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FEMA plans to help counties

By JULIAN AGUILAR THE ZAPATA TIMES

With the effects of Hurricanes Dolly and Ike still resonating in some parts of Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a plan last week that would help reduce or prevent severe damage from future natural disasters in 14 counties along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Cover the Border Hazard Mitigation Action Plan allows Zapata and 13 other border-area counties to submit grant applications to FEMA for federal financing of projects and policies that would reduce or prevent some of the effects of hurricanes, floods and other natural or catastrophic events.

“The prevention is in the area of, for instance, raising levees where they are too low, putting drainage systems where there is not one or putting in backup generators in a hospital that doesn’t have a backup,” said Tyrus G. Fain, director of the Rio Grande Institute.

The Rio Grande Institute submitted the regional plan to state of-

ficials, who, in turn, presented it to officials with FEMA, according to a statement from the office of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, RHUTCHISON Texas.

“The reason it’s important to have an approved plan is that the eligibility requirements for grants under FEMA’s programs require we have a plan in place to get predisaster grants,” Fain said. “So the idea was to bring the 14 counties into compliance with the state and federal requirements.”

Fain said when a disaster forces the allocation of federal funds for recovery efforts, there is also a specific amount set aside for preventative measures, as was the case recently with Hurricanes Ike and Dolly.

Each county’s individual plans must be approved by FEMA in order to receive the grant funding.

J.J. Meza is the fire chief for

Incorporation gets look ByZACH LINDSEY THE ZAPATA TIMES

Incorporation: It’s probably one of the biggest questions facing the growing community of Zapata today. Should the community incorporate?

“Zapata is missing a lot of entitlements,” said Angel Garza, former Zapata County commissioner who is in favor of incorporation.

He said if the city incorporated, it would have access to federal

funds designed to help small cities that it does not have access to now.

Garza said that there are millions of dollars in grant monies waiting for Zapata if it becomes incorporated.

He also fears Zapata is hurting the county in which it resides.

“Eventually, the county budget will give up,” Garza said. “Zapata County is supporting a city.

But the city’s not bringing it money. Zapata County is sup-

porting two houses.”

The budget of Zapata County is approximately $25 million.

“In five years it’s going to be another 20 percent if the tax rate doesn’t increase,” Garza said.

Garza pointed to nearby Willacy County, which has a larger population than Zapata County, but its budget is only about $6 million. According to Garza, the budget is so low because its cities are incorporated.

Betty Flores, the former mayor of Laredo, is on the fence about the issue.

She said that an incorporated city with a certain population can apply directly to the federal government for their share of tax money returns from income tax, sales tax and other localized taxes. But an unincorporated town has to go through the state government.

See INCORPORATION | PAGE 11A

OUT WITH THE OLD

See FEMA | PAGE 11A

LCC, oil and gas officials eye degree

By TARYN WHITE THE ZAPATA TIMES

In the continued effort of creating an oil and gas associates degree program, Laredo Community College officials recently met with representatives from oil and gas companies to collaborate over possible curriculum, marketing and support.

Officials with production and supply companies within the industry gave their opinions on what courses they think should be offered and ideas on how to market the program to potential students.

“I wanted to make sure we were on the right track. The industry needs to know that students are learning subjects relevant to the need,” said Ricardo Cisneros, project and planning manager at LCC. According to Cisneros, the goal is to offer a lease operator program in fall 2009, which will be the first degrees.

The idea of creating associate degree and certificate programs catering to the oil and gas industry was conceived about six months ago when Randy Black, South Texas operations manager for Conoco Phillips, approached

LCC’s economic development officer Blas Castañeda about the lack of incoming workers in the industry.

“The average age of people in the industry is currently around 50, and when they retire no one will be left to fill the gap,” said Black.

Webb and Zapata counties are two of largest oil producers in the state and due to the lack of workforce Black said, often companies have to look outside of the counties to find employees.

Peggy Umphres-Moffett, president of the Zapata County Economic Development Center, has been working closely with Castañeda to help get the program up and running.

According to Umphres-Moffett, Zapata will be breaking ground on an extension campus of LCC in the coming months where students will be able to take the same degree programs offered at LCC in Laredo.

“We want to be able to fill the need of workers with people in our counties. If a program like this one doesn’t happen, oil companies will have no choice but to relocate to find the manpower

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

Jose Medina, supervisor for Support Services at the Zapata County Independent School District, holds some of the items he salvaged Thursday during a walkthrough at the A.L. Benavides Elementary School in San Ygnacio. The school is being demolished in favor of a new structure on the same site.

Elementary school making way for state-of-the-art facility

By TARYN WHITE THE ZAPATA TIMES

onstruction of the new Arturo L. Benavides Elementary School in San Ygnacio began today with the demolition of the school’s old building.

The new school will cost approximately $4.1 million and be built from ground up on the same foundation as the old school, at 301 Lincoln St..

The Zapata County Independent School District estimates construction will be finished by August 2009.

The cost of the new building has been allocated into the district’s budget, and the district hopes it will be paid off within the year.

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The Zapata County Independent School District estimates construction will be finished by August 2009.

According to Romeo Rodriguez, Zapata County Independent School District superintendent, children of San Ygnacio desperately need an updated school.

“The old school had outside hallways

and classrooms and a library that was not technologically compatible (with) computers and AV equipment,” Rodriguez said.

About 100 students, who attend A.L. Benavides, are being bused to Old Zapata Central Elementary School in Zapata and will continue to do so until the new building is ready.

A.L. Benavides was originally built in the 1950s and was remodeled in 1967. Rodriguez said the school will be built with the historical character of the town in mind.

“It will have the same historical facade as many of the old houses that are all around the town,” Rodriguez said.

See LCC | PAGE 11A

REVVING UP FOR TREATS

A LAKE VIEW

Schoolman brings refreshing message A transplanted Laredo educator was in town this week, having accepted an invitation to address members of the Kiwanis Club at the Civic Center Holiday Inn. There was no advanced publicity, but it drew LareDOS and television news representatives.

The guest speaker, Romeo Rodriguez, was among friends, acquaintances and some former school associates. He was at home, much like the environs that surrounded him in the downriver town where the school district hired him in 2001.

The Zapata Independent School District lucked out when it got Rodriguez from the principal’s desk at Laredo’s Nixon High School. The late Vidal M. Treviño would have been proud of him.

“Vidal Treviño was my mentor and I learned from him,” Ro-

driguez told the group.

When he took the Zapata superintendent’s job, Rodriguez told the Laredo Morning ARAMBULA Times, “I have asked that I be allowed to have interaction with students. I want to make sure that this occurs and continues to occur.

If not, that would be a problem.”

He also told The Times, “I feel confident with this district. Laredo and Zapata have very common bonds, and I have this new place as an extension of my family.”

Rodriguez impressed people in Zapata with his management and administrative style. The Zapata board felt the same way, and going into his fourth of a four-year con-

tract, the board extended his contract four more years to 2010.

Back in February of this year, the ZISD board gave him a raise and another job extension to June 2011.

Rodriguez, nevertheless, is not resting on his laurels. He talked Tuesday about making efforts to get better, to raise the bar on tests and improve the graduation numbers.

He’s logged on to education, and his password must be challenge.

His message to Kiwanis and guests, in our judgment, was a refreshing reflection of confidence and optimism for better results in all areas of the educational effort.

It was refreshing to hear a Laredo-schooled educator tell Laredo friends and neighbors about happenings in the downriver community.

Our former associate, Tricia

Cortez, reported on the school board’s unanimous vote to extend Romeo’s stay with ZISD to 2010.

Cortez quoted the senior member of the board, Zachary O. Garza: “We’re happy to have Romeo as our superintendent.

“There have been a lot of positive changes at the district and in Zapata itself,” Garza added.

Listening to Rodriguez discuss ZISD operations (administration, instruction, facilities, academic achievement, state ratings and more.), it’s obvious he landed running on the job seven years ago.

He underscores goals for Zapata students that go beyond the skills demanded by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and getting high school graduates prepared to handle college work.

See LAKE VIEW | PAGE 11A

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

A pair of biker-style Halloween characters decorate the yard of a home in San Ygnacio.

Zin brief

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

AROUND THE NATION | IN BRIEF

WHAT’S GOING ON

South Ossetian government: 6 killed in car blast

The Zapata Soil and Water Conservation District is having a free Range and Wildlife Management Field Day today at the Holiday Inn Express, 167 U.S. 83,in Zapata starting at 9 a.m.Lunch will be served. To reserve a place, call (956) 765-4344 ext. 3 by Sept. 30.

TBILISI, Georgia — A car exploded outside the Russian military’s headquarters in South Ossetia on Friday, killing six people and wounding four, the government of the Moscow-backed separatist region in Georgia said.

The blast came amid persistent tension following Russia’s war with Georgia over South Ossetia and its recognition of the breakaway republic as an independent nation.

The South Ossetian government said a car that had been confiscated in an ethnic Georgian village after weapons were found in it exploded near a building where leaders of the Russian peacekeeping force were located.

THURSDAY,OCT.9 The South Texans’PropertyRights Association is having a Fever Tickstakeholders meeting from 8:30 a.m.to 3 p.m.at the Zapata CountyCommunityCenter,607 U.S.83.

For more information, call (361) 537-4573.

THURSDAY,OCT.13 The Zapata Chamber of Commerce will have its annual meeting today at 11 a.m.at the Zapata Community Center, 607 U.S. 83

OCT.27-30 It’s the Texas-Oklahoma Shootout fishing tournament at Falcon Lake. For more information, call 765-4871.

Pakistan officials: Suspected U.S.strikes kill 12

OCT.28

OCT.29 Texas-Oklahoma Shootout fishing tournament at Falcon Lake. For more information, call 765-4871.

OCT.30 Texas-Oklahoma Shootout fishing tournament at Falcon Lake. For more information, call 765-4871.

THURSDAY,NOV.6 ADrug Free Pep Rallywill be held today at 6 p.m.at the Zapata County Courthouse. County Judge Rosalva Guerra will give the welcome; CountyAttorneySaid A. Figueroa and Eddie Torres will be speakers.

FRIDAY,NOV.7 Zapata’s three-day sesquicentennial celebration begins at 9 a.m. today with a flag ceremony, park dedication, a tribute to veterans and a brief history of Zapata County in addition to several performances. A carnival and other events open in the event at the Zapata County Fair grounds. For more information, call 765-9920.

SATURDAY,NOV.8 Aparade kicks off the day’s sesquicentennial events.The carnival and festival, including food booths, team roping and a cook-off,open at noon at the Zapata CountyFair grounds.Afireworks display is scheduled for the evening, with a concert by Los Intocables.

SUNDAY,NOV.9 The Lopeño Festival gets underway at 8 a.m. in Lopeño with an almuerzo regional (regional breakfast) and historical reminiscing.

At 9 a.m.,it’s the Falcón Festival at Falcón with a visual historical presentation, exhibits, a continental breakfast, dedication of the Falcón Community Park (showcasing the antique bridge),followed by a Mass at Santa Ana Mission and lunch with musical entertainment.

At 1 p.m., the San Ygnacio Festival gets underway in San Ygnacio.There will be a Mass at Nuestra Señora del Refugio Mission.At 2 p.m.,there will be a flag and country ceremony, a historical view of San Ygnacio, a Pillars of the Community presentation honoring citizens making a difference, a tribute to local veterans and a tribute to all veterans.

Photo by Richard Drew | AP

Traders work on the New York Stock Exchange floor on Thursday. Pessimism about a protracted economic downturn washed over the financial markets Thursday, sending stocks plunging and further tightening the credit markets.

Wall Street watches vote and exhales — for now ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — It started like any lunch hour at the New York Stock Exchange: Traders walked the floor carrying pizza boxes and sacks of fast food. Scattered clapping and laughter echoed around.

Then all eyes turned to Washington, and the joking died down.

As the House voted on its $700 billion bailout bill for the financial system Friday, traders gathered around flatscreen televisions, and the handheld devices that record stock orders were unusually quiet.

“What do we do if this fails?” Alan Valdes, an NYSE trader with Hilliard Lyons, wondered aloud. “There’s a total disgust with politicians these days.”

Clearly, Wall Street expected the package to pass: The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 250 points before the vote even began, and it advanced to more than 300 points higher a few minutes into the count.

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AROUND THE WORLD | IN BRIEF

TUESDAY,OCT.7

Texas-Oklahoma Shootout fishing tournament at Falcon Lake. For more information, call 765-4871.

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

But nothing was certain. On Monday, the financial markets had expected an earlier version of the bailout to pass, but with Wall Street and Congress watching each other nervously on television, it fell apart. Mouths fell open at the stock exchange. The Dow lost a record 778 points.

“Wall Street hates indecision,” Valdes noted. “Not that this vote had been doubted, but it needs to be stamped by the House. We needed this to put a floor the crisis.”

Shortly after 1:20 p.m., the crowded around a TV screen fixed to the Bank of America Securities trading post was four deep. The feed showed that more than enough House members had voted yes, but the bill had not been declared passed.

When the gavel came down in Washington to make it official, the moment passed at the stock exchange without any raucous cheers or tossed ticker tape. Even the cowbells and bullhorns that had playfully sounded earlier in the day were quiet.

U.S.appeals N.J.Muslim cleric immigration case

Police: Pa.landlord spied on 34 female tenants

Michael Vick lawyers ask for mediator on finances

NEWARK, N.J. — In a case that could erode hard-worn trust between Muslims and law enforcement, the government is appealing the case of a Muslim leader who won his fight to remain in the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants the Board of Immigration Appeals to review the decision to stop the deportation of Mohammad Qatanani (KAH’-tah-NAH’nee), a leader accus ed by some federal officials of having terrorist ties but praised by others as being an important ally.

PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia landlord secretly videotaped 34 female tenants over two decades after hiding cameras in their apartments, authorities said Friday.

Thomas Daley, 45, will face additional charges stemming from the new victims identified and his alleged efforts to remove some cameras during the investigation, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Coley Reynolds said Friday.

Daley had installed the cameras — typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom — in at least 7 apartments, Reynolds said.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Lawyers for Michael Vick asked a federal bankruptcy judge on Friday to appoint a mediator to help settle his debts to creditors, saying a third party might expedite a resolution in the case.

Vick, once the highest-paid player in the National Football League, listened in silently by telephone from the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., where he is s erving a 23month s enten ce for a dogfighting conviction last summer that magnified his financial troubles.

—Compiled from AP reports

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Two suspected U.S. missile strikes Friday on villages close to the border with Afghanistan killed at least 12 people, most of them militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

American forces recently ramped up cross-border operations against Taliban and alQaida militants in Pakistan’s border zone with Afghanistan —

a region considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

Two missiles believed to have been fired from U.S. unmanned drones launched from neighboring Afghanistan hit the villages in North Waziristan just before dusk, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Vietnam finds tainted products from China HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam’s health ministry has discovered the industrial chemical melamine in 18 food products imported from China and three other countries and has ordered them recalled and destroyed, officials said Friday.

Russian news agencies reported that food inspectors found nearly 2 tons of Chinese dry milk believed to be contaminated with melamine. And Philippines health officials found melamine in two of 30 milk products from China tested for the chemical.

Australian food regulators recalled China-made Kirin Milk Tea after tests in found the drink contained melamine. It is the fourth product withdrawn from the country’s stores in the wake of China’s tainted milk scandal.

—Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE STATE | IN BRIEF Jim Westgate, a trained paleontologist and a research associate with the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory at the University of Texas Memorial Museum, poses in Beaumont, on Wednesday with the fossil tooth of a mammoth he found in Caplen, in the debris from Hurricane Ike. Westgate believes the fossil discovered in the Ikedamaged debris is from a Columbian mammoth.

Photo by Brian Sattler/Lamar University | AP

U.S.company accused of fraud in Afghanistan WASHINGTON — A Houston security company has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government for work done during the Afghanistan war and rebuilding efforts, federal officials said Friday.

United States Protection and Investigations LLC and four employees — subcontractors for the U.S. Agency for International Development — were charged with conspiracy, major fraud and wire fraud for allegedly inflating expenses for their rental vehicles,

fuel and security personnel between June 2003 and July 2007.

Texans switch votes to help pass bailout bill WASHINGTON — Four Texas Democrats and two Republicans changed their minds Friday to help pass a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.

The House approved the bill 263-171. But most Texans did not back the bill. Fifteen Texas House members voted for the bill, and 17 voted against it.

—Compiled from AP reports

NOV.20-22 The 2008 Wal-Mart FLWSeries FishOff is set for Falcon Lake.The lake will play host to top-ranked National Guard Western Division and BPEastern Division pros from the 2008 season. For more information, visit www.FLWOutdoors.com.

CONTACT US Publisher, William B. Green . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2501 Business Manager Dora Martinez. . . . . . . . 220-1660 Chief Accountant,Thelma Aguero . . . . . . .728-2553 Controller,Joe Vied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2502 General Manager,Adriana Devally . . . . . . .728-2510 Retail Adv. Manager,Agustin Magallanes .728-2511 Classified Manager, Sandra Valderrama . .728-2525 Adv. Billing Inquires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2531 Circulation Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2550 Creative Services Director, Raul Cruz . . . .728-2596 MIS Director, Michael Castillo . . . . . . . . . . .728-2505 Editor, Diana Fuentes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2581 City Editor,Julie Daffern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2565 Sports Editor, Dennis Silva II . . . . . . . . . . .728-2579 Business Editor desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2529 A&E Editor, Kirsten Crow . . . . . . . . . . . . . .728-2543

SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of Laredo Morning Times and those who buy LMT at newstands.The Zapata Times is inserted inside.

The Zapata Times is free.

The Zapata Times is published by Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, PO Box 2129, Laredo,Texas 78044. Phone (956)728-2500

The Zapata Times

TODAY IN HISTORY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Oct. 4, the 278th day of 2008. There are 88 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 4, 1957, the Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit.

On this date: In 1777, George Washington’s troops launched an assault on the British at Germantown, Pa., resulting in heavy American casualties.

In 1822, Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, was born in Delaware, Ohio.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini conferred at Brenner Pass in the Alps.

In 1958, the first trans-Atlantic passenger jetliner service was begun by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with flights between London and New York.

In 1965, Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the Western Hemisphere as he addressed the U.N. General Assembly.

In 1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, was found dead in her Hollywood, Calif., hotel room.

In 1976, agriculture secretary Earl Butz resigned in the wake of a controversy over a joke he’d made about blacks.

In 1980, some 520 people were forced to abandon the cruise ship Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska after the Dutch luxury liner caught fire; no deaths or serious injury resulted. (The ship capsized and sank a week later.)

Ten years ago: Russian envoys warned Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that NATO might launch airstrikes unless he took “decisive measures” to end the humanitarian crisis in the southern province of Kosovo. Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso won re-election.

Five years ago: A Palestinian woman blew herself up inside a restaurant in Haifa, Israel, killing 21 bystanders.

One year ago: Idaho Sen. Larry Craig defiantly vowed to serve out his term in office despite losing a court attempt to rescind his guilty plea in a men’s room sex sting. Former city maintenance worker John Ashley shot five people in a law office in Alexandria, La., killing two of them; Ashley was shot and killed by police following a standoff. South

GREAT HUNGER Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pledged to pursue a peace treaty and end their countries’ decades-long standoff.

Today’s Birthdays: Actress Felicia Farr is 76. Actor Eddie Applegate is 73. Author Roy Blount Jr. is 67. Author Anne Rice is 67. Actress Susan Sarandon is 62. Actor Armand Assante is 59. Actor Alan Rosenberg is 58. Actor Bill Fagerbakke is 51.

Producer Russell Simmons is 51.

Actor David W. Harper is 47. TV personality John Melendez (“The Tonight Show”) is 43. Actor Liev Schreiber is 41. Rock musician Andy Parle is 38. Actress Alicia Silverstone is 32. Actor Phillip Glasser is 30. Rock singer-musician Marc Roberge (O.A.R.) is 30. Actress Rachael Leigh Cook is 29. Actor Jimmy Workman is 28. Rhythm-andblues singer Jessica Benson (3lw) is 21. Actor Michael Charles Roman is 21. Figure skater Kimmie Meisner is 19.

Thought for Today: “He who confers a favor should at once forget it, if he is not to show a sordid, ungenerous spirit.” — Demosthenes, Greek statesman (384 B.C.-322 B.C.).

AP photo/file

Long lines of jobless and homeless men wait outside to get a free dinner at New York’s municipal lodging house during the Great Depression, in this 1932 photo.

Zlocal 4-H club starts new season

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

By DORA MARTINEZ Recalling the events of war and happenings, in some books, we have read many stories of hope, just as in a story I was told as a child living at the ranch.

My father, Jose Maria, would tell us the story of when the Indians would kidnap people in the 19th century. It was during the Indian attacks that my Uncle Cosme Martinez was kidnapped by the Comanches back in 1815, when he was only 14 years old.

I was amazed to learn that the teenage lad managed to escape from the Indians some 400 miles upstate and return safely back to his home in Guerrero.

He had the help of an Indian woman who took a liking to the lad and fell for him, and later helped him escape. He used the North Star to guide him home.

The lad was no other than Mer-

Courtesy photo

Superintendent Romeo Rodriguez poses with third-grade student Juanito, no last name given, before he and members of his class take their first benchmark test last Tuesday at Zapata South Elementary School.

Tick conference this week SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Statewide representatives of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the Texas Wildlife Association, the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas Independent Cattlemen’s Association will conclude a conference Oct. 9 in Zapata by challenging property owners to lead the call for federal action to eradicate fever ticks.

The conference, jointly

hosted by the Zapata Chamber of Commerce and the South Texans’ Property Rights Association, is free and open to the public.

The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Thursday at the Zapata Community Center. Lunch will be provided. Attendees are asked to RSVP by Monday. For further information, call Celia Balderas at (956) 765-4871 or Susan Durham at (361) 539-4573.

THE BLOTTER ASSAULT Sheriff’s deputies responded to an assault causing bodily injury Thursday at Zapata High School.

Authorities said a juvenile punched another juvenile in the face, causing a busted lip.

ASSAULT BYTHREAT A male juvenile who allegedly threatened a Zapata Middle School counselor was arrested at about 11:30 a.m.Thursday.The juvenile was taken to the sheriff’s office and cited for assault by threat. He was then released into the custody of his aunt.

A man who allegedly threatened to assault a male juvenile was arrested Wednesday at about 7 p.m. in Monterrey Lane.Ozbel Isai Chapa,of the 5300 block of Vicki Lane, was charged with assault by threat.

POSSESSION OFA CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE Authorities arrested two men Wednesday on the charge of possession of a controlled substance,a state jail felony.Arrested were Fernando Colon Hernandez, of the 5300 block of Pascual Lane, and Jose Guadalupe Hernandez,of the 2000 block of Medina Avenue.

According to the offense report, sheriff’s deputies discovered the controlled substance after pulling the two men over at about 1:30 a.m.near 20th and Carla streets.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman Sept. 26 on the charge of possession of marijuana. Rosario Margarita Salinas was arrested at about 11 a.m. in the 2100 block of Delmar Street.

According to the offense report,Salinas, of the 800 block of Medina Street, was in possession of more than 4 ounces of marijuana.

A juvenile was detained at about 9 p.m. Tuesday after authorities allegedly found two marijuana cigarettes in his possession. According to the offense report, the juvenile was at a residence in the 2100 block of Carla Street.

ROBBERY Authorities responded to a robbery at about 7:30 a.m. Sept. 27 at De Los Santos Meat Market, in the 1600 block of 16th

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Stories from the ranch stay strong

ENCOURAGING STUDENTS

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

It’s time once again to kick off a new 4-H year.

The club held its first meeting of the year Sept. 23 at the County Pavilion. Club manager Bonnie Ochoa and assistant club managers Maria Isabel Espinoza and Juanita Medina were introduced.

Linda “Nina” Meza, new club president, also was introduced to the group. Meza is the daughter of Cris and Edith Meza.

A total of 140 youth are registered for the club this year; 115 signed in at the meeting, 10 called in before the meeting and 15 were no-shows. Only three excused absences are allowed.

If you do not remember to turn in the enrollment forms and dues by the beginning week of October to either the County agents’ office or either one of the 4-H leaders, then the Livestock Committee and 4-H leaders can not recognize you as a legal 4-H member.

Lamb validation is set for Sunday, from 1-2 p.m. Both the exhibitor and a parent or guardian must be present.

The 4-H Week proclamation is set for Wednesday, at 9 a.m. on the courthouse steps.

The October 4-H meeting is set for Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the County Pavilion. This will also be the awards meeting, so club management is looking for a few brave parents willing to donate refreshments.

Remember, there are more than 140 members this year. If you are interested, contact Ochoa or any of the club’s other leaders.

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Street.According to the incident report,the offender was identified as Leonel ChavezJr.

STOLEN VEHICLE Avehicle was reported stolen Sunday from the 1800 block of Fresno Street. The complainant told sheriff’s deputies about the theft at 8:42 a.m.

THEFT A man told authorities at about 8:30 p.m. Monday that rims were stolen from the bed of his truck. The alleged theft occurred outside the complainant’s residence in the 900 block of Diaz Street.

COLUMN curio Martinez Sr.’s grandfather.

Don Mercurio wrote about that daring escape in “The Kingdom of Zapata,” a fascinating book he and Virgil Lott wrote. It is a very informative look that every Martinez should read. Several Martinezes had the notion that Don Cosme had come to Mexico from Spain and that he was tall, blond and blue-eyed.

Don Mercurio never mentioned or gave a description of his talented grandfather in his book.

Perhaps it was because he never met Don Cosme, since Don Mercurio was born eight years after his grandfather passed away.

I was told that Don Cosme was born not in Spain but right here in old Guerrero, Taumalipas, and not only Don Cosme, but his father, Antonio, his

grandfather, Bartolome, his great-grandfather, Miguel, etc., were born on Mexican soil, although of pure Spanish blood.

A lot of this information was brought to me by Felix Garcia, of Laredo. Thanks Felix, for I was very interested in their story since I had been brought up with the story growing up in old Ramireno where I would play with arrowheads left out there by the Indians.

The ranch, which was the most beautiful place I had ever seen in my life, is now under the water of Falcon Dam, which the flood of 1953 destroyed, leaving behind only memories for all of us here in Zapata.

If I had to choose between 1 million acres and my old ranch in old Ramireno, I would choose our ranch. When I pass on and am worthy of the Lord to see heaven, I would like for it to be the beautiful ranch I was raised on.

God bless.

Zopinion

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4,2008

COLUMN

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

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OTHER VIEWS

We’re being played by the stock market

By JOHN YOUNG COX NEWS SERVICE

ACO, Texas — Black is black. I want my money back — with deep apologies to one-hit wonders Los Bravos.

You thought Monday was black. Imagine the darkness had the sum of the nation’s Social Security nest egg taken a 7 percent dive in one trading day.

It would have done so if Congress had signed on to President George W. Bush’s plan to privatize the program three years ago.

Like that federal surplus said to stretch out as far as the eye could see as he took office, playing the market with Social Security was touted as a can’t-miss proposition.

Don’t look now, but we’re being played.

Now, in part to keep the market from adjusting out of a period of artificial stimulation, we’re poised to pump $700 billion into key financial institutions.

Yes, a major reason for the bailout is to prevent swarms of bankruptcies. But one key reason is that we’ve grown accustomed to jimmy-rigged and inflated market numbers. They are what tell us each day the “economy is fundamentally sound.”

Of course, they don’t.

It very much has seemed that the whole of Washington’s every endeavor in the Bush years has been to keep the stock market pacified. It didn’t matter that we were running up unprecedented debts. It didn’t matter that our infrastructure was falling behind and we were pouring increasing dollars into military might at the expense of other forms of productivity and innovation. It didn’t matter that outsourcing had become the essence of the global economy.

Hence the “jobless recovery.”

What mattered was: Is Wall Street happy?

Hence an irony beyond bitter: When Black Monday sent values crashing, it left the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower than when Bush assumed the presidency, Jan. 20, 2001.

Ah, love’s labors lost.

Yes, the market has rebounded considerably since Monday. This

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is news? No, this is the definition of a market.

It is going to soar. It is going to sob.

That’s why it’s been wrong all along for the stock market to be the bellwether of what’s wrong or right about what we’ve done.

What should have been the real bellwethers were whether our levees could withstand storm surges, our bridges could abide a backup or our children could get health care this side of the emergency room.

What should have been a pivotal indicator was to whether we actually had any seed corn in the sack when deep, dark winter came, as winter does.

When the market crashed, John McCain had more damage control to do than to qualify his “fundamentally sound” soundbite.

Another thing he had to address was his support for privatizing Social Security.

McCain voted for the Bush privatization initiative in 2005. Now he says that all he supports is for private accounts to be added to the Social Security system as an option for younger workers.

At this point such a proposition may be like selling ice makers to Eskimos.

“Social Security was born out of the Great Depression,” Michael Maiello wrote this week on Forbes.com. “This new financial crisis will only fuel its popularity.”

Relative to seed corn: One huge sticking point about privatizing Social Security was that if funds were directed into the stock market and other investment vehicles, Social Security would need $1 trillion to $2 trillion up front to deal with immediate needs.

Considering what else this nation has mortgaged itself to do — wars on two fronts, a cumulative $9.6 trillion debt — that notion was beyond fanciful.

Add now the greatest bailout in American history, an exercise in which companies too extended on debt are made whole by a nation too extended on debt.

That doesn’t sound very solid.

It sounds wholly illusory, just like the money chasing money on Wall Street.

A crisis so basic a child can understand

By MARK RUTLEDGE COX NEWS SERVICE

REENVILLE, N.C. — I asked my 8-year-old daughter if she knew why the country is in a financial crisis.

“Dad,” she shrugged, “I don’t even know what a financial crisis is.”

But Carly Grace, who recently saw most of her life savings threatened due to her own poor decision-making, might understand what’s going on better than she realizes.

Her money problems started shortly after I grabbed away a rubber ball she was bouncing and instructed her not to play with it in the house. Later that day, she ignored my admonition and bounced the ball indoors anyway.

The ball made contact with a relatively expensive living room ceiling fan and shattered its designer globe.

Before that unfortunate moment, Carly had accumulated about $90 in her piggybank from birthdays and the tooth fairy. She might not have a firm grasp of global economics, but my daughter knows how many birthdays and baby teeth it takes to be $10 shy of having a hundred bucks.

I gave her the opportunity to pay for the cost of replacing the globe to avoid what she considered harsher alternatives, and she quickly agreed.

Later, however, she learned that hers was not the first ceilingfan globe to rain down in tiny pieces onto our living room floor, and the wheels of injustice began turning inside her cute little head.

Carly was much younger when the fixture’s original glass was shattered. The circum-

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stances surrounding that first breakage caused my daughter to become embittered over her own liability.

She initially delighted in learning that her father also once destroyed the globe while — no kidding — playing with a bouncy ball in the house. But the smile ran away from her face when I handed her the $50 invoice for her new globe.

It distressed her even further to know that the globe I had broken was replaced free of charge under warranty.

“Why can’t I get a free one?” she demanded.

“It’s been too many years,” I explained. “The company that makes the fan had to send us a new globe in the mail, and that’s quite expensive.”

“It’s not fair!” Carly cried. “You should have to pay. You played in the house, too.”

“Yes,” I responded, “but my father hadn’t just told me not to.”

“Well you’re a grownup,” she shot back. “You’re supposed to know better.”

Right there, albeit with slightly different circumstances, is the financial crisis in terms that even a child can understand.

A bunch of reckless grownups on Wall Street have been playing with bouncy balls inside American houses for years. No one told them not to do it, but they should have known better.

Carly’s right. Wall Street shouldn’t get a free replacement for what’s been broken.

For my part, I’ve agreed to split the $50 even with Carly, and we both pledged to never play with bouncy balls in the house again.

Unfortunately, Main Street won’t likely get a sweetheart deal like that from Wall Street.

COLUMN

The Big Dig and the big, deadly mistake NCHOR BOLTS, poorly secured by epoxy, failed.

That’s the simple, technical answer to what caused the Big Dig ceiling collapse and the death of Milena Del Valle of Jamaica Plain.

But what motivated the human beings who installed those bolts? Who knew the bolts were coming out, but didn’t stop the ceiling from going up? Who kept the problem as quiet as possible until tons of concrete crashed onto Del Valle, as she and her husband headed to Logan International Airport on July 10, 2006?

The civil suit filed by Del Valle’s family ended with a $28 million settlement, to be paid by a raft of defendants, including construction contractor Modern Continental, project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

It doesn’t resolve the deeper, moral questions behind the beautiful, but fatally flawed, $15 billion public works project.

“The one thing we don’t really know from any witness’s mouth is ‘Why? Why make those decisions?”’ said Boston lawyer Bradley Henry, who represented Del Valle’s children in the case.

Four project engineers cited

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JOAN VENNOCHI their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify, so “we can only infer as to why they made the decisions they did,” Henry said.

Absent contrary evidence, it appears that some critical engineering decisions were influenced by fear — not fear of the consequences of building an unsafe tunnel, but fear of being responsible for cost overruns and project delays.

By Sept. 9, 1999, engineers knew anchor bolts were failing, yet they didn’t set up a formal system for monitoring the bolts.

Eventually, senior managers were told about the problem, but never got to the bottom of why.

They knew the ceiling was falling down, but they moved the project forward anyway. Instead of crosschecking their calculations, they crossed their fingers.

Collapse investigations turned up a string of failures. The National Transportation Safety

Board faulted project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for not taking steps to prevent the collapse; epoxy vendor Powers Fasteners; Modern Continental, which installed the bolts; and Gannett Fleming, which designed the tunnel ceiling.

Bechtel and several smaller companies agreed to a $450 million settlement to avert criminal charges. Powers Fasteners was charged with one count of manslaughter, and Modern Continental faces criminal charges as well.

Legal accountability is one issue. What about moral accountability? Where does it begin and end?

From the start, elected officials low-balled the cost of the massive engineering project known as the Big Dig. To the benefit of a circle of insiders, the pricetag ballooned, and the construction timetable extended from one century to the next.

Still, no governor or other official charged with representing the public interest looked the taxpayer in the eye and acknowledged the truth. For too long, the message to the public was “on time, on budget,” even though the Big Dig was neither. Then, at a certain point, the frantic message

to contractors was: “Just get it done.”

Why didn’t anyone in the public or private sector put the cost of a human life ahead of the cost of replacing failing bolts?

Because they were all afraid to tell the truth to the people driving under those tons of concrete.

More time and money were necessary to fix mistakes the Big Dig’s creators were too proud to admit. By 1999, no one in government thought a public lied to for years could handle the truth, or even believe it.

The Big Dig is a perfect example of what happens when the public and private sectors lose credibility together. A version of the same theme is playing out on Capitol Hill right now. The difficulty in reaching agreement on the terms of a financial rescue plan is a testament to the public’s lack of confidence in either Wall Street or Washington.

The Big Dig also illustrates what happens when taxpayers and the media sit back and fail to ask tough questions from the outset. Over time, the lack of curiosity leads to a lack of oversight and accountability.

In this case, the end result was human tragedy.

(Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com)

The best part of the day was the whole thing

By ROBERT KELLY-GOSS COX NEWS SERVICE

LIZABETH CITY, N.C. — The three little ones lay across one bed, snuggled under the covers after a book was read to them.

“Tell me, what was the best part of your day,” I said to them.

“Mine was ballet,” Izzy began.

“No, wait, it was seeing Lesley.”

Then Aidan blurted out his answer “Mine was watching the movie,” he said.

Sam hemmed and hawed a little bit before he answered. His day was so good he couldn’t decide.

I laid back and smiled. No one asked me the best part of my day.

But I would’ve told them it was listening to the best part of their day.

As I lay there, on the edge of a really full twin bed, I watched as they snuggled together, the three little ones. I smiled and couldn’t

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help but feel incredible gratitude.

On this particular day, Monday Sept. 29, 2008, I watched as our economic world crumbled before our eyes, in real time. The stock market had a record oneday plummet and analysts were crazy with explanations. Each one said about the same thing, none of it pretty.

People won’t be getting paychecks, nor will they have credit, they said. Businesses will go belly up. And dogs will marry cats, I suspect.

No, I’m not cynical about the whole thing. You see, I’ve been there. I’ve seen that; done that.

When we arrived in North Carolina over five years ago, we had everything yet I was sure we had nothing. We had everything because in the same minivan we drive today was a load of children, so much younger than they are today. I was sure we had nothing because we had closed a business due to lack of, well, busi-

ness. We were broke.

But we were here, in northeastern North Carolina, to start over. I was scared that my world had come to an end. I was certain that we were doomed to, what?

Funny, I didn’t know what but whatever it was, I was afraid of it.

Nonetheless, we started over.

And we did it with the help of family.

I couldn’t have told you that 10, 15 years ago I would rely on family for a leg up. I was too independent for that sort thing.

And hadn’t I learned that familial help always comes with a price?

But as we pulled into the circular driveway of my in-law’s house on the Outer Banks that day in April, I saw a man and a woman standing on the nearcomplete screen porch bearing grins so broad I was sure their mouths touched their ears.

They held their arms open and the only thing they could say was thank God we’d arrived. You

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

see, they’d been waiting for that day for so many years; the day when we would arrive, not to leave again and head west, back to our home.

No, this was home now and from scratch we started over. We began to make a new life. We reinvented our world here, with the help of our family.

This economic nosedive is sending fear through many who’ve trusted our way of life, depending on its solvency to see them through to those proverbial golden years.

And while it’s possible that many will lose money, material gain, no one has to lose anything at all. You see, at the end of the day all one has to do is look for the things that one really has to be grateful for and know that it was a day well spent.

So what was really the best part of my day? Well, like Sam perhaps, it was so good it’s hard to decide.

Zlife

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

Cancer patients sustain strength

By ZACH LINDSEY LAREDO MORNING TIMES

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month across the nation, and in the City of Laredo, it is being observed with a number of programs, along with the creation of a Breast and Cervical Cancer Coalition, a group of local organizations devoted to fighting cancer in Laredo.

But for breast cancer survivors and patients, every month is part of the struggle.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, it is estimated that 15,000 Texas women will be diagnosed with the disease during 2008 alone.

Diana Hamlin: ‘I knew it was different’ Patients realize this is cancer when they start to lose their hair.

Diana Hamlin understood what she was going through, but it didn’t set in until after her second chemotherapy session, when her hair started to fall out in the shower. Like the psychologists say, people go through stages, and the first stage is denial. But when her hair began to fall out, Hamlin couldn’t deny it.

“That’s when it hit me. That’s one of the things that made me more humble,” she said.

Hamlin was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 2007 at 61 years old.

In her early 30s, Hamlin first found a lump in her breast. At the time, she had undergone a biopsy. During menopause, it went away.

The years of her life went by. She spent 25 years in the banking business and another 20 in forwarding. Her parents died of heart attacks; it was the way she thought she would go. She never had any major health problems, and practiced yoga and exercised.

She worked hard and retired. In the midst of her retirement, the lump came back. “‘It’s always been benign; I’ll take care of it later,’ ” she said she remembers thinking.

“But in my mind, I knew it was different.”

In October 2007, she finally got the lump checked out. Two hours after she left the office, the doctor called the nurse practitioner.

It wasn’t definitive yet, but it didn’t look good.

She set up an appointment with local specialist Dr. Gary Unzeitig.

“And that’s when the nightmare started,” Hamlin said. “I’ve always been an empowered woman, and this is the one thing I could not control.”

What cancer looks like First there was the pill treatment. It was

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning Times

Idalia Treviño, left, and Diana Hamlin share a smile and a pair of knitting needles.The women have more than good humor in common: They have both been breast cancer patients. meant to make the tumor smaller. After three months of pills, she had a lumpectomy, and from there, on to chemo and losing her hair.

For Hamlin, chemo was the worst part. It left her nauseated and weak. An avid reader, she could barely see the words on the page during treatment. But in chemotherapy, she found a new reserve of strength.

“It’s very important that one engages herself in a hobby, so we’re not thinking about it all the time. Cancer can get a hold of you, and you think about it 24-7,” Hamlin said. She put audiobooks on her iPod and used the five hours of chemotherapy to catch up on her books.

“I don’t wear a wig, and unless I’m cold, I don’t wear a cap,” Hamlin said. “I want other women to realize this is what cancer looks like.”

Idalia Treviño: ‘I did not want to wait’ On the eighth day of every month, Idalia Treviño sends a friendly reminder via text.

It’s self-exam day.

It’s the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer: Aug. 8, 2003.

She has a knack for remembering dates.

“I detected my lump on July 19,” Treviño said.

“I felt the lump while I was taking a shower.

“First thing I said was, ‘What’s the next step?’ I did not want to wait,” she said.

It’s a question she asked many times over the process. She never hesitated, never thought about delay. The important thing was to get it over with as soon as possible.

She, too, had one of her hardest moments when she was faced with the image of herself

in the mirror losing her hair.

“That morning, I told my kids, ‘When you come home from school, be prepared, because (my boyfriend) Alex is going to cut my hair off,’ ” Treviño said.

But her hair has grown back since then, and, thanks to her treatment, there’s no evidence of the lump, which makes her one of an increasing number of breast cancer survivors.

“It’s not a death sentence anymore,” Treviño said. And she’s living proof.

In 1940, the survival rate for localized breast cancer over five years was 72 percent.

Now, with treatment, that number is as high as 98 percent, according to the National Women’s Health Resource Center.

Catching it early It’s early detection that saves lives.

“A lot of women neglect it,” Treviño said. “(They say), ‘It can’t happen to me.’ Believe me, it can happen to you.”

She said that there are programs available for Laredoans with limited means, especially at the Gateway Community Health Center.

Now, with the creation of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Coalition, there are even more opportunities for women with limited finances.

Treviño stressed the idea of monthly self-exams. A woman with a history of breast cancer in her family should begin those exams at age 18. But Treviño, like Hamlin, didn’t have a history of cancer. She recommended that women without a history of cancer begin self-examinations beginning at age 35.

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

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MISS MANNERS | BYJUDITH MARTIN

Which spoon is which?

DEAR MISS MANNERS — Where are those elusive “dessert spoons” that you mention? I don’t find them; the department store can’t find them.

Are they hiding in my silver chest in the soupspoon section?

Are soup spoons an acceptable substitute, or are they one and the same?

This is a new one MARTIN on me. I’ve always used teaspoons, salad forks and ice cream forks for desserts.

GENTLE READER — Well, we all do what we can to survive in primitive times.

Miss Manners remembers when the tablespoons now used for dishing out vegetables were individual soup spoons; the oval spoons now used for soup were dessert spoons (which sometimes came with small dessert forks and knives in attack-all-goodies sets), and no one would dream of using a teaspoon for anything but stirring tea.

As you have discovered, it has all been downgraded. One of these days we’ll be pecking at our food with demitasse spoons and lemon forks. That is, those who are still able to master the apparently complicated skill of holding a fork.

In the meantime, there are two respectable ways of dealing with the situation. One is to revert to the method used before the midVictorian explosion of specialized flatware, and use two sizes for everything: a large oval spoon for soup and desserts, along with a large fork and knife for meat courses; and a smaller-sized knife and fork for appetizers, fish courses and, when needed, desserts.

The second method involves time, money and flea markets.

DEAR MISS MANNERS —

Twice a year I share a hotel room with another woman in our company for three to four nights. I think we should be thoughtful to one another when it comes to setting an early wake-up call.

She likes to rise extremely early to exercise, therefore waking me up one to two hours before I really want to be awakened. I am not exactly a light sleeper, but I cannot go back to a slumber after the alarm sounds.

She says everyone is free to sound the alarm whenever they please. I think she is being rude.

What do you think? I need more sleep to function well at these conferences we attend. It makes the day really long when the alarm sounds at 5:30 a.m.

GENTLE READER — Really?

She declares that all people, presuming including everyone in her hotel room, are free to sound the alarm whenever they please?

No, let’s not go there. Miss Manners does not suggest that you follow the purported etiquette rules of someone who does not recognize any need for considering the well-being of others.

It is time for you to go to the person who handles arrangements at your company and request another roommate. Your point should be that the behavior of your present roommate prevents you from getting the rest that you need to be in top working form.

DEAR MISS MANNERS — My husband and I are amicably ending our 21-year marriage and keeping a good friendship we both prize. We are wondering how we tell friends of our pending divorce.

(We have already told family.)

Our reasons for divorce are complex and personal. Is there an easy “answer” to the question of why we’re divorcing?

GENTLE READER — You are divorcing “by mutual consent.”

That is the only reason that civilized people divorce.

Zentertainment

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

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Firefest ’08 set to heat it up

By KIRSTEN CROW THE ZAPATA TIMES

The temperatures may be dropping at last, but the El Metro Park & Ride grounds, in the 1800 block of Hillside Road, will start out hot by noon today and keep the temperature turned up through 1 a.m. when the Laredo Fire Fighters Association Local No. 1390 throws its first Firefest, a daylong music festival featuring the likes of headliners La Mafia and Los Palominos, along with Laredo’s own Roberto Castillo y La Fuerza, in its lineup.

Proceeds from the marathon concert will benefit fire victims, scholarships and a number of other charities. Admission is $10 to $15 for adults.

“We will just be happy if we make a sufficient amount to make a difference — a significant impact in these families’ lives,” said David Gonzalez, president of the association. “We’re putting in the hard work to bring it to Laredo so (families) can enjoy themselves.

We (hope) the people of Laredo will support us so we in turn can help the people of Laredo.”

The bands In addition to headliner and Grammy Award-winner La Mafia, which will close out the night, the lineup includes Los Palominos, Solido, Costumbre, Siggno, Elida Reyna, Los Garcia Brothers and Roberto Castillo y La Fuerza.

“We just thought of bringing multiple bands of high caliber,” said Ruben Rodriguez, a Firefest committee member and a training officer. “These guys draw big crowds.

It’s the biggest event of the year. …

The people that know Tejano music — they know it’s a great price.”

The association is looking at this first Firefest as “a stepping stone to do something bigger,” he said.

For families Children 12 and younger get into the festival for free, where they will be treated to a “mini carnival” of sorts, featuring face

Courtesy photo

The Grammy Award-winning La Mafia is scheduled to close down the night for Firefest ‘08. painting, a petting zoo, moonwalks and games.

There will also be a motorcycle show and lowrider car and bike show, Gonzalez said.

“The economy being how it is, we’re trying to provide really, really good entertainment so that someone who is a little tight on their budget can take the opportunity to enjoy themselves and their families for an all-day event,” he said.

A cause Although the Laredo Fire Fighters Association has been known to participate in a number of philanthropic activities — fronting the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s “Fill the Boot” campaign, participating in the MDA telethons and donating to United Way — this fundraiser has an even broader scope. Proceeds are set to benefit a fire victims’ welfare fund, general scholarships and four nonprofit organizations, which will be named today, said Gonzalez and Rodriguez.

The fire victims’ welfare fund, Rodriguez said, provides some financial support for fire victims, whether they lost or suffered damages to property in a fire or suffered burns.

Many firefighters contribute to the fund via payroll deductions, but “we’re trying to generate big-

ger funds,” Rodriguez said.

“We give them what (we can),” he said. “But nowadays, (the same dollar amount doesn’t cover) as much. That’s why we’re trying to generate more — so we can give more.”

And while there is an established scholarship program for firefighters’ children, the association is also hoping to jump-start a program that would disburse scholarships to all the high schools in Laredo.

“We’re trying to have a scholarship program, like the big boys, because we want to give back,” Rodriguez said.

Turn it up Firefest will be held from noon to 1 a.m. today at El Metro Park & Ride grounds, in the 1800 block of Hillside Road.

Presale tickets are available for $10 at the Zapata Chamber of Commerce, Casa Raul, San Ramon Music Shop, Casa de Musica Guadalupe, Laredo Mini Mart, Southside Groceries, El Mercado Meat Market and the Z-93 offices.

Tickets will also be available at the gate for $15. Children 12 and younger get in free.

Proceeds benefit a fire victims’ welfare fund, scholarships and other nonprofit organizations, which will be announced at the event.

Photos by Sony Pictures | AP

Michael Cera, right, and Kat Dennings are shown in a scene from “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.”

‘Nick & Norah’ a romantic gem

By CHRISTY LEMIRE ASSOCIATED PRESS

REVIEW

Someday, Michael Cera will show us what else he can do. He surely must have someone else inside of him besides the poignantly verbal but sweetly awkward nerd we’ve come to know and love in movies such as “Superbad” and “Juno” and the late, great TV series “Arrested Development.” He seems too smart, too substantial, to be just a onetrick pony; then again, maybe it’s easy to want good things from him because we like the person we’ve gotten to know so far.

For now, in “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” Cera is that guy again, but he also shows some glimmers of potential as a viable romantic lead — albeit an unconventional one.

He and Kat Dennings have a lively, easy chemistry with each other as a couple of high school seniors prowling the streets of New York on an all-night quest to find their favorite underground band. (Dennings does tend to play the same part over and over, too —

the dryly witty, disaffected cool girl in movies like “Charlie Bartlett” and “The House Bunny” — she’s just not as well known.

Not yet, at least. But she has such a striking, engaging presence, hopefully that will change.)

Cera’s Nick is an average middle-class New Jersey kid who’s obsessed with Tris (Alexis Dziena), the unfaithful ex-girlfriend who dumped him, and the CD mixes he makes her of his favorite indie rock tunes aren’t winning her back. But they do win the heart of Dennings’ wealthy Norah, a classmate of Tris’ who has never met Nick but thinks he must be the coolest guy in the world, based solely on his musical taste.

One evening, through a convoluted confluence of events, Nick and Norah and their respective posses find themselves thrown together. It’s the kind of long, wild night everyone’s had — or at least wanted to have — filled with old friends and new adventures.

Sometimes, you’re the drunk chick

in need of baby-sitting, like Norah’s party-girl pal Caroline (Ari Graynor), who winds up wandering around the Port Authority Bus Terminal by herself; sometimes, you’re the one stuck driving, like Nick’s gay friend and bandmate Thom (Aaron Yoo).

One strange thing happens after another until, eventually, the sun comes up.

It’s a worthy successor to those 1980s John Hughes movies that were sweetly romantic without trying hard to be, which should make it relatable for (slightly) older audiences, too.

Like “Before Sunset,” it’s a small gem with one of the most perfectly charming endings you’ll see in a while. Unlike other movies that can unfortunately feel infinite, this one knows exactly when to say good night.

“Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior. It is playing at Cinemark Mall Del Norte and Hollywood Theaters.

Zbusiness

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

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Oil falls after report, bailout ByJOHN PORRETTO ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Oil prices slipped in volatile trading Friday after Congress approved a historic $700 billion bailout of the nation’s teetering financial industry as the long-term health of the global economy remained questionable.

Investors bet down the price for crude early in the day when the U.S. Department of Labor reported that employers slashed payrolls in September by the greatest amount in more than five years, but got back into the market when Wells Fargo Co. stepped in to buy Wachovia Corp. for $15.1 billion.

Labor Department figures showed that payrolls shrank by 159,000, more than the 100,000 economists predicted. The nation’s unemployment rate remained flat at 6.1 percent, as expected.

And few believed that the unprecedented bailout package, passed early in the afternoon, would rekindle the global appetite for energy any time soon.

“I don’t think it will be capable of putting a floor under oil prices,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 9 cents to settle at $93.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On Thursday, prices closed at their lowest level in two weeks, tumbling below $94 a barrel on doubts that a revamped bailout plan will be enough to avoid a protracted economic slump. Settling at $93.97 a barrel, the price was the lowest since Sept. 16.

Ritterbusch noted demand deterioration is not only intact, “it’s been accentuated by this finan-

Photo by Charles Dharapak | AP Photo by Mary Altaffer | AP

Traders work the crude oil options pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, in New York. cial rescue effort and the subprime loan issues.”

November Brent crude fell 31 cents to settle at $90.25 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweetened bailout plan Wednesday after House lawmakers stunned investors earlier in the week by rejecting it.

The Senate added $100 billion in tax breaks and more in bid to win over enough dissenting House votes.

“Approving the bailout may create a little bounce and alleviate the negative sentiment temporarily,” said John Vautrain, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. “The problem is U.S. gasoline demand has been off one heck of a lot.”

Statistics from the U.S. Labor Department released Thursday showed more signs of a weaken-

ing economy, adding to concerns about falling demand.

In a sign of how far consumers are pulling back, retail gasoline prices fell for the 11th week in the last three months. There was a brief pause in price declines because of hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which disrupted supplies in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Energy Information Administration reported that as of Monday, prices fell 8.6 cents to a national average $3.632 a gallon.

That’s still 31 percent more than last year, and high gasoline prices continue to squeeze consumers.

On Thursday, the U.S. Commerce Department said factory orders in August plunged by 4 percent compared to July, a much steeper decline than the 2.5 percent drop analysts expected and the biggest setback since a 4.8 percent plunge in October 2006.

Laredo’s first choice for comprehensive heart care. And Juan’s.

“I am grateful for the professionalism of Laredo Medical Center for giving –Juan Riojas me one more opportunity to enjoy my life to the fullest.”

President Bush, left, speaks with reporters as he stands on the steps of the Treasury Department with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson after the House passed the $700 billion financial bailout bill at the White House in Washington, Friday.

Stocks fall amid bailout worries ByTIM PARADIS

moved in and out of positive territory before ending down more than 150 points.

Investors had been anxious for resolution on the government’s plan to buy up bad assets from banks and other institutions to shore up the financial industry and help resuscitate credit markets. Trading across markets was volatile throughout the week as investors tried to determine whether the plan would win approval and what effect it might have. On Monday, the House’s rejection took Wall Street and Capitol Hill by surprise and handed stocks their biggest losses in years.

The Senate subsequently passed a sweetened version of

AP BUSINESS

NEW YORK — Stocks ended a volatile week with another sell-off Friday while credit markets remained strained after enthusiasm over the government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan gave way to worries about obstacles still facing the economy.

Investors dumped stocks late in the session after a big intraday rally, repeating a defensive move seen throughout the yearlong market pullback. As lawmakers voted on the plan, which President Bush quickly signed into law, the Dow advanced more than 300 points.

After it passed, the blue chips

the plan that added tax breaks and raised the limit on federal deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000.

“We’re three weeks into a severe credit crunch and it’s causing untold economic damage to the country,” said Hank Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Investments. He said while the bill’s passage will help Wall Street, the broader effects of the paralysis in the credit markets has yet to emerge.

“It’s fairly reasonable to assume that this should help unfreeze the credit markets but what we don’t know what’s happened so far. How much of a dent has it put into the economy?”

When he first started having chest pain, Juan Riojas didn’t think it could be a heart problem. Then, shortly after a visit with his doctor, he was admitted to Laredo Medical Center for a heart catheterization.

That was in 1988, and it was the first of five catheterizations Juan would undergo.

His last one, performed at an out-of-town hospital, resulted in complications and, not wanting to take another chance, Juan came back to Laredo Medical Center where our staff got him back to his old self, and back to his family.

Juan can rest easy knowing that, should he need us again, we’ll always be here with a warm welcome. And the area’s most comprehensive heart program.

To learn more about the region’s most comprehensive cardiac program, visit laredomedical.com today.

Quality Care. Right Here.

1700 E. Saunders • (956) 796-5000 www.laredomedical.com

ZFrontera AGENDAEN BREVE Cultura

LAREDO — El trabajo de varios artistas destacados se pondrán en subasta para recabar fondos para becas en beneficio de las especialidades de arte del Laredo Community College por primera vez en Art Auction for Scholarships el sábado de 7 p.m. a 9 p.m. en el teatro Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center del campus Fort McIntosh.La entrada es de 10 dólares por persona y gratis para estudiantes con identificación.

LAREDO — El domingo continúa la 2008/2009 Steinway Piano Series con la presentación del Duo Long Piano presentando a Beatrice y Christine Long en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall de TAMIU a las 4 p.m.

Más información llamando al 326-2639.

NUEVO LAREDO — Para tener un amplio público cautivo,del 11 al 26 de octubre estarán en exhibición los trabajos de la IV Bienal de Pintura y Escultura Florentino Medina,dentro del programa del Festival Internacional Tamaulipas 2008. La muestra permanecerá abierta al público en el mezzanine del Teatro Experimental del Centro Cultural.

Servicio Social

LAREDO — Participe el sábado en la caminata sexta Pink-To-Do Breast Cancer Awareness en el Laredo Community College (Campus del Sur) de 8 a.m. a 11 a.m.La inscripción es de 20 dólares con ganancias siendo destinadas a sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama,atención y educación sobre el cáncer de mama en Laredo. Más información llamando a Martha Narvaez en el 791-1446.

LAREDO — El martes y miércoles de esta semana serán removidas las flores del cementerio de la ciudad (3200 N.Meadow) por personal de Parques y Servicios de Entretenimiento de la Ciudad de Laredo. Se solicita a las personas no llevar flores en estas fechas.Flores por nuevos servicios en estos dos días serán respetadas. Más información llamando a las oficinas del panteón en el 795-2070.

LAREDO — La organización Brush Country Trailraiders tendrá una campaña de recabación de fondos el 11 de octubre que serán donados a Mercy Ministries para su labor de atención al cáncer de seno. Habrá premios y subastas. Las donaciones para los cabalgantes es de 20 dólares para aquellos de 13 años y mayores y de 10 dólares para 12 años y menores. La donación para quienes nos cabalguen es de 2 dólares. La cabalgata dará inicio a las 8:30 a.m. en Las Lomas y concluirá en LIFE Downs, entre las 2:30 p.m. y 4 p.m. Posteriormente habrá música y una cena en el LIFE Downs Pavilion, con una vigilia a las 7 p.m., seguido de un baile de 7:30 p.m. a 10:30 p.m. con música en vivo del Grupo Bengale. Más información llamando a los teléfonos 231-7067 ó 774-2098.

Para informar acerca de eventos y actividades envíe el nombre, fecha, hora y dirección, y un número de contacto a tiempo@lmtonline.com

SÁBADO 4 DE OCTUBRE DE 2008

EN INTERNET: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

10A

Crisis en EU crea demanda laboral Por MIGUELTIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

NUEVO LAREDO — En un periodo de cuatro meses, se han creado más de dos mil empleos en la frontera para nacionales mexicanos repatriados.

Inclusive, a decir del Director del empleo y la productividad en Tamaulipas, Francisco Hernández Montemayor, es un hecho que por la crisis financiera en Estados Unidos el número de inmigrantes se incrementará y buscarán suerte en esta región.

“La frontera es competitiva porque está atrayendo y reteniendo inversión desde Nuevo Laredo hasta Matamoros, dijo Hernández Montemayor.

Agregó que son los municipios fronterizos mexicanos donde se asumen dos acciones: buscar trabajo a inmigrantes repatriados ó acercarlos a sus puntos de origen.

El Gobernador de Tamaulipas, Euge-

nio Hernández Flores se había comprometido a otorgar 30 mil empleos, y con el retorno de mexicanos deportados, se estaría por llegar a la meta.

Hernández Flores también hizo un anuncio de inversión de 48 HERNÁNDEZ mil millones de pesos en infraestructura en los 43 municipios “a fin de sostener eventos de crisis que pudieran darse si surgiera una mayor deportación de mexicanos”.

En una reciente visita a este puerto fronterizo, el gobernador declaró que “la crisis financiera podrá provocar problemas económicos, deportaciones masivas y desempleo”, aunque aclaró que Tamaulipas está listo para amortiguar los efectos.

A través de la Dirección de Protección Civil y Bomberos, se organizan viajes a San Luis Potosí para acercar a inmi-

grantes a sus regiones.

Según cifras del director de PC, Juan Ernesto Rivera, hasta el 1 de octubre se habían enviado 27 autobuses con más de 1,600 inmigrantes deportados.

“Son personas a las que se les permite bañarse, cambiarse de ropa, se les alimenta para luego subirlos al autobús y regresar a casa”, dijo Rivera.

En caso de que haya personas que deseen permanecer en Nuevo Laredo, se busca que se sumen al proyecto de empleo municipal, según Hernández Montemayor.

A nivel nacional Mientras tanto, el Secretario del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS), Javier Lozano Alarcón, dijo que como consecuencia de la crisis financiera en Estados Unidos, el Banco de México (Báxico) y la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (SHCP), deberán revisar las expectativas

de crecimiento económico y de generación de empleo, para verificar y replantear las cifras estimadas.

En comunicado de prensa de la Cámara de Diputados, Lozano Alarcón aclaró que el contexto internacional en la actualidad no ayuda a cumplir las metas, no obstante, aseguró que se están tomando las medidas necesarias.

Según cifras de la STPS, en lo que va de la administración de Felipe Calderón, se han creado 820 mil empleos netos registrados en el Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, además de los correspondientes a la economía informal, que incluyéndolos, superan el millón de fuentes de trabajo.

Lozano Alarcón aseguró que la meta para el 2012 de la actual administración es la creación continua de 800 mil empleos.

(Puede localizar a Miguel Timoshenkov llamando al (956) 728-2583 o escribiendo a timo1@lmtonline.com)

Relleno sanitario traerá alivio a frontera chica Por MIGUELTIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

MIGUEL ALEMAN, México — Cinco municipios del norte de Tamaulipas resolverán un problema ecológico y de salud regional con la construcción del relleno sanitario para depositar las 84.47 toneladas diarias de desechos.

Por tres décadas este sector del estado ha vivido expuesto a problemas de salud al depositar a campo abierto la producción de basura diaria de Camargo, Miguel Alemán, Ciudad Guerrero, Mier y Gustavo Díaz Ordaz.

El Director de Desarrollo Social local, Román Kanil González Guerra, dijo que el proyecto arrancó en julio para la construcción y operación del Relleno Sanitario de la Frontera Ribereña, “lo cual sin duda resolverá un gran problema”.

El Director de la Agencia Ambiental para el Desarrollo Sustentable, Salvador Treviño Garza, explicó que una aportación a fondo perdido de 2 millones de dólares por el Banco de Desarrollo para América del Norte, NADbank, y con un apoyo de hasta por 2 millones de crédito municipal con aval del Estado, se iniciaron las obras de construcción de esta infraestructura para el cuidado del medio ambiente.

Carmen Ramirez - Rathmell, D.D.S.

“Let your smile be a sign of happiness & good health”

1520 Corpus Christi Street Telephone (956) 726-0160

El relleno sanitario se ubicará entre los municipios de Camargo y Miguel Alemán, el servicio atenderá necesidades de municipios aledaños como Ciudad Guerrero, Mier y Gustavo Díaz Ordaz donde según cifras oficiales se producen entre 85 a 90 toneladas diarias de de desechos.

“El manejo ordenado de residuos sólidos urb anos a través de la utilización de los rellenos sanitarios es una de las líneas de acción que se nos ha trazado pues existe total interés en su administración en avanzar en la ruta de la preservación de la calidad de aire, agua y tierra en Tamaulipas, pero sobre todo, en el respeto total al medio ambiente y a nuestros ecosistemas”, dijo Treviño Garza.

En este proyecto existirá una participación en el fideicomiso por parte del gobierno del Estado aportando recursos federales para hacer frente a los compromisos que los municipios no puedan cubrir en el tiempo, es decir, siempre existirá el recurso para darle s eguridad financiera y continuidad operativa al proyecto.

El valor estimado de la obra es de 54 millones de pesos.

(Puede localizar a Miguel Timoshenkov llamando al (956) 7282583 o escribiendo a timo1@lmtonline.com)

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán

Para beneficio de Camargo, Miguel Alemán, Ciudad Guerrero, Mier y Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, se construye un relleno sanitario donde se depositarán 84.47 toneladas diarias de desechos. El valor estimado de la obra es de 54 millones de pesos.

Suscríbase a TZT en el (956) 728-2555

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008

LCC Continued from Page 1A they need,” said UmphresMoffett.

Other than funding, LCC will also face the obstacle of marketing the program to students who think working in the oil and gas industry means hard work for little pay.

According to Luciano Ramon, dean of Work Force and Development at LCC South, a program is deemed successful b ased on the number of students who graduate and the number who are able to turn their degrees into a job.

Ramon urged the oil and gas industry representatives to consider lending experienced workers to help teach classes, offer internships in their companies and promise jobs to students upon completion of the program.

Ramon also stated concern the program will fall apart if the industry offers jobs to students who have not completed the program’s full amount of hours.

“If students don’t finish the program because they get hired and start making money before completion then this program will never be successful,” said Ramon.

According to Castañeda the next couple of months will be vital to the success of the program. He said, within the next 30 days he needs to get curriculum approved, get funding, and get the LCC’s board approval.

(Taryn White may be reached at 728-2568 or at twhite@lmtonline.com)

THE ZAPATA TIMES | 11A

Ike quiets Gulf beaches once thick with birds

By MICHAEL GRACZYK ASSOCIATED PRESS

GILCHRIST, Texas — One of North America’s renowned bird migration and bird watching areas is strangely silent.

Blame Hurricane Ike. “We had red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, a bunch of migrating birds,” recalled Ernest Stone, 75, leaning on his cane and surveying debris on the cratered moonscape that used to be the family beach house on Bolivar Peninsula.

“I haven’t seen a pigeon in a while,” he said. “Seagulls. You could always go out and throw a piece of bread and the seagulls would come.”

Not now.

“Nothing,” his wife, Jimmie, said. “Zero.”

The same could be said for their home and beachfront community of Gilchrist, where little is standing three weeks after Ike roared ashore with 110 mph winds, a 12-foot storm surge and waves up to 26 feet. The few palm trees or patches

of grass, nearly unrecognizable amid the shells and dried mud, have turned a lifeless yellow brown, killed by sea water.

For people surrounded by devastation with months of rebuilding ahead of them, the birds represent yet another piece of normalcy lost.

“Pelicans and seagulls,” Veronica Felty, 46, said, looking out over the gulf waters that wiped out her place. “Birds — 40 to 50 in a row — flying. They were endless. They were beautiful. Pelicans so thick...

“You wonder if they knew to leave.”

Bolivar Peninsula is part of what’s known as the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, with nearby High Island a prime bird watching spot and traditional rest stop for migrating birds heading north in the spring and south in the fall.

High Island, at 32 feet over sea level, is the highest spot on the gulf coastline for 700 miles between Mobile Bay, Ala., and the Rio Grande, and attracts thousands of bird-watchers a year.

“Now is when birds would

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

Veronica Felty pauses as she reflects on the damage caused by Hurricane Ike on Thursday, in Gilchrist,Texas. One of North America’s renowned bird migration and bird watching areas is strangely silent in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. normally be stopping at High Island to top off with bugs before heading south,” said Ian Tizard, director of the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at Texas A&M University. “High Island has been

stripped of leaves, and a lot of the trees are dying.”

While the loss is tough for bird watchers, Tizard said it might not be so bad for many of the birds: “From a migrating

bird’s point of view, it’s probably not a big deal to fly a few miles on until they find a batch of trees that looks better.”

Tizard said he believes things will get better in the spring.

FEMA | Continued from Page 1A the Zapata Fire Department and also the area’s emergency management coordinator. He said one major area of concern in the county is the flash flooding that occurs after heavy rains, predominantly in the county’s east side, known as the Medina Addition.

“The thing is that in the early 1950s, when that section of town was platted, there weren’t any laws that (prevented) platting in arroyos,” he said.

Meza said he plans to meet with Mario

Gonzalez-Davis, the county’s project manager, to discuss Zapata’s planned infrastructure improvements.

Matt Mackowiack, Hutchison’s press secretary, said the initiative garnered more interest after the recent natural disasters that have affected Texas, including Hurricanes Ike and Dolly and the flooding Webb County experienced last summer.

“It was a combination of all those things,” he said. “The time was right for it.

Certainly, with Dolly having just come

through (the Rio Grande Valley), it reminded all of us of the danger issues that are in the area.”

He added that FEMA’s approval of the plan came shortly after the senator called for a hazard mitigation meeting at Texas State Technical College in Harlingen last month.

“They approved a plan that was basically hatched at the local level at a meeting she (Hutchison) encouraged and brought everyone together (for),” he said.

The counties of Webb, Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Kennedy, McMullen, Pecos, Reeves, Starr and Terrell are also included in the plan.

Fain said the next step would be for the counties to issue a letter of intent that they will submit a local plan for funding by Oct. 15. The local entity would have to ratify that plan by December to be eligible for the funding.

(Julian Aguilar may be reached at 7282557 jaguilar@lmtonline.com)

INCORPORATION | Continued from Page 1A “You eliminate the middle man, the state of Texas,” with incorporation, she said.

But she also said that what may be good for a community one year might not be good the next year.

“If they think they can quickly get in place the administration, then why not?” she said. But, “the devil’s in the details.”

County Commissioner Jose Emilio Vela disagrees with the idea of incorporation.

He said Zapata does not yet have the infrastructure to become incorporated.

“Once we get all the infrastructure, then we’ll be ready to become an incorporated community,” Vela said.

He pointed out the example of Rio Bravo, which incorporated before it had all the foundations necessary. Rio Bravo went bankrupt and was on the brink of dissolution. However, a bankruptcy judge approved a payback plan, and the city has since moved forward.

More than anything else, Vela concentrated on the lack of a tax

base in Zapata.

“We don’t have the tax base to afford being incorporated,” Vela said. “We need to have additional infrastructures supporting businesses. We have a lot of empty lots. We don’t have that many households that pay taxes.”

As for the expenses to the county, Vela said, “I prefer to have

He credits the arrival of families with the oil and gas activity and the increasing presence of federal personnel (U.S. Border Patrol).

His focus is making things better for the sake of Zapata and South Texas students through access to higher education and improving on the TAKS, Average Yearly Progress and SAT numbers.

It was encouraging to hear from an educator who emerged out of a Laredo neighborhood to make the most out of a high

school and two-year college education to continue to greater achievements.

Obviously, Rodriguez took on the challenges and committed to the task with each assignment in Laredo, from the classroom to administrative roles at Lamar Middle, Cigarroa Middle and Lara Academy.

He was ready to make the jump from the principal’s desk at Nixon High School to the superintendent’s desk in Zapata.

We suggest someone in Zapa-

It could even be put on a ballot.

“If it doesn’t pass, it doesn’t pass, but at least it would be exposed to the people of Zapata,” Garza said.

If it were to be placed on a ballot, the issue can only be voted on every two years.

(Zach Lindsey can be reached at 728-2538 or zach@lmtonline.com)

A La Virgen de Gaudalupe

LAKE VIEW | Continued from Page 1A On that score, he told Kiwanis and guests the school district is pursuing a focus beyond the minimal requirements of the TAKS. He heads a school operation that covers 999 square miles and has status as a Chapter 41 school district because of the county’s mineral wealth (oil and gas). As such, Rodriguez said the school district “recaptured” $15.8 million under the WADA, or weighted average daily attendance, formula for equalization purposes.

It’s that gimmick the state has in place (Robin Hood plan) to take from property-rich districts for distribution to property-poor school districts.

Rodriguez has charge of an operating budget of $48.3 million that shows a growing fund balance that has boosted the school district’s school construction program.

He told of a new grade school (A.L. Benavides Elementary School), a state-of-the-art facility for 125 children in San Ygnacio.

His presence in Zapata weighs heavy on the Zapata County liaison to Laredo and Webb County.

Rodriguez talked about Falcon Lake as a leading attraction to locals, area neighbor and traveling tourists for water sports (boating, fishing), and the school district’s partnerships with the county (Zapata), Laredo Community college and Texas A&M International University at Laredo.

He spoke of the opportunity to start undergraduate college work at LCC and went on to Southwest Texas State at San Marcos. He did postgraduate studies at Texas A&I-Kingsville, Laredo State University and TAMIU. He started teaching at Laredo ISD in 1978.

Rodriguez was serving as principal of the alternative Lara Academy when LISD Supt. Paul Cruz named him principal at Nixon High School in 2000.

“How many of you went to St. Joseph’s?” he asked. That was his way to telling the group that the Zapata High School team colors are maroon and white, the same colors of the former St. Joe’s in Las Lomas at Sanchez and Marcella.

Then, there are the family connections. His wife is a reading teacher at United ISD. A daughter teaches in Houston.

Rodriguez underscores the town’s growth in recent years.

a county with more expenses than to have an incorporated city.”

“Maybe five to 10 years from now, by then we’ll have enough infrastructure,” Vela said.

Garza said discussion is important, no matter what the result is. He said that a town hall meeting on the issue is a good idea, so that people can learn more about incorporation.

Haga tres pedidos: Uno de negocios y dos imposibles.

ta start filling out the submittal to the Texas Association of School Boards for Rodriguez’s nomination as the state’s superintendent of the year.

(Odie Arambula is columnist for Laredo Morning Times. He can be reached at 728-2561 and email, oarambula@stx.rr.com)

Confío en ti mi Dios Padre, Hijo y Espiritu Santo, mi Señor Jesús mi único Salvador, con todas mis fuerzas te pido que me concedas la gracia que tanto deseo.

Rece durante nueve días nueve Aves Marías, mismo que sin tener fé será atendido. Rece con una vela encendida, dejela consumirse.

Publiquelo al noveno día.

S.A.

Who couldn’t use a little more love.

Gifts and new services for moms and new babies New! Lactation Counselor, at bedside while you’re here or by phone after you leave, to assist with breastfeeding.

New! New Mommies Sharing support group gives moms and babies (from birth to three months) a place to exchange experiences and information.

For details, New Mommies Sharing schedule, hospital preregistration and Special Deliveries list of discounts, log onto IchooseDoctorsHospital.com. Or phone 956.523.2530 and we’ll send you a package of info.

10700 McPherson Rd. Laredo, TX 78045 956-523-2000 www.IchooseDoctorsHospital.com Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Doctors Hospital of Laredo. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.

12A | THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008

The Zapata Times SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Sports&Outdoors Lady Hawks break Ocho Cinco even on volleyball trip ready for Cowboys

By KEITH MARTIN

THE ZAPATA TIMES

By JAIME ARON ASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING — Terrell Owens can gripe all he wants. His buddy Chad Ocho Cinco doesn’t want to hear it.

Only four touchdowns this season? Only one celebration penalty? Only one loss?

Ocho Cinco wishes he had such problems.

The receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson is so mired in muck that he OCHO CINCO can’t even get the NFL to let him wear his new surname on the back of his jersey.

So, this week, in anticipation of facing T.O. and the OWENS Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, the rebranded Cincinnati Bengals receiver decided it was time to shake up things. Out went the low-key act of recent months. In came the flamboyant act that’s made him, well, Ocho Cinco.

“I’m not holding nothing back,” he said at the start of a 19-minute conference call with Dallas reporters. “Somebody’s got to pay.”

Off he went, riffing on a hoped-for trade to the Cowboys: “They would have to change all of our damn games to pay-per-view because you need to pay to see that (expletive). I’m serious. I’m so serious. They would have to put all the games on pay-perview. Because you can’t just watch a show like that for free; 81 and 85? Come on, now. Please.”

He jabbed at his team’s reversal since 2005, “the year everybody went to jail and got arrested,” and the Bengals went 11-5 and made the playoffs: “Maybe the bad was a good thing. It sounds dumb to say, but look at it.

We have cleaned house and nobody is getting in trouble anymore — no DUIs, no arrests. Now we’re getting ... whupped. I don’t know. Maybe I should go out,

With a two-game road trip to Rio Hondo and Port Isabel this past week, the Zapata Lady Hawks broke even in two very exciting, but tough, games.

In their first match with Rio Hondo, after losing the first game, the Lady Hawks fought back to win the next three, beating Rio Hondo 3-1 (16-25, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-18).

Sophomore Brandi King led the Lady Hawks with 17 kills, five blocks and 17 digs. Captains Leynda Leyva (seven kills, one block, 17 digs and four aces) and Tessa Moss (12 kills, 19 digs and four aces) also provided a spark for the Lady Hawks.

Adrian Peña had five kills, Alexis Garza 25 assists, Loraly

Rivera 18 assists and Kat Garcia five aces.

But in their game last Tuesday night against Port Isabel, the Lady Hawks just couldn’t get a win against some stiff competition, losing 3-0. (13-25, 24-26 and 18-25) And once again, King led the team, with 12 kills, three blocks, three aces and 11 digs. Leyva had five kills and two blocks.

Moss finished with five kills and 13 digs, while Peña added six kills and one ace. Garza had 22 assists and Garcia one ace. Junior Clarissa Solis added 12 digs.

The Lady Hawks will finish the first round of district play against Lyford on Friday.

See VOLLEYBALL | PAGE 2B

Rays rally to beat Sox

By FRED GOODALL ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The young, resilient Rays are one win from breezing into the American League championship series.

All-Star Scott Kazmir settled down after a shaky start, Akinori Iwamura hit a goahead, two-run homer and the AL East champions beat the Chicago White Sox 6-2 Friday for a 2-0 lead in their firstround playoff series.

“This is just awesome,” said Rocco Baldelli, who singled in a run.

Giving many fans a close-up look of the formula that transformed Tampa Bay from a lastplace team to a power, the Rays rallied for the second straight day and remained undefeated in

their young postseason history.

The Rays go for a sweep when the series resumes Sunday in Chicago. Tampa Bay’s Matt Garza (11-9) faces John Danks (12-9), trying to seal a matchup against World Series champion Boston or the Los Angeles Angels in the next round.

“We’re a relaxed bunch,” Baldelli said. “We chill out in the clubhouse.

We have fun. That’s what got us here.”

Of the 35 teams to fall behind 2-0 in the division series before this year, just five have come back to advance, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

It’s been a bleak October for both Chicago teams. The Cubs lost their first two NL playoff games at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The White Sox started quick-

ly, scoring twice in the first on Jim Thome’s RBI single and Alexei Ramirez’s sacrifice fly, but Kazmir struck out Juan Uribe with the bases loaded after three straight foul balls.

Dioner Navarro’s run-scoring single off Mark Beuhrle in the second began the comeback following a two-base throwing error by Ramirez at second, and Iwamura gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead with a drive into the leftcenter field stands off Beuhrle in the fifth.

The Rays added three runs in the eighth, when B.J. Upton tripled and scored on Carl Crawford’s single, which chased Buehrle. Baldelli’s run-scoring single against Octavio Dotel made it 5-2, and Navarro followed with a RBI double off Matt

See RAYZ | PAGE 2B

CROSS COUNTRY TEAMMATES

Courtesy photo

The Zapata Lady Hawks cross country runners are ranked third in the national coaches’ poll after winning the Zapata Invitational and the Edinburg North and TAMIU meets earlier this year.The girls are, from left, Michelle Garcia, Martiza Garcia, Amber Guzman, Marlena Garcia, Kristina Garcia, Alba Jasso and Adriana Ramirez.

Cross Country boys take second place at TAMU-Corpus Christi competition

By KEITH MARTIN THE ZAPATA TIMES

unning against some stiff competition this past weekend in Corpus Christi, the Zapata boys cross country team raced its way to a second-place finish in the 2008 TAMUCC Islander Splash.

R

Senior Raul Serna led the Hawks with a fourth-place finish and a time of 16:53, followed by sophomore Danny Garcia, fifth place and a time of 17:02.

Team captain Jerry Chapa was third on the varsity team in 17:31, ninth place; 19th, Luis Olvera 17:50; 28th, O.J. Quintanilla 18:00; 33rd Edgar Hernandez, 18:10; 34th, Juan Alvarado, 18:13; 47th,

Keith Cobb, 18:42; and 55th, Ricardo Aguillar, 19:01.

But as they get closer and closer to their district meet, slated for Oct. 27, Coach Escamilla seems pleased with the way his team has been running.

“I’m very excited about the way the team has been doing thus far into the season,” Escamilla said. “The guys are

running very smart, and we’re starting to look good as a team.

“I have to give credit to all of the guys, because they make it happen. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5:30 in the morning or 6 in the evening; the guys are here at every practice working as a team.”

See CROSS COUNTRY | PAGE 2B

See COWBOYS | PAGE 2B

Buffaloes’ Scott ready to show ’Horns what they missed ByARNIE STAPLETON ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOULDER, Colo. — The Colorado Buffaloes beat the Texas Longhorns to the punch last February, landing Darrell Scott, the top tailback recruit in the country.

But the freshman leading the Buffs in rushing isn’t Scott but Rodney “Speedy” Stewart, whom they signed as insurance while Scott was still deciding between Austin and Boulder.

Stewart is averaging 87.3 yards a game and 5.6 yards a carry, compared to Scott’s average 36 yards a game and 3.7 yards a carry.

“We know if Darrell Scott is not getting the ball every time,

that Stewart must be really good, because we know how good Darrell is,” said Texas coach Mack Brown, whose fifth-ranked Longhorns visit Folsom Field Saturday night.

At just 5-foot-6, Stewart has become the big man on campus.

“That little Stewart, he can roll,” Texas defensive end Lamarr Houston said. “You can’t see him when he’s got 300-pound guys in front of him.”

The Buffs (3-1) believe Scott is ready to show off his stuff, too, just in time for the Longhorns (40) to get a firsthand look at the prized recruit who spurned them at the last moment.

There are several reasons for

“I’m more concerned with all the intangible things because I know at some point he’s going to be a great player.”

BUFFALOES COACH DAN HAWKINS

Scott’s slow start. They include groin and knee injuries and a late start in camp while he was taking an algebra course to gain eligibility. He showed up overweight and had to catch up on the play book and his footwork.

“Everybody wants the rookie or the freshman to come in and set the place on fire. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn’t happen,” Buffaloes coach Dan Hawkins said.

“I’m more concerned with all the intangible things because I

know at some point he’s going to be a great player.”

Scott’s position coach, Darian Hagan, said Scott had his best week of practice yet. Scott’s teammates said his dogged determination to catch up has him on the verge of a breakout performance.

The timing is perfect for Scott, who chose the Buffs in part because his uncle, sophomore receiver/returner Josh Smith, plays for Colorado, but also because the Longhorns juggled their coaching staff. Scott has said he might be playing for the Longhorns this weekend had Major Applewhite not succeeded running backs coach Ken Rucker, who moved into an administrative position at Texas.

The Buffs’ ground game could prove especially vital against the Longhorns, who have 14 sacks in their last two games and are facing a Colorado team trying to protect quarterback Cody Hawkins with an offensive line missing star tackle Ryan Miller, who broke his leg last week in a loss to Florida State.

Replacing Miller to face Texas’ sack machine is redshirt freshman Matt Bahr, who will be making his first collegiate start.

Bahr figures to see more of Henry Melton than Brian Orakpo, Texas’ best pass rusher, although the Longhorns might flip their

See SCOTT | PAGE 2B

Zscores MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE

Final Glance East Division W L Pct GB x-Tampa Bay y-Boston New York Toronto Baltimore

97 95 89 86 68

65 67 73 76 93

.599 — .586 2 .549 8 .531 11 .422 28½

Central Division W L Pct GB x-Chicago Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City Detroit

89 88 81 75 74

74 75 81 87 88

.546 — .540 1 .500 7½ .463 13½ .457 14½

West Division W L Pct GB x-Los Angeles Texas Oakland Seattle

100 62 79 83 75 86 61 101

.617 — .488 21 .466 24½ .377 39

x-clinched division y-clinched wild card Saturday’s Games N.Y. Yankees at Boston, ppd., rain Kansas City 4, Minnesota 2 Seattle 7, Oakland 3 Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 3 Baltimore 2, Toronto 1, 6 innings, Cleveland 12, Chicago White Sox 6 Texas 8, L.A. Angels 4 Sunday’s Games Tampa Bay 8, Detroit 7, 11 innings N.Y. Yankees 6, Boston 2, 1st game Toronto 10, Baltimore 1 Boston 4, N.Y. Yankees 3, 10 innings, 2nd game Chicago White Sox 5, Cleveland 1 Minnesota 6, Kansas City 0 L.A. Angels 7, Texas 0 Seattle 4, Oakland 3 Monday’s Game Chicago White Sox 8, Detroit 2 Tuesday’s Game Chicago White Sox 1, Minnesota 0 NATIONAL LEAGUE

Final Glance East Division W L Pct GB x-Philadelphia New York Florida Atlanta Washington

92 70 89 73 84 77 72 90 59 102

.568 — .549 3 .522 7½ .444 20 .366 32½

Central Division W L Pct GB x-Chicago y-Milwaukee Houston St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh

97 90 86 86 74 67

64 72 75 76 88 95

.602 .556 .534 .531 .457 .414

— 7½ 11 11½ 23½ 30½

West Division W L Pct GB x-Los Angeles Arizona Colorado San Francisco San Diego

84 82 74 72 63

78 80 88 90 99

.519 .506 .457 .444 .389

— 2 10 12 21

x-clinched division y-clinched wild card Saturday’s Games N.Y. Mets 2, Florida 0 Chicago Cubs 7, Milwaukee 3 Philadelphia 4, Washington 3 Atlanta 11, Houston 5 St. Louis 8, Cincinnati 5 Arizona 6, Colorado 4 L.A. Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1 San Diego 3, Pittsburgh 2 Sunday’s Games Florida 4, N.Y. Mets 2 Philadelphia 8, Washington 3 Houston 3, Atlanta 1 Milwaukee 3, Chicago Cubs 1 St. Louis 11, Cincinnati 4 Pittsburgh 6, San Diego 1 San Francisco 3, L.A. Dodgers 1 Arizona 2, Colorado 1 Regular Season Postseason Glance DIVISION SERIES (Best-of-5) AMERICAN LEAGUE

Los Angeles vs. Boston Wednesday, Oct. 1 Boston 4, Los Angeles 1, Boston leads series 1-0 Friday, Oct. 3 Boston (Matsuzaka 18-3) at Los Angeles (Santana 16-7), 9:37 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 5 Los Angeles (Saunders 17-7) at Boston (Beckett 12-10), 7:17 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 6 Los Angeles at Boston, 8:37 p.m., if necessary Wednesday, Oct. 8 Boston at Los Angeles, 9:37 p.m., if necessary Tampa Bay vs. Chicago Thursday, Oct. 2 Tampa Bay 6, Chicago 4, Tampa Bay leads series 1-0 Friday, Oct. 3 Chicago (Buehrle 15-12) at Tampa Bay (Kazmir 12-8), 6:07 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 5 Tampa Bay (Garza 11-9) at Chicago (Danks 12-9), 4:07 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 6 Tampa Bay at Chicago, 5:07 p.m., if necessary Wednesday, Oct. 8 Chicago at Tampa Bay, 6:07 p.m., if necessary NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago vs. Los Angeles Wednesday, Oct. 1 Los Angeles 7, Chicago 2 Thursday, Oct. 2 Los Angeles 10, Chicago 3, Los Angeles leads series 2-0 Saturday, Oct. 4 Chicago (Harden 5-1) at Los Angeles (Kuroda 9-10), 10:07 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 5 Chicago at Los Angeles, 10:25 p.m., if necessary Tuesday, Oct. 7 Los Angeles at Chicago, 9:37 p.m., if necessary Philadelphia vs. Milwaukee Wednesday, Oct. 1 Philadelphia 3, Milwaukee 1 Thursday, Oct. 2 Philadelphia 5, Milwaukee 2, Philadelphia leads series 2-0

Saturday, Oct. 4 Philadelphia (Moyer 16-7) at Milwaukee (Bush 9-10), 6:37 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 5 Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 1:07 p.m., if necessary Tuesday, Oct. 7 Milwaukee at Philadelphia, 6:07 p.m., if necessary LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best-of-7) AMERICAN LEAGUE

Friday, Oct. 10 Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Los Angeles OR Boston at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner Saturday, Oct. 11 Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Los Angeles OR Boston at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner Monday, Oct. 13 Los Angeles at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner OR Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Boston Tuesday, Oct. 14 Los Angeles at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner OR Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Boston Thursday, Oct. 16 Los Angeles at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner OR Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Boston, if necessary Saturday, Oct. 18 Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Los Angeles OR Boston at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner, if necessary Sunday, Oct. 19 Chicago-Tampa Bay winner at Los Angeles OR Boston at Chicago-Tampa Bay winner, if necessary NATIONAL LEAGUE

Thursday, Oct. 9 Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner at Chicago OR Los Angeles at Philadelphia OR Milwaukee at Los Angeles Friday, Oct. 10 Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner at Chicago OR Los Angeles at Philadelphia OR Milwaukee at Los Angeles Sunday, Oct. 12 Chicago at Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner OR Philadelphia at Los Angeles OR Los Angeles at Milwaukee Monday, Oct. 13 Chicago at Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner OR Philadelphia at Los Angeles OR Los Angeles at Milwaukee Wednesday, Oct. 15 Chicago at Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner OR Philadelphia at Los Angeles OR Los Angeles at Milwaukee, if necessary Friday, Oct. 17 Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner at Chicago OR Los Angeles at Philadelphia OR Milwaukee at Los Angeles, if necessary Saturday, Oct. 18 Milwaukee-Philadelphia winner at Chicago OR Los Angeles at Philadelphia OR Milwaukee at Los Angeles, if necessary WORLD SERIES Wednesday, Oct. 22 National League at American League, (n) Thursday, Oct. 23 NL at AL, (n) Saturday, Oct. 25 AL at NL, (n) Sunday, Oct. 26 AL at NL, (n) Monday, Oct. 27 AL at NL, if necessary, (n) Wednesday, Oct. 29 NL at AL, if necessary, (n) Thursday, Oct. 30 NL at AL, if necessary, (n)

NFL All Times EDT AMERICAN CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA Buffalo 4 0 01.000 109 63 New Eng. 2 1 0 .667 49 58 N.Y. Jets 2 2 0 .500 115 116 Miami 1 2 0 .333 62 64 South W L T Pct PF PA Tennessee 4 0 01.000 102 46 Jacksonville2 2 0 .500 79 85 Indianapolis1 2 0 .333 52 67 Houston 0 3 0 .000 56 99 North W L T Pct PF PA Pittsburgh 3 1 0 .750 77 58 Baltimore 2 1 0 .667 65 43 Cleveland 1 3 0 .250 46 78 Cincinnati 0 4 0 .000 52 87 West W L T Pct PF PA 3 1 0 .750 133 117 Denver San Diego 2 2 0 .500 138 112 Oakland 1 3 0 .250 78 101 Kansas City1 3 0 .250 65 97 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East W L T Pct PF PA 0 01.000 83 43 N.Y. Giants 3 Washington 3 1 0 .750 86 81 Dallas 3 1 0 .750 120 89 Philadelphia 2 2 0 .500 110 74 South W L T Pct PF PA Carolina 3 1 0 .750 80 70 Tampa Bay 3 1 0 .750 101 78 New Orleans 2 2 0 .500 111 100 Atlanta 2 2 0 .500 90 83 North W L T Pct PF PA Green Bay 2 2 0 .500 109 101 Chicago 2 2 0 .500 94 80 Minnesota 1 3 0 .250 71 82 Detroit 0 3 0 .000 59 113 West W L T Pct PF PA Arizona 2 2 0 .500 106 103 San Francisco2 2 0 .500 94 97 Seattle 1 2 0 .333 77 80 St. Louis 0 4 0 .000 43 147 Sunday’s Games Chicago at Detroit, 1 p.m.

San Diego at Miami, 1 p.m.

Atlanta at Green Bay, 1 p.m.

Seattle at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m.

Tennessee at Baltimore, 1 p.m.

Indianapolis at Houston, 1 p.m.

Kansas City at Carolina, 1 p.m.

Washington at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Denver, 4:05 p.m.

Cincinnati at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.

Buffalo at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.

New England at San Francisco, 4:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 8:15 p.m.

Open: N.Y. Jets, Oakland, St. Louis, Cleveland Monday’s Game Minnesota at New Orleans, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 12 Chicago at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Miami at Houston, 1 p.m.

Detroit at Minnesota, 1 p.m.

Oakland at New Orleans, 1 p.m.

St. Louis at Washington, 1 p.m.

Cincinnati at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.

Baltimore at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

Carolina at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.

Jacksonville at Denver, 4:05 p.m.

Green Bay at Seattle, 4:15 p.m.

Dallas at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.

Philadelphia at San Francisco, 4:15 p.m.

New England at San Diego, 8:15 p.m.

Open: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Tennessee Monday, Oct. 13 N.Y. Giants at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.

Injury Report NEW YORK — The updated National Football League injury report, as provided by the league: SUNDAY ATLANTA FALCONS at GREEN BAY PACKERS — FALCONS: DOUBTFUL: DT Jason Jefferson (ankle), WR Laurent Robinson (knee).

QUESTIONABLE: T Sam Baker (illness), DT Grady Jackson (knee), S Lawyer Milloy (rib). PROBABLE: T Todd Weiner (knee). PACKERS: OUT: CB Al Harris (spleen). DOUBTFUL: S Atari Bigby (hamstring), RB Korey Hall (knee), DE Jason Hunter (hamstring), RB Kregg Lumpkin (hamstring), S Aaron Rouse (knee).

QUESTIONABLE: LB A.J. Hawk (groin), QB Aaron Rodgers (right shoulder). PROBABLE: T Chad Clifton (knees), S Nick Collins (back), WR James Jones (knee), DT Ryan Pickett (knee), CB Charles Woodson (toe).

BUFFALO BILLS at ARIZONA CARDINALS — BILLS: OUT: TE Derek Fine (hand), WR Roscoe Parrish (thumb). DOUBTFUL: CB Terrence McGee (knee). QUESTIONABLE: DE Aaron Schobel (foot), DT Marcus Stroud (shoulder). CARDINALS: OUT: WR Anquan Boldin (head). DOUBTFUL: DE Bert Berry (groin). QUESTIONABLE: TE Leonard Pope (ankle), TE Jerame Tuman (hamstring), S Adrian Wilson (hamstring). PROBABLE: G Elton Brown (shoulder), DT Darnell Dockett (hamstring), DT Gabe Watson (knee).

CHICAGO BEARS at DETROIT LIONS — BEARS: OUT: WR Brandon Lloyd (knee). QUESTIONABLE: WR Marty Booker (knee), CB Charles Tillman (shoulder), CB Nathan Vasher (wrist), T Chris Williams (back). LIONS: DOUBTFUL: T George Foster (knee), G Stephen Peterman (hand), RB Marcus Thomas (hamstring).

QUESTIONABLE: CB Leigh Bodden (calf). PROBABLE: CB Travis Fisher (groin), WR Roy Williams (knee).

CINCINNATI BENGALS at DALLAS COWBOYS — BENGALS: OUT: RB De De Dorsey (hamstring), S Dexter Jackson (thumb). DOUBTFUL: LB Corey Mays (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: CB Johnathan Joseph (ankle), QB Carson Palmer (right elbow), RB Kenny Watson (hamstring). PROBABLE: LB Dhani Jones (foot), T Levi Jones (knee), DT Domata Peko (hand), RB Chris Perry (hamstring). COWBOYS: OUT: G Kyle Kosier (foot), S Roy Williams (forearm). DOUBTFUL: S Pat Watkins (neck). QUESTIONABLE: DE Stephen Bowen (hamstring), C Andre Gurode (ankle), DT Tank Johnson (ankle), CB Terence Newman (groin). PROBABLE: RB Deon Anderson (knee), TE Jason Witten (shoulder).

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at HOUSTON TEXANS — COLTS: OUT: G Daniel Federkeil (shoulder), WR Roy Hall (knee), CB Bob Sanders (knee).

TEXANS: OUT: TE Mark Bruener (hamstring), RB Chris Taylor (quadricep). DOUBTFUL: S Will Demps (hamstring). QUESTIONABLE: LB Xavier Adibi (illness), LB Kevin Bentley (ankle). PROBABLE: S Brandon Harrison (shoulder), LB DeMeco Ryans (ankle), T Ephraim Salaam (knee), T Eric Winston (ankle).

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS at CAROLINA PANTHERS — CHIEFS: OUT: T Branden Albert (elbow), QB Brodie Croyle (right shoulder), LB Donnie Edwards (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: LB Erik Walden (ankle).

PROBABLE: DE Tamba Hali (knee), CB Dimitri Patterson (quadricep), CB Patrick Surtain (shoulder). PANTHERS: OUT: T Jordan Gross (concussion). DOUBTFUL: QB Matt Moore (fibula), T Jeff Otah (ankle).

QUESTIONABLE: CB Ken Lucas (ankle), WR Ryne Robinson (knee), S Quinton Teal (ankle). PROBABLE: QB Jake Delhomme (thigh), LB Na’il Diggs (illness).

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — PATRI-

SCOTT | Continued from Page 1B senior defensive ends if they think Orakpo, who has six sacks already, could get after the freshman.

With a healthier Scott and Texas’ pass rush, the Buffs might turn more to their ground game.

“Both of those guys are a step away from taking it to the house on every play,” Bahr said.

“Speedy’s so shifty and Darrell’s more of a power back. Both of those guys have unbelievable ability. Just got to open a couple of holes for them and they’ll go.”

However, they’ll be running behind a line that lost guards Mike Iltis (knee) and Erick Faatagi (academics) before the season and

didn’t make it through September with Miller and freshman guard Max Tuioti-Mariner (knee).

The probable starters against the Longhorns are senior center Daniel Sanders and four underclassmen: junior Devin Head, redshirt freshman Blake Behrens, Bahr and sophomore Nate Solder.

“You have speed, talent and strength on one side, youth on the other,” Hawkins said.

The Longhorns have outscored their opponents 198-43 overall.

After Saturday, they begin a brutal stretch against top-ranked Oklahoma, No. 4 Missouri, No. 21 Oklahoma State and seventhranked Texas Tech.

CROSS COUNTRY | Continued from Page 1B Running on the state’s “toughest course,” in Corpus Christi, Escamilla added the overall time of each of his runners had improved from last week. The team’s No. 1 runner, Raul Serna, ran a 17:29 last week and a 16:53 this week.

“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to advance to regional, and then hopefully state, so I’m not trying to have my guys run hard every week,” Escamilla

said. “As long as we can continue to run smart, we’ll be okay.”

With the Hawks in a much bigger district this year, it may be a lot tougher for them to place in the top three in district..

The Hawks and Lady Hawks will travel to Round Rock today for the McNeil Meet, followed by a trip to the valley.

Their district meet is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 27.

ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

SATURDAY,OCTOBER 4,2008 OTS: DOUBTFUL: LB Eric Alexander (hamstring), CB Lewis Sanders (hamstring), WR Kelley Washington (ankle). 49ERS: OUT: T Jonas Jennings (shoulder), CB Shawntae Spencer (knee). DOUBTFUL: LB Manny Lawson (hamstring).

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS at MIAMI DOLPHINS — CHARGERS: DOUBTFUL: LB Jyles Tucker (hamstring). PROBABLE: TE Antonio Gates (hip), G Mike Goff (knee), RB Mike Tolbert (ankle), DT Jamal Williams (knee). DOLPHINS: No injuries to report.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at NEW YORK GIANTS — SEAHAWKS: QUESTIONABLE: RB Maurice Morris (knee), WR Koren Robinson (knee).

PROBABLE: WR Deion Branch (knee), WR Bobby Engram (shoulder), CB Kelly Jennings (rib), T Walter Jones (hip), DT Craig Terrill (back), QB Seneca Wallace (calf), T Floyd Womack (hamstring). GIANTS: PROBABLE: WR Mario Manningham (illness), DE Jerome McDougle (knee), CB R.W. McQuarters (calf), CB Terrell Thomas (hamstring), K Lawrence Tynes (left knee).

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS at DENVER BRONCOS — BUCCANEERS: OUT: RB B.J. Askew (hamstring), WR Joey Galloway (foot).

DOUBTFUL: S Sabby Piscitelli (elbow). QUESTIONABLE: LB Derrick Brooks (hamstring), G Davin Joseph (foot), DT Ryan Sims (groin). PROBABLE: CB Aqib Talib (illness).

BRONCOS: OUT: DT Josh Shaw (groin), RB Ryan Torain (elbow).

QUESTIONABLE: WR Darrell Jackson (calf). PROBABLE: LB Boss Bailey (ankle), DE Elvis Dumervil (finger), DE John Engelberger (knee), LB Louis Green (hamstring), RB Andre Hall (wrist), G Chris Kuper (knee), S Marquand Manuel (thumb), S Marlon McCree (neck), DT Kenny Peterson (groin, ankle), QB Patrick Ramsey (right elbow), DT Dewayne Robertson (knee), WR Eddie Royal (ankle), CB Jack Williams (ankle).

TENNESSEE TITANS at BALTIMORE RAVENS — TITANS: OUT: CB Reynaldo Hill (hamstring).

DOUBTFUL: WR Justin Gage (knee).

QUESTIONABLE: P Craig Hentrich (back). PROBABLE: RB LenDale White (shoulder), QB Vince Young (knee). RAVENS: OUT: DT Kelly Gregg (knee), S Dawan Landry (neck), CB Samari Rolle (neck).

DOUBTFUL: CB Derrick Martin (shoulder). QUESTIONABLE: LB Antwan Barnes (shoulder), RB Willis McGahee (chest). PROBABLE: WR Yamon Figurs (hamstring), LB Tavares Gooden (hip), LB Nick Greisen (thigh).

WASHINGTON REDSKINS at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — REDSKINS: OUT: DE Jason Taylor (calf).

DOUBTFUL: T Stephon Heyer (shoulder). QUESTIONABLE: CB Shawn Springs (calf), LB Marcus Washington (hamstring). PROBABLE: DE Andre Carter (not injury related), G Randy Thomas (toe). EAGLES: DOUBTFUL: DE Victor Abiamiri (wrist), G Shawn Andrews (back), WR Kevin Curtis (hernia). QUESTIONABLE: TE L.J. Smith (back), RB Brian Westbrook (ankle). PROBABLE: S Quintin Demps (knee), DE Darren Howard (abdomen), DT Dan Klecko (hand), QB Donovan McNabb (chest).

PITTSBURGH STEELERS at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — STEELERS: OUT: DE Nick Eason (groin), DT Casey Hampton (groin), DE Brett Keisel (calf), RB Willie Parker (knee). DOUBTFUL: RB Carey Davis (ankle). QUESTIONABLE: LB Patrick Bailey (hamstring), LB Andre Frazier (concussion), QB Ben Roethlisberger (right shoulder). PROBABLE: LB Keyaron Fox (back), LB James Harrison (quadricep), WR Santonio Holmes (neck), S Troy Polamalu (quadricep).

JAGUARS: OUT: CB Drayton Florence (groin), C Brad Meester (biceps), G Chris Naeole (knee), S Reggie Nelson (knee). PROBABLE: LB Justin Durant (groin), DE Reggie Hayward (hamstring), CB Rashean Mathis (shin), DT Tony McDaniel (biceps).

MONDAY MINNESOTA VIKINGS at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — VIKINGS: OUT: S Madieu Williams (neck).

DOUBTFUL: LB E.J. Henderson (foot). QUESTIONABLE: WR Bernard Berrian (knee), TE Jim Kleinsasser (foot), T Drew Radovich (shoulder), WR Sidney Rice (knee), CB Benny Sapp (hamstring). PROBABLE: LB Vinny Ciurciu (knee), DE Ray Edwards (shoulder). SAINTS: OUT: WR Marques Colston (thumb), DT Sedrick Ellis (knee), CB Aaron Glenn (ankle), WR David Patten (groin), TE Jeremy Shockey (hernia).

DOUBTFUL: S Chris Reis (hamstring). PROBABLE: TE Mark Campbell (hamstring), WR Terrance Copper (hamstring), LB Troy Evans (ankle), CB Randall Gay (hamstring), C Jonathan Goodwin (hamstring), RB Mike Karney (ankle), RB Olaniyi Sobomehin (shoulder), RB Aaron Stecker (hamstring).

WNBA Playoff Glance All Times EDT FIRST ROUND (Best-of-3) EASTERN CONFERENCE Detroit 2, Indiana 1 Friday, Sept. 19: Detroit 81, Indiana 72 Sunday, Sept. 21: Indiana 89, Detroit 82, OT

Tuesday, Sept. 23: Detroit 80, Indiana 61, Detroit wins series 2-1 New York 2, Connecticut 1 Thursday, Sept. 18: New York 72, Connecticut 63 Saturday, Sept. 20: Connecticut 73, New York 70 Monday, Sept. 22: New York 66, Connecticut 62, New York wins series 2-1 WESTERN CONFERENCE San Antonio 2, Sacramento 1 Thursday, Sept. 18: San Antonio 85, Sacramento 78 Saturday, Sept. 20: Sacramento 84, San Antonio 67 Monday, Sept. 22: San Antonio 86, Sacramento 81, OT, San Antonio wins series 2-1 Los Angeles 2, Seattle 1 Friday, Sept. 19: Los Angeles 77, Seattle 67 Sunday, Sept. 21: Seattle 64, Los Angeles 50

Tuesday, Sept. 23: Los Angeles 71, Seattle 64, Los Angeles wins series 21 CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-3) EASTERN CONFERENCE Detroit 2, New York 1 Friday, Sept. 26: New York 60, Detroit 56 Sunday, Sept. 28: Detroit 64, New York 55 Monday, Sept. 29: Detroit 75, New York 73, Detroit wins series 2-1 WESTERN CONFERENCE San Antonio 2, Los Angeles 1 Thursday, Sept. 25: Los Angeles 85, San Antonio 70 Saturday, Sept. 27: San Antonio 67, Los Angeles 66 Sunday, Sept. 28: San Antonio 76, Los Angeles 72, San Antonio wins series 2-1 FINALS (Best-of-5) San Antonio vs. Detroit Wednesday, Oct. 1: Detroit 77, San Antonio 69, Detroit leads series 1-0 Friday, Oct. 3: Detroit at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 5: San Antonio at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 6: San Antonio at Detroit, 7:30 p.m., if necessary Thursday, Oct. 9: Detroit at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m., if necessary

NCAA Football Tuesday’s College Football Score SOUTH Middle Tennessee 14, Florida Atlantic 13 Wednesday’s Score FAR WEST Boise St. 38, Louisiana Tech 3 Thursday’s Scores SOUTH Memphis 33, UAB 30 Pittsburgh 26, South Florida 21 MIDWEST N. Iowa 34, Nicholls St. 14 FAR WEST Utah 31, Oregon St. 28 Schedule (Subject to change) Friday, Oct. 3 SOUTH Cincinnati (3-1) at Marshall (3-2), 8 p.m.

FAR WEST BYU (4-0) at Utah St. (1-3), 8 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 4 EAST Dartmouth (0-2) at Penn (0-2), Noon Northeastern (1-3) at Towson (2-3), Noon Rutgers (1-3) at West Virginia (2-2), Noon Cornell (2-0) at Lehigh (1-2), 12:30 p.m.

Holy Cross (1-2) at Yale (1-1), 12:30 p.m.

Wagner (2-2) at Cent. Conn. St. (3-1), 1 p.m.

Georgetown, D.C. (1-3) at Colgate (3-2), ppd.

Albany, N.Y. (1-3) at Duquesne (2-1), 1 p.m.

Stonehill (1-3) at Iona (2-2), 1 p.m.

Harvard (1-1) at Lafayette (3-0), 1 p.m.

Bucknell (2-1) at Marist (1-4), 1 p.m.

St. Francis (0-4) at Monmouth (2-3), 1 p.m.

Brown (2-0) at Rhode Island (1-4), 1 p.m.

Rob. Morris (1-3) at Sacred Heart (4-0), 1 p.m.

Princeton (1-1) at Columbia (0-2), 1:30 p.m.

Del. (2-2) at Massachusetts (2-2), 3:30 p.m.

SOUTH Duke (3-1) at Georgia Tech (3-1), Noon Boston College (3-1) at N.C. State (2-3), Noon Hampton (3-1) at Delaware St. (1-2), 1 p.m.

Davidson (2-1) at Morehead St. (1-2), 1 p.m.

Samford (2-2) at W. Carolina (2-3), 1 p.m.

Villanova (3-1) at W & M (2-1), 1 p.m.

Gardner-Webb (2-2) at Charleston Southern (1-3), 1:30 p.m.

Savannah St. (2-2) at Clark Atlanta (4-1), 1:30 p.m.

Furman (4-1) at Elon (4-1), 1:30 p.m.

Hofstra (2-2) at JMU (4-1), 1:30 p.m.

Richmond (3-2) at VMI (2-2), 1:30 p.m.

W. Kentucky (2-3) at VT (4-1), 1:30 p.m.

S. Car. (3-2) at Mississippi (3-2), 2 p.m.

North Greenville (1-4) at Presbyterian (1-4), 2 p.m.

The Citadel (3-1) at App. St. (2-2), 3 p.m.

Tenn. St. (4-1) at Tenn.-Martin (4-1), 3 p.m.

Army (0-4) at Tulane (2-2), 3 p.m.

Kentucky (4-0) at Alabama (5-0), 3:30 p.m.

Florida St. (3-1) at Miami (2-2), 3:30 p.m.

SMU (1-4) at UCF (1-3), 3:30 p.m.

Bethune-Cookman (3-1) at Morgan St. (2-2), 4 p.m.

N. Carolina A&T (2-3) vs. N.C. Central (0-4) at Charlotte, N.C., 5 p.m.

Georgia Southern (2-3) at Chat-

tanooga (1-4), 6 p.m.

Auburn (4-1) at Vanderbilt (4-0), 6 p.m.

Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3) Louisiana-Monroe (1-3), 7 p.m.

UTEP (1-3) at Southern Miss. (2-2), 7 p.m.

N. Illinois (2-2) at Tennessee (1-3), 7 p.m.

Maryland (4-1) at Virginia (1-3), 7 p.m.

E. Kentucky (2-3) at Tenn. Tech (3-2), 8 p.m.

MIDWEST Akron (2-3) at Kent St. (1-4), Noon Iowa (3-2) at Michigan St. (4-1), Noon Indiana (2-2) at Minnesota (4-1), Noon Penn St. (5-0) at Purdue (2-2), Noon Ill. St. (1-2) at Ind. St. (0-4), 12:05 p.m.

Kansas (3-1) at Iowa St. (2-2), 12:30 p.m.

Drake (2-2) at Butler (2-1), 1 p.m.

Campbell (1-4) at Dayton (3-1), 1 p.m.

S. Illinois (2-1) at N. Dakota St. (2-2), 2 p.m.

Ohio (1-4) at W. Michigan (4-1), 2 p.m.

Stanford (3-2) at Notre Dame (3-1), 2:30 p.m.

W. Illinois (2-2) at Missouri St. (1-2), 3 p.m.

McNeese St. (2-1) at S. Dak. St. (3-2), 3 p.m.

Texas Tech (4-0) at Kansas St. (3-1), 3:30 p.m.

Temple (1-4) at Miami (Ohio) (1-3), 3:30 p.m.

Illinois (2-2) at Michigan (2-2), 3:30 p.m.

E. Mich. (1-4) at Bowling Green (2-2), 4 p.m.

Tuskegee (4-0) vs. Alabama A&M (2-3) at Indianapolis, 4 p.m.

Ball St. (5-0) at Toledo (1-3), 7 p.m.

Ohio St. (4-1) at Wisconsin (3-1), 8 p.m.

Missouri (4-0) at Nebraska (3-1), 9 p.m.

SOUTHWEST Florida (3-1) at Arkansas (2-2), 12:30 p.m.

Oklahoma (4-0) at Baylor (2-2), 12:30 p.m.

San Diego St. (1-3) at TCU (4-1), 6 p.m.

Prairie View (4-0) vs. Grambling St. (3-2) at Dallas, 7 p.m.

Florida International (1-3) at North Texas (0-4), 7 p.m.

Texas A&M (2-2) at Oklahoma St. (4-0), 7 p.m.

SE La. (3-2) at Stephen F.Austin (1-3), 7 p.m.

Texas Southern (1-2) at Texas St. (2-2), 7 p.m.

Rice (3-2) at Tulsa (4-0), 8 p.m.

FAR WEST Alcorn St. (1-4) at New Mexico St. (1-2), 1:30 p.m.

UNLV (3-2) at Colorado St. (2-2), 2 p.m.

Youngstown St. (2-3) at S. Utah (2-3), 3 p.m.

Montana (4-0) at Weber St. (3-2), 3:05 p.m.

Arizona St. (2-2) at California (3-1), 3:30 p.m.

Montana St. (2-2) at Idaho St. (0-4), 3:37 p.m.

Navy (3-2) at Air Force (3-1), 4 p.m.

E. Washington (2-2) at Portland St. (1-3), 4:05 p.m.

Nevada (2-2) at Idaho (1-4), 5 p.m.

Valparaiso (1-2) at San Diego (4-0), 5 p.m.

Sacramento St. (3-2) at N. Arizona (3-1), 6:05 p.m.

Texas (4-0) at Colorado (3-1), 7 p.m.

Washington (0-4) at Arizona (3-1), 7:30 p.m.

Oregon (4-1) at Southern Cal (2-1), 8 p.m.

N. Colorado (0-3) at UC Davis (1-4), 9 p.m.

South Dakota (2-3) at Cal Poly (2-1), 9:05 p.m.

Wyoming (2-3) at New Mexico (2-3), 9:30 p.m.

Hawaii (1-3) at Fresno St. (3-1), 10 p.m.

Washington St. (1-4) at UCLA (1-3), 10:15 p.m.

Fight Schedule National TV in parentheses Oct. 4 At Pechanga Entertainment Center, Temecula, Calif. (HBO), Yuriorkis Gamboa, Cuba, vs. Marcos Ramirez, Kansas City, Mo., 10, featherweights; Alfredo Angulo, Mexico, vs. Andrey Tsurkan, Russia, 10, junior middleweights; Sergio Martinez, Spain, vs. Alex Bunema, Memphis, Tenn., 12, junior middleweights.

At Jako-Arena, Bamberg, Germany, Arthur Abraham, Germany, vs. Raul Marquez, Houston, 12, for Abraham’s IBF middleweight title.

Oct. 10 At Maribor, Slovenia, Jackson Bonsu, Belgium, vs. Jan Zaveck, Slovenia, 12, welterweights.

Oct. 11 At Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, (SHO), Antonio Tarver, Tampa, Fla., vs. Chad Dawson, New Haven, Conn., 12, for Tarver’s IBF light heavyweight title.

At O2 World Arena, Berlin, Germany, Samuel Peter, Nigeria, vs. Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine, 12, for Peter’s WBC heavyweight title.

Oct. 16 At Yoyogi First Gym, Tokyo, Hozumi Hasegawa, Japan, vs. Alejandro Valdez, Mexico, 12, for Hasegawa’s WBC bantamweight title; Oscar Larios, Mexico, vs. Tahahiro Aoh, Japan, 12, for Larios’ WBC featherweight title.

Oct. 18 At Sachsen, Germany, Hugo Hernan Garay, Argentina, vs. Juergen Braehmer, Germany, for Garay’s WBA light heavyweight title.

At Atlantic City Convention Hall, Atlantic City, N.J. (PPV), Kelly Pavlik, Youngstown, Ohio, vs.

Bernard Hopkins, Philadelphia, 12, light heavyweights.

Oct. 23 At Northern Quest Casino, Airway Heights, Wash. (VERSUS), Orlando Salido, Mexico, vs. Cristobal Cruz, Mexico, 12, for the vacant IBF featherweight title.

Oct. 24 At Tokyo, Chris John, Indonesia,

bats against left-handed pitching during the regular season.

Kazmir allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, leaving after Uribe’s leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt in the sixth. Manager Joe Maddon brought in Grant Balfour to face Orlando Cabrera, who had a heated exchange with the Rays reliever before striking out in crucial situation in Game 1.

Balfour got the better of Cabrera again, but this time without the dramatics of Thursday when the players shouted at each other after Balfour said something to himself on the mound and the White Sox shortstop mistakenly thought he was talking to him.

Cabrera grounded to second base, moving Uribe to third base, before Balfour escaped the jam by getting Swisher on a flyout.

VOLLEYBALL | Continued from Page 1B Game time is 5 p.m. (varsity only).

Their second round will begin Tuesday, against Progresso.

Game times are 5 p.m. for

at

Conn. (5-0) at North Carolina (3-1), 7 p.m.

RAYZ | Continued from Page 1B Thornton.

At 24, Kazmir is the youngest member of Tampa Bay’s rotation and already the franchise’s career victories leader. But high pitch counts also have been an issue for the two-time All-Star, who threw 37 in the first inning.

He hit Orlando Cabrera with a pitch, walked Nick Swisher and gave up a single to Jermaine Dye that loaded the bases with no outs in the first.

The White Sox threatened again in the second and fourth but couldn’t score. They stranded eight runners through five innings, allowing the Rays to stay close until Iwamura’s opposite-field homer put Tampa Bay ahead.

The sellout crowd of 35,257 at Tropicana Field stood and chanted “Aki, Aki, Aki” for Iwamura until he poked his head out of the dugout for a curtain call. He homered once in 192 at-

SPORT SHORTS

S. Car. St. (3-2) at Florida A&M (3-1), 6 p.m.

Howard (0-3) at Winston-Salem (0-4), 6 p.m.

Murray St. (1-4) at Austin Peay (0-5), 7 p.m.

Liberty (4-0) at Coastal Carolina (3-2), 7 p.m.

Southern U. (2-2) at Jackson St. (1-3), 7 p.m.

SE Missouri (2-3) at Jacksonville St. (3-1), 7 p.m.

freshmen, 6 p.m. for junior varsity and 7 p.m. for varsity.

The next match will be a home game against La Feria on Friday. Game time is 5 p.m.

2B

Sunday Night NFL helping feed America NBC’s Sunday night NFL program will help food banks across the nation, including the South Texas Food Bank in Laredo.

The Sunday night NFL games will feature Feeding America (formerly America Second Harvest) as its charity of choice throughout the season.

Play-by-play commentators John Madden and Al Michaels will mention the Feeding America food bank network during the broadcasts and encourage viewers to support their local food bank.

Madden will be joined by country music artist Faith Hill for a series of NBC’s The More You Know public service announcements.

Those spots will be aired during Sunday Night Football and elsewhere, focusing on the issue of domestic hunger.

TAMIU elementary soccer meeting The TAMIU men’s soccer team will be starting an elementary soccer league for boys and girls in grades kinder-six. For all interested participants, parents, coaches, and volunteers the league will have a mandatory meeting at the TAMIU gym Sunday. If you have not signed up for a team, the league will be taking registration applications that day. Make plans to attend if you want your kids to participate.

The league will consist of a Kinder/1st grade division, 2nd/3rd grade division, 4th/5th grade division, 4th/5th grade girls, 6th grade boys, and 6th grade girls. All players must be from the same school. Entry fee is $150 per team.

For more information contact league directors Claudio Arias or Mario Gonzalez at (956) 206-0634.

Florida coach Donovan finally signs contract GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan finally signed the six-year contract extension he agreed to in June 2007 after deciding against a jump to the NBA. The deal is worth more than $19.5 million before incentives.

Donovan, who is 285-115 in 12 seasons, received a salary, before incentives, of $3.1 million last year. He took the head coaching job with the Orlando Magic in June 2007 before returning to Florida after a much-publicized change of heart.

Donovan’s before-incentive pay will increase annually, from $3.1 million this season to $3.4 million in 2012-13, according to a copy of the contract obtained by the Associated Press. vs. Kiroyuki Enoki, Japan, 12, for John’s WBA featherweight title.

At Bell Centre, Montreal, Lucian Bute, Montreal, vs. Librado Andrade, La Habra, Calif., 12, for Bute’s IBF super middleweight title.

Oct. 25 At Burg-Waechter Castello, Dusseldorf, Germany, Mikkel Kessler, Monaco, vs. Danilo Haussler, Germany, 12, for Kessler’s WBA super middleweight title.

Nov. 8 At Bucharest, Romania, Adrian Diaconu, Canada, vs. Silvio Branco, Italy, 12, for Diaconu’s WBC light heavyweight title.

At Madison Square Garden, New York (PPV), Joe Calzaghe, Wales, vs.

Roy Jones Jr., Pensacola, Fla., 12, for Calzaghe’s Ring Magazine light heavyweight title; Andreas Kotelnik, Ukraine, vs. Dmitriy Salita, Brooklyn, N.Y., vs. 12, for Kotelnik’s WBA light welterweight title.

Nov. 14 At Philadelphia, Raul Martinez, San Antonio, vs. Victor Proa, Mexico, 12, for Martinez’s IBA super flyweight title.

Nov. 18 Table Mountain Casino, Friant, Calif., Roger Gonzalez, Chino, Calif., vs. Frankie Archuleta, Bernalillo, N.M., 12, for the vacant IBA junior lightweight title.

Nov. 22 At The MGM Grand, Las Vegas (HBO), Ricky Hatton, Britain, vs.

Paulie Malignaggi, Brooklyn, N.Y., 12, for Hatton’s IBO light welterweight title and Malignaggi’s IBF light welterweight title.

Dec. 6 At MGM Grand, Las Vegas (PPV), Oscar De La Hoya, Los Angeles, vs.

Manny Pacquiao, Philippines, 12, welterweights.

Dec. 13 At Macau, China, Ulises Solis Mexico, vs. Brian Viloria, Waipahu, Hawaii, 12, for Solis’ IBF lightweight title.

kee to complete the July 7 trade for LHP CC Sabathia.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS—Extended their working agreement with Idaho (Pioneer) through the 2010 season.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association MIAMI HEAT—Signed G Shaun Livingston. Released G Tre Kelley.

FOOTBALL National Football League

NFL—Fined Carolina DE Julius Peppers $10,000 for a late hit on Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan.

CINCINNATI BENGALS—Signed LB Adbul Hodge from the practice squad. Waived CB Simeon Castille.

HOCKEY National Hockey League

ANAHEIM DUCKS—Assigned F Bobby Ryan to Iowa (AHL).

BUFFALO SABRES—Assigned F Nathan Gerbe, F Tim Kennedy, F Dylan Hunter, F Marek Zagrapan, D Chris Butler and D Michael Funk to Portland (AHL). Waived F Mathieu Darche and F Mark Mancari.

CAROLINA HURRICANES—Assigned F Dwight Helminen and D Bryan Rodney to Albany (AHL).

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS— Claimed LW Joakim Lindstrom off waivers from Anaheim.

MINNESOTA WILD—Signed D Justin Falk.

NEW YORK RANGERS—Assigned D Brian Fahey and D Corey Potter to Hartford (AHL).

American Hockey League

American League

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS—Announced Detroit (NHL) assigned G Daniel Larsson, D Jakub Kindl, D Sergei Kolosov, D Logan Pyett, F Randall Gelech, G Darren Haydar, F Evan McGrath, F Ryan Oulahen and F Jamie Tardif to the team. Acquired C Aaron Gagnon on loan from Dallas (NHL). Released G Isaac Reichmuth, D Johann Kroll, D Brett Peterson, D Kelly Sullivan, D Adam Welch, F Andrew Fournier, F Matt McKnight, F Evan Rankin and F Geoff Walker.

ECHL ELMIRA JACKALS—Agreed to terms with F Tyler Donati and D Travis Gawryletz.

COLLEGE

CLEVELAND INDIANS—Acquired OF Michael Brantley from Milwau-

RICHMOND—Named Danielle Hulick assistant swimming coach.

Transactions BASEBALL

COWBOYS | Continued from Page 1B have a drink, get in trouble.”

And he closed by revealing his TD celebration plans for Sunday: “I love Dallas so much, I’m going to take my helmet off, pay the fine, and kiss the star. ...

That’s not a sign of disrespect, is it? That’s a good thing, isn’t it? ...

I don’t think it’s bad. I think it’s cool. Tell Jerry Jones I said hello. Give me a call some time.”

The Bengals might as well do things differently considering how their current plan has gone. A loss Sunday and they’ll be 0-5 for the first time since 2002, when they started 0-7 and finished 2-14.

Other possible changes besides Ocho Cinco coming out of his shell: newly signed Cedric Benson getting some carries; Chris Henry catching passes now that his four-game suspension is over; and Carson Palmer starting at quarterback again after missing the last game with a sore elbow.

“Guys are still hungry and feel desperate for a win because we’re not used to this and this isn’t us,” said Palmer, perhaps forgetting Cincinnati’s woeful history prior to his arrival. “It seems bleak from everything

you hear in the media and people on the outside of the locker room, the way they’re talking.

But in no way is this team going to give up or take any team lightly or not prepare the right way, whatever the case may be. We’re going to get ready to go into Dallas and win.”

Just the Bengals’ luck, they picked a bad time to try sneaking up on the Cowboys.

Dallas is coming off a 26-24 loss at home to the Washington Redskins that damaged its standing in the NFC East and ruined its dream of sweeping a soft October schedule to be unbeaten going into a Nov. 2 showdown with the New York Giants.

The way the Cowboys lost added to the agony.

The defense gave up big plays and continued its trend of not making many; the Cowboys have zero interceptions. The offense, meanwhile, revolved around Owens at the expense of the running game, yet it still wasn’t enough to satisfy No. 81, prompting talk of a possible rift between Owens and quarterback Tony Romo.

“I learned a while ago, as soon as we lose a game ... it’s a Chicken Little thing,” Romo

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008

THE ZAPATA TIMES | 3B

HINTS BY HELOISE Dear Heloise: I work in a gift shop, and frequently customers bring their merchandise to the counter while chatting on a cell phone. I feel this is extremely rude.

Customers who ignore me and continue to talk on the phone have no regard for me as a HELOISE person. I am insulted. I work very hard at customer service in my store and encourage the women who work for me to do the same, and I feel that my friendly, courteous behavior should be acknowledged. — A Reader in Florida, via e-mail Well, folks, there are two or three sides to every story! — Heloise SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise P.O. Box 795000 San Antonio, TX 78279-5000 Fax: 1-210-HELOISE E-mail: Heloise@Heloise.com

DILBERT

HOROSCOPES | BY FRANCIS DRAKE ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Gifts, goodies, advantages and favors can come to you today. Keep your pockets open, and just say “thank you!”

Today the world owes you a favor.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Relations with partners and close friends are particularly cozy today.

Good feelings abound.

You feel warm and generous to others, and they feel the same way to you.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Things can go extremely well at work today! Not only will you get along well with others, you might get a raise or figure out how to make more money. It’s all good.

C A N C E R (June 21 to July 22) Love and romance definitely can blossom today. Vacations, the arts, sports and all fun, social activities are blessed. Enjoy your day!

LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) This is an excellent day for real estate deals, entertaining at home and important discussions with family members, especially parents. Do whatever you can to make your home more beautiful.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) You’re in a positive, confident frame of mind. All your negotiations and communication with others will be upbeat and successful today.

LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) There’s money in them thar hills! This is an excellent day for business and commerce. Figure out ways to boost your earnings. If shopping, you’ll buy beautiful things for yourself and loved ones.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) New friendships and new contacts might please you today. Any new relationship that begins now will be beneficial to you in the future. It could expand your world in some way through travel or new knowledge.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) You feel content and benevolent today. You’re at peace with the world. In fact, it’s easy to be generous with everyone, because you feel so inwardly happy with yourself.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) You’re attracted to high-minded, admirable people today. You want to be in the presence of those you can respect. You’re inspired by lofty goals today.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) All your dealings with authority figures will go well today. Conversations with parents and bosses are unusually positive. (A cozy flirtation with a boss could begin!)

PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Travel for pleasure if you can today. Enjoy beautiful places, different surroundings — in particular, museums, galleries and parks. Your appreciation of beauty is heightened. Give yourself a treat.

YOU WERE BORN TODAY : You are fun-loving, social and a solid team player. You appreciate the arts. Justice is important to you, and you will always fight for the underdog. When you encounter a situation that is unfair, you rally your friends to remedy it. Continue to learn something important this year, because next year, all doors will open for you!

B i r t h d a t e o f : Steve Miller, singer/songwriter; Mario Lemieux, hockey player; Parminder Nagra, actress.

Zclassified REAL ESTATE

HOMES FOR SALE

61

HOMES FOR SALE

61

3305 Saint Kathryn, 2 story 4bd/2.5ba/1cg, 1780sqft. $110,000 Call 771-4768

HOMES FOR SALE

BY PHONE: (956) 728-2527 61

MOBILE HOMES FOR SALE 67

Home for Sale by Owner, 4/3/3.

210 Uvalde in Encinal. $200,000. Call 763-4462

For Sale By Owner. 319 Wyoming-Hillside, 3 bd, 2 ba, 2 c/g. $135,000 Call After 1pm 956-723-6030 or 763-4134

Now you can make the news come to you.

Start your subscription now by calling 728-2555

Norte, Central y Sur de Laredo Casas Disponibles de 3 a 5 recamaras para mudarse el dia de HOY. Facil de Calificar. Financiamiento Disponible.

Llame HOY, al 956-237-2041 O a 956-717-0958 Con Adriana Moya Tijeriana

HELP WANTED

Let me help you by putting you in your new home like if you are paying rent. You can choose a home from 3, 4 & 5 bedrooms.

You can even choose the area where you want your family to grow up.

Call Javier Garcia today @ 956-235-4641

AVISO IMPORTANTE! 2 NUEVAS COMUNIDADES AL NORTE DE LAREDO Cerca de centros comerciales Hospital de los Doctores y de Escuelas, financiamiento y programa de trade in disponible hableme para una Cita De Hoyos 635-6702

Great Location-New Spacious Homes 3 Bedroom 2 bath 2 car garage approx. 1400 sq.ft. paying closing cost. Monthly payment $1100.00 Call Jesus @ cell 956-740-2542 office 956-724-9756

2 NEW SUBDIVISION IN NORTH LAREDO FROM THE $150’S & UP. RESERVE YOUR HOMESITE TODAY WITH ONLY $500.00 IN HOUSE FINANCING AVAILABLE. FOR MORE INFO. CALL ANTHONY CARABALLO @ 333-3844

Has your family outgrown your home? Good news!

Your dream home is just a trade away!

Call me, Eddie Rendon (956) 763-8207

4 bedroom 2 bath approx.

1,500 sq.ft. home on a 10,000 sq.ft. lot for only $117,990 I will also help you with your closing costs let me worry about your credit.

Call Luis Calderon @956-725-1965 or @ my cell 956-645-8977

HELP WANTED

122

P aso a P aso Inc . is looking for a RN/LVN full/Part-time and direct care staff.

Pick up application at 7019 W. Village Blvd.

Ste. 206 Corner of Del Mar Blvd.

122

Mobile home for sale. Near Mall del Norte @ Carmona’s Park on Hillside Rd. One owner like new fully landscaped w/trees. Must see to appreciate. $22,900. Call 333-7793

SANDBLASTERS, day and night shift for job at power plant in La Grange, Tx. Top pay, per diem, OVERTIME. Exp. req’d Drug Screen and valid I.D. 210-946-2100.

FIELD FABRICAITON WELDERS for job at Power Plant in La Grange, Texas. Drug Screen. EOE. OVERTIME. PER DIEM. 210-946-2100.

ON THE WEB: THEZAATATMES.COM

LOTS FOR SALE

70

Res. lots near school-Walmart on Zapata Hwy. Easy & Owner fin . $1,000 dwn, Low monthly pymts , 333-7793 Manuel

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 82 J & J Drive in for sale, great location & potential, convenience store with gas pumps, living area, kitchen area in store & potential for restaurant or other business. Call Leonel Trevino at 956-239-2365 for more info

RENTALS

HELP WANTED

122

Freight Forwarding/Logistics Co. HAS THE FOLLOWING OPENINGS Export Department Specialist – Must have 3 years min. experience in the Export Dept. and have knowledge of Exports from Mexico to the U S. including: Prefile, logistics tracking, setting up of transportation into the U S. and creation of the bills of lading. Also, have some knowledge of FDA processes.

Job opportunity for right candidate with advancement possibilities.

Bilingual, self motivated, with stable work history.

ONLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATES NEED APPLY.

RLI Logistics Export Dept.

13602 N. Unitec Driver Or Send resume to:

COMMERCIAL RENTALS 120

ARTICLES FOR SALE 136 Mesquite Firewood logs, Full pick up load approx. 1 cord in San Ygnacio $125 Call 763-1320 8ft Valley Slate Coin Operated Pool Table w/accesories. $1,200 OBO. Call 231-9148 or 771-4024

Full Country Club Membership, $2000 Call 763-3600 Rigid 14” Band Saw $230 Like New Call 740-0088 Vendo Bonito comedor madera beige 6 personas $350. Llama 857-4141

SPORTING GOODS 142

shi@raillink.com; Fax: (956) 712-7961

Winchester classic rifle 300 WSM like new, with rings $700 645-8854 Leave message.

PETS & SUPPLIES

TRANSPORTATION

Fully equip. restaurant/ catering LEC Arena area Appx. 3,500 SF/(956)235-2999

HELP WANTED PETS & SUPPLIES

HELP WANTED

122

ATC Transport is seeking OTR Drivers, starting pay at 35 cents p/mile, and Owner Operators starting 1.40 p/mile. Dedicated runs, Home on weekends.

All you need is Class CDL, clean record, 2yrs OTR min. exp.

956-722-3147

128

TRUCKS FOR SALE 198

ACK Registered Chocolate Lab for Sale, 5 months old, male $150. Call 324-7279

2002 Ford Explorer Sport Track, 62K Miles Exc. Condition $7900 OBO. Call 237-3730

MISCELLANEOUS

‘99 Suburban $3800 good cond. front/rear ac, power wind./Lock/cd/cass.player Call 956-324-2831

CARS FOR SALE

200

1994 Ford Taurus 3.0L, 6 cyl, a/c, as is $1200 Call (956) 286-6464

GARAGE SALES

134

8622 Saint John Lp. Saturday Only, 8am-11:30am, Clothes, Furniture,Misc Items & shoes

2005 Kia New Spectra, Std, 4dr., A/C, Low Miles, Grey, $3,950 OBO. Call 645-6425 Honda Odyssey 2202 EXL Leather seats, One Owner, 6 cyl, Immaculate, $8500.

Call 956-286-4294

4B | THE ZAPATA TIMES

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2008