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DRUNK DRIVING
BUDGET
TxDOT: Drunk drivers go to jail
County won’t lay off employees By JJ VELASQUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
County employees will not be laid off this fiscal year after a budget proposing 12 layoffs was amended to only include cuts by attrition. County commissioners
adopted the 2012-13 budget Monday at Commissioners Court. A proposed budget had called for about 30 jobs to be cut, but savings on the county’s liability insurance coverage allowed for
See COUNTY PAGE 11A
FISHING
Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times
A group of anglers fish the waters of Falcon Lake on a sunny and windy Thursday afternoon.
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
Danny Magree, Texas Department of Transportation director of transportation operations, speaks during the “Drink. Drive. Go to Jail.” press conference held at the STRATIS Control Room on Friday morning.
Police beef up forces over holiday weekend By MIKAELA RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Texas Department of Transportation, in an attempt to curb drunk driving over the Labor Day weekend, held a press conference highlighting its “Drink. Drive. Go to Jail.” initiative, beginning each year in mid-August and lasting until Sept. 1. Fewer people were killed during drunk-driving accidents last year than since 2003, with the number dipping below double digits. “We’ve had a 21 percent decrease in traffic deaths; you can consider that dramatic,” said Danny Magee, Laredo TxDOT director of transportation operations. However, Magee said citizens should still remain on high alert over the holiday. “We deal with infrastructure, and as engineers
“
We’ve had a 21 percent decrease in traffic deaths; you can consider that dramatic.” DANNY MAGEE, LAREDO TXDOT DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION OPERATIONS
we put a lot of thought into how we design things — everything we do, the factor of safety is always designed in,” Magee said. “The one thing we can’t design for is the driver.” Investigator Joe Baeza with the Laredo Police Department said DWI arrests have spiked dramatically since last year: LPD made 200 driving-while-intoxicated arrests between Jan. 1 and July 23, 2011. During the same period this year, more than 350 arrests were made. “We have peaks and
valleys in terms of frequencies of arrests,” Baeza said. “Then again, as the city grows, different trends might occur.” Raul Leal, TxDOT public information officer, said the campaign is a proactive way of getting the anti-drinking and driving message out on the streets. Safety advisories are brought to citizens online via Twitter and other digital media, through TV ads and signs with DWI statistics placed on major highways. “Throughout the year
we provide grants for law enforcement, for overtime pay and selective weekend enforcement,” Leal said. “It’s an ongoing thing throughout the year.” LPD Lt. James Montemayor said police patrols will increase, and regular patrol officers with be placed on DWI duty over the weekend. Mayor Raul Salinas said awareness is paramount in preventing alcohol-related injuries and deaths, and a devil-maycare attitude can be the most harmful factor in getting behind the wheel while impaired. “People don’t realize the consequences of possibly hurting others,” Salinas said. “You have the right to have fun, but you should do so responsibly.” Salinas said he’d like to see a designated driver awareness campaign that
See DRUNK PAGE 11A
Bassmaster coming back to Falcon By MIKAELA RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society announced Wednesday it will hold its Bassmaster Elite Series fishing competition on Falcon Lake in March 2013 for the second time since 2008. From March 21-24, nationally renowned anglers will travel to Zapata to test their skills as they compete to catch the heaviest amount of bass within a four-day span. Michael Mulone, Bassmaster site selection coordinator, said Falcon Lake conditions are “lightning in a bottle” and a perfect place for uncommonly large fish to thrive. “There’s a lot of structure underground — places to hide,” Mulone said. “It just basically means that overall it’s a great growing venue for fish — they keep getting bigger and bigger.”
During the first Falcon Slam in April 2008, angler Paul Elias of Mississippi broke a Bassmaster record, catching 132 pounds of fish by the end of the tournament, with each bass averaging a meaty 6 pounds. “There are entire lakes that don’t have 6-pound fish … and that was just the average,” Mulone said. “We’ve seen recreational anglers there catch repeated 10pounders.” Mulone said the Bassmaster tournament is also “here to provide national attention” to the small town of Zapata. Peggy Moffett, CEO of the Zapata County Economic Development Corporation, said a pillar of its overall economic development strategy was to build on bass-fishing organizations since 2004.
See BASS PAGE 11A
MEXICO
Presidential winner declared By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO AND MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s highest electoral authority declared Friday that Enrique Peña Nieto was the legitimate winner of the country’s July 1 presidential election, formally opening the transition to a new government despite continuing claims of fraud by the second-place candidate of the left. The Federal Electoral Tribunal said leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had failed to prove claims that votebuying had affected the results of the vote returning Mexico’s former autocratic ruling party to the country’s highest office af-
ter a 12-year absence. Lopez Obrador told reporters Friday morning that he refused to recognize the results of the election and was calling for a peaceful protest that he described as “civil disobedience” on Sept. 9 in the Zocalo, the historic plaza in the heart of downtown Mexico City. He launched street demonstrations that paralyzed central Mexico City after he lost the 2006 vote, but widespread protests appear far less likely this time. Lopez Obrador said the electoral tribunal made an illegitimate ruling Thursday evening when it rejected the leftist’s allegations of vote-buying and other campaign violations in favor of Peña Nieto, the candidate of the
Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. The seven electoral magistrates are nominated by Mexico’s Supreme Court and confirmed by Congress and are widely seen as credible and nonpartisan, although Lopez Obrador has alleged that several members were based in favor of the PRI. “I am telling the people of Mexico that I cannot accept the judgment of the electoral tribunal that declared the presidential election valid,” Lopez Obrador told a news conference. “The elections were not clean, free and genuine. As a result, I will not recognize an illegitimate power that’s emerged as a result
See VOTE PAGE 11A
Photo by Alexandre Meneghini | AP
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential candidate for the Democratic Revolution Party, speaks during a news conference in Mexico City on Friday. Lopez Obrador said Friday that he is refusing to recognize the results of Mexico’s presidential election, raising the question of whether he will launch street protests like those he used to paralyze central Mexico City after losing the 2006 vote.