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UTILITIES
MEXICO VIOLENCE
A dry 12 hours
Troops kill 30 alleged Zetas
Line break leaves residents without water one-half day By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata residents were left without water for nearly 12 hours last weekend as Zapata County officials prepare to move
operations to the new water plant. The problem arose because the old and new water plants have to run simultaneously for about three weeks during a transition period to prevent any
water production interruptions, said Carlos Treviño Jr., water plant director. “We just started producing water last week, Treviño said. The pressure of both water plants running simultaneously
built up and busted a 24-inch main transmission water line, he said. “On Sunday morning, they had a system failure on one of
See WATER PAGE 10A
By MARK WALSH ASSOCIATED PRESS
MUSIC
MONTERREY, Mexico — Mexican soldiers killed at least 30 suspected cartel members in two shootouts near the U.S. border in a region that has become one of biggest battlegrounds in the country’s drug war, authorities said Friday. Twenty-five of the suspects were killed Thursday during a raid on a building in Ciudad Mier in Tamaulipas state. The other five were killed Friday in neighboring Nuevo Leon state, during a shootout on a highway leading to the border, the Mexican Defense Department said in a statement. All 30 gunmen were believed to belong to the Zetas gang — the group suspected of killing 72 migrants nearly two weeks ago in what could be Mexico’s biggest cartel massacre to date. Violence along Mexico’s northeastern border with Texas has
See GUNMEN PAGE 10A
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
ABOVE: Left, Charlie Rodriguez plays the violin as the Zapata High School Mariachi practices Thursday. The group is the star of a documentary entitled “Mariachi High,” now being filmed by Ruby Lake Productions. BELOW: Sophomore Collin Moffett plays the guitarron during practice at Zapata High School on Thursday afternoon, in preparation for this year’s competitions.
READY FOR THE BIG SCREEN
Sheriff checking extortion scam By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ
Mariachi group is chosen for documentary on American culture By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
As the Zapata High School Mariachi band, the reigning 3A state champions prepare for more contests, Ruby Lake Productions selected the group to star in a documentary titled “Mariachi High,” about how American children relate to their culture. As part of an endowment, a Ruby Lake Productions representative called Adrian Padilla, Mariachi director, to inform him about an idea to film students in South Texas, beginning with ZHS Mariachi band members. The production company would eventually move into the valley in search of a worthy group of students to film. A month later Padilla received the good
THE ZAPATA TIMES
news. The production company has already visited the mariachi band twice since the beginning of the school year, and will be getting about 400 hours of footage this year, he said. The ZHS Mariachi band also earned second place in the Albuquerque contest last year and graduated two of its members. In May, 11 seniors will be graduating, with many more coming in next year, Padilla said. “Our gene pool runs real deep, about 174 at the middle school and approximately 70 at the high school,” he said. The production company will follow mariachi band members in their day-to-day ac-
The Zapata County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a scam that aims to extort thousands of dollars from Zapata residents and businesses. Several people have reported receiving calls from individuals in Mexico who say the call recipient’s relatives have been arrested and are requesting large amounts of money in order to release them, Zapata County officials said. According to Sgt. Mario Elizondo, the caller attempts to convince the local resident that he is a relative. The caller then tries to make plans to visit Zapata. However, the next day, the same resident gets a call from the faux relative who
See MARIACHI PAGE 10A
See SHERIFF PAGE 10A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, SEPT. 4 Texas A&M International University will host its 6th Annual AutMus Fest today on the TAMIU Lawn facing University Boulevard. AutMus Fest is a celebration of music and offers a variety of artists and genres. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. The fun continues until 12 a.m. Food and refreshments will be available, as will fun games and activities for children. Pre-sale tickets are available at all Pocket Communications stores and Casa Raul South for $10. Tickets will be available at the gate for $15. Children under 12 accompanied by an adult get in free. For additional information, contact Veronica González at (956) 326-2171. Sponsored by the Laredo Rotary Club, Rodeo for Rotary Kick Off Trailride will start at the Alexander Crossing Golf Center. With free admission, registration begins at 8 a.m. and ride out at 9 a.m. The rodeo will be held at the L.I.F.E. Downs Arena today at 6:30 p.m. For more information, call George Jimenez at (956) 744-2146. Martin High School Class of ’75 will be meeting at the Ambassador on 7128 Rosson Lane behind La Quinta Inn on Loop 20 from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Entrance fee is $25 per person. Spouses and dates are welcomed. Semi-formal wear required. Deadline to RSVP was August 18. For more details, please visit the Martin High School class of ’75 on Facebook or call Lucy Gutierrez at 956717-1320. First United Methodist Church located at 1220 McClellan will be selling used books and magazines. Public is invited to attend. Donations will also be accepted.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 5 The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will be hosting the Out of the Darkness Bowl-a-Thon on behalf of “Team Annabel” at Jett Bowl North located on McPherson Rd. and Gale Street starting at 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sign-up fee is $25 per person and five bowlers per team. All proceeds will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For more information, call Shelly Barrientos at 210-317-0942 or coordinators Angie Barrientos at 210-3176451 or Patricia Lerke at 956-334-9481. Wednesday, Sept. 8 The South Texas Food Bank Board of Directors meets at noon today at the Lamar Bruni Vergara South Texas Food Bank office, 1907 Freight St. at Riverside Drive. For more information, call (956) 726-3120. The American Cancer Society and Doctors Hospital of Laredo will co-sponsor classes for people with cancer and their family and friends. The classes will be offered on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Doctors Hospital of Laredo. The I Can Cope educational program give participants an opportunity to share their concerns with others and to design ways to cope with the challenges that arise from a cancer diagnosis. Guest speakers include professionals in the field of cancer management. A physician will be present at all meetings to answer cancer-related questions. The classes are free. Light dinner will be provided. To RSVP or for more information, call Jessica Guajardo at 523-2658 or Diana Juarez at 723-9682. The Texican CattleWomen will meet today at Rudy’s Party Room. The purpose of this organization shall be to advance the welfare of the beef industry. Through education, promotional and legislative activities, the CattleWomen shall strive to maintain and build demand for beef products, address consumer need, and promote a positive image of the cattle industry. The group is accepting new members. For more information, call Cathy Reed at 744-1983. The Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum proudly presents ‘A Photographic Journey along El Camino Real de los Tejas.’ The event will be displayed throughout the entire month of Sept.. Museum hours are Tuesday – Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m and is located at 810 Zaragoza Street. General admission is free on Tuesdays. For more information, call the Webb County Heritage Foundation at 956-727-0977.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 9 The LaredoHams Amateur Radio club will be meeting at Rudy’s BBQ located at 7305 McPherson Road in the back room. This meeting is for those interested in amateur radio, electronics, antenna building or emergency communications. Meeting is scheduled to be from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Call 956-712-9629 for more information. 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
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Tony Gutierrez | AP
Juan Garcia Jr., a neighbor of Darlene and Alan Nevil, talks with reporters about the shooting that claimed their lives, in Garland. A 13-year-old boy and his 12-year-old girlfriend will face capital murder charges in the Garland shooting after the second victim died, authorities said Friday
Murder charges for duo By LINDA STEWART BALL ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS — A 13-year-old boy and his 12year-old girlfriend will face capital murder charges in a Dallas-area shooting after the second victim died, authorities said Friday. Alan Nevil, 48, died Thursday night from wounds he suffered in an Aug. 17 attack that also killed his wife, Darlene Nevil, 46. Alan Nevil was found bleeding on a neighbor’s front yard. He told police who shot him and authorities arrested the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl within a quarter of a mile from the house, Harn said. The children initially were charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting. Garland police said Friday in a statement they were working with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office to upgrade those charges to capital murder.
For adults, the maximum sentence range is life in prison or death, in a capital murder case. But for juveniles, the maximum penalty is 40 years confinement in a Texas Youth Commission facility with a possible transfer to the Texas Department of Corrections. At age 19, a juvenile could also be released from TYC on adult parole if they’ve been rehabilitated, he said. “Homicide cases make up a very small percentage, less than 1 percent of the cases we prosecute in juvenile court,” Hill said. “We’re not seeking certification (as an adult) on this case; the law would not allow it.” A child must be at least 14 years old to stand trial as an adult, said Hill. Hill said he anticipated that the upgraded capital murder charges against the youths would “happen very quickly,” though he declined to speak in specifics about their case.
State applies for ed jobs funding
S.A. man arrested for heists in several states
Dallas-area man blames shooting range for wound
AUSTIN — Texas has applied for $830 million in federal education dollars intended to help schools through the recession. The Texas Education Agency submitted the application a day after Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to school administrators saying restrictions placed on Texas in the federal law “make it unlikely for your school to receive these federal funds this year.”
OKLAHOMA CITY — The FBI says a San Antonio man suspected of robbing nearly a dozen banks in five states was arrested. Agents say 46-year-old Douglas Edward Ford was taken into custody Friday in San Antonio. Authorities in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico are looking into the possibility that Ford is responsible for robberies committed in their states since March.
ROWLETT — A man with a bullet in his back is suing a mileaway shooting range. Michael Domin of Rowlett lives 1.2 miles from the Garland Public Shooting Range. Domin on Thursday sued for damages, alleging a stray .22 caliber bullet struck him June 12 while he was in his yard.
Bone found near Lake Ray Hubbard DALLAS — Investigators searched Lake Ray Hubbard a day after finding a small section of human bone nearby. The investigation continues, and they are unsure whether what they have found so far amounts to a crime scene. The bone was discovered late Thursday afternoon, and the medical examiner confirmed that it was human.
2 more identified in El Paso corruption scheme EL PASO — Federal authorities have identified two more people in a federal public corruption scheme involving more than two dozen former and current public officials and lawyers in the El Paso area. Patrick Woods pleaded guilty Friday to charges of conspiracy to embezzle or steal federal program funds.
Mom gets 50 years after child was beaten to death VERNON — A north Texas woman whose 5-year-old daughter was beaten to death has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Kristina Earnest was sentenced Thursday in Vernon after pleading guilty to injury to a child by omission. She had been charged with capital murder, but Wilbarger County District Attorney John Staley Heatly says her actions didn’t directly cause the child’s death. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION Suspect in Paris Hilton burglary pleads not guilty
CONTACT US
LOS ANGELES — A man accused of showing up at Paris Hilton’s house wielding two knives has pleaded not guilty to attempted felony burglary. Hilton was at home when Parada allegedly banged on windows. She posted a photo of his arrest on her Twitter feed.
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911 callers describe Discovery Ch. gunman SILVER SPRING, Md. — Emergency calls placed after a gunman entered the Discovery Channel’s headquarters include descriptions of the propane tanks strapped to his body and a blinking device in his left hand. Montgomery County police released recordings of radio transmissions and 911 calls Friday, two days after a man held three people hostage at the Discovery Communications building.
Today is Saturday, Sept. 4, the 247th day of 2010. There are 118 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Sept. 4, 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers under the leadership of Governor Felipe de Neve. On this date: In 1886, a group of Apache Indians led by Geronimo surrendered to Gen. Nelson Miles at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona. In 1888, George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film box camera, and registered his trademark: “Kodak.” In 1893, English author Beatrix Potter first told the story of Peter Rabbit in the form of a “picture letter” to Noel Moore, the son of Potter’s former governess. In 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces in France suffered their first fatalities during World War I when a German plane attacked a British-run base hospital. In 1948, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicated after nearly six decades of rule for health reasons. In 1951, President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation from the Japanese peace treaty conference in San Francisco in the first live, coast-tocoast television broadcast. In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus used Arkansas National Guardsmen to prevent nine black students from entering all-white Central High School in Little Rock. Ford Motor Co. began selling its illfated Edsel. In 1969, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report calling birth control pills “safe,” despite a slight risk of fatal blood-clotting disorders linked to the pills. In 1971, an Alaska Airlines jet crashed near Juneau, killing all 111 people on board. In 1984, Canada’s Progressive Conservatives, led by Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO’nee), won a landslide victory in general elections over the Liberal Party of Prime Minister John N. Turner and the New Democrats headed by Ed Broadbent. Ten years ago: French investigators announced that a stray length of metal which had gashed a tire of a supersonic Concorde, leading to a fuel tank fire and the plane’s fatal crash the previous July, probably came from a Continental Airlines plane that had taken off on the same runway four minutes earlier. (Continental has denied any responsibility.) Five years ago: Six days after Hurricane Katrina left a devastated New Orleans in chaos, police stormed the Danziger Bridge, shooting and killing two people and wounding four others. Today’s Birthdays: Actress Mitzi Gaynor is 79. Singer Merald “Bubba” Knight (Gladys Knight & The Pips) is 68. World Golf Hall of Famer Raymond Floyd is 68. Actress Jennifer Salt is 66. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson is 61. Rhythm-and-blues musician Ronald LaPread is 60. Actress Judith Ivey is 59. Rock musician Martin Chambers (The Pretenders) is 59. Actress Khandi Alexander is 53. Comedian Damon Wayans is 50. Thought for Today: “This moment contains all moments.” — C.S. Lewis, British author (1898-1963).
Photo by Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian | AP
The tail of a plane that crashed in a home is shown Friday, near the Aurora Airport south of Portland, Ore. The homeowner escaped unhurt, and the pilot suffered cuts on his head and leg.
Delay for man charged with beheading wife BUFFALO, N.Y. — The trial of a New York man accused of beheading his wife has been de-
layed until January. A judge said Friday that the psychiatrist for Muzzammil Hassan can testify that he had been diagnosed as a battered spouse who’d been physically and emotionally abused by his wife. — Compiled from AP reports
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
Zlocal
PAGE 3A
FFA LEADERS
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
The Zapata County Commissioners were given a tour of the new water plant as it slowly moves toward becoming fully operational.
Courtesy photo
Members of the Zapata chapter of Future Farmers of America attend the Leadership Development Lab on Aug. 28. Pictured from left to right are: Trey Alvarez, Rene Alvarez Jr., Luis Morales, Joel Rodriguez, Jennifer Santos, Richard Dominguez and FFA Advisor Ferny Rodriguez. It was the first time the event was hosted by the Zapata chapter.
Zapata water plant nearing completion By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Officials deploy aircraft to patrol Texas border By ZACH LINDSEY THE ZAPATA TIMES
The first unmanned aircraft to patrol the Texas/ Mexico border was deployed on its first official mission last week. Able to fly as many as 20 hours straight, and with video cameras that can shoot more than 19,000 feet, the aircraft could become a valuable asset to halting the smuggling of drugs and humans across the border, according to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. “We’ve been trying to get one of these for a while,” Cuellar said. The Predator B aircraft is stationed in the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi. The use of the aircraft may be new to Texas, but
since 2005, Predator Bs have helped capture more than 4,000 illegal immigrants, according to Cuellar’s office. There is already $32 million worth of funding for two more drones in the Texas area that will come from the $600 million 2010 supplemental spending bill. But Cuellar hopes to see even more in the region. “Texas is so big, I’m hoping we can get three or four more,” he said. Currently, there is no formal agreement between Mexico and the United States regarding use of the drones, meaning the drones are permitted fly in U.S. airspace only and may not intentionally photograph Mexico territory. However, in the long term, if the drones are successful enough, Cuellar said
he could imagine coordinating with the Mexican government and sharing information the drones gather. “We can do as much as the Mexicans want (us to do) to help,” he said. Although similar drones in Iraq and Afghanistan frequently have weapons, Cuellar stressed that there are no weapons on the drones used in the United States. “The only thing they’re armed with are sophisticated cameras,” Cuellar said. “The mission here is to provide intelligence.” A formal ceremony introducing the new unmanned aircraft will be held in Corpus Christi on Wednesday. (Zach Lindsey may be reached at 728-2538 or zach@lmtonline.com)
Zapata County officials got a sneak peak of the newly improved computerized water plant, which is more than double the size of the old one, at a luncheon provided by Bryan Construction Company. The Commissioners Court was introduced to water plant operations and its new technology after its completion two weeks ago. Commissioner Eddie Martinez was the only one absent from the tour. “One of the employees showed us the different amenities and what they do,” said Commissioner Jose E. Vela. The water plant project was awarded to Houstonbased Bryan Construction. The project totaled $10.5 million and was estimated to take 18 months to complete. Funds were allocated from grants and water development loans, said Carlos Treviño Jr., director of water plant. “We’re very proud of our new structure, very pleased with it,” Treviño said. “Everything turned out just as
I expected. It turned out to be a very successful program for us.” Zapata County was in need of a larger, more efficient water plant as the old water plant averaged 2.5 million gallons per day and peaked at 3 million gallons per day, Treviño said. “The new one is rated at 7.24 million gallons per day,” he said. “It’s quite a difference in size.” According to Treviño, the new water plant includes state-of-the-art equipment, of which all employees got extensive training in all aspects of operations. Operations in the old water plant were antiquated and employees had to operate systems manually, Treviño added. “We were behind the times in the old one,” he said. During a transition period, both water plants had to run simultaneously for about three weeks in order to prevent water production interruptions and begin operations in the new water plant, Treviño said. “We just started producing water last week. We’re
doing great,” he said. Despite the completion of the physical building in mid-July, operations are still in the process of a punch list and systems need to be introduced gradually. “I haven’t signed off on it yet, but I intend to do so this week,” Treviño said. In addition to the new technology, a new agent is also being added to the combination of chemicals in the water disinfectant process. “Chlorine dioxide was introduced in the new water plant,” he said. “We used traditional chemicals, but this new agent adds more of a disinfectant product to the water and kills whatever we couldn’t kill in the old one.” A combination of chemicals are used and constantly monitored electronically, he added. “There are various injection points and dosages are small parts per million gallons,” Treviño said. “They all work in harmony with each other and once the chemical recipe is achieved, then you have a perfect disinfection.
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Zopinion
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
EDITORIAL
OTHER VIEWS
Expect to be paying more NEW YORK TIMES
T
he latest annual survey of employer health benefits contains good news for the employers but bad news for their workers. The good news is that the average total premium for employer-sponsored health insurance (typically paid partly by employers and partly by their workers) rose only a modest 3 percent this year for family plans, reaching $13,770 in 2010. The bad news for workers is that their share of the premiums soared by 14 percent, reaching almost $4,000, while the amount employers contributed did not increase. In other words, employers shifted virtually all of the increased premium costs to their hapless workers, who were in a weak position to resist in an economy where there were few other jobs to jump to. Republicans routinely
chastise President Barack Obama for failing to guarantee that you can keep your current health plan if you like it. But the president has little power over the choices your boss has been making. This year’s annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust found that many employers have been changing your current health plan by paring back benefits or charging you more in premiums, deductibles or other co-payments. The long-term solution — a goal of the new health care reforms — is to restrain rising health care costs. But, for now, the nation’s economic woes and high unemployment rate suggest that burden-shifting will continue. Workers have little clout to demand cheaper or better coverage. Their out-of-work brethren are even more hard pressed to pay for health care.
COLUMN
COLUMN
The blame stops at Obama By GARY ANDRES HEARST NEWSPAPERS
Practicing tolerance By JONATHAN GURWITZ SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
S
everal weeks ago, just after the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, San Antonio’s newest mosque opened. There were no protests against the Al-Madinah Mosque. Local pastors did not threaten to build a bonfire with copies of the Koran. Thankfully, no acts of vandalism have been reported against what is believed to be the Alamo City’s ninth — yes, ninth — mosque. That is as it should be. Few things are more quintessentially American than members of a community coming together to build a house of worship. In most times and places in this country’s history, those houses have been churches and cathedrals. Then followed synagogues and temples. And now mosques — more than 2,000 of them across the United States. So it’s a bit tiresome to hear about how opposition to the Park51 Islamic Community Center — formerly known as the Cordoba House initiative, also described as the ground zero mosque — is driven by a national frenzy of bigotry and xenophobia. Americans have always strived to make the United States a sanctuary of religious freedom. That endeavor has not changed since Sept. 11, 2001. About the Park51 project, Imam Ameen Aziz, the imam of the Al-Madinah Mosque, says there’s no question that its backers have the legal right to proceed. “But (Islamic teachings say) I should respect my neighbors and friends and live in a respectful way,” Aziz told my colleague Abe Levy. “If I do something that offends you, I should look again and find a way not to offend.” With all due respect to the imam’s good intentions, offensiveness tends to be overrated. Part of living in a free society is the right to give and occasionally endure offense. But his is, essentially, the position held by most people who think an Islamic cen-
ter near ground zero is a provocatively bad though thoroughly legal idea. For those who want to build bridges of religious understanding and tolerance, it’s especially bad and likely to achieve precisely the opposite result. To point this out certainly should not inescapably categorize you as a bigot or xenophobe — though those do indeed exist. Last week, arsonists set fire to equipment at the site of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn. That is, as the crow flies, 750 miles from ground zero. A group of pastors is leading a protest against the establishment of a mosque in Sheboygan, Wis., also about 750 miles from ground zero. Another pastor is leading the opposition to construction of a mosque in Temecula, Calif., 2,400 miles from ground zero. Exactly how far from lower Manhattan does a mosque need to be in order not to be offensive? And speaking of offense, a pastor in Gainesville, Fla., plans to lead a mass burning of Korans on Sept. 11. People of good faith can’t remain silent in the face of such uncharitable — to put it mildly — acts. “We live here side by side peacefully.” Those were the words Ahmed Sharif told reporters in New York last week. Sharif is the cab driver who was repeatedly stabbed and had his throat slashed by a rider who apparently went into an alcohol-induced anti-Muslim rage. There’s a lesson in charity. Tolerance is, of course, a two-way street. If some wealthy individuals are going to start building centers for interfaith understanding, I’d prefer to see them spend money in places that need it far more desperately than the United States, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. That doesn’t mean, however, that some Americans couldn’t use a lesson in religious liberty. And it certainly doesn’t mean that people like Imam Aziz should have to worry that they are giving offense merely by being Muslim. (E-mail: jgurwitz@express-news.net)
W
ASHINGTON — Last week House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio delivered a stinging critique of the Obama administration’s economic policies. But the White House’s swift and tart reaction to Boehner was both illuminating and sadly predictable. On the day of the speech, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer offered a “pre-brutal,” ripped from the playbook of a presidential campaign. Vice President Joe Biden joined the fray, donning his full-electoral jacket, reminding us once again that it was another president that got us into this mess. Blame is like classic rock for this administration — they like it so much they never stop playing it. Aiming a political fusillade at a specific congressional critique may seem normal in today’s roughand-tumble 24-hour news cycle, but it’s a fundamentally flawed method of steering the ship of state. Yet this tactical retort to a congressional appraisal was dismally emblematic of a broader governing style, demonstrating that the Obama White House fundamentally misunderstands the role of the presidency. Presidents like Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, or George W. Bush, occasionally, but rarely, engaged in personal titfor-tat with congressional
leaders. Whenever they did, it also weakened them and advanced their opponents. But this president has raised the practice to an art form. Instead of positioning himself as the leader of the free world or as a post-partisan healer, Obama regularly inserts himself as a combative participant in Washington’s permanent campaign. Whether inexperience or poor strategic judgment, it’s certainly not the governing style he promised. Yet, whatever the cause, it diminishes him, elevates his detractors and mobilizes opponents. Maybe he thinks wading into culture-war battles or tactical political controversies reinforces his standing as a man of conviction. One example was his opining about Harvard professor Skip Gates’ scrape with the law last summer and what it meant about race relations and law enforcement. His response to the Arizona immigration law reflected the same tactical thinking. Most recently, choosing to engage on the New York mosque controversy reinforced the pattern. It’s like Obama created his own version of Newtonian physics: Every action deserves an equal reaction from the federal Leviathan. Each time it happens, it leads the White House down a new and unknown communications ally, far from the disciplined message march that his cam-
paign walked in the 2008 campaign. These spontaneous outbursts of opinion are unnecessary, revealing, and destructive. They are unnecessary because as president, he doesn’t need to engage in every local controversy. That he does paints him as man with more hubris than judgment, who doesn’t understand the nuanced differences between campaigning and governing. His opinions expose him as more ideologically liberal than originally advertised and also out of step with the preferences of a center-right country. Picking these fights is also destructive. Midterm politics/firing up the base tactics might explain some of his more recent forays. But Obama has followed these tactics from the early days of his presidency. For example, sitting down in a room with a bunch of congressmen and senators at his “health care summit” also diminished his presidency. Announcing a compromise in the Rose Garden is one thing. Debating the merits of a “public option” at Blair House last year as if he was the 436th House member is quite another. Why Obama purposely shrinks his stature leaves many scratching their heads. A Republican leadership aide underscored this point last week, reacting to the White House’s response to Boehner: “Anytime the president engages in a debate like this with Con-
gress, it diminishes him and elevates us. Why he consistently tries to do this, I just 1/8don’t3/8 understand.” Addiction to politics is part of it. As a result, he and his staff fail to understand the difference between campaigning and governing. Presidential scholar Charles O. Jones, in his book “The Presidency in a Separated System,” offers this assessment about the lessons every White House needs to learn: “Newlyelected presidents are fresh from an experience that is all-consuming and extraordinarily self-centered. A presidential campaign of perpetual motion focuses exclusively on the candidate.” But campaigns don’t have eternal life. “It is at that precise point of triumph that a new leader must be the most disciplined in acknowledging the requirements of a transition from candidate to president,” Jones argues. “The first lesson, then, for a president in a separated system is to learn what is required to do the new job, understanding the campaign experiences and campaign workers have little to offer toward that end.” If Obama and his staff ever take a breather from attacking John Boehner, finding new culture fights, or figuring out new ways to inject the federal government into state and local questions, they should read Jones’s book.
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Crime & More
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
‘La Barbie’ details life in taped interview By MARK STEVENSON AND PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — A former Laredo high school football player and petty street dealer who allegedly rose to become one of Mexico’s most savage assassins says he personally knew the country’s top drug lords and shipped cocaine from Colombia through Panama. In a video released by Mexico’s federal police, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as “La Barbie” for his fair complexion and green eyes, also told his interrogators that he transported cash hidden in trailers and spent $200,000 to make a film based on his life. The flamboyant suspect — he once owned a bar in Acapulco called “XXXoticas” — decided not to release the movie because it might reveal too much information about him. Authorities described him as a drug hit man who went on to become a major trafficker, shipping a ton of cocaine a month and thinking he would never be caught. Instead, with his arrest Monday, Valdez became the third major drug lord brought down by Mexico in less than a year. The 37year-old Valdez faces charges in three U.S. states for trucking in tons of cocaine. “I have work ... investments, there in Colombia,” he said, laughing, on the tape that was broadcast late Tuesday and provided to news organizations, including The Associated Press. When asked if he worked in drugs, he replied yes. Valdez’s U.S. attorney, Kent Schaffer, said Wednesday he has been stonewalled so far in getting access to his client. “I don’t know if it’s dummied up ... I don’t if that’s what he said or if it’s true,” Schaffer said about the interrogation video, which he had not seen. “That’s the perfect reason why they’re trying to keep him from talking to his lawyer ... so they can get whatever they can get under whatever conditions they can.” Schaffer said it appears the U.S. will seek deportation of Valdez, a U.S. citizen who is in Mexico illegally. “Whether an actual request has been made, that I
Courtesy photo
Zapata County Sheriff’s deputies seized more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana from a truck traveling north from San Ygnacio. A Mexican fisherman has been charged in the incident.
Photo by Alexandre Meneghini | AP
Federal Police escort Laredo-born fugitive Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez Villarreal, center, during his presentation to the press. don’t know,” he said. Authorities said Valdez could provide intelligence on other top traffickers, including Sinaloa chief Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Mexico’s most-wanted drug lord. Valdez told interrogators that he knew the principal leaders of the drug cartels, such as Guzman, the brothers Arturo and Hector Beltran Leyva, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Jose Gerardo “El Indio” Alvarez, whom he called his friend. His arrest at the entrance to a ranch outside Mexico City also yielded computers, telephones and other equipment authorities said would likely provide more information about his group. Valdez’s capture in some ways is more significant than the downfall of the other two suspected drug lords, Arturo Beltran Leyva and Ignacio “El Nacho” Coronel, who were killed in gunbattles with Mexican military forces, said David Johnson, assistant U.S. secretary of state for international narcotics. Valdez can provide the kind of information to dismantle an organization, he said. In fact, as Mexican authorities presented Valdez Tuesday, Colombian authorities announced they had detained 11 people allegedly linked to him in that cocaine-producing South American country. Mexican Federal Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas said the arrests were likely related, with Colombian authorities
taking advantage of a break in Valdez’s organization. Local media also showed a video from inside the three-level residence where he was arrested, including paintings of religious subjects, horses and flowers, Gucci and Cartier boxes, big-screen TVs, a pool table and a bar. Mexican police said they chased Valdez across five Mexican states for a year, a pursuit that intensified in recent months as they raided home after home owned by the drug lord, missing him but nabbing several of his allies. The biggest break came in December, when Mexican marines killed cartel lord Arturo Beltran Leyva during a gunbattle in Cuernavaca. That unleashed a gruesome fight between Valdez and Beltran Leyva’s brother, Hector, the only one of the cartel’s founders who was still at large. Decapitated and dismembered bodies littered the streets of Cuernavaca and Acapulco — and often hung from bridges — along with messages threatening one of the two feuding factions. An elite, U.S.-trained Mexican federal police squad arrested Valdez and four accomplices on Monday. “We were on his heels for the last six weeks, receiving tips, but Mexican law enforcement would show up and they would miss him,” one U.S. official said. “He was feeling the heat of Mexican law enforcement.”
2010 CTS/V - Payments are for a specially equipped 2010 Cadillac CTS Sedan RWD 3.0L with MX0 Automatic with an MSRP of $37290. $1999 Due at Signing. 27 monthly payments total $9402. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing.. GMAC must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.25 /mile over 22500 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
2010 CTS Wagon - Payments are for a 2010 Cadillac CTS Wagon Base with an MSRP of $39090. $3249 Due at Signing. 39 monthly payments total $15559. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing.. GMAC must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.25 /mile over 32500 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
2010 DTS - Payments are for a specially equipped 2010 Cadillac DTS Luxury with AN3 Front 40/20/40 Flex Seating with an MSRP of $52740. $5024 Due at Signing. 39 monthly payments total $23357. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing., plus $350 or turn in vehicle and pay a $395 termination fee. Lessor must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.18 /mile over 39000 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
2010 STS - Payments are for a specially equipped 2010 Cadillac STS AWD V6 Luxury with MX7 All Wheel Drive, JE5 Performance Brakes and PDP Luxury Collection with an MSRP of $58005. $5724 Due at Signing. 39 monthly payments total $23342. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing., plus $350 or turn in vehicle and pay a $395 termination fee. Lessor must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.18 /mile over 39000 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
2010 SRX - Payments are for a 2010 Cadillac SRX FWD Luxury with an MSRP of $38235. $2979 Due at Signing. 39 monthly payments total $16716. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing.. GMAC must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.25 /mile over 32500 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
2010 Escalade - Payments are for a 2010 Cadillac Escalade SUV 2WD Base with an MSRP of $63445. $5049 Due at Signing. 39 monthly payments total $27259. Option to purchase at lease end for an amount to be determined at lease signing.. GMAC must approve lease. Take delivery by 09-07-2010. Mileage charge of $.25 /mile over 32500 miles. Lessee pays for maintenance, repair and excess wear. Payments may be higher in some states. Not available with other offers. Residency restrictions apply.
Deputies charge Mexican fisherman in pot seizure By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Deputies say a fisherman from Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, had more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana in the back of his vehicle Monday morning, north of San Ygnacio. Authorities arrested Javier Gumercindo ValadezValadez, 31, and charged him with possession of marijuana. Deputies also served the man with a warrant out of the Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office on charges of terroristic threat and possession of a controlled substance. Deputies on patrol con-
VALADEZ-VALADEZ: Was also served with an outstanding warrant. ducted a traffic stop on a white 1992 GMC van box truck at about 9:30 a.m. as it traveled north on U.S. 83, approximately 5 miles north of San Ygnacio. An investigation of the vehicle revealed a compartment that contained several bundles of a green leafy substance, according to Sgt. Mario Elizondo. Deputies seized the 52 bundles, which weighed in at 1,227 pounds. The
marijuana has a street value of $541,107. Elizondo said though the vehicle was heading north, he could not say if the load was coming to Laredo. Elizondo said that the vehicle was not stolen. Though ownership of the truck is still being investigated, he said it was registered to someone in Brownsville. Deputies booked Valadez-Valadez and transported him to the Zapata Regional Jail. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
THE BLOTTER ARSON Deputies reported to an arson call at about 9 a.m. Monday in the 1000 block of Morelos Avenue in San Ygnacio. An incident report states that some people entered a residence and lit up window curtains. An investigation is ongoing.
CHILD LEFT IN VEHICLE An incident report states that deputies arrested two people on charges of leaving a child behind in a vehicle at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the intersection of 12th Street and U.S. 83. Authorities identified them as Johnny Lee Vaughn and Cindy Ya-
neth Cipriano. After booking procedures, Vaughn and Cipriano were taken to Zapata Regional Jail.
DISCHARGE OF FIREARM Deputies arrested Arturo Peña on charges of discharging a firearm at about 3 a.m. Aug. 28 in the 5400 block of Grande Lane in the Siesta Shores. An incident report states that deputies responded to the area for reported shots fired. Officials arrived on scene and took Peña under custody. Authorities recovered a 9 mm Beretta handgun. The man was booked and transported to Zapata Regional Jail.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT Jose Candido Valadez III was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at about 10 p.m. Aug. 28 in the intersection of Seventh Street and Villa Avenue in the Medina Addition. Deputies booked the man and took him to Zapata Regional Jail.
EVADING ARREST Alvaro Angeles-Lobaton was arrested at about midnight Aug. 28 near the corner of 20th Street and Ramireño Avenue in the Medina Addition. He was booked and transported to Zapata Regional Jail.
Zentertainment
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
Expomex begins in Nuevo Laredo By MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV THE ZAPATA TIMES
The 53rd edition of Nuevo Laredo’s Expomex, known as “la feria,” is set to kick off today, with a grand lineup of artists and singers at the Teatro Del Pueblo. The fair and exposition features livestock shows, carnival rides, Mexican delicacies, arts and crafts, games, comedy
shows and nightclub-type areas. It all starts tonight with Erika performing at the outdoor theater. Expomex President Gerardo Ramon Serna Aguilar said the two-week festival, which is part of Mexico’s Independence Day celebration, will feature popular artists. Tonight, Karla Gabriela Ceballos Gutierrez will be
crowned the queen of the festivities, which run through Sept. 19. This year, Expomex has more historical significance, as Mexico is celebrating its bicentennial anniversary of independence and the Mexican Revolution’s 100th anniversary. According to Serna Aguilar, Expomex was very selective in booking the artists for the outdoor concerts and shows,
El Poder headlines 2010 AutMus Fest lineup By EMILIO RÁBAGO III THE ZAPATA TIMES
Bumped up a month before it’s usually scheduled, the 2010 version of AutMus Fest will feature mostly Tejano/norteño bands Saturday at the TAMIU grounds. The AutMus, short for Autumn Music Festival and organized by the TAMIU Alumni Association, kicks off its sixth celebration at 4:30 p.m. Headlining the event will be El Poder del Norte, along with Siggno and Los Palominos. Local bands Incansable, The Shazz! and Bacchanalian Bliss and San Antonio rap/reggaeton artist Juvee will be the first four acts to play. Like other outdoor festivals, AutMus Fest will also offer an array of Mexican antojitos, such as fajita tacos and enchiladas; sweets, such as funnel cakes; and many drinks, including beer. The festival has grown throughout the years, now attracting more than 10,000 visitors, according to its website.
The bands Local rock/ska/punk band Bacchanalian Bliss will kick things off at 4:30 p.m., performing their original tracks such as “Ask Reeme” and “This or That.” Bliss band members are Alex Peña, Ivan Rivas, Nolan Arriaga, Oscar Canales, Monika Sanchez and Joseph Garner. Funk/electric band The Shazz! follows at 5:15 p.m.
Express-News file photo
Based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, El Poder del Norte first emerged in the entertainment scene in the mid 1990s. The band comprises of Erik Gonzales, Fernando Gutierrez, David Treviño, and EJ Laurel. At 6 p.m., San Antonio’s Juvee, a rap and reggaeton artist, takes over the stage. Juvee, who sings ala Pitbull, is signed to Third Degree Entertainment, a rap music label also based in San Antonio. His songs include “Get Crazy” and “Nada Como Tu y Yo.” Grupo Incansable plays next, beginning at 6:45 p.m. Grupo Siggno, from Santa Rosa, Texas, plays at 7:50 p.m. Some of Siggno’s popular songs are “Sin Tu Amor,” “El Amor Que Tu Me Das,” “Decirte Te Quiero,” “En Mi Vas a Encontrar” and “Yo Queria.” With a long career in the Tejano industry, Los Palominos, a group formed by four brothers out of Uvalde, returns to Laredo once again as the co-headliner of AutMus. Juan “Johnny,” Jaime “James,” Jorge “George,” and Julio Arreola make up Los Palominos, which has been nominated multiple times for a Latin Grammy
and finally won one in 2007. Among the many hits Los Palominos has produced are “Corazon de Crystal,” “Eres Lo Que Mas Quiero,” “Como Olvidarte,” “La Llama,” “Duele El Amor” and “Mi Obession.” Los Palominos play at 9:40 p.m. El Poder del Norte, known for big hits such as “A Ella,” “Pero Me Perdonas,” “Maldito Orgullo,” “Para Que Me Engaño,” “Ni Que Valieras Tanto,” “Es Mejor Perdonar” and “Ya Perdi,” among others, will close out the festival, getting on stage at 11:30 p.m. El Poder, as they are often referred as, is made up of Arturo Buenrostro Hernández, Martín de Jesús Buenrostro Hernández, Rudy Wong Cantú, David Leonardo Bocanegra Castillo, Rubén Robles Cano and Alejandro Fuentes Martínez. Tickets to Saturday’s AutMus Fest are $10 presale and $15 at the gate. Presale tickets are available at Pocket communications stores. For more information, visit http://www.autmusfest.com.
Rodeo competition at LIFE By EMILIO RÁBAGO III THE ZAPATA TIMES
If you want to have some quality family time this weekend, you might want to head out to the Laredo International Fair and Exposition grounds. The Laredo Rotary Club is hosting a rodeo competition, dubbed “Rodeo for Rotary,” which will feature a variety of competitions, children’s activities, a trail ride and a country music dance. Ed Medina, president of the Laredo Rotary Club, said the event is a fundraiser for the club’s contributions to the community. “(This is) the first time this has ever been done, and
we’re hoping that it’ll be our biggest fundraiser,” Medina said, adding that a rodeo competition hasn’t been held in the city for more than a decade. The Rodeo for Rotary kicks off Saturday morning with a trail ride, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Doors at LIFE Downs open at 4 p.m. for the rodeo exhibitions and competitions and children’s events — calf scramble and mutton bustin’ — begin at 4:30 p.m., before the rodeo. Rodeo events include barrel racing, bull ridingbreakaway roping, team ropingbronc riding and calf roping. There is a $10 paperwork fee as well.
Cash prizes are lucrative, perhaps exceeding $5,000 and organizers have added $3,000.Competitions last until 9:30 p.m. and the country concert starts at 9 p.m. in the LIFE Downs enclosed pavilion. Featured artists at the dance, which ends at 2 a.m., will be Nick Lawrence and the Nathan Mathis Band, both from San Antonio. Tickets are $18 for both the rodeo and concert. Prices at the door are $10 for rodeo only and $14 for the concert. They are available at Kelly’s Western Wear and Casa de Musica Guadalupe. Kids under 10 are free. For more information, call 744-2146.
which feature bands such as La Sonora Dinamita, La Costumbre and headliner El Poder del Norte. Ten of the artists have never played at Expomex. As far as the Palenque, the venue that has hosted big concerts such as that of Vicente Fernandez, among others, Serna Aguilar said it will be open for cockfights, where betting is legal.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
TEATRO DEL PUEBLO LINEUP Sunday, Sept. 5: Nikki Clan Monday, Sept. 6: Ángeles Negros Tuesday, Sept. 7: Teo Gonzalez (comedian) Wednesday, Sept. 8: Cartel de Santa Thursday, Sept. 9: La Costumbre Friday, Sept. 10: Natalia Lafourcade Saturday, Sept. 11: Volovan Sunday, Sept. 12: Banda Jerez Monday, Sept. 13: Caballo Dorado Tuesday, Sept. 14: Los Chicharrines (clown show) Wednesday, Sept. 15: Viva Mexico (ballet) Thursday, Sept. 16: La Sonora Dinamita Friday, Sept. 17: Sandoval Saturday, Sept. 18: Playa Limbo Sunday, Sept.19: El Poder del Norte
SÁBADO 4 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2010
Zfrontera
Aviones vigilarán frontera
Agenda en Breve SÁBADO 4 DE SEPTIEMBRE LAREDO — Se llevará a cabo una venta de libros en la Widener Room de la First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave., de 8:30 a.m. a 1 p.m. La entrada es gratuita. También se acepta la donación de libros y revistas. LAREDO — Hoy es el AutMust Fest en terrenos de Texas A&M International University a partir de las 4:30 p.m. Boletos a 10 dólares en preventa y 15 dólares en la puerta. Niños menores de 12 años entran gratis. El estacionamiento también es gratuito. LAREDO — Patrocinado por el Laredo Rotary Club, la Cabalgata Rodeo for Rotary iniciará en el Alexander Crossing Golf Center. La admisión es gratuita y las inscripciones inician a las 8 a.m. La cabalgata a las 9 a.m. El rodeo será en el L.I.F.E. Downs Arena a las 6:30 p.m. Más información con George Jimenez al (956) 744-2146. NUEVO LAREDO — Durante la Semana del Sonido se presenta una dinámica para niños “Exploradores sonoros/caminata sonora” a las 2 p.m. u el “Concierto a Oscuras”, que es un arte sonoro, música electroacústica con paisaje sonoro a las 7 p.m. en Estación Palabra. SAN ANTONIO — Hoy se inaugura “FotoSeptiembreUSA 2010”, con las exhibiciones ‘Slanted Glances: Idiosyncratic Interpretations of Independence & Revolution in Mexico’ curada por Michael Mehl; ‘Oyeme con los Ojos’ de Josephine Sacabo; ‘Halfway Child’ de Josefina Niggli curada por Michael Mehl y William Fisher. La ceremonia es a las 4 p.m. en el Instituto Cultural de México en San Antonio (600 Hemisfair Park). Reservar al (210) 227-0123.
DOMINGO 5 DE SEPTIEMBRE SAN ANTONIO — Hoy es la conferencia y evento principal de “FotoSeptiembreUSA 2010” a las 5 p.m. en el Auditorio del Instituto Cultural de México (600 Hemisfair Park). Se presentará Patricia Mendoza con la conferencia ‘Land, Identity & Image’. El evento es gratuito. Favor de reservar al (210) 227-0123.
LUNES 6 DE SEPTIEMBRE LAREDO — Hoy es el 2010 Family Chevrolet Bola Blanca Chamber Classic con motivo del Día del Trabajo a partir de las 7:30 a.m. en el Laredo Country Club. La cuota es de 175 dólares para quienes no sean miembros de la Cámara y 150 para quienes son miembros. Más información llamando al (956) 722-9895.
MIÉRCOLES 8 DE SEPTIEMBRE LAREDO — Las Texican CattleWomen se reúnen hoy en Rudy’s Party Room. El propósito es compartir las ventajas de la industria de la carne. El grupo está aceptando nuevos integrantes. Más información llamando a Cathy Reed al 744-1983. SAN ANTONIO — “FotoSeptiembreUSA 2010” presenta la exposición ‘The Casasola Archives: Mexico – Beyond the Revolution!’ con imágenes de Agustín Víctor Casasola. La ceremonia es hoy a las 6 p.m. en el Centro Internacional de la Ciudad de San Antonio (203 South St. Mary’s. Más información en el (210) 2270123.
JUEVES 9 DE SEPTIEMBRE AVISO: Hoy estará cerrada la Clínica de Vacunación del Departamento de Salud de la Ciudad de Laredo de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m.
PÁGINA 7A
POR ZACH LINDSEY TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
El Gobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores habla a los presentes durante una ceremonia para honrar la memoria del Alcalde de Hidalgo, Marco Antonio Leal García.
Hernández: homicidio no quedará impune Alcalde de Hidalgo recibió 27 disparos TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
El domingo 29 de agosto Tamaulipas volvió a vivir un lamentable incidente resultado de la violencia de los últimos meses. El Alcalde de Hidalgo, Marco Antonio Leal García, fue asesinado alrededor de las 3 p.m. sobre el camino de terracería ubicado al lado oriente de la Carretera Victoria-Monterrey, rumbo al poblado El Tomaseño. Leal, quien transitaba acompañado de su hija de 10 años, perdió la vida de manera instantánea. Durante un homenaje luctuoso, el Gobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores dijo que la pérdida de Leal pone en evidencia que la amenaza más grande y el principal desafío que tenemos como país y como estado, es la inseguridad. Además calificó la agresión como “injusta, cobarde y artera”. “Es un crimen que atenta contra las bases de nuestra convivencia, al igual que a nuestra vida institucional y democrática, de tal forma que su pérdida, nos mueve a actuar con mayor decisión para salir adelante en estos momentos de dolor e infortunio y continuar avanzando en el marco de la ley, la unidad y la concordia”, dijo Hernández. Hernández aseguró que este homicidio no puede quedar impune, por lo que se dará puntual seguimiento a las pesquisas correspondientes, para que se aplique todo el peso de la ley a los culpables. La hija de Leal resuló con lesiones en una pierna producidas por dos impactos de proyectil de arma de fuego que le provocaron fractura de tibia. Fue aten-
(La sociedad) nunca se ha doblegado e insiste con firmeza y serenidad en la permanencia del estado de derecho. dida en un hospital de Ciudad Victoria. A Leal le sobreviven su esposa Maribel Valdéz Albear y sus hijos María Esther, Marco Antonio y Maritza Maribel.
Investigaciones Leal conducía una camioneta tipo Pick Up, marca Ford F-250 XL, Super Duty, con placas de Texas, modelo 2004. La unidad presentaba 44 orificios de entrada en el lado izquierdo y cuatro orificios de salida en la puerta del lado derecho, daños en el medallón y parabrisas, así como restos de tejido en el interior del vehículo. El Subprocurador General de Justicia del Estado, Hernán de la Garza Tamez, dijo que autoridades recolectaron 18 casquillos operados y percutidos calibre 7.62x39, tres casquillos de escopeta calibre 12 y una bala completa con cierto grado de deformidad. La autopsia reveló que el cuerpo de Leal presentaba 27 heridas producidas por proyectiles disparados por arma de fuego de las cuales, 11 son orificio de entrada, siete orificios de salida, cinco no penetran a cavidad y cuatro son en sedal. Las lesiones se encontraron en cráneo, tórax y abdomen región anterior y posterior, cadera y extremidades superiores e inferiores.
Inseguridad En un comunicado de prensa, la situación de seguridad que vive la entidad
fue calificada como “una coyuntura inédita”, a lo cual agregó que Hernández dijo que su administración de nueva cuenta cierra filas con el Gobierno de la República y con todos y cada uno de los municipios que componen el estado, con el fin de revertir esta inadmisible situación. Ante esto anunció que ya se han sostenido acuerdos con la Secretaría de Gobernación, la Procuraduría General de la República y la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública Federal para seguir trasladando un número cada vez mayor de elementos de las fuerzas y de corporaciones policíacas federales. “Es necesario afinar y perfeccionar la estrategia contra la delincuencia, para asegurar la tranquilidad y la armonía de las familias”, dijo Hernández. “El crimen organizado representa la más seria amenaza contra nuestras libertades y derechos”. Expresó que ante este panorama el patrimonio, la tranquilidad y el desarrollo acumulado por años y que tanto ha costado a los tamaulipecos está en riesgo, por lo que convocó a defenderlo de quienes atentan contra las instituciones y lastiman el Estado de derecho. Declaró que los tamaulipecos estamos dispuestos y decididos a recuperar la paz y el orden, pues la razón está de nuestro lado y advirtió que la sociedad tamaulipeca está dispuesta a continuar haciendo su parte, nunca se ha doblegado e insiste con firmeza y serenidad en la permanencia del estado de derecho.
El primer avión solitario para patrullar la frontera Texas/México inició su primera misión oficial el miércoles. Con la capacidad para volar tanto como 20 horas continuas, y con video cámaras que pueden ver tanto como 19,000 pies, el avión pudiera convertirse en un valor agregado para detener contrabando de drogas y humanos por la frontera, de acuerdo al Representante de EU Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. “Hemos estado intentando obtener uno de esos por un tiempo”, dijo Cuellar. El avión Predator B estará ubicado en la Estación Aérea Naval en Corpus Christi. El uso del avión puede ser nuevo para Texas, pero desde 2005, Predator Bs han ayudado a asegurar más de 4,000 inmigrantes ilegales, de acuerdo a la oficina de Cuellar. Ya hay 32 millones de dólares en fondos para dos aparatos más en el área de Texas que vendrán de los 600 millones de dólares en la propuesta de gasto suplemental 2010. Pero Cuellar espera ver inclusive más en la región. “Texas es tan grande,
espero que podamos obtener tres ó cuatro más”, dijo él. Actualmente, no hay un acuerdo formal entre México y los Estados Unidos en relación al uso de los aparatos, significando que son permitidos para volar el espacio aéreo de EU únicamente y no pueden fotografiar intencionalmente el territorio mexicano. Sin embargo, a largo plazo, si los aviones son lo suficientemente exitosos, Cuellar dijo que pudiera imaginarse coordinados con el gobierno mexicano y compartir información obtenida por los aparatos. “Podemos hacer tanto como México desee (que hagamos) para ayudar”, dijo él. Aunque aparatos similares en Irak y Afganistán frecuentemente llevan armas, Cuellar aclaró que no hay armas sobre los aviones en los Estados Unidos. “La única cosa con la que están armados son con cámaras sofisticadas”, dijo Cuellar. “La misión aquí es proveer información”. Una ceremonia formal presentando los nuevos aviones sin pilotos, será realizada en Corpus Christi el 8 de septiembre. (Localice a Zach Lindsey en el 728-2538 ó en zach@lmtonline.com)
NUESTRA BELLEZA TAMAULIPAS 2010 Claudia Maribel González Elizondo, es vista en la etapa de vestido casual, el durante de evento Nuestra Belleza Tamaulipas 2010. González dijo estar lista para representar al estado en el certamen nacional que se realizará el 25 de septiembre en Coahuila.
Foto de cortesía
Oficiales decomisan 1,200 libras de marihuana Acusado es de Ciudad Guerrero POR CÉSAR G. RODRÍGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Oficiales dicen que un pescador de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, Tamaulipas, México, tenía más de 1,200 libras de marihuana en la parte trasera de su vehículo el lunes por la mañana, al norte de VALADEZ San Ygnacio. Autoridades arrestaron a Javier Gumercindo Valadez-Valadez, de 31 años de edad, y acusado con posesión de marihuana. Oficiales también cumplieron una orden de arresto contra Valadez, de parte de la Oficina del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata por cargos de amena-
za terrorista y posesión de una sustancia controlada. Oficiales patrullando el sector realizaron un alto vial a una van GMC, modelo 1992, color blanco, a las 9:30 a.m. del 30 de agosto, cuando circulaba hacia el norte sobre la U.S. 83, aproximadamente cinco millas al norte de San Ygnacio. Una investigación sobre el vehículo reveló un compartimiento que contenía varios paquetes de una sustancia de hojas verdes, de acuerdo al Sgt. Mario Elizondo. Oficiales decomisaron los 52 paquetes, los cuales pesaban 1,227 libras. La marihuana tiene valor en la calle de 541,107 dólares. Elizondo dijo que aunque el vehículo se dirigía hacia el norte, él no podía decir si la carga iba hacia
Foto de cortesía
Oficiales del Alguacil del Condado de Zapata decomisaron más de 1,200 libras de marihuana localizadas dentro de una camioneta viajando hacia el norte de San Ygnacio. Laredo. Elizondo dijo que el vehículo no era robado. Aunque la propiedad de la camioneta sigue siendo
investigada, agregó que esta registrada a alguien en Brownsville. Oficiales ficharon a Valadez y lo trasladaron a la
Cárcel Regional de Zapata. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en el 728-2568 ó en cesar@lmtonline.com)
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
Few women come to give birth in US By BOB CHRISTIE AND PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JUAN, Texas — When Ruth Garcia’s twins are born in two months, they’ll have all the rights of U.S. citizens. They and their six brothers and sisters will be able to vote, apply for federal student loans and even run for president. Garcia is an illegal immigrant who crossed into the country about 14 years ago, before her children were born, and the citizenship granted to her children and millions others like them is at the center of a divisive national debate. Republicans are pushing for congressional hearings to consider changing the nation’s 14th Amendment to deny such children the automatic citizenship the Constitution guarantees. While a recent Pew Hispanic Center study shows 8 percent of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008 had at least one illegal parent, a closer examination shows that most children of illegal immigrants are born to parents like Garcia who have made the United States their home for years. Out of 340,000 babies born to illegal immigrants in the United States in 2008, 85 percent of the parents had been in the country for more than a year, and more than half for at least five years, Jeffrey Pas-
sel, demographer for Pew, told The Associated Press. And immigration experts say it’s extraordinarily rare for immigrants to come to the U.S. just so they can have babies and get citizenship. In most cases, they come for economic reasons and better hospitals, and end up staying and raising families. Garcia’s husband has been deported and she earns a living selling tamales to other immigrants who live in fear of being deported from the impoverished colonias that dot the Texas-Mexico border. “I think that children aren’t at fault for having been born here,” Garcia said. “My children always have lived here. They’ve never gone to another country.” Under current immigra-
tion law, Garcia and others like her don’t get U.S. citizenship even though their children are Americans. With an estimated 11.1 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, the issue strikes a chord with many voters — people like retired Air Force nurse and pediatric nurse practitioner Susan Struck, 66, of Double Adobe, Ariz. “People come over ... and they have babies with U.S. birth certificates, then they go back over the border with that Social Security number, with that birth certificate,” and have access to public services, she said at a recent event near the border organized by tea party activists. Several prominent Republican leaders share Struck’s beliefs on the issue. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has been a vocal advocate for changing the Constitution, and he helped the issue gain momentum heading into the midterm elections. “Women have traveled from across the world for the purpose of adding a U.S. passport holder to their family, as far away as China, Turkey and as close as Mexico,” said Jon Feere, legal analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for strict immigration laws. To be sure, some pregnant Mexican women do come to the United States. In border cities like Nogales, women have been
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
Miguel, 3, plays with his father, Miguel, an illegal immigrant, in San Juan, Texas. Miguel and his wife, who remain in the U.S. as illegal immigrants, have two children born in the U.S. coming to the U.S. for decades to give birth, although the primary reason is better medical care, Santa Cruz County sheriff Tony Estrada said. Tucson Medical Center, 115 miles southeast of Phoenix, offers packages designed to provide inclusive care to new mothers. The program draws residents of the northern Mexican state of Sonora who can afford its upfront costs. Princeton University demographer Douglas Massey said in 30 years studying Mexican immigration, he’s never interviewed a migrant who said they came to the United States just to get citizenship for
To Mexico: Improve human rights By MARTHA MENDOZA ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Obama administration is withholding $26 million in aid to Mexico, recommending that the government give more power to its human rights commission and crack down on abusive soldiers. In a report released Friday, the State Department said the Mexican government, which is mired in a violent battle with powerful drug cartels, has met human rights requirements to receive $36 million in previously withheld funds that are part of a $1.4 billion Merida Initiative. But the U.S. was going to withhold 15 percent of newly authorized funds until the Mexican government meets several requirements: enhancing authority of the National Human Rights Commission, limiting authority of military courts in cases involving abuse of civilians, and improving communication
with human rights organizations in Mexico. The Mexican government said it is working to improve human rights and urged Washington to speed up implementation of the Merida Initiative. “The State Department report establishes that the government of Mexico is carrying out actions to strengthen the observance of human rights,” the Foreign Relations Department said in a statement. “Cooperation with the United States against transnational organized crime through the framework of the Merida Initiative is based on shared responsibility, mutual trust and respect for the jurisdiction of each country, not on unilateral plans for evaluating and conditions unacceptable to the government of Mexico.” Maureen Meyer, a Mexico expert at the Washington Office on Latin America, which promotes human rights and democracy in the region, said withholdCarmen Ramirez - Rathmell, D.D.S.
11 indicted in El Paso corruption case By ALICIA A. CALDWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
EL PASO, Texas — Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people, including the El Paso County district clerk and the mayor of a small West Texas town, as part of a years-old public corruption case. Nine of the defendants, including El Paso County District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez, are charged with assorted violations under the federal anti-racketeering law. Also charged with racketeering violations are Francisco Apodaca Jr., former head of now-defunct Access Healthsource Inc., and Access consultant Marc Schwartz. The indictment accuses Apodaca and Schwartz of paying members of county and local governing boards so they would sign Access as health care plan administrators. Four others charged under the anti-racketeering law are accused of accepting the payments. All eleven defendants turned themselves in at the El Paso FBI office Thursday morning.
“Let your smile be a sign of happiness & good health”
1520 Corpus Christi Street Telephone (956) 726-0160
ing funds sends the message “that you cannot fight crime with crime and you cannot fight drugs while tolerating abuses by your security forces.” The Merida Initiative was a 2008 commitment from the U.S. to help Mexico combat cartels. Under the rules, the State Department must certify Mexico is banning torture, prosecuting law enforcement agents and soldiers who abuse civil rights before allocating all of the funds. A State Department report sent to the Senate this week commends the Mexican government for cracking down on torture, improving transparency and listening to human rights groups’ allegations that about military abuses.
But the report, which has not been publicly released, said the government needs to be more public and aggressive when investigating and prosecuting allegations of abuse by security forces. Mexico has faced repeated criticism for alleged military abuses. This year, human rights officials accused soldiers of shooting two children and altering the crime scene to try to blame the deaths on drug cartel gunmen. The army denies the allegations, and says the boys, ages 5 and 9, were killed in April when their family’s vehicle was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between soldiers and gunmen in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
their children. “Mexicans do not come to have babies in the United States,” said Massey, who blames the tightening of the border in the 1990s for cutting off normal migration of men who used to come to work for a year or two and then go home. “They end up having babies in the United States because men can no longer circulate freely back and forth from homes in Mexico to jobs in the United States, and husbands and wives quite understandably want to be together.” More common, he and other experts says, are families stuck with one child who is legal and others
who aren’t — like Beatriz Gomez, a 35-year-old illegal immigrant who came to Phoenix 11 years ago on a now-expired tourist visa from Arriaga in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Her 12-year-old daughter was born in Mexico and is here illegally, but her two youngest children, ages 8 and 5, were born in the U.S. and are citizens. “It’s sad,” Gomez said of her oldest daughter, who was only 1 when the family came to the United States and won’t qualify for benefits such as in-state college tuition rates. “She studies hard, and she won’t be able to go to a university like the other two.”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
Hardware store holds art exhibit, paint promotion By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Gerald Herbert | Ap
Dr. Ikes invites the public to the first annual Paint-A-Palooza featuring an art exhibit group “Sin Limits,” to inspire people to get creative and do it themselves with an in store promotion to buy one get one free gallon of True Value paint. The event kicked off Friday and continues today, from 1 to 8 p.m. at Dr. Ike’s in Laredo, showcasing local talent such as work from Dr. Ikes very own associates. Host paint expert Adolfo Salas will be showing live demos in addition to a variety of other entertainment for the public.
“Local musician Wayne Garcia will be playing 70s and 80 acoustic music,” said Elizabeth Murphy, Dr. Ikes Marketing Coordinator. An additional highlight is Laredo’s very own “Elvis” impersonator Luis Salazar performing at 6 p.m., she said. Refreshments and light snacks will be provided for the public while they listen to live music, she added. Dr. Ike’s is located at 4200 IH 35 North in Laredo. For more information call (956)721-7300. (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)
Boats spray water on an oil and gas platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana., on Thursday. All 13 crew members were rescued.
Fire complicates drill debate By MATTHEW DALY ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — What now for the Gulf ? News of another oil rig fire in the Gulf of Mexico, so soon after the BP oil spill, has set off a wave of anxiety along the Gulf Coast and prompted calls for the government to extend its six-month ban on deepwater drilling. Just when it seemed the Obama administration might be ready to lift the unpopular ban, the fire raises new questions about the dangers of offshore drilling, leaving the industry wondering when it can get back to work. “Anything that casts any kind of shadow on the industry right now certainly complicates lifting the moratorium,” said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University in Texas. “It makes it difficult to continue to say that (the BP spill) is an aberration.” But while initial reports were frightening, Bullock and other experts said Thursday’s platform fire is unlikely to have a lasting effect. Unlike the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig — which killed 11 people and led to the largest offshore oil spill in the nation’s history — the fire at the Mariner Energy Inc. platform 100 miles south of Louisiana killed no one and sent no crude gushing into the water. “There’s over 100 fires in the Gulf in a given year. Were it not for the BP incident this would receive very little coverage,” Bullock said. “This could have hap-
pened in a meat factory or a paint factory or anywhere else.” Even so, environmental groups and some Democratic lawmakers rushed to denounce offshore drilling and urged the Obama administration to extend the six-month deepwater ban to shallow water as well. The current ban has shut down drilling at 33 ocean wells, but there still are more than 7,300 active leases in the Gulf of Mexico, 58 percent of them in deep waters, according to the American Petroleum Institute. There are about 3,400 platforms operating in the Gulf, pumping about a third of America’s domestic oil. The latest fire “is another reminder that drilling accidents happen all too frequently. We cannot afford to lose any more human lives, nor can we tolerate further damage to the Gulf and its irreplaceable ocean ecosystems,” said Jacqueline Savitz of the environmental group Oceana. Rep. Edward Markey, DMass., a leading critic of BP, said the fire highlights the risks associated with offshore drilling. Lawmakers “have a duty to ... all oil workers to make sure the oil industry’s drilling practices are safe and sound,” Markey said. The Interior Department has said it is considering lifting the ban for certain categories of rigs before the scheduled Nov. 30 expiration. But after Thursday’s accident the department may hesitate to act. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he didn’t think the incident would affect the drilling
moratorium. Gibbs resisted any effort to link the platform fire to the BP spill. “At this point, based on what we know, I don’t want to marry those two up,” Gibbs told reporters Thursday. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday that the platform fire appeared to be an industrial accident. “At this point, it doesn’t seem like there was any oil that was released out so the oil pollution is not an issue, and it’s not another Deepwater Horizon issue,” Salazar said at a news conference in Anchorage. Industry representatives also distinguished between the two incidents, saying that the fire did not involve drilling and occurred on a production platform where wells have already been drilled and sealed, rather than a drilling rig like the Deepwater Horizon. Mariner Energy said there were seven active production wells on its platform, but they were shut down for maintenance shortly before the fire broke out. A crew was on the platform painting and sandblasting when the fire occurred, a company spokesman said Friday. Lee Hunt, chief executive of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said those urging tighter restrictions on offshore drilling were overreacting. “These things have happened and been reported before” and generated little media attention, Hunt said. Still, Hunt conceded that the timing of the fire was “not fortuitous,” adding that he expects upcoming congressional hearings on the Mariner fire to be a
“minor circus.” Hunt called the fire a “major blast” similar to one at a land-based refinery. “As a geographical workplace, you would expect some fires. Just like you’d expect some chemical storage facilities ... will occasionally have three-alarm fires on land,” he said. “They do happen.” Federal authorities have cited Mariner Energy and related entities for 10 accidents in the Gulf of Mexico over the past four years, according to safety records from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The accidents range from platform fires to pollution spills and a blowout. A day before the fire, the American Petroleum Institute held a “Rally for Jobs” in Houston to protest the drilling moratorium. Mariner official Barbara Dianne Hagood was among those in attendance, according to a Financial Times report. “I have been in the oil and gas industry for 40 years, and this administration is trying to break us,” she told the London-based paper. “The moratorium they imposed is going to be a financial disaster for the Gulf Coast, Gulf Coast employees and Gulf Coast residents.” Charlotte Randolph, president of the Lafourche, La., Parish and an outspoken critic of the moratorium, said the outcome of Thursday’s platform fire proved that the oil and gas industry has effective safety procedures. “The people were safely recovered. The oil did not spill. It’s everything the Deepwater Horizon was not,” she said.
Unemployment rate stays steady By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Unemployment is stuck at high levels even though some companies are hiring. The problem, government data show, is that too few jobs are being created for the growing number of people looking for work. Private employers added a net total of 67,000 jobs in August. But the unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, because the number of job-seekers overwhelmed the number of openings. The unemployment rate has exceeded 9 percent for 16 straight months and is all but sure to extend that streak into next year. If it does, it would break a record of 19 straight months above 9 percent, set from 1982-83, after a severe recession. Nearly 15 million people are unemployed this Labor Day weekend, and the sluggish economy is putting pressure on President Barack Obama and the Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections. Obama said Friday that he intends to unveil a new package of proposals that will likely include tax cuts and spending to spark job growth. On top of the jobs that companies created last month, both July and June’s private-sector job figures were upwardly revised. Overall, the economy lost 54,000 jobs last month as 114,000 tempora-
ry census positions ended. The Labor Department report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, but the figures were not as bleak as some economists had predicted. Wall Street embraced the news, and stocks surged within seconds of its release. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 127 points. “When the bar is low, it isn’t hard to exceed it,” said Diane Swonk, an economist at Mesirow Financial. The report “alleviates the sense that the economy is falling off a cliff.” Even with August’s gains, job growth has weakened in recent months and isn’t enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising. Private employers have added only 78,000 jobs per month, on average, in the past three months. It would take at least 200,000 jobs a month to keep up with population growth and rehire millions of unemployed Americans. Many economists don’t expect that pace of job growth until next year. As a result, the unemployment rate could exceed 9 percent for more months. The November midterm elections are already shaping up to be a referendum on Democrats’ handling of the economy. Many expect the majority party to lose many seats and possibly control of the House and Senate. Obama called the latest employment figures positive news but acknowledged that much more job creation is needed.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
SHERIFF Continued from Page 1A says he has been detained in Mexico and needs money to be released. The call is then interrupted by an alleged “comandante de policia,” who tells the local resident that $3,000 is needed to release the faux relative, according to Elizondo. “Deputies were called to a local convenience store because of several people sending large amounts of money to Mexico,” Elizondo said. About five cases have already been reported and only one individual is known
to have sent $3,000 to Mexico, said Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez. Also, several businesses on the U.S. border have been reporting disturbing calls from alleged cartel members in Mexico demanding money and threatening the business, Gonzalez said. “They are being told if they don’t pay, it will cause damage to the business,” he said. “If they fall prey to this, they should notify us immediately.” In addition, an unidentified individual is known to
be going around, visiting Zapata businesses that have received the threatening calls, and is offering protection for a price, Gonzalez added. “You don’t have to pay anyone. We provide this service at no cost,” he said. Residents of Zapata, Starr, Hidalgo counties have already fallen victim to this scam, Gonzalez added. “We take these matters very seriously and we will not tolerate this type of activity from thugs.” he said. “Zapata is a peaceful com-
MARIACHI Continued from Page 1A munity.” The public is being advised not to give out any personal information or send any money if contacted by anonymous individuals and should immediately contact the sheriff’s office. These cases are being investigated and any information can be reported to the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office at (956) 765-9960. Callers will remain anonymous. (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557)
GUNMEN Continued from Page 1A reached warlike proportions amid fighting between security forces and two feuding drug gangs — the Zetas and the Gulf cartel, former allies who split this year and started a vicious battle for trafficking routes in the area. One of two survivors of the massacre last month — an Ecuadorean — said the killers identified themselves as Zetas and gunned down the migrants because they refused to work for the gang. A military aircraft flying over Ciudad Mier on Thursday spotted several gunmen in front of a building, the Defense Department statement said. When ground troops moved in, gunmen opened fire, starting a gunbattle in which 25 suspected cartel members died and two soldiers were wounded.
Photo by Secretary of Defense | AP
A soldier walks past a pick-up truck and seized weapons near the town of Ciudad Mier in northern Mexico, on Thursday. Gunmen opened fire on soldiers after an airborne patrol detected armed men guarding a home near this town. At least 30 gunmen were killed and two soldiers were injured. Authorities rescued three people believed to be kidnapping victims in the raid, according to the statement. The military said troops
seized 25 rifles, four grenades, 4,200 rounds of ammunition and 23 vehicles. Earlier, a military spokesman said the gunmen were
believed to be on a property controlled by the Zetas. The second shootout erupted Friday morning outside the town of Juarez in Nuevo Leon, on a highway leading to McAllen. Soldiers went to the area after receiving an anonymous tip that armed men were circulating in a black SUV, according to a military spokesman. He provided the information on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal his name. The spokesman said the armed men opened fire, provoking the shootout that killed five gunmen, all of whom were believed to be Zetas. Drug violence has claimed more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on cartels after taking office in late 2006.
WATER Continued from Page 1A the raw valves that controls raw flow of the pump at the lake,” said Fernando Cuellar, water plant treatment operator. “One of the valves had a malfunction and closed.” All mechanical systems and flood valves are controlled by the Systems Control and Data Analysis and
operators could not override the operation in time and blew the line, Cuellar said. According to Treviño, a water system does not work like an electricity system where emergency generators take over when a main line is interrupted. “That was a major trans-
mission water line break. There’s no back up,” he said. When it breaks, that’s it; everybody goes down. There really can’t be a back up system like that. When the actual transmission goes down, that’s it; there’s only one.” Workers replaced a broken section of the pipe a
couple hundred yards from the water plant and water remained shut off while the pump was running, he said. “By the next morning, everything was back to normal,” he added. (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)
tivities, especially their practices to see how they do. The film will show the relationship of the students with the local culture, Padilla said. “A lot of my kids don’t speak Spanish. They do, but not correct,” he said. “It’s a big thing for us, and it’s been pretty neat as they filmed our auditions and the first two days of school.” Consequently, production and post production of Mariachi High will take about two years before showing on PBS. “It’s going to take a while, but they’re great people to work with,” Padilla said. In the beginning the students were nervous and slowly adjusted to being in the spotlight, Padilla added. “After you get used to them being around its no big deal,” he said “The hardest thing was doing the auditions with a camera in your face. It’s a lot of pressure.” Most of the students have become adjusted to the film crew, while others still need more time. “It’s really exciting and nerve wracking at the same time because you have people following you with cameras, and you have the added pressure to not mess up or else it’s going to come out on T.V.,” said Collin Moffet, mariachi band guitarrón player. Moffet said being filmed may seem like a reality show at times, but in general it is pretty steady and
the film crew seems to become invisible. Showing off, on the other hand, becomes hard to resist when playing a solo, he added. Before Mariachi, Moffet started guitar lessons at Zapata Middle School in the fifth grade and began the guitarron in the sixth grade with the middle school mariachi group, since mariachi as an extracurricular activity doesn’t begin until the sixth grade. His preferences were towards mariachi music instead of marching band, Moffet said. “I thought there’s guitar in Mariachi and so I decided to stick with the instrument I already know,” he said. “That’s what drew me in, and I started learning the music and what it was. I stuck with it vigorously since then.” Victor N. Garza Jr., a junior, plays the trumpet for the mariachi band, but didn’t share Moffett’s excitement. “Sometimes I feel like it’s way too much,” he said. “They’re following you every chance they get. Its cool that’s someone is recording you, but at times it feels weird.” Padilla said this year the mariachi band is experimenting with a mixture of music from traditional Mexican and Tejano music, in addition to English and classical. “It’s a hodgepodge of everything,” he said. (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors VOLLEYBALL
CROSS COUNTRY
Zapata soars Lady Hawks roll into demanding district By CLARA SANDOVAL ZAPATA TIMES
The Zapata Lady Hawks will be flying high into their first district game this morning against Port Isabel as they stroll in with a 10-3 pre-season mark. “It really is exciting that we are starting district in a positive way,” Zapata coach Rosie Villarreal said. “When we started on Aug. 1, I told the girls that we had so much talent that we could go far if everyone played as a team and not as an individual. “They all understood and accepted their role and things just started to fall into place.” For the past two weekends, the Lady Hawks have been road warriors who have found a way to win on unfamiliar territory. Zapata’s first stop was the Port Isabel tournament on Aug. 20-21.
“
They all understood and accepted their role and things just started to fall into place.” ROSIE VILLARREAL, ZAPATA COACH
The Lady Hawks tore through the tournament, making their way into the championship game against a heavily favored Donna team. Zapata, behind a great defensive effort by the back row and a poised attacked
See VOLLEYBALL PAGE 2B
NCAA FOOTBALL
Young ’Horns look for identity
Courtesy Photo
Left to right, Zapata High sophomores Lesli Juarez, Kassandra Garza and Angela Darnell compete at a recent meet.
RUNNING NUMBERS ZHS takes first place at Nikki Rowe By CLARA SANDOVAL ZAPATA TIMES
The Zapata girls’ cross country team continued to send a strong message to the rest of the district with its first-place trophy at the Nikki Rowe Invitational at Bensent Park in Mission last Saturday. Zapata was the only 3A school at the meet, but that did not deter its motivation and desire to take on the 4A and 5A schools. A field of 12 schools all hit the course early in the
morning, but with a different twist than your normal high school cross country meets. In a regular cross country meet, schools field a varsity, junior varsity and freshmen team. At the Nikki Rowe meet, athletes ran only against their own grade level. “The buzz started early as our seven seniors toed the line,” Coach Mike Villarreal said. “A coach approached us and said we could only run seniors,
not the whole team. I replied “’Those are our seniors!’” The Lady Hawks had by far the most entries in the divisions in which they competed. The meet was not exactly run as smooth as teams would like, but the conditions were the same for all contestants. High, thick grass, a poorly marked course and with no one leading the runners made for a hectic start for all contestants. The Lady Hawks over-
came the adversity and ran well with Marlena Garcia capturing the top senior honors. Kristina Garcia continued her assault on breaking the 13-minute mark with a strong ninth place finish and was trailed closely by teammates Gloria Jauregui (11th), Alba Jasso (12th) and Adrianna Ramirez (17th). When the six Lady Hawks sophomores made their way to the starting
See XC PAGE 2B
NFL
By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — No. 5 Texas has more than a dozen freshmen on its depth chart. Coach Mack Brown doesn’t see that as cause for concern as the Longhorns prepare for Saturday’s opener against Rice. “Youth is an excuse,” Brown said. “These guys are good players, and they came to play. It’s our job to get them in the right places. It’s our job to teach them what to do and then they’ll get the experience.” There’s Jackson Jeffcoat, son of former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jim Jeffcoat, at reserve linebacker. And there’s Case McCoy, brother of Colt McCoy, at backup quarterback. More important than any freshman who might play on Saturday, though, is the performance of a sophomore: quarterback Garrett Gilbert. Gilbert takes over for Colt McCoy full-time this season after an inauspicious start filling in for the star in a 37-21 loss to Alabama in the BCS title game. Gilbert threw four interceptions in that game after taking over McCoy in the first quarter. That fact hasn’t left him now that this is his team. “I think as a quarterback, the thing that’s been the most important for me is to be able to be the lead-
The high-school All-American will get show his stuff against a Rice defense which allowed 464 total yards and more than 273 yards passing a game last season. er, the guy that manages the game well and doesn’t turn the ball over — doesn’t make mistakes with the ball,” he said. Brown wants Gilbert to understand he doesn’t have to try to be McCoy and that he wants him to have fun and enjoy the moment. The high-school AllAmerican will get show his stuff against a Rice defense which allowed 464 total yards and more than 273 yards passing a game last season. Still, the coach knows it will take some time for things to run smoothly. “He’s going to have some problems,” Brown said, “but the way you
See GILBERT PAGE 2B
Tony Gutierrez | AP
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) reaches down to make a grab on a pass during drills at an afternoon practice at the Cowboys training facility Tuesday in Irving, Texas. The practice was Bryant’s first with the team since injuring his right ankle on the opening week of their camp.
Cowboys deal Crayton By JAIME ARON ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRVING, Texas — Patrick Crayton wanted out the minute the Dallas Cowboys drafted Dez Bryant. He finally got his wish Fri-
day, and it might’ve been worth the wait. Crayton was dealt to the San Diego Chargers, where he’ll be a bigger part of the offense than he would’ve been in Dallas and he will still be playing for a conten-
der. The change in locales isn’t bad either, although he’s leaving the area where he grew up. Dallas received only future considerations, likely a late-round draft pick. The club figured it was better
than cutting him and getting nothing, plus it puts him in the other conference. The Cowboys kept Crayton all summer mainly be-
See COWBOYS PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
Aggies open with new defense By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M’s offense was one of the most potent in the country last year, but the Aggies put up a losing record with a defense that was among the nation’s worst. They’re hoping the defense improves this season under first-year coordinator Tim DeRuyter, who came to College Station from Air Force. The Aggies have scrapped the 4-3 defense they’ve ran for the last few years and will unveil DeRuyter’s 3-4 scheme when they open the season on Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. DeRuyter is ready to see how the group, anchored by last season’s national sack leader Von Miller, stacks up against someone besides A&M’s offense. “I think we’ve got to really play fast,” DeRuyter said. “We’re getting to the point where our guys understand our defense and are going to maximize their speed. If we do that we should be able to force some takeaways, and get off the field and get the ball back to our offense.” DeRuyter said Stephen F. Austin’s offense, led by quarterback Jeremy Moses, reminds him of preparing for Houston and Case Keenum while at Air Force last season. Moses and the Lumberjacks won the Southland Conference last season and are ranked in the top 10 in six of the seven FCS polls this year. “He does a great job distributing the ball,” DeRuyter said of Moses. “They spread you out to get matchups. They are going to throw ball down the field as well as dink and dump, so they make you defend the whole field.” Miller, who had 17 sacks last season, isn’t concerned about matching or outdoing that mark this year. He takes it personally that the defense didn’t keep up with the offense last season and wants to help change things this year. “I just want us to take advantage of our opportunities ... so we can get the ball back to the offense,” he said. “We have a really explosive offense. If we can get the ball back to them we are going to give our-
Photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP
In this Oct. 4, 2008 file photo, Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson carries the ball during a game against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. Johnson spent last spring student-teaching elementary and high school kids, and football wasn’t necessarily the first thing on his mind. Now that he’sback with his teammates, Texas A&M’s star quarterback has realized that the skills he used in the classroom have helped improve how he deals with things on the field.
selves a really good chance to win games.” The Aggies have a 59-6 record against non-conference opponents in the last 25 years and have lost just two of their last 25 home openers, daunting numbers for Stephen F. Austin coach J.C. Harper. “Playing at Kyle Field and they’re 23-2 playing there, that within itself makes it incredible and then you add in their players ... it’s just a tremendous challenge for us,” he said. While Texas A&M’s defense is trying to establish a new identity, the offense is trying to build on what it did last season. Quarterback Jerrod Johnson returns for his senior season after leading the Big 12
conference in total offense last year. He has simple goals for Saturday’s opener and knows exactly what he wants to see. “Execution and tempo,” Johnson said. “With practice and substitutions it’s kind of hard to simulate that tempo. I’m looking forward to getting into the rhythm of things in a game and into what we do. If we can find that tempo, I think we’ll be successful.” Johnson threw for 30 touchdowns and 3,579 yards and ran for 506 yards and eight more scores in 2009. Coach Mike Sherman has been impressed with the improvement of Johnson since he took over the starting job in 2008. “I’ve seen a lot of pro-
gress in Jerrod,” Sherman said. “I thought last year he made his biggest jump, but he had the furthest to go when we went through last season. He continues to be a student of the game even more so. He studies it even more.” Harper knows Johnson presents a major challenge to his defense, but he’s more focused on dealing with sophomore running back Christine Michael. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Michael ran for 844 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. “I don’t know how we’re going to tackle him,” Harper said. “He might not get tackled. He might just keep running. He’s definitely a problem, one that we’re very aware of and very worried about.”
Banged up Rangers get Lee back By JON KRAWCZYNSKI ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS — Cliff Lee returned to the Texas Rangers on Friday after spending the previous two days in Dallas, hoping that a cortisone shot in his ailing back will help him get back to his dominating self. Lee had been getting progressively worse over his last four starts, culminating with a loss to Kansas City in which he lasted
just 4 2-3 innings and allowed seven runs — four earned — on 10 hits. In his last four starts, spanning 23 innings pitched, Lee is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA. He flew to Dallas and had the cortisone shot on Wednesday. On Friday, Lee said his back was still sore, but he wasn’t sure if that was from the shot itself or not. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday, after which the team will determine if he
will make his next scheduled start on Tuesday. “It’s probably what I should’ve done a couple weeks ago, but the competitive side of me wants to go out there and pitch every time,” Lee said. The lefty said his back has been bothering him for a few weeks and was affecting his ability to locate pitches. “I don’t want to say this is the reason why I pitched bad. There’s more to it
than that,” Lee said. “I still should be able to bear down and make pitches but definitely has affected my mechanics a little bit and my ability to be consistent with location.” Lee finished July 9-4 with a 2.40 ERA. But as the back problem surfaced in August, his ERA gradually rose to 3.37 and after allowing just nine home runs in his first 21 starts of the season, he has given up six in his last four.
COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B cause there was no incentive to give in to his trade request. But as club officials discussed their 53-man roster, they apparently felt they couldn’t justify keeping someone with his high salary ($2 million) in a reduced role (fourth receiver, backup punt returner). “You have to take everything into consideration — economics, how he fits with the team, the overall body of work — and you make a decision based on that,” Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said. “We really waited to evaluate all our receivers. ... We feel very comfortable with our depth.” They also feel comfortable with Bryant’s health. The former Oklahoma State star missed the entire preseason with a high ankle sprain, but is ready for the opener at Washington a week from
Crayton was among the team’s most sure-handed receivers, catching 196 passes for 2,888 yards and 23 touchdowns in 82 games, including 33 starts. Sunday. Bryant is expected to take over the roles Crayton had last season — No. 3 receiver and punt returner. Crayton skipped offseason workouts because he was upset about Bryant’s arrival. Once he showed up, there were never any problems. He just couldn’t get ahead of Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Bryant on the depth chart, and the Cowboys felt Kevin Ogletree was ready to take on a larger role in his second season. “I think he’s proven he deserves an opportunity,” Jones said. Dallas also has Sam
Hurd, a fifth-year receiver and special teams standout. His roster spot could be in jeopardy, too, because he has a $1.8 million contract. Crayton was among the team’s most sure-handed receivers, catching 196 passes for 2,888 yards and 23 touchdowns in 82 games, including 33 starts. However, fans will never forget that he dropped a likely touchdown pass late in a humiliating playoff loss to the New York Giants in 2007. Also Friday, Dallas traded offensive lineman Pat McQuistan to the Miami Dolphins for future consid-
erations. McQuistan was drafted by the Cowboys when Miami executives Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland were here and Dolphins coach Tony Sparano was his position coach for two seasons. He played 40 games, but never started. The acquisition of McQuistan gives the Dolphins more depth in the offensive line. Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long hurt his left knee during Thursday’s game at Dallas. Long left the game but walked afterward without a limp and said he was fine.
GILBERT Continued from Page 1B overcome your problems is the way you win.” The Longhorns also have a new look at running back with hard-running junior Cody Johnson earning the starting job. The 5-foot-11, 250pound Johnson nabbed the position after finally getting health and shedding some extra pounds. Brown is looking for Johnson to change the Longhorns’ running game, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to abandon the passing game. “We just want to run the ball better when we run it,” Brown said. “Everybody’s talking about how we’re going to line up and run it every play. That’s not going to be the case. We’re going to do whatever we need to do to win. We’ll still throw the ball.” Brown believes this team has all the pieces to be successful despite their youth. He’s eager to see how they’ll respond this season and says they “can’t play with complacency.” “The question will be their chemistry, their motto, ’Every play, every day,”’ he said. “Are they going to do that or will it be a team like in ’06 and in some times ’07 early, that played up and down?” They’ll get their first tuneup against a team that is almost always overmatched when facing
the Longhorns and is a more than 30 point underdog on Saturday. Coach David Bailiff didn’t shy away from that fact and figures things will be most difficult for his offensive line against the Texas defensive front. “Earlier I called (Houston Texans coach) Gary Kubiak to see if we could get a scrimmage last week, but they were busy,” Bailiff joked. “That’s about the same type of people the Longhorns have. I think they have a bunch of future Hall of Famers. They’re a good football team. Is it a gauge? I don’t know, but I would sure like to see some improvement.” Owl fans are looking forward to the Rice debut of running back Sam McGuffie, who sat out a year after transferring from Michigan following a freshman season where he gained 486 yards and scored three touchdowns. He was a high school star in the area, with 5,847 yards and 83 touchdowns in his career at CypressFairbanks high school. “He’s a difference maker in the program,” Bailiff said. “He’s a lot like all the great ones. He’s the first one here and the last to leave. He loves the game of football.” Texas linebacker Keenan Robinson knows McGuffie is good, but he thinks the Longhorn defense is ready for the challenge of facing him.
XC Continued from Page 1B line, coaches continued to be in great disbelief on how many runners Zapata carried on its squad. “A comment was made once again about our numbers,” Villarreal said with a laugh. “The girls were up against a talented field of sophomores, many of whom just last season qualified for the regional meet as freshmen at the 5A and 4A levels.” Erica Hernandez was up to the challenge and outlasted some of the Valley’s top runners to take fifth place honors, while teammate Wendy Medina also medaled with a top 20 finish. Chuckles came across a group of coaches as the nine freshmen begin their running drills at the start. “The RGV (Rio Grande Valley) coaches were certainly impressed by our numbers, but they were in for a treat with our performance,” Villarreal said. Jazmine Garcia, who blazed through the course in 12:53 to take top freshman honors as well as top honors for the entire
meet, led the team. The freshmen girls competed against boys in their race, with Jazmine actually placing second, beating all but one male runner. Cassie Pena ran an impressive race as she fought for a fifth place finish, while teammates Clarissa Villarreal (eighth place) and Sara Pena (ninth place) also ran extremely well in their first two-mile race of the young season. Newcomer Daniela Vela (20th place) rounded out the medals for the freshman team. The team championship was decided by ranking all the times from each division from fastest to slowest. The ZHS girls were at the top of the list and earned their first victory of the season. Jazmine received an additional “spark plug” award for having the fastest overall time of the meet. The team will be off this weekend from competition but will be back in action on Sept. 11 at the Falfurrias Invitational.
VOLLEYBALL Continued from Page 1B at the net, beat Donna 1925, 25-18, and 25-22 to claim the title. “Winning the Port Isabel tourney has given the team the energy and confidence they need going into district,” Villarreal said. Senior Brandi King was sensational throughout the tournament and has found a place as one of the best volleyball players to come out of Zapata. “I knew that Brandi King would be a big part of our success,” Villarreal said. “She is just amazing and is probably the best athlete I have ever coached. She has worked hard and is very unselfish and is the core of the team.” King is complimented at the net by teammates Shelby Bigler and Kristina De Leon. “I have been blessed with two other girls who complement Brandi,” Villarreal said. “Shelby and Kristina have come up from the JV team and have added depth to the
team.” Last weekend, Zapata traveled to Laredo for a much-anticipated Lady Longhorn tournament at United High. Zapata made its way into the semifinals after disposing of Laredo Lyndon B. Johnson in their quarterfinal game, 23-25, 25-19, 28-26, to earn a shot at the title. The Lady Hawks fell to the host school, United, in their semi-final game, 2522, 10-25, 25-19 and played Cigarroa for third place. Zapata overcame a twogame deficit against the Lady Toros to claim third. King was named to the all-tournament team. “Finishing in third place at the United tourney was the icing on the cake,” Villarreal said. “Playing as well as they did, especially against United, and missing my No. 2 hitter made them realize that they are a good team and they can go as far as they want to as long as they play like champions.”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
HINTS BY | HELOISE A VET’S VIEWS Dear Readers: Here is a reader response to a previous column about FINDING A NEW VETERINARIAN: "Dear Heloise: My husband has been a practicing veterinarian for 35 years. We highly discourage owners from being with their pets as they come out of surgery. The pet sees the owner and tries to move around and get to him or her long before it is able. The pet also whines and cries and is more upset once the owner leaves than if it hadn’t seen the owner. It’s much better for the owner to call us a couple of hours after surgery to check on the pet, then pick the pet up when it is fully awake. "Also, my husband rarely makes house calls. It is impossible to always bring all of the right things needed to treat the pet. We much prefer having the pet brought to us, where we can carry it into the building on a stretcher if necessary. Then we have our entire pharmacy, blood machines and X-rays to get to work on solving the problem. "So don’t hold it against the vet if he says no to making a house call. We have good reasons for saying so. We have the health and well-being of your pet always in mind. -- Marilyn, Middletown, Ohio" Marilyn, your letter explains well why many vets can or cannot make a "pet house call," and my readers will now understand.
“
HELOISE
Thank you for enlightening us! Woof, woof. -- Heloise FUNNY STORY Dear Heloise: When reading your column about funny cell-phone stories, the one about the man whose horse crunched his phone because he sat it on a fence post was hilarious! It reminded me of an incident I had with guests. We were all taking naps. My terrier, Alf, joined one of my friends in her bed, then came into my room and jumped on my bed. I kept hearing a clicking noise, and realized it was coming from Alf ’s mouth. I opened his mouth, and out fell my friend’s hearing aid. I got it just in time. Suppose he had swallowed it! My guest had taken it out and put it on the night table when she lay down. We had a real good laugh over that for the rest of the week, and still do when we think about it today. -- Penny in Durham, N.C. VINEGAR FOR COFFEEPOT AND PET DISH Dear Heloise: I use the vinegar from cleaning my coffeepot to clean my dog’s water dish or the birdbath. Hot vinegar works really well, and I don’t waste energy heating vinegar for both tasks. -- Margaret Schultz, Green Lake, Wis.
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Sports
4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010
Photo by LM Otero | AP
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, center, poses for photos with boxers Manny Pacquiao, left, of the Philippines and Antonio Margarito of Mexico during a pre-fight news conference promoting their upcoming bout at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Friday. The two fighters face each other on Nov. 13, 2010 for the WBC junior middleweight title. Photo by Gene J. Puskar | AP
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger (7) and Byron Leftwich, left rear, warm up before an NFL preseason game against the Carolina Panthers in Pittsburgh, Thursday.
QB questions continue for Steelers By ALAN ROBINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger isn’t the only Steelers quarterback who might be out for four weeks. Byron Leftwich’s strained left knee ligament could sideline him for most or all of the first month of the season, leaving the Steelers with only two healthy quarterbacks — Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch — for their Sept. 12 opener against Atlanta. Given how secretive coach Mike Tomlin was in refusing to announce a starter for any preseason game, it isn’t certain when he’ll disclose his starting quarterback. The Steelers don’t practice again until Monday. After the Steelers learned the nature of Leftwich’s injury, Dixon was taken out of Thursday’s game against Carolina after throwing a single pass, for a touchdown — a strong indication he was being protected for the opener. Batch played the final 21/2 quarters, throwing only four passes. After working with four experienced quarterbacks during training camp, an awkward situation that re-
sulted in Batch getting almost no work with the starters, the Steelers suddenly are down to two. “Of course, I’ll be excited if it does come my way,” said Dixon, the third-year quarterback who got more preseason playing time with the starters than any quarterback except Roethlisberger. “At the same time, I’m even keel. I never get too high or never get too low.” An MRI exam performed Friday on Leftwich apparently did not reveal a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which could have sidelined him for the season. A strained medial collateral ligament is less serious, but still commonly takes weeks to heal. The team did not disclose any projected timetable on Friday. This injury couldn’t have occurred at a worse time for the Steelers, who traded for Leftwich in April with the intent of starting him while Roethlisberger served his suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. That punishment was reduced Friday to four games by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, meaning Roethlisberger can return for the Oct. 17 home game against Cleveland.
Now, the Steelers must find a way to remain competitive until Roethlisberger gets back. “I think we’re in good hands,” Batch said. “You had three solid guys who could step in when needed, and now we’re down to two.” Batch, a Steelers backup since 2002, owns an extensive knowledge of the playbook and often huddles with Roethlisberger between series to review coverages. Batch also played well while Roethlisberger was injured in 2005 and 2006, going 3-0 as a starter. Roethlisberger said there’s no reason why the Steelers can’t be as successful with Dixon as their starter as they were when he was forced to play after Tommy Maddox was injured in 2004. “It’s going to be different for him whether it’s on the road, at home, he’s got nerves, jitters, he’s going against a great nose tackle or a tough defense in Baltimore,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s going to be a challenge for him if he’s indeed the starter, but I think he’ll be up for it if his number is called.” The Steelers cut 10 players Friday and must make an additional 11 cuts Saturday to reach the 53-man roster limit.
Kubiak makes final cuts By CHRIS DUNCAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Houston coach Gary Kubiak got his toughest cut out of the way first. The Texans released kicker Kris Brown, the only player remaining from the inaugural 2002 season. Brown lost a competition in training camp to Neil Rackers, a free agent who was signed in the offseason. Kubiak said Brown was the first player he met with on Friday, a sign of respect for the only player who’s appeared in all 128 games in Texans history. “It was miserable, I don’t know how to put it any differently,” said Kubiak, who’s entering his fifth season. “Kris and I had a lot of conversations throughout my time here. We’ve had some great conversations, we’ve had some tough conversations on Sunday nights. But I respect him as a man. He’s a great person. I respect his career, and I know he’s going to have a good one.” Brown followed up his best season as a pro in 2008 with his worst last season, when he made just 21 of 32 field goals. Rackers spent the previous seven seasons in Arizona. He made the Pro Bowl in 2005 after setting an NFL record for field goals in a season (40). Kubiak said Rackers won the job more because of his deeper kickoffs than his field-goal accuracy. Neither kicker missed in the preseason until Brown came up short on a 56-yarder in Thursday’s 24-17 loss to Tampa Bay. Rackers hit
a 21-yarder later in the game. “It was a tough, tough call,” Kubiak said. “I have a lot of respect for Kris, and what he’s done here. But we made a decision to go in another direction, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in Neil.” Cornerback Jacques Reeves was also cut after he was outplayed by younger, less experienced players at training camp. Kubiak was secretive about other players released Friday. He said the Texans are still mulling some decisions, and would put out the full list of cuts on Saturday, the deadline for teams to trim their rosters to 53 players. Kubiak said he’s sticking with Dan Orlovsky as the backup quarterback, despite his uneven performance in Thursday’s preseason finale. Orlovsky completed his first eight passes before throwing two interceptions in the first half. “I can’t dismiss the great camp he’s had,” Kubiak said. “I’m not going to throw that away because he made two poor decisions. Now, do I like those decisions? Can we win with those decisions? No. But I can’t but help but think of the good things he’s done this camp, the progress he’s made.” Kubiak said former Southern Cal quarterback John David Booty would not make the final 53, but might be placed on Houston’s practice squad. Booty threw for 209 yards and two touchdown passes against Tampa Bay. The Texans worked out running backs Derrick
Ward and Justin Fargas on Friday as they look to replenish depth at the position. Arian Foster has earned the starting role, but Steve Slaton and Jeremiah Johnson have sustained recent toe injuries. “Obviously, we’ve got a running back issue on our football team right now, so we’ll be talking to a bunch of people,” Kubiak said. “We’ll be looking at the waiver wire very, very closely. We’ve got some issues to try and get cleaned up.” At least the toughest one is out of the way. Brown’s agent, Glenn Schwartzman, said he’s confident Brown will play somewhere this season. “We’re kind of going to just digest what just happened,” Schwartzman said. “The first situation that makes sense to us, we’ll definitely strongly consider that. But we’re not in a rush to just take something, just to take something. We want to make sure it’s a place where he and his family can be for a while.” Brown was 29 of 33 on field-goal attempts in 2008, the highest percentage of his 11-year career, before missing 11 kicks last year. “It’s been a great ride for him,” Schwartzman said. “He loves the Texans organization and the city. He did everything he could to put himself in a position to stay with the team. He had one of the best camps he’s ever had. He competed really hard, but the team made the decision it made, and he’s got to respect that and get ready for his next opportunity.”
Big bout in “Big D” By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARLINGTON, Texas — Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao dismissed a derogatory online video posted by Floyd Mayweather Jr., calling it an “uneducated message” and choosing to instead focus on his upcoming fight with Antonio Margarito. In the widely circulated video, Mayweather goes on an expletive-filled and sometimes racist rant against Pacquiao, the newly elected Congressman from the Philippines who faces Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium near Dallas. Mayweather said during the video, which appeared this week, that he’s on vacation “for about a year” and would easily defeat Pacquiao after that. “I just heard about that, but I didn’t see the video,” Pacquiao said Friday, at the final stop of a threecity tour to promote his fight. “But it’s an uneducated message.” Mayweather, at times interacting with fans by phone on the video, claims Pacquiao “can’t speak no English” and has “never seen a contract he didn’t like.” There are also suggestions that the Filipino
sensation has used performance-enhancing drugs, assertions raised previously by the Mayweather camp that resulted in a defamation lawsuit that is still pending. “It’s a really cheap low blow, but again, consider where it came from,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer. “We tried to fight him. He said no. He doesn’t want to fight.” Roach said he hadn’t seen the Mayweather video. Mayweather’s chief adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, did not return messages left by The Associated Press. Fans have been calling for Mayweather to fight Pacquiao, but negotiations have repeatedly broken down for what could have been the richest fight in boxing history. When a deal wasn’t reached in January, Pacquiao instead fought Joshua Clottey, defeating him in March at Cowboys Stadium. When negotiations broke down again this summer, Pacquiao turned his attention to Margarito, whom he’ll fight for a vacant junior middleweight title. It is unclear when the Mayweather video was made, but it appeared online this week when Pac-
quiao and Margarito were in the midst of their promotional tour. When asked about the possibility of a Mayweather bout Friday, Pacquiao responded: “I’m not looking for that fight. I’m satisfied with what I’ve done in boxing already.” Todd duBoef of promoter Top Rank said he had heard about the Mayweather video but “probably” didn’t have any interest in seeing it. Mayweather used to be a Top Rank fighter. Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) was denied an application to fight in California and had another application tabled in Nevada before the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation last week approved his application. That cleared the way for another high-profile boxing match at Cowboys Stadium, the $1.2 billion showplace built by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. When Texas licensing executive director William Kuntz spoke Friday, he said Jones paved the way for major boxing events in Texas. While he didn’t address Margarito’s license issue, duBoef applauded the decision by Texas regulators.