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HOMICIDE
Bloody murder Help late for victim, ‘covered in blood’ By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ
DANIEL VILLARREAL: Charged with murder, held on $750,000 bond.
THE ZAPATA TIMES
Deputies arrested a man accused of stabbing another to death after an apparent verbal altercation led to a fight late Thursday in east Zapata. Deputies took Rene Daniel Villarreal, 24, into custody and charged him with mur-
der. A man, later identified as 23-year-old Christopher Louis Martinez, ran toward a Zapata County Sheriff ’s Office deputy seeking help while the
official attended to another call around 11:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Miraflores Avenue. “He was covered in blood,” said Capt. Aaron Sanchez. Sanchez said preliminary reports indicated that during a fight, Villarreal pulled a knife and stabbed Martinez.
See MURDER PAGE 12A
Taxes increase in 2010-11 county budget By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
The Zapata County budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 was adopted with a 4-cent tax rate increase so commissioners could avoid having to use the county’s fund balance. The rate increase is expected to offset a budget shortfall. “We were offered four differ-
READY TO CELEBRATE
ent scenarios, a zero, two, three, or four cents increase per $100 of valuation,” Commissioner Eddie Martinez said. “Option four was the only one where we didn’t dig into the fund balance and keep it intact at around 14 million.” A home in Zapata is valued at $50,000 on average and homeowners will be paying an aver-
See COUNTY PAGE 12A
COUNTY
Chamber, museum, to merge Commissioners find way to save money by combining staffs By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
According to Ramirez, students are being provided with an extra 45 minutes of reading programs, such as the Dynamite Reading Club and the Who Wants to Be a Word Millionaire? program, which encourages students to read a million words by February. That’s been a popular program with some students, the principal said. “I’ve seen the fifth graders reading books in the cafeteria,” Ramirez said. Zapata North Elementary, a new school operating as a pre-K 3 to fifth grade elemen-
The Zapata County Commissioners have decided to combine the Chamber of Commerce and the Zapata County Museum of History as a cost-cutting measure, a decision the museum board was willing to fight against on Monday at the commissioners’ meeting. In February 2008, commissioners considered placing the Convention and Visitors Center at the museum in order to save money, but the idea eventually was dropped. “I think more people will stop there and it will entice them to visit the museum,” Commissioner Eddie Martinez said on Monday. “It can work and I’m sure they will find a way.” Chamber of Commerce president Jose F. “Paco” Mendoza was appointed museum director by the Commissioners Court as a result of the merger. “I think it was a decision made based on what was best for the taxpayers of Zapata, considering the financial situation that the county is looking at,” Mendoza said. “I think it can be done. I don’t see it as a very difficult task and I think my staff and I are both qualified to handle the additional responsibility.” According to Mendoza, the hiring of a new staff of four for the museum would have cost the county more than $100,000.
See SCHOOLS PAGE 11A
See MUSEUM PAGE 12A
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times
First grader Javier Gutierrez prepares a tostada as part of the 16 de Septiembre celebration at Zapata South Elementary School.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
District plans to keep recognized status By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County ISD, a 2009-2010 TEA recognized district, is looking into maintaining that status by following an improvement plan that addresses four major goals focusing on the students, the teachers, and the school’s needs, according to Interim Superintendent Norma Garcia, who spoke at a school board meeting Tuesday. All the district’s principals compiled a list of strategies and activities they will focus on for the next year or two to improve student
performance, Garcia said. The district recognizes student performance as the first goal, Garcia said. To meet that goal, the district has 10 major objectives to meet, such as a core curriculum alignment, a curriculum audit in October, and the implementation of the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle Model and THE C-SCOPE curriculum program. Basics also have a place in the district’s strategy. “We are focusing on spelling to become better readers,” said Principal Erica Ramirez of Zapata North Elementary.