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ZAPATA HOOPS OFF TO ROUGH STARTHAWKS GET MOST OF NON-DISTRICT PLAY, 1B

Laredo wants to heal from thetragedy that left Rachelle Grim-mer, 38, and her two children,Timothy, 10, and Ramie, 12, deadas result of a shooting early thisweek inside the Texas Healthand Human Services Commis-sion office.

Dr. Henry Carranza an-nounced Friday afternoon thatthe Laredo Organized Volun-teers for the Elderly and Disad-vantage organization, a group

known as LOVED, has openedaccount No. 2112695487 at Inter-national Bank of Commerce tocover funeral and medical ex-penses for the family.

Contributions will be given toDonald Harrop, Rachelle’s broth-er, Carranza said. Carranzaimagined the family had traveland funeral expenses to pay for,leading the organization to openthe account for its benefit.

“This is a very grieving fam-ily. This is the time we shouldshow the community does care.We do feel sorry for the family,”

said Carranza, who chairs theLOVED group. “Laredo respondsright away if there’s a tragedy …I foresee the community will re-spond, hopefully, really well.”

For more information, call796-9335.

Meanwhile, Investigator JoeE. Baeza, Laredo Police Depart-ment spokesman, said detectivesare piecing together the case. Itwas on Monday right before 5p.m. when Rachelle walked intothe THHSC office with her two

GRIMMER FAMILY

Group opens account for burial expensesBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMESNeighbors cre-ated a smallshrine next tothe RV whereRachelle Grim-mer lived withher two chil-dren. Itshowed signsof damage, in-cluding cracksthat exposedthe family tothe elements.

Photo by Jason Buch | San Antonio Express-NewsSee FAMILY PAGE 9A

Perceptions are hard to fight. Tell that to communities along

the border such as Zapata Coun-ty. Recent reports of border areasconsidered war zones are a stig-ma that’s hard to get rid of. Buta recent threat analysis of theRio Grande requested by Rep.Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, from

the U.S. Coast Guard shows theopposite.

The report, dubbed RioGrande Mission RequirementsAnalysis – 2011 Report to Con-gress, shows there are low-to-moderate threat levels along theRio Grande border. Cuellar saidthe report contains informationfor official use only, but theCoast Guard summarized it in aletter to release it to the public.

According to the letter, the RioGrande has historically had alow search-and-rescue load.Coast Guard officials have assist-ed state and local authorities infive search-and-rescues on LakeAmistad and four on FalconLake in the last four years. Re-garding narcotics, drug-traffick-ing organizations are a challengefor Mexican and U.S. authoritiesalong the entire border.

More from the letter“In certain areas of the Rio

Grande border area, DTOs (drug-trafficking organizations) pre-sent a moderate threat of vio-lence to U.S. persons on the U.S.side of the border and a highthreat on the Mexican side,” theletter states. A mix of task forces,

THE BORDER

Fighting perceptionsSome say war zone; others say there’s little threatBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BORDER PAGE 9A

The Zapata County Commis-sioners Court has announced apublic hearing for Monday at 8: 30a.m. to discuss a possible new taxon goods stored in Zapata facili-ties. The tax comes about as a re-sult of recent changes to HouseBill 621, which concerns how thestate tax code treats goods-in-tran-sit.

“The public hearing comes inbecause every time you’re creat-ing a new tax, it’s prudent to getthe input of the community,” saidGustavo Martinez, a tax attorneywho will address the court at thepublic hearing. Martinez’s pur-pose, he said, is to explain whatthe amendments to HB 621 meanso that commissioners can decidehow to proceed.

In 2007, HB 621 implemented atax exemption for goods-in-transit,which are goods that have depart-ed from their point of shipping ordispatch but have not yet arrivedat their delivery point.

“It’s stuff that’s moveable, per-sonal — usually business proper-ty, anything fabricated,” said Mar-tinez.

After HB 621 took effect in Jan-uary 2008, property held in Texasfor purposes of storing, manufac-turing or assembling could not betaxed by the municipal govern-ments and school districts inwhich they remained. Some goodsdid not qualify for the exemption,and those could be taxed if thetaxing entity passed a resolution.

The amendment to HB 621, ef-

COMMISSIONERS

Hearingto

discusstaxes

Law change promptsexplanation

By MIKE HERRERA IVTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See COUNTY PAGE 9A

CELEBRATING CHRISTMASTIME

Children watch as a Zapata ISD school bus decorated with Christmas lights drives by during the Zapata County Christmas Parade on Friday night.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

CHRISTMAS PARADE

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

SATURDAY, DEC. 10The Texas A&M International

University Teachers’ Club will host“Saturday Story Hour” from 2 p.m. to3 p.m. today at the Laredo Public Li-brary main branch, 1120 E. CaltonRoad. Today’s story is “Sports.” “Satur-day Story Hour” is for children ages 3to 8. Children must be accompaniedby an adult.

Texas A&M International Univer-sity’s Center for the Fine and Perform-ing Arts presents the Young Pianistsand Singers Program Recital from 3p.m. to 5 p.m. today in the CFPA Re-cital Hall. The recital is free and opento the public. For more information,call the department for the fine andperforming arts at 326-2654.

The Texas A&M InternationalUniversity Lamar Bruni Vergara Plane-tarium will show “The Little Star ThatCould” at 4 p.m., “One World, OneSky: Big Bird’s Adventure” at 5 p.m.,“Season of Light” at 6 p.m. and “Holi-day Music Magic” at 7 p.m. Generaladmission is $5, $4 for children andTAMIU students, faculty, staff andalumni. Premium shows are $1 more.For additional show times, call 326-DOME or visit tamiu.edu/planetarium.

SUNDAY, DEC. 11The Gateway Gatos of Laredo, a

nonprofit organization, and St. Peterthe Apostle Church invite everyone totheir second annual Christmas AnimalPosada at St. Peter’s Plaza, MatamorosStreet and Main Avenue, at 3 p.m.Pets should be on a leash or in a har-ness or cage. Participants are encour-aged to go dressed as animals orwearing animal masks. For more infor-mation, call Birdie at 286-7866.

MONDAY, DEC. 12The Zapata County Commission-

ers Court will hold its monthly meetingat 9 a.m. at the county courthouse.

TUESDAY, DEC. 13The Zapata County Independent

School District trustees will hold apublic hearing at 6 p.m. at the Profes-sional Development Center on the Aca-demic Excleeence Indicator System Re-port. The regular trustees meeting willfollow at 6:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14The Zapata Community Coalition

will host bingo from 6-8 p.m. at theZapata County Pavilion.

An ELA/Math parents workshopis set at the Zapata Middle School li-brary.

THURSDAY, DEC. 15Sausage tortilla wraps will be

sold and Santa will be available forpictures during Noche de Fiesta at TheZapata County Pavillion. The tortillawraps, priced at $2 apiece, will beavailable beginning aat 6 p.m. Santawill be available from 6-9 p.m. Pictureswill be $2 apiece.

FRIDAY, DEC. 16The U.S. Border Patrol’s Green

Santa visit will take place at Fidel andAndrea R. Villarreal Elementary School.

The Laredo Ballet Theatre, spon-sored by Dance Expressions, will havetwo performances of “The Nutcracker”today from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in theLaredo Civic Center Auditorium, 2400San Bernardo Ave.

The TAMIU Lamar Bruni VergaraPlanetarium will show “Season ofLight” at 6:30 p.m. and “Holiday MusicMagic” at 7:30 p.m. General admissionis $5, $4 for children and TAMIU stu-dents, faculty, staff and alumni. Premi-um shows are $1 more. For additionalshow times, call 326-DOME.

SATURDAY, DEC. 17The South Texas Food Bank will

hold a bucket brigade fundraiser atseveral Laredo intersections from 8a.m. to 2 p.m. today.

SUNDAY, DEC. 18There will be a performance of

“Cinderella” at the Zapata High Schoolauditorium at 3 p.m. Admission is $2.Performances for elementary schoolstudents are scheduled for Monday at9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

TUESDAY, DEC. 20The Zapata Middle School PTO

will meet at 6 p.m. in the school gym.To submit an item for the calendar,

send the name of the event, the date,time, location and contact phone num-ber to editorial@lmtonline.com.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Dec. 10,the 344th day of 2011. Thereare 21 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Dec. 10, 1931, Jane Ad-dams became the first Ameri-can woman to be awarded theNobel Peace Prize; the co-re-cipient was Nicholas MurrayButler.

On this date:In 1520, Martin Luther pub-

licly burned the papal edictdemanding that he recant, orface excommunication.

In 1817, Mississippi was ad-mitted as the 20th state of theUnion.

In 1861, the Confederacy ad-mitted Kentucky as it recog-nized a pro-Southern shadowstate government that was act-ing without the authority ofthe pro-Union government inFrankfort.

In 1906, President TheodoreRoosevelt became the firstAmerican to be awarded theNobel Peace Prize, for helpingmediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1911, TV newscaster ChetHuntley was born in Cardwell,Mont.

In 1948, the U.N. General As-sembly adopted its UniversalDeclaration on Human Rights.

In 1950, Ralph J. Bunchewas awarded the Nobel PeacePrize, the first black Americanto receive the award.

In 1964, Martin Luther KingJr. received his Nobel PeacePrize.

In 1967, singer Otis Redding,26, and six others were killedwhen their plane crashed intoWisconsin’s Lake Monona.

In 1984, South African Bish-op Desmond Tutu received theNobel Peace Prize.

In 1986, human rights advo-cate and Holocaust survivorElie Wiesel accepted the NobelPeace Prize.

Ten years ago: PresidentGeorge W. Bush told reportersa videotape of Osama bin La-den in which the al-Qaidaleader talked happily aboutthe September 11 attacks “justreminded me of what a mur-derer he is.” Secretary-Gener-al Kofi Annan accepted theNobel Peace Prize on behalf ofhimself and the United Na-tions.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorTommy Kirk is 70. Pop singerChad Stuart (Chad and Jere-my) is 70. Actress-singer Glo-ria Loring is 65. Pop-funk mu-sician Walter “Clyde” Orange(The Commodores) is 65. Ac-tress Susan Dey is 59. FormerIllinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is55. Actor Michael Clarke Dun-can is 54. Jazz musician PaulHardcastle is 54. Actor-direc-tor Kenneth Branagh is 51. Ac-tress Nia Peeples is 50. TVchef Bobby Flay is 47. Rocksinger-musician J Mascis is46. Country singer KevinSharp is 41. Rock musicianScot (cq) Alexander (Dishwal-la) is 40. Actress-comedian Ar-den Myrin is 38. Rock musi-cian Meg White (The WhiteStripes) is 37. Rapper Kuniva(D12) is 36. Violinist SarahChang is 31. Rock musicianNoah Harmon (Airborne Tox-ic Event) is 30. Actress Raven-Symone is 26.

Thought for Today: “Jour-nalists were never intended tobe the cheerleaders of a socie-ty, the conductors of applause,the sycophants. Tragically,that is their assigned role inauthoritarian societies, butnot here — not yet.” — ChetHuntley (1911-1974).

TODAY IN HISTORY

DES MOINES, Iowa — Texas Gov. RickPerry said Friday there are eight SupremeCourt justices, not nine, and couldn’t remem-ber Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s name in aneditorial board meeting with The DesMoines Register newspaper.

On Friday, Perry criticized Obama for histwo Supreme Court nominees. “When yousee his appointment of two, from my per-spective, inarguably activist judges, whetherit was … “ he said, trailing off.

He paused for six seconds. “Not Monte-mayor,” he said.

“Sotomayor,” a member of the editorialboard said.

“Sotomayor, Sotomayor,” Perry said.He went on to denounce “eight unelected

and, frankly, unaccountable judges” in a dis-

cussion of prayer in schools. But nine justic-es sit on the Supreme Court; they are nomi-nated by the president and confirmed by theSenate.

“For Washington to tell a local school dis-trict that you cannot have a prayer and atime of prayer in that school is, I think, of-fensive to most Americans,” Perry told theeditorial board. “I trust the people of thestates to make those decisions. I trust thoseindependent school districts to make thosedecisions better than eight unelected and,frankly, unaccountable judges.”

Similar gaffes have plagued Perry. Perhapsthe most memorable was during a debatelast month, when he couldn’t remember oneof three federal agencies he has pledged toabolish. As recently as Thursday, Perry hadto correct himself after saying the U.S. is atwar in Iran instead of Iraq.

AROUND TEXAS

In this Aug. 15 photo, Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry campaigns at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Io-wa. Perry has gone from presidential front-runner to underdog in a flash, yet he acts as though he has nothing to lose. Per-haps he’s used to being counted out, though he hasn’t lost an election in his 26 years in public office.

Photo by Charles Dharapak | AP

Perry flubs on courtASSOCIATED PRESS

Arsonist sentenced forHouston blaze

HOUSTON — A judge has sen-tenced a Houston man who hadbeen suspected of setting a seriesof fires to 40 years in state prisonfor one of the blazes.

John Leonard Morin was con-victed and sentenced on a felonyarson charge after a brief trialon Friday.

The 48-year-old was identifiedas a suspect in a series of firesthat happened in southwestHouston from 2007 until 2009. Ul-timately, investigators were ableto link Morin to a fire that oc-curred in October 2007.

West Texas earthquakesecond in state in 3 days

LUBBOCK — Texas had itssecond minor earthquake Friday.

The U.S. Geological Surveywebsite shows that the 3.4 mag-nitude quake happened at 12:47p.m. Friday and was centered 15miles north of Snyder in WestTexas.

2 women sentenced inbrutal West Texas slaying

ODESSA — Two womenpleaded guilty and received pris-on terms for their roles in a 2008slaying.

Heather Mitchell received a 50-year prison term Friday afterreaching a plea deal on a murdercharge. Kathleen Newbury wasgiven 30 years on a charge of en-gaging in organized criminal ac-tivity for murder.

Derek Elms and Willie Hurstwere previously sentenced to lifewithout parole in the killing ofRobert Thornhill Jr.

Alleged members of TexasSyndicate indicted

SAN ANTONIO — Federalprosecutors say 17 people ac-cused of being members of theprison-based Texas Syndicategang have been indicted on rack-eteering-related charges.

Investigators say the last ofthe six suspects still on the loosewere arrested Thursday.

Teen gets 20 years forWylie fatal beating in yard

McKINNEY — A North Texasteen has been sentenced to 20years in prison for the fatal beat-ing of a man during an argu-ment about reckless driving.

A judge in McKinney onThursday sentenced 18-year-oldSeth Dorris of Wylie, a day afterconvicting the teen of man-slaughter.

Prosecutors say Dorris threwthe first punch in the 2009 attackthat killed Jonathan Bird of Wy-lie.

3 children die in EastTexas mobile home fireBROADDUS — Authorities say

three children have died after afire destroyed their mobile homein East Texas.

Austin McGee, 8, Brandon Ri-ter, 5, and Shina Riter, 4, died ofsmoke inhalation in the fireWednesday night in the smalltown of Broaddus.

— Compiled from AP reports

NASA OKs Feb. launch ofprivate space station trip

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Aprivate California company willattempt the first-ever commercialcargo run to the InternationalSpace Station in February.

NASA announced the newsFriday. Space Exploration Tech-nologies Corp., or SpaceX, be-came the first private business tolaunch a capsule into orbit andreturn it safely to Earth.

On Feb. 7, a SpaceX capsulewill attempt another orbitalflight from Cape Canaveral AirForce Station to the space stationand dock with a load of supplies.

Stocks close higher asEurope nears budget pact

A deal to forge stronger tiesbetween most of Europe’s econo-mies sent stocks sharply higherFriday as hopes grew that the re-gion is close to resolving its debtcrisis. The Dow Jones industrial

average rose 186 points.

Panel backs birth controlpatch despite risks

ADELPHI, Md. — A panel offederal health advisers said Fri-

day that a birth control patchfrom Johnson & Johnson proba-bly carries a higher risk of bloodclots than older drugs, butshould remain available as anoption for women.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

The New York City Ballet will transmit its “Nutcracker” live next week to some560 movie theaters in 50 states, giving children across the nation a chance tosee what many consider the gold standard in “Nutcrackers.”

Photo by Paul Kolnik | AP

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CONTACT US

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Webb County Commis-sioner Jerry Garza filedTuesday as a candidate forstate representative forHouse District 31, settingup a primary battle withincumbent Rep. Ryan Guil-len.

Garza said in a writtenstatement he believesSouth Texas has not re-ceived the representation itdeserves at the state capi-tol.

“I have seen firsthandhow many of our childrenand seniors have beenshortchanged with manyopportunities because ofthe decisions that are madein Austin, and we cannotallow for this to continuehappening,” Garza said.

He has served sevenyears on CommissionersCourt, becoming one of itsmost vocal members.

Garza recently helpedoversee the groundbreak-ing of the Fernando A. Sali-nas Community Center incentral Laredo.

Before CommissionersCourt, Garza was an an-chor for KGNS News andan educator. He also worksas an insurance salesmanand real estate agent.

In October, Garza saidhe would not seek re-elec-tion as commissioner andindicated he was consider-ing a run for higher office.

Redistricting mapspassed by the Texas Legis-lature in the spring drewGuillen out of Webb Coun-ty and added rural parts ofthe county to District 80,represented by Eagle PassDemocrat Tracy King. Thatmap would have set up a

primary contest with a rep-resentative who had notserved Webb County in thelast decade.

But legal challenges tothe maps have led to new,temporary maps for nextyear’s elections.

After a federal court inWashington, D.C., refusedto pre-clear the redistrict-ing maps for the TexasHouse, Senate and Texascongressional delegation, acourt in San Antonio drewinterim maps last month.The interim map kept Dis-trict 31 in Webb County, on-ly cutting Duval Countyout of its current makeup.

Garza could face a chal-lenge fundraising in therace.

In his July semiannualreport, Guillen reported acontribution balance of$557,304.67. The Committeeto Elect Jerry Garza report-ed a contribution balanceof $1,137.88 for that period.

HOUSE DISTRICT 31

Garza launches bid forseat in Legislature

By ANDREW KREIGHBAUM THE ZAPATA TIMES

JERRY GARZA:Commissioner tochallenge for Dis-trict 31 seat. Precinct 1 Commission-

er Jose Emilio Vela has an-nounced his reelection bidfor the Zapata CountyCommissioners Court.

“The major accomplish-ments brought during mytenure as Zapata Countycommissioner has been therealization and completionof the many new infras-tructure projects currentlyin operation,” said Vela.

Vela listed the projectshe says he helped bring tofruition during his sixyears as a county commis-sioner. They include con-struction of a modern solidwaste facility, pavement ofcounty streets and a $14million water treatmentplant.

As a retired teacher of14 years’ experience in theZapata County Independ-ent School District, Vela

prioritizes educational ven-tures.

“Of anything I’ve doneas commissioner, I ammost proud of contributingto the education of Zapa-ta’s students,” Vela toldThe Zapata Times lastmonth.

As commissioner, hesupported a tax on the ma-quinitas (game-of-chanceamusement centers) in or-der to fund the technologi-cal infrastructure for theZapata County Technicaland Advanced EducationCenter. He considers theproject one of the most im-portant in recent memoryand in investment in Zapa-ta’s future.

“We must continue toexpand on our higher edu-cation center,” he said. “I

am extremely proud of thisnew facility. Over the nextfew years, we will see thegreat accomplishmentsthis new educational cen-ter will provide. An educat-ed population will providemany economic opportuni-ties for everyone.”

From 1984 to 2004, Velaran V&S Feed Store andStorage Rental. He said hewould use this small busi-ness experience to push forjob creation through theattraction of new business-es.

“To enable this to occur,we must continue buildingour infrastructure andmaintain a clean andhealthy environment,” hesaid, adding that he’d sup-port keeping the county’sproperty taxes low for thebenefit of new businessand current residents.

(Mike Herrera IV can bereached at 728-2567 ormherrera@lmtonline.com)

PRECINCT 1

Vela seeks reelection tocommissioner’s post

By MIKE HERRERA IVTHE ZAPATA TIMES

JOSE EMILIO VELA:To run for reelec-tion to commis-sioners court.

The Zapata County Communi-ty Coalition met Tuesday at theZapata Community Center to be-gin the process of identifying themost prevalent substance abuseproblems in the county.

“We invited members of thecommunity and people from 13different sectors to share theirinput and work closely to findsolutions to these issues,” saidSonia Sanchez, program directorin Zapata for SCAN, Inc. “Thesesectors included schools, youth,business, religion and parents.”

Formed in Laredo in 1982,SCAN, or Serving Children and

Adolescents in Need, is a com-munity-based, nonprofit socialservices organization that pro-vides drug prevention, interven-tion and treatment services. It’soperated in Zapata under theauspices of the county commis-sioners court. In September of2004, SCAN initiated the ZapataCounty Community Coalition ofSCAN to spearhead programsthat would raise awareness ofand fight substance abuse issuesin Zapata and Jim Hogg coun-ties.

At Tuesday’s meeting the 50or so in attendance were askedto fill out ballots that wouldrank the top four substanceabuse issues in Zapata County.

While the results were still beingtabulated as of Friday, Sancheznoted some of the trends.

“We still don’t have an officialcount but it looks like it will bealcohol, marijuana, cocaine andtobacco,” she said, ranking themin descending order. She addedthat coalition members who didnot attend were still voting byemail late in the week.

Also of concern regarding Za-pata’s youth, according to San-chez, is the abuse of prescriptiondrugs, an issue SCAN addressedin October on National TakeBack Day. In partnership withthe Drug Enforcement Agency,SCAN set up take-back sites inLaredo and Zapata to collect ex-

pired or unneeded prescriptionmedicine. Too often these medi-cines are easily accessible toteenagers, and this abuse of med-ically useful drugs by peoplethey’re not intended for is nowthe second biggest illicit drugproblem in the Untied States, asDEA representatives told The Za-pata Times in October.

“Every year, we conduct ayouth survey in the high school(in Zapata),” said Sanchez, “andthat’s how we’ve identified pre-scription drugs and alcohol asbig issues for young people in Za-pata.”

Once SCAN identifies what thecoalition considers the four mostproblematic drugs, the coalition

will address prevention and in-tervention.

Also at the meeting, the coali-tion recognized President BarackObama’s proclamation of Decem-ber 2011 as National ImpairedDriving Prevention Month.SCAN disseminated literatureabout alcohol and impaired driv-ing during the meeting, said San-chez.

Those in attendance also hearda special presentation by BorderPatrol, and the coalition an-nounced its next fundraiser: abingo Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m.at the Zapata County Pavilion.

(Mike Herrera IV can bereached at 728-2567 or mherre-ra@lmtonline.com)

Coalition starts examining substance abuseBy MIKE HERRERA IV

THE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

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

Two weeks ago, asthe season of Ad-vent began, I re-flected about its

importance in our lives.Tomorrow is the third

Sunday of Advent andbrings us nearer to theend of the season inwhich we prepare for thecoming of the Christchild.

And what should wedo?

First, we should listenand reflect on the SundayGospels as they help ourheart, mind and soul pre-pare for Christmas day.

Secondly, Catholicsshould seek purificationthrough the sacrament ofreconciliation.

BlessingsThen, in contrast to

the commercial madness,slow down and appre-ciate the many blessingsin our life.

I definitely know athing, or two, about lead-ing a busy life.

Specifically, I ask youto become more awareand more appreciative ofthe small blessings thateach of us receives on adaily basis.

Perhaps it’s spendingtime volunteering to helpothers this season of Ad-vent. Maybe it’s visitinga loved one for the holi-days.

Perhaps it’s goodhealth.

God’s signsAll these blessings are

a sign of God’s love forus.

Making a note to selfof blessings in your lifewould be a beautiful andhealthy task.

Taking the time to rec-ognize these signs of ourCreator’s love reminds usthat God is present inour lives.

God has not with-drawn from the world.

God has not left usalone.

Instead, and in addi-tion to our daily bless-ings, He has providedthis season of hope, an-ticipation and prepara-tion.

AppreciationFor example, this com-

ing week offers a won-derful opportunity for usto pause, reflect and ap-preciate all God has giv-en us.

Monday is the feastday of Our Lady of Gua-dalupe — the patronessof the Americas.

This event is signifi-cant during the Adventseason because the im-age of Our Lady of Gua-dalupe is depicted as awoman waiting to givebirth.

It is a blessed remind-er for the respect of lifeand motherhood.

Let us give thanks toGod for the life we havelovingly received fromour heavenly Father andthrough our earthly par-ents.

Family timeMonday provides an

opportunity for the fam-ily to pause, reflect andgive thanks to God withthe numerous liturgicalservices and festivitieshonoring the feast day of

Our Lady of Guadalupe.Throughout the Dio-

cese of Laredo, the cele-brations will include theperformances of the Ma-tachines adorned in col-orful costumes and head-wear inspired by the in-digenous tribes ofMexico.

Our LadyDancing to the steady

drumbeat and shakingtheir instruments, theMatachines weave an in-tricate choreography de-signed to pay homage toOur Lady of Guadalupeand to her role in bring-ing all of us to her son,Jesus Christ.

This commemorationof our Blessed Mother’sapparition before the in-digenous St. Juan Diegois reason for hope as OurLady of Guadalupe assur-es us of the Father’s lovefor His children and ofGod’s desire that we beunited with Him throughthe Church’s sacraments,the source of spiritualnourishment for eternallife.

TraditionLas Posadas is another

rich tradition in the sea-son of Advent that re-en-acts Joseph and Mary’sattempts to seek shelterin Bethlehem as thebirth of Jesus approach-es. Beginning the follow-ing week and continuingthrough Christmas Eve,all of these special andholy traditions serve asreminders and as prepa-ration for the true mean-ing of Christmas.

Amid all the festivi-ties, carols and decora-tions, I ask you to experi-ence the season of Ad-vent as your time toproperly prepare to wel-come Jesus.

Real meaningTake time to light the

candles on the Adventwreath and explain thetrue meaning of Christ-mas to loved ones, espe-cially to children.

Participate in a Posadaor a Pastorela and walkin the shoes of Josephand Mary in order togrow in your understand-ing of the events thattook place more than2,000 years ago.

Even though Josephand Mary did not fullycomprehend where Godwas leading them, theyremained steadfast intheir faith.

We, too, must listenand be guided by God’sgrace.

Christ’s birth nearsDuring this season of

Advent, a paradoxicalmix of tranquility andexcitement fills ourhomes at the coming ofChrist.

The tranquility hailsfrom His grace that fillsour soul.

And His impendingbirth generates the ex-citement.

Join me this season forChrist-centered familytraditions and create asanctuary of peace inyour life, in your homeand in our world — TodoCon Amor.

It’s time toprepare forChristmas

“JAMES TAMAYO

Advent is time forreflection

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.

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

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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

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

AUSTIN — I hope youwere paying attention Tues-day when a major Texasagency crossed into a newworld of state agencying.

As far back as anyonecan remember (or at leastas far back as I can remem-ber, and I’m just this side ofgeezerdom), governmenthas had limited options forgathering the money need-ed to do the importantthings (and the otherthings) government does.

Here’s the list of whatgovernment folks call “reve-nue streams”: taxes, fines,fees, civil penalties, changefound in sofa cushions atthe Capitol. That’s prettymuch it, I think. We hatetaxes and fees, don’t like topay fines and civil penaltiesand can’t figure out howthe change wound up in thesofas. But the system hasworked.

On Tuesday, in 11 newsconferences in state parks,we added a new way forgovernment to raise money.It’s not new to humankind,just new to government-kind. You see the method inaction on street cornersamong folks down on their

luck. (Best sign I’ve seen re-cently: “I’d say somechange would do me good.”)

It’s begging. A majorstate agency, facing a bud-get crisis, now is begging.Please add this to your ex-panding list of signs thatwe are, as leading econo-mists term it, screwgified(pronounced screw-ji-fied).

“We need to raise $4.6million to keep state parksoperating, and we can’t doit without you,” it says onthe Texas Parks and Wild-life Department website.

Remember the January1973 National Lampoonmagazine cover that said,“If you don’t buy this maga-zine, we’ll kill this dog?”Parks are the puppies ofstate government. Evencommies love parks andpuppies.

“I’m here for one simplereason,” the department’sExecutive Director CarterSmith says on a video back-ing up the begging. “Yourstate parks need our helpnow more than ever. Recorddrought, devastating wild-fires, associated declines inpark visitation and revenuehave created a real sense ofurgency in a time of criticalneed for your state parks.”

The department calls it

the “triple whammy.”“If we’re going to keep

these special treasures openfor all Texans to use andenjoy, we need to raise $4.6million,” Smith said.

Our state parks longhave depended on tax allo-cations, park entrance feesand contributions to aParks and Wildlife-relatedfoundation. That’s not cut-ting it any more.

At a news conference atMcKinney Falls State Parkin Austin, Smith detailedthe problem at our 94 stateparks and historical sites. Itcosts about $69 million ayear to run them. For along time, about half thatmoney has come from fee-paying visitors. It seemslike a good model, but,thanks to the triple wham-my of drought, heat andwildfires, the model is bro-ken.

And that means the de-partment is en route to ad-ditional job cuts. Park ser-vices and hours also couldface trimming. This sum-mer, Parks and Wildlifewhacked 230 jobs and enact-ed some cuts in hours andservices. That was causedby a 21 percent spendingcut ordered by lawmakers.

There’s also the Legisla-

ture’s history of not givingthe department the fullshare of the sales tax onsporting goods, which issupposed to go to parks.Legislative Budget Boardfigures show that tax wasprojected to generate $236million in the current two-year budget cycle. But thebudget sent only $82 millionof it to Parks and Wildlife.

The state’s general fundgot the rest as lawmakersstruggled to write a two-year budget without raisingtaxes. They succeeded. Andnow the department, whichalways has sought dona-tions to its foundation, isinto unprecedented beg-ging.

Amazing. And let’s see ifthis new revenue streamcatches on with other cash-strapped state agencies.

“Please act now to helpkeep our state parks openfor all Texans to enjoy, be-cause our state parks won’tbe the same without you,”Smith said on the video.

Here’s a thought: If beg-ging fails, maybe Parks andWildlife will have to make atough decision betweenparks and wildlife. Maybewe can’t afford both.

(Email: kherman@states-man.com.)

COLUMN

Begging is new way to richesBy KEN HERMAN

COX NEWSPAPERS

Again is a terrifyingword.

Thursday afternoon,alerts went out at VirginiaTech that shots had beenfired and the individual

was still on the loose. Thecampus went on lockdown.The updates continuedstreaming out. Everyoneflocked to Twitter and theirtelevision sets to find outwhat was happening. “Vir-ginia Tech” zoomed up thelist of trending topics. A po-

lice officer had been shot.Another victim had beenfound.

Reports emerged thatthe gunman may have beenhis own second victim, andpeople began breathingsighs of relief. But whathappened in Blacksburg

serves as an uncomfortablereminder that, do what youwill, there is no safe, onlysafer.

We live in a world whereyou can’t say “Neveragain.” Once the unthink-able happens, it ceases tobe unthinkable.

There is no safe, only saferBy ALEXANDRA PETRI

THE WASHINGTON POST

COLUMN

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

ASSAULTAn assault by threat was re-

ported at 5:30 a.m. Dec. 4 in the1900 block of Glenn Street.

A sexual assault was report-ed in San Ygnacio Viejo at 2:15p.m. Wednesday.

An assault incident was re-ported at 2:59 a.m. Friday in the900 block of Laredo Avenue.

BURGLARYA burglary of a habitation

was reported at 6:55 a.m. Dec. 1 inthe 1800 block of Second Street.

Deputies went out to a bur-glary call at 8:25 a.m. Dec. 4 inthe 1700 block of North SiestaAvenue, where a home had beenburglarized.

A burglary of a building was

reported at 8:33 a.m. Dec. 4 in the1700 block of North Siesta Lane.

Deputies responded to aburglary call at 7:51 p.m. Dec. 4 inthe 5200 block of Grande Lane. Areport was filed regarding a homethat had been burglarized.

A burglary of habitation wasreported at 10:54 p.m. Monday inthe 600 block of Laredo Avenue.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEFA criminal mischief was re-

ported at 11:23 a.m. Wednesday inthe 3000 block of South U.S. 83.

PUBLIC INTOXICATIONA public intoxication incident

was reported at 6:48 p.m. Dec. 2in the 1000 block of Elm Street.

A public intoxication incident

was reported at 4:30 a.m. Dec. 2at Fourth Street and Ramireño Ave-nue.

A public intoxication incidentwas reported at 3:20 a.m. Dec. 4in the 1600 block of Guerrero Ave-nue.

TERRORISTICTHREAT

A terroristic threat incidentwas reported at 6:59 p.m. Thurs-day in the 5300 block of PeñaLane.

THEFTA theft was reported at 4:01

p.m. Dec. 2 in the Medina Addition.A theft was reported at 7:58

a.m. Dec. 4 in the 5200 block ofPascual Lane.

THE BLOTTER

The leader of a drug traf-ficking and money launder-ing organization operatingout of the Zapata from ap-proximately June 2006through June 2011 haspleaded guilty, UnitedStates Attorney KennethMagidson announced today.

Pedro Navarro Jr., 36, ofZapata, pleaded guiltyThursday before U.S. Mag-istrate Judge GuillermoGarcia to his roles in mov-ing marijuana and meth-amphetamine and launder-ing proceeds from drugsales.

At his plea hearing, Na-varro admitted that be-tween February 2008 andJune 2011 he was respon-sible for transporting nu-merous loads of controlledsubstances from the Zapataarea to other parts of Texasand beyond.

Some of these drug loadswere seized by law enforce-ment, including numerousloads of marijuana totalingthousands of kilogramsand approximately fivekilograms of methampheta-mine which was seized inBeasley on or about April5.

On Thursday, Navarroalso admitted he was amember and leader of thedrug trafficking conspiracyresponsible for these mari-juana and methampheta-mine loads, according tothe U.S. Attorney’s office.

In addition to being re-sponsible for transportingdrugs, he also admitted heused a residence on FalconLake to store the marijua-na after it had been smug-gled from Mexico into theUnited States.

This marijuana wouldnormally be ferried acrossthe lake from Mexico atnight in small boats, whichwould pull up to his resi-

dence on the lake where in-dividuals would then un-load the marijuana. Later,Navarro would ensure themarijuana was loaded intopassenger vehicles at theresidence which would bedriven to wherever thedrugs were headed.

Navarro also admittedthat he conspired with oth-ers to launder money,which represented the pro-ceeds of his drug traffick-ing. He agreed to transportlarge amounts of UnitedStates currency from theZapata area to Mexico, andthat he did so with the in-tention of promoting thecontinued operation of hisdrug trafficking business.

Navarro specificallyagreed to help transportthis money to Mexico,where it would be given toother members of the drugtrafficking and moneylaundering conspiracies.

One of the specific loadsof money for which Navar-ro was responsible includ-ed approximately $23,425seized at or near Hebbron-ville on March 9, 2010. Na-varro also used some of theproceeds he made fromdrug trafficking to build aresidence in Zapata.

During the course of thedrug trafficking conspiracy,the members of the con-spiracy were responsiblefor generating proceedsfrom that activity in theamount of at least $18 mil-lion.

In addition to the guiltyplea, 15 additional co-con-spirators have also pleadedguilty to various drug traf-ficking and money launder-ing charges in the caseover the last several weeks.

These individuals in-clude: Alex Navarro, 21;Servando Guerrero Jr. aka“Mariachi, 36; Sandalio Ra-mos aka “Lalo,” 41; ReneDavila, 29; Leonel Rodri-

guez aka “La Dona”, 41;Juan Luis Rivera, 29; JorgeGrajeda Jr., 28; Juan Anto-nio Valadez Sr., 53; JoseLuis Gonzalez-Chapa, 23;Judith Zamora, 26; ClauidaMedrano, 27; Leonides Na-varro, 21; and Maria Micae-la Berrones, 23, all of Zapa-ta; Andres Quintero-Ortizaka “Chango”, 46, of Lope-no; and Hermes RamsdenLeal, 19, of Roma.

Sentencing for these 15and Navarro has not yetbeen scheduled before Unit-ed States District JudgeDiana Saldaña. At sentenc-ing, each faces a minimumof five years and up to lifein prison, without parole,depending on their respec-tive roles in the offensesand their criminal histo-ries. In addition, as a resultof their convictions, eachdefendant is facing a fineranging from $4-$20 mil-lion.

In addition to the convic-tions, the investigation hasresulted in the seizure ofmore than 10,000 kilogramsof marijuana, approximate-ly five kilograms of meth-amphetamine and morethan 30 grams of crack co-caine, as well as significantamounts of United Statescurrency.

This case is the result ofa three-year-plus investiga-tion led by agents from theDrug Enforcement Admin-istration and the InternalRevenue Service CriminalInvestigations, with assist-ance from Immigration andCustoms EnforcementHomeland Security Investi-gations, FBI, Border Patrol,Customs and Border Pro-tection, United States Mar-shals Service, Texas De-partment of Public Safety,and sheriff ’s offices in Za-pata, Webb, Fort Bend andJim Hogg counties, as wellas police departments inLa Joya and El Campo.

Zapata man pleadsguilty in fed court

THE ZAPATA TIMES

VILLARREAL ELEMENTARY STARS FOR NOVEMBER

Courtesy photo

Bottom row from left, Javier Sarmiento, Kayla Alvarado, Oscar Zuniga, Dafney Valadez, Arturo Martinez,Raul Martinez, Ashley Loyde; second row from left, Sarai Angeles, Kaylee Moreno, Gavin Martinez, Ste-ven Gonzalez, Dago Soliz, Yahir Munoz, Carlos Flores, Reymundo Salinas; third row from left, ClarissaSalazar, Ricardo Pena, Litzy Valadez, Alejandro Sanchez, Meztli Marquez, Emanuel Arambula, Sam Men-doza; top row from left, Juan Zapata, Alexander Aguilar, Ismael Arambula, Brian Martinez, Annette Gu-tierrez, Jamely Pichardo, Jessica Barrera.

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES Entertainment SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

It’s not a complicatedthing, the hip toss. But ithurts. In one of the lasttraining sessions before itsdebut show at Resurgencetonight, the talent of 5 StarWrestling, Laredo’s newestindie wrestling promotion,worked a brief match in anoutdoor ring.

After whipping Spartaninto the ropes, Nikonscooped him up for the hiptoss. Spartan’s back thuddedon the canvas, and it wasn’tcertain which of the two gotthe worst of the exchange,but the kids watching onthe other side of the chain-link fence enjoyed it just thesame.

Later when the maskedNikon knocked Spartandown on his back, he hook-ed him in a variation of theRegal stretch, one thatpulled Spartan’s legs andarms in manners unnaturalwhile allowing Nikon topose for the crowd.

“The stretches are real.They do hurt,” said Nikon,known to the outside worldas Benjamin Nuñez. After10 years wrestling profes-sionally throughout SouthTexas and in Mexico, Nuñeztrained talent of the popularLaredo Wrestling Alliance.Citing creative differences,Nuñez broke away from theLWA and started 5 Starwith some of his students.

“I got a lot of training inthe lucha libre wrestlingand the American style,”Nuñez said. “Those are real-ly hard to come by here.”

He explained the purposeof teaching young men andwomen in Laredo was toadd a little of the theatricsof American wrestling tothe Gateway City, which haslong supported the acrobat-ics of the Mexican luchalibre.

“Lucha libre has alwaysbeen huge here, but youdidn’t see American wrest-ing until WWE comes to thearena.”

To add that dimension ofshowmanship, Nuñez en-courages his 11 wrestlers toloosen up and have fun dur-ing their training. He wantsthem confident and excitedbecause “the way you trainis how you’re going to per-form,” he said.

There is one caveat: “I tell my guys that when

you’re in the ring perform-ing for an audience, do notuse foul language,” he said,adding that tomorrownight’s show will have plen-ty of promos. Promos arethose moments in a wres-tling show when the charac-ters take the ring announ-cer’s microphone and ad-dress one another,advancing storylines andongoing rivalries in the pro-cess. He wants promos ener-getic and intelligent.

Performing Saturdaynight are several membersof the 5 Star Wrestling ros-ter, including another LWAdefector, Luis Ramirez,known to fans as Spartan.Wrestling in black tightsand bare chest and with hisshort hair, he resemblesLance Storm. He kicks likehim, too.

After belting Nikon’smidsection with stiff shins,Spartan delivered a menac-ing side kick to the chinthat sent his masked foe tothe mat for count of three.He said his students at Unit-ed High School didn’t knowtheir English teacher kickedpeople silly in his sparetime until Nikon visitedduring career day.

“They think it’s prettycool,” he said.

For Ramirez, joining thelocal indy wrestling scenefulfills his lifelong dream ofbecoming a professionalwrestler. Idolizing WWE leg-end Shawn Michaels as ayoungster, Ramirez said hewas “hooked” after just onematch.

“To have the opportunityto do this unique kind ofthing, it’s great. It’s thatrush of performing in front

of people,” he said. In one of Resurgence’s

featured bouts, Ramirez, asSpartan, is in a three-waymatch against Ponchis andVampiro Rojo, alter ego ofmedical assistant BobFlores.

“They’re really challeng-ing, but they can also movestorylines,” he said, addingthat two wrestlers can dou-ble-team the third only tobreak their alliance andfend for themselves later.

“You get to see the differ-ent characters.”

Also on the card, two SanAntonio grapplers go at itas Tito Sanchez takes onGabe the Babe, and Nikonbattles Mars.

At least 11 other wres-tlers are expected to com-pete, said Nuñez, who isstill finalizing the card. He’sthe promoter and the book-er, but on a 30-degree night,there’s training to be done.Shivering but undaunted,his talent got in the ring.

Last in was Flores, whoneeded to put on his maskand become Vampiro Rojo.It’s an open question whichis the person and which thepersona. This goes for all ofthe wrestlers. They’ve gotjobs and families, responsib-ilities and last names. Butwhen they put on their gearand fly between the ropes,they can be who they wantto be.

Resurgence gets under-way at the National GuardAmory at 6001 Bob BullockLoop, and bell time is 7 p.m.Admission is free, and allmoney raised from conces-sion sales benefits the Fam-ily Readiness Group.

(Mike Herrera IV can bereached at 728-2567 or mher-rera@lmtonline.com)

Wrestlers promise thrillsBy MIKE HERRERA IV

THE ZAPATA TIMES

5 Star Wrestling’s Nikon (Benjamin Nuñez and Spartan (Luis Rami-rez) practice their moves for tonight’s “Resurgence.”

Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— His mythical exploitsand jail escapes made thisson of Irish immigrantsone of the nation’s most fa-mous Old West outlaws.Yet fewer know that theman widely known as Bil-ly the Kid was a centralfigure in a violent, Irish-English land war in NewMexico, and was belovedby Mexican-Americanranchers who felt discrim-inated against by racistwhite bankers and landthieves.

And the Kid’s end cameonly after he refused toabandon his Mexican-American teen girlfriend.

Despite hundreds of sto-ries and books, movies,songs and even poems cov-ering the notorious Billythe Kid, the PBS seriesAmerican Experience isjoining in exploring hislife and myth with a newdocumentary set to air inJanuary. Filmmaker John

Maggio said this documen-tary will focus less on Bil-ly the Kid the legend andmore on Billy the Kid thehuman being.

“His whole life he wassearching for a home,”said Maggio. “There wasmore to him than the factthat he killed and was anoutlaw.”

Born Henry McCarty,likely in New York City, hecame to New Mexico withhis mother while search-ing for a better economicfuture. It was in SilverCity, N.M., that a youngBilly the Kid learnedSpanish and Mexicandances as he mingled eas-ily among the territory’slarge Mexican-Americanpopulation when othersfrom the East Coast didn’teven bother, according toPaul Hutton, a Universityof New Mexico AmericanWest historian, who ap-pears in the new film.

When his mother diedof tuberculosis when hewas 15, Billy the Kid wasleft an orphan and raised

largely by Mexican-Ameri-can ranchers.

This helped the Kid lat-er when he was on the runfrom the law and was giv-en shelter by poor Mexi-can-American ranchers hebefriended.

To emphasize this, Mag-gio included in the filmLatina novelist DeniseChavez and Native Ameri-can writer N. Scott Moma-day, who discuss their be-liefs that Billy the Kid wasviewed as a hero by thosefacing discrimination inthe old territory.

The PBS documentaryalso focuses on the duelinginterests of cattle ranchersfrom Ireland and Britainwho brought old hostilitiesfrom Europe to the plainsof New Mexico. The Kidwas swept up in what wasknown as the “LincolnCounty War” after hisBritish mentor wasgunned down by a corruptSheriff William Brady. Bil-ly the Kid organized theassassination of Brady inrevenge.

‘Billy’ has Hispanic linkBy RUSSELL CONTRERAS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Zapata County Independent School DistrictBoard of Trustees

Public HearingTuesday, December 13, 2011

6:00 p.m.Professional Development Center

702 E. 17th AvenueZapata, TX 78076

In accordance with Texas Education Code Chapter 39 theZapata County Independent School District will hold a publichearing for public discussion of the Academic ExcellenceIndicator System (AEIS) report on the above date, time, andlocation to inform the public about the educational perform-ance of the District and of each campus in relation to theDistrict, the State, and a comparable group of schools.

(The attached notice was published according to state law requirements.)

NUEVA CIUDAD GUERRERO12/11 — El Presidente

Municipal de esta ciudad,Luis Gerardo Ramos Gómez,rendirá su Primer Informe deGobierno a las 2:45 p.m. enel Centro Cívico Municipal.

NUEVO LAREDO12/10 — Estación Pala-

bra “Gabriel García Márquez”invita a: Bazar de Arte a las12 p.m.; Festival Infantil de-dicado a Cri-Cri a las 2p.m.; charla sobre “La muer-te de Maclovio Herrera” alas 2:20 p.m.; “Sesión deescucha” a las 2:40 p.m.

12/10 — Integración deColectivos Culturales Comu-nitarios con el evento “Laparticipación de los jóvenesen el desarrollo cultural co-munitario” de 5 p.m. a 7p.m. en Estación Palabra. In-cluye charla gratuita imparti-da por el Mtro. Jose AntonioMac Gregor.

12/13 — El PresidenteMunicipal de esta ciudad,Benjamín Galván Gómez,rendirá su Primer Informe deGobierno a las 10 a.m. en elCentro Cultural Nuevo Lare-do.

12/16 — ITCA y Laberin-tus Teatro invitan a la pre-sentación de la trilogía dra-mática “A la Margen delRío” de Luis Eduardo Torresa las 7 p.m. en el Teatro Lu-cio Blanco de la Casa de laCultura, Lincoln y Chimalpo-poca.

LAREDO12/10 — Consulado de

México en Laredo invita a laJornada Sabatina de 9 a.m.a 1 p.m. Servicios: expedi-ción de documentación con-sular, orientación en ámbitode protección, trámite delpasaporte o matrícula con-sular. Hacer llamando a ME-XITEL 1-877-639-4835 (des-de Estados Unidos) ó 01-800-900-0773 (desde Méxi-co).

12/10 — El 7mo HolidayBowl Anual inicia a las 11a.m. en el Campo de FútbolAmericano Shirley Field deLISD. Entrada: un juguetenuevo sin envolver, o 5 dóla-res, lo cual será donado aBlue Santa, para entregar ju-guetes a niños necesitados.

12/10 — Concierto gra-tuito de Samuel Hernándeza las 7 p.m. en “Hope Chris-tian Church Laredo”, 1407Calle del Norte.

12/10 — Hockey: LaredoBucks recibe a Rio GrandeValley Killer Bees a las 7:30p.m. en Laredo Energy Are-na.

12/10 — Hoy es el baile“De los Años Dorados” en elSalón de Recepciones “LaHacienda”, 11092 Mined Ro-ad, con música de la décadade los 50, 60, 70 y 80..Costo: 20 dólares en preven-ta y 25 dólares en la puerta.Informes al 775-8761.

12/10 — Concierto ro-mántico con “Amanda Mi-guel y Diego Verdaguer” enLaredo Civic Center. Costos:51 y 41 dólares, en San Ra-món Music Shop, 512 Gua-dalupe. Informes al (956)222-2687.

12/11 — Para celebrar laFiesta de la Virgen de Gua-dalupe, la Iglesia Our Ladyof Guadalupe invita a unamini-jamaica, de 10 a.m. a 7p.m. en el 1700 de avenidaSan Francisco. Habrá comi-da, juegos y un zoológico.

12/14 — Hockey: LaredoBucks recibe a Rapid CityRush a las 7 p.m. en LaredoEnergy Arena.

12/16 — El Laredo Ba-llet Theatre, patrocinado porDance Expressions, presenta“El Cascanueces” a las 7:30p.m. en el Auditorio del La-redo Civic Center, 2400 ave-nida San Bernardo. Reservesu lugar al 724-5330.

12/16 — Hockey: LaredoBucks recibe a Rapid CityRush a las 7:30 p.m. en La-redo Energy Arena.

— — Tiempo de Zapata

Agendaen Breve

CD. DE MEXICO — LaConferencia Nacional deGobernadores planteó lasituación de extrema ur-gencia que vive el campomexicano y solicitaron alGobierno Federal 12 milmillones de pesos paracrear un fondo especialporque ya la sequía haprovocado la muerte de400 mil animales por faltade insumos alimenticios yagua.

Durante el encuentro alque asistió el Gobernadorde Tamaulipas Egidio To-rre Cantú, los mandata-rios estatales coincidieronen que la problemáticaque afecta a este sector enel país se acentúa no sola-mente por la inseguridad,sino por la sequía queafecta a 20 estados.

En este contexto el go-bernador de Sinaloa, Ma-rio López Valdez ofreciótrasladar parte del hatoganadero del norte a suentidad, donde hay ali-mento y agua buscandomitigar los efectos la se-quía que afecta ya a dos ymedio millones de perso-nas que enfrentan condi-ciones críticas de alimen-tación.

En la conferencia quepresidió el jefe de gobier-no, Marcelo Ebrard en lasinstalaciones del C4, de laDelegación VenustianoCarranza, donde asistió el

Secretario de Goberna-ción Alejandro Poiré seabordaron los temas de di-seño de políticas públicas,empleo, educación, seguri-dad, además de la preven-ción de adicciones.

En la sesión de trabajose dio el cambio de estafe-ta, dado que el jefe de go-bierno capitalino cumpliósu gestión y partir de estafecha la CONAGO estaráencabezada por el gober-nador de Querétaro, JoséCalzada Rovirosa.

Al asumir sus funcio-nes, Calzada Rovirosa dijoque se trabajará en favorde los proyectos producti-vos, la relación con las zo-nas fronterizas del país,pero sobre todo se busca-rá sumar esfuerzos pararesolver el grande proble-ma del cambio climático.

Rodrigo Medina Morade Nuevo León dijo que elprograma “México sí estu-dia, sí trabaja”, ha sido re-conocido por la federacióny eso permite la búsquedade mejores empleos y lagestión de la CONAGOpermitió que este año secontrataran más 15 milpersonas y se otorgaranmás de 80 mil becas.

Se probó en forma uná-nime el fondo de viviendapara policías y se destacóque las reuniones son fac-tor de cohesión y de sumade esfuerzos de un país entransición como es Méxi-co.

CAMPO

Mueren 400mil animales

por sequíaESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD MIER, México— Los estudiantes volvie-ron a recrearse en la plazadel pueblo donde el año pa-sado miembros de gruposnarcotraficantes incendióuna estación policial y des-cuartizaron a un hombre.

Al anochecer, la gentedel pueblo juega voleibolen la plaza situada frente aledificio policial, cuya fa-chada de piedra había sidoquemada pero que ahoraestá restaurada. Las plan-tas se ven acicaladas y lascalles que otrora retumba-ban por las balaceras ahoraestán tranquilas y limpias.

Ciudad Mier ha comen-zado a verse como el “pue-blo mágico” del que hablanlos folletos turísticos.

Pero la mayoría de losnegocios han cerrado y nose ven muchos vehículospor las calles, que a menu-do son patrulladas por ca-miones del Ejército. El al-calde calcula que un terciode la población de Mier de8.000 habitantes no ha re-gresado. La mayoría sigueaterrorizada por los nuevemeses que les tocó vivir,con tiroteos en las calles,matanzas y desapariciones,que les hicieron abandonarel pueblo hace un año.

“Cuando vives una expe-riencia en carne propia, lagente se queda con esaimagen”, expresó el alcaldeAlberto González Peña. “Aveces es difícil borrarla”.

La confianza en Mier, ola falta de ésta, se ha con-vertido en un verdaderoexamen para la política deseguridad del presidenteFelipe Calderón en su es-fuerzo por pacificar el te-rritorio que ha sido invadi-do por grupos de narcotra-ficantes en un conflicto queha dejado unos 40.000muertos a nivel nacional.

Un batallón de 653 solda-dos llegó en octubre y reco-rrió las calles precedidopor una banda militarcuando el ejército de Méxi-co despachó su primer“cuartel móvil”, una inicia-tiva que apela a los milita-res para restablecer el con-trol de áreas violentas.

Muchos residentes salu-daron a los soldados y por-taban carteles expresandosu agradecimiento. La Se-cretaría de Defensa dijo enaquel entonces que las nue-vas fuerzas “sin lugar a du-das generarían confianza ycalma” y restablecerían lanormalidad.

Se proyectan establecerunidades similares en otrospuntos del norte.

PositivoCuando González Piña

trata de alentar a los habi-tantes de su pueblo a queregresen de ciudades de Te-xas situadas en la margenopuesta al Río Bravo y deotras ciudades mexicanas,les dice que Mier era unpaciente en terapia intensi-va cuando ellos partieron,pero ahora ya está cami-nando por sí solo. Poco apoco --la frase que se usacon mucha frecuencia enMier--, el pueblo se está re-cuperando, agregó.

Por ahora los que se que-daron se reúnen en el par-que o en la plaza en las no-ches y se sienten segurosen grupo, bajo la miradaprotectora de los soldados.Pero no se aventuran a ca-minar por las calles aleda-ñas. Las áreas periféricasdel pueblo siguen desiertas.La gente se siente muy ex-puesta. Prefieren no identi-ficarse cuando se les pre-gunta algo y una personaalertó a un visitante quelos narcos estaban vigilan-do.

Mier es una localidadagrícola fundada por 19 fa-milias en 1753, conocidapor un episodio de diciem-bre de 1842 en que fue to-

mada por unos 250 hom-bres de una milicia de Te-xas. El ejército los capturóy ejecutó a 17, tras hacersacar a los reos frijoles ne-gros de una cacerola, enuna lotería que determina-ba quien moriría.

Antes y despuésA comienzos de este si-

glo Mier era una ciudadpintoresca con edificios dela era colonial bien preser-vados. Está rodeada de ha-ciendas en las que se cazapalomas y venados, lo queatrae visitantes de ambasmárgenes del río. Esas ha-ciendas están en una popu-lar ruta para el transportede drogas de contrabando aEstados Unidos.

En febrero del 2010 ungrupo de hombres atacóuna unidad policial y se lle-vó a varios agentes. La vio-lencia alcanzó su punto cul-minante en noviembre delaño pasado, en que comba-tes constantes hicieron quecentenares de residentesbuscasen albergue en elprimer refugio para despla-zados por la violencia delnarcotráfico que hay en elpaís, en la vecina ciudad deMiguel Alemán.

Dos semanas después, elgobierno de Calderónanunció el envío de mássoldados a los estados deTamaulipas.

Algunas de esas fuerzasse encuentran ahora en lasunidades desplazables. Es-tán situadas en terrenosbaldíos cerca del cemente-rio al sur del pueblo y ro-deadas por altas vallas yun amplio perímetro despe-jado. Unos cuantos edificiosbajos rodean un mástildonde flamea una banderamexicana de gran tamaño.

En el extremo norte deMier, el último vecindarioen las afueras del puebloestá cubierto por vidriosrotos de ventanas y pilas deescombros. Aquí se produjoun violento enfrentamientoarmado entre los residen-tes de 65 pequeñas vivien-das precarias en un com-plejo de bajo costo.

Bloques de cemento colo-cados detrás de las venta-nas de las casas reflejan losesfuerzos vanos que hicie-ron algunos residentes pa-ra defenderse. Aunque elcomplejo fue construido enel 2003, actualmente ningu-na de las viviendas estáocupada.

Algunos habitantes hu-yeron a casas de parienteso alquilaron viviendas enel centro de la ciudad,mientras que otros abando-naron Mier por completo.

Las viviendas han sido tansaqueadas y dañadas, quelas familias van a necesitarmucho para volver a poner-las habitables.

“Necesitamos que la gen-te que tiene dinero, a lagente que construye cosasen Mier, la gente que gene-ra empleos, regrese a nues-tra ciudad”, comentó el al-calde González Peña.

Actualmente hay rumo-res en Mier de que es inmi-nente la reapertura del res-taurante del Hotel Asya, enla recién pavimentada Ave-nida Obregón.

A una cuadra, la activi-dad de una pequeña com-pañía de agua embotelladaque abastece a viviendas ynegocios de la zona repun-tó un 20% en el último año,según su propietario JesúsGómez.

De todos modos, es la mi-tad de lo que era en el 2009,antes de que estallara laviolencia.

“Antes no salíamos decasa”, dijo Gómez. “Quie-res tomar, convivir y tieneque ser en tu casa nomás”.

Ahora puede salir conamigos hasta la mediano-che sin preocuparse.

Pasando un cuartel poli-cial en el que los riflesapuntan hacia una inter-sección detrás de la muni-cipalidad, la avenida Obre-gón desemboca en la plazaprincipal, donde niños es-colares se reúnen en tornoa bancos durante la horadel almuerzo y un vende-dor ambulante ofrece tacos.

Al atardecer, se instalanredes y la gente juega al vo-leibol en la plaza, frente ala municipalidad. Los jue-ves por la noche se mues-tran películas allí.

DiversiónDebajo de un toldo frente

a la plaza, un puesto ofrecearreglos florales en blancoy amarillo que llenan el es-pacio con crisantemos, gi-rasoles y margaritas. Laprimera florería de Mierreabrió justo antes del Díade los Muertos.

Arturo Hernández re-cientemente se mudó deotra ciudad fronteriza, Pie-dras Negras, y abrió el lo-cal. No estuvo aquí duranteel brote de violencia el añopasado, pero lo siente.

Mientras limpia las espi-nas de un rosal, Hernándezdice que pronto se diocuenta de que casi no ha-bía negocios en Mier.

“Desde que estoy aquíhubo ventas, pero solocuando hay un difunto, unfuneral. Pero para regalar,no”, comentó.

PONEN A PRUEBA POLÍTICA DE SEGURIDAD EN MÉXICO

RESCATE PARCIAL

En esta foto del 18 de noviembre, una niña saluda a soldados en elcentro de Ciudad Mier, México. Un pueblo que en el 2010 fuera casifantasma, hoy ofrece calles pavimentadas, oficinas restauradas, pe-ro autoridades aseguran faltan muchos por regresar.

Foto por Christopher Sherman | Associated Press

Alcalde:Mier se estárecuperando

POR CHRISTOPHER SHERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

Ahora puede salir con amigoshasta la medianoche sinpreocuparse.

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 10 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2011

Cientos de familias ta-maulipecas visitaron laPresa Falcón en NuevaCiudad Guerrero, México,durante el torneo de pes-ca “Copa Gobernador2011” el fin de semana pa-sado.

El Gobernador de Ta-maulipas Egidio TorreCantú convivió con pesca-dores deportivos.

“Les agradezco el es-fuerzo que desde sus ac-tividades desarrollan coti-dianamente; en Tamauli-pas trabajamos en equipotodos los días, haciendocada quien lo que nos cor-responde y haciéndolo ca-da vez mejor”, dijo Torre.

El torneo de pesca delobina se desarrolló pre-vio a la temporada vaca-cional decembrina y con-tó con la participación defamilias de municipios co-mo Mier, Miguel Alemán,Camargo, Díaz Ordaz y lamisma Nueva Cd. Guerre-ro, que integran la llama-da Frontera Ribereña.

Igualmente de los esta-dos de Nuevo León, SanLuis Potosí y Texas, a bor-do de 50 embarcaciones.

Nueva Ciudad Guerre-ro es considerada cuna dela pesca deportiva

“Es muy agradable pa-ra mí estar en este evento,con este clima agradable,pero sobre todo con gente

muy entusiasta de este fa-buloso deporte que, ade-más, viene a convivir consus amigos de Guerrero,con sus familias”, dijoTorre.

Carlos Olivares, uno delos pescadores ganadoresen el torneo, comentó quelo más importante delevento fue convivir y di-vertirse con la familia.

Ricardo Treviño, proce-dente de Reynosa, recono-ció la seguridad y organi-zación del torneo.

Adrián González, tam-bién de Reynosa, encomióla excelente organizacióndel torneo de pesca y refi-rió que lo positivo delmismo es que fomenta elturismo deportivo y re-composición del tejido so-cial.

“Además se genera unaimportante derrama eco-nómica ”, afirmó Gonzá-lez.

Luis Alonso Gómez,otro competidor, habló dela dinámica y tránsito decientos de personas,quienes retoman estoseventos regionales que ay-udan mucho a la econo-mía familiar.

Subrayó que su viajepor carretera desde Rey-nosa hasta este municipiofue seguro y sin contra-tiempos.

“Eso es bueno, para ve-nir a pescar y salir con lafamilia”, concluyó Gómez.

NUEVA CIUDAD GUERRERO

Alrededor de 50 embarcaciones participaron en el Torneo dePesca de Lobina "Copa Gobernador 2011" en el Lago Falcón deCiudad Guerrero, México, el 4 de diciembre.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Ciudad Guerrero

Celebran torneode pesca de lobina

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

AUSTIN — A coalition of about 120property-wealthy Texas school districtssued the state Friday, alleging that its sys-tem of paying for public education is in-adequate and unconstitutional.

Six school districts, ranging from Le-wisville and Richardson in North Texasto Aransas County on the coast, arenamed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Thelawsuit is being handled by the TexasSchool Coalition, which is made up ofschool districts that give property taxmoney back to the state under the so-called Robin Hood school funding plan.

Sixty school districts have joined thesuit, which proclaims “the Texas schoolfinance system has reached a crisis stageagain.”

The schools contend that because somany districts are taxing at the maxi-mum allowable rate, the school propertytax has effectively become a statewideproperty tax, which is unconstitutionalin Texas.

The state is “co-opting the school dis-tricts’ taxing authority, so it’s become ade facto state property tax,” said MarkTrachtenberg, one of the attorneys repre-senting the school districts. He said about20 percent of about 1,030 school districtsin Texas are taxing at the maximum rateof $1.17 per $100 of property value. Manydistricts in the coalition can’t tax above arate of $1.04, which requires voter approv-al. Trachtenberg said voters aren’t likelyto approve higher taxes when the revenuewould go back to the state rather than be-ing spent locally.

The schools also argue that the Legisla-ture hasn’t been putting enough moneyinto the system to meet the constitutionalmandate for an “adequate” education.

“They’re failing to provide the re-sources to provide an adequate educationunder the state’s own standards,” attor-

ney John Turner said.Lawmakers did not pay for about $4

billion in enrollment growth during themost recent legislative session, despite anestimated growth of about 80,000 studentsa year. The Legislature also cut about $1.4billion in grant programs such as full-dayprekindergarten, after-school tutoringand dropout prevention programs.

The lawsuit claims the massive cutshave resulted in the loss of thousands ofteachers and support staff and led manydistricts to seek waivers allowing for big-ger classes at a time when state testingrequirements are getting tougher.

Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman at theTexas Education Authority, said the agen-cy will discuss the lawsuit with AttorneyGeneral Greg Abbott, whose office repre-sents the state in litigation.

“Ultimately, school funding is an issuethat will be resolved by the courts andthe Legislature,” she said. The TEA andEducation Commissioner Robert Scottare named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Another coalition of schools filed asimilar lawsuit in October, contendingthe system is unfair and unconstitution-al.

That one accuses lawmakers of turninga blind eye on the state’s troubled schoolfinancing system for years and exacerbat-ing the flaws by slashing public schoolspending.

The school funding system in Texashas been a grievance since the battle ofthe Alamo, when one of the Texans’ com-plaints was Mexico’s failure to establish apublic education system. Since then, theLegislature has only undertaken majorreform efforts when ordered to do so bythe courts.

Most recently, lawmakers implementeda new tax structure, reducing reliance onproperty taxes and creating a new busi-ness tax. Lawmakers adopted the over-haul during a 2006 special legislative ses-sion.

Wealthy districtssue over funding

By APRIL CASTROASSOCIATED PRESS

ARLINGTON — Gran-deur counts when build-ing a Vietnamese church,especially when the cur-rent place of worship is aconverted Food Lion gro-cery store.

“A church’s size andquality is basically thebest of everything thepeople can offer to God,”said Khiet Nguyen, whosearchitectural firm de-signed the 2,000-seat Viet-namese Martyrs CatholicChurch in east Arlington.“A Food Lion church isnot good enough. We hopethis is good enough.”

One thing the churchleadership is sure of:When the granite struc-ture is dedicated and con-secrated Saturday morn-ing, it will be the largest-capacity Vietnamese Ro-man Catholic church inthe U.S.

And according to theRoman Catholic Dioceseof Fort Worth, it will bethe largest of the 90 Cath-olic churches in the dio-cese’s 28-county NorthTexas region.

The congregation,which in three years hasraised all but $1.5 millionof the church’s $6.5 mil-lion price — the rest is onloan from the diocese —spared little expense inproviding a taste of thehomeland for those whocame to the U.S. as refu-gees.

The architecture of the29,000-square-foot churchfeatures a 75-foot bell tow-er visible from Interstate20, and the floor, walls,statues and altars werecut and carved in Viet-nam from 750,000 poundsof granite and marble.The smooth, glossy pewswere crafted in Vietnamfrom American oak.

High and low on the in-terior walls are rows ofstained-glass portraits ofpatron saints along withscenes depicting captureor execution of the 117Catholic martyrs who

died in Vietnam in the19th century and werecanonized as saints byPope John Paul II. Marblestatues lining the churchexterior and parking lotre-create those images.

“Since we are awayfrom our country, wewanted to bring the mate-rials and pictures to tellthe story,” said the Rev.Polycarp Duc Thuan, pas-tor of the parish the pastfour years.

Most of the 6,000-mem-ber congregation emigrat-ed from Vietnam. Andmany, like Thuan, fled thebrutal communist regimeduring the fall of Saigonin April 1975, when wavesof desperate refugees hur-riedly piled into ricketyboats and set themselvesadrift.

Thuan found himselfcrowded into a 60-footboat with 100 refugeesand almost no supplies.

“It happened so quick-ly. We just had some wa-ter and some instant noo-dles,” Thuan said. “Whenwe left, we didn’t knowexactly where we were go-ing.”

They were rescued by aU.S. ship and taken to thePhilippines. Soon theywere ferried to America,where they struggledwith language and jobbarriers as they tried toadapt to a new culture.

Early on, the Vietname-se Catholic community inArlington consisted ofabout a dozen familiesthat attended St. MatthewCatholic Church in south-

east Arlington, Thuansaid.

The community grewto more than 500 familiesby 1997, prompting then-Bishop Joseph Delaney toestablish the VietnameseMartyrs Catholic parishin 2000.

About 3,500 membersattend the four weekendMasses in the convertedgrocery store sanctuary,which seats 980 peopleand shares a parking lotwith the new church onthe 12-acre property.

“This is impressive be-cause these folks came tothis country several dec-ades ago with nothing ontheir backs,” Pat Svacina,spokesman for the Catho-lic Diocese of Fort Worth,said as he marveled at thetowering sanctuary. “Nowthey’re honoring God forwhat he’s given them bybuilding this church inthanksgiving for him.”

Parish leaders saidthey weren’t concernedthat the church’s size andopulence would price itbeyond the community’smeans.

Those features provid-ed powerful motivationfor contributors. The av-erage family donated$3,000, many taking ad-vantage of a five-year pay-ment plan.

“There are many oldpeople who would rathersacrifice their meal andgive money to build thischurch,” Nguyen said.“To build a church ishard to explain. It’s big-ger than life.”

Vietnamese settlersopen giant church

By ROBERT CADWALLADERFORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM “A church’s size and quality is

basically the best of everythingthe people can offer to God.”ARCHITECT KHIET NGUYEN

ATHENS — A nationalatheist foundation plans toseek permission to hoist itsown banner to join secularand religious Christmasdisplays on an East Texascourthouse square.

The display surroundingthe Henderson CountyCourthouse in Athens in-cludes a traditional Nativi-ty scene, as well as multi-ple Santa Clauses, elves,wreathes, garlands, trum-peters, dwarfs, snowmen,reindeer and Christmastrees, the Athens Daily Re-view reported.

“We’ve got an array ofdecorations and feel thatwe are in compliance withfederal law,” County JudgeRichard Sanders told thenewspaper. “We’re notpushing any religiousdown anybody’s throat.These are holiday decora-tions we enjoy.”

However, county officialsreceived a letter Mondayfrom the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Reli-gion Foundation, which ar-gued the seasonal displayon courthouse groundsamounts to an unconstitu-tional endorsement of theChristian faith.

Foundation attorney Ste-phanie Schmitt says thatsince the county allows thenonprofit group Keep Ath-ens Beautiful to erect thedisplays on the town

square, they amount to a“public forum.” Schmitttold the newspaper thegroup would ask to put upits own display.

Schmitt said the founda-tion had received 20 to 25complaints this holidayseason of religious displaysit regards as illegal.

In Elmwood City, Pa., thefoundation has proposedhoisting a banner thatreads: “At this season of theWinter Solstice, LET REA-SON PREVAIL. There areno gods, no devils, no an-gels, no heaven or hell.There is only our natural

world. Religion is but mythand superstition that hard-ens hearts and enslavesminds.”

Meanwhile, HendersonCounty Sheriff Ray Nuttsaid his office received areport Thursday that some-one had defaced some ofthe figures in the display,but the markings were lat-er removed.

Atheists eye own displayASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES State SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

LEAPING OVER THE COMPETITION

Photo by Torin Halsey/Wichita Falls Times Record News | AP

Spirit, a Golden Retriever, leaps over a jump while running in the Excellent Class of the Jumps withWeaves course on Friday in Wichita Falls. The three-day event runs through Sunday. More than 220dogs are competing.

RACING FOR A MERRY CHRISTMAS

Photo by Torin Halsey/Wichita Falls Times Record News | AP

Michael Graddy of the Wichita Falls Fire Department and Anthony Sanchez with the city’s Parks Depart-ment race on Friday, in Wichita Falls. Teams designed and built their custom tricycles and the eventraises funds, food and gifts for the city’s Christmas Family Program.

along with local and stateassets, provides a “bal-anced and effective counterto the narcotics and violentthreat in the area.”

Another problem identi-fied in the report is mi-grants. Illegal immigrationis labeled an ongoing chal-lenge throughout the bor-der for U.S. law enforce-ment.

“In the Rio Grande bor-der area, the level of mi-grant activity has been rel-atively low as compared toother segments of the landand maritime border. Mi-grant threat is consideredto be a low threat in thisspecific region,” CoastGuard officials state in theletter. The document goeson to say that the presenceof Department of Home-land Security and state andlocal assets are able to pro-vide a “balanced and effec-tive level of security”against illegal crossings in-to the States.

Jose F. “Paco” MendozaJr., president/CEO of theZapata County Chamber ofCommerce, said it wasgood to have this studydone on the border. He add-ed that it was necessary tohave good information touse to tell people the RioGrande is not as dangerousas it is portrayed as being.

“I definitely commend

Congressman Cuellar forhaving this analysis done,”Mendoza said. “It’s a greattool to use to let peopleknow that Falcon Lake issafe.”

The Hartley caseCuellar said Falcon Lake

was hurt by the Hartleycase, yet the analysis showsa low to moderate threat, aresult obtained by CoastGuard officials, assisted byarea law enforcement.

More than a year ago,David and Tiffany Hartleyventured into Mexican wa-ters on jet skis to go sight-seeing at Guerrero Viejo.Suspected cartel membersallegedly shot and killedDavid and chased his wifeTiffany to the lake’s ZapataCounty banks. David Har-tley’s body was never reco-vered. Mendoza empha-sized that the U.S. side ofFalcon Lake was and con-tinues to be safe.

“Zapata is safe and is asafe place to raise a fam-ily,” Mendoza said.

Peggy Umphres Moffett,Zapata Economic Develop-ment Corporation presi-dent, said she does not per-ceive a major threat ofspillover violence along theborder. She echoed Mendo-za’s comments and believes

the negative media cover-age during the Hartley in-cident decimated the tour-ism industry. Inaccurate re-ports of the location of hisalleged killing affected thearea. That impact is yet tobe determined with a mar-ket assessment and feasibil-ity study for developmentprojects in Zapata County.

“During that process,we’ll be able to identify oth-er impacts,” Moffett said.

Moffett runs into nega-tive commentary whilemonitoring information on-line. She feels somethinghas to be done to counterthose remarks, noting thatthe lake is an internationalbody of water, with part inthe U.S. and the rest inMexico.

“If you do venture ontothe Mexican side, the U.S.law enforcement officialscan’t assist you,” she said.

Lesson learnedDuring the Hartley inci-

dent, Moffett said she wasconcerned “that as a com-munity, we didn’t respond.”Now, she says it’s a lessonlearned. Moffett added thatthe Hartley case did notpose a threat to the county.For now, assessments areunder way in Zapata Coun-ty for future development.

“We need to do a betterjob of marketing and get-ting a positive and a cor-rect message out to ourmarket,” Moffett said, not-ing an effective collabora-tion among local, state andfederal officials is neededto get rid of the stigma. Shesaid people need to knowthat it’s safe to visit Zapataand to fish on the lake.

Border securityCuellar, a strong advocate

of border security, support-ed the 2010 Emergency Bor-der Security SupplementalAppropriation, which gave$600 million to add moretechnology, manpower andinfrastructure to bordercommunities, including1,000 Border Patrol agents,250 Customs and BorderProtection officers at portsof entry and 250 Immigra-tion and Customs Enforce-ment special agents to in-vestigate transnationalcrimes.

“It’s not that we don’twant more border securi-ty,” Cuellar said. “In Zapa-ta, like any other areas,there are challenges. It’scertainly not the wild, wildwest.”

(César G. Rodriguez maybe reached at 728-2568 or ce-sar@lmtonline.com)

BORDER Continued from Page 1A

fective as of October andapplicable beginning taxyear 2012, means the ex-emption now only appliesto goods that are stored ina public warehouse ownedby someone other than theowner of the goods. Any-thing else is fair game forthe taxing entities.

“If it’s housed in ZapataCounty for more than 175days, it can be taxed,” saidMartinez.

The amendment alsonarrows the definition ofgoods-in-transit to excludemanufacturing, processingor fabricating. In effect,taxable goods-in-transitnow primarily includewarehoused inventory.

Martinez’s visit to com-missioners court on Mon-day is one of several stopshe’s made on behalf of thefirm of Linebarger, Gog-gan, Blair and Sampson.He’s also spoken with tax-ing entities such as RioGrande City, Roma Inde-pendent School Districtand Starr and Hidalgocounties. He said his goalis simply to educate offi-cials so they can decidewhether or not they wantto implement the tax viaordinance before the Dec.31 deadline.

“It has to be done by theend of the month,” he said.“I’m not going to be thereto say whether they shouldor should not do this. I’llbe there to explain, andthen stand back and an-swer questions the courtor the public might have.”

Martinez provided TheZapata Times with a draftof the proposed order exer-cising the local option totax “goods-in-transit per-sonal property” as allowedunder the amendments.County Judge JosephRathmell said he didn’twant to gauge how thecourt might move, and thatcommissioners were wait-ing to hear all the facts.

Conceivable objections,said Martinez, could be afear of losing commerce.

However, other taxing enti-ties he’s addressed, thoughthey may not have all actedyet, have responded favor-ably to taxing goods-in-transit.

“These things fluctuatefrom year to year, sothere’s no guarantee of rev-enue. But there is revenueto be lost,” he said.

The hearing is scheduled30 minutes before themonthly commissionerscourt meeting, duringwhich the court will con-sider subsidizing the Zapa-ta County Chamber ofCommerce’s 2012 BassChamps South Texas Re-gion Fishing Tournament.Chamber of CommercePresident and CEO Jose F.“Paco” Mendoza, who re-quested that agenda item,said he didn’t know yethow much he’d be askingfor but would have the fig-ure ready Monday.

“This tournament bringsin a lot of revenue to Zapa-ta,” Mendoza said. “We’reputting our part, and we’rejust asking the county tohelp out.”

Mendoza said the annualtournament is a boon toZapata’s hospitality indus-try because anglers typical-ly come in well in advanceof the tournament to pre-fish Falcon Lake and tolook for the prime bass ar-eas.

Other items scheduledfor discussion at the meet-ing include discussion ofpossible authorization of“judicial court proceed-ings” against M1 Solutions,Inc., the technology compa-ny that the Zapata CountySheriff ’s Office claims nev-er completed work alreadypaid for on the sheriff ’s ad-ministrative offices.

The public hearing be-gins at 8:30 a.m. and thecommissioners court meet-ing begins at 9 a.m. Bothwill be held in the ZapataCounty Courthouse.

(Mike Herrera IV can bereached at 728-2567 ormherrera@lmtonline.com)

COUNTY Continued from Page 1A

Marina R. Ramirez, 94,passed away Sunday, Dec.4, 2011, in Premont, Texas.

Ms. Ramirez is preced-ed in death by her par-ents: Lazaro Ramirez andGabriela Ramos Ramirez;husband, Herminio Rami-rez; brothers: Gustavo(Victoria) Ramirez andLeon Ramirez; sisters:Eva R. (Adan) Vela andNievitas (Diego) Gonzalez;and by a niece, Gabriela(Juan Elmo) Meza.

Ms. Ramirez is sur-vived by her sister-in-law,Inez R. Ramirez; niecesand nephews: Irene (†Hec-tor) Flores, †Omar (Este-la) Ramirez, Vilma(Jorge) Torres, Rebecca(†Rene) Guerra, Celina(Ovidio) Zepeda, MariaInez (Jose) Camarena, Ro-meo (Paz) Vela, Elma(Abelardo) Flores, Josefa(Concepcion) Bustamante,Pilar (Roberto) Guerraand †Sigifredo (Elma)

Gonzalez; and manyfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011,from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. witha rosary at 7 p.m. at RoseGarden Funeral Home.Visitation also was heldWednesday, Dec. 7, 2011,from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.The funeral processiondeparted at 9:30 a.m. for a10 a.m. funeral Mass atSanta Ana Mission in Fal-con, Texas. Committalservices followed at Fal-con Cemetery.

Funeral arrangementswere under the directionof Rose Garden FuneralHome, Daniel A. Gonza-lez, funeral director, 2102U.S. 83 Zapata.

MARINA R. RAMIREZ

children.According to police, she

took two state workers hos-tages. Later, a supervisortook their place. He toowas released unharmedshortly before 8 p.m. Butpolice have stated the manhesitated leaving the Grim-mers behind.

“Even after she pulledout a gun, an office super-visor promised to help her.Police tell me that supervi-sor was hesitant to leaveMs. Grimmer and her chil-dren even after hostage ne-gotiators secured his re-lease. Why? Because hewanted to help,” states Tex-as Health and Human Ser-vices Executive Commis-sioner Thomas M. Suehsin an email sent to The Za-pata Times.

Shortly before midnight,Rachelle shot Ramie andTimothy in the head, criti-cally wounding them, be-fore pointing the gun at

herself, police say. Rachellewas dead on the scene,while paramedics aidedRamie and Timothy. Theywould die later during theweek. Baeza said investiga-tors are yet to determinehow Rachelle acquired thegun and ammunition.Some progress has beenmade but he cited the openinvestigation.

Since then, people havewondered if there was an-other way out of the hos-tage situation. They askedwhy the agency didn’t as-sist the family.

“The staff in our Laredooffice followed state policyin the Grimmer case andattempted to provide thefamily with service the dayafter receiving their appli-cation,” Suehs writes inthe letter. “When Ms.Grimmer arrived at a stateoffice Monday, staff couldhave closed the door onher. They could have called

police. Instead they trieddesperately to help her.”

THHSC spokeswomanStephanie Goodman saidLaredo staff is in a “fragilestate.” The office is expect-ed to open Monday but un-der a different modus op-erandi. For those return-ing back to work,counselors will be at handif needed. Most of the workcould be done through thephone, Goodman added.

There are plans in placeto beef up security. It’s notclear yet what steps will betaken. Goodman said be-fore the shooting on Mon-day that the facility hadone unarmed securityguard.

Investigations showGrimmer first applied forfood stamps in July butwas denied the assistancein August.

“Ms. Grimmer didn’tmeet the criteria for expe-dited service because of

the amount of child sup-port she told us she re-ceived, but the Laredo of-fice told her they wouldcall her the next day toprocess her application.They set an appointmenttime for that call,” Suehswrites in the letter. “Thenext day, a state workercalled Ms. Grimmer aspromised and again a fewminutes later. Help was soclose, but there was no an-swer.”

On Wednesday, Suehsvisited with employees ofthe Laredo staff. In his let-ter, he writes employees“are deeply saddened andshaken by the senselesstragedy that unfolded be-fore their very eyes.”

People needing in-personinterviews at THSSC willbe re-routed to theMcPherson office.

(César G. Rodriguez maybe reached at 728-2568 orcesar@lmtonline.com)

FAMILY Continued from Page 1A

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Adean’s list student whokilled a Virginia Tech policeofficer had no ties to theuniversity and did not knowthe patrolman, authoritiessaid Friday without offeringa motive for a crime spreethat ended in suicide.

Ross Truett Ashley, 22,first drew authorities’ atten-tion when he robbed hislandlord’s office at gunpointWednesday. He took thekeys to a Mercedes-Benzsport utility vehicle laterfound in Blacksburg, hometo Virginia Tech, about 10miles away.

Ashley, a part-time busi-ness student at Radford Uni-versity, was described by

those who knew him as atypical college student,though he could be quietand standoffish. He liked torun down the hallways andrecently shaved his head, aneighbor said.

Police said he walked upto officer Deriek W. Crouseon Thursday and shot himto death as the patrolmansat in his unmarked cruiserin the midst of a traffic stop.

Ashley was not involved inthe stop and did not knowthe driver.

Ashley then took off forthe campus greenhouses,ditching his pullover, woolcap and backpack as policesent out a campus-widealert that a gunman was onthe loose, terrorizing stu-dents still coping with thenation’s worst mass slayingin recent memory.

Police identify Va. Tech gunmanBy BOB LEWIS AND ZINIE CHEN

SAMPSONASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

WASHINGTON — TheSupreme Court hasblocked the use of Texasstate legislative and con-gressional district mapsthat were drawn by federaljudges to boost minorities’voting power.

The court issued a brieforder Friday that appliesto electoral maps drawn byfederal judges in San An-tonio for the Texas Legis-lature and Congress. The

justices said they will heararguments in the case onJan. 9.

Texas says the federaljudges overstepped theirauthority and should havetaken into account theelectoral maps that weredrawn by the Republican-dominated Texas Legisla-ture.

The order brings to ahalt filing for legislativeand congressional primaryelections that began Nov.28.

The primaries had been

scheduled to take place inMarch but with the Su-preme Court’s interven-tion, those elections al-most certainly will be de-layed.

The maps issued by thejudges appeared to giveDemocrats a greaterchance of winning seats inthe state House and Senatethan did the plans ap-proved by those bodies andsigned into law by Gov.Rick Perry.

In addition, the court-drawn congressional map

ensured minorities madeup the majority in threeadditional Texas congres-sional districts, an out-come the judges said bet-ter reflected the growth inthe state’s Hispanic pop-ulation.

Texas is adding fourU.S. House seats based onpopulation gains in the2010 census.

The fight over redistrict-ing in Texas is playing outin two separate courtcases.

Like other states with a

history of racial discrimi-nation, Texas can’t imple-ment new maps or otherchanges to voting practic-es without federal approv-al under the 1965 VotingRights Act. The stateasked a court in Washing-ton to sign off on themaps, but those judges re-fused. That case is contin-uing.

Separately, an array ofrights groups filed the Tex-as lawsuit claiming thatthe state’s maps decreasedminorities’ voting power.

The federal judges inTexas reasoned that thestate would be unable tohold elections withouttemporary maps that takeaccount of census results.

The legal issue at thehigh court is whether thetemporary maps shouldhave used the state-ap-proved plans as a startingpoint. The case so far doesnot appear to raise thebroader issue of whetherTexas and other statesshould still be subject tothe voting rights law.

High court halts new Texas electoral mapsBy MARK SHERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Bureauof Land Management’s internalreview of a wild horse roundupin Nevada found some mustangswere whipped in the face, kickedin the head, dragged by a ropearound the neck and repeatedlyshocked with electrical prods, butthe agency concluded none of themistreatment rose to the level ofbeing inhumane.

BLM Director Bob Abbey did,however, determine additionaltraining is needed for the work-ers and contractors involved.

Abbey, the former BLM statedirector for Nevada, said theroundup this summer near theUtah line was done correctly forthe most part. But he said the re-view cited some incidents of in-appropriate practices, includinghelicopters jeopardizing thehealth and safety of horses by fol-lowing too closely or chasingsmall bands or individual ani-mals for too long.

“Aggressive and rough hand-ling of wild horses is not accept-able, and we are actively takingsteps to ensure that such behav-ior is not repeated,” Abbey saidin a statement announcing anumber of procedures intendedto improve and further reviewthe BLM’s standard operatingprocedures for roundups.

In addition to prohibiting hel-icopters from making contact

with horses, Abbey said he wouldorder more training for both theagency workers and contractorsinvolved. The review team alsorecommended the agency developa system for tracking a variety ofincidents, “from the use of elec-trical prods, to roping, to injuriesor reports of animal welfare con-cerns.”

“The review team believes thiswill demonstrate that issues likethe specific incidents at the Tri-ple B gather are the exception,not the rule,” the report said.

Officials for Sun J Livestock inVernal, Utah, the contractor forthe Triple B Roundup betweenElko and Ely, did not immediate-ly return telephone messagesseeking comment.

About 33,000 wild horses livein 10 Western states, of whichabout half are in Nevada. Anoth-er 40,000 are kept in government-funded facilities.

The government’s wild horseprogram, created by Congress in1971, is intended to protect wildhorse herds and the rangelands

that support them. Under theprogram, thousands of horses areforced into holding pens, wheremany are vaccinated or neuteredbefore being placed for adoptionor sent to long-term corrals inthe Midwest.

Animal rights advocates com-plain that the roundups are inhu-mane because some animals aretraumatized, injured or killed.But ranchers and other groupssay the roundups are needed toprotect fragile grazing lands thatare used by cattle, Bighorn sheep

and other wildlife. Advocates said they were en-

couraged by a series of steps Ab-bey outlined this week to rein inthe airborne cowboys and wran-glers on the ground who they saydon’t always act in the horses’best interests.

“This review is a first step inaddressing the cruelty that is per-vasive in the BLM’s wild horseand burro program, and we com-mend the BLM review team forits honesty,” said Suzanne Roy, di-rector of the Americas WildHorse Preservation Campaign, acoalition of more than 40 groupsthat includes the American So-ciety for the Prevention of Cruel-ty to Animals.

But the groups also expressedconcern that the BLM didn’t findsome of the more egregious inci-dents to be “inhumane.”

“What is their definition of in-humane?” asked Anne Novak,founder of the California-basedadvocacy group Protect Mus-tangs.

“They are stepping up to thetransgressions and treatmentsthat occurred — finally fessingup to some major problems,” add-ed Roy. “But now, what are theygoing to do about it? How ittranslates to an agency-wide pol-icy is the big open question.”

The review was prompted byvideotapes that animal protectionactivists shot of alleged inhu-mane treatment at the Triple Broundup in July and August.

Review: Mistreated but not inhumanelyBy SCOTT SONNERASSOCIATED PRESS

The Bureau of Land Management uses a helicopter for gathering wild horses in Nevada, in 2004. The bureau’s internal re-view of a similar wild horse roundup in Nevada in September found Mustangs were not treated inhumanely.

Photo by Lisa J. Tolda, file. Reno Gazette-Journal | AP

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

LAREDO – The ZapataHawks are diligently try-ing to get ready for thelong district season and

have gone through a rough pre-season where they have only

picked up one win in 12 games.Wednesday night, Zapata faced

a quick Martin team that pushedthe ball up and down the court.

Zapata could not handle Mar-tin’s swarming defense anddropped a 66-22 decision to the Ti-gers at Martin High.

The Hawks were pressured and

had a hard time bringing the ballup the court as the Tigers trappedand forced 37 turnovers.

Danny Chapa led the Hawkswith seven points. Epi Martinezchipped in with five.

Zapata’s best quarter came in

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Hawksgrounded

Zapata’s Epi Martinez will be one of the team’s offensive go-to threats this season.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata off to slow preseason startBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BASKETBALL PAGE 2B

The world wasback to normal,according tosome people,

when it was announcedthat the NBA is back aftera few months of delay.

The selfish NBA play-ers and owners finally“agreed” to a deal andgames are back on with a66-game schedule begin-ning Christmas Day.

The NBA might beback, but that does notmean I am rooting forthem or any team. Theonly thing they did duringthose long months of ne-

gotiations was leave a badtaste in my mouth.

The NBA is going toreally have to earn myloyalty again; I mean,they are really going tohave work hard for me tobuy a ticket or even gocover it for the newspaper.

The NBA is like a badboyfriend who broke up

A case ofNBA

heartbreak

See NBA PAGE 2B

WACO — Robert Griffin III has beentoo caught up in the moment to reallyconsider how much he’s done to changethe perception of Baylor.

When Griffin finally slows down andthinks about it, he might realize justhow unimaginable it all seemed when hefirst arrived on the private school cam-pus nearly four years ago as a 17-year-oldkid who graduated high school early.

“I know we’ve been creating a lot ofhistory,” Griffin said. “But it’s tough tobe within it and look back on what’s hap-pened. ... The way the program is goingnow, you expect good things to happen.”

The next good thing could be the dual-threat playmaking quarterback and as-

piring lawyer known as “RG3” becomingBaylor’s first Heisman Trophy winner.

That is quite a thought consideringthat the Bears used to be a constant fix-ture at or near the bottom of the Big 12standings and never had a winning re-cord in the league before Griffin arrived.

There also were concerns each of thelast two summers during realignmenttalks that Baylor could be left out of amajor conference before the Big 12 twicerevived itself.

Now the 15th-ranked Bears (9-3) havetheir most wins in 25 years and are go-ing to their second consecutive bowlgame after a 16-year postseason drought.With a win over Washington in the Ala-mo Bowl, they would match the schoolrecord of 10 wins set in 1980 during MikeSingletary’s senior season.

“It’s great whenever you can buildsomething up from the ground up, be-cause here at Baylor, things hadn’t beengood for a while,” Griffin said. “Thefoundation had eroded away and we wereable to get the grass back green.”

Griffin, the nation’s most efficient pas-ser and one of the most exciting players,is one of five Heisman Trophy finalistswho will be in New York for Saturdaynight’s ceremony. He is the only onefrom the Big 12, whose last two winnershave been Oklahoma quarterbacks, SamBradford in 2008 and Jason White in2003.

“The Heisman to me has always beenabout excitement,” Griffin said. “Any-body who wins it is deserving. But if you

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, a candidatefor the Heisman Trophy, poses with the DaveyO’Brien Award for the nation’s top college quar-terback in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Thursday.

Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack | AP

Baylor’s Griffin up for HeismanBy STEPHEN HAWKINS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See HEISMAN PAGE 2B

HOUSTON — Houstoncelebrating its upcomingmove from ConferenceUSA to the Big East onFriday despite specula-tion that coach KevinSumlin could be leavingfor another job.

Hundreds of people at-tended an on-campusevent Friday to applaudthe move. Sumlin saidhe’s excited about theconference move, butwouldn’t address the pos-sibility he could leave tocoach somewhere else.

“I’m not talking aboutit anymore,” he said. “Itdoesn’t really matterwhat I say ... people aregoing to write whatthey’re going to write.”

Sumlin wouldn’t say hewasn’t considering leav-ing, but when pressedabout whether he couldsee himself taking thefield with the Cougarsnext season, he offered aresponse that seems en-couraging for Houston.

“I’ve always seen my-self that way,” he said. “Idon’t think that anythingI’ve said or anything I’vetalked about has been anydifferent.”

Athletic director MackRhoades said the Cougarsare working to keep Sum-

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

See HOUSTON PAGE 2B

Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, center, leads his team onto thefield for an NCAA college football game against SMU in Hous-ton. Houston celebrates its upcoming move from ConferenceUSA to the Big East amid continued speculation that coach Ke-vin Sumlin could be leaving for another job.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

Cougars BigEast-bound

Houstoncelebrates move

from C-USABy KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

with you and after a fewmonths wants to come back in-to your life. I have moved onand I don’t do seconds, becauseonce you leave there is no com-ing back. Well, maybe….

Now the NBA has called andI have declined to answer. I amnow into watching college bas-ketball games and have evenordered the college packagedeal from my local cable pro-vider to fill my soul with asmuch college hoops as I want.

I have even made plans to at-tend a few of the Longhornsand Aggie basketball games be-cause that is where my heartis right now. College basket-ball.

The NBA and I had been ina steady relationship since thedays of Larry Bird and Erving

“Magic” Johnson and thosememorable NBA finals that pit-ted the Lakers and the Celtics.

Those were the days, untilMichael Jordan came alongand made those great runswith the Chicago Bulls to etchhis place in history.

I followed the NBA religious-ly then and was plotted downon my couch during the NBAFinals ever since I was sevenyears old.

But when the owners andplayers could not come toterms, throwing the NBA intoa lockout, I decided to walkand find my basketball fix inother avenues.

High school and college bas-ketball have made me say, “TheNB what?”

Heck, even football has kept

me occupied the last fewmonths. I am now watching alot of NFL games and cannotwait until the College FootballBowl season where there are35 games in four weeks. I amreally looking forward to theday the first game is on televi-sion.

I know there are a lot ofSpurs, Mavericks and Rocketsfans in Texas and are ready tosee their favorite team on thecourt, but I am not. The woundis too fresh for me and watch-ing a game right now mightthrow me into a tailspin, so noNBA for me at the moment.

When the NBA starts presea-son on Dec. 16, I’ll be at a localtheater catching the latest flickor if a college game is on, I’llbe watching with my friends.

NBA Continued from Page 1B

the third when it scored ninepoints.

“Intimidation played some partin it, since we saw them play at theBorder Olympics ” Zapata headcoach Juan Villarreal said. “Theseguys are very, very young and weare carrying eight juniors thatwere on the junior varsity lastyear, one senior and three sopho-mores that played on the freshmanteam last year.”

Despite the score, Villarrealliked what he saw in his team,such as the fight and hustle theHawks displayed even when thegame was out of reach.

“I like that we hustled back ondefense and actually blocked adunk and a few layups,” he said.“The guys were willing to get backon defense and hustle up and downthe road.”

Villarreal was also able to givethe majority of the reserves qual-ity minutes throughout the game.

“I tried to get all the guys in,” hesaid. “I am still trying to get theteam to gel and see where they areat. We are 12 games into the sea-son and some of these guys stillshy away from pressure.

“I want to see who stands up tothe pressure, especially man-to-man and the trapping because thatis what we are going to see in dis-trict.”

The Hawks face St. Augustine onTuesday in a rematch that went tothe Knights by 20 points at theBorder Olympics early in the sea-son.

“We already saw them play andknow what to expect and I am hop-ing that we give them a bettergame at home,” Villarreal said.

BASKETBALL Continued from Page 1B

want to talk about excite-ment and what collegefootball is really about, Ithink we’re doing it hereat Baylor.”

All with the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Griffin at the helm.

Griffin, who won the Da-vey O’Brien Award as thenation’s top quarterbackon Thursday, has complet-ed 267 of 369 passes (72percent) for 3,998 yardswith a Big 12-leading 36touchdowns and only sixinterceptions, and run for644 yards with nine morescores. He has averaged387 total yards a game andhis touchdown passeshave averaged more than36 yards each.

This season began withGriffin throwing for 359yards and five TDs in anationally televised Fri-day night game, when heeven had a 15-yard catchon a third-and-10 drivethat led to the game-win-ning field goal in a wild50-48 victory over No. 16TCU, the nation’s best de-fense the previous threeseasons.

There was the Saturdaynight special three weeksago against then-No. 5 Ok-lahoma, a team the Bearshad never beaten. Griffinset school records with 479yards passing and 551 to-tal yards in a 45-38 victory.

On the final drive, Griffinhad runs of 22 and 8 yardsbefore his scrambling 34-yard TD throw across thefield with 8 seconds left.

“The last play of thegame, threw back of theend zone, which kind ofdefines to me him, andhow he’s matured into agreat player,” Missouricoach Gary Pinkel said.“He not only has greatathleticism, his accuracyat throwing, his armstrength, also his play-making ability. ... He’s aspecial one.”

After a 4-0 Novembersweep by the Bears — whohad won a combined fourBig 12 games in Novemberthe previous 15 seasons —Griffin made his finalstatement for Heismanvoters by throwing for 320yards with two long touch-downs and ran for twomore scores in a 48-24 vic-tory over Texas.

“He epitomizes every-thing you have to be to be-come a complete player onand off the field and that’swhy he’s a finalist,” Bay-lor coach Art Briles said.

Griffin, a fourth-year ju-nior, holds or shares 46school records.

By time Griffin playedhis first game for theBears in 2008, when at 18he was the nation’s young-

est FBS starting quarter-back and weighed onlyabout 190 pounds, he wasalready a Big 12 championand NCAA All-Americanin the 400-meter hurdles.He graduated from highschool near the top of hisclass before enrolling atBaylor for the spring se-mester.

“Coach Briles told mehe’s not a prophet, but hedid say that in two orthree years, I’d be a Heis-man Trophy finalist,”Griffin said. “And it’s com-ing true.”

Griffin set an FBS re-cord by throwing 209 pas-ses to start his career be-fore his first interception.

Only three games intothe 2009 season, Griffintore the ACL in his rightknee. He got a medicalhardship redshirt andthen in his comeback lastyear led the Bears to theirfirst Top 25 ranking since1993 and a bowl game.

Now he is going to be inNew York with the chanceof winning college foot-ball’s most prestigious in-dividual award.

“Robert has become formany football fans theface of Baylor University,”athletic director IanMcCaw said. “He’s a mod-el student-athlete. ... Hebasically was a 17-year-old

when he came here, andhe’s a man now.”

Griffin completed hisundergraduate degree inpolitical science last De-cember and is working ona master’s degree in com-munication. He still hasaspirations of going to lawschool, and could startthat next year.

That depends on if hedecides to return for hissenior season or declarefor early entry into theNFL draft. He has givenno real indication on whathe plans to do.

“I’m not trying to makea decision anytime soon.I’ll push it off as long as Ican,” he said. “I didn’tthink I would be in thissituation after starting asa freshman. This would bemy last year (without theinjury) and there wouldbe no huge decisionwhether to come back orleave.”

Griffin doesn’t want hisdecision to be about mon-ey, possible draft status orwhether he wins the Heis-man Trophy.

“You don’t want to leaveprimarily because of mon-ey and you also don’t wantto come back primarilybecause of an award,” hesaid. “It won’t be aboutwhether I win the Heis-man or not this year.”

HEISMAN Continued from Page 1B

lin, but that if he leaves“we’ll move on and hirethe next great coach.”

“When you have suc-cess people are going tocome after your coaches,”Rhoades said. “We’ll con-tinue to monitor it. We’llcontinue to make surethat coach Sumlin under-stands that we want himto stay.”

Nelda Blair, chair of theschool’s board of regents,announced that Houstonplans to build a new foot-ball stadium and officialshope to break groundwithin 10 months.

Rhoades said they haveabout $60 million pledgedfor the stadium and thatthey’ll need between $80million and $85 million tobuild it.

The Cougars currentlyplay in Robertson Stadi-um, a 32,000 seat stadiumwhich opened in 1942.

They’ll demolish thatstadium and build thenew one on the same site,which could leave theteam without a home sta-dium for as long as a sea-son. Where they wouldplay during constructionhasn’t been determined,but Rhoades said they’vehad discussions with offi-cials of Reliant Stadium,home of the NFL’s Hous-ton Texans.

They expect the newstadium to be ready forthe start of the 2014 sea-son.

Rhoades is looking for-ward to the increase inrevenue that will comefrom their conferenceswitch. He said the Cou-gars currently garnerabout $3 million a yearand expect that number tojump to at least $10 mil-lion in the Big East.

While Sumlin was reti-cent to discuss his job sta-tus, he had plenty to sayabout Houston’s new con-ference and plans for thestadium. He’s looking for-ward to joining an auto-matic qualifying BCS con-ference, which C-USA isnot.

“Anytime as a coachyou have the ability tomove from a non-AQ con-ference to an AQ confer-ence that’s a big deal,” hesaid. “And any coach inAmerica they say new sta-dium to, he’s going to getexcited. All those thingsadd up.”

The Cougars had achance to qualify for aBCS bowl this season af-ter starting 12-0, but a lossto Southern Mississippiin the C-USA title gameleft them in the TicketCi-ty bowl against PennState.

HOUSTON Continued from Page 1B

HOUSTON — The Houston Texanshave always been a delicate bunch.

All it ever took was one injury, onemistake, one coaching gaffe and every-thing would crumble in a game — and,subsequently, a season.

Not anymore. Even as they seem to lose a key player

every week, the Texans (9-3) have stayedon point, winning six straight games andsurging to the doorstep of that elusivefirst postseason berth.

Houston plays at Cincinnati (7-5) onSunday and can clinch the AFC Southwith a victory and a Tennessee loss toNew Orleans, but no one in the lockerroom is talking about the potential mile-stone nor the magnitude of the momentwhen the young franchise finally makesits breakthrough.

Maybe that says it all about how muchthis team has grown up, and where itseems to be heading.

“You don’t hear much about it, youdon’t hear a lot of talk about it,” saidright tackle Eric Winston, a third-roundpick in 2006. “It’s just, ‘Hey, we need totake care of our business, and do ourdeal.’

“If we keep racking up wins, no mat-ter if it happens this week, or in twoweeks, it’s going to happen.”

For most of the team’s history, itseemed as though it never would.

The Texans beat Dallas 19-10 in theirinaugural game in 2002 — still one of thefranchise’s greatest victories — then lan-guished through five losing seasons.

Houston went 8-8 in 2007 and expecta-tions began to swell, but just when theTexans seemed poised to take flight,something bizarre always seemed toknock them down.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike damaged Re-liant Stadium, postponing Houston’shome opener and forcing the Texans tobegin the season with three straight roadgames. The eventual home opener thenturned disastrous, with backup quarter-back Sage Rosenfels’ fumbles and inter-ceptions helping Peyton Manning and In-dianapolis rally from 17 points down inthe fourth quarter for a 31-27 victory.

In 2009, Arizona stuffed Houston onthree plays from the 1-yard line in the fi-nal minute of a 28-21 Texans loss. Laterthat year, Kris Brown missed last-secondfield-goal tries in consecutive weeks, andcoach Gary Kubiak signed off on a half-back pass that Jacksonville intercepted,sealing a 23-18 defeat.

Last year, the Texans lost middle line-backer DeMeco Ryans, then lost gameson a last-second pass from midfield (atJacksonville), a last-minute, 72-yard drive(against the New York Jets) and an inter-

ception return in overtime (against Bal-timore).

Fans began calling for Kubiak andgeneral manager Rick Smith to be fired,while inside the locker room the teambonded together.

“It would’ve been pretty easy at a lotof junctures last year, for this team tosplit apart,” right tackle Eric Winstonsaid. “We never did, and I think that saysa lot about the character of the guys. Ev-eryone believed we were on the rightcourse. We just hit a bad detour.”

“The thing about this year, with ouryounger guys, is our depth is a lot better,we have a lot better talent around ourguys,” Ryans said. “When guys go down,the next man steps up and you’ve got tojust go in and do your job. Don’t try to dotoo much.

“Everybody rallies around whoevergoes down, and does their job a little bitbetter. And we’ve been fine.”

Texans linebacker Connor Barwin gets to Falcon’s quarterback Matt Ryan in last week’s 17-10 win over Atlanta in Houston.

AP Photo

Resilient Texans thrive amidst adversityBy CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS

DENNISTHE MENACE

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES | HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT:

JUDGE PARKER

FAMILY CIRCUS

HINTS | BY HELOISE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Heloise: I oncecalled my PHONE COM-PANY regarding an im-portant issue. Not evergetting to speak to a realperson, I hung up in totalfrustration. I left home torun some errands, and Isaw a phone-companyservice truck parked infront of a residence.

Still feeling frustrated,I pulled over and walkedup to the repairman, andI politely told him my sit-uation and asked him ifhe had a phone number Icould call without goingthrough all of this.

He told me it’s the big-gest complaint he getsfrom customers. Hepulled out a card fromhis pocket and wrote thename and number of aperson in the corporateoffice. I thanked him pro-fusely.

I called the number,and sure enough, theperson he wrote downwas the person who an-swered. I told him the is-sue, and after 15 min-utes, the problem was re-solved! — Sandra inCalifornia

This is in response toa column about automat-ed phone systems! Some-times going straight tothe top, if you can, is thebest solution. — Heloise

PET PALDear Readers: Irma in

Augusta, Maine, sent apicture of five black kit-tens that she is fostering.They are arrangedaround the food dish in apinwheel formation! Tosee the kittens and ourother Pet Pals, visitwww.Heloise.com, andclick on the “Pets” link.— Heloise

BLANKET HINTDear Heloise: Years

ago, I read instructionsyou had for removing thewires from an old elec-tric blanket. Please help!— Mary A., via email

Mary, this is so easyand eco-friendly, and itchanges your electricblanket to a lightweightblanket in a flash! Youneed to take the top andbottom of the blanket,feel where the wires endand make a small cut inthe blanket fabric. Thengrab the wires and verycarefully pull them out,along with the thermo-stat.

If you need to makethe cut a little bigger toget the thermostat out,it’s no big deal, becauseyou are going to finishby sewing some stitchesto close up the cuts. Nowyou have a recycled blan-ket to use all year long!— Heloise PERMANENT PARSLEY

Dear Heloise: To havegreen parsley all winter,remove the leaves fromstems of fresh parsley,then put in a blenderwith a glass of water.

After mixing it in forabout 30 seconds, put itthrough a strainer. Afterit is drained, put it in aplastic container andfreeze. When you wantparsley, use a fork toscrape out as much asyou need. — Fred inPennsylvania

TISSUE ISSUEDear Heloise: I love

your column in thenewspaper. A good hint:When I pack for a trip ora cruise, I wash myclothes, and when theycome out of the dryer, Iput a folded facial tissuein every pocket. So,when I travel and put onmy clothes, the tissuewill be there for me. —Dorothy P., Lakeland,Fla.

“HELOISE

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4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Basketball SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

SAN ANTONIO — Richard Jefferson isstill with the San Antonio Spurs, butmaybe for not much longer.

Jefferson reported for training campFriday but did little to quiet speculationthat the Spurs are actively trying to getrid of their starting small forward, whoarrived in San Antonio to great fanfarein 2009 but has disappointed in two un-derachieving seasons.

“Things happen, things change, butright now I’m a San Antonio Spur,” Jef-ferson said.

If the Spurs can find a replacement forJefferson, who will make $9.2 million thisseason, they might waive him under theleague’s amnesty provision. Free agentJosh Howard is among the free agentswho’ve spoken with the Spurs already.

Asked about Jefferson’s future, Spurscoach Gregg Popovich simply said the 31-year-old is on the roster right now likeanyone else. Last season, Popovichbenched Jefferson the second half of theirfinal playoff game, a Game 6 loss toeighth-seeded Memphis in the first

round. The Spurs gave Jefferson a restruc-

tured four-year deal last summer. He’sowed $30.4 million over the next threeyears.

“We didn’t amnesty anybody,”Popovich said Friday.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili was morecandid. Although Jefferson didn’t shirkfrom questions about whether his days inSan Antonio were numbered, he was res-cued when Manu Ginobili sneaked up be-hind him and wrapped him in a bearhug.

Someone joked it was Ginobili’s firstassist this season.

“It’s very difficult. Luckily I’ve neverbeen in that situation,” Ginobili said. “Iempathize with him. But it is what it is.We got to make him feel comfortable ifhe’s going to be with us. We had a greatrun last season and we want to do anoth-er one. It’s sad, but it happens.”

Another question mark for the Spurs ifforward Antonio McDyess, who appearedset to retire after 15 seasons but may stillbe back. He wasn’t at training camp Fri-day but Popovich wouldn’t rule it out.Among the few new faces was guard T.J.

Ford, who will be Tony Parker’s newbackup after the Spurs traded George Hillto Indiana.

The Spurs traded for Jefferson in 2009to add some scoring punch. Jefferson hadaveraged 19.6 points the previous seasonin Milwaukee, and 22.6 points in New Jer-sey the year before.

So assured were the Spurs of Jeffersonthat they took on his $29.2 million con-tract over two years. Popovich said at thetime that Jefferson was as good a playeras the Spurs might have picked up duringthe free agent bonanza of 2010, and thatwaiting might have been a gamble.

But it was a rocky fit from the start.Jefferson bumbled through his debut sea-son struggling to learn a new system, andPopovich spent last summer workingwith him one-on-one. There was progressas Jefferson became a corner 3-point spe-cialist, but he still underperformed. Heaveraged 11 points, the lowest since hisrookie year.

Jefferson declined to speculate whetherhe would remain for a third season.

“We’re not children. We’re not littlekids that we want to feel wanted andstuff,” Jefferson said. “You want to work.

You want to enjoy your environment, notnecessarily feel wanted. Because youcould feel wanted in a situation whereyou don’t want to be in.”

Jefferson still with SpursBy PAUL WEBER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Manu Ginobili (left) and Richard Jefferson areseen at practice as players for the Spurs attendtheir first team practice on Friday, Dec. 9.

Photo by Kin Man Hui | San Antonio Express-News

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericksare thinking about a repeat — evenafter losing some key players fromtheir championship run.

“We’re world champions,” Maver-icks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’reexcited about that.”

Beginning with Tyson Chandler,the team’s defensive and leader, theMavericks have significant holes tofill before the season starts Dec. 25.

Chandler agreed to the deal Fri-day with the New York Knicks astraining camps opened. Jose Barea,a part-time starter and postseasonstar, is resigned to the fact he’s notcoming back to Dallas.

Caron Butler, injured much of lastseason but a key contributor beforegoing down, has already signed withthe Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavsalso don’t appear to have much in-terest in bringing back DeShawnStevenson.

“The makeup of the team is prob-ably going to be a little different, butthat’s just the business of basket-ball,” Jason Kidd said. “That hap-pens, but we still believe we can

win. We’re going to work extremelyhard and take pride in being achampion and trying to protect ourchampionship.”

The Mavericks still have Dirk No-witzki, the reigning Finals MVPwho remains one of the league’selite players despite being 33. Kidd,Jason Terry and Shawn Marionround out Carlisle’s veteran nucleus.

“A championship is the goal,” Ter-ry said. “In every training camp youwant to set your goals high. Oursare very high, obviously for the rea-sons of myself, Dirk, J-Kidd, Marion.We’ve been around a long time. Weknow what it takes to win.”

The Mavs had only 10 players forthe first workout, including BrandanWright who was signed Friday. RudyFernandez is expected to clear up vi-sa issues and be in camp Monday.League rules stipulate that teamscarry at least 13 players.

“Our roster isn’t complete,” Car-lisle said. “There are still possibili-ties that exist outside of who ishere.”

The decision not to sign any ofthe team’s key free agents is a resultof the new collective bargaining

agreement, owner Mark Cuban hassaid in various interviews. TheCBA, ratified Thursday by the own-ers and players, has made cap rooma more valuable than ever before,Cuban added.

Since buying the franchise, Cu-ban was simply able to outspendcompetitors to build a contender.The Mavericks have been over theluxury tax threshold for virtuallyhis entire 11-year tenure.

By not signing Chandler andBarea, in particular, the team is pro-jected to be under the salary capnext season. Kidd and Terry are alsoentering the last year of their con-tracts, which would take millionsmore off the books.

Cuban said that cap room will notonly aid in signing players —Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and De-ron Williams are among the possiblebig-name free agents available nextsummer — but make trades easierto execute in the coming years.

Cuban’s goal is to restock talentwhile the Mavericks are at or nearthe top.

“I’m anxious to see what our ros-ter will look like,” Carlisle said.

Mavs look to defend titleASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — KevinMartin and Luis Scolajoined the Houston Rocketsfor their first full practiceFriday, hours after theNBA nixed a three-waytrade that would have sentthem to New Orleans andbrought Pau Gasol to town.

Hornets star Chris Paulwas headed to the Los An-geles Lakers, and Rocketsbackup point guard GoranDragic and L.A. forwardLamar Odom would’vemoved to New Orleans inthe deal.

The NBA rejected theproposed trade for what ittermed “basketball rea-sons,” leaving Martin, Sco-la and Dragic to report totraining camp with a teamthat was apparently ready

to send them away.The easygoing Scola

took it all in stride, sayinghe had “no hard feelings”toward Houston or generalmanager Daryl Morey.

“They had a trade thatthey believed was good forthe team, and they tried todo it,” Scola said. “That’snothing to blame them for.And I’m happy to stayhere.”

Martin, the Rockets’leading scorer in 2010-11,seemed a bit more upset.

“Daryl (Morey) showedhis cards, and you’ve justgot to put your teammatesfirst and nothing else afterthat,” he said.

In the wake of the bigdeal falling apart, the Rock-ets missed out on re-sign-ing sturdy forward ChuckHayes, their only unre-stricted free agent.

Rockets mixedat nixed dealBy CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS