ticked up to 8.3 percent last month, the same level it was at the beginning of the year. And income has barely increased in the past 12 months, keeping budgets tight for those Americans who have jobs.

Overall, consumer spending on goods and services grew only 1.5 percent in the April-June quarter, the slowest pace in a year.

Americans are also saving more. The savings rate — the percentage of aftertax income that consumers don’t spend — rose to 4.4 percent in June, the highest in a year.

Phil Long / AP

Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks at a campaign stop in Ohio, on Thursday. Democrats have resumed their fight against privatizing Social Security. the $700 billion in Medicare cuts even as they call for the repeal of Obama’s health care plan. Romney said there may be differences between his own budget plan and Ryan’s, but he refused to detail them.

Romney’s staff said the former Massachusetts gover-

nor favored a plan to restore the $700 billion in cuts.

Looking to move past questions about Medicare, both Romney and Ryan are expected to focus on energy Tuesday. Romney will address what he’s calling the Obama administration’s

“war on coal,” according to his campaign. Ryan plans to promote Romney’s “allof-the-above” energy approach in Colorado. Once he moves to Nevada later in the day, Ryan will also highlight the president’s response to the state’s foreclosure problems.

International

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

Singers jailed for protest

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW — A judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in a case that has drawn widespread international condemnation as an emblem of Russia’s intolerance of dissent.

The judge said the three band members “committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred” and offended religious believers. The three were arrested in March after a guerrilla performance in Moscow’s main cathedral calling for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia against Vladimir Putin, who was elected to a new term as Russia’s president two weeks later.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23; Maria Alekhina, 24; and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, face a maximum seven years in prison, although the prosecutors asked for a three-year sentence. The judge was still reading a synopsis of the case, but the sentence could be handed down at any time.

Putin himself has said he hopes the sentencing is not “too severe.”

Even if the women are sentenced only to time already served, the case has already strongly clouded Russia’s esteem overseas and stoked the resentment of opposition partisans who have turned out in a series of massive rallies since last winter.

It also underlines the vast influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although church and state are formally separate, the church identifies itself as the heart of Russian national identity and critics say its strength effectively makes it a quasi-state entity. Some Orthodox groups and many believers are urging strong punishment for an action they consider sacrilegious.

Celebrities including

Soldiers injured in NL violence THE ZAPATA TIMES

Four people died and five soldiers were injured during a confrontation early Friday in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

Also, grenade detonations were reported in South Nuevo Laredo.

The shooting between the Army and armed civilians occurred around 1:30 a.m. on Colonia La Fe, said a federal source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“It was chase and a confrontation, but the fire exchange was intense,” the source said.

Hospitalized The injured soldiers were taken to the Hospital General. At least one of them is in critical condition.

Military personnel seized arms and ammunition at the crime scene.

Grenade detonations were reported Friday around the area of the shopping center Paseo Reforma.

A resident from Colonia Fundadores said she heard the explosions.

“We were afraid of getting shot by a stray bullet, so we decided to lie on the floor for a very long time,” said the woman who asked for anonymity. “We also hear screeching tires.”

This week, armed confrontations have left two dead people in Colonia El Palmar and one more in Colonia Victoria, making a total of seven killed due to violent confrontations this week in Nuevo Laredo.

Paul McCartney, Madonna and Bjork have called for the band members to be freed, and protests timed to just before the verdict or soon afterward were planned in more than three dozen cities worldwide. In the Russian capital activists put the band’s trademark ski masks, or balaclavas, on several statues across town.

By the time the court started reading the verdict, hundreds of Pussy Riot supporters filled a narrow street where the court is located, chanting “Russia without Putin!” amid heavy police presence. Police rounded up some of the protesters, including former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who is a leading opposition activist, and leftist opposition group leader Sergei Udaltsov.

Before Friday’s proceedings began, defense lawyer Nikolai Polozov said the women “hope for an acquittal but they are ready to continue to fight.”

The case comes in the wake of several recently passed laws cracking down on opposition, including one that raised the fine for taking part in an unauthorized demonstrations by 150 times to 300,000 rubles (about $9,000).

Another measure requires non-government organizations that both engage in vaguely defined political activity and receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”

One of the key ideas behind the band was the supremacy of an idea over personality — thus the balaclavas that made the members both unrecognizable and fearsome.

But the three members who sentenced Friday have unwillingly emerged as vivid — and very different — characters.

One is a daring performance artist with Angelina Jolie lips and a notorious

part in a filmed orgy just days before she gave birth.

Another is a poet and environmentalist whose pre-Raphaelite looks project sweetness and sensitivity.

Rounding out the trio is a quietly cerebral computer expert, who has applied her skills both to nuclear submarines and experimental art.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich came together several years ago in a confrontational art group called Voina (War), which attracted notice with risque stunts.

The group painted a 200foot penis on a St. Petersburg drawbridge — visible in much of the city when the bridge rose.

The three also took part in a less publicized punk performance in 2009 at the trial against an art curator in a Moscow court, singing: “All cops are scum.”

Voina’s chief ideologist Alexei Plutser-Sarno told The Associated Press that the three “performed courageously” with the art group.

Tolokonnikova, 23, who was heavily pregnant when she appeared in the museum orgy, has become the main face of Pussy Riot.

“Since childhood I’ve loved finding myself in extreme situations. I’ve always lacked unusual things in my life,” she said in an interview with Plutser-Sarno published in his blog.

In her statement at the trial last week she said that Pussy Riot provided her a long-sought creative outlet.

“We were looking for genuine sincerity and beauty and found it in our punk performances,” she said.

Tolokonnikova left her home in the frigid oil town of Norilsk at 17 to enroll in Moscow State University’s philosophy department.

There she met and married Pyotr Verzilov, who became a Voina member but was thrown out in 2009 on accusations of betraying another member to the police.

Photo by Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press | AP

Supporters of the Russian female punk band "Pussy Riot" protest outside the Russian consulate in Toronto on Friday. A Russian judge found three members of the punk band guilty of hooliganism, in one of the most closely watched cases in recent Russian history.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

BABY ALYSSA JOELI PRESAS-MURILLO Aug. 2, 2012 – Aug. 15, 2012 Baby Alyssa Joeli Presas-Murillo, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi.

Baby Alyssa Joeli is survived by her parents, Brenda L. Murillo and Erika Presas; sister, Amanda A. Garcia; grandparents, Griselda Moreno, Leonel and Rosa Presas and by numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A chapel service was held Friday, Aug. 17, 2012,

Photo by Nati Harnik | AP

Janice Durflinger poses at her workplace in Lincoln, Neb. Durflinger runs computer software programs for a bank on Aug. 1. She says she still works at 76, “because I have to.” Despite Social Security’s long-term problems, the massive retirement and disability program could be preserved for generations to come with modest but politically difficult changes to benefits, taxes or a combination of both.

SS changes could be tough

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Despite Social Security’s longterm problems, the massive retirement and disability program could be preserved for generations to come with modest but politically difficult changes to benefits or taxes, or a combination of both.

Some options could affect people quickly, such as increasing payroll taxes or reducing annual cost-of-living adjustments for those who already get benefits.

Others options, such as gradually raising the retirement age, wouldn’t be felt for years but would affect millions of younger workers.

All of the options carry political risks because they have the potential to affect nearly every U.S. family while raising the ire of powerful interest groups.

But the sooner changes are made, the more subtle they can be because they can be phased in slowly.

“Certainly, in the current environment, it would be very difficult to get changes made,” Social Security’s commissioner, Michael J. Astrue, said in an interview. “It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. And sometimes when you try hard things, surprising things happen.”

Social Security is ensnared in the same debate over taxes and spending that has gripped Washington for years.

Others, including a deficit commission created by President Barack Obama in 2010, have called for a combination of tax increases and cuts to future benefits, including raising the retirement age again.

Janice Durflinger of Lincoln, Neb., is still working at age 76, running comput-

er software programs for a bank. Still, she worries that a higher retirement age would be tough on people with more physically demanding jobs.

“No matter how much you exercise, age takes its toll,” Durflinger said.

But at 20, Jared Macher of Manalapan, N.J., worries that Social Security won’t be around for his generation without big changes.

“My generation sees Social Security as a tax, not an investment,” Macher said.

Social Security’s finances are being hit by a wave of demographics as millions of baby boomers reach retirement, leaving relatively fewer workers behind to pay into the system. About 56 million people get benefits today; that is projected to grow to 91 million in 2035.

For nearly three decades Social Security produced big surpluses, collecting more in taxes from workers than it paid in benefits to retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children.

But Social Security trustees project that the surplus, now valued at $2.7 trillion, will be gone in 2033. At that point, Social Security would only collect enough tax revenue each year to pay about 75 percent of benefits, unless Congress acts.

After the surplus is spent, the gap between scheduled benefits and projected tax revenue is big.

Social Security uses a 75-year window to forecast its finances, so the projections cover the life expectancy of every worker paying into the system. Once Social Security’s surplus is gone, the program is scheduled to pay out $134 trillion more in benefits than it will collect in taxes

over the next 75 years, according to data from the agency. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $30.5 trillion in 2012 dollars.

The options for closing the gap fall into two broad categories: cutting benefits or raising taxes. There are, however, many options within each category.

To illustrate how Social Security’s long-term finances have become worse in the past two years, the AP also calculated the share of the shortfall that would have been eliminated, if the options had been adopted in 2010.

Taxes Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages. Workers pay half and their employers pay the other half. The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of a worker’s wages, a level that increases each year with inflation.

For 2011 and 2012, the tax rate for employees was reduced to 4.2 percent, but is scheduled to return to 6.2 percent in January.

Options: Apply the Social Security tax to all wages, including those above $110,100. Workers making $200,000 in wages would get a tax increase of $5,574, an amount their employers would have to match.

Their future benefits would increase, too. This option would eliminate 72 percent of the shortfall.

Two years ago, it would have wiped out 99 percent.

Increase the payroll tax by 0.1 percentage point a year, until it reaches 14.4 percent in 20 years. At that point, workers making $50,000 a year would get a tax increase of $500 and employers would have to match it. This option

would eliminate 53 percent of the shortfall. Two years ago, it would have wiped out 73 percent.

Retirement age Workers qualify for full retirement benefits at age 66, a threshold that gradually rises to 67 for people born in 1960 or later. Workers are eligible for early retirement at 62, though monthly benefits are reduced by about 25 percent.

The reductions shrink the longer you wait to apply.

Options: Gradually raise the full retirement age to 68 in 2033. This option would eliminate 15 percent of the shortfall. Two years ago, it would have eliminated a little more than 20 percent.

Gradually raise the full retirement age to 69 in 2039 and 70 in 2063. This option would eliminate 37 percent of the shortfall.

Two years ago, it would have eliminated about half.

Cost-of-living adjustments Each year, if consumer prices increase, Social Security benefits go up as well. By law, the increases are pegged to an inflation index. This year, benefits went up by 3.6 percent, the first increase since 2009.

Option: Adopt a new inflation index called the Chained CPI, which assumes that people change their buying habits when prices increase to reduce the impact on their pocketbooks. The new index would reduce the annual COLA by 0.3 percentage point, on average. This option would eliminate 19 percent of the shortfall.

Two years ago, it would have eliminated 26 percent.

at 10 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery.

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

FERNANDO DELGADO May 30, 1949 — Aug. 14, 2012 Fernando Delgado 63, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, at McAllen Medical Center in McAllen.

Mr. Delgado is preceded in death by his parents, Juan and Rita Delgado and a brother, Gregorio Delgado.

Mr. Delgado is survived by his daughters, Angelica and Rosy Delgado; brothers, Mario (Rosa Emilia) Delgado, Lucas (Ignacia) Delgado, Domingo Delgado, David (Maria Isabel) Delgado; sisters, Dominga (Vicente) Garcia, Bernardina Villarreal and Maria (Jose Manuel) Peña; and by numerous nephews, nieces and many friends.

Visitation hours were held Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, from 6 to 9 p.m. with a wake at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home.

A chapel service was held Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, at 10 a.m. at Rose

Garden Funeral Home.

Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery.

Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 N. US Hwy. 83, Zapata.

DARRELL L. GOLDSBERRY Feb. 27, 1947 — Aug. 13, 2012 Darrell L. “Snake Man” Goldsberry 66, passed away Monday, Aug. 13, 2012, at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo.

Mr. Goldsberry is preceded in death by his parents, Chester and Cliffie Goldsberry; brothers, John E. Goldsberry Jr., Larry Goldsberry and Chester W. Goldsberry.

Mr. Goldsberry is survived by his wife, Laura L. Goldsberry; son, Darrell L. Jr. (Darlina) Goldsberry; daughter, Sherry L. Goldsberry (Kelvin Rodriguez); grandchildren, Gilbert Garcilazo, Jr., Ashley R. Garcilazo and Leroy Cruz; sister, Joyce Anne Daughtery; and by numerous friends.

Mr. Goldsberry was a truck driver since 1968; he was owner and operator of his trucking company since 1984. He also

was a Vietnam Veteran of the U.S. Army.

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

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

Wildfires threaten homes in western states

By TERRY COLLINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — Wildfires destroyed dozens of homes and threatened hundreds more in several western U.S. states, including Idaho, where an on-duty firefighter was killed by a falling tree.

Anne Veseth, a 20-yearold who was in her second

season as a firefighter, was killed Sunday as she worked a fire near Orofino, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Her older brother also is a wild-land firefighter in Idaho, where 12 blazes are burning.

“The Forest Service is devastated by the loss of one of our own,” Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell said.

Officials were investigat-

ing the death, which came on the same day that another firefighter narrowly escaped a wildfire in southeastern Oregon.

That firefighter was forced to deploy her emergency shelter in an area overrun by wind-whipped flames. She suffered minor burns to a leg and forearm and smoke inhalation.

Her 20-person federal

COUNCIL Continued from Page 1A neer changes in government and commerce that could spread to a national level.

Using a mix of state and local funds, the City of Laredo last year completed seven new primary inspection lanes and two secondary inspection lanes at the World Trade Bridge. The city also constructed two refrigerated customs inspection warehouses at the World Trade and Colombia Solidarity bridges.

City Manager Carlos Villarreal said the city is aware infrastructure for pedestrian traffic could use additional improvements as well.

But with Congress tightening the valves on discretionary spending, federal funds for other infrastructure improvements have been scarce.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, the organizer of the roundtable, said participants discussed alternative sources of funding for infrastructure, including the North American Development Bank and public-private partnerships.

“Yes, we understand security’s important, but there are other things besides security — there is trade, there is tourism, there is retail,” he said.

(Andrew Kreighbaum may be reached at 728-2538 or akreighbaum@lmtonline.com)

crew made it to a safety zone and was pulled off the fire. The blaze scorched about 653 square miles in terrain straddling Oregon and Nevada, where five ranches in the Kings River Valley were evacuated.

A crew in central Washington state also barely outran flames Monday at a wind-driven fire in Kittitas County. The firefighters

managed to drive to safety as they got ahead of the Taylor Bridge fire, said Richelle Risdon, a county fire spokeswoman.

That same fire destroyed 40 homes since it ignited Monday east of the town of Cle Elum, said state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Grassel. Within hours, it had grown to about 23

square miles, according to fire commanders.

Officials said more homes were burning or under threat near the small town about 60 miles west of Seattle, but no injuries were reported so far. Grassel said the fire crept within six miles of the nearby city of Ellensburg, though crews stopped its forward movement.

ACCOUNT Continued from Page 1A account’s closure for some time.

Sheriff Gonzalez told The Zapata Times last week that deposits to the account were derived from sales of soda, donations from the public and fees the sheriff ’s office charged to owners of impounded vehicles.

Certain purchases He said the account was used to purchase equipment for employees, flowers for employee family members and to pay for travel expenses.

Gonzalez signed off on disbursements made from the account and was the sole authority able to do so, he said.

Martinez said that the court had taken issue with the fact that the sheriff ’s of-

fice checking account was apparently being run solely through Gonzalez’s office.

“Not that we expect anything sinister going on, but all accounts other than those defined by law, run through the treasurer’s office,” he said.

“We’ll wait to see what the auditor has to say,” he added.

In other county business this week, public budget hearings will be held Tuesday and Aug. 27.

According to a proposed budget for 2012-13 posted on the county’s website, it will dip into its cash balance to balance a budget that has accounted for $2 million less in revenues than in the previous year.

(JJ Velasquez may be reached at 7282579 or jjvelasquez@lmtonline.com)

MEDICINE Continued from Page 1A here and eventually positively impact health outcomes in one of the most impoverished and medically underserved parts of the country.

More than 1.2 million people live in Cameron and Hidalgo counties, and about one in three live below the poverty line. It’s a fast-growing young population, about one-third of which is below

the age of 18.

In addition to allowing local students interested in medicine to study close to home, a medical school situated on the border could eventually draw students from beyond Texas.

“I’m seeing this school attracting students from throughout Latin America,” Cigarroa said.

EMPLOYMENT Continued from Page 1A Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

Arnulfo Valdivia-Machuca, of the office of Enrique Peña-Nieto, speaks about trade between the U.S. and Mexico on Thursday at La Posada Hotel during the Council of the Americas conference.

ing and firing, which most economists believe give a more accurate picture of the job market. Without the seasonal adjustment, the jobless rate in Texas would have been at 7.5 percent in June.

A new oil boom in West Texas contin-

ues to give Midland the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.2 percent.

The hardest place to find work remains the McAllen area, where unemployment crept to 12.3 percent. Local rates are not seasonally adjusted.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Under center Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata Lady Hawks’s seniors Angela Darnell and Ericka Hernandez aim to lead the Lady Hawks into the state cross country meet come November.

Zapata girls race for return to state

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

Zapata’s girls are fueled by the sickness of missing a trip to state last year, so everything they do in practice is a step in getting back to Round Rock, the site of the state meet this year.

“I expect the team to go to state,” senior Erika Hernandez said. “We did not make it last year and we

See GIRLS PAGE 2B

Hawks hold high hopes

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

The Zapata boys’ team is ready to embark on the season as it opens with its first meet this morning at the Annual South Texas Stampede.

The Hawks are flying into the into their first meet with high expectations and will be looking at attributes other than times in their first meet.

“We also have high expectation for the team,” coach Roel Ibañez said. “This is the first meet and we are not worrying about their times right now.

“I want to see how they do mentally in this course.”

The course will test the Hawks with bales of hay scattered along the course, a mud pit and a killer

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

The Zapata Hawks must now turn to Alonzo Gutierrez, last year’s back up quarterback, to lead its football team back to the playoffs.

Zapata’s Gutierrez steps into role as QB

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

When May’s graduation robbed Zapata of its three-year quarterback, the Hawks turned to Alonzo

Gutierrez, who moonlighted as the back-up quarterback last year.

Gutierrez is no stranger to the position; he played quarterback during his years as a Merlin at Zapata Middle and even flirted

with the idea of playing the freshmen quarterback.

“We are putting Alonzo back to his natural position,” Zapata foot-

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF

See FOOTBALL PAGE 2B See HAWKS PAGE 2B

CANALES NAMED LAREDO’S FAVORITE SON

Saenz shines during summer tournament

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

LAREDO — Zapata golfer Leanna Saenz has continued to build her already strong resume during the long summer months, all so she can attack her junior year as a Lady Hawk golfer on a high note.

Saenz, one of Zapata’s most prolific golfers, captured the district title last year as a sophomore and was named to the inaugural Zapata Times All-City Team.

Saenz took her game to Laredo on Aug. 13 at the Laredo Junior Championships Saenz completed in the 16-18 year old division and competed against eight golfers from Laredo. She won the 16 year old division with a 10-over par 82, while Daniela Mendez, from Laredo, came in second with a 12-over 84.

Saenz started on the back nine and shot a 7-over par 43 on her outward nine holes.

Saenz had an eagle on the par-5 17th hole.

On the front nine, Saenz played great, shooting a 3-over par 39 while carding seven pars — including a stretch of five in a row.

“Winning this championship was a great way to finish the summer,” Saenz said. “This is just the beginning of great things to come.”

Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

Laredo mayor Raul Salinas hands Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach and local Laredoan Kaleb Canales the first ever Laredo’s Favorite Son plaque on Friday afternoon at Laredo’s City Hall. Accompanying Canales is his mother, and City Manager Carlos Villarreal. Canales was the Trail Blazers’ interim head coach for the second half of the last NBA season.

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Lady Hawks’ trio triumphs

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

Courtesy photo

Zapata Lady Hawk golfer Leanna Saenz won the 16 year old division with a 10-over par 82 at the Laredo Junior Championships.

LAREDO — Zapata did not take long to unleash its offensive attack at the net, as the Lady Hawks swept Freer (25-8, 25-15, 25-7) in the season opener at Nixon in Laredo last Tuesday.

Zapata exploited Freer’s service-receive, accounting for 14 aces. The Lady

Bucks had a hard time picking up the serve.

Kristina De Leon started her senior campaign with some great stats — 16 kills and 12 aces — but it was her teammates who took their game to the next level.

Zapata witnessed the emergence of Celia Rathmell and Vanessa Martinez as they complimented De

Leon at the net and added another dimension to the Lady Hawks’ offensive attack.

Rathmell was a blocking machine, making the Lady Bucks think twice about attempting to hit through her. She also put some solid hits together for the Lady Hawks.

See VOLLEYBALL PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B

Zscores

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

EPL kicks off today in England

By TREVOR HUGGINS ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — As Olympic memories start to fade, Britain’s sporting focus looks set to move from London to Manchester this weekend as a new Premier League season gets underway.

For although the London clubs led by Champions League winner Chelsea and Arsenal would like to be in the footballing spotlight, everything points to this season finishing like the last - as a straight Manchester derby between City and United.

City had to wait until the fourth minute of injury time on a nerve-shredding final day of last season to win its first league title since 1968. However, more than a billion dollars poured into the club by its Abu Dhabi-based owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan had already marked it out as the team to beat since the previous August.

Only United was able to keep up with the frenetic pace, thanks mainly to the sheer personal drive of 70year-old manager Alex Ferguson rather than any

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Texas quarterbacks David Ash (14) and Case McCoy (6) hope to lead the Longhorns back to glory as one of the nation’s most powerful teams included in national championship discussions.

UT wants return as elite powerhouse

By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS

AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns spent 2011 just trying to get back to winning. With that accomplished, they figure 2012 is the time to return to their place among the nation’s elite.

If only their quarterbacks will let them.

While the defense grew into one of the Big 12’s best and the running game had moments of dominance, the Longhorns were held back last season by the spotty play of quarterbacks David Ash and Case McCoy. Those two rotated in the starting job all season because neither was able to seize it outright.

If Texas hopes to challenge for the Big 12 title this season, it will depend largely on whether Ash or McCoy develops into a playmaker who can avoid the turnovers both struggled with last season.

Although Ash took every

snap of Texas’ Holiday Bowl win over California, the Longhorns opened training camp with Ash and McCoy still battling to start the opener against Wyoming on Sept. 1. Ash said he spent his summer studying how to be a better leader. McCoy added 15 pounds to his lanky frame to bulk up to 200.

Coach Mack Brown said the first order of business is cleaning up the turnovers he figures cost Texas at least two games last season.

While McCoy, a junior, brings swagger to the position, his swashbuckling plays sometimes create as much damage as good. His scramble in the final minute against Texas A&M set up the game-winning field goal. But his five turnovers doomed Texas in a loss at Baylor, and after that he take the field in the bowl game.

Ash, a sophomore, was a steadier if underwhelming steward of the offense when

the running game kicked into gear in midseason. He never got comfortable as a passer. Ash said he’ll take on whatever role he’s asked to play in order to win.

McCoy said the Longhorns can win with either quarterback.

Brown overhauled his staff with seven new assistants after the 5-7 disaster of 2010, but made no changes after an 8-5 finish last season. Brown said the continuity breeds confidence now that the players and coaches all know each other and the playbooks.

It could be a fun season for Texas if the defense delivers on its promise.

Anchored by ends Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat, the line should be the best in the Big 12 and is supported by a talented and playmaking secondary.

Safety Kenny Vaccaro considered entering the NFL draft, where some projected him as a first-round pick, but he chose to stay for his senior season.

take it as a practice,” Ibañez said.

The varsity team consists of Luis Garza, Romero Morales, Jose Garcia, Jerome Cabugos, Luis Lerma and Sammy Camacho.

Zapata will be missing the services of Carlos Rodriguez, who is out with a injury and is schedule to miss 10 days of training.

So he is going through alternative methods of keeping up his cardiovascular endurance.

have been working really hard this summer and have seen a lot of improvement.

“This year we have a good shot at state.”

With the entire team returning, Zapata likes its chances when November rolls around.

“It is a good thing that we did not lose anyone from last year, so we are all back,” senior Angela Darnell said. “Last year we had a hard time at regionals, but we know how it is and we can go back and go to state.”

The Lady Hawks have been getting up every morning to work out before most people finish their breakfast, because they have big goals for this year.

“We are really dedicated because most teenagers are asleep and we are here training everyday because we really want to. We really want to go to state,” Hernandez said. “We think about state all the time and we just don’t go out there to just run, we run with a purpose.

“We are really dedicated to our sport and we do more than most people do all day before 9 a.m.”

Last year was a trying year as the Lady Hawks saw their opportunity to go to state slip away and with a line up changing almost weekly. Zapata had a hard time building team chemistry and it showed on the course.

“We are definitely coming back with vengeance because we really want to go to state,” Hernandez said. “We really

“It is early in the season and we want to make sure that he comes back 100 percent,” Ibañez said.

On August 25, Zapata heads to Laredo to run at the LISD Invitational Meet at Slaughter Park against all eight Laredo schools and Eagle Pass.

“We are looking forward to the meet and just want to decrease our race times every week, because we have big goals in mind,” Ibañez said.

VOLLEYBALL Continued from Page 1B Martinez, who moonlights with the cross country team, was light on her feet and got off the floor to pound the ball, teaming up with De Leon to block at the net.

Zapata had eight blocks and was in complete control of the net.

Freer looked young and inexperienced throughout the game, plagued with miscommunication caused dropped balls.

Zapata took control of the net from the opening point and worked on all aspects of the game with a variety of line-ups that went deep into the bench.

ZAPATA STATS VS. FREER: De Leon (16 kills, 12 aces), Secilia Mata (25 digs), Abby Aguilar (eight digs), Celia Rathmell (six kills, three blocks), Clarissa Villarreal (two aces) and Vanessa Martinez (five kills, three blocks).

ZAPATA VS. NIXON In the second game of the tri-match, Zapata was tested by the hosting Lady Mustangs, who gave the Lady Hawks a realistic look at what they will face in the future.

Zapata had to come from behind to beat Nixon (30-

32, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13).

“I knew they were a much better team than was out there playing,” Villarreal said. “Once the kids realized that they could play, that is when we started coming back.”

Zapata did not skip a beat from its first game against Freer and took that intensity to Nixon, jumping out to a 19-15.

De Leon turned it up a notch and carried the offensive load for Zapata, recording 32 kills.

Zapata kept ahead of Nixon and was on the brink of victory at 24-21 but the Lady Hawks couldn’t close the game.

Nixon staved off three set points and knotted the game at 24, pushing Zapata to the limit.

Nixon took the first match 32-20.

The second match played out much the same as the first, as the Lady Hawks took the lead and then lost it at the end in a tight match.

Down 0-2, the Lady Hawks reached down deep and played at another level in the next three matches to pull out their second victory of the tri-match to leave the gym with a 2-0 record.

ZAPATA STATS VS NIXON: De

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

The Zapata Lady Hawks’ Celia Rathmell along with Vanessa Martinez (not shown) and Kristina De Leon (not shown) formed a formidable trio of offense in last week’s tri-match.

Leon (32 kills, two blocks, six digs), Aguilar (five aces, 36 digs), Gaby Gutierrez (27 digs), Vanessa Martinez (seven kills, four

pions League final fulfilled a dream held by club owner Roman Abramovich since buying the Blues in 2003, and ought to ease at least some of the pressure on coach Roberto Di Matteo.

The departure to China of the club’s aging striker Didier Drogba is bound to be a loss.

However, the arrival from Lille of the most exciting player in French football, playmaker Eden Hazard, should be a real cause for celebration and there is certainly more to come from the likes of Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge.

Arsenal is meanwhile wondering if Van Persie’s replacements will be able to fill the Dutchman’s goalscoring boots.

With his departure have been telegraphed well in advance, the usually costconscious club has already signed no fewer than three new attacking players: Germany’s Lukas Podolski, France’s Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla of Spain.

Beyond these four teams, though, there is really only room for cameo roles.

GIRLS Continued from Page 1B

HAWKS Continued from Page 1B hill that has to be run in a “W” form.

The meet welcomes schools from the surrounding areas that are sure to give Zapata a glimpse of where they stand in a racing situation. The meet will also let the Hawks know where they stand without emphasizing anything at this point of the season, not even times.

“This is just where we stand and are just going to

inspirational football by his players.

Goal difference eventually separated the blue and red sides of Manchester after both clubs finished on 89 points, with Arsenal trailing a distant third on 70.

And that’s the scale of the problem facing any club based outside Manchester’s ring road this season. Nineteen points is not a gap, it’s a gulf.

What’s more, City clearly intends to keep it that way.

Manager Roberto Mancini has been signed up to a new five-year contract, at a reported cost of 37 million pounds ($57 million), which will bring more stability to the team.

The club has just signed England midfielder Jack Rodwell from Everton for an estimated 12 million pounds and remains in the market for new signings before the transfer window closes on Aug. 31.

Despite finishing only sixth last time around, FA Cup winner Chelsea still looks like the side most likely to test Manchester’s grip on the title.

Victory over Bayern Munich in that Cham-

blocks), Liana Flores (four blocks), Secilia Mata (12 digs), Ceclia Rathmell (four kills) and Aly Jo Gutierrez (six digs).

had a lot of girls hurt and varsity was always switching, so we did not know who was who. This year we know who is going and what team we are up against.”

Last year featured a young and inexperienced team guided by then-sophomore Jazmine Garcia “Most of us we inexperienced; I never ran varsity before, so everything was new to us,” Darnell said. “Now we feel really ready.”

Zapata is set to run in its first meet this morning.

“We are not where we need to be,” Zapata coach Mike Villarreal said. “I have very high standards and we are no where we need to be. That being said, I have seen improvement all summer to be where we should be.

“If a team is where they are supposed to be on day one or the first meet of the year, then where do you go from there? I don’t feel that we are where we need to be. That is why we are working to get stronger, get faster.”

The South Texas Stampede will have symbolic obstacles on the course to mirror what they team might face in the season.

“As a coach, I hope that I have mentally prepared them and we are going to find out who passes that test,” Villarreal said. “Our obstacles are symbolic, because in the season you are going to have struggles you are going to have things in your way.”

FOOTBALL Continued from Page 1B ball coach Mario Arce said. “He is a very athletic person and is going to bring a great diversity to the position.”

When Gutierrez made the move to varsity, he played the slot back position that requires one to be very athletic because he has to be able run and catch the ball.

“Alonzo is a very athletic person and that just adds another dimension to our offense,” Arce said.

As Manuel Salinas took the snaps for Zapata for the past three years, it was Gutierrez who was waiting in the wings, taking snaps from under center when Salinas went out of the game.

“Alonzo did take some snaps last year when Manuel was banged up a bit or needed to come out of the game for different reasons,” Acre said.

Zapata made the smooth transition from Salinas to Gutierrez, and the Hawks hope to build a solid team around him.

“I have been trying really hard and want to follow in his footsteps,” Gutierrez said. “He ran the ball very well and I want to run the ball as well, and add some passing.”

Now Gutierrez is taking

all the snaps and has been working hard to make all his reads in practice.

“Alonzo has been throwing the ball well and makes good reads on the field,” Arce said.

Gutierrez wants to take the Hawks back to the playoffs after missing the postseason last year.

“Last year, we did not make it and missed it barley,” Gutierrez said. “This year we are trying to go to the playoffs and get through round one, at least.”

Gutierrez and the rest of the Hawks face some lively Laredo schools that are known for their aerial attacks, but Zapata is confident its secondary will put through.

“Our secondary looks really good,” Gutierrez said. “When we throw here in practice, they come up with some interceptions and take them for touchdowns.”

Zapata was scheduled to put its offense to the test against Hebbronville today, but the Longhorns backed out of the scrimmage.

Instead Zapata will have an inter-squad scrimmage tonight to work on its offense in a game-like situation.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

HINTS | BY HELOISE PET PAL Dear Readers: Julia in Hudson, N.H., sent a picture of her two cats, Oreo and Pebbles, resting under a sign reading “Trespassers Will Be Eaten.” Doubtful, though, because the cats seem more interested in sleeping! To see these cats and our other Pet Pals, visit www.Heloise.com and click on “Pets.”

— Heloise EASY SNEAKERS Dear Heloise: Every summer, I buy my two daughters new camp sneakers. I only buy brown, because they match the color of the dirt! You still have to wash them when they get especially dirty, but they never look as beat up as sneakers of other colors do. — Suzanne in Staten Island, N.Y. POLISHING TRICK Dear Heloise: I do my own pedicures. When polishing my toenails, I sometimes would slip and get polish on the skin around the nails. Before applying polish, I carefully use a cotton swab to put a thin layer of petroleum jelly all around my nails, making sure none gets on the nail

“

HELOISE

itself.

After the nail polish is dry, I wipe off the petroleum jelly, and it takes any polish mishaps with it.

This results in a neater, more professional-looking pedicure. — Nancy in Beavercreek, Ohio THE HEAD OF THE BED Dear Heloise: I was having trouble keeping fitted sheets on the bed at the top — they hardly ever came off the bottom. Then it dawned on me: I was putting them on at the bottom first because it was easy. So I started putting them on the top of the bed first. Don’t ask me why, but it worked! — Alice, via email SOCK IT TO HIM Dear Heloise: Our black cat rubs against all the wall corners, turning them quite dirty. I’ve found that a wool sock, when dryrubbed, completely removes the dirt. I use a heavy winter sock. — Bill, via email

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Sports

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 2012

Cowboys conclude training camp ASSOCIATED PRESS

OXNARD, Calif. — The Dallas Cowboys wrapped up a nearly three-week stay at their West Coast training camp with a walkthrough Friday.

They still have a few days left in California.

After their second preseason game, Saturday night at San Diego, the Cowboys (No. 15 in the AP Pro32) will get a day off before starting next week with two days of joint workouts with the Chargers (No. 16).

Coach Jason Garrett said the work with the Chargers helps keep his team in training camp mode for at least another week.

When the Cowboys got to Southern California three weekends ago, camp started with owner Jerry Jones talking about the glory days of wanting to win another Super Bowl.

There has since been a rash of injuries, to interior linemen like center Phil Costa and expected starters like rookie cornerback and first-round draft pick Morris Claiborne, receiver Miles Austin, tight end Jason Witten and linebacker Anthony Spencer. And there was that unimpressive 3-0 victory over Oakland on Monday night.

After missing that game,, Claiborne is expected to start against the Chargers.

Austin and Spencer are probably still a few weeks away from getting on the field.

Pro Bowl outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said Friday that he would not play against the Chargers after slightly tweaking his hamstring. Ware said the injury is not seri-

Photo by Dave Frechette | AP

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Army National Guard are staying together as driver and sponsor, respectively, of the No. 88 Sprint Cup car.

Photo by Tony Avelar | AP

The Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo (9) and the team wrapped up its training camp in Oxnard, Calif.

National Guard stays with Earnhardt Jr.

By NOAH TRISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS

ous’ Tony Romo took about a dozen snaps in the preseason opener, but he had to play into the second quarter to do so. There was only one first down, on a 24-catch by Dez Bryant, and the Cowboys had minus-2 yards combined the other 10 players before Romo came out of the game.

Despite all the injuries up front, Garrett said he plans to slightly increase Romo’s playing time against the Chargers.

“He played 11 snaps last week so we’ll probably inch that up to give him some more opportunities,” Garrett said. “Tony has to get himself ready to play.

We would not put him out there with people who were not comfortable blocking in front of him.”

Witten suffered a lacerated spleen after catching a pass from a scrambling Romo and immediately getting hit. He has been told to remain as inactive as possible so that he can heal, and he is hopeful of playing in the regular-season opener Sept. 5 against the Giants.

When the Cowboys wrap up their workouts with the Chargers, they will return to Texas to finish camp and play their final two preseason games.

There will be a day off before a workout Thursday night at Cowboys Stadium, where two days later they will play their final preseason game against St. Louis.

Garrett said he was pleased with the progress his team made during its time in Oxnard.

BROOKLYN, Mich. — The Army National Guard is staying on as a sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 NASCAR Sprint Cup team.

Hendrick Motorsports said Friday it has extended its relationship with the National Guard through the 2013 season.

“I think that it’s good for our team and good for the sport. We’re excited that they’re ready to be on board for the next season,” Earnhardt said Friday at Michigan International Speedway, where he’ll race Sunday. “I feel comfortable that we’re set and we can move forward.”

The contract was scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.

Last month, Congress rejected a bid by Reps.

Jack Kingston, R-Ga., and Betty McCollum, D-Minn., to trim $72.3 million for sports sponsorships from a $608 billion defense bill for fiscal 2013. The measure had targeted the money the National Guard spends to sponsor Earnhardt, as well as IndyCar Series driver JR Hildebrand.

Kingston insisted that the sponsorship money was ineffective, attracting few recruits, but he and McCollum faced strong opposition from members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation as well as lawmakers from Mississippi and Florida.

Sports leagues such as NASCAR, IndyCar, Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Basketball Association sent a letter to Republican and Democratic leaders urging them to

oppose the amendment.

Earnhardt didn’t sound worried about the possibility the legislation could be revisited.

“I was real happy to have the Guard sign, and I expected them to continue to be part of the program.

We’ve had a real positive relationship, and they’ve been real excited about what we’ve been able to do,” he said. “We’ve got some great ideas coming up that we just started implementing this past week, where we’re going to visit high schools and talk to kids and the parents and the principals and getting the Guard an opportunity to have more access at that level, so we’re doing some good things.

“That was a lot of fun.

That was the first time I’ve been to a high school to talk to a group like that, so I enjoyed that.”