WEDNESDAYNOVEMBER 26, 2014

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MALLETT OUT FOR SEASONHOUSTON TEXANS QB SUFFERS TORN PECTORAL MUSCLE, 5A

A Zapata native accused of receiving $1.5million worth of alleged stolen oil from Ea-gle Ford Shale companies was grantedbond Tuesday morning in federal court.

U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker seta $125,000 bond with $2,500 cash depositand two co-sureties for Victor ManuelGuerra Jr., who was indicted on two countsof theft from interstate shipment, 69 countsof wire fraud and 58 counts of money laun-dering.

Guerra, 37, was arrested Nov. 19. OnWednesday, the prosecution did not go for-ward with the detention hearing. Instead,

Hacker heard bond amount proposals fromprosecutors and the defense until the judgeset the amount.

“We at this time deny the allegations.We’re going to investigate the case thor-oughly. He’s presumed innocent becausethese are only allegations,” said attorneyOscar A. Vela Jr., who represents Guerra.

Vela, who described Guerra as a hard-working family man, said the case will bedefended vigorously.

Earlier this month, federal authoritiesalso arrested two men whom they identi-fied as Juan Martin Bernal, 49, of EaglePass, and Carlos Samuel Peña, 25, of DelRio. Both men were charged with onecount of theft from interstate shipment and

69 counts of wire fraud. They recentlypleaded not guilty to the charges.

The indictment alleges that the trio “de-vised a scheme to steal oil” from energycompanies operating in the Eagle FordShale from January 2011 to August 2014.

“After obtaining the oil, the co-conspir-ators then sold the ill-gotten product tothird-party companies for financial gain,”the indictment states.

Guerra allegedly controlled a bank ac-count where buyers would pay for the oilvia wire transfer. Furthermore, Guerra co-ordinated with Bernal and Peña to deter-mine when his truck drivers could enter oil

FEDERAL COURT

Man granted bondZapata native accused of receiving stolen oilBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BOND PAGE 9A

ZCISD received a visit from theTexas Education Agency due to con-cerns in the Performance-BasedMonitoring Analysis System, orPBMAS, report.

The annual report indicates theperformance of school districts andcharter schools in selected programssuch as special education, career andtechnical education, bilingual/ESLeducation and certain title programsunder the No Child Left Behind Act.

Such title programs include TitleI, a federal program that providesfunds to school districts and schoolswith a high percentage of childrenwho are considered disadvantaged.Its purpose is to ensure that all chil-dren have an equal opportunity toobtain a high-quality education.

The indicators are designed to re-flect critical areas of student per-formance, program effectiveness anddata integrity.

The TEA on-sight team auditedthe district for a week on Nov. 10.

“They did a complete audit andwere impressed with all the changesthat have taken place,” said RaulNuques, Zapata County IndependentSchool District superintendent.

Audits included effective commu-nication between campus and centraloffice administrators and self-moni-toring and auditing.

“They could not find anythingwrong and that is a first for(ZCISD),” Nuques said.

According to the ZCISD report, thespecial education program is strug-gling in the State of Texas Assess-ments of Academic Readiness, orSTAAR, testing, special education,No Child Left Behind Act and the bi-

ZCISD

See ZCISD PAGE 9A

NUQUES

Schooldistrict

improvesTEA concerned about

selected programsBy JUDITH RAYO

THE ZAPATA TIMES

AUSTIN — Republican Gov.-elect Greg Abbott insistedMonday that Texas has firm

legal standing to sue the feder-al government over PresidentBarack Obama’s executive ac-tions on immigration, but hegave himself two weeks tomake a final decision.

The outgoing Texas attor-ney general has forcefullyvowed a court challenge, buthe stopped short of guarantee-ing a lawsuit during his firstpress conference since Obama

laid out plans last week tospare nearly 5 million peopleliving in the U.S. illegally fromdeportation. Abbott’s defiance

OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ACTION

IMMIGRATION SUIT

Texas Attorney General and Gov.-elect Greg Abbott speaks against President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration at the Price Daniel Building in Aus-tin on Monday. Abbott is again vowing to sue the Obama administration for lifting the threat of deportation from millions of immigrants living illegally in the U.S.

Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Abbott insists on legal standing to sue federal governmentBy PAUL J. WEBERASSOCIATED PRESS

See ABBOTT PAGE 9A

WACO — Family, fun and cost-savingsare on the menu this month as shoppersprepare for the holiday season. A tradi-tional, Texas-style Thanksgiving dinnerfor 10 will cost $46.79 this year, markingnearly 3 percent savings over last year,according to the special Texas Farm Bu-reau (TFB) 2014 Thanksgiving Meal Re-port.

The 2014 report shows a decrease of$1.29, or 2.68 percent, from the 2013 TFBThanksgiving Meal Report. The surveyrecords the cost of 10 holiday staples—in-cluding turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes,cranberry sauce and pecan pie—to feed afamily of 10 people.

“Texans are sensitive to grocery pric-es, especially when preparing largemeals. This year, shoppers will notice aslight decrease in the overall price oftheir Thanksgiving meal,” TFB Presi-

dent Kenneth Dierschke said.Despite reports suggesting a decrease

in turkey supplies, Texas shoppersshouldn’t feel the pinch at the cash regis-ter. Survey shoppers found the price of a

16-pound, frozen, self-basting, young tomturkey to be more than $1 less than lastyear, marking a 6.11 percent decrease.

In addition to the turkey, five otheritems decreased in price: brown and

serve rolls, 12 per package (down 8.33percent); green beans, frozen (down 6.08percent); 9-inch pie shells, frozen (down3.73 percent); cubed stuffing, herb sea-soning (down 1.83 percent); and pecans,shelled and halved (down 1.23 percent).

A large, global supply of wheat is adriving factor in low prices for wheat-de-rived products. And recent rains havehelped pecan growers come out of thedrought, dropping pecan prices to thelowest since 2010.

“Lower pecan prices and lower wheatprices mean a less expensive pecanpie—a Texas tradition—to round outThanksgiving dinner,” Dierschke said.

Texans, however, will pay more forfour of the Thanksgiving staples thisyear: whipping cream (up 22.7 percent);sweet potatoes, fresh (up 4.44 percent);cranberry sauce, jellied (up 2.96 percent);

TEXAS FARM BUREAU

Thanksgiving dinner to cost less than last yearSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

See THANKSGIVING PAGE 9A

Changes in the Price of Thanksgiving Meals

High-cost Items Low-Cost Items

Cost

(inDo

llars)

5

10

15

20

25

Year201420132012

Thanksgiving Turkey Pecans (Shelled)

1.0

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

Sweet Potatoes Whipping CreamBrown & ServeRolls

2012 2013 2014Year

SOURCE: Texas Farm Bureau

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014

THURSDAY, NOV. 27Register for the 35th Guajo-

lote 10K Race. Register at HamiltonTrophies (1320 Garden), HamiltonJewelry (607 Flores), or on-line atwww.raceit.com, Guajolote 10K Race.Call 956-724-9990 or 956-722-9463.

TUESDAY, DEC. 2South Texas Food Bank Fund-

raiser. 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Hal’s Land-ing. For information call 324-2432.Or visit the website southtexasfood-bank.org.

The Alzheimer’s supportgroup. 7 pm. Room 2, building B ofthe Laredo Medical Center.

Los Amies Birthday Club. .11:30 am to TBA. Ramada Plaza.Honorees Alicia D. Laurel and OlgaLaurel. Hostesses will be ConsueloLopez, Olga Hovel and Magda San-chez.

THURSDAY , DEC. 4Primped’s Christmas Party.

From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Primped theStyle Bar. 7718 McPherson Rd. Ste.#1. Contact Ariana Mora at arianam-ora@stx.rr.com or go to the websitewww.ruthebcowl.com .

SATURDAY, DEC. 6Trail clean up. 8 a.m. to 2

p.m. LCC Lamar Bruni Vergara Envi-ronmental Science Center.

“Shine the Light on Hunger”Health Fair. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 4500Marco Drive. Call 324-2432 orwww.southtexasfoodbank.org.

First United Methodist Church.Used Book Sale, 8:30 a.m. to 1p.m., hardcovers $1; paperbacks50¢; magazines and childrens books25¢; Public is welcome. Sue Webber,fumc_office@sbcglobal.net.

SUNDAY, DEC. 7Pet Fest Laredo 2014. 11 a.m.

to 6 p.m. at the Laredo Civic Center.Woof@gopetfest.com.

5th Annual Christmas AnimalPosada. From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. St.Peter’s Plaza (Matamoros Street andMain Avenue). Contact Berta "Birdie"Torres, President of Gateway Gatosof Laredo, at birdtorres@hot-mail.com. For more details call Bird-ie at 286-7866.

TUESDAY, DEC. 9Monthly Orthopaedic Clinic.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 1220 N. Ma-linche.Contact Norma Rangel at pro-gram.manager@laredo.twcbc.com.Prior registration is required.

The South Texas Food BankKids Café program honors World WarII and Korean War veterans. 6 p.m.to 8 p.m. Boys and Girls Club, 500Moctezuma. For information call vet-eran Dr. Jesse J. Olivarez of theSTFB Kids Cage program 726-3120or vet officer David Garza 523-4399

THURSDAY, DEC. 11Spanish Book Club, Laredo

Public Library, Calton Road, from 6to 8 p.m. Sylvia Reash- 763-1810.

FRIDAY, DEC. 12“The Great Gatsby” Christmas

Party, 7 p.m. Laredo Country Club.For more information contact NancyDe Anda at 763-9960.

SUNDAY, DEC. 21“Ring we now of Christmas”

from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. First UnitedMethodist Church 1220 McClelland.Linda Mott at lmott@stx.rr.com orthe church office at 722-1674.

MONDAY, DEC. 29Monthly meeting of Laredo

Parkinson’s Disease Support Group.6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Laredo Medi-cal Center, Tower B, First Floor Com-munity Center. Patients, caregiversand family members invited. Free in-fo pamphlets available in Spanishand English. Richard Renner (Eng-lish) at 645-8649 or Juan Gonzalez(Spanish) at 237-0666.

(Submit calendar items atlmtonline.com/calendar/sub-mit or by emailing edito-rial@lmtonline.com with theevent’s name, date and time,location and purpose and con-tact information for a repre-sentative. Items will run asspace is available.)

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 26,the 330th day of 2014. Thereare 35 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Nov. 26, 1864, Englishmathematician and writerCharles Dodgson presented ahandwritten and illustratedmanuscript, “Alice’s Adventur-es Under Ground,” to his 12-year-old friend Alice PleasanceLiddell; the book was later re-vised and turned into “Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland.”

On this date:In 1789, this was a day of

thanksgiving set aside by Pres-ident George Washington toobserve the adoption of theConstitution of the UnitedStates.

In 1825, the first college so-cial fraternity, the Kappa Al-pha Society, was formed atUnion College in Schenectady,New York.

In 1933, a judge in New Yorkruled the James Joyce book“Ulysses” was not obscene andcould be published in the Unit-ed States.

In 1942, President FranklinD. Roosevelt ordered nation-wide gasoline rationing, begin-ning Dec. 1. The motion pic-ture “Casablanca,” starringHumphrey Bogart and IngridBergman, had its world pre-miere at the Hollywood Thea-ter in New York.

In 1950, China entered theKorean War, launching a coun-teroffensive against soldiersfrom the United Nations, theU.S. and South Korea.

In 1965, France launched itsfirst satellite, sending a 92-pound capsule into orbit.

In 1989, “America’s FunniestHome Videos” debuted as aspecial on ABC-TV; it later be-came a successful regular se-ries.

In 1992, the British govern-ment announced that QueenElizabeth II had volunteered tostart paying taxes on her per-sonal income, and would takeher children off the publicpayroll.

Ten years ago: LeadingIraqi politicians called for asix-month delay in the Jan. 30,2005, election because of spi-raling violence; PresidentGeorge W. Bush said, “The Ira-qi Election Commission hasscheduled elections in Janu-ary, and I would hope they’dgo forward in January.” (Thevote took place as scheduled.)

Five years ago: An investi-gation ordered by Ireland’sgovernment found that RomanCatholic Church leaders inDublin had spent decades shel-tering child-abusing priestsfrom the law and that most fel-low clerics had turned a blindeye.

One year ago: Pope Fran-cis denounced the global fi-nancial system that excludedthe poor as he issued the mis-sion statement for his papacy.

Today’s Birthdays: Ac-tress Ellen Albertini Dow is101. Impressionist Rich Littleis 76. Singer Tina Turner is75. Singer Jean Terrell is 70.Country singer Linda Davis is52. Blues singer-musician Ber-nard Allison is 49. Actor PeterFacinelli is 41. Actress TammyLynn Michaels Etheridge is 40.Country singer Joe Nichols is38. Actress Jessica Bowman is34. Pop singer Natasha Beding-field is 33. Ben Wysocki (TheFray) is 30. Singer Lil Fizz is29. Singer Aubrey Collins is27.

Thought for Today:“Don’t for heaven’s sake, beafraid of talking nonsense! Butyou must pay attention toyour nonsense.” — LudwigWittgenstein, Austrian-bornphilosopher (1889-1951).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — The archive of celebrated Col-ombian novelist and Nobel laureate GabrielGarcia Marquez has been acquired by theUniversity of Texas — meaning the critic ofU.S. foreign policy is having his papers endup in a country he wasn’t always too fond of.

The Harry Ransom Center, a top literaryarchive located on the university’s Austincampus, announced Monday that the collec-tion spans more than 50 years and featuresoriginal manuscript material for 10 books,including Garcia Marquez’s acclaimed 1967novel, “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

Also included are drafts of Garcia Mar-quez’s acceptance speech for his 1982 NobelPrize in Literature and 2,000 pieces of corre-spondence, such as letters to novelists CarlosFuentes and Graham Greene. There are also

typewriters and computers used by GarciaMarquez, who lived most of his life in Mex-ico City and died there in April at age 87.

Most of the collection is in Spanish. Thecenter plans to digitize part of it eventuallyto increase accessibility to the universitycommunity.

“The University of Texas at Austin — withexpertise in both Latin America and thepreservation and study of the writing pro-cess — is the natural home for this very im-portant collection,” University of Texas Pres-ident Bill Powers said in a statement.

The university said Monday it bought thecollection from Garcia Marquez’s family, butwouldn’t say how much it cost, citing a com-petitive bidding process. Garcia Marquezwas a close friend of Fidel Castro and wassometimes outspoken in his opposition toU.S. policy in Latin America.

AROUND TEXAS

This undated file photo shows Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez at an undisclosed location. The University of Texas’Harry Ransom Center has acquired Marquez’s archive. The writer died on April 17, 2014.

AP file

Esteemed archive at UTBy WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

Police: Woman run over byown SUV in South TexasCORPUS CHRISTI — Author-

ities say a woman was killed onSaturday after being run over byher own vehicle while she hadbeen looking for her dog.

Police believe 30-year-old Melo-dy Hubbard had failed to put herSUV in park after she had spot-ted her dog and got out of her ve-hicle. Police found Hubbard un-der the SUV with injuries to herhead and torso. She was taken toa hospital, where she later died.

Gas prices drop amid busy travel timeIRVING — Retail gasoline

prices across Texas have droppedagain as motorists take to theroad for the Thanksgiving holi-day.

AAA Texas on Tuesday re-ported the statewide average forunleaded this week has settled at$2.60, down from $2.66 last week.Drivers nationwide are payingan average of $2.81.

EPA: Coal plants shouldspend to cut emissionsFORT WORTH — Federal reg-

ulators are proposing that thelargest coal-powered plants inTexas invest $2 billion in newtechnology to reduce sulfur diox-ide emissions, a measure energycompanies are likely to resist.The Environmental ProtectionAgency says the proposal wouldcut about 230,000 tons of sulfurdioxide emissions each year.

Delusional inmate loses attop Texas appeals courtHOUSTON — The state’s top

criminal court has refused tohalt next week’s scheduled exe-cution of a convicted killerwhose lawyers contend is severe-ly delusional. A divided TexasCourt of Criminal Appeals voted5-4 Tuesday to reject an appealfrom lawyers for 56-year-old ScottPanetti. He’s scheduled for lethalinjection Dec. 3 for fatally shoot-ing his in-laws 22 years ago attheir Fredericksburg home.

Man drops keys, falls 40feet, rescued in AustinAUSTIN — A man trying to

retrieve his keys that slippedthrough a grate has been rescuedafter falling about 40 feet into aconcrete utility box in downtownAustin.

Emergency personnel rap-pelled to reach the man, who suf-fered fractures, dislocations andother injuries. He was transport-ed to street level and taken to ahospital.

AP El Paso correspondentLlorca dies at 40

EL PASO — Juan Carlos Llor-ca, the El Paso correspondent forThe Associated Press and a vet-eran reporter in his native Gua-temala, has died. He was 40.

Llorca’s sister, Maria JimenaLlorca, says her brother col-lapsed at his home Monday. Hewas rushed to a local hospital,where he was pronounced dead.The cause of death is pending. —Compiled from AP reports

Police: Students ran highschool prostitution ringVENICE, Fla. — Authorities

say two southwest Florida highschool students organized a pros-titution ring of students fromnearby high schools.

Police say a 15-year-old VeniceHigh School student was alreadyin juvenile custody for an unre-lated case when he was chargedTuesday with human trafficking.

On Friday, a Sarasota HighSchool student, 17-year-old AlexaNicole De Armas, was arrestedand charged with human traf-ficking of a person under 18.

Window washer fights forlife after 11-story fall

SAN FRANCISCO — A 58-year-old window washer who fell11 stories from a building onto amoving car is “fighting for hislife” and opens his eyes whenrelatives speak to him, his familysaid. San Francisco General Hos-

pital released a statement fromhis family, who asked to not beidentified.

“We are amazed that he fellfrom such a high distance andstill survived. Landing on the carreally helped, and we are sothankful for that,” the statement

said.Police said the man was mov-

ing equipment on the roof of abank building in San Francisco’sfinancial district and not on awindow-washing platform whenhe fell at 10 a.m. Friday. — Com-piled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Police look over a car that has a caved in roof after a window washer fell at least11 stories onto a moving vehicle in San Francisco, Friday. The man remains in crit-ical condition.

Photo by Michael Liedtke | AP

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Z WINGS SPORTS BAR OPENS IN ZAPATA

Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

Paco Mendoza, Jose Emiliano Vela, owner Hector Sanchez, Zerlinda Sanchez, Idalia Escobedo, andArnulfo Gonzalez stand with employees of Z Wings Sports Bar on Friday afternoon during the grandopening of the sports bar in Zapata, Texas.

Four TxDOT Pharr Dis-trict employees were award-ed the Texas Department ofTransportation Administra-tion’s annual Extra MileAward on Oct. 14. Theaward recognizes employeeswho surpass expectationsfor exemplary public ser-vice.

Roma maintenanceequipment operator Jose L.Garcia and general trans-portation techs equipmentoperators Santiago Hernan-dez, Antonio L. Moreno,and Angel M. Renteria werehonored for their efforts.

On Nov. 13, 2013, duringan overlay project on U.S.83, a rollover accidentcaused a 16-year-old driverto be ejected from his vehi-cle over the median and in-to traffic of the oppositelanes.

Santiago rushed to callfor assistance on his two-way radio. He ran into thehighway blocking traffic us-ing his voice and arms tocatch the attention of thedrivers that were coming toclose to the injured youth.The others soon joined him,and together they formed ahuman moving trafficblock, to protect the injureddriver.

Additional help camefrom an unmarked policeunit who assisted the crewin traffic control by apply-ing the blue and red emer-gency lights. The youngman was conscious but bad-ly hurt, and survived his in-juries.

Roma TxDOT employeesawarded for public service

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Pictured from left to right, John Barton, Santiago Hernandez, JoseGarcia, Antonio Moreno, Angel Renteria Jr. and Lt. Gen. Joe Weber.

Photo courtesy of Texas Department of Transportation

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

University of Virginiaofficials are fond of talkingabout the principles ofhonor and character onwhich Thomas Jefferson’sschool was founded. Liv-ing by those principles isanother matter, if we areto judge by the sorry waythey handled the case of ayoung woman who allegesshe was gang-raped duringa fraternity party.

Only after a damningstory roiled the Charlottes-ville campus, bringing un-favorable national atten-tion, did officials act. Onlynow have they suspended,for a few weeks, activitiesof fraternities and sorori-ties. Only now have theypromised to investigatethe incident — which tookplace in 2012.

Rolling Stone magazinerecounted the harrowingallegations of an 18-year-old freshman who says shewas raped by seven menduring a party at the PhiKappa Psi fraternity. Theparticulars of the allegedassault churn the stom-ach, but no less disturbingis the indifference she re-portedly encountered fromfriends who warned hernot to seek help and froman administration clearlynot anxious to open theschool to scandal.

Decisions about wheth-er to report sex crimes,whether on- or off-campus,are generally left to vic-tims, and this young wom-an declined to report. Butthe circumstances raisequestions about the kindof advice and support shereceived. Even more wor-

risome is that universityofficials had been toldabout other instances ofsexual assault at this samefraternity but failed to in-vestigate until the RollingStone reporter started ask-ing questions.

Since the controversyerupted, President TeresaSullivan and other U-Va.officials have released a se-ries of statements stress-ing how seriously theytake rape. Their messageis undercut by other vic-tims who maintain thatthe experience detailed byRolling Stone is notunique on a campuswhere the fraternity sys-tem is king and heavydrinking is part of the cul-ture. Not a single studenthas been expelled by theSexual Misconduct Boardin the past 10 years, evenas dozens have beenkicked out for honor-codeviolations such as cheat-ing. A student-run mediaoutlet at U-Va. released avideo recording of thedean who handles sexualassault cases saying thateven an admission of guiltis not likely to result in ex-pulsion. In other words,there are no real conse-quences. That perpepuatessexual violence.

More than canceling afew parties and giving lipservice to doing better areneeded. School officialsneed to recognize rape bystudents against other stu-dents for what it is: a seri-ous crime. If the RollingStone article is accurate,the seven male studentsshould be not only ex-pelled. They belong inprison.

EDITORIAL

Too little,far too late

THE WASHINGTON POST

Thanksgiving ought tobe a time for all Ameri-cans to relax and enjoythemselves.

For salaried workersand for most two-incomehouseholds, working onThanksgiving or Christ-mas is the exception, notthe rule. However, forminimum-wage workersand those without job se-curity, staying home issimply not an option.

Workers who boycottor refuse to work on holi-days often face intimida-tion or fear the loss oftheir jobs. There is nogrievance process, unionor human resources de-partment eager to takeup their cause.

Entry-level managersare often in the sameboat as workers, as theyhave very little job secu-rity and are in no posi-tion to close stores. Thosehefty decisions are madein corporate offices bysalaried employees whosechief concern is the fi-nancial bottom line, rath-er than the workers.

The average minimumwage workers earn just$13,920 annually, a littlemore than half of the fed-eral poverty rate for afamily of four, whichstands at $23,850. Forfamilies struggling tomake ends meet, missinga day of work can meangoing without food, life-saving medication, elec-tricity and, at this time of

year, presents under theChristmas tree.

For low-income indi-viduals, Black Friday isnot only a time to snag agreat deal on televisionsor game consoles, it is al-so a time to stock up onnecessities like hats,gloves, shoes, and coats— many of the items thatmay be priced out ofreach during any othertime of the year. Shop-ping the day after the ho-liday is not sport butwhat must happen to en-sure that meager earn-ings stretch as far as theycan.

More than any time ofthe year, the holiday sea-son reveals the extremeeconomic inequities andcleavages in our society.The disparities are hardto miss with the hordesof canned food drives andcalls to give to the lessfortunate, which ironical-ly often include ourfriends, neighbors and lo-cal checkout clerks.

Raising the minimumwage would help ease thepressure to work on holi-days like Thanksgiving.So would providing work-ers with adequate protec-tions, benefits and work-place flexibility.

These are steps in theright direction in termsof lessening the gap be-tween the haves and thehave-nots.

Workers should nothave to choose betweentheir families and theirjobs — especially onThanksgiving.

COLUMN

Think aboutretail workerson Thursday

By C. NICOLE MASONTRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

To be published, lettersmust include the writer’sfirst and last names aswell as a phone numberto verify identity. The

phone number IS NOTpublished; it is used sole-ly to verify identity andto clarify content, if nec-essary. Identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

We want to assure our

readers that a letter iswritten by the person whosigns the letter. The Zapa-ta Times does not allowthe use of pseudonyms.

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-call-

ing or gratuitous abuse isallowed.

Via e-mail, send lettersto editorial@lmton-line.com or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Laredo,TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

A grand jury in Fergu-son, Mo., on Monday decid-ed not to indict police offi-cer Darren Wilson, who fa-tally shot Michael Brownin August.

I wish I could say I wassurprised by the decision,but I’m not. As an African-American male I have seenthis play out the same waytoo many times to count.Anytime a police officersays he "fears for his life"and uses deadly force, es-pecially if the force is be-ing used against a blackman, the officer is hardlyever convicted.

The jury of 12 — ninewhite and three black —could have charged Wilsonwith first-degree murderor involuntary manslaugh-ter, but they decided not toindict the officer. A CNNpoll showed that Ameri-cans were split along ra-cial lines over whetherWilson should have facedmurder charges.

Fifty-four percent ofnon-whites — includingblacks, Latinos and Asians— say Wilson should becharged with murder,while just 23 percent ofwhites agree. And 38 per-cent of whites say Wilsonshould not be chargedwith any crime. Only 15percent of non-whites heldthat position.

Wilson is white andBrown was black.

We know that the two

were involved in a physi-cal altercation in whichBrown was shot six times.Brown, 18, was not armed.

People are angry andthey are frustrated withthe decision and they areangry with the way Fergu-son officials handled theincident. They are also an-gry at the fact that whileFerguson’s population isnearly 70 percent black,African-Americans makeup just under 6 percent ofthe police force.

On Sunday’s "Meet thePress," former New YorkCity Mayor Rudy Giulianichose to address "black-on-black" crime statistics in-stead of looking at the dis-parities in the racial make-up of the Ferguson policedepartment.

Giuliani got into a heat-ed discussion with George-town professor Michael Er-ic Dyson after Giulianiasked why blacks protest-ing the shooting death ofBrown do not display thesame passion over black-on-black crime.

Giuliani said "93 percentof blacks are killed by oth-er blacks … I would like tosee the attention paid tothat, paid to this."

He also said the 93 per-cent figure was the reasonwhy so many white policeofficers have to be in blackareas.

Dyson called it a falseargument. He’s right, be-cause, according to theFBI’s most recent homi-cide statistics, whites kill

83 percent of white murdervictims. Yet, Giuliani didnot decry "white-on-white"crime.

It is also a falsehoodthat African-Americansdon’t care about black-on-black crime. This is justnot true. In cities like Mil-waukee, all you have to dois look at the hard workdone by many at the grass-roots level by organiza-tions that work with theyoung people that societyhas turned its back on.These youths are disadvan-taged and have been toldthat they will neveramount to anything butbeing a drug dealer or a"thug."

These grass-roots organ-izations are changing livesand saving lives becausethe people in them are sickand tired of seeing toomany young people die inthe streets.

Just because they don’tprotest doesn’t mean theydon’t care.

People are mostly frus-trated because when blackpeople kill other black peo-ple they go to prison.When police do it, theygenerally do not get anyjail time, and sometimesthey even receive full dis-ability.

Firing an officer takesguts. In October, Milwau-kee Police Chief EdwardFlynn fired officer Chris-topher Manney after theofficer failed to followproper procedures in thefatal shooting of Dontre

Hamilton.Manney shot Hamilton

14 times on April 30 in adowntown park after thetwo were involved in aphysical confrontation.Days after Flynn firedManney, the police uniontook a "no confidence" votein Flynn.

Flynn’s frustrationboiled over during a meet-ing of a police oversightpanel. At one point duringthe meeting, members ofthe audience criticizedFlynn for looking at hisphone instead of listeningto their concerns. Flynnwas actually keeping upwith the developments of a5-year-old girl who wasshot and killed on thesouth side.

"The fact is that the peo-ple out here — some ofthem who have the most tosay — are absolutely MIAwhen it comes to the truethreats facing this commu-nity," Flynn said. "It gets alittle tiresome when youstart getting yelled at forreading the updates for thekid who got shot. Yeah.You take it personally."

Flynn’s frustrations areno different from thosewho are fighting on thefront lines for the youngpeople who society has for-gotten. It’s not easy for ei-ther side, but they bothneed to be able to trusteach other.

The division highlightedby the Ferguson caseproves we still have a longways to go.

COLUMN

Grand jury’s decision inFerguson case not a surprise

By JAMES E. CAUSEYMILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

When Ryan Mallett’steammates found out hehad suffered a torn pecto-ral muscle in Sunday’s 22-13 loss to Cincinnati, theylined up to praise histoughness.

“That’s a pretty signifi-cant injury, and for him topush through somethinglike that says a lot abouthim as a player and as aperson,” inside linebackerBrian Cushing said. “He’sa tough kid. It’s unfortu-nate. He showed a lot ofguts.”

Mallett is out for theseason, according to sev-eral people familiar withthe quarterback situation.He’ll be replaced by RyanFitzpatrick in the startinglineup against Tennessee.

Mallett will be placedon injured reserve and re-placed on the roster byveteran Thaddeus Lewis,who played for coach BillO’Brien at Duke.

O’Brien declined to dis-cuss Mallett and the quar-

terback situation on Mon-day.

“He’s still being eval-uated,” O’Brien said. “I’llhave more to report by theend of the week.”

After throwing twotouchdown passes andleading the Texans to a23-7 victory at Clevelandin the first start of hisfour-year career, Mallettstruggled from the begin-ning of the Cincinnatigame.

Mallett wasn’t the samequarterback against the

Bengals. Most of his pas-ses were off-target. He fin-ished 21-of-45 for 189 yardswith one interception.

“On the last two drives,just saw him kind of gri-macing in pain a little af-ter a couple of throws,”left tackle Duane Brownsaid. “I didn’t know exact-ly what was going on orthe extent of it.

“He’s tough, man. Hedidn’t back down at all.He didn’t ease up at all.He showed his fight toeven try to get a score on

that last drive. That’s thekind of player he is andthe kind of person he is.He wants to win. Hewants to compete. We real-ly respect that.”

Receiver DeAndre Hop-kins, who had five catch-es, noticed somethingwasn’t right with Mallett.

“I did, but I didn’t haveany idea about how seri-ous it was until after thegame,” Hopkins said.“Him playing throughthat speaks a lot about histoughness.”

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS

Mallett finishedHoustonQB tearspectoral

By JOHN MCCLAINHOUSTON CHRONICLE

Houston Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett will reportedly miss the remainder of the season after suf-fering a torn pectoral muscle in Sunday’s 22-13 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

BOSTON — Pablo Sand-oval and Hanley Ramirezspent the last two seasonsas NL West rivals.

Now they’re teammates,signing with the BostonRed Sox as free agents fora combined $183 million totry to boost Boston out ofthe AL East cellar.

Sandoval finalized afive-year, $95 million con-tract that will add him to alineup with Ramirez andDavid Ortiz. He calledthem “The Three Amigos.”

About five hours later,the Red Sox confirmed afour-year, $88 million dealwith Ramirez. He’s a for-mer Boston prospect whospent the last nine yearswith the Marlins and LosAngeles Dodgers.

Sandoval told Boston re-porters he was happy inSan Francisco, where hewon three World Series.But he said, “I need a newchallenge.”

White Sox sign Adam La-Roche for 2 years, $25MCHICAGO — The Chi-

cago White Sox and firstbaseman Adam LaRochehave agreed to terms on atwo-year, $25 million deal.

The team said Tuesdaythat the 35-year-old playerwill receive $12 millionnext year and $13 millionin 2016.

LaRoche is likely to seemost of his time at desig-nated hitter because JoseAbreu is entrenched atfirst and won the AL Roo-kie of the Year award.

LaRoche gives Chicagosorely needed power fromthe left side.

MLB: BOSTON RED SOX

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to terms with Pablo Sandoval(pictured) and Hanley Ramirez.

Photo by Charlie Riedel | AP

Red Sox go bigin free agency

By JIMMY GOLENASSOCIATED PRESS

DESFILE DE NAVIDADLa Cámara de Comer-

cio del Condado de Zapatainvita al Desfile de Navidad yEncendido de la Plaza delCondado, el jueves 4 de di-ciembre.

Se invita a empresas, igle-sias, clubes, escuelas, organi-zaciones, y oficiales a partici-par durante el desfile. Se en-tregarán trofeos a los tresmejores carros alegóricos.

Los participantes empeza-rán a alinearse a las 5 p.m.del 4 de diciembre en calleGlenn y 17th Ave (detrás deOur Lady of Lourdes CatholicChurch).

El desfile iniciará a las 6p.m., tomando 17th Ave ycontinuando al sur sobre USHwy 83, y girando a la iz-quierda en 6th Ave, paraconcluir el desfile.

Al concluir el desfile, serealizará la ceremonia anualde encendido del árbol deNavidad en la Plaza del Con-dado, seguido de regalos deSanta.

Para más información, co-municarse con Celia Baldes,del Zapata County Chamberof Commerce, al (956) 765-4871.

VISITA DE CASASSe invita a pasar la

tarde del 7 de diciembre visi-tando casas históricas y pun-tos de referencia de SanYgnacio. Las ganancias sedestinarán a la Escuela Pri-maria Arturo L. Benavides.

CAMPAMENTO DE SOFTBALLLa Ciudad de Roma,

Texas estará realizando uncampamento de softball diri-gido a jugadores de entre 8y 14 años de edad.

El evento se llevará a ca-bo el sábado 13 de diciem-bre, dentro de las instalacio-nes del Roma High SoftballField, en los siguientes hora-rios: de 9 a.m. a 12 p.m.; de12 p.m. a 1 p.m. (se propor-cionará la comida); y de 1p.m. a 3 p.m.

Los asistentes recibiránentrenamiento para cubrir lasáreas de picheo, bateo, cu-brir las bases, moverse entrecampos, robar bases, entreotros aspectos. El costo delcampamento será de 25 dó-lares, e incluirá la comida yuna playera.

Para más informaciónpuede llamar a Joel HinojosaJr., al 353-1442.

VISITA DE PAISANOSSe fortalecerá la vigi-

lancia en las carreteras delEstado de Tamaulipas, señalaun comunicado de prensa delEstado.

Durante una reunión entreel Gobernador Egidio TorreCantú, las fuerzas federales yestatales que integran el Gru-po de Coordinación Tamauli-pas, se acordó implementarla vigilancia y la presenciapolicial durante la temporadadecembrinas, periodo duranteel cual crece el número depaisanos que visitan México,a través del Estado.

PLÁTICAS SOBRE VIOLENCIACONTRA LA MUJER

El Instituto de la Mu-jer Tamaulipeca (IMT) revelóque el 70 por ciento mujeresmaltratadas que son atendi-das en las comunidades rura-les están relacionados conviolencia psicológica, por loque se realizarán una seriede pláticas y talleres enfoca-dos a la familia, con los quese busca generar concienciasobre este tema, en los cen-tros de atención itinerantesen los municipios de Reyno-sa, San Fernando, Victoria,Tula y Altamira, México.

Los Centros de AtenciónItinerante permiten el acerca-miento de atención legal, psi-cológica y de trabajo social alas zonas y comunidadesmás marginadas, facilitandoa la mujer salir del círculo deviolencia, señala un comuni-cado de prensa.

Ribereñaen Breve

WASHINGTON— Más de 100expertos en inmigración declara-ron el martes que la decisión delpresidente Barack Obama de pro-teger de la deportación a variosmillones de inmigrantes que vi-ven en el país sin autorización esconstitucional y puede tomarlacomo parte de su autoridad admi-nistrativa.

Los 135 expertos se centraronen dos aspectos principales de ladecisión ejecutiva de Obamaanunciada la semana pasada.Una proteger a los padres de ciu-dadanos estadounidenses o resi-dentes permanentes de la depor-tación y les permite solicitar el

permiso de trabajo. La otra medi-da amplía un programa que pro-tege a los inmigrantes que llega-ron al país ilegalmente cuandoeran niños. Esos dos programaspudieran beneficiar a un máximode 4,4 millones de personas.

La declaración de los expertosafirma que las decisiones del pre-sidente constituyen un uso debi-do de su autoridad discrecional.

Los republicanos reaccionaroncon furia a la decisión de Obama,calificándola de ilegal e inconsti-tucional. Algunos de los expertosjurídicos que critican la decisiónde Obama alegan que el trabajodel presidente es hacer cumplirlas leyes que aprueba el Congresoy que Obama desafía a la legisla-tura federal.

La Casa Blanca ha señaladoque en el pasado otros presiden-tes, tanto republicanos como de-mócratas, han usado su autori-dad ejecutiva para proteger inmi-grantes de la deportación. Sinembargo, la decisión de Obamabeneficiaría a un número muchomayor de inmigrantes que las deotros mandatarios.

Críticos como John Yoo y Ro-bert Delahunty, que trabajaron enla Oficina de Asesoría Legal delDepartamento de Justicia en elgobierno del presidente GeorgeW. Bush, alegan que el presidenteno tiene tal autoridad amplia yque la discrecionalidad sólo pue-de aplicarse de manera limitada.

En su declaración, los expertosdijeron que el amplio alcance de

la decisión de Obama no la hacemenos válida jurídicamente.

La declaración es una versiónactualizada de una carta del 3 deseptiembre enviada a Obama porlos mismos profesores y expertosen inmigración en que explicanlos argumentos jurídicos y prece-dentes de las decisiones ejecuti-vas.

La declaración fue coordinadapor los expertos jurídicos HiroshiMotomura, de la Facultad de De-recho de la Universidad de Cali-fornia en Los Angeles; Shoba Si-vaprasad Wadhia, de la FacultadDickinson de Derecho de la Uni-versidad Estatal de Pennsylvania,y Stephen H. Legomsky, de la Fa-cultad de Derecho de la Universi-dad Washington.

NACIONAL

Decisión legal POR JIM KUHNHENNASSOCIATED PRESS

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera MIÉRCOLES 26 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2014

CHICAGO— Un juez federal senten-ció el lunes a 22 años de prisión a un lu-garteniente del capo mexicano Joaquín“El Chapo” Guzmán por su papel enuna confabulación de tráfico de drogaspor 1.000 millones de dólares a Chicagoy otras ciudades.

Al sentenciar a Alfredo Vásquez Her-nández, el juez federal dedistrito Rubén Castillo di-jo que quería enviar unmensaje fuerte a éste y aotros traficantes mexica-nos. Hernández, de 58años, es una de 11 perso-nas encausadas en Chica-go, incluido el propioGuzmán. Hernández es el

primero en ser sentenciado.“Le digo a nombre de todos los ciuda-

danos de Chicago... estamos cansadosdel tráfico de drogas”, le dijo Castillo aHernández.

El caso se considera uno de los másimportantes del gobierno federal contralos cárteles mexicanos de las drogas.

En el proceso que llevó a la sentenciade Hernández la atención se centró enla credibilidad de dos aliados del cártelde Sinaloa que se convirtieron en testi-gos del gobierno, los mellizos Pedro yMargarito Flores.

Grabaciones secretas y otras pruebasofrecidas por los hermanos llevaron alencausamiento en Chicago en 2008 deHernández y otras 10 personas, entreellos Guzmán y los propios hermanosFlores.

Sin embargo, los abogados de la de-fensa acusan a los hermanos de exage-rar la importancia de Hernández en laestructura de la organización para ga-narse el favor de la fiscalía y conseguir-se una condena menor.

Abogados de Hernández alegan que,desde prisión, compraron un carro delujo Bentley de 100.000 dólares como re-galo para la esposa de Pedro Flores. Losfiscales alegan que los Flores teníanacuerdos con Guzmán, Hernández yotros del cártel de Sinaloa para distri-buir drogas en EU. Hernández, se decla-ró culpable de posesión de drogas conintención de distribuirlas

NACIONAL

Dictan 22años decárcel a

traficante POR MICHAEL TARMASSOCIATED PRESS

VÁSQUEZ

Con la temporada de caza del venado co-la blanca en puertas, el Estado de Tamauli-pas espera una importante derrama econó-mica, han dicho autoridades tamaulipecas.

Este año, la temporada de caza comienzael 28 de noviembre y concluye el 25 de ene-ro de 2015, de acuerdo a un comunicado deprensa.

“La campaña que se dio en Estados Uni-dos ya está dando frutos, ya que varios ho-teles y campos cinegéticos ya tienen reser-vaciones y están a la espera de los cazado-res”, dijo Mónica González García,secretaria de Desarrollo Económico y Tu-rismo (Sedet).

Además de la temporada de caza de vena-do, también se podrán cazar codornices es-camosa, coyotes, gato montés, marrano al-zado y pecarí de collar, entre otros.

De acuerdo con estadísticas presentadaspor el Estado, municipios tales como NuevoLaredo, México, esperan una derrama eco-nómica de 7 millones de dólares. La canti-dad de cazadores registrados el año pasadofue de 3.200.

Para mantener el control de la poblaciónde la especie, Tamaulipas está certificadocon Unidades de Manejo para la Conserva-ción de la Vida Silvestre (UMAS) que sirvepara verificar fechas y cantidades y tiene elobjetivo de no deteriorar el ambiente ni des-balancear la vida silvestre.

TAMAULIPAS

Inicia temporada de cazaESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

A partir del 28 de noviembre y hasta el 25 de enero del 2015, el ve-nado cola blanca estará en temporada de caza, en el Estado de Ta-maulipas. Se espera la presencia de más de 3.000 cazadores.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

“Es mi deber quedarme conmi marido aunque me mate”.

Así era como le habían incul-cado a pensar a Josefina Moreno,inclusive su esposo la maltrata-ba.

Ella sufrió violencia domésticadurante 17 años de su vida ma-trimonial. Una vida que calificacomo “un verdadero infierno”.

“Yo tenía 16 años y él tenía 17años cuando nos casamos. Fueuna decisión tonta y nuestro pri-mer error”, recordó Moreno.“Duré 17 años casada pero fuiuna esposa abusada y muy mal-tratada. Me llevé muchos golpes.Es una vida que no le deseo a na-die”.

Fue en 1999 cuando la Asam-blea General de las NacionesUnidas instituyó el Día Interna-cional de la Eliminación de laViolencia contra la Mujer. En unreporte global del organismoemitido en el 2013, el 35 por cien-to de las mujeres en el mundohan experimentado violencia físi-ca y/o sexual ya sea por un com-pañero íntimo o violencia sexualpor parte de un compañero noíntimo

Explicó que durante su no-viazgo su esposo fue una personamuy noble y buena con ella, perodespués todo cambió.

“Él siempre fue muy lindo

conmigo. Cuando nos casamossu papá lo obligaba a trabajar yno lo dejaba descansar ni un solodía. Para no dormirse empezó atomar pastillas, lo que le causóuna dependencia a la benzedri-na. Noté un cambio drástico ensu personalidad y ahora era muyagresivo”, expresó.

Moreno logró establecer con-tacto con el Women’s Shelter adonde acudía a escondidas pararecibir consejería.

“Yo no me quería divorciar, yoquería que lo curaran pero losconsejeros me decían que no po-dían curarlo porque, en su men-te, yo representaba su enemiganúmero uno por querer quitarleel vicio”, indicó. “A usted lo quele va a pasar es que un día de es-tos él la va a matar con un golpeinsignificante. Él irá la cárcel.Usted al panteón y a sus hijos¿quién los va a cuidar?”.

En el 2011, una investigacióndel Instituto sobre Violencia Do-méstica y Agresión Sexual y laUniversidad de Texas, arrojó queentre las mujeres tejanas, el 23por ciento reportó violencia físi-ca, un dos por ciento, violenciasexual y un 13 por ciento reportóambas. Además los tres tiposmás frecuentes de abuso reporta-do por las mujeres fue la agre-sión física, ser lanzadas contraalgo, asfixiadas, estranguladas osofocadas.

Después de varias visitas al

Women’s Shelter Moreno tomó ladecisión de abandonar a su espo-so y refugiarse ahí.

La Hermana Rosemary Welsh,directora de Casa de Misericor-dia, en Laredo dijo que duranteel 2013 se recibieron a 275 muje-res y 500 menores.

“Siempre tenemos mucho tra-bajo. Cada mes llegan de 22 a 24mujeres a solicitar albergue. Loimportante es que sepan queexiste ayuda, que no están solasy que les podemos ayudar”, ex-presó.

Casa de Misericordia propor-ciona servicios a víctimas de vio-lencia doméstica sin importar ra-za, origen, edad, discapacidad fí-sica, religión, género opreferencia sexual, de acuerdo asu sitio de Internet.

Recientemente durante unapresentación en un concurso detalentos en Los Ángeles, JosefinaMoreno dijo que ahora ella erauna mujer diferente.

“Yo no soy nada de lo que fuiayer. Aquella mujer se quedóatrás, aquella mujer sufría, sequedaba en el suelo llorando. Es-ta mujer que ves ahora es unamujer valiente, una soldada desu propia vida y ya no hay nadieque la lastime”, dijo.

Si requiere de información so-bre Casa Misericordia puede lla-mar al 712-9590 o visitar el sitiode Internet casademisericordia-.org

DÍA INTERNACIONAL DE LA ELIMINACIÓN DE VIOLENCIA CONTRA LA MUJER

JM: UN INFIERNO

Una silueta representando a una víctima de violencia doméstica, se observa al frente, conforme la Hermana Rosemary Welshhabla durante una vigilia llevada a cabo en Kaplan College, en esta imagen de archivo. Josefina Moreno fue víctima de vio-lencia doméstica durante 17 años de matrimonio, hasta que un día tomó la decisión de dejar a su esposo abusador.

Foto por Cuate Santos/archivo | Laredo Morning Times

POR MALENA CHARURTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014 State THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

EDNA — Authorities say fivechildren were killed when a fire en-gulfed their South Texas mobilehome and partially collapsed theroof, which made rescue attemptsimpossible.

The Jackson County Sheriff ’sOffice confirmed the deaths Tues-day afternoon. The names of thechildren haven’t been released.

Emergency personnel arrivedshortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday at thehome in Edna, about 100 milessouthwest of Houston.

Sheriff A.J. Louderback says thechildren’s parents were found out-side the home with one child buttold firefighters five children werestill inside. The home was engulfedin flames when authorities arrived.

Edna Fire Department Capt.Nick Strauss says firefightersweren’t able to make rescue at-tempts due to the roof collapse.

5 children killed in SouthTexas mobile home fire

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Firefighters sift through the charred remains of a mobile home where five childrenperished in an early-morning fire Tuesday in Edna, Texas.

Photo by Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle | AP

DALLAS — Health and Hu-man Services Secretary Syl-via Burwell made anothertrip to Texas on Monday toencourage residents to signup for insurance under theAffordable Care Act, whilethose helping to get peoplesigned up said they are seeinga steady number of inquiries.

Burwell made stops in theSan Antonio area and in Dal-las. She was in Houston lastweek and has promised tomake frequent visits to Texas,which has the nation’s high-est rate of residents withoutmedical insurance, during thesecond enrollment period.

“In one year alone in ournation, 10.3 million adults areno longer uninsured ... andwe want to build on that re-cord,” she said during herDallas stop.

Burwell is trumpeting theWhite House’s signaturehealth care law in a state fullof Republicans who oppose it.Texas declined to set up itsown insurance exchange asGov. Rick Perry staunchly op-posed the health care over-haul.

Between October 1, 2013,and March 31, 2014, the firstenrollment period, 733,757 in-dividuals in Texas selected aninsurance plan. The secondenrollment period started onNov. 15 and runs through Feb.15.

Mimi Garcia, Texas’ statedirector for Enroll America, anonprofit established to edu-cate people about the ACA,said the group’s outreach hasincluded almost 60 enrollmentevents across the state sincethe second rollout started.

“The interest has beenstrong,” she said.

Top federal healthofficial visits Texas

ASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014

People protesting theFerguson, Missouri, grandjury decision took to thestreets in cities across theU.S. for a second day Tues-day, showing the raciallycharged case has inflamedtensions even hundreds ofmiles from the predomin-antly black St. Louis sub-urb.

Peaceful demonstratorsmarched in Seattle and dis-rupted traffic in St. Louisand Cleveland. Rallies alsoformed in New Jersey,Maine, Maryland and else-where.

In Washington, D.C., pro-testers lay on the ground tostage a “die-in” in front ofMetro police headquarters.The group planned to occu-py various buildings in thedistrict over 28 hours.

For many, the shootingof 18-year-old MichaelBrown by Officer DarrenWilson recalled other trou-bling encounters with lawenforcement. The refrain“hands up, don’t shoot” be-came a rallying cry overpolice killings nationwide.

Here is a look at some ofTuesday’s demonstrations:

ST. LOUISProtesters disrupted

downtown traffic for sever-al hours by blocking majorintersections, an interstatehighway and a MississippiRiver bridge connectingthe city to Illinois.

Riot police arrested sev-eral demonstrators who satin the middle of Interstate44 near the Edward JonesDome. They used pepperspray to disperse thecrowd.

Demonstrators alsoswarmed the steps of thefederal courthouse, over-turning barricades whilechanting, “You didn’t in-dict. We shall fight.”

SEATTLEHundreds of Seattle high

school students walked outof classes and rallied at theUniversity of Washingtonor marched to the down-town federal courthouse.

The protest came a dayafter demonstrators threwcanned food, bottles androcks, and police respondedwith pepper spray andflash-bang grenades. Fivepeople were arrested. Dem-onstrators included therapper Macklemore

MINNEAPOLISA rally in Minneapolis

turned scary when a carhit and then drove throughseveral protesters.

Several hundred peoplegathered Tuesday after-noon near the 3rd Precinctpolice outpost to show soli-darity with Brown. Heli-copter footage from KSTP-TV showed the car pushingthrough protesters anddriving over at least one. Awoman suffered minor in-juries.

OAKLANDPolice were bracing for

more demonstrations inOakland, where officialswere still cleaning up afterscores of people hurled bot-tles, broke windows, setsmall fires and vandalizeda police car Monday night.

At least 40 people werearrested in the melee thatescalated after some protes-ters shut down traffic on amajor highway in the SanFrancisco Bay Area. A po-lice spokeswoman said sev-eral officers were injured,but she did not elaborate.

CLEVELANDSeveral hundred people

marched down a freeway

exit ramp to block rush-hour traffic while protest-ing the Missouri develop-ments and Saturday’s fatalshooting of a 12-year-oldCleveland boy by an officer.

“The system wasn’tmade to protect us,” saidone of the protesters, 17-year-old Naesha Pierce,who stayed up until 3 a.m.watching television cover-age from Ferguson. “To getjustice, the people them-selves have to be justice.”

Police diverted trafficbut took no action againstthe protesters as they sat ina major intersection.

They were demonstra-ting after the death of Ta-mir Rice, who was shotwhen police responded to a911 call about a gun at aplayground. Police later de-termined the boy had a pel-let gun that looked like areal firearm.

ELSEWHEREIn New York, police

noted protests have beenlarge but mostly peaceful,with just two arrests in-cluding that of a man whothrew a jar of fake bloodthat struck Police Commis-sioner William Bratton andhis security detail.

After a night of rallies inChicago, dozens of protes-ters upset with the grandjury’s decision camped outat the doors of MayorRahm Emanuel’s office andplanned to remain therethroughout the day andovernight.

Rallies also were form-ing Tuesday in Newark,New Jersey, Portland,Maine, Baltimore, Washing-ton, D.C.

In the nation’s capital,one group lay on theground to stage a “die-in”in front of Metro policeheadquarters. The groupplanned to occupy variousbuildings in the districtover 28 hours.

A law enforcement officer watches over Morehouse College students raising their fists in the air, joiningothers in a rally at the CNN Center after marching from King’s Chapel on their Atlanta campus.

Photo by Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution | MCT

Ferguson protestersrally across US

By SADIE GURMANASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND — Sever-al hundred peoplemarched down an exitramp and temporarilyblocked rush-hour trafficon a busy freeway onTuesday while protestinga police officer’s fatalshooting of a 12-year-oldboy who had brandished apellet gun.

Police diverted trafficbut didn’t take actionagainst the protesters,who chanted phrases suchas “Hands up, don’t shoot”and “No justice, no peace”as they sat in a major in-tersection before march-ing past City Hall and on-to state Route 2.

The protesters weredemonstrating after thedeath of Tamir Rice, whowas shot Saturday whenpolice responded to a 911call about a gun at a play-ground. Police later deter-mined Tamir had a pelletgun that looked like a realfirearm.

The demonstrationcame as protesters acrossthe country blasted agrand jury’s decision notto indict a white police of-ficer who killed an un-armed black teenager inFerguson, Missouri.

Cleveland police ChiefCalvin Williams was ob-serving and conferringwith officers about the lo-cal protest but declined toimmediately comment.

The crowd blocked thefreeway for about an hourbefore returning to adowntown square, whereit dispersed. The demon-strators passed by theCuyahoga County jail,causing inmates to bangon their windows.

Among the protesterswas 17-year-old NaeshaPierce, who said she hadstayed up until 3 a.m.watching television newscoverage from Ferguson,where people marched instreets, destroyed policecars and set businesses on

fire. “The system wasn’t

made to protect us,” shesaid. “To get justice, thepeople themselves have tobe justice.”

The crowd includedpeople of various racesand groups of studentsfrom at least three areacolleges.

“This is the way our de-mocracy is supposed towork, to come out and ex-press your opinions,”Mike Brickner, senior pol-icy director for ACLU ofCleveland, said as the pro-testers demonstrated nearPublic Square.

Attorneys for Tamir’sfamily have asked policeto release the completesurveillance video of theconfrontation betweenhim and the officer.

Police allowed the fam-

ily’s attorneys to watchthe video on Monday buthaven’t released it public-ly. Officials noted that thevideo is considered evi-dence and said they want-ed to be sensitive to thefamily, the community andthe officer, whom they de-scribed as distraught.

Police say Tamir wastold to raise his hands butpulled what appeared tobe a handgun from hiswaistband. Police say thevideo is clear, but theywouldn’t discuss details ofwhat it shows.

City officials planned tohold a public forum Tues-day evening at a recre-ation center close to whereTamir was shot.

Associated Press writersAnn Sanner and KanteleFranko in Columbus con-tributed to this report.

Protests arise overshot 12-year-old

By MARK GILLISPIEASSOCIATED PRESS

Demonstrators block Public Square Tuesday in Cleveland during aprotest over the weekend police shooting of Tamir Rice.

Photo by Tony Dejak | AP

CINCINNATI — A manimprisoned nearly fourdecades for a slaying andfreed when a witness saidhe lied as a boy came toCincinnati on Tuesday tothank the law project thatworked to win his freedom.

A beaming Ricky Jack-son told members of theOhio Innocence Projectand others at the Universi-ty of Cincinnati that hewould have walked to Cin-cinnati from Cleveland ifnecessary to thank thepeople he says “saved mylife.”

“They came throughlike a knight in shining ar-mor,” he said of the projectat UC’s College of Law. Itworks to free people usingDNA evidence but tookJackson’s case despite thelack of DNA.

“Life is so beautifulright now,” he said.

Innocentmanfreed

By LISA CORNWELLASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Benigno “Guelo Niño”Gutierrez, 88, passed awayon Saturday, November 22,2014 at Laredo MedicalCenter in Laredo, Texas.

Mr. Gutierrez is sur-vived by his wife, IreneGutierrez; sons, Jose Luis(Maria De La Luz) Gutier-rez, Pedro Angel (Francis-ca) Gutierrez, Rene (Beni-ta) Gutierrez, Juan Carlos(Lupita) Gutierrez, Romeo(Maria) Gutierrez; daugh-ters, Amanda (Domingo)Gonzalez, Alicia (+JoseAntonio) Balderas, Irene(Jesus) Hernandez, Arace-li (+Juan O.) Molina, Al-ma Gloria (Victor) Garcia;37 grandchildren; sister,Margarita (+Ruben) Ala-niz; and by numerousgreat-grandchildren,great-great grandchildren,other family members andfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld on Monday, Novem-ber 24, 2014, at 8 a.m. witha rosary at 10 a.m. at RoseGarden Funeral Home.

The funeral processiondeparted at 12:30 p.m. for

a 1 p.m. funeral Mass atOur Lady of LourdesCatholic Church.

Committal services fol-lowed at Zapata CountyCemetery.

Funeral arrangementsare under the direction ofRose Garden FuneralHome Daniel A. Gonzalez,Funeral Director, 2102 N.U.S. Hwy 83 Zapata, Texas.

BENIGNO GUTIERREZ

July 16, 1926 — Nov. 22, 2014

and whole milk (up 1.05percent).

Global demand for milkand milk products re-mains steady, Dierschkesaid, but prices are stillfluctuating for U.S. con-sumers.

“Farmers and ranchersensure Texans can servetheir families a well-bal-anced meal at an afforda-ble cost,” Dierschke said.“That allows Texans togather around the tableto enjoy the company offamily and friends andreflect on the things forwhich we are grateful.”

TFB’s fourth quarterGrocery Price Watch sur-vey, taken in conjunctionwith the 2014 Thanksgiv-ing Meal Report, indicat-ed a slight increase of1.22 percent for house-hold staples from thethird quarter. Resultsfrom the quarterly sur-vey of 16 common foodproducts increased 61cents from $49.88 in thethird quarter to $50.49 inthe fourth quarter of thisyear.

TFB’s ThanksgivingMeal Report and GroceryPrice Watch prices werereported by 38 volunteershoppers at grocerystores statewide fromNov. 4-11. TFB has re-leased its Grocery PriceWatch survey quarterlysince March 2009.

THANKSGIVING Continued from Page 1A

is now his first big fightsince his landslide victoryto succeed Gov. Rick Perryearlier this month.

The hedging seemed toconflict with unequivocalstatements from his ownoffice, including a pressrelease Monday that saidthe state “will assert a le-gal action.” Abbott didn’tanswer with such certain-ty when asked if a lawsuitwas coming.

“I would say odds favorthe fact that a lawsuitwould be filed,” Abbottsaid. He said his officewas “preparing to finalizeour work” in the next twoweeks.

When asked whetherAbbott’s messages con-flicted, spokesman JerryStrickland said in anemail that “your conclu-sion is inaccurate.”

Few would bet againstAbbott going to court. Heoften notes that he suedthe Obama administration30 times as attorney gen-eral, from challenges overenvironmental regula-tions to cut-off federalfunding after Texas pre-cluded Planned Parent-hood from a women’shealth program.

But higher politicalstakes and more attentionwould follow a challengeto such a defining actionfrom Obama. Abbott saidhis office is sharing itsanalysis with other gover-nors and attorneys gener-al, but he said a lawsuit

isn’t contingent on otherstate getting on board.

Abbott first pledged acourt challenge Thursday,just moments after Oba-ma announced his execu-tive actions. He has kept adefiant tone in nationallytelevised interviews since,and has begun citing spe-cifics about where he be-lieves Obama runs afoulof the U.S. Constitution.

Abbott compared the ac-tions to a presidentialcandidate saying he orshe would dispense withcriminal liability againstany U.S. citizen who failedto pay income taxes.

“The hypotheticals arevirtually endless if thechief executive of theUnited States is not re-quired to abide by thelimits were imposed onthe president,” Abbottsaid.

The White House hasinsisted that Obama is onsolid legal ground. Legalexperts have also greetedAbbott’s threats of a law-suit with skepticism.

“This is nonsense,” saidMichael Olivias, whoteaches at the Universityof Houston Law Center.“Governors don’t get toenforce immigrationlaws.”

Olivias said presidentshave enormous prosecuto-rial discretion to exercise.Abbott contends that ar-gument is off the mark, inpart, because of the scopeof Obama’s actions.

ABBOTT Continued from Page 1A

well areas unnoticed and under theappearance of collecting contaminat-ed water, according to the indict-ment.

Court records state Guerra creat-

ed “an appearance of legitimacy” byreporting to the buyers that the oilcame from a well in Zapata County.That well turned out to be an obso-lete natural gas well that had not

been used in years, according tocourt records.

(César G. Rodriguez may bereached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmton-line.com)

BOND Continued from Page 1A

lingual/ESL education pro-grams.

Additionally, Fidel andAndrea R. Villarreal ele-mentary and Zapata Mid-dle schools were labeledimprovement requiredcampuses.

According to the report,students had subpar pass-ing rates on the ESL, mi-grant and STAAR’s math,

reading, science and writ-ing exams.

PBMA standard for themigrant STAAR socialstudies assessment is 65percent and the districtrate was 32.5 percent, ac-cording to the report.

“This is a statewide chal-lenge,” Nuques said.

“We have already imple-mented a number of chang-

es such as the addition ofchief instructional offi-cers.”

According to the data,students in the special edu-cation program had subparpassing rates for the mathand writing STAAR exams.

Nuques said the districtreceived no citation duringthe visit and will continueto work to move the district

in the right track.“I’m very happy with the

board of trustees and forsupporting the changes Ihave recommended. Thecentral and campus admin-istration have worked hardand we are in the righttrack,” Nuques said.

(Judith Rayo may bereached at 728-2567 orjrayo@lmtonline.com)

ZCISD Continued from Page 1A

“Frozen” merchandise isthe most coveted toy forgirls this holiday season,knocking Barbie from theNo. 1 position for the firsttime, according to a surveyfrom the National RetailFederation.

About 20 percent of par-ents plan to buy “Frozen”gifts for their daughters,the Washington-based

trade group found in its an-nual study. Barbie, whichwas chosen by 17 percentof parents this year, hadbeen the top pick through-out the lists 11-year history.Lego toys were the mostpopular choice for parentsof boys, with 14 percentopting for them.

“The results mark an-other setback for MattelInc.’s Barbie, which haslost ground to other dollbrands and drawn criti-

cism for her unrealisticbody proportions. Barbie’sworldwide sales sank 21percent in the most recentquarter. The popularity of‘Frozen’-themed Halloweenoutfits, meanwhile, mayhave boosted the brandsvisibility,” said Pam Good-fellow, director of ProsperInsights & Analytics,which worked on the sur-vey.

“Barbie has been the topgirls toy for over a decade,

but it is no surprise thatDisney’s ‘Frozen’ has takenthe top seat as childrenhave had it on the mind,”she said in the statement.

Even with Barbie losingstatus, Mattel has benefitedfrom the popularity of Fro-zen, a Walt Disney Co. filmabout two royal sisters whoconfront an ice-bound king-dom. The company makesQueen Elsa and PrincessAnna dolls, based on char-acters from the movie.

‘Frozen’ more popular than BarbieBy MATT TOWNSEND

BLOOMBERG NEWS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014