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Hartley investigation Local sheriff says he has info on 2 suspects involved in shooting death By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. said his office recently received information about two Mexican nationals who he says are directly involved in the alleged shooting death of David Michael
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Hartley. The information comes almost two months after Mexican state police ended the search for Hartley’s body. Hartley is presumed dead after cartel members shot him in the back of the head while sightseeing on the Mexican side of Falcon Lake.
Authorities received two names of people, but those could not be released because of the investigation. “We’re determining how the information came about,” Gonzalez said Dec. 11 and added that the information will be corroborated. Gonzalez could not say if the men are
cartel members. However, because the area is known to be controlled by Los Zetas, the men may be linked to the organization, the sheriff said. Back in October, Tamaulipas state authorities identified two brothers — Juan
ADVANCED EDUCATION CENTER
See HARTLEY PAGE 11A
ZAPATA COUNTY ISD
Fees top county’s concerns
Trustees discuss student progress
By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata County Commissioners continue to look for ways to bring in revenue to the county after learning of a $7 million shortfall in county revenues during their meeting Monday. To make up for the shortfall, commissioners approved the purchase of a health clinic, so the county could collect rent on it. They also decided to levy late fees on the more than $2 million in delinquent fines and fees owed to the county.South Texas Community Action Council was renting the building they formerly owned by Gateway Inc., but still owed more than $700,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and filed for bankruptcy, Commissioner Jose E. Vela said. After filing for bankruptcy, STCAC tried to sell the building to Gateway Inc., but could not sell it because it was built on Zapata County land, Vela added. (Eddie) Martinez negotiated the purchase of the building at $650,000,” Vela said. “Once we transfer the clinic to our property, we will continue leasing it to Gateway and whatever rent we collect will now be for the county.” The rent collected by the county will be approximately $5,000 a month , Vela said. “It’s a good business practice by the county,” Vela said. Also during the meeting, the commissioners approved the increase of amounts to be paid on delinquent fines and fees owed by Zapata County residents. Linebarger, Goggan, Blair and Sampson, LLP., the firm hired to collect the fees, is still struggling to collect the delinquent fines and fees, and feels Zapata County justices of the peace aren’t giving the firm enough information. “They gave us a report that the amount being collected is ve-
See COUNTY PAGE 12A
Buildings, food service also get examinations By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Several safety concerns found in the awardwinning design of the Advance Education Center by new director David Brown may cause yet another delay in the planned Jan. 3 opening of the center. The AEC was slated to open for the first day of instruction in conjunction with Laredo Community College. “The primary issues are the safety features of the building that are deficient in a number of areas that make it dangerous for the public,” Brown said. “This is a major academic center that we’re creating for this community and the people of Zapata deserve nothing less.” Delays are apparent, but repairs need to be made by first days of three universities who plan to hold classes there: Jan. 3 for LCC; Jan. 17 for Texas A&M University; and the end of January for the University of Texas Health Sci-
Zapata County Independent School District board of trustees focused on student performance and building improvements in the last regular meeting Tuesday. Several reports, including the District Academic Excellence Indicator System report, the annual career and technology education program evaluation, the annual special education program evaluation, and the ZCISD child nutrition report were given to update the board on student performance or areas needing improvement. “We submit monthly reports to TEA (Texas Education Agency) reflecting that we are in compliance with reporting to the board the effectiveness of these programs,” said Superintendent Norma Garcia. The ZCISD child nutrition report confirmed the decline in revenues due to lack of participation, Garcia said. “We are just letting the board know that we are looking at all possible causal factors contributing to the decline of revenues,” Garcia said. The child nutrition program is supposed to be self-sustaining and received a good report by TEA, but students skipping out on meals are causing the decline of revenues, Garcia said. Several board members and other ZCISD administration admitted at the meeting that their children sometimes go home hungry after school because the children did not want to eat the food provided by the school.
See CENTER PAGE 11A
See SCHOOLS PAGE 12A
Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times
ABOVE: The Advance Education Center in Zapata is almost complete; however, railing was left out in part of the upper deck. BELOW: A part of the upper deck of the new Advance Education Center in Zapata was left without railing.
SAFETY CONCERNS Problems could delay opening of new building By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
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Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY, DEC. 18 The Toys for Tots toy drive takes place today at the corner of Highway 16 and 16th Street from 7 p.m. to midnight. For a donation of $10, enjoy dinner, door prizes, raffle prizes and entertainment, including music from Ultimate Sound of Zapata. All proceeds go to the Toys for Tots program and help bring joy to children. Adults only. Call (958) 7651864, or contact Isela at (956) 5000343. El Centro de Laredo Farmers Market returns to Jarvis Plaza today. It offers specialty products like olive oil, vegetable soaps and candles, and other items that are made in South Texas. There is an IBC Mobile ATM on location, as well as free parking at el Metro bus depot. Come enjoy a relaxed community environment in one of Laredo’s beautiful parks. If you are growing fruits and vegetables at your home or ranch, contact Laredo Main Street by e-mail at lmsoffice@att.net or call (956) 286-0642 to become a registered member. The artisan market movement called the Bazaar takes place today from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Vamp Ultra Lounge & Café, 1701 Jacaman Rd. The purpose of the event is to make Laredo and the surrounding communities aware of local artists and to make supporters of them by providing freelance artists the opportunity to display their work. There will be live music, food and artists with a variety of backgrounds selling photography, handmade jewelry, paintings, abstracts and crafts. Contact Holly Herrera at backthebazaar@gmail.com. The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium is showing "Seven Wonders" at 5 p.m., "Holiday Music Magic" at 6 p.m., and "Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon" at 7 p.m. Admission prices are $4 for children and $5 for adults. Premium shows are $1 more. For show times, call (956) 326-DOME.
SUNDAY, DEC. 19 The Gateway Gatos, St. Peter’s Church, and other sponsors invite everyone to a Christmas Animal Posada at St. Peter’s Plaza (Matamoros street and Main Avenue) at 4 p.m.. Participants are encouraged to go dressed as an animal or wear a mask of an animal. We also invite everyone to take their pets in a leash, harness, or cage. The Laredo Animal Protective Society will have cats and dogs available for adoption. Call Berta “Birdie” Torres at (956) 286-7866.
TUESDAY, DEC. 21 The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium is showing "One World, One Sky Big Bird’s Adventure" at 2 p.m. and "Holiday Music Magic" at 3 p.m. $3 general admission. For show times, call (956) 326-DOME. The Laredo Public Library would like to invite parents to bring their children to enjoy holiday story time, arts and crafts and other holiday activities over the Christmas break. Simply stop by the Laredo Public Library Children’s Department, 1120 East Calton Road, at 2:30 p.m. today and make a Christmas ornament; the events are free and open to the public. Contact Diana Gallegos at 7952400, ext. 2247.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Gerald L Nino/file | AP
This unmanned MQ-9 Predator B drone is shown on June 23. Federal authorities are investigating why a Mexican drone was in Texas airspace and what caused the unmanned surveillance aircraft to crash into a backyard in El Paso. Police said the Border Patrol handed the drone back to Mexican officials at one of El Paso’s international bridges.
Mexico drone crashes ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal authorities are investigating why a Mexican drone was in Texas airspace and what caused the unmanned surveillance aircraft to crash into a backyard in El Paso. The crash occurred after sunset Tuesday behind a house in a former agricultural area, the El Paso Times reported Friday. Police said no one was injured. U.S. officials did not release the exact location of the crash. The neighborhood is separated from Mexico by the Rio Grande, floodlights, the 15- to 18-foot tall border fence, a chain-link fence, a line of poles with surveillance cameras and a highway, according to the newspaper. "We responded to a concerned citizen’s call and recovered a small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which belonged to the Govern-
ment of Mexico (GOM)," said Jenny L. Burke, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, in a statement. Keith Holloway, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, described the drone as an unmanned aerial vehicle. "We are collecting data about the crash. We don’t have the aircraft because it was returned to its owner," Holloway said. Police said the Border Patrol handed the drone back to Mexican officials at one of the international bridges. Border Patrol Agent Ramiro Cordero told the newspaper that numerous agencies were involved in returning the aircraft. Officials at the Mexican consul’s office in El Paso did not immediately comment. John Concha, a spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department, said units were not sent to the crash site because no one was injured.
Police: Man kills girlfriend, co-worker, self
Woman found unharmed after abduction
MOUNT PLEASANT — Authorities in Mount Pleasant say a man shot and killed his girlfriend and a co-worker, then turned the gun on himself outside a vocational center. Lee Boyd, 48, shot 35-year-old Junior Lee Horton about 6:30 a.m. Thursday in a parking lot. Boyd then sat in the cab of his truck and shot himself in the head.
DOUBLE OAK — A Double Oak woman abducted by three men who staged a car accident has been found unharmed hundreds of miles away in Vega after being forced to drive to New Mexico. Eileen Loskot was doing well Friday and one suspect was in custody. She left a voicemail for her husband about the accident. In the background, voices are heard demanding her debit and credit cards.
Umbilical cord still on girl dead in clothes box McALLEN — McAllen police say the umbilical cord was still attached to an infant girl found dead in a cardboard box of used clothes shipped from Arizona and stored in a warehouse. The body was discovered Thursday afternoon in a truckload shipment of used clothing. Warehouse workers were sorting the items hauled from Phoenix. An autopsy has been ordered.
DPS urges holiday travelers to avoid Mexico AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Public Safety is warning Texans to avoid traveling to Mexico during the holidays. Mexican drug cartel-related violence continues in northern Mexico border cities as well as in popular tourist towns, such as Acapulco and Monterrey.
Gas prices stay stable IRVING — Stable crude oil prices meant unchanged retail gasoline prices this week. The weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey released Thursday shows the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in the state remained at $2.82 and rose by one cent to $2.98 nationally. The cheapest gasoline in Texas was found in El Paso and San Antonio at $2.77 a gallon.
State senator forms Tea Party Caucus AUSTIN — The Texas Legislature will have a new caucus when it convenes in January: the Tea Party Caucus. Sen. Dan Patrick, R- Houston, said Thursday he formed the caucus, made up of 50 House members and two senators. To be a member, Patrick said legislators must agree to uphold the principles of limited government, lower taxes and "defend the sovereignty of Texas." -- Compiled from AP reports
WEDNESDAY, DEC, 22 The 2010 Annual Blue Santa event will take place today at 10 a.m. at the Zapata County Courthouse. Help us make the annual Blue Santa a success by making toy donations. Drop off your donation to the justice of the peace office on the second floor of the Zapata County Courthouse. Contact the office at (956) 765-9165 or (956) 765-9945. The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium is showing "Holiday Music Magic" at 2 p.m. and "Season of Light" at 3 p.m. $3 general admission. For show times, call (956) 326-DOME. The Laredo Public Library would like to invite parents to bring their children to enjoy some fun-filled holiday story time, arts and crafts and other holiday activities over the Christmas break. Simply stop by the Laredo Public Library Children’s Department, 1120 East Calton Road, at 2:30 p.m. today and watch a Christmas movie; the events are free and open to the public. Contact Diana Gallegos at 795-2400, x2247. 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
AROUND THE NATION Coast Guard: Little seafloor oil from Gulf spill
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NEW ORLEANS — Federal scientists said Friday extensive sampling of the Gulf of Mexico seafloor found oil in quantities too small to collect and in concentrations below harmful levels, except in the BP well area. The Coast Guard’s report contrasts with those of independent scientists who say oil from the BP spill extensively damaged the seafloor.
Think tank plans study of how US treats detainees NEW YORK — A nonpartisan legal think tank plans to study U.S. treatment of terrorism detainees, partly out of concern that the country’s policies lack clarity and can be manipulated to permit abuse or torture in dangerous times, members of a task force appointed to conduct the study said Friday.
Today is Saturday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2010. There are 13 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward. On this date: In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1892, Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home. In 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered secret preparations for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.) In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not continue to be detained. In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first public, fullscale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.) In 1958, the world’s first communications satellite, SCORE, nicknamed “Chatterbox,” was launched by the United States. In 1969, Britain’s House of Lords joined the House of Commons in making permanent a 1965 ban on the death penalty for cases of murder. In 1972, the United States began heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 11 days later.) Ten years ago: The Electoral College cast its ballots, with President-elect George W. Bush receiving the expected 271; Al Gore, however, received 266, one fewer than expected, because of a District of Columbia Democrat who’d left her ballot blank to protest the district’s lack of representation in Congress. Antitrust regulators approved the merger of British drug companies Glaxo Wellcome PLC and SmithKline Beecham PLC. Newspaper heir Randolph Apperson Hearst, the last surviving son of William Randolph Hearst and the father of Patricia Hearst, died in New York at age 85. Today’s Birthdays: Television writer-producer Hal Kanter is 92. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is 83. Actor Roger Smith is 78. Blues musician Lonnie Brooks is 77. Actor Roger Mosley is 72. Rock singer-musician Keith Richards is 67. Writer-director Alan Rudolph is 67. Movie producer-director Steven Spielberg is 64. Blues artist Ron Piazza is 63. Movie director Gillian Armstrong is 60. Movie reviewer Leonard Maltin is 60. Rock musician Elliot Easton is 57. Actor Ray Liotta is 55. Comedian Ron White is 54. Actor Brad Pitt is 47. Professional wrestler-turned-actor “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is 46. Thought for Today: “A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.” — Hector Hugh Munro, British writer (born this date in 1870, died 1916).
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Children in Birmingham, Ala., put ornaments on a newly donated Christmas tree in Birmingham, Ala. The tree appeared Thursday morning, just a day after someone torched the original tree while trying to steal copper from the lighting wires.
Duke lacrosse accuser convicted of child abuse DURHAM, N.C. — A woman who authorities said falsely accused three lacrosse players of
rape four years ago was found guilty of misdemeanor child abuse and damaging property. Crystal Mangum was convicted of contributing to child abuse or neglect, injury to personal property, and resisting police. — 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, DECEMBER 18, 2010
Zlocal
Laredoan faces assault charge By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man was arrested after allegedly firing two shots at another person Monday afternoon at a ranch four miles south of Zapata. Ricardo Jaime, 51, of Laredo, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was taken to Zapata Regional Jail, where he bonded out later. Deputies responded at La Lachita Ranch, 3454 South U.S. 83, at 4:09 p.m. for a shooting in progress. Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. said the victim had gone to pick up his children at school to drop them off at La Lachita Ranch. When exiting the ranch, the victim noticed a white car blocking the gate, which leads to U.S. 83. Gonzalez said two individuals “went at the victim.” One had a pistol.
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LET’S SEE THEM DO THIS ON ‘BANDSTAND’ Villarreal Elementary Counselor Claudia Garza is challenged to a dance-off at the Noche de Fiesta.
RICARDO JAIME: Charged with aggravated assault.
Gonzalez said one of the men was Jaime. The other individual could not be identified. “With his arm he was able to push the weapon away from his head,” Gonzalez said. Deputies say the bullet hit the roof of the truck, Gonzalez said. As the victim drove off for his safety, another bullet hit the tailgate. “These two shots were fired in his direction,” Gonzalez said. Nobody was harmed. Deputies could not locate the weapon. The second alleged offender remains at large. To provide information about the case, call the sheriff ’s office at 765-9960 or 765-TIPS (8477). (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
THE BLOTTER ASSAULT Orlando Guerra-Pena was arrested and charged with assault causing family violence at approximately 11 a.m. Dec. 12 in the 1100 block of Fresno Street. Deputies say Guerra struck and pushed a woman she knows. Guerra-Pena was taken to Zapata Regional Jail. Juan Ramon Gallegos was arrested on charges of assault causing family violence and no driver’s license at 3:28 a.m. Dec. 16 on U.S. 83, about 10 miles north of San Ygnacio. The man was taken to Zapata Regional Jail.
BURGLARY
Courtesy photo
Deputies responded to a burglary call at 1:33 p.m. Dec. 10 in the 700 block of Fresno Street. The complainant told officials that a person he knows went inside the residence, stole a television and pawned it. Deputies responded to a burglary of a building call at 11:18 a.m. Dec. 11 to some storage units off of FM 496. The victim told officials that someone broke the locks of four storage units.
County traffic stop yields grenades, rifles Deputies also seize 150 pounds of marijuana By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A routine traffic stop south of Zapata County yielded 30 grenades and three assault riffles late Thursday, sheriff ’s officials said. The investigation, officials said, also led to the
seizure of more than 150 pounds of marijuana in McAllen. Deputies detained one person, but his name was not made public because of the open investigation of the case. If charged, the man would face 30 counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, said Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. Zapata County Sheriff ’s Capt. Aaron Sanchez said a deputy patrolling in the southern part of the county signaled a traffic stop on a Dodge Neon.
According to Sanchez, the driver consented to a vehicle inspection. When the deputy inspected the back of the vehicle, he found 30 grenades under the spare tire of a compartment. Sanchez said the deputy found two SKS assault riffles and one AK-47. Officials say the driver was coming from the Valley and had a northern destination. The exact location could not be released because of the open investigation.
The Laredo Police Department bomb squad and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives officials assisted in the case. “At this time, they’re still looking at them. (The grenades) have the right chemical to make them work,” Sanchez said. Investigators are determining which ones had detonators, he said. “Some may be inert,” Gonzalez added. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Courtesy photo
A routine traffic stop in Zapata County yielded 30 grenades, some of which are shown here, and three assault rifles late Thursday.
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Zopinion
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
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EDITORIAL
OTHER VIEWS
Anti-earmark vows ignored NEW YORK TIMES
T
o no one’s shock, the lame-duck session is offering daily profiles in hypocrisy by lawmakers who made loud campaign vows to “change the culture” of Washington. In the Senate, prominent Republicans who took the anti-earmark pledge as part of the Tea Party crusade against deficits now must deal with a mammoth $1.2 trillion government spending bill that happens to be routinely packed with their own customized pork. What to do? “The simple answer is: I’m going to vote against the bill and refuse all of those earmarks,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, righteously disowning his own earmarks. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-
Miss., who took his party’s Demon Earmark pledge last month, was asked about his 223 projects worth $415 million tucked into the spending bill. The senator firmly vowed not to pursue earmarks — next time. It’s not often that politicians are caught having to call their own bluff. The earmark discomfort is deserved since the issue was presented to voters as a fool’s-gold diversion from factors far larger and more politically difficult if politicians ever get serious about closing the budget deficit. This may comfort Democrats heading into the minority who similarly slipped into the existing culture even as they vowed to change it. But it lends the looming Congress a disturbing sense of deja vu.
COLUMN
Contest seeks Military vets need your help silliest cards for season T COLUMN
By JONATHAN GURWITZ
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
By JOHN KELSO
COX NEWSPAPERS
A
USTIN — I’ve decided to revive my silly Christmas card contest. I had gotten sick of it, even though I used to get some spectacularly stupid cards. There was the guy who dumped 40 50-pound bags of sand from Home Depot in his front yard to create a “Survivor”-style desert island beach scene. There was the woman who put dreadlocks on her wiener dog to approximate a short-legged version of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams. There was the family who hung upside down from playground equipment to mimic Mexican free-tailed bats. If you have a card that’s equally goofy, you can mail it to John Kelso at the Austin AmericanStatesman, Box 670, Austin, TX 78767. Or you can e-mail it to jkelso@statesman.com. First prize will be all the publicity that goes with coming up with a truly silly card. I mean, Oprah could call. She really could. I was spurred into action again when I got a Christmas card in the mail from my dermatologist, Dr. William Ramsdell, who has sent out a funny, nautical-themed Christmas card. I guess you could say “ho ho ho meets yo ho ho.” “It’s my little interpretation of what’s happening with health care,” Ramsdell said. “It’s kind of a sinking ship right now for patients and doctors alike.” The photo on the card shows the members of Ramsdell’s staff — attractive females — in a lifeboat decorated with wreath material, or bobbing around in the ocean in life jackets or inner tubes, while in the background the good ship USS Health Care is sinking, stern first. Everybody seems to have gotten her hair done before they got in the lifeboat. Ramsdell is the only guy in the photo. He’s in a shirt and tie, holding onto a large orange life preser-
ver. Meanwhile, behind Ramsdell you can see his golden retriever, Charlie, swimming. There are so many good-looking women in this photo that when I first glanced at it I thought maybe it was from the Miss Texas pageant. But that wasn’t it. Instead, it’s a message about how Ramsdell sees this country’s health care dilemma. “We do not know where we’re going, and it’s all just a terrible situation for doctors and patients alike. We’re all scared to death.” He says that the pharmaceutical and insurance companies are making the big money. And speaking of insurance, can all of the people shown bobbing about in the drink in this card actually swim (not that it really matters, since this image was edited)? “I guess they do,” said Jan Beyer, Ramsdell’s office manager, who is shown in the photo being nipped at by a shark. Another card I received also has a water theme. It shows two little girls with a small fish, and the card reads “Merry Christmas and ’Crappie’ New Year!” For you Californians who have moved here from L.A., crappie isn’t just an adjective but also a kind of fish. Emma Vorndran, 7, and her sister, Sarah, 6, caught the fish at their grandfather’s place out at Lake Buchanan. During the course of cleaning the fish, the girls learned that, yes, fish have tongues, said their mother, Kim Vorndran. “That was the most amazing thing they found out that day,” she said. In the photo, little Sarah has this P.U. look on her face, like she’d rather be someplace else than with this fish. “We have a family tradition where, when you catch your first fish, you have to kiss it,” Kim Vorndran said. Maybe that’s how vegetarianism got started. (John Kelso writes for the Austin AmericanStatesman. E-mail: jkelso@statesman.com.)
he wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are now among America’s longest. Despite timelines for withdrawal, there are still 100,000 U.S. military personnel deployed in Afghanistan and 50,000 in Iraq. Over the past nine years, two million Americans have served in those theaters, more than 600,000 of them on multiple deployments. They represent a small fraction of this nation’s 311 million residents. They bear a vastly disproportionate burden for its defense.
Soldiers ignored It is unconscionable that in the recent election and in the ongoing debate about the proper size and role of government, a discussion of their welfare has not figured prominently — if at all. There is no more appropriate time to have that conversation than during this season of giving and good will. The fiscal mess in Washington and budget problems in state capitals are creating pressure to cut back on governmental programs that serve the military community. At the same time, one of the most
important private-sector efforts to address the needs of military personnel, veterans and their families is scaling back.
Helping troops
In 2006, former hedge fund manager David Gelbaum worked with the California Community Foundation to establish the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund. The fund has supported non-profit groups and foundations around the nation that do everything from sending thermal blankets to troops deployed in the mountains of Afghanistan to providing counseling and emergency financial assistance to military families at home.
Lack of funds Gelbaum, IADIF’s sole donor, has given $247 million. Last year he announced that as a result of the financial crisis, he would be unable to fund such efforts for the foreseeable future. In an e-mail, Nancy Berglass, the fund’s director, wrote: “IADIF remains active managing a number of grants, and as an advisor to the growing number of private and corporate funders interested in supporting troops, vet-
erans and military families. At this time, IADIF is not in the position to make new grants.”
Greatest need
The confluence of these events comes as the needs of the military community affected by deployments are at their greatest. More than 40,000 Americans have been wounded in the Afghan and the Iraq theaters. Not all of their wounds are readily apparent. A 2008 RAND study found at least 20 percent of personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. Similar proportions suffer from some level of traumatic brain injury. These wounds often manifest themselves in broken relationships, family violence and suicide. A March report from the Military Times found that one in six service members are on some form of psychiatric drug.
How to help? At a San Antonio conference in October, more than one hundred representatives of non-profit organizations from around Texas came together with
some of the largest philanthropic foundations in the nation to address a single question: How can we meet the needs of military personnel, veterans and their families?
National effort The “Dialogue with Donors,” organized by the San Antonio Area Foundation’s Center for Non-Profit Support, is part of the national effort to sustain and grow the continuum of services established with the help of the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund. After the generous support of David Gelbaum, that effort is now dependent on the good will of private donors, businesses and foundations. “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified,” George Washington said in 1789, “shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” The nation, and not only the government, will have to do much more to burnish that perception. The men and women who defend it deserve as much. (E-mail: jgurwitz@express-news.net)
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phone number IS NOT published; it is used solely to verify identity and to clarify content, if necessary. Identity of the letter writer must be verified before publication. We want to assure our
readers that a letter is written by the person who signs the letter. The Zapata Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-call-
DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU
ing or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Via e-mail, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.
International
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Christians targeted for harrassment By REBECCA SANTANA ASSOCIATED PRESS
IRBIL, Iraq — They saw their brethren murdered during Mass and then were bombed in their homes as they mourned. Al-Qaida vowed to hunt them down. Now the Christian community of Iraq, almost as old as the religion itself, is sensing a clear message: It is time to leave. Since the Oct. 31 bloodbath in their Baghdad church, Iraqi Christians have been fleeing Sunni Muslim extremists who view them as nonbelievers and agents of the West. At a time when Christians in various parts of the Muslim world are feeling pressured, Iraqi Christians are approaching their grimmest Christmas since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and wondering if they have any future in their native land.
Seeking safety They have suffered repeated violence and harassment since 2003, when the interreligious peace rigidly enforced by Saddam Hussein fell apart. But the attack on Our Lady of Salvation in which 68 people died appears to have been a tipping point that has driven many to flee northward to the Kurdish enclave while seeking asylum in the U.S. and elsewhere. What seemed different this time was the way the gunmen brazenly barged onto sacred ground, the subsequent targeting of homes by bombers who clearly
knew every Christian address, and the Internet posting in which al-Qaida-linked militants took responsibility for the church attack and vowed a campaign of violence against Christians wherever they are. Ban Daub, 51, narrowly survived the onslaught. She and her nephew were at prayer when they heard explosions. They escaped before five attackers stormed in, but many of their friends did not. A neighbor died clutching his son and daughter in his arms. Days later a string of bombs went off outside Christian homes across Baghdad. Daub and her family packed a few belongings and headed to a Christian district called Ainkawa in this Kurdish city of Irbil. “We are afraid for our sons and our children. There is no life in Baghdad for the Christians,” she says.
arriving in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon and contacting UNHCR for help.
Numbers not known
More violence Since 2003 no Iraqi religious or ethnic group has escaped violence. Tens of thousands died in bombings and street battles between the minority Sunnis and the Shiites who supplanted them in power after Saddam Hussein, the longtime dictator, was toppled. But like many of Iraq’s minorities, Christians do not have political clout or militias. Even before the church attack, thousands of Christians were fleeing abroad. They are more than a third of the 53,700 Iraqis resettled
Photo by Khalid Mohammed | AP
Reatives grieve near the coffins of slain family members at a funeral Mass in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 2. Since the Oct. 31 bloodbath in a Baghdad church, Iraqi Christians are fleeing Sunni Muslim extremists who view them as nonbelievers and agents of the West. At a time when Christians in various parts of the Muslim world are feeling pressured, Iraqi Christians are approaching their grimmest Christmas since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and many are fleeing north to the safer Kurdish region. in the United States since 2007, according to State Department statistics. Since the church attack, some 1,000 families have
fled to the north, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday. It said growing numbers of other Iraqi Christians were
How many Christians remain in this nation of 29 million is not reliably known. A State Department report says Christian leaders estimate 400,000 to 600,000 remain, down from a prewar level as high as 1.4 million by some estimates. In the Middle East and in Muslim countries beyond, Christians are finding themselves subject to violence and harassment. The Vatican is so worried that it hosted a two-week meeting of Mideast bishops this fall, dedicated to supporting Christian minorities. In Egypt, at least two people died and more than 150 were arrested last month in clashes between Christians and authorities over the building of a new church. In an ominous sign that militancy is transcending borders, the militants who carried out the Baghdad church siege said they were acting on behalf of two Egyptian women who they claimed were being persecuted by their priests for converting to Islam. In Pakistan, a Christian woman is under sentence of death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad. In Saudi Arabia, textbooks sometimes contain language intolerant of Christianity as well as other religions besides Sunni Islam, according to the State Department report on religious freedom.
In Malaysia, a court decision last year allowing a Catholic newspaper to refer to God as Allah, the Arabic word for God, sparked a spate of arson and vandalism against Christian churches.
Asylum Following the Baghdad church mayhem, some European countries offered asylum to Iraqi Christians. But Younadam Kanna, a Christian member of Iraq’s Parliament, worries that such intercession will be seen as discrimination by Iraqi Muslims who wonder why countries are so quick to offer assistance to Christians but are often silent when Muslims are attacked in Iraq. This could drive a wedge between Iraq’s Christians and Muslims. “We are a small community here, and we are trying to resist and stay in our homes,” Kanna said. More than 600 Christian families fled to the Kurdish area after the siege, said the Kurdish interior minister, Karim Sinjari. More may have come without registering with authorities. The Kurds are Muslims who have suffered oppression and discrimination but now have an autonomous, Western-supported homeland in northern Iraq. Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, who is a Kurd, has gone so far as to suggest something similar for Iraq’s Christians. Meanwhile the Kurdish government has set up a committee to help the fleeing Christians.
About 140 inmates escape Mexican border prison ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — About 140 inmates escaped Friday from a state prison in the northern Mexico border city of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo. The federal Interior Department blamed the breakout on local authorities, saying they did not properly guard the facility. "The absence of effective methods of guarding and control by local authorities is deplorable, and it has caused frequent escapes from prisons that put the public at risk," the department said in a statement. It called on state authorities to clean up their prison and judicial systems by increased screening and vetting of corrections officers. In past cases, prison
guards — often underpaid or under threat from gangs — have been implicated in prison escapes. Federal police were dispatched to patrol the area, and roadblocks were set up to search for escaped prisoners. The department did not mention the number of inmates involved, saying only that it was "a significant number." The federal attorney general’s office said initial reports indicated 148 escaped, but local media quoted the Tamaulipas state public safety department as putting the number at 141, equivalent to about 10 percent of
the prison’s population. The jail break apparently occurred in the predawn hours Friday. Some of the inmates were being held on drug and weapons charges. Tamaulipas has been plagued by a steady wave of violence tied to turf battles between the Gulf and the Zetas drug gangs, but it was unclear whether members of those groups were among the escaped inmates. The jail break came on the same day that federal Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna addressed a graduating class of new prison guards, un-
derlining the urgent need to professionalize correctional forces. "We are making a historic effort to build a new
prisons model, that will treat prison staff as efficient public servants," Garcia Luna said. The new guard recruit-
ment programs, supported in part by the U.S. government, include increased training, screening and vetting of guards.
PAGE 6A
Zentertainment
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
Intocable, Duelo play at New Year’s dance SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The Laredo Energy Arena, Miller Lite and Garza Entertainment announced today that legendary norteño band Intocable will be performing at the arena. Intocable, out of nearby Zapata, will share the stage
with Roma’s Duelo and Laredo’s own Adrián Perez y Origen. The concert and dance is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 1, at 8 p.m. at the venue. It’s an option to celebrate the new year by dancing the night away to
some classic romantic tunes. In the early 1990s, one of Tejano’s biggest bands was born in Zapata, about 45 miles south of here. It all started with two kids, Ricky Muñoz (vocals and accordion) and René Martinez (drums), who re-
hearsed every day with dreams of reaching success. Fifteen years and 13 albums later, Intocable has come a long way. “There is no other group like Intocable,” said Xavier Villalon, the arena’s general manager, in a release. “And we are excited about
having them transform the arena into South Texas’ biggest dance floor.” Tickets go on sale Saturday, at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster locations, including the LEA box office. Arena floor tables will be available at $450, $550 and $650 for a table of 10.
Individual table seats will be $45, $55 and $65. Special $45 standing general admission floor area tickets will available, as well as individual tickets in the arena bowl only. Tickets will be $35 for the lower bowl and $25 for the upper bowl (plus facility fees).
COMING UP Santa Claus trail ride, parade on Sunday
Photo by Douglas Curran/Disney | AP
Jeff Bridges has been trapped in the Grid for more than 20 years in “TRON: Legacy.”
‘Tron’ makes you feel trapped in the Grid By CHRISTY LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS
H
ugely high-tech and forward-thinking in its day, “Tron” now looks cheesy and quaint in retrospect, with its blocky graphics and simplistic blips and bleeps. The original film from 1982 was all about the possibility of technology and the human imagination, and the adventures that could result from marrying the two, but only now are the computergenerated effects available to render this digital world in its fullest potential. Hence, nearly three decades later, we have the sequel “Tron: Legacy,” which is in 3-D (of course) but is actually best viewed in IMAX 3-D. The whole point of the story and the aesthetics are that they’re meant to convey an immersive experience. We’re supposed to feel just as trapped inside this challenging and dangerous electronic realm as the film’s characters. And at over two hours, we are indeed trapped — the original did what it had to do in an hour and a half. While director Joseph Kosinski’s feature film debut is thrilling and cool-looking for about the first half, its races, games and visuals eventually grow repetitive, which only draws attention to how flimsy and
preposterous the script is from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. “Tron: Legacy” is a mishmash of pop culture references and movie ripoffs, Eastern philosophy and various religions, and one insanely cute, strategically placed Boston terrier. And with the return of Jeff Bridges in the lead role, there’s plenty of Dude-ishness for you fans of “The Big Lebowski.” It’s all giddy, ridiculous fun for a while, set to an ideally integrated techno score by the French duo Daft Punk. But a little of this goes a long way, and eventually you realize there’s not much “there” there, no real point beyond exhilaration. Bridges’ video game developer Kevin Flynn was aiming for deeper meaning, or at least a new level of consciousness, when he created the Grid all those years ago. Now, his estranged son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), discovers that’s where Dad’s been all this time — sucked into the Grid and stuck there for the past two decades The confident and goodlooking Sam similarly gets drawn into this parallel universe and quickly finds himself thrust into the middle of a sort of floating gladiator arena. Next up, Sam is forced to take part in the deadly lightcycle
REVIEW races — which look infinitely better here than in the original — and, being your typically rebellious, motorcycle-loving loner, he naturally fares rather well. But this spectacle is as overwhelming for Sam as it is for us — even though Sam has the benefit of his dad’s DNA — and so he’s happy to accept help escaping from the mysterious Quorra (Olivia Wilde). The moment Flynn and Sam first see each other isn’t filled with wistful emotion so much as confusion, and it takes place at Flynn’s distractingly stylish, glowing white-on-white lair. The place suggests what might have happened if the Dude had matured a bit and moved into a loft designed by Philippe Starck — although, unfortunately, there is no rug that really ties the room together.
The 9th annual Santa Claus Christmas Trail Ride and Parade, featuring horses, motorcycles and cars, is set for Sunday, beginning at 10 a.m. The parade/trail ride will require participants to take two gifts per entry, with the presents benefiting the needy children of the San Carlos Mission. The trail ride, which will feature La Site Rose VIP Trail Riders, Los Corrales Trail Riders and the Webb County Trailriders, will start at the Loop 20Hwy 359 intersection and make its way to San Carlos Mission. The parade begins at the Country Store on Highway 359. For more information, call Rosie Gregory at 7447505.
Animal Posada at St. Peter’s Plaza The Gateway Gatos of Laredo, St. Peter’s Church, the Laredo Animal Protective Society, St. Joseph’s Church Youth Group, Divine Mercy Church Youth Group and The Greens of Guadalupe are having a Christmas Animal Posada at St. Peter’s Plaza. The event, which encourages participants to dress up as animals, or to wear animal masks, will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. Organizers also invite everyone to take their pets on a leash or a harness or in a cage. The Laredo Animal Protective Society will have cats and dogs avail-
able for adoption. For more information, call Birdie Torres at 2867866.
‘Once Upon a Christmas’ at Library The Laredo Public Library is inviting the Laredo community to a fun Christmas evening of entertainment featuring Christmas stories, a puppet show, Christmas crafts, hot chocolate and other Christmas goodies. The event will be held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. today in the library’s multipurpose room. It’s free and open to the public. Also, the Laredo Public Library invites parents to bring their children to enjoy some fun-filled holiday story time, arts and crafts and other holiday activities duringthe Christmas break. Children can be dropped off at Laredo Public Library Children’s Department, 1120 E. Calton Rd., at 2:30 p.m. on the following days. Tuesday, Dec. 21: Make
a Christmas Ornament Wednesday, Dec. 22: Watch a Christmas Movie Tuesday, Dec. 28: Make a New Year’s Hat Wednesday, Dec. 29: Celebrate with a New Year’s Activity Thursday, Dec. 30: Watch a New Year’s Movie The events are free and open to the public For more information, call Diana Gallegos at 7952400, extension 2247.
TAMIU Planetarium weekend shows The Texas A&M International University Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium is inviting the area community to enjoy “Seven Wonders” today at 5 p.m., “Holiday Music Magic” at 6 p.m., and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” at 7 p.m. General admission is $5 and $4 for children and TAMIU students, faculty, staff and alumni. Premium shows are $1 more. For additional show times, call 326-DOME . — The Zapata Times
SÁBADO 18 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2010
Zfrontera SOLO MITAD DE RESIDENTES HAN REGRESADO
Agenda en Breve SÁBADO 18 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — El Mercado Agrícola Centro de Laredo es hoy a partir de las 9 a.m. y hasta el mediodía en Jarvis Plaza. LAREDO — La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a la lectura y actividades relacionadas a “The Polar Express” de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. en la Sala de Usos Múltiples H-E-B de la biblioteca (1120 East Calton Road). Se recomienda a los niños ir en pijama. El evento es gratuito y abierto a la comunidad. LAREDO — El Club de Maestros de TAMIU explorará “Christmas” (Navidad) durante la “Saturday Story Hour” de 2 p.m. a 3 p.m. en la Biblioteca Pública de Laredo (1120 E. Calton Road). El programa es para niños de 3 a 8 años de edad acompañados de un adulto. LAREDO — Pase la tarde en el Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU y explore “Seven Wonders” a las 5 p.m., “Holiday Music Magic” a las 6 p.m., y Pink Floyd’s ”Dark Side of the Moon” a las 7 p.m. La entrada general es de 5 dólares y 4 dólares para niños.
MARTES 21 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a vivir actividades de acuerdo a la temporada durante las Vacaciones de Navidad en el Departamento Infantil de la biblioteca ubicada en el 1120 E. Calton Road, a las 2:30 p.m. El día de hoy el programa es: Elabora un Ornamento de Navidad.
MIÉRCOLES 22 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — El Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU y explore “Holiday Music Magic” a las 2 p.m. y “Season of Light” a las 3 p.m. La entrada es de 3 dólares. LAREDO — La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a vivir actividades de acuerdo a la temporada durante las Vacaciones de Navidad en el Departamento Infantil de la biblioteca ubicada en el 1120 E. Calton Road, a las 2:30 p.m. El día de hoy el programa es: Mira una Película de Navidad.
TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto por Edward A. Ornelas | San Antonio Express-News
Soldados del Ejército Mexicano patrullan las calles de Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas, el 14 de diciembre, intentanto mantener la paz en la ciudad que ha sido víctima durante meses de una guerra entre carteles de las drogas.
Mier intenta superar el pasado POR JASON BUCH SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
C
IUDAD MIER, México — Los Zetas se han ido y los soldados mexicanos han colocado puntos de revisión en las tres principales entradas de la ciudad, pero el éxodo de residentes no ha tenido un revés total. Alguna vez denominado un Pueblo Mágico por la Secretaría de Turismo de México, Mier ahora parece una víctima de ejércitos en guerra, no organizaciones criminales. Anuncios y edificios cerca de la entrada del pueblo tienen señales de balas, y trabajadores municipales estaban el martes por la tarde reconectando las líneas de energía que habían sido destruidas durante enfrentamientos entre carteles. La estación de policía del pueblo fue incendiada y dejada con hoyos de balazos. Pocas personas pudieron ser vistas en la calle, y la mayoría de los negocios estaban cerrados.
MARTES 28 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — La Biblioteca Pública de Laredo invita a vivir actividades de acuerdo a la temporada durante las Vacaciones de Navidad en el Departamento Infantil de la biblioteca ubicada en el 1120 E. Calton Road, a las 2:30 p.m. El día de hoy el programa es: Elabora un sombrero de Año Nuevo.
MIÉRCOLES 29 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — El Show Mágico de Mickey tendrá dos presentaciones el día de hoy en la Laredo Energy Arena, a la 1 p.m. y las 4 p.m. Adquiera su boleto en Ticketmaster y la taquilla del LEA.
VIERNES 31 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — Época de Oro tendrá su baile de Fin de Año de 9 p.m. a 1 a.m. de hoy en el Salón de Baile del Laredo Civic Center, del 2400 San Bernardo Ave. Los boletos tienen costo de 25 dólares en la puerta.
Congreso aprueba presupuesto POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV
DOMINGO 19 DE DICIEMBRE LAREDO — El Planetario Lamar Bruni Vergara de TAMIU y explore “One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure” a las 2 p.m. y “Holiday Music Magic” a las 3 p.m. La entrada es de 3 dólares.
PÁGINA 7A
Éxodo La mayoría de los residentes del pueblo salieron a inicios de noviembre conforme enfrentamientos entre Los Zetas y su anterior aliado, el Cartel del Golfo, cambiaban este estrecho de la frontera al suroeste de Nuevo Laredo. Los residentes huyeron de Los Zetas a los EU y a Miguel Alemán, controlada por el Golfo, al otro lado del Río Grande de Roma, hacia el este. Tres semanas después que soldados mexicanos reclamaron este pueblo históricos, oficiales dicen que aproximadamente la mitad de sus 6,000 residentes han regresado. Algunos residentes están regresando a Miguel Alemán en la tarde porque pagaron renta hasta el final del año, dijo Isabel Cristina Treviño de Mancias, la esposa del presidente municipal y presidenta del Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia. Pero a pesar de la protección efímera protección
“
El gobierno de Tamaulipas, bajo la tutela de Egidio Torre Cantú, que inicia el primer minuto del 2011, ejercerá un presupuesto de 31 mil 107 millones de pesos. El Congreso del Estado aprobó el miércoles la Ley de Ingresos y Egresos de Tamaulipas ABDALA para el nuevo ejercicio fiscal, de acuerdo a un comunicado estatal. Los DipMANGÍN utados locales por Nuevo Laredo, Imelda Mangín Torre y José Manuel Abdala de la Fuente, participaron en la apobación del dictamen, pero no autorizaron mayores impuestos a los contribuyentes. Consideraron únicamente el 3.4% basándose en el índice inflacionario del país. Mangín destacó que Tamaulipas desea continuar el ejercicio de servicios e infraestructura en el estado. Abdala aseguró dijo que el crecimiento que ha mantenido el estado será continuo. Ambos coincidieron en que se realizaron esfuerzos para asignar recursos
a la infraestructura en los 43 municipios. En un comunicado de la Cámara Legislativa de Tamaulipas, los 28 diputados que terminan su función constitucional el 31 de diciembre, entre ellos Mangín y Abdala, coincidieron en forma con los acuerdos tomados en la sesión. El presupuesto está dividido en ocho rubros: Captación de Impuesto, 1,234 millones de pesos; Derechos, 1.098 millones de pesos; Productos, 100 millones de pesos; Aprovechamientos, 50 millones de pesos; Accesorios, 100 millones 733 mil pesos; Participaciones e Incentivos, 13.229 millones de pesos; Fondos de Aportaciones Federales (Ramo 33), 13.855 millones de pesos; Otros Recursos Federales (Programas, Convenios y Reasignaciones), 1’438,609 pesos. La Ley de Egresos también fue aprobada por unanimidad, aprobándose las asignaciones para las diferentes agencias estatales en el 2011, entre las que destacan: Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, Cultura y Deporte, 160 millones 797 mil pesos; Procuraduría General de Justicia, 522 millones 965 mil pesos; Secretaría de Turismo, 18 millones 624 mil pesos; Secretaría de Educación, 10.133 millones 597 mil pesos; Secretaría de Salud, 2 mil 193 millones 823 mil pesos; y, Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, 769 millones 30 mil pesos.
No hay mucho empleo porque los restaurantes están cerrados, los hoteles están cerrados”. PRESIDENTA DEL DIF, ISABEL CRISTINA TREVIÑO DE MANCÍAS
ofrecida por los soldados, Treviño de Mancias dijo que no hay muchos trabajos para los residentes que están regresando. “No hay mucho empleo porque los restaurantes están cerrados, los hoteles están cerrados”, dijo ella.
Lenta recuperación Las personas quienes abandonaron sus granjas y ranchos en los alrededores del campo están tratando de atrapar su ganado que escapó tras que convoyes de carteles derribaron sus cercas. Sergio Higareda, director de la Casa de la Cultura de Mier, dijo que se fue por dos semanas pero regresó pese al peligro y el hecho de que no hay visitantes al pequeño museo que él supervisa. “Regresé porque tengo una casa aquí”, dijo Higareda. “Vivo aquí, pago renta aquí”. Treviño de Mancias dijo que líderes de la ciudad esperan que los soldados se queden hasta enero y están pidiendo un despliegue para unos seis meses.
Clasificación La fuerza policíaca del pueblo no existe y un hombre que dirige el tráfico afuera de una escuela en la Plaza Hidalgo de la ciudad, el martes por la tarde, dijo que solamente estaba realizando el trabajo porque no había nadie más que pudiera hacerlo. Poco después que salieron de clases, la plaza quedó desierta a excepción de los agentes de la policía estatal de Tamaulipas. Residentes en la calle fueron casi superados en número por empleados de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, una agencia federal que provee ayuda ante de-
sastres entre otros servicios. Juan Gabriel Badillo, quien estaba encabezando las operaciones de la agencia en Mier, dijo que los trabajadores están tratando de contabilizar los daños hechos a la infraestructura de la ciudad y buscan el bienestar de los residentes. La agencia hará una recomendación de cómo las agencias de gobierno deberán seguir adelante, dijo Badillo. “Los ciudadanos tienen que regresar, y el gobierno tiene que ofrecerles algo”, dijo él. Higareda hizo eco de ese sentimiento: “Hay dos ingredientes que los traerán de regreso: seguridad y trabajo”.
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas
Donna, Texas y Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, comparten desde el martes un nuevo puente internacional. El Presidente de México Felipe Calderón y el Gobernador del Estado Eugenio Hernández Flores tuvieron a su cargo la inauguración de la obra.
Une a México y EU nuevo cruce fronterizo TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Ayuda del otro lado Las iglesias del lado de EU sobre el Rio Grande envían artículos a los residentes de Mier, principalmente pañales y comida, dijo Treviño de Mancias. “No era una gran cantidad”, dijo ella. “Pero ayudó”. El Reverendo Billy Schwarz de la Primera Iglesia Bautista de Santa Maria, a unas 80 millas al este de Roma, dijo que las iglesias del Valle proveyeron al DIF con 4 toneladas de comida y ropa, así como docenas de casas de campaña para personas que huyeron a Miguel Alemán. Su iglesia ha realizado donaciones similares para desastres naturales en el sur de México, pero nunca para un desastre tan cerca de casa, dijo Schwarz. Probablemente no será la última vez, agregó él. “Creo que se moverá río arriba de estos pequeños pueblos”, dijo Schwarz. “Esperemos que esté equivocado”.
Tamaulipas y Texas comparten desde el martes un nuevo cruce internacional que los une. El Puente Río BravoDonna fue inaugurado por el Presidente de México Felipe Calderón Hinojosa y el Gobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores, marco en el cual se expresó que ha sido un sexenio de infraestructura. “Infraestructura como la que hoy nos reúne es la respuesta para seguir creciendo aún en escenarios adversos y es reflejo de nuestro afán por seguir haciendo de nuestra frontera espacio ideal para que el dinamismo del comercio internacional, avance y mejore su eficacia y eficiencia”, dijo Calderón durante el mensaje oficial. El Secretario Adjunto para Asuntos Internacionales y Representante Especial para Asuntos Fronterizos de los EU, Alan Bersin, con la representación del Presidente de EU Barack Obama, se
dijo complacido por la inauguración de esta nueva vía de comunicación que permitirá agilizar el comercio internacional entre ambos países. Hernández calificó el evento como significativo e histórico ya que las familias esperaron más de 30 años esta obra. El Puente Internacional Río Bravo-Donna es el segundo cruce que se inaugura en un año en Tamaulipas. “(El cruce) contribuye a la necesidad de acelerar la modernización de nuestra infraestructura fronteriza donde se realiza más el 50% de las exportaciones e importaciones terrestres entre ambos países”, dijo Hernández, agregando que igualmente se contempla un parque industrial de más de 200 hectáreas. El nuevo puente de seis carrilles tuvo un costo de construcción de 24 millones de dólares y se espera que tenga una circulación de 3.000 vehículo diarios. (Con información de AP)
National
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
Law won’t help Expect to keep more earnings people who used up jobless aid By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER ASSOCIATED PRESS
By PAUL WISEMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Unemployment benefits will be restored for millions of Americans under the taxcut measure President Barack Obama signed into law Friday. Sylvia Kittrell of Orlando, Fla., isn’t among them. A social worker unemployed for more than two years, she’s one of hundreds of thousands who will get no help from the new law because they’ve already used up all the benefits available to them. "I have no money," Kittrell says. "Everything is gone." In the 25 states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent, the unemployed can receive benefits for up to 99 weeks. In other states, they get less than 99 weeks — in some cases as few as 60 weeks. The new law restores, for 13 more months, the 99week maximum. But it provides no further benefits to people who have reached the limit in their states. Those who have exhausted all benefits are sometimes known as "99ers," even though their benefits varies by state. The legislation renews federal programs that extend benefits beyond the 26 weeks states always provide. Those federal programs had expired Nov. 30. In California, 5,000 unemployed people use up their extended benefits each week. And 274,185 Californians will have exhausted 99 weeks of benefits by year’s end. In Florida, 105,011 people have run out of benefits; in Nevada, 27,325. In New York, 125,284 out-of-work people have stopped receiving unemployment checks because they’ve used up their aid. New Yorkers who’ve exhausted unemployment benefits tend to be older than those still receiving unemployment: Thirty percent are 55 or older, compared with 22 percent of those receiving benefits. And more than 48 percent of New Yorkers no longer receiving benefits are women. That compares
In the 25 states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent, the unemployed can receive benefits for up to 99 weeks. with 43 percent of those receiving unemployment aid. Many more people could be joining the 99ers. Job losses peaked in January 2009. Those who lost jobs then, at the depths of the recession, will soon lose their benefits if they haven’t found work or run out of aid already. The number of people who applied for benefits for the first time peaked at 651,000 in the week that ended March 28, 2009 — 94 weeks ago. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, DMich., in August introduced legislation that would help the 99ers by tacking on 20 more weeks of benefits in states with unemployment of 7.5 percent or more. But her bill has gone nowhere in a Congress that’s been reluctant to spend more federal money to jolt the economy. "They have to be taken care of," said a supporter, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, DTexas. "They are next to be homeless." They’re people like Kittrell, who ran out of unemployment benefits over the summer. Without her $224 weekly unemployment check, Kittrell has been getting by on food stamps and occasional contributions from her 84-year-old mother and grown son. She says her job search has been fruitless. Potential employers keep telling her she’s overqualified. Her savings are long gone. She’s about to be evicted from her apartment. "It’s the worst situation a human being can be in," says Kittrell, who turned 58 on Thursday. "What am I to do? Keep praying. I keep praying for a miracle."
WASHINGTON — It’s the most significant new tax law in a decade, but what does it mean for you? Big savings for millions of taxpayers, more if you have young children or attend college, a lot more if you’re wealthy. The package, signed Friday by President Barack Obama, will save taxpayers, on average, about $3,000 next year. But many families will be able to save much more by taking advantage of tax breaks for being married, having children, paying for child care, going to college or investing in securities. Most of the tax cuts have been around since early in the decade. The new law will prevent them from expiring Jan. 1. Others are new, such as the decrease in the Social Security payroll tax. Altogether, they provide a thick menu of opportunities for families at every income level. “The tax code wants to encourage people to invest in their homes, invest in their education, invest in their retirement, and you have to know about all of these in order to take advantage of it,” said Kathy Pickering, executive director of The Tax Institute at H&R Block. The law extends most of the tax cuts for two years, including lower rates for the rich, the middle class and the working poor, a $1,000-perchild tax credit, tax breaks for college students and lower taxes on capital gains and divi-
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais | AP
President Barack Obama signs an $858 billion tax deal into law in a ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House complex on Friday, in Washington. dends. A new one-year tax cut will reduce most workers’ Social Security payroll taxes by nearly a third next year, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent. The $858 billion package also includes $57 billion in renewed jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. At the request of The Associated Press, The Tax Institute at H&R Block developed detailed estimates for how the new law will affect families at various income levels next year: A single taxpayer making $50,000 a year
who rents an apartment and pays $3,500 in college tuition and fees would save $2,280 in income taxes and $1,000 in Social Security taxes — a total of $3,280. A married couple with two young children, some modest investments and combined wages of $100,000, would save $6,256 in income taxes and $2,000 in Social Security taxes — a total of more than $8,200. Income taxes would be lower because of the lower rates, a $1,000 per child tax credit and a $1,200 tax credit for child care ex-
penses. The couple earns $2,000 in dividends but it would be tax-free at their income level. Wealthier investors would pay a top tax rate of 15 percent on dividends. The couple would also be spared from paying the alternative minimum tax, and would pay lower payroll taxes. A married couple with a child in high school and another in college, combined wages of $170,000 and larger investments would save nearly $7,800 in income taxes and $3,400 in Social Security taxes — a combined savings of nearly $11,200.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
$7.2B is recovered for Madoff’s victims By TOM HAYS AND DAVID B. CARUSO ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Many of Bernard Madoff ’s victims who thought they lost everything could get at least half their money back after the widow of a Florida philanthropist agreed Friday to return a staggering $7.2 billion that her husband reaped from the giant Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors reached the settlement with the estate of Jeffry Picower, a businessman who drowned after suffering a heart attack in the swimming pool of his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion in October 2009. Picower was the single biggest beneficiary of Madoff ’s fraud. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the forfeiture the largest in Justice
Department history and a “game changer” for those swindled by Madoff. He commended Picower’s widow, Barbara, “for agreeing to turn over this sum, which really was always other people’s money.” “We will return every penny received from almost 35 years of investing with Bernard Madoff,” Barbara Picower said in a statement. “I believe the Madoff Ponzi scheme was deplorable, and I am saddened by the tragic impact it continues to have on the lives of its victims. It is my hope that this settlement will ease that suffering.” The settlement means roughly half of the $20 billion that investors entrusted to Madoff has now been recovered, authorities said. The $7.2 billion eclipses by far the deals reached
Photo by Mary Altaffer | AP
Irving Picard, right, Securities Investor Protection Act trustee, stands with Preet Bharara, left, U.S. Attorney, and Orlan Johnson, chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, as Johnson speaks at a news conference Friday, in New York. Bernard Madoff’s burned investors will receive funds from the estate of a Florida philanthropist and businessman who made billions of dollars off the fraud. with other defendants sued by Irving Picard, the courtappointed trustee who is recovering victims’ money. The next largest — $625
million — was announced earlier this month in a settlement with Massachusetts businessman and philanthropist Carl Shapiro.
Madoff ’s burned clients greeted the news warily. Willard Foxton, a British journalist whose father committed suicide after los-
ing his life savings, said he was stunned that a major investor decided to return so much money. “I don’t think he would have killed himself if he thought a few years down the line that he was going to be getting a good amount of his money back,” he said. Lawrence Velvel, a law school dean who lost money he had invested with Madoff for decades, said Picower’s widow “did the right thing.” But he was wary about who, in the end, would benefit more — the multitude of small and mid-sized investors who had been counting on their investments for their retirement, or the big hedge funds that did business with Madoff. “It’s going to go to the hedge funds,” he said.
State
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
ROLLS OVER ON ITS SIDE
Photo by Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News | AP
Leon Garrison, left, who has a family member living at the Legacy at Preston Hollow, talks with medical students from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School as they make rounds visiting at the Legacy at Preston Hollow assisted living center in Dallas. Photo by Harold Oakes/Ruidoso News | AP
A bus from the El Paso-based Los Paisanos line sits on its side after a crash south of Corona, N.M., on Friday. New Mexico state police say 20 people were injured, none seriously.
Jobless rate up slightly ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Texas’ unemployment rate edged up to 8.2 percent in November, despite an overall increase of 19,100 jobs that month, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. The October jobless rate for Texas was 8.1 percent. Professional and business services gained 5,600 jobs in November, adding a total of 61,200 from a year ago. The leisure and hospitality sectors grew by 4,700 positions last month, for a total gain of 19,100 jobs since November 2009. Manufacturing lost 6,000 positions in November,
though over the past 12 months that industry gained 22,700 jobs. The Texas jobless rate continued to track below the national rate, which was 9.8 percent in November. In the last year, Texas has added 192,100 jobs. “Most industries recorded positive growth over the year,” TWC Commission Chairman Tom Pauken said in a statement, saying Texas has been “setting the pace for the rest of the nation.” Midland maintained the state’s lowest metro unemployment rate at 5.3 percent for November. The
highest rate was still the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission region, at 12 percent. The local rates are not seasonally adjusted. The preliminary local jobless rates for November, with revised October numbers in parentheses, were: —Brownsville-Harlingen 11.9 (11.1) —Corpus Christi 8.4 (7.9) —El Paso 10.3 (9.9) —Laredo 8.5 (8.1) —McAllen-EdinburgMission 12 (11.3) —San Antonio-New Braunfels 7.6 (7.3) —Sherman-Denison 8.4 (8.1) —Victoria 7.5 (7.3)
Flores keeps seat until Jan. 11 ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — Texas state Rep. Kino Flores gets to stay in office until his term expires despite his conviction on felony ethics charges, because there is no law or rule that prohibits convicted felons from serving in the House if they are convicted while in office. Flores, a Democrat from Palmview in South Texas, can still collect his taxpayer-funded $600-a-month state salary, receive state benefits and control a legislative office budget. It won’t last long. Flores’
STATE REP. KINO FLORES: Law lets him keep seat until session starts. term expires Jan. 11, the first day of the 2011 legislative session, and his felony conviction prevents him from voting or running for public office while on probation. But he would be allowed to vote on House matters if the Legislature was in session. Flores, 52, had faced up to two years in prison but was sentenced to five years probation on Monday and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine
and serve 40 hours of community service in Hidalgo County. Prosecutors told the Austin AmericanStatesman they didn’t ask him to resign because they will want him to file financial disclosure forms with state officials. Flores was convicted on 11 felony and misdemeanor counts of tampering with government records and perjury. Flores denied allegations of bribery and said the criminal case hinged on clerical errors in required financial filings with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Students visit elderly as part of training By MELISSA REPKO DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS — A young man in a lab coat knocks on the door of room 221. He enters and shakes Agness Robertson’s hand. The two sit side by side. Robertson tells him of her decades of marriage, flipping through photos and handing him newspaper clippings of her career as a society columnist. Second-year medical student Patrick Snyder pulls out a stethoscope and listens to her heartbeat. “I am so glad UT Southwestern is doing this. Some doctors are just boing-boing-boing,” she says, mimicking a check-marking motion, “and then they’re gone.” Snyder joins about a dozen classmates from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Only this time, they make rounds in an assisted-living facility instead of a hospital. At the Legacy at Preston Hollow, they collect medical histories and life stories. Some set foot in a nursing home for the first time. The field trip reflects the medical school’s broader effort to teach students about the needs of
an older population — an endeavor that puts the school ahead of most, says Dr. Sharon A. Brangman, president of the American Geriatric Society. Despite the demographic shift ahead and a nationwide shortage of geriatricians, few medical schools have any geriatric requirement, she said. “The goal of medical schools is to train the next generation of physicians,” she said. “And I don’t think they will be adequately trained if they are not taught geriatrics.” The Southwestern Aging and Geriatrics Education program, funded in part by a $2 million grant by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, folds geriatric topics into the medical curriculum and students’ studies, regardless of their specialty. “From Day 1, we want them to be thinking about aging,” said Dr. Craig Rubin, chief of geriatrics. One of the first lectures focuses on aging in anatomy class, he said. Students meet a senior mentor during the first year of medical school. Throughout their studies, professors quiz students on geriatricrelated concepts and talk about preventing miscommunications or medical
errors when transitioning a patient out of the hospital to a new home such as an assisted living or skilled nursing facility. Seeing a need, the Reynolds Foundation began awarding such grants in 2001, said Rani Snyder, program director for health care programs at the Reynolds foundation. “Most physicians do not have training in geriatrics,” she said. “It could make an enormous difference to older people nationally.” Interested schools must raise $1 million of their own and prove that they have an institutional commitment and a way to sustain the program once funding runs out, she said. For UT Southwestern, grant money has helped pay faculty to rewrite the curriculum, weaving geriatrics into existing courses, said Rubin. It has also funded special projects, such as a medical artist who created computer programs about aging skin. “We’re attempting to change the culture and integrate this so it becomes the infrastructure of the school,” he said. “The curriculum that we’ve started will become self-perpetuating.”
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A
OPENING THE STOCK EXCHANGE
CENTER Continued from Page 1A
Photo by Ben Hider/NYSE Euronext | AP
Chairman of the Board of Directors of SemGroup Corporation John Chlebowski, front row, third from left, and guests, line the podium for the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, in New York. SemGroup is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla.
Legislation gets late plea By GARY MARTIN AND MELISSA LUDWIG SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
WASHINGTON — Obama administration and Latino rights groups Friday made an 11th-hour plea to lawmakers as the Senate prepared to vote on an immigration bill that could provide citizenship to foreign-born immigrants. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to hold a Senate vote on a procedural measure Saturday to cut off a Republican filibuster and move the socalled DREAM Act to the full Senate for approval. Supporters of the bill concede they lack the 60 votes needed to cut off debate, but they spent the waning hours making telephone calls to more than a half dozen Senate Republicans seeking their support for the bill. President Barack Obama was calling lawmakers, urging them to vote for the Development, Relief and
Photo by Harry Hamburg
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, second from right, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, right, accompanied by Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., left, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., second from left, gestures during a news conference on Dec. 8, to discuss the Dream Act legislation. Education of Alien Minors Act, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. “He’s talking with those whose votes are tremendously important,” Gibbs told a group of regional reporters. Obama did not contact Texas Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Republicans, who oppose the DREAM Act and are targeted by immigration activists lobbying them to change their votes.
Meanwhile in San Antonio, four hunger strikers, in their 38th day without solid food, have gathered 1,500 petition signatures urging Hutchison to vote for the bill. “It’s been 38 days of her ignoring the community here in San Antonio,” said Martha Quintanilla, a University of Texas at San Antonio student and hunger striker. “We are still going to push on her and put pressure on her.”
HARTLEY Continued from Page 1A Pedro and Jose Manuel Zaldivar Farias — accused of shooting Hartley. Mexican officials believed the men were already wanted for allegedly belonging to a gang of pirates operating on Falcon Lake. Gonzalez said Friday evening Mexican officials named the people as the alleged attackers. He never received an official notification about the two brothers. Gonzalez does not know if his Mexican counterparts are still looking into the investigation. Hartley’s wife, Tiffany, survived the incident. She fled the scene after she could not lift her husband’s body onto her jet ski.
The Hartley case is still fresh in people’s minds, but that should not deter people from fishing at Falcon Lake, the sheriff said. Shortly after the incident, U.S. and Mexican authorities started a collaborative effort to search for the body of the American. The Hartley and the Young families met with Mexican state police at the Roma port of entry. But things turned violent Oct. 12, when the head of Cmdr. Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, the official who met the family in Roma,
was delivered to the Mexican military in a suitcase. The Hartley case is still fresh in people’s minds, but that should not deter people from fishing at Falcon Lake, the sheriff said. “The U.S. side of the lake is relatively safe. We’ve always said that,” Gonzalez said. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
ence Center-San Antonio. “Certainly any college or university would not dare risk the possibility of teaching classes in a facility where they would be sued and possibly affiliated with something that is unsafe,” Brown said. “These institutions would then not only be subject to liability, but would have to deal with protecting their students.” These issues not only involve protecting the people of Zapata County, they involve Zapata County and participating institutions protecting all students, faculty, and all the public that visit the center, Brown added. In speaking to the architect about the oversight and correction of the safety issues, Brown was shocked to hear the architect ask who is going to pay for it? “My response was I don’t care who pays for it. These are people’s lives and this is people’s safety,” Brown said. “I don’t think people fully understand what this is going to be.” The AEC is going to be a college campus and a vocational training center, he said. “Its going to be a place where people can come and have access to education through technology and face-to-face instruction through the remarkable resources of University of Texas System, Texas A&M System, State of Texas community college system, as well as other universities in other states and other countries,” Brown said. “This is not a place where just a few people are going to come to hang out.” The first issue Brown noticed was the lack of safety railing on top of the building “A two-story drop to hard concrete could easily injure or kill someone,” Brown said. The main stairwell was also a cause for concern, with multiple levels of steps and lack of railing to differentiate the levels, Brown said. “The stairwell is a hidden danger the way the steps have no railing in multiple levels of concrete steps below of which a person can easily trip and fall, also resulting in serious injury or death,” Brown said. An even bigger safety concern is the design of the roof camouflaged by a grassy hilltop. “In the event that on US 83 traveled by large 18wheeler trucks carrying tons of equipment for oil and gas drilling and production could lose control and somehow land on the roof of the building,”
“
I’m very pleased to have this beautiful building for the community and I’m very pleased that it’s an award-winning design.” ADVANCE EDUCATION CENTER DIRECTOR DAVID BROWN
Brown said. “That truck would crush through the building and crush the people below.” Those are the principal safety concerns that need to be addressed as soon as possible; however, Brown noticed a few more issues concerning computer links, a project sign, and a space to accommodate students and faculty, he said. The AEC requires fourinch piping of bandwidth to accommodate all necessary computer cabling and a two-inch pipe was installed, Brown said. “The computer links are for our virtual classrooms and we’re going to have over 40 computers linked to virtual learning centers around the world,” Brown said. “We can work around that defect, but I’m really disappointed that the oversight wasn’t there when it should’ve been.” Brown was appreciative of the large office space reserved for him in the AEC building; however, he is giving it up to accommodate faculty and students of the AEC, he said. “I want that office converted to faculty space for the teaching faculty and I want the students and faculty to have this building,” Brown said. “I’m not trying to be self-righteous or anything, but you know I’m sorry but that office has to house the faculty of Texas A&M University, University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio, Laredo Community College and any other college that provides face-to-face instruction.” The AEC building is not for administrators, he added. Brown asked the Zapata County Commissioners Court to approve a space for him near the building in the last regular meeting Monday. “I want an office off to the side because I can easily walk around and administer the building from another office since we have limited square footage to begin with,” Brown said. “I just want to make sure that we focus on students and faculty and not on administra-
tors and not on people trying to get the prime office space. That’s not what this is about.” Lastly, Brown noticed a project sign required by the United States Economic Development Administration has been posted in the front of the building, not facing the outside for the community to see, he said. “The sign shows that Zapata was competitive and was able to get this federal funding and is looking for leadership in virtual learning and delivering learning to underserved and rural communities through long distance learning and long distance virtual set ups and collaborative with other institutions,” Brown said. “It’s a minor thing and it’s not going to affect our classrooms or our teaching, but I think the community should know this is a federal project and it’s been acknowledged as a federal project.” Federal funding for the construction of the AEC was acquired by Rep. Henry Cuellar, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, and State Rep. Ryan Guillen and the sign includes the signature of President Barack Obama, Brown added. “They worked very hard to get millions of dollars for this project and yet we’re putting the sign where no one can see it,” Brown said. Overall, the focus should be on the real needs of the people of Zapata and not on an awardwinning building or special aesthetically styled building, Brown said. “I’m very pleased to have this beautiful building for the community and I’m very pleased that it’s an award-winning design,” Brown said. “I just think the real issue here is students and faculty, not winning architectural awards.” “It’s a beautiful building there’s no doubt about that. I just know we can make the building safe and I know we can make this building serve its purpose,” Brown added. (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956) 728-2557.)
12A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
COUNTY Continued from Page 1A ry low and one of the reasons is because of the JP’s not turning in adequate information,” Vela said. Collections for 2008, 2009, and 2010 have been decreasing. Approximately $40,000 was collected in 2008; $37,000 in 2009; but only $13,000 in 2010, Vela said. The collections firm will now be sending out personnel to train all the justice of the peace personnel on how to properly submit required information to collect the delinquent fines and fees, Vela said. All Commissioners except Vela approved a pay increase in the tax assessor-collector department. “We have a shortfall, a hire freeze, and cutting on expenses and we’re approving pay increases in the middle of the year,” Vela said. State law only requires the county to award pay incentives to all Class C certified law enforcement, fire department, emergency medical services and sewer and water department personnel, Vela said. “Those are the only departments we’ve considered to give pay incentives after the budget has been approved because we have to,” Vela said. “Once you start giving pay increases in the middle of the year, we’re going to open a can of worms and others will start asking.” After the meeting Vela’s predictions were confirmed when County Auditor Doroteo Garza received a letter from the probation department requesting a pay increase, he said. The county employs approximately 380 people. “The commissioners are now telling me they regret it because they are now finding out what is happening,” Vela said. In other business, the court approved the proper safety inspection of the education center after
AEC director David Brown found discrepancies. The inspection comes free of charge to the county, Vela said. In executive session, the court discussed giving authorization to engineer Manuel Gonzalez to advise the sewer plant department on how to maintain the lift stations currently under investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. After executive session, the court allowed Gonzalez to advise the department in open session. Gonzalez suggested automating the lift stations to keep better track of them daily, Vela said. “When they stop working, it will advise the workers to go and check them out,” Vela said. Aside from not being automated, the lift stations were malfunctioning due to littering by Zapata County residents in manholes found near the lift stations, Vela said. The county will be placing locks on the manholes to prevent any future littering, Vela said. “We will also get law enforcement to have a little more surveillance in the areas,” Vela said. The court also approved items regarding bond counsel, signature of rights of way, farmland, and flood plain resolutions for Las Palmas and the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Lastly, the court received an updated report by the South Texas Food Bank regarding guidelines for grocery pick up. The guidelines have been changed to accommodate people unable to pick up their bags of food on certain days due to lack of transportation or other emergencies, Vela said. “If you cannot pick up your groceries that specific day you can assign a proxy to pick it up for you,” Vela said.
SCHOOLS Continued from Page 1A “We have to remember that sometimes children want to eat only a limited amount of items from the menu and that may not be allowed by federal guidelines,” Garcia said. “I will invite some student representatives in January and talk about the menu with them.” All students currently eat breakfast in the classroom and lunch is served in the cafeteria, Garcia said. “That might have to change,” she added. An evaluation of the career technology and education program showed ZCISD is currently at the third out of four stages due to lower scores in the mathematics and the reading portions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) end-ofyear exam by students participating in these programs, Garcia said. “Although the bilingual/ ESL and special education indicators show that our students in those programs are not doing well in TAKS reading and math, it doesn’t mean they are not doing well in TAKS because of CTE,” Garcia said. “It just means that this program’s guidelines require for us to monitor the progress of these students in the content areas.” The CTE programs allow for students to participate in career- and technologyoriented programs while still in high school, Garcia said. “It is an extremely beneficial and successful program when it comes to involving the vast majority of our high school students in coherent courses that may lead to partial or full certification to gain entrylevel employment,” Garcia said. “It offers 16 clusters with 81 programs of study.” “Any program that generates funding has content accountability indicators,” Garcia said. “The ZHS staff is orga-
nizing specialized tutorials to address the needs of special education and limited English proficient students so that our rating can improve for next year,” Garcia added. A report by the special education program showed that not every program was in need of improvement. Performance by the special education program improved from a stage 4 to 1B. “The special education program showed great improvement,” Garcia said. “The areas of concern mainly have to do with the state pushing districts to test more students in the mainstream as much as possible in TAKS or TAKS A,” Garcia said. “This is a challenge for districts because we are supposed to test students with special needs according to the recommendation of the admission, eview, and dismissal process.” In other business, the board not only recognized student academic performance, but extra-curricular achievements by the Zapata High School JROTC and Future Farmers of America in district and area competitions as well. “The JROTC and FFA are programs that are thriving at ZHS, and I wanted to ensure that we recognize as many of our students as possible,” Garcia said. “(FFA instructor) Mr. Fernando Rodriguez has taken FFA students to numerous competitions where thy have developed and demonstrated their leadership capabilities. “As always our students always come out at the top,” Garcia added. Green Hand FFA students participated in the plant identification contest in Sinton, where they placed second in district and third place in area, Rodriguez said. Other FFA students known as the Chapter Farmers received fourth in district and seventh in ar-
ea competitions in Jourdanton, Rodriguez added. “It’s good to get these kids recognized, but most importantly for the board to see the success so they can keep supporting our programs,” Rodriguez said. FFA was also recognized for receiving first place in the Green Hand livestock winter garden competition in Jourdanton. JROTC, like FFA, received recognition for their accomplishments and volunteer work in the community at the meeting. “Major (Jose O.) Rivera has also dedicated himself to developing the leadership skills of his cadets,” Garcia said. “In a recent competition his group of cadets placed third in the Rio Grande Valley skills meet, where 500 cadets from South Texas competed.” Rivera mentioned in the meeting that he ensures that his students become involved in public service by volunteering locally in projects like Habitat for Humanity, Adopt a Highway, South Texas Food Bank, and flag ceremonials or burials. “Our mission is to motivate young people to compete,” Rivera said. The facilities committee also reported to update the board on current renovation projects, completed projects, and future projects. “The Zapata Middle School renovation project will be ready for teachers to start moving in this Friday; however, the entire building is expected to be ready by Jan. 4 with the exception of the gym and the library,” Garcia said. “Those two areas will be ready one or two weeks after moving in.” A list of items still needing to be addressed has been made and ZCISD is working closely with an architect and the construction company to accelerate the process, Garcia said. All work will be done after hours or on weekends,
Garcia added. “Those are usually minor touch-up here and there,” Garcia said. Also, arrangements have been made for gym classes to take place in the gym currently being used until all improvements have been made, Garcia said. The facilities committee also updated the board on the progress of the renovations of the administration building and future renovations of the professional development center. “The administration building and the PDC were cited out of Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in a recent TEA visit,” Garcia said. “We are upgrading both buildings not only to comply but to make them more functional.” After cutting several positions district-wide last summer, the board approved reinstating several positions in the transportation department and the special education department. Four bus driver positions were reinstated to address the demands placed upon the existing staff, Garcia said. “The bus driver positions are needed,” Garcia said. “We were short in our projections and in talking to our transportation department we found that they were short (staffed).” This year ZCISD picked up more children in Head Start programs and are responsible for the speech therapy needs of those students, Garcia said. The board approved the services of a special education consultant and a special education instructional assistant. “They needed the help of a consultant and not a fulltime speech pathologist,” Garcia said. “The needs are growing in some areas so additional instructional assistance was needed.” (Lorraine L. Rodriguez may be reached at (956)7282557.)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors NFL
NFL
HOME GAME FINALE Rematch against team that threw ’Boys off track By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Dave Einsel | AP
Houston Texans’ head coach Gary Kubiak looks on during an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Houston on Nov. 28.
McNair positive Team’s performance has owner optimistic By KRISTIE RIEKEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Houston Texans owner Bob McNair was so moved by all the positive comments about his team he heard from fellow owners at a league meeting this week that he wanted to pass on the encouraging words to his struggling players. As another disappoint-
ing season is winding down in Houston with little hope of that elusive first playoff berth, McNair gave his players a pep talk to help them move on from their latest heartbreaking loss and finish the season strong. McNair said many of the owners were impressed with the Texans rallying
See TEXANS PAGE 2B
Photo by Jose Yau | AP
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Jon Kitna (3) gets a first down during the second half against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Arlington.
ARLINGTON — The ball was in the end zone on the final play of the season opener for the Dallas Cowboys. Yet, a yellow flag on the field wiped out the winning touchdown. That game-ending holding penalty at Washington three months ago set an ominous tone for the Cowboys in a season when they had Super Bowl expectations — and the opportunity to be the first team to host the championship game. Instead of the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium in February, Dallas (4-9) plays its home finale Sunday against the Redskins. The Cowboys are already guaranteed a losing record for the first time in six seasons. "There’s no question, momentum, division opponent, that kind of sets the tone for the way the season is going to go," tight end Jason Witten said this week. "Obviously, if we had found a way to pull it out, that would have been a big step for our team." On the other side, Washington (5-8) didn’t exactly parlay the fortunate opening victory into a sensational season for coach Mike Shanahan’s return to the sideline and Donovan McNabb’s first year there. Washington’s tumultuous season hit another bump Friday, when Sha-
See COWBOYS PAGE 2B
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Non-conference tests Tech By BETSY BLANEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
AP names Texas player of the year By PAUL J. WEBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN ANTONIO — Kerrville Tivy quarterback Johnny Manziel was named the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors Player of the Year on Friday, punctuating a brilliant season that the Class 4A star hoped proved him capable of being a big-time college passer. Manziel was chosen as the best high school player
in Texas by a statewide panel of sportswriters and editors, joining an elite fraternity of former recipients. Among the past winners are Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers, the inaugural Texas AP player of the year in 2007, and Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert. "It’s a real honor, especially with the guys who have won it in the past,"
See MANZIEL PAGE 2B
LUBBOCK — Texas Tech’s nonconference schedule last year didn’t work out the way Pat Knight had hoped, so he made some changes. After nine games last year, the Red Raiders were unbeaten and enjoying their best start in 80 years. Rising to No. 16 in the nation, the streak included beating then-No. 22 Washington 99-92 at home in overtime. The Red Raiders finished 12-2 in nonconference play and there was plenty of buzz around Lubbock — until Texas Tech won just four Big 12 games and finished 19-16. This year, Knight said, he toughened up the nonconference schedule and Texas Tech is 5-5. After 10 days off for final exams, the Red Raiders carry a winless road record into Saturday night’s game at UTEP (7-2). Knight is hoping the Red Raiders can get to 10 wins before opening Big 12 play at home against No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 8. Three days later, they host No. 22 Texas. “As well as we did in the preseason (last year) it didn’t get us ready for the Big 12,” Knight said. “I’d rather take my hits now and have some problems like we did than having everything go great in the pre-
Photo by Kevin P. Casey | AP
Texas Tech’s head coach Pat Knight during the game against Washington in first half action of an NCAA college basketball game on Dec. 4 in Seattle. season — when it really doesn’t mean anything — and get ready for the Big 12.” Players and Knight say the team should be 8-2, pointing to losses at North Texas (93-82 OT), to South Florida (64-61) and to TCU (81-77). All were lost in the final minute. “I think that we’re just a little
frustrated that things just aren’t going our way,” said senior Mike Singletary, who is averaging 12.7 points per game. “You’ve got to be frustrated when you’re 5-5 and your expectations are a lot bigger than that. I don’t think it something that’s not
See TX TECH PAGE 2B
PAGE 2B
Zscores
Knicks nearly had LeBron
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
Mayweather jailed on battery warrant By KEN RITTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
By BRIAN MAHONEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Dwyane Wade could have seen LeBron James ending up in New York. As for himself ? “I don’t think they really wanted me here anyway,” Wade said Friday. Maybe not, but they definitely wanted James, essentially using two seasons to set themselves up to afford him and one other superstar when the summer 2010 free agency opened. Knicks fans thought they would get James, and for a while Wade bought into the hype, too. “At first, when it first came out there was possibility about him playing in New York — but that was about two or three years ago — I could have seen it at first,” Wade said. That began back in November 2008, when the Knicks made a pair of trades on the same day that cleared enough salary cap space to sign James. New Yorkers believed if he did leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and his native Ohio, he wouldn’t be able to resist the business opportunities that would await him if he could bring the Knicks back to the top. Wade also figured that would appeal to James. “Maybe when I first heard it, from everybody in New York that thought they had him here, I was like, ’OK, maybe. Maybe it’s possible,”’ Wade said. “With the big stage, I know he likes the big stage, the big city. Of course, if you’re a star in New York, you’re a worldwide star, but after a while it was a lot of possibilities.” James does not speak with the media after the morning shootaround. Though James and Wade were the top players available, the Knicks probably would have preferred James and Bosh, or James and Amare Stoudemire, so they had a big man to balance the roster. They ended up only with Stoudemire, who had scored 30 or more points in a franchise-record nine straight games entering play Friday. James, the two-time MVP, said Stoudemire is probably the leading candidate for the award so far this season.
LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. spent a night in a Las Vegas jail before his release Friday on a misdemeanor battery warrant stemming from an allegation that the boxer poked a security guard in the face last month outside his home. The second arrest in three months for the undefeated prizefighter drew allegations from his lawyer that police and prosecutors overreacted to a minor criminal accusation and that the 33-year-old Mayweather was getting “unequal punitive exaggerated treatment.” “This is a misdemeanor,” attorney Richard Wright told The Associated Press. He noted that police usually write a ticket for a misdemeanor, or issue a court summons at the jail. Wright accused District Attorney David Roger of “going out of his way to treat (Mayweather) differently than anyone else.” Roger didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Thursday night arrest Mayweather was arrested just before midnight Thursday at the posh Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip and booked early Friday into the Clark County jail without bail. Police initially said the boxer might remain in jail pending a Monday court date. But defense attorney Karen Winckler intervened, and Mayweather was freed less than 12 hours after his arrest. The misdemeanor charge stems from a confrontation Nov. 15 during which authorities allege Mayweather poked a 21-year-old security guard repeatedly in the left cheek during a loud verbal confrontation over parking tickets. Mayweather’s attorneys have denied wrongdoing on his behalf.
Photo by Isaac Brekken | AP
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., leaves the Clark County Detention Center on Sept. 10 in Las Vegas. A lawyer for Mayweather says the boxer is being freed from a Las Vegas jail following his arrest on a misdemeanor warrant alleging he poked a security guard in the face last month outside his home. Attorney Richard Wright told The Associated Press on Friday that the 33-year-old Mayweather was being processed for release without bail from the Clark County jail pending a Tuesday court date. should remain free pending trial. The misdemeanor case carries a possible six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Mayweather is one of the boxing’s richest and most recognizable figures, with 25 knockouts in his 41 wins. He goes by the nickname “Money,” and earned more than $20 million in May from a single fight in Las Vegas against “Sugar” Shane Mosley. But he has also been dogged in recent years by allegations of violence and confrontations at home and at Las Vegas clubs.
History of violence
Warrant issued The warrant was issued Dec. 8 by a Las Vegas justice of the peace, but he immediately recalled it. It was reinstated Dec. 13 after prosecutors complained that Mayweather was receiving preferential treatment. The judge, Tony Abbatangelo, scheduled a Tuesday hearing to determine whether Mayweather
Mayweather has misdemeanor battery and assault convictions in Las Vegas and his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., and is facing a felony coercion, grand larceny and robbery case stemming from a September dispute with his children and their mother at her home. He faces trial Jan. 24 in that case, and could face up to 34 years in prison if convicted.
TEXANS Continued from Page 1B from a 15-point, fourthquarter deficit against the Ravens on Monday night to force overtime before losing. He said he’d never heard other owners talk about his team in such a positive way and was “shocked” and “amazed” by the comments. “(They talked) about the level of respect that they have for our team and how close they think we are to not just being a good team, but an outstanding team,” McNair said. “It was nice to hear your peer group say that about you. I just wanted the team to know how close not only we think they are, but how close our competitors think they are to being an outstanding team.” The Texans (5-8) play at
Tennessee (5-8) on Sunday and can’t match last year’s 9-7 record even if they win out. If AFC South rival Jacksonville wins any one of its last three games, Houston will be eliminated from postseason contention for the ninth straight year. Star receiver Andre Johnson said it was meaningful for McNair to address the players as a group because he rarely does that. “I think that was big of him to come and just tell us to stay positive because I’m pretty sure it’s been just as frustrating for him as it has been for all of us,” Johnson said. McNair believes the response he received from other owners is affirmation his team is on the
right track. Still, that doesn’t mean he plans to leave everything as it is for next season and there has been much speculation about the future of coach Gary Kubiak. “We’ll review everything at the end of the year,” McNair said. “And will we make some changes? I’m sure we will make some changes. We’ll see some things that need to be improved. But we’re very close to having the kind of team I think we can all be proud of.” McNair conceded this season has been difficult for him. “It’s a killer,” he said. “I hurt more than anybody. To see that we’re so close to being where we want to be and to be denied is just
very disheartening. But you know, it’s like life. Does everything work out right in your life? I doubt it. You don’t quit, do you? No. You just suck it up and go on.” Johnson can probably relate to McNair’s disappointment better than anyone on the team after joining the Texans in their second year. Johnson’s only goal in each of the last few years has been reaching the playoffs. “I definitely feel his pain,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen all the ups and downs and it’s been rough. It’s been very frustrating and I’m pretty sure he never thought it would take this long for the organization to get to where it wants to be.”
COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B nahan announced that he was benching McNabb and would start Rex Grossman at quarterback. The move came with the Redskins, whose only touchdown in the opener was on a mistake by Dallas, on a three-game losing streak. Their most viable remaining goal is to stay ahead of Dallas at the bottom of the NFC East and avoid a third consecutive last-place finish. "Yeah, we’re thinking about that," guard Kory Lichtensteiger said. "We’re looking to get back in the right column to end the year. Having a bad season is one thing, but ending the year bad is a whole other thing altogether." Washington has a chance to sweep the season series against the Cowboys for the first time since 2005, and only the fifth time since the division rivals started playing twice a year in 1961. "It ain’t necessarily about not getting caught — we want to sweep ’em," cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "Obviously we’re down this year; they’re down this year, but definitely want some bragging rights to say we swept ’em." Hall scored the lone Redskins touchdown in the opener, when he helped strip running back Tashard Choice of the ball and returned it 32 yards on the final play of the first half for a 10-0 lead. That play came after then-coach Wade Phillips decided to try to score instead of letting time run out when the Cowboys got the ball at their own 30 with 27 seconds left in the half. That is still Choice’s only career fumble, one he said he won’t ever forget. Phillips was fired after a
1-7 start and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett became interim coach, the first midseason coaching change for owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys are 3-2 since, both losses by 30-27 scores — to New Orleans and Philadelphia. While still bitterly disappointed that another team will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl at his $1.2 billion showplace, Jones has felt better about how the Cowboys have responded under Garrett. "I think a lot of it is a reflection of (Garrett) and the men in the room that go out there and play," Witten said. "I think he’s done a great job of throwing it out there and allowing us to understand here’s where our expectations are and the standard and we’re not deviating off of that." After last week’s loss to Philadelphia to guarantee a losing record, Jones still spoke of being encouraged and made one thing clear: the Cowboys will do everything they can to win the last three games. "Try to make every score and every down we can. It’s all important to me," the owner said. "The goal each week is to try to win football games. That’s what we’re going to try to do," said Garrett, who seems likely to remain the coach after this season. "We’re going to try to put our best football forward, to that end." While the Cowboys still aren’t sure if Tony Romo will play again this season after he broke his collarbone on Oct. 25, Shanahan playfully dodged questions this week about whether he would start McNabb, who already has a career-high 15 interceptions this season.
TX TECH Continued from Page 1B fixable.” What needs fixing, Knight said, is the defense. Texas Tech is allowing opponents to score 79 points, just below that they’re scoring. “They’ve shown they can play well but then they play bad,” said Knight, who is in his third full season after taking over when his father, Bob Knight, resigned in February 2008. “We just got to keep grinding it out. You can’t get upset as a staff, get negative. It does no good.” Singletary said the team can play defense but has done so only in spurts. Also, players at times fail to help teammates defensively. “We just get out there and we just completely forget what we’re doing,” Singletary said. “That’s not a lack of leadership. That’s just a lack of focus on some of our parts.” Brad Reese, another senior, said nothing is gained by lamenting games they could have won. “We can’t go back in time,” said Reese, who’s averaging 12.8 points. “We’re 5-5 now so we just got to keep getting better.” Some of Pat Knight’s frustration stems from having six seniors on the team, including Singletary and John Roberson, who is av-
eraging 13.3 points a game. He thought, even with a tougher nonconference schedule, the team would have started better with that kind of leadership. “But it is what it is,” he said. “You got to keep chugging along. I think eventually they’ll get it. They’ve gotten it in the past. It’s just we’re struggling right now.” The contests against the Bears and the Longhorns could show whether a tougher nonconference schedule worked in the Red Raiders favor. “You got to get things going here in the preseason,” Pat Knight said. “Because you don’t want to go into that conference, especially when you play Baylor and Texas right off the bat, on a down note.” He stands behind his prediction that Texas Tech will make it to the NCAA tournament this season. Before the first game was played, Pat Knight said he shouldn’t be given a contract extension if he didn’t lead the Red Raiders to the tournament. “I think this team is good enough,” he said. “They’ve got talent. If it was a bad team I wouldn’t talk about it. I just keep telling them they’re a good team playing bad.”
MANZIEL Continued from Page 1B Manziel said. A three-year starter, Manziel threw for more than 3,500 yards and 44 touchdown passes in his final season at Tivy. He also ran for nearly 1,700 yards and 30 touchdowns while leading the Fighting Antlers to a 10-2 record. Those gaudy numbers didn’t break any state records, but consider that Manziel was practically a part-timer: Tivy coach Mark Smith only played his star quarterback in just four full games all season. So quickly lopsided were the other games that Manziel often sat out the second half entirely. "I had no clue it would
come out to be this big a deal," Manziel said of his career at Tivy. "I remember being a sophomore and not knowing if I would make varsity or not. It kind of floored me, to put up the numbers that I put up." It’s also likely validating, especially in the face of scouts and observers who have questioned whether Manziel can succeed as a college quarterback. At 6-1 and 190 pounds, Manziel has sought to silence doubts that he is perhaps too small to play the position at Texas A&M, where Manziel has verbally committed. Manziel said constantly being labeled as undersized
Manziel said constantly being labeled as undersized drove him to become a polished pocket passer, and not just a fleet-footed scrambler. drove him to become a polished pocket passer, and not just a fleet-footed scrambler. He credits his parents for putting "a lot of money out there" for football camps, including three days with Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, who Manziel said taught him how to drop back from under center after arriving as a shotgun quarterback. Both Manziel and his high school coach believe
he’ll play quarterback for the Aggies. "Colleges are so much into cookie-cutter images. I don’t think they look at the raw talent," Smith said. "It’s all about the height, weight and speed. To judge somebody on their size, that’s kind of ridiculous. I think a lot of kids similar to Johnny get bypassed because of that." Except few quarterbacks put up career numbers
similar to Manziel. He leaves Tivy with 12,253 career total yards and a combined 158 touchdowns. That includes 7,626 passing yards and 76 touchdown passes. It is the third consecutive year a quarterback has won the award. Gilbert received the honor in 2008 as a record-breaking senior at Austin Lake Travis, followed by Denton Ryan quarterback Scotty Young, who is now at Texas Tech.
Finalists for the award are the 10 offensive and defensive players of the year from the five APSE allstate teams, which are voted on by sportswriters statewide. Other finalists this year were: Cibolo Steele running back Malcolm Brown; Coppell linebacker Brandon Mullins; Denton Ryan defensive lineman Mario Edwards; Brownwood wide receiver Jaxon Shipley; Brownwood linebacker Caden Ellis; Godley running back Landry Martinez; Daingerfield linebacker Steve Edmond; Ben Bolt quarterback Aaron Bueno; and Bremond linebacker Jonathon White.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
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4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2010
AP awards Drew Brees By BRETT MARTEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees has New Orleans swinging, singing and trumpeting their Saints like never before. When the Rebirth Brass Band tears it up during one of their late night shows at a funky old neighborhood bar, the tin-walled place bounces to a drum beat and a tuba’s bass line. Their song goes like this: “We used to say ’Who dat’ since way back when / Now we’re saying ’We dat’ every time we win / You can write it down, take a picture, tell a friend / We already done it. We’re gonna do it again.” Brees is a big reason New Orleanians can smile and boast. Not only did the reigning Super Bowl MVP turn around the Saints’ football fortunes and bring the city its first NFL championship in February, he’s become a civic leader as his adoptive hometown recovers from a time of turmoil and suffering. That record of accomplishment is why the downto-earth quarterback was voted the 2010 Male Athlete of the Year, chosen by members of The Associated Press. There were 176 ballots submitted from U.S. news organizations that make up the AP’s membership. Brees received 48 votes, while the 2009 AP Male Athlete of the Year, NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, finished second with 31. Boxer Manny Pacquiao was third with 21 votes, followed by Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay with 17. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, a comeback story himself, rounded out the top five vote-getters with 10. The award was announced Friday. “I’ve always tried to visualize myself in that position of being considered one of the best and winning
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
Manny Pacquiao, right, lands a punch against Antonio Margarito during the eleventh round of their WBC light middleweight title boxing match in Arlington on Nov. 13.
Photo by Eric Gay | AP
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees holds his son, Baylen, after the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game against the Indianapolis Colts on Feb. 7 in Miami. Brees was voted the 2010 Male Athlete of the Year, chosen by members of The Associated Press on Friday. championships,” said Brees, who won his first title in his ninth NFL season. “Certainly the way you’re perceived, the way people talk about you, the kind of category they put you in — that stuff changes and it’s flattering, certainly humbling.” Brees is only the fourth quarterback to receive the honor in the past four decades, along with the Patriots’ Tom Brady in 2007, the 49ers’ Joe Montana in 1989 and 1990, and the Raiders’ George Blanda in 1970. The place Brees finds himself now is even more remarkable when you consider that he came to New Orleans having been unceremoniously discarded by the San Diego Chargers after a career-threatening injury to his throwing shoulder. New Orleans was at its nadir in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Saints needed a lift and their new, undersized quar-
terback was looking for a second chance. Brees embraces the chance to talk about those moments, because in his mind, they are linked with the success that followed. “I believe that 100 percent. New Orleans is the last place I ever thought I’d be,” Brees said. “The Saints organization and team didn’t have that great a reputation prior to (2006) and so it was probably not the most attractive place for anybody to come. Then right after the storm, the city’s destroyed and everybody’s displaced and I look back on those times and it was like we were really starting over.” Nearly five years later, many are now familiar with how Brees rebuilt his arm, his career, his team and even helped rebuild New Orleans through millions of dollars in charitable contributions.
OSU: no changes to offense By JEFF LATZKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
STILLWATER, Okla. — Dana Holgorsen is leaving Oklahoma State to become the head-coach-in-waiting at West Virginia. His toprated offense will be sticking around with the Cowboys if coach Mike Gundy has his way. “I don’t think there’s any guarantees that you can look the same that you did last year,” Gundy said Friday, “But I do like the system that we have in place right now, and my first choice would be to pursue a coach who could come in and make the transition very smooth.” In his first season at Oklahoma State, Holgorsen put together an offense that ranks first in the nation in yards per game, second in passing and third in scoring. He’ll be leaving after the 16th-ranked Cowboys (10-2) play Arizona (7-5) in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 to become West Virginia’s offensive coordinator next season and the Mountaineers’ head coach the following season. Gundy said he likely won’t hire Holgorsen’s replacement until the first week of January. “I really don’t think before a bowl game is the right time to do it for Oklahoma State or whoever that may be,” Gundy said.
“There will be coaches who are out there who are participating in a bowl game. Out of respect for them, I will try not to disrupt their routine in preparing for that bowl game.” Gundy wouldn’t rule out promoting an internal candidate. “I think we have quality coaches on our staff that are certainly capable of running an offense,” he said. “I just have to sit down after the bowl game. I’m going to visit with each of the coaches on our staff. I want to know how much information they know and how much they can give me on what we’re currently running right now.” Gundy, a former offensive coordinator, had been
deeply involved with designing Oklahoma State’s offense but decided after last season to find someone who could take many of the day-to-day planning responsibilities and game day play-calling off of his plate. The result was the first 10-win regular season in school history and Gundy’s selection as the Big 12 coach of the year. That arrangement made Gundy better able to focus on his team’s big-picture needs, but he’s not sure yet what type of coordinator he’ll hire next. “My goal is to try to make as smooth a transition with the players that we have that are returning for next year,” Gundy said.
Pacquiao considers options for next fight By DAVE SKRETTA ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Manny Pacquiao is mulling over options for his next fight, with three names still in the running for the lucrative shot at boxing’s biggest box office attraction. Pacquiao’s adviser, Michael Koncz, told The Associated Press on Friday that no decision has been made on the opponent, although the bout will likely be May 7. Former welterweight champion Shane Mosley, welterweight champ Andre Berto and lightweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez are the options and all have made financial proposals for the fight. “The situation is now that the date has been confirmed, it’s May 7, more likely than not, the venue would be Las Vegas,” Koncz said. “But with regards to the actual opponent, all three of the guys named before are still live opponents.” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum was in the Philippines to celebrate Pacquiao’s 32nd birthday on Friday, and was expected to present him with the
options at that time. There were reports that Pacquiao might announce his opponent, but Koncz said that was untrue. “It’s the holiday season, Manny’s birthday, Bob’s here. We had discussions about the fight but nothing was finalized,” Koncz said. “No rush.” Mosley is considered the favorite to land the fight based on his name recognition. The former titleholder has been in the ring with everyone from Floyd Mayweather Jr. to Oscar De La Hoya, and could conceivably draw the most casual viewers to the fight. Mosley also considers himself a promotional free agent, and Arum is against co-promotions. Marquez may represent the most fan-friendly option after looking good in a victory over Michael Katsidis a few weeks ago. He’s met Pacquiao twice before, fighting to a 12round draw in 2004 and losing a close split decision in March 2008, but both of those outcomes could have gone either way. Some observers even insist that Marquez won them both.
If the fight happens May 7, Marquez could provide an additional incentive. He’s from Mexico and the Cinco de Mayo weekend is traditionally a major drawing card for Latino fight fans. Berto is the dark horse, and perhaps the most dangerous of the three. He looked sensational in a first-round knockout of Freddy Hernandez on the undercard of Marquez’s last fight, but he is not widely known among casual fans. The one fighter who won’t be facing Pacquiao is Mayweather, with their two camps repeatedly having failed to give fans what could be the richest fight in boxing history. The undefeated Mayweather was arrested late Thursday on a misdemeanor warrant for allegedly poking a security guard in the face outside his Las Vegas home. He was released on bail less than 12 hours later but is due back in court next week. “There’s no deadline per se, but who knows when?” Koncz said. “Maybe next week. Who knows?”