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Members of the TexasHouse of Representa-tives’ Committee of Cul-ture, Recreation and

Tourism met with a full house ofconcerned Zapata residents duringa public hearing to address FalconLake’s declining bass population.

Experts from the Texas Parksand Wildlife Department werebrought in by the committee as in-vited testimonies during the hear-ing, held Friday afternoon at the Za-pata Technical and Advanced Edu-cation Center.

“Fishing is big business in Texas,and we all know that,” said Dr. GarySaul, division director of the InlandFisheries Division at Texas Parksand Wildlife.

The declining bass populationhas greatly impacted not only theFalcon Lake ecosystem, but has alsocontributed to the declining numberof tourists that visit the area. In2012, Falcon Lake was ranked No. 1bass lake in the country by Bass-

master Magazine. In 2013, it rankedNo. 7, and this year, it droppedagain to No. 12.

Businesses that once sustainedthemselves on the amount of trafficthey received from avid fishermenstarted to feel the economic reper-cussions of this environmental is-

sue, residents said during publictestimony.

The panel from the Texas Parksand Wildlife Department attributedthe problem to an increase of alliga-tor gar in the lake.

FISHING

Falcon concerns

Fishermen return from a cold Falcon Lake for official weigh-ins during the Fishing League Worldwide Outdoors tournament in 2010.

File photo by Times staff

Committee eyes declining bass populationBy GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See LAKE PAGE 8A

A panel listens to expert and public testimony during the hearing on declining bass pop-ulations Friday afternoon.

Photo by Gabriela A. Treviño | The Zapata Times

LAREDO — Police haveidentified the man whowas fatally shot in a gun-fire exchange reportedThursday afternoon at ahome in the 1700 block ofCedar Avenue in ElTrompe neighborhood.

He was identified asRaul Medina, 24.

Authorities identified asecond person shot in thearm as Raul Hernandez,37.

Police withheld thename of a third person al-leged to be the one whoshot Medina because he’snot facing any charges.He’s is a 34-year-old rela-tive of Hernandez, said In-vestigator Joe E. Baeza,Laredo Police Departmentspokesman.

Early stages of the in-vestigation revealed thatMedina allegedly intendedto rob the home, accord-ing to Baeza. Police couldnot say what Medinawanted to take from thehome because of the ongo-ing investigation.

“At this preliminaryphase of the investigation

… it’s alleged that the de-ceased went to the houseto commit a robbery,” hesaid.

Right before 5 p.m., po-lice responded to theshooting at Cedar. Thecaller stated that therewere several gunshotsheard in the area. Uponarrival, officers found alifeless Medina lying face-down next to the house bythe concrete driveway —and Hernandez injured.

Medina allegedly had a.45 caliber semiautomatichandgun in his righthand. It was not clear howmany shots were fired,but Medina was mortallywounded once. It appearedthat he had an entrywound on the chest andexit wound through theback, according to police.

Police later learnedthat Hernandez and hisrelative were inside thehouse when they heardsomeone at the door.When they opened it, aconfrontation occurredbetween Medina and thetwo men, leading to theshots fired, according to

MURDER

Police investigate the scene of the Laredo’s seventh homicide at the1700 block of Cedar Avenue on Thursday afternoon.

Photo by César G. Rodriguez | The Zapata Times

Police:Robbery led

to death24-year-old man allegedly died after

confrontation with homeownersBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See DEATH PAGE 8A

A man who expected a$300 payment for trans-porting eight illegal im-migrants in Zapata Coun-ty was indicted Tuesdayin federal court in Lare-do.

A grand jury formallycharged Pedro Hernan-dez-Verastegui with con-spiracy to transport un-documented people with-in the United States, andtransport and attempt totransport undocumentedpeople for financial gain.

If convicted, Hernan-dez-Verastegui faces upto 10 years in prison fol-lowed by supervised re-lease, the indictment fil-ed Tuesday states. Ar-raignment is set for May22.

His arrest dates backto April 15. At 10:15 p.m.,the Zapata County Sher-

iff ’s Office contacted theZapata Border Patrol Sta-tion regarding a possiblehuman smuggling at-tempt. Court records al-leged the group of peoplewas “undocumented dueto the fact that the sub-jects did not possess anyidentifying documentsand did not speak Eng-lish.”

Border Patrol agentsarrived to find a sheriff ’sdeputy with a ChevroletVenture bearing Mexicanlicense plates. The agentobserved “several sub-jects lying on top of eachother in the cargo area,”according to court docu-ments. Agents deter-mined that the eight pas-sengers were in the coun-try illegally.

Reports indicate that adeputy saw the ChevroletVenture driving errati-cally near MirafloresStreet in Zapata. As the

deputy approached thevehicle, it sped off, head-ing east on Texas 16. Thedeputy caught up withthe vehicle after a shortpursuit, court records al-leged. A sheriff ’s officialturned over the driver,Hernandez-Verastegui, tofederal authorities.

In a post-arrest inter-view, Hernandez-Veraste-gui said he had enteredthe county illegally onApril 13. He stayed at theRoma Inn, in Roma, andmade arrangements witha man named “Juan” inMiguel Aleman, Tamauli-pas, Mexico, to transportillegal immigrants in Za-pata.

As per the arrange-ments, he was to be paid$300 for the smuggling at-tempt.

(César G. Rodriguezmay be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmton-line.com)

COURTS

Man indicted forimmigrant transport

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

Mexican authoritieshave arrested a man sus-pected of being a memberof the Zetas who’s accusedof running a human smug-gling ring that broughthundreds of immigrants toSan Antonio.

The smuggling oper-ation run by 42-year-oldFernando Martinez-Maga-na was notorious for put-ting the lives of immi-grants and others at risk,court documents state.

His arrest was one ofthe priorities of a newstrategy to return law andorder to the state of Ta-maulipas, which bordersTexas from Laredo toBrownsville, the Mexicangovernment announcedthis week.

He was arrestedWednesday in the north-ern industrial center of

Monterrey, federal PoliceChief Monte Alejandro Ru-bido said.

In a news conferenceposted online, Rubido saidMartinez-Magana oversawdrug trafficking, armsshipments and humansmuggling in the regionaround Nuevo Laredo.

In San Antonio, Marti-nez-Magana, who goes bythe nicknames “Z-16” and“Don Fernando” ischarged with multiplecounts of immigrant smug-gling and assisting in im-migrant smuggling.

He faces up to 20 yearsin prison if convicted inthe U.S.

Officials for U.S. Immi-gration and Customs En-forcement, whose investi-gation of an immigrationsmuggling crew in 2011and 2012 resulted in 20people being charged inSan Antonio, wouldn’tcomment Friday.

Agents using wiretapsand informants bustedstash houses and vehiclespacked with immigrants,including at a Days Inn onRigsby Avenue in April2012 and a June 2012 traf-fic stop on Interstate 35near Pat Booker Road.

The Zetas have expand-ed beyond drug traffickinginto other lucrativecrimes, including humansmuggling, said Javier Pe-ña, the former specialagent in charge of theDrug Enforcement Admin-istration in Houston.

They’ve taken oversmuggling routes andformed a monopoly, driv-ing up the cost of enteringthe U.S. illegally, Peñasaid.

“It’s more expensivethan it was before,” hesaid. “I’ve even heardsome lower-level traffick-

MEXICO VIOLENCE

Suspect tied to Zetascharged in smuggling

By JASON BUCHSAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

See ZETAS PAGE 8A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

Saturday, May 17Down Syndrome Association of

Laredo parents’ meeting. 2 p.m. to 4p.m. Life Choices Unlimited Inc., 1008E. Hillside Road. Family members en-couraged to attend. Alex Rodriguez ofPlanning and Network Advisory Com-mittee to speak. Contact Raquel Cani-zales at 231-6502 or raquelucha56@ya-hoo.com.

J.W. Nixon’s Class of 1989 sellingtickets for 25th reunion. 2 p.m. to 5p.m. 317 E. Calton Road #1. $25 perperson for event on Friday, July 25 atLife Fair, Branding Iron; and $25 perperson for event on Saturday, July 26at Embassy Suites.

Laredo Area Retired School Em-ployees Association installation of offi-cers and awards luncheon. 11:30 a.m.Embassy Suites.

Sunday, May 18The St. Patrick Catholic Church

Men’s Club steak plate sale, 11 a.m. to2 p.m. on church grounds, 555 DelMar Blvd. $5 per plate. Proceeds toscholarships. Call 324-2432.

Thursday, May 22Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Coun-try Club. For more information, contactBeverly Cantu at 727-0589.

Foster Care Festival. 6 p.m. 1708Victoria St. Live music, face paintingand informational booths on local fos-ter care agencies. Free and open topublic. Contact Alexis Herrera at 727-8691 or alexis@vozdeninos.org.

Orthopedic clinic by Dr. Earl A.Stanley. During office hours. Ruthe B.Cowl Rehabilitation Center, 1220 N.Malinche Ave. Benefits children withcerebral palsy, club foot, scoliosis, spi-na befida and more. $5 processing fee.Patients must register at center beforeday of clinic. Contact 722-2431 or aria-namora@stx.rr.com.

Friday, May 23TAMIU Planetarium shows.

“Lamps of Atlantis” 6 p.m. and “Ex-treme Planets” 7 p.m. General admis-sion $4 children and $5 adults. Call326-3663.

Saturday, May 24TAMIU Planetarium shows. “The

Little Start that Could” 3 p.m.; “Force5: Nature Unleashed” 4 p.m.; and “An-cient Skies, Ancient Mysteries” 5 p.m.General admission $4 children and $5adults. Premium shows $1 more.

Monday, May 26Zapata County Commissioners

Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata CountyCourthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 765-9920.

Friday, May 30TAMIU Planetarium shows. “Star

Signs” 6 p.m. and “Live Star Show” 7p.m. General admission $4 childrenand $5 adults. Call 326-3663.

Saturday, May 31TAMIU Planetarium shows. “Se-

cret of the Cardboard Rocket” 3 p.m.;“The Future Is Wild” 4 p.m.; and “Sev-en Wonders” 5 p.m. General admission$4 children and $5 adults. Premiumshows $1 more. Call 326-3663.

Sunday, June 8Mexico Lindo 2014. 3 p.m. Laredo

Little Theatre. Gabriela Mendoza-GarciaBallet Folklorico to perform folkloricdances of Mexico. Children and adultcompany members to perform fromstates of Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Veracruzand Sinaloa. $10 admission adults and$5 children 12 and under. Tickets pur-chased at door or by calling 725-1832.

Monday, June 9Zapata County Commissioners

Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata CountyCourthouse. Call Roxy Elizondo at 765-9920.

Monday, June 23Zapata County Commissioners

Court meeting. 9 a.m. Zapata CountyCourthouse. Call 765-9920.

Wednesday, June 251964 Zapata High School Class

50th reunion. Dinner at The SteakHouse. Call Dora Martinez at 324-1226or Ninfa Gracia at 500-5219.

CALENDARTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, May 17,the 137th day of 2014. Thereare 228 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Su-preme Court, in Brown v.Board of Education of Topeka,unanimously struck down ra-cially segregated publicschools, ruling that “separateeducational facilities are in-herently unequal.”

On this date:In 1792, the New York Stock

Exchange had its origins as agroup of brokers met under atree on Wall Street.

In 1849, fire erupted in St.Louis, Missouri, resulting inthe loss of three lives, morethan 400 buildings and sometwo dozen steamships.

In 1933, U.S. News & WorldReport had its beginnings asDavid Lawrence began pub-lishing a weekly newspapercalled United States News.

In 1939, Britain’s KingGeorge VI and his wife, QueenElizabeth, arrived in Quebecon the first visit to Canada bya reigning British monarch.

In 1946, President Harry S.Truman seized control of thenation’s railroads, delaying —but not preventing — a threat-ened strike by engineers andtrainmen.

In 1961, Cuban leader FidelCastro offered to release pris-oners captured in the Bay ofPigs invasion in exchange for500 bulldozers. (The prisonerswere eventually freed in ex-change for medical supplies.)

In 1973, a special committeeconvened by the U.S. Senatebegan its televised hearings in-to the Watergate scandal.

In 1980, rioting that claimed18 lives erupted in Miami’sLiberty City after an all-whitejury in Tampa acquitted fourformer Miami police officersof fatally beating black insur-ance executive Arthur McDuf-fie.

In 1987, 37 American sailorswere killed when an Iraqi war-plane attacked the U.S. Navyfrigate Stark in the PersianGulf. (Iraq apologized for theattack, calling it a mistake,and paid more than $27 mil-lion in compensation.)

Ten years ago: Massachu-setts became the first state toallow legal same-sex marriag-es. Transsexuals were clearedto compete in the Olympics forthe first time.

Five years ago: PresidentBarack Obama strode head-oninto the stormy abortion de-bate, telling graduates at theUniversity of Notre Dame thatboth sides had to stop demon-izing one another.

One year ago: The oustedhead of the Internal RevenueService, Steven Miller, facedhours of intense grilling beforeCongress; both defiant andapologetic, Miller acknowl-edged agency mistakes in tar-geting tea party groups forspecial scrutiny when they ap-plied for tax-exempt status, butinsisted that agents broke nolaws and that there was no ef-fort to cover up their actions.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorBill Paxton is 59. Boxing Hall-of-Famer Sugar Ray Leonardis 58. Actor-comedian Bob Sa-get is 58. Sports announcerJim Nantz is 55. Singer Enyais 53. Talk show host-actorCraig Ferguson is 52. Singer-musician Trent Reznor (NineInch Nails) is 49. Folk-rocksinger/songwriter Passengeris 30. Actor Tahj Mowry is 28.

Thought for Today: “Aburning purpose attracts oth-ers who are drawn along withit and help fulfill it.” — Marga-ret Bourke-White, Americanphotojournalist (1904-1971).

TODAY IN HISTORY

SAN DIEGO — With evacuation orders be-ing lifted Friday, investigators worked to de-termine whether an unusually early and in-tense outbreak of wildfires in Southern Cali-fornia this week was ignited by somethingas ordinary as sparks from cars or some-thing as sinister as an arsonist.

State fire officials said the first of at least10 blazes that broke out between Tuesdayand Thursday was found to have beencaused by a spark from malfunctioning con-struction equipment.

But it could take months to get to the bot-tom of the rest of the fires.

“We are not ruling out anything,” San Die-go County Sheriff Bill Gore said.

All together, the fires burned throughmore than 10,000 acres in the San Diego ar-

ea, killing one person and causing morethan $20 million in damage.

Six of the fires popped up within hours onWednesday — raising suspicions that somehad been set.

The region has become a tinder box in re-cent days because of conditions not normallyseen until late summer. On Friday, though,cooler weather aided firefighters, and thou-sands of people began returning home.

In one of the hardest-hit cities, Carlsbad,investigators finished examining the burnsite across the street from a park and fo-cused on interviewing people who called ahotline set up to report suspicious activity.

“Do people have suspicions? Yes,” said po-lice Capt. Neil Gallucci, noting there hasbeen no lightning that could explain theblazes. “But can we confirm them? The an-swer is no.”

AROUND THE NATION

Houses sit untouched above a canyon ravaged by wildfire Friday in Carlsbad, Calif. Some evacuation orders were lifted earlyFriday in an area near the fiercest of several wildfires in San Diego County, as crews building containment lines around theblazes hoped cooler temperatures will help them make further progress.

Photo by Gregory Bull | AP

Arson eyed in wildfiresBy JULIE WATSON & ELLIOT SPAGAT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Police commissionerasked to quit over slurCONCORD, N.H. — Political

leaders in a New Hampshiretown have officially joined resi-dents in demanding the resigna-tion of a police commissionerwho uttered a racial slur aboutPresident Barack Obama.

Wolfeboro Town Manager Da-vid Owen posted a message Fri-day on the town’s website callingon Robert Copeland to resign thepost to which he was re-electedin March. In the post, Owen saidCopeland’s comments are “ap-palling” and called on him tosave the town further embarrass-ment.

Arkansas high courtsuspends marriage ruling

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkan-sas’ highest court has suspendeda judge’s ruling striking downthe state’s same-sex marriageban, halting the distribution oflicenses that have been issued tohundreds of gay couples.

The state Supreme Court onFriday granted a request to sus-pend Pulaski County CircuitJudge Chris Piazza’s decisionvoiding a 2004 constitutionalamendment defining marriageas between a man and a woman.Piazza last week struck down theban, but expanded that ruling onThursday to include all statelaws preventing gay couplesfrom marrying.

California fire chiefarrested in stabbing death

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Aformer California fire battalionchief who eluded authorities formore than two weeks has beenarrested in the stabbing death ofhis girlfriend, Sacramento Coun-ty Sheriff ’s Sgt. Lisa Bowmansaid in a statement Friday.

She could not immediatelyprovide additional informationon the arrest of Orville “Moe”Fleming.

Fleming had been wantedsince the body of 26-year-old Sa-rah June Douglas was foundMay 1 inside the south Sacra-

mento home they had shared forthe past two years.

Rural county, feds lockedin water-rights disputeWEED, N.M. — The latest dis-

pute over federal control of landand water in the West has erupt-ed along the banks of the AguaChiquita, a small spring-fedstream in the mountains ofsouthern New Mexico where thefederal government has installedmetal fences and locked gates tokeep cattle out.

The move has enraged one ru-ral county, where the sheriff hasbeen ordered by the county com-mission to cut the locks.

The U.S. attorney for the dis-trict of New Mexico hoped ameeting Friday would ease ten-sions enough to avoid an escala-tion like the armed standoff lastmonth over grazing rights in Ne-vada.

Otero County CommissionerRonny Rardin said after themeeting that the dispute was farfrom over.

— Compiled from AP reports

Turkish firm, govt denynegligence in mine fireSOMA, Turkey — The Turk-

ish government and mining com-pany officials vehemently deniedFriday that negligence was at theroot of the country’s worstmining disaster.

Energy Minister Taner Yildizsaid at least 292 people died inTuesday’s coal mine fire in So-ma, a town in western Turkey.Another nine or ten people arebelieved to be missing under-ground while 485 miners escapedor were rescued from the infer-no.

Protesting workers have de-scribed the Soma disaster asmurder, not an accident, becauseof what they call flawed safetyconditions at that mine and oth-ers in the country. Police usedtear gas and water cannon Fri-day to disperse rock-throwingprotesters in Soma.

The government has asked fora parliamentary inquiry into the

disaster to find out what hap-pened and why — but it ap-peared that officials had alreadymade up their minds Friday.

“There’s no negligence withrespect to this incident,” insistedHuseyin Celik, a deputy leader ofthe ruling party.

He said the mine in Soma“was inspected vigorously 11times since 2009.”

“Let’s learn from this painand rectify our mistakes,” hesaid. “(But) this is not the timeto look for a scapegoat.”

— Compiled from AP reporters

AROUND THE WORLD

Anti-government protesters chant slogans on a monument for the town’s miners,during a march Friday in Soma, Turkey where the mine accident took place. Hun-dreds of protesters took part in the march against the government.

Photo by Lefteris Pitarakis | AP

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SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014 Zlocal PAGE 3A

Longtime partners H-E-Band the South Texas FoodBank are once again teamingup for the 11th annual HelpEnd Hunger Tear Pad cam-paign, which is currently un-derway at all H-E-B stores.

The Texas-based grocerychain is collecting donationsfrom customers at cashiers’checkout stands. Patronshave the option of tearing offthe donor card in theamounts of $1, $3 and $5.

The campaign runs untilJune 25. All donations willbenefit the South Texas FoodBank’s hunger programs andthe more than 80 food pan-tries stocked by the foodbank in Zapata and neighbor-ing counties.

“H-E-B has been our No. 1corporate sponsor,” said Al-fonso Casso Jr., the foodbank’s executive director.“Through the years, thesetear pads have meant thou-sands of dollars to help usfeed the hungry.”

All Zapata and Laredo H-

E-B stores are taking contri-butions, including those inthe food bank’s service areaof Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Carri-zo Springs and Rio GrandeCity.

“H.E.B. is happy to helpand continue to be a strongcommunity partner, especial-ly in the area of feeding hun-gry people,” said DouglasGonzalez, H-E-B Laredo’s re-gional manager. “We’ve beeninvolved with the South Tex-as Food Bank for a very longtime. We thank our custom-ers for their support.”

Because of its affiliationwith Feeding America andthe Texas Food Bank Net-work, the food bank convertsevery dollar donated intoeight meals, 10 pounds offood or $17 worth of grocer-ies.

For more informationabout the Help End HungerTear Pad campaign, emailCasso at acasso@southtexas-foodbank.org; or food bankChief Development OfficerCindy Liendo at clien-do@southtexasoodbank.org.

Hunger campaignbegins at H-E-Bs

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Art connoisseurs, music fansand entertainment seekers alikewill be treated to the biggest cele-bration this side of the RioGrande as local artists showcasetheir works in film, music, thea-ter, visual arts and dance duringthe first-ever Rio Grande ArtsFestival.

The two-day event, presentedby Laredo Community College,will be held Friday, May 23, from2 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturday,May 24, from noon to 8 p.m., at

the parking lots near the new Vi-sual and Performing Arts Centerand the Guadalupe and LiliaMartinez Fine Arts Center at theFort McIntosh campus.

Admission to the festival isfree and open to the public.

The festival will feature localtalent competing in songwriting,playwriting, live theater andshort films, as well as a battle-of-the-bands contest.

There also will be performanc-es in flamenco and traditionaldance, mariachi, chamber music,ballet, belly dancing, poetry slam,

Spanish poetry recitations, jazzmusic and much more.

Vendors will sell arts andcrafts, food and beverages.

LCC theater director and eventorganizer William Hausermansaid the festival will have some-thing for everyone.

“Not only is the public invitedto enjoy some great live perform-ances, but they can also attend aseries of workshops where theycan hone their skills in dance,music, theater, filmmaking andmore,” said Hauserman, whoadded that the workshops also

tival is to motivate the local artcommunity to create new andbetter material,” Hausermansaid. “The playwrights, filmmak-ers and songwriters of our cityreally need a platform to growand be recognized as true art-ists.”

The event will close with anawards ceremony for all the fes-tival entries at 7 p.m. Saturday inthe Guadalupe and Lilia Marti-nez Fine Arts Theater.

For more information aboutthe festival, call the MartinezFine Arts Center at 721-5334.

are free to the public.Nixon High School students

will present a Shakespeare me-dley, which includes excerptsfrom their UIL award-winningone act play, “Twelfth Night.”

On Friday, the Cactus CountryBand, popular in South Texasand the Hill Country, will per-form from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. On Sat-urday, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., sixlocal bands will duke it out onthe stage as they compete forcash prizes during the Battle ofthe Bands contest.

“One of our goals with this fes-

First year for Rio Grande Arts FestivalSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Graduates at today’s TAMIUspring commencement might no-tice a new addition to the ceremo-ny: a selfie wall.

More than 580 candidates willgraduate Saturday during the cer-emonies, which will be held from7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The selfie wall will be placedbetween Dr. F.M. Canseco Hall andAnthony J. and Georgia Pellegri-no Hall, as graduates are liningup.

“With selfies prevalent today,especially at special occasions, theTAMIU Office of Public Relations,Marketing and Information Ser-vices will provide a backdropwith ‘TAMIU’ displayed on it for

graduates, their friends and fam-ily to take photos to celebratetheir graduation from TAMIU,” anews release states.

Students are asked to sharetheir selfies with the hashtags#tamiugrad and #tamiu2014 onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram.

( Cristina Herrera may bereached at 728-2557 or cherre-ra@lmtonline.com)

Despite a power outage, the TAMIU 2013 Spring Commencement Exercises continue at the university’s gym. This year gradu-ates will be greeted by a “selfie wall” outside.

File photo by Times staff

Graduation to have ‘selfie wall’By CRISTINA HERRERA

THE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

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

AUSTIN — The historyis troubling. The trendunsettling. There’s dis-agreement on cause, but— regardless of the rea-son why it has happened— there is consensus thattoo many African-Ameri-can males have been shotby Austin cops.

But none of that hasanything to do with Texasv. Charles Kleinert, thecase against the now-re-tired cop indicted thisweek on a manslaughtercharge for the July 2013shooting death of LarryEugene Jackson Jr.

“This is a very, very bigmoment in the history ofthis town,” said lawyerAdam Loewy, who repre-sents Jackson’s parents ina civil suit stemmingfrom the shooting.

Given the history, Loe-wy is correct, and the po-tential ramifications arealso very, very big. But, inan odd and very impor-tant way, Texas v. Kleinertis unrelated to the othershootings of its type.

“This man CharlesKleinert committed acriminal act,” Loewy saidMonday. “We were sayingthat since day one, andwith this indictment thisconfirms this was a crim-inal act.”

An indictment does notconfirm a criminal act. Italleges one, based onlargely one-sided testimo-ny — the prosecution’sside — to grand jurors.

“We look forward tothe day that we get to par-ticipate in the proceed-ings,” said Randy Leavitt,Kleinert’s lawyer. “I’m notgoing to let Trey Kleinertgo to jail for doing his jobin protecting the citizensof Austin, Texas.”

That last sentence isthe heart of this case. Tes-timony might bring intofocus the dangerous follyof fleeing from police, asJackson, who had servedtime for forgery, was do-ing after trying to enter aclosed bank. Police havesaid Jackson might haveintended to pass a forgedcheck. The testimony alsomight bring into questionwhether deadly force, ac-cidental or otherwise, wasappropriate.

The case deserves averdict, based on the evi-dence, delivered by fair-minded jurors who canleave their biases — andtheir feelings about theother shootings — outsidethe courtroom.

It’s a tall, importanttask.

“This is a recurringpattern,” Nelson Linder,president of the AustinNAACP, said of Austin po-lice officers shootingblack men. “We need toprotect human beings, notuse force in a reckless

manner.”True enough, but oddly

irrelevant in Texas v.Kleinert. Both parties inthis case — the state andKleinert — are entitled toa trial in a vacuum, de-void of the history of any-thing that happened inany of the other 25 policeshootings that have goneto local grand juries inthe past five years.

Nothing about any ofthose other shootings willbe allowed as evidence atthe Kleinert criminaltrial, where all that willmatter is this indictmentand the very specific cir-cumstances it states.

Kleinert, it says, “didthen and there recklesslycause the death of LarryJackson by striking andby attempting to strikeLarry Jackson with thedefendant’s hand whileholding a loaded firearm,and by attempting to seizeand physically controlLarry Jackson withoutmaintaining a distancebetween himself and Lar-ry Jackson that was suffi-cient to enable the defend-ant to holster his firearm,thereby creating a sub-stantial and unjustifiablerisk that the firearmwould discharge into Lar-ry Jackson’s body, therebydischarging the firearminto Larry Jackson’s body,thereby causing the deathof Larry Jackson, againstthe peace and dignity ofthe state.”

The Austin American-Statesman has reportedKleinert told investigatorshe unintentionally firedthe shot during his pur-suit of what he believed tobe a fleeing criminal, or,as his lawyer put it, “do-ing his job in protectingthe citizens of Austin,Texas.”

Silver-badged hero orcold-blooded killer? Com-mendation or conviction?Praise or prison?

The manslaughter stat-ute under which Kleinertwill be tried says, “A per-son commits an offense ifhe recklessly causes thedeath of an individual.“I’m oversimplifying here,but that’s all prosecutorshave to prove. They don’thave to show intent,merely that Kleinert reck-lessly caused Jackson’sdeath. Can a cop be guiltyof this during a lawfulpursuit? Was this a lawfulpursuit?

Would you want to be ajuror facing that questionand passing judgment onwhether Kleinert shouldface up to 20 years in pris-on?

COLUMN

Race doesn’tbelong incop’s trial

“KEN HERMANThe casedeserves averdictdelivered byfair-mindedjurors …

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

To be published, let-ters must include thewriter’s first and lastnames as well as aphone number to verifyidentity. The phonenumber IS NOT publish-ed; it is used solely toverify identity and toclarify content, if neces-sary. Identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

We want to assure

our readers that a letteris written by the personwho signs the letter. TheZapata Times does notallow the use of pseudo-nyms.

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-calling or gratuitousabuse is allowed.

Via e-mail, send let-ters to editorial@lmton-line.com or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Lare-do, TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY DOONESBURY CLASSICS (1973) | GARRY TRUDEAU

The problem of waste dis-posal for the nation’s 100 nu-clear reactors has plaguedthe nuclear industry formore than six decades. TheObama administration hada commission look into howto get a high-level radioac-tive waste disposal develop-ment moving. Maybe ithopes to spur new reactorlicensing or to boost nuclearindustry efforts to get multi-billion dollar taxpayer sub-sidies for reactors that pri-vate investors won’t fund.

Regardless of what theadministration wants, moststates will fight hardagainst becoming a radioac-tive waste dumping ground.In 1983, opposition haltedconsideration of disposalsites in Washington, Utah,Texas, Louisiana and Mis-sissippi.

Texas’ Deaf Smith Coun-ty was in the running, butopponents raised concernsabout risks to the OgallalaAquifer. The decision in2002 to locate a repository atYucca Mountain in Nevadawas based on politics andfaulty science — $15 billionspent before developmentwas halted eight years later.

Look out, Texas! The De-partment of Energy is look-ing for a state that might beduped into believing thatimporting dangerous radio-active waste is a good idea.Better yet if that state wouldactually volunteer. Our gov-ernor and some legislatorsseem to be taking the bait.Only political greed overrid-ing common sense could ac-count for consideration ofan idea this stupid and dan-gerous.

Gov. Rick Perry was ex-cited when he announcedthe possibility of bringingin high-level radioactivewaste, as if he were offeringa great gift. Wow, just howlucky can one state be?

He proclaimed the highlikelihood of finding a suit-able West Texas site. I can’thelp but think of my catproudly dropping a mousehe’d killed on the backporch. It’s hard to be im-pressed and the stench is

awful.Speaker of the House Joe

Straus is in motion, too. Heasked a House committee tostudy the “benefits” of stor-ing or disposing of high-lev-el radioactive waste, and the“potential economic im-pact,” but seemingly failedto require any analysis ofhealth, safety, environmen-tal or financial risks.

His office says it will con-sider environmental con-cerns, but the second sen-tence of that charge reads:“Make specific recommen-dations on the state and fed-eral actions necessary topermit a high-level radioac-tive waste disposal or inter-im storage facility in Texas”— reading as if the permit-ting is the chief goal here.

These leaders should firstlearn about the very realrisks of radiation to all liv-ing things, even from low-dose exposures. Cancer,birth defects, mutations, ra-diation sickness and deathcan occur depending on thelevel and type of radiationexposure.

High-level radioactivewaste basically means spentnuclear reactor fuel rods,which contain highly radio-active plutonium, cesium,strontium, and iodine-129.Many radionuclides inspent fuel have long half-lives; they’re dangerous to-day and remain so for hun-dreds of thousands of years.Breathing in plutonium par-ticles in dust is especiallydangerous, since it canmove from lungs into thebloodstream, bones and or-gans, remaining in the bodyand increasing cancer risks.

Gov. Perry had a new re-port from the Texas Com-mission on EnvironmentalQuality in hand as he an-nounced his desire to im-port more radioactive waste.Surprisingly, it raises signif-icant concerns such as thefact that without shielding,humans would die from ex-posure to high-level radioac-tive waste.

It states: “Even 10 yearsafter being removed fromthe reactor core, the radi-ation field at one meteraway from SNF (spent nu-clear fuel) would be over

20,000 rem/hour … a dose of5,000 rem would incapaci-tate a person immediatelyand cause the person’sdeath within one week.”

And do we really wantsuch deadly materials goingdown highways such as In-terstate 10 and Interstate 35,regardless of how supposed-ly safe the containers are?

Think transportation ac-cidents, tornadoes, earth-quakes, floods and wildfires,all of which happen in Tex-as. The TCEQ report ac-knowledges that if pelletsinside of spent fuel were tobecome aerosolized and dis-persed, “environmentaldamage” could occur.

You’ll probably soon hearassurances about accidentand cancer risks being solow that we shouldn’t worry.Risk assessments based oncreative math may be pro-vided, but it’s the unfore-seen, unpredictable factorsthat often lead to disaster,things no one ever thoughtabout. Legislators shouldtake time to consider allreal-life risks, especiallysince federal and state agen-cies don’t always do theirjob in protecting workersand the public from radioac-tive risks.

The Waste Isolation PilotProject, or WIPP, near Carls-bad, New Mexico, had re-cently been considered as apossible site for high-levelwaste disposal. It’s the na-tion’s only geologic reposito-ry. Plutonium from nuclearweapons waste is buriedhalf a mile underground,where it’s supposed to re-main isolated for 10,000years. It’s been less than 15years since waste disposalbegan, but serious problemshave already arisen.

In February, workers hadto be evacuated when anunderground truck caughtfire. Safety systems failed,almost everything wentwrong and 13 workers weretreated for smoke inhala-tion.

Then nine days later, plu-tonium and americiumleaked from the site. Radio-active contamination wasdetected 26 miles away and21 workers were exposed toradiation. Waste may have

exploded due to a chemicalreaction. Poor oversight andan eroding safety cultureare being blamed for thesite’s problems, and theWIPP site may remainclosed for three years.

Waste Control Specialistsoperates a “low-level” radio-active waste dump in An-drews County, Texas, next tothe New Mexico state line.It is a likely candidate inthe running for storage anddisposal of high-level wastein Texas.

Wildfires pushed by highwinds have ripped throughthe county in recent years,burning thousands of acres.The WCS site was licensedover objections of environ-mental agency scientistswith concerns aboutgroundwater contamina-tion.

The company seeks toerode safety requirementsthrough license amend-ments while expanding itsradioactive waste empire.According to the New YorkTimes, a WCS spokespersonsaid that the company ex-pected to reap $15 billion inprofits, but Texans shouldexpect to bear the brunt fi-nancially and environmen-tally if things go wrong.

Risks can be reduced bymoving cooled spent fuelrods into dry casks, whichare allowed to remain at thereactor site for 60 years af-ter it closes. These caskscan be stored in hardenedconfigurations to minimizedamage in case of a terror-ist attack.

Legislators should re-spect Texas and our land.It’s wrong to treat Texas asa nuclear dumping ground;wrong to consider our de-serts a wasteland; andwrong to risk our water. It’swrong to put our health,safety and economic wellbeing at risk from radioac-tive waste, especially wastewe didn’t even generate.

No thinking Texan wantsthe increased risks fromdeadly high-level waste.

Tell Speaker Straus totake a principled stand toprotect Texas and keep ourstate from becoming the na-tion’s high-level radioactivewaste dumping ground.

COLUMN

Texas nuclear waste bad ideaBy KAREN HADDEN

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014 Crime and more THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

ASSAULTJorge Luis Prezas Jr. was

arrested and charged with assaultat First Avenue and Costa Rita Stre-et.

Christopher Daniel Lindsaywas arrested and charged with ag-gravated assault with a motor vehi-cle May 8 in the intersection ofBetty and Monterrey lanes.

Antonio Uvalle-Guzman wasarrested and charged with assault,family violence May 10 in the 200block of Carla Street.

Jose Eliseo Martinez wasarrested and charged with assault,family violence May 11 in the 100block of Evergreen Avenue.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEFMaria Isabel Reyes was arres-

ted and charged with criminal mis-chief May 10 in the 1500 block ofJackson Street.

CRIMINAL TRESPASSBobby Joe Green was arres-

ted and charged with criminal tres-pass May 7 at the intersection of25th Avenue and Carla Street.

DUI/DWIMiguel Delgado-Telles was

arrested and charged with drivingwhile intoxicated May 9 in the inter-section of U.S. 83 and Senisa Drive.

Carlos Alberto Guerra wasarrested and charged with drivingunder the influence May 10 in theintersection of U.S. 83 and 21stStreet.

Roberto Luna Jr. was arrestedand charged with driving under theinfluence May 11 in the intersectionof Texas 16 and Alamo Street.

Rolando Lopez was arrestedand charged with driving while into-xicated May 11 in the intersectionof Texas 16 and Alamo Street.

HUMAN SMUGGLINGDamian Aviles-Maldonado was

arrested and charged with smug-gling of persons May 7 at Tigre Is-land in Zapata County.

POSSESSIONCynthia Martinez was served

with a capias for possession of ma-rijuana May 7 in the 1800 block ofLa Paloma Drive.

Amador Jay Salinas was

arrested and charged with posses-sion of drug paraphernalia May 8 inthe intersection of 13th Street andGuerrero Avenue.

Juan Jose Navarro Jr. wasarrested and charged with posses-sion of marijuana May 9 along U.S.83. in Zapata County

PUBLIC INTOXICATIONMaria Melecia Herrera was

arrested and charged with public in-toxication May 9 in the intersectionof Seventh Street and Zapata Bou-levard.

Rolando Eduardo Sanchezwas arrested and charged with pu-blic intoxication May 11 in the inter-section of Seventh Street and DiazAvenue.

RECKLESS DRIVINGVictor Javier Ledesma was

arrested and charged with recklessdriving May 10 in the intersectionof 16th Street and Zapata Boule-vard.

Rodrigo Pruneda was arrestedand charged with reckless drivingMay 12 about 5 miles north of Chi-huahua in Zapata County.

THE BLOTTER

Federal agents have ar-rested a man accused of re-entering the country afterbeing deported nearly twoyears ago.

A criminal complaint fil-ed Monday states that Vic-tor Antonio Zuñiga-Arre-guin was apprehended nearZapata on May 10. U.S. Bor-

der Patrol agents deter-mined that he was an ille-gal immigrant from Mexi-co following a briefinterview, according tocourt records.

An investigation re-vealed that Zuñiga-Arre-guin had been previouslyremoved from the UnitedStates on Oct. 9 in El Paso.Zuñiga-Arreguin did notapply to receive permission

to re-enter the country,court records show.

A $75,000 bond was setfor Zuñiga-Arreguin. Hispreliminary hearing is setbefore U.S. MagistrateJudge J. Scott Hacker at 10a.m. May 23 in Courtroom2C of the U.S. Courthousein Laredo.

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

Agents arrest manpreviously deported

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

A Mexican national hasbeen indicted for allegedlyre-entering the country af-ter being deported lastyear, according to courtrecords obtained thisweek.

Jose Angel Ramirez-Sa-maniego was chargedwith illegal entry after de-portation, according tothe indictment filed Tues-

day. He could face up to 20years in prison if he’sfound guilty, court recordsstate.

Ramirez-Samaniegowas detained in San Ygna-cio on April 22. After abrief interview, it was de-termined that he was anundocumented immigrantfrom Mexico. Further in-vestigation revealed Rami-rez-Samaniego had beenpreviously removed fromthe country Oct. 31 in La-

redo.No records exist that

Ramirez-Samaniego ap-plied to receive permis-sion to re-enter the UnitedStates. He has a $75,000bond. His arraignment isset before U.S. MagistrateJudge J. Scott Hacker at11 a.m. May 22 in Court-room 2C of the U.S. Court-house in Laredo.

(César G. Rodriguezmay be reached at 728-2568or cesar@lmtonline.com)

Man indicted for re-entryBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Officials from ZapataCounty IndependentSchool District confirmedthat a fight occurred onthe grounds of ZapataHigh School earlier thismonth.

The assault occurred at10:35 a.m. May 6, accord-ing to police reports. Twostudents were allegedly in-volved in the altercation.

Sgt. Tony Elizondo, Za-pata County Sheriff ’s Of-fice supervisor/terminal

agency coordinator, saidno calls were placed to thesheriff ’s office. The stu-dents were sent to theprincipal’s office and metwith a deputy assigned tothe school.

No serious injurieswere reported, accordingto the police report.

The alleged offenderwas referred to probationthrough the juvenile courtand charged with Class Amisdemeanor assault.

“The district appropri-ately investigated the inci-dent and the required law

enforcement measureswere taken,” said RogelioGonzalez, ZCISD schoolsafety coordinator.

The district added thatstudent safety is a priorityand the county complieswith the student code ofconduct for all disciplin-ary issues. The district re-fused to further commenton the incident “due tothe privacy of students,”Gonzalez wrote in anemail.

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

2 high school studentsinvolved in altercation

By JUDITH RAYOTHE ZAPATA TIMES

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES State SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

LA JOYA — A South Tex-as justice of the peace saysone woman has died andseveral others have been in-jured severely in the crashof a vehicle pursued by po-lice near the Texas-Mexicoborder.

Hidalgo County Justice ofthe Peace Ismael Ochoa

says an unidentified femalepassenger inside the sportutility vehicle died in therollover crash Friday. Hesaid La Joya police werepursuing the vehicle, whichthey estimated held about15 people, when it crashed.

La Joya police declinedcomment. The Border Pa-trol was assisting thesearch.

Groups of immigrantsare picked up regularlynear the Rio Grande andtransported to stash houses,where they’re held beforetheir release for the journeynorth.

Police chases of vehiclesoverloaded with people of-ten steered by young, inex-perienced drivers often endfatally.

1 dead in pursuitASSOCIATED PRESS

EL PASO — The bodyguard of a now-deceased Mexican drug cartel boss haspleaded guilty in a West Texas federalcourt to murder and drug trafficking.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Rigo-berto Ruiz-Alatorre entered the plea onthe third day of his trial in El Paso.

Ruiz-Alatorre admitted to murderingFermin Rodriguez-Gonzalez in July 2006,a former associate who had decided tostart his own trafficking enterprise.

Prosecutors say Ruiz-Alatorre fearedthat Rodriguez-Gonzalez would becaught and start cooperating with au-thorities.

Ruiz-Alatorre provided security forGabino Salas-Valenciano, reputed boss ofthe Sinaloa cartel in Ciudad Juarez,Mexico. Mexican soldiers killed Salas-Valenciano last year.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’sOffice says Ruiz-Alatorre faces up to 28years in federal prison. A call to his at-torney’s office was not returned.

Bodyguard of cartelboss guilty of murder

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEST — Brian Renegarsaw emergency crews fight-ing a blaze consuming hissmall Texas town’s sprawl-ing fertilizer plant. The for-mer plant employee racedto the scene and warnedthe fire chief to get every-one out.

“(It’s) gonna blow,” Rene-gar, also a volunteer fire-fighter, told the chief as hedrove by the scene in West.Minutes earlier, he urgedanother firefighter to evac-uate to at least a half mileaway.

The West fire chief is-sued no such order afterhearing from another fire-fighter that the massiveamounts of ammonium ni-trate stored at the plantwould likely not explode.

But minutes later, it did

— killing 15 people, includ-ing 12 responding to thefire, and leveling West Fer-tilizer Co. along with near-by homes and schools.

The narrative of thoseminutes leading up to theApril 2013 explosion wasincluded in a report re-leased Thursday night bythe Texas State Fire Mar-shal’s Office that concludedfirefighters weren’t pre-pared for the dangers of theblaze.

BlameThe report also conclud-

ed that firefighters weren’tto blame and were victimsof a “systemic deficiency intraining and preparation”for a fire that was too bigfor them to fight.

“It’s very hard becausemy husband walked out of

the door for a fire call andnever came back,” CarmenBridges, the widow of fire-fighter Morris Bridges,said after a town meetingwhere victims’ relativesand neighbors were giventhe report. “And it couldhave been prevented.”

The report also renewedcalls for action to betterprepare first responders.

“The lack of adherenceto nationally recognizedconsensus standards andsafety practices for the firedepartment exposed fire-fighters to excessive risksand failed to remove themfrom a critically dangeroussituation,” the report said.

Investigators concludedthat firefighters’ waterdidn’t cause the explosion,noting they were trying tostop a blaze “significantlybeyond the extinguishmentphase.”

West: Crews unpreparedBy NOMAAN MERCHANT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ZAPATA05/17— La Clase 1964 de

Zapata High School se reunirápara celebrar los 50 años dehaber graduado el miércoles25 de junio en el Steak Hou-se. Interesados en asistir a lacena pueden solicitar infor-mes con Dora Martínez al(956) 324-1226 o con NinfaGracia al (956) 500-5219.

LAREDO05/17— El Mercado Agrí-

cola El Centro de Laredo invi-ta al evento ‘Celebrando Ma-yo’ y ‘Concurso Receta de Ja-lapeño’, de 9 a.m. a 1 p.m. enPlaza Jarvis. Entrada gratuita.Estacionamiento gratuito en ElMetro Transit Center, 1301 Fa-rragut, con compra en el mer-cado.

05/17— SOCCER: Lare-do Heat recibe a HoustonDutch Lions a las 8 p.m. enel Complejo de Soccer de TA-MIU.

05/17— Liverpool Le-gends, quienes interpretan te-mas de The Beatles, se pre-sentarán en el Club Annex deLaredo Energy Arena, a las 8p.m. Costo: 45 dólares, en elpiso; y 30 dólares, resto.Compre su boleto en la taqui-lla del LEA.

05/17— La obra de teatro“Noises Off” de Michael Fraynse presenta a las 8 p.m. enLaredo Little Theater, 4802Thomas Ave. Para audienciamadura. Costo: 15 dólares.Otras presentaciones el 18 demayo a las 3 p.m.; y el 22 y23 de mayo a las 8 p.m.

05/19— Día de Deportes(Mes para Escuchar y HablarMejor) de 5 p.m. a 7 p.m. enSafari Kids Rehab, 2108 Chi-huahua Suite 1, 2, & 3. Losniños se divertirán mientrasaprenden. Actividades mejora-rán la memoria de los niños yaprenderán a obedecer direc-ciones. Evento gratuito.

05/20— Taller Mensualde Apoyo ante el Duelo, de 6p.m. a 7:30 p.m. en la Salade Conferencias de la Biblio-teca Pública de Laredo, 1120E. Calton Road.

05/20— “The Calling” (ElLlamado) es una serie decharlas sobre La Biblia que serealiza de 6:30 p.m. a 7:45p.m. en Laredo Church ofChrist Chapel, 1505 Calle delNorte, Suite 340. Lleve su Bi-blia.

05/21— El Gran Reto deSal, una clase semanal conenfoque del sodio en la dieta.Continúa a las 12 p.m. hoy, yel 28 de mayo. Las clases se-rán en inglés, y gratuitas enFirst United Methodist Church,1220 McClelland.

05/21— SOCCER: Lare-do Heat recibe a Midland/Odessa Sockers FC a las 8p.m. en el Complejo de Soc-cer de TAMIU.

05/22— Se realizará elFoster Care Festival a las 6p.m., en Caffe Dolce, 1708 ca-lle Victoria. Habrá música envivo, pinta caritas e informa-ción. Evento gratuito.

05/23— Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU invitaa “Lamps of Atlantis” a las 6p.m.; “Extreme Planets”, a las7 p.m. Costo: 4 dólares, ni-ños; y 5 dólares, adultos.

NUEVO LAREDO, MXa las 2 p.m. Eventos gra-

tuitos.05/17— Exposición Plásti-

ca alusiva a Cuco Sánchez, enla Galería de la Casa de laCultura a partir de las 12 p.m.Entrada gratis.

05/18— Grupo de TeatroLaberintus A.C. presenta “Invi-sible”, a las 12 p.m. en el Tea-tro del IMSS, entre Reynosa yBelden. Costo 20 pesos.

05/18— Programa “Do-mingo de Teatro Universitario”presenta “La Piedra de la Feli-cidad” en el teatro LucioBlanco en la Casa de la Cul-tura a las 5 p.m. Entrada li-bre.

05/18— Concierto “Tribu-to a Cuco Sánchez” en la Pla-za Hidalgo, a las 6 p.m. En-trada gratuita.

Agendaen Breve

Un hombre que esperaba un pa-go por 300 dólares por transportarocho inmigrantes sin documentoslegales para ingresar al país, en elCondado de Zapata fue acusado demanera formal en una corte fede-ral en Laredo.

Un gran jurado acusó a PedroHernández-Verastegui con cargospor conspiración para transportarpersonas sin documentos a Esta-dos Unidos, y transporte e intentode transporte de personas sin do-cumentos a cambio de un pago.

En caso de ser condenado, Her-nández-Verastegui podría enfren-tar hasta 10 años en prisión, se-

guidos de libertad condicional, se-ñala la querella presentada elmartes por la noche. La lectura decargos está programada para el 22de mayo.

Su arresto se remonta al 15 deabril. A las 10:15 p.m. la Oficinadel Alguacil del Condado de Webbcontactó a la Estación de PatrullaFronteriza de Zapata alegando unposible intento de tráfico de perso-nas. Registros de la corte aleganque el grupo de personas eran“(personas) sin documentos lega-les de ingreso al país, debido aque los individuos no poseían nin-gún documentos de identificacióny no hablaban inglés”.

Agentes de Patrulla Fronterizallegaron para encontrar a un ofi-

cial del alguacil con un vehículoChevrolet Venture con placas me-xicanas. El agente observó “a va-rios sujetos reposados unos sobreotros en el área de carga”, deacuerdo con documentos de lacorte. Los agentes determinaronque los ocho pasajeros se encon-traban en el país sin documentoslegales”.

Reportes indicaron que un ofi-cial vio un vehículo ChevroletVenture conducir de manera errá-tica cerca de calle Miraflores enZapata. Mientras el oficial se acer-caba al vehículo, aceleró con rum-bo al este sobre Texas 16. El ofi-cial logró la detención del vehícu-lo después de una cortapersecución, alegan los registros

de la corte. El oficial del alguacilentregó al conductor, Hernández–Verastegui, a las autoridades fe-derales.

En un interrogatorio despuésdel arresto, Hernández –Veraste-gui señaló que había entrado alpaís de manera ilegal el 13 deabril. Se hospedó en Roma Inn enRoma, Texas. Entonces, Hernán-dez –Verastegui acordó con unhombre llamado Juan, de MiguelAlemán, Tamaulipas, transportara los inmigrantes a Zapata. Comoparte del acuerdo, se le pagarían300 dólares por el intento de con-trabando.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguezen 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonli-ne.com)

CORTE

Fijan cargosPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 17 DE MAYO DE 2014

Tres personas muertas y16 lesionadas es el saldoque dejara una explosión yderrumbe de uno de lossectores de la Plaza Comer-cial Valle del Vergel enReynosa, México, informóel Gobierno de Tamaulipasen un comunicado de pren-sa.

Las personas fallecidasfueron identificadas comoAlan Alanís Barbosa, de 25años de edad; Ada LizethSilva Torres, cuya edad nofue dada a conocer; y Sigi-fredo Hernández Torres, de43.

Silva Torres era emplea-da de un negocio dentro dela plaza comercial; en tantoque Hernández Torres erapropietario de un consulto-rio dental. Se cree que Ala-nís Barbosa era un clientedentro del edificio, se indi-ca en el comunicado.

Hasta el momento lasautoridades consideranque la explosión se derivóa un acumulamiento degas.

En relación a los 16 le-sionados, 14 están siendoatendidos en el hospital delInstituto Mexicano del Se-guro Social y fueron identi-ficados como Seidy Her-nández Hernández, JoséGuadalupe Tirado Rodrí-guez, Gloria Rodríguez Ri-vera, Antonio Robledo Es-cobar, Alberto Torres Rive-ra, Israel Martínez, DilanMartínez, de 6 meses deedad; Lucila Morales Gar-cía, Cindy Caballero Pare-des, Miercha Diepra Agui-lar, Alberto RodríguezAvendaño, Antonia Rodrí-guez Cruz, Mario MendozaTorres; y, Alejandro SotoMartínez.

Dos lesionados más seencuentran en observaciónmédica en el Hospital LasFlores y sus nombres nofueron dados a conocer porlas autoridades.

El Coordinador Generalde Protección Civil de Ta-maulipas, Medardo Sán-chez Albarrán, dijo que laexplosión ocurrió el juevesa las 12:42 p.m. en la plazaque se ubica en BulevarHidalgo y Avenida del Ver-gel.

En el ala donde ocurrióel incidente operaban apro-ximadamente 11 locales co-merciales, entre ellos elconsultorio de HernándezTorres, un restaurante decomida china, un negocioespecializado en climas yotros más de giros varia-dos, indicó Sánchez. Tam-bién resultaron afectadosunos 15 vehículos debido alefecto de la explosión.

REYNOSA

Hechodejatres

muertesResultan heridas

16 personasTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Higinio Tanguma ha ob-tenido el título de precur-sor de la Revolución Mexi-cana en Tamaulipas, a pe-sar de ser reconocido enpocos lugares. Pero eltriunfo de las causas jus-tas nunca olvida a los for-jadores. Conozcamos de él.

UmbralesHiginio es hijo de un in-

migrante coreano que es-tuvo a punto de ahogarseen el Golfo de México.

Pasó el tiempo hasta losalbores del siglo XX. Higi-nio comienza una vida enAltamira, donde trabajóen las salinas de Loma delReal. Este trabajo mal re-tribuido, provocan que co-labore con el Partido Libe-ral (PL).

El PL intenta en 1906derrocar a Porfirio Díaz.Malogrados estos prepara-tivos, llegan los arrestos.

Tras la tentativa insu-

rreccional de 1908, y fres-ca la visita de Francisco I.Madero a Tampico, Ta-maulipas en agosto de1909 las mazmorras porte-ñas reciben a Higinio, dedonde se escapó sin pur-gar condena. Fugitivo, sus-crito a causas prohibidas,traspone los umbrales queestá llamado a recorrer.

NeutralidadEn noviembre de 1910 la

Revolución Mexicana esta-lla. La dictadura porfiria-na resiste. Políticos delNoreste extremo permane-cen fieles al viejo orden.“Es necesario que comien-ce… a operar en Tamauli-pas, porque por ahí no haynada”, escribe Flores Ma-gón en 1911.

Entonces Tanguma de-cide hacer frente a la in-justicia rural.

El día 15 de febrero de1911, aparecen sus “Ins-trucciones a mis gruposparticulares en México”.Impreso en Texas y con

apenas 50 voluntarios, or-dena el pronunciamiento,“si no es que se tenga laseguridad de vencer” e“internarse en la sierra”rápido. Un suceso inespe-rado echa todo a perder.Un agente del vetusto dic-tador comunica que auto-ridades tejanas detienen al“cabecilla Tanguma”, acu-sándolo de violar normasde neutralidad.

CuestasEl antiguo orden cae.

Madero asume la presi-dencia de México en 1911.Flores Magón lanza laconsigna “Viva tierra y li-bertad”. De vuelta en Ta-maulipas, Higinio abordael lema con una banderaroja. Enarbolándola, se le-

vanta en armas en Alda-ma, Tamaulipeco.

Estremece Tamaulipasen 1912. Encabezados porBartolo Rodríguez, en tex-to que redactan el 18 demarzo los hacendados exi-gen restablecer “la mismatranquilidad y orden” deantaño. Madero accede. Envez de ir al fondo del pro-blema —la pobreza campe-sina—, dispone con efecti-vos militares feroz exter-minio.

Afirman que lo traicio-nan. Francisco RamosAguirre, un biógrafo, sos-tiene que Tanguma caeabatido en la municipali-dad de Casas. El 23 deabril de 1912 muere en re-beldía.

(Cortesía de Raúl Sineciopublicado en “La Razón”,de Tampico, Tamaulipas)

COLUMNA

Detallan historia de precursorPOR RAUL SINENCIO

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA Higinio Tanguma comenzaría conmovimiento revolucionario enEstado de Tamaulipas.

CULTURA

DEVELAN BUSTO

Mary Jo Brenner admira el recién descubierto busto de bronce en memoria de Samuel N. ‘Sammy’ Johnson III, el jueves por la tarde,en la entrada del Laredo Little Theatre. Johnson nació en 1927 y falleció el 28 de febrero del presente año.

Foto por Victor Strife | The Zapata Times

MÉXICO — Autoridades mexica-nas arrestaron a un hombre sospe-choso de ser el principal traficantede personas del cártel de Los Ze-tas, dijo el jueves un funcionariode alto nivel en México.

Fernando Martínez Magaña, de42 años, está acusado de coordinarel tráfico de migrantes mexicanosy centroamericanos hacia EstadosUnidos desde su base en Nuevo La-

redo, México, dijo el comisionadonacional de seguridad, Monte Ale-jandro Rubido.

Martínez Magaña fue arrestadoen Monterrey, México, a donde ha-bía huido cuando las autoridadescerraban el cerco a su alrededor,dijo Rubido. El originario de Nue-vo Laredo, de 42 años de edad, tam-bién es solicitado en Estados Uni-dos, donde los investigadores afir-man que su grupo criminalmantenía a docenas de inmi-

grantes en casas o departamentosen San Antonio. Martínez Magañatenía su base en Nuevo Laredo,desde donde se coordinaba paratraficar principalmente migrantescentroamericanos que se dirigíanhacia los EU.

El funcionario agregó que Mar-tínez Magaña había reemplazado aun líder de Los Zetas en Nuevo La-redo que fue arrestado en di-ciembre de 2011. El detenido se ha-cía llamar “Z16”.

MÉXICO

Arrestan a un presunto Zeta ASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

ers saying they makemore money on peoplethan on drugs.”

Martinez-Magana’ssmugglers, who packedlarge numbers of peopleinto stolen pickups tobring them to San Anto-nio, often put theircharges at risk, prosecu-tors alleged.

They forced immi-grants to hike throughthe South Texas brush inthe summer heat to cir-cumvent Border Patrolcheckpoints; put police,immigrants and bystan-ders at risk by fleeingfrom law enforcement;and physically abused

and threatened the peo-ple they were supposedto be smuggling.

The immigrants werewarehoused in San Anto-nio before being sent onto other cities, and they’dbe held here againsttheir will until their fam-ilies paid off smugglingfees, court records show.

As the Zetas have tak-en over smugglingroutes, they’ve made theprocess more risky, Peñasaid.

“The old traditioncoyote was an older per-son,” he said. “Backthen, it wasn’t that dan-gerous like it is now.”

ZETAS Continued from Page 1A

Dave Terre, chief ofManagement and Re-search of the Inland Fish-eries Division, said alliga-tor gar can grow between7- to 8-feet-long and weighup to 300 pounds. Theirlifespan is anywhere be-tween 50 and 100 years.They can spawn in floodconditions, but can alsosurvive droughts.

Falcon Lake’s fluctuat-ing water levels create aprime environment forthe alligator gar to live inand reproduce, while alsofeeding on bass, Terresaid.

Terre added that histeam has taken a “veryconservative approach”to combat the alligatorgar issue. In 2009, restric-tions were placed on theamount of alligator garanglers could harvest perday.

James Bendele, ownerof Falcon Lake Tackle,

spoke out against the re-strictions, citing thatthere was no need to re-strict the anglers.

“We should get [alliga-tor gar] under controllike rats or mice … noteradicate them,” Bendelesaid.

His main issue, howev-er, was the slow processTexas Parks and Wildlifehas done to deal with theissue.

“It’s going to take themanother year to get a sur-vey done,” Bendele said.

(Gabriela A. Treviñomay be reached at 956-728-2579 or gtrevi-no@lmtonline.com)

LAKE Continued from Page 1A

… the lake isprimeenvironmentfor the gar.

police.Inside the home, police

found a .45 caliber semi-automatic belonging tothe unnamed man, who isa registered concealedhandgun licensee.

Detectives questionedseveral people who wereinside the home at the

time of the shooting. In-vestigators are expectedto turn their findings into the District Attorney’sOffice for any applicablecharges.

( César G. Rodriguezmay be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmton-line.com)

DEATH Continued from Page 1A

AUSTIN — Several topaides to Texas Gov. RickPerry appeared Friday be-fore a grand jury investigat-ing whether the governorabused the powers of his of-fice with a 2013 veto.

Mike Morrissey, Perry’sdeputy chief of staff; KenArmbrister, legislative di-rector; Rich Parsons, a Per-ry spokesman; and MaryAnne Wiley, the governor’sgeneral counsel, declinedcomment on their way inand out of the grand juryroom.

Friday was the first timePerry’s staff has been seenentering the grand juryroom at the Travis Countycourthouse in relation tothe investigation. The panelis looking into whether Per-ry broke the law when hevowed to veto funding forthe office of Travis CountyDistrict Attorney RosemaryLehmberg’s anti-corruptionunit if the Democrat didn’tresign after a drunken driv-ing arrest.

Lehmberg refused to re-sign and Perry vetoed $7.5million. A political watch-dog group then filed a com-plaint alleging that Perrytried to coerce Lehmberg toleave office.

The probe could be aproblem for Perry, who isconsidering making another

run at the White House in2016. The longest servinggovernor in state history,Perry is not seeking anotherstate term, which ends inJanuary 2015.

Perry has said he neversought a deal with Lehm-berg and his aides insist thegovernor was within hisrights to exercise his line-item veto power the way hethat did.

Grand jury proceedingsare secret and none of Per-ry’s staff who went in theroom would say if they weresubpoenaed or came volun-tarily. It was unclear if Wi-ley was a witness or provid-ing legal counsel. She es-corted each of the others outof the building at differenttimes over the afternoon.

Michael McCrum, thespecial prosecutor investi-

gating Perry, has said hehas specific concerns aboutPerry as part of the investi-gation, though he has re-fused to elaborate. No charg-es have been filed.

“It’s proceeding methodi-cally and we’re doing ourbest to understand whathappened,” McCrum said.He said the panel would re-convene June 6 and wouldlikely meet again after that,but declined further com-ment.

Perry spokeswoman LucyNashed refused to say if Per-ry has been subpoenaed.

“We respect the long-standing legal principle ofgrand jury confidentialityand therefore it would be in-appropriate to comment onthe proceedings. The veto inquestion was made in ac-cordance with the veto pow-er afforded to every gover-nor under the Texas Consti-tution, and we remain readyand willing to assist withthis inquiry,” Nashed said.

Lehmberg said earlierthis week that Perry’s per-sonal attorney made an un-usual request to the judgewho seated the grand juryto be allowed to use a dis-creet entrance away fromreporters staking out themain doorway. There is aprivate entrance to thegrand jury room throughLehmberg’s office, but thePerry staff members usedthe main door Friday.

Perry aides called in probeBy JIM VERTUNO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas Gov. Rick Perry waits to be introduced to speak at a ceremo-ny honoring the 60th anniversary of the General Motors auto plantin Arlington on Tuesday.

Photo by LM Otero | AP

WASHINGTON — Thetop official for the healthcare of veterans resignedFriday amid a firestormover reported delays incare and falsified recordsat veterans hospitals.

Veterans Affairs Secreta-ry Eric Shinseki said hehas accepted the resigna-tion of Robert Petzel, thedepartment’s undersecreta-ry for health care, effectiveimmediately. Shinseki hadasked for the resignation, adepartment official latersaid on condition of ano-nymity because he was notauthorized to speak for at-tribution.

Reports of long waits forappointments and process-ing benefit applicationshave plagued VA for years.The agency has shortenedbacklogs but allegationsthat veterans have diedwhile awaiting VA carehave created an election-year uproar. A former clin-ic director at the VA’s med-ical center in Phoenix tolda House committee lastmonth that up to 40 peoplemay have died while await-ing appointments and thatVA officials kept a secretappointment list to maskthe delays.

Shinseki asked the VA’sinspector general to inves-tigate the clinic director’scharges. An initial reviewof 17 people who died whileawaiting appointments atthe Phoenix hospital foundthat none of their deathsappeared to have beencaused by delays in treat-ment, acting inspector gen-eral Richard Griffin toldsenators Thursday. But healso said new complaints

about wait lists and falsi-fied patient appointmenthad surfaced at other VAhospitals and clinics afterthe Phoenix allegationscame to light. At least 10new allegations about ma-nipulated waiting timesand other problems havesurfaced in the past threeweeks, he said.

Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.,chairman of the House Vet-erans’ Affairs Committee,mocked the announcementof Petzel’s resignation, call-ing it “the pinnacle of dis-ingenuous political dou-

blespeak” since Petzel hadbeen scheduled to retirethis year anyway. TheAmerican Legion, whichhas called for Shinseki toresign, said pretty muchthe same thing: “Thismove by VA is not a cor-rective action, but a contin-uation of business as usu-al.”

The White House saidPresident Barack Obamasupports Shinseki’s deci-sion on Petzel and thanksPetzel for his service. “Asthe president has said,America has a sacred trust

with the men and womenwho have served our coun-try in uniform and he iscommitted to doing all wecan to ensure our veteranshave access to timely, qual-ity health care,” a WhiteHouse statement.

The announcement ofPetzel’s resignation came aday after Shinseki and Pet-zel were grilled at a four-hour hearing of the SenateCommittee on Veterans’Affairs, where lawmakersand veteran groups ex-pressed exasperation oflong-standing problems.

Top VA health official resigns ASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

WASHINGTON — Fed-eral safety regulatorsslapped General Motorswith a record $35 millionfine Friday for taking morethan a decade to disclosean ignition-switch defect inmillions of cars that hasbeen linked to at least 13deaths.

Under an agreementwith the TransportationDepartment, GM admittedit was slow to inform regu-lators, promised to reportproblems faster and sub-mitted to more in-depthgovernment oversight of itssafety operations.

The fine was the maxi-mum allowed under thelaw.

“Literally, silence cankill,” Transportation Secre-tary Anthony Foxx said,adding: “GM did not actand did not alert us in atimely manner. What GMdid was break the law.”

Safety advocates said thefine, which is less than aday’s revenue for GM, istoo small to deter bad be-havior by automakers.

Clarence Ditlow, execu-tive director of the non-profit Center for Auto Safe-ty, said the Justice Depart-ment — which isconducting a criminal in-vestigation — should finethe company $1 billion ormore and bring chargesagainst GM engineers andtheir superiors.

“That’s the only wayyou’re going to changeGM’s behavior,” he said.

Congress is also investi-gating GM, and the auto-maker faces hundreds oflawsuits over deaths andinjuries attributed to the

bad ignition switch.The company has ac-

knowledged knowing thatthe switches in its smallcars had problems since atleast 2001. But it was notuntil February that it be-gan recalling 2.6 million ofthe cars, mainly ChevroletCobalts and Saturn Ions.

Automakers are re-quired by federal law to re-

port safety defects to thegovernment within fivedays of discovering them.

When jostled, the igni-tion switches can slip outof the “run” position andshut off the engine. Thatcuts off the power steeringand brakes, potentiallycausing drivers to lose con-trol. It also disables the airbags.

GM says at least 13 peo-ple have died in crasheslinked to the problem.Trial lawyers suing thecompany say the death tollis at least 53.

The Transportation De-partment’s National High-way Traffic Safety Admin-istration, which has beencriticized for failing to takeaction on the switches de-

spite thousands of com-plaints from car owners,used a news conference toturn the tables on GM, of-fering some of the mostdamning evidence yetagainst the automaker.

Acting NHTSA Adminis-trator David Friedman saida previously undisclosed2009 memo from a partssupplier to GM stated thatthe switch problem coulddisable the cars’ air bags.Had the government beentold that at the time, itwould have sought a recall,Friedman said.

Friedman said that itwas clear many GM em-ployees knew about thebad switch years ago, fromengineers to investigatorsto executives. But he saidthe agency has no recordsto contradict CEO MaryBarra’s claim that shefound out about it only re-cently.

He portrayed the scan-dal as part of a larger prob-lem with the safety cultureat GM, saying the auto-maker’s training materialsdiscouraged employeesfrom using words like “de-fect” or “dangerous” whenreporting problems up thechain of command.

“The fact that GM tookso long to report this defectsays there was somethingvery wrong with the com-pany’s values,” he said.

GM received a $49.5 bil-lion bailout from Washing-ton during its 2009 bank-ruptcy, and the governmentwas once the automaker’smajority shareholder, butit sold off its last GMshares in December.

GM stock dropped just25 cents to $34.11 in Fridayafternoon trading.

GM is already making

changes. Barra has namedJeff Boyer as the compa-ny’s new safety chief, andit has begun checking re-cords for safety problemsthat could lead to recalls.So far this year the compa-ny has issued 24 recalls to-taling 11.2 million cars andtrucks.

“We have learned agreat deal from this recall.We will now focus on thegoal of becoming an indus-try leader in safety,” Barrasaid.

Earlier this year, after afour-year criminal investi-gation, the Justice Depart-ment made Toyota pay $1.2billion for concealing unin-tended acceleration prob-lems from NHTSA. No in-dividuals were chargedwith a crime.

Although the maximumfine from safety regulatorswas doubled to $35 millionthis year, Foxx urged Con-gress to raise it to $300 mil-lion.

Even though GM’s bank-ruptcy shields it from somepast liability, the companyhas hired lawyer and com-pensation expert KennethFeinberg to negotiate set-tlements.

Carl Tobias, a law pro-fessor at the University ofRichmond, said the govern-ment’s action Friday“makes GM’s exposure toliability greater, or thedamages for which fam-ilies ultimately settlelarger.”

Under the agreement,GM has to give NHTSA fullaccess to the results of aninternal investigation be-ing done for the companyby a former federal prose-cutor. It will probably befinished in about twoweeks.

GM fined $35 million over deadly defect By JOAN LOWY & TOM KRISHER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This Friday photo shows General Motors’ world headquarters in Detroit. U.S. safety regulators finedGeneral Motors a record $35 million Friday for taking at least a decade to disclose defects with ignitionswitches in small cars that are now linked to at least 13 deaths.

Photo by Paul Sancya | AP

Darden Restaurants agreedFriday to sell Red Lobster, theseafood restaurant chain thatformed the beginnings of its din-ing empire, to the private equityfirm Golden Gate Capital for $2.1billion in cash.

The move comes five monthsafter Darden announced that itplanned to spin off Red Lobster,while it continues to face pres-sure from activist hedge fundsconcerned about the divestitureof the brand.

One of these investors, Star-board Value, warned the restau-rateur this week not to sell thechain before a special meetingcalled by shareholders to discusssuch a move. The meeting hasyet to be scheduled.

Both Starboard and the otherfirm, Barington Capital, have ar-gued that Darden should consid-er a more extensive break-upplan.

But Darden argued Fridaythat the sale of Red Lobster

would provide the company with$1.6 billion in net cash immedi-ately. About $1 billion of thatwill go toward paying downdebt, while the remainder willhelp finance a new stock buy-back program of up to $700 mil-lion.

And the sale will allow thecompany to focus on its remain-ing brands, particularly its coreOlive Garden chain.

“By enabling us to bolster thecompany’s financial foundationand increase our focus on theOlive Garden brand renaissanceprogram, we believe this agree-ment addresses key issues thatour shareholders have raised, in-cluding the need to preserve thecompany’s dividend and regainmomentum at Olive Garden,”Clarence Otis, Darden’s chief ex-ecutive, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Golden Gate hasextensive experience in the res-taurant industry, with holdingslike California Pizza Kitchen.

Darden said that the deal wasnot subject to a shareholdervote.

Darden to sell Red Lobster for $2.1 billionBy MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED

NEW YORK TIMES

This Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012 file photo, shows a Red Lobster restaurant in Hialeah, Fla. Darden Restaurants on Friday said itentered an agreement to sell its Red Lobster chain to investment firm Golden Gate Capital in a $2.1 billion cash deal.

File photo by Alan Diaz | AP

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

OKLAHOMA CITY — After a wild start to the NBAplayoffs — dramatic Game 7s, overtime games — theleague’s postseason has returned to normal.

The top seeds in the East and West have advanced tothe conference finals.

The two-time defending champion Miami Heat havebeen the most dominant team in the postseason, losingjust once. Meanwhile, top-seeded and wildly unpredict-able Indiana has staggered into the East finals rematchwith the Heat, although the Pacers did win five roadgames to advance.

It took San Antonio seven games to eliminate Dallasin the first round, but then the top-seeded Spurs rolledpast Portland in five to advance to the West finals. Ok-lahoma City rallied from a 3-2 deficit against Memphis,then fought through a dramatic six-game seriesagainst the Los Angeles Clippers.

The East finals begin Sunday with Indiana hostingMiami; the West tips off Monday night when OKC trav-els to San Antonio.

The Pacers have made no secret they were lookingforward to rematch with Miami after pushing the Heatto seven games before losing on the road in last year’sEast final. Oklahoma City beat San Antonio 4-2 in the2012 West final, and many felt they might have beatenthe aging Spurs last year if the teams had met, but

See NBA PAGE 2B

NBA PLAYOFFS: CONFERENCE FINALS

Tony Parker’s status for the Western Conference finals is up inthe air after he strained his left hamstring Wednesday in Game5 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Top seedssurvive wildearly rounds

Spurs take on Oklahoma City, Miamifaces Pacers in conference finals

By CLIFF BRUNTASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING, Texas — Scott Line-han wanted a reunion withDallas coach Jason Garrett,which is why he’s the passing

game coordinator for the Cowboys. Now the former Detroit offen-

sive coordinator is waiting to seehow the live version of Tony Romomatches with what he remembersfrom the opposing sideline and

what he’s seen on film. “He’s been a little bit slow as far

as out here physically doingthings,” Linehan said of early off-season sessions with Romo comingoff his second back surgery ineight months after a herniateddisk sidelined him for the lastgame of 2013. “But he’s doneenough for me to see that thisguy’s really got some special qual-ities.”

The Cowboys opened a three-day

rookie minicamp Friday with theirthird play-caller in three seasonsin Linehan. The same goes for de-fensive coordinator, with Rod Ma-rinelli replacing the demotedMonte Kiffin.

Marinelli and Kiffin were on theDallas staff together a year ago. Li-nehan was calling the plays forMatthew Stafford and Calvin John-son before a four-game losing

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

Cowboys’ camp

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli instructs players during a rookie minicamp at the Cowboys’ headquarters Friday inIrving, Texas.

Photo by Tim Sharp | AP

Dallas gets first look at Martin, other rookiesBy SCHUYLER DIXON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See DALLAS PAGE 2B

ARLINGTON, Texas — TheTexas Rangers will meet withleft-hander Martin Perez on Sat-urday to determine if the in-jured starter will undergo Tom-my John surgery.

The 23-year-old Perez felt dis-comfort in his elbow in hismost start last Saturday. An ex-amination revealed inflamma-tion, and he said this week he’s

leaning toward having the pro-cedure done.

Perez is 4-3 with a 4.38earned-run average in eightstarts after going 10-6 as a roo-kie. He’s 0-3 with a 13.15 ERAfollowing consecutive shutouts.

The Rangers lost left-handedstarter Matt Harrison this weekbecause of a recurring back in-jury that forced him to missmost of last season. The 28-year-

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: TEXAS RANGERS

See PEREZ PAGE 2B

The Texas Rangers and Martin Perez will meet Saturday to determine if theleft-handed starter will undergo Tommy John surgery.

Photo by Jim Cowsert | AP

Martin Perez couldneed Tommy John

By JEFF MILLERASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — No specialtreatment for Jadeveon Clowney.

On his first day of practice asa Houston Texan, the No. 1 over-all draft pick’s locker wasamong several temporary onesplopped down in the middle ofthe locker room. Just like thosefor the rest of the rookies.

That was OK with himthough. He just wants to be oneof the guys.

“Just really trying ... to be apart of the team and learn,learn from these other guysaround me,” he said.

The defensive end, who willplay linebacker in Houston’s 3-4scheme, is most concerned withstudying the playbook. The for-mer South Carolina standoutmentioned it seven times in asix-minute interview Friday.

“I’m here to learn the play-book and get the ball rollingwith the Houston Texans andshow what I’ve got on the field,”he said.

The 6-foot-5, 266-pound Clow-ney is expected to pair with 2012Defensive Player of the Year J.J.Watt to boost Houston’s alreadystout pass rush. Clowney piledup 47 tackles for losses and 24sacks in a three-year career at

NATIONAL FOOTBAL LEAGUE: HOUSTON TEXANS

Clowney, Texans start practice

Jadeveon Clowney, the top overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, made his debutwith the Texans in a rookie minicamp Friday in Houston.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP

By KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

See TEXANS PAGE 2B

Russell Westbrook was in-jured and the Thunderwere eliminated. The Thun-der know it will be chal-lenge, but are confident af-ter sweeping San Antoniothis year in their four-gameregular-season series.

“There aren’t really anysurprises,” San Antoniocoach Gregg Popovich said.“It’s the conference finals,and players step up andplay well. That’s basicallywhat it’s all about. Every-one is going to have energy,passion and those sorts ofthings, but execution formore of those 48 minutes iswhat it’s all about. To makesure that you don’t have toomany dry possessions of-fensively, to make sure de-fensively that everybody ison track and communicat-ing.

“It’s the same for bothteams, but who will do itmore for the 48 minutes.We’ll see.”

The Heat, led by four-time MVP LeBron James,are looking for their thirdstraight title.

James is averaging 30points and 7.1 rebounds inthe playoffs while shooting56 percent from the field.He told Pacers coach FrankVogel during All-Star week-end that he expected to seehim in May, and both teamsheld up their ends of thedeal.

“It’s the two best teamsin the Eastern Conference,”James said. “It’s that sim-ple. Both teams defend at ahigh level, both teamsshare the ball. Both teams

get into the paint, and bothteams have a desire towin.”

After talking all seasonabout having homecourt ina potential Game 7, theyhave earned it. But the Pac-ers haven’t played well athome in the playoffs, givingup homecourt advantage inthe first round against At-lanta and in the secondagainst Washington. Jamessaid none of that matters.

“I don’t believe the Pac-ers who struggled at homewill be the team we play onSunday,” James said.

The Pacers believe thechallenges they have over-come — self-inflicted or oth-erwise — have made thema dangerous team.

“We worked so hard toget here,” Pacers guardLance Stephenson said.“The Hawks, the Wizards,they put us through a lot.And we had (the media)talking bad about us, and Ithink it made us stronger.”

The Spurs and the Thun-der are both a little bangedup.

San Antonio point guardTony Parker strained hisleft hamstring in Game 5against Portland. TheSpurs aren’t sure whatshape the All-Star will be infor the opener

“I’m hopeful that he’ll beready to go,” Popovich saidFriday. “He’s going to stayoff it again today and to-morrow. They’re going toput him on the treadmill alittle bit and a bike andshoot a little bit and seewhere he’s at. So, we’ll

know more tomorrow.”Oklahoma City’s Serge

Ibaka hurt his left calf inthe third quarter of Game 6against the Clippers, andthe Thunder announcedFriday that he is out for thepostseason.

“We are obviously disap-pointed for Serge, as he is atremendous competitor, andwe know how badly hewants to be on the courtwith his teammates,” Thun-der executive vice presidentand general manager Sam

Presti said in a statement. Still, this shapes up to be

an entertaining series: Thesavvy and wily Spurs trioof Parker, Tim Duncan andManu Ginobili vs. theyouthful, talented tandemof Kevin Durant RussellWestbrook.

The Thunder duo hasbeen dominant. Durant av-eraged 33.2 points againstthe Clippers and the ultra-athletic Westbrook is ave-raging 26.6 points, 8.0 re-bounds and 8.4 assists in

the playoffs. The one-timenew kids on the block feelthey have become a veter-an, battle-tested team. Theywon twice at Memphis andtwice in Los Angeles, andthey are confident going in-to San Antonio.

“We’ve been together solong, we’ve grown a lot,”Durant said. “Guys havematured through everytype of situation and everytype of game. That’s defi-nitely going to help out, butwe have a long ways to go.”

NBA Continued from Page 1B

Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka, right, will miss the remainder of the playoffs after injuring his leftcalf Thursday in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Photo by Mark J. Terrill | AP

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

South Carolina. He doesn’t thinkthe transition to linebacker inHouston will be that difficult.

“I don’t see any big differenc-es,” he said. “I’ll go where theytell me.”

He didn’t seem concerned withthe attention and scrutiny he’llbe subjected to as the first overallpick. The 21-year-old Clowneysaid he’s only worried aboutgaining the respect of his team-mates and showing the Texanswhat he can do on the field.

New coach Bill O’Brien refusedto talk specifically about howClowney looked in his first work-

out, rather addressing how all theyoung players fared.

“I think all these guys beingrookies, they all came in hereand it’s an eye-opener,” he said.“Just like anybody, it’s not justone guy. It’s a different level ofcompetition. All these guys havecome in, they’ve been on time,they’ve worked hard. So they justneed to take it one day at a timeand continue to work hard.”

The 34 players went through aworkout that lasted about 90 min-utes in shorts and helmets.

Clowney believes being humbleand ready to listen to advice will

be the key to success in the NFL.“We don’t know what we think

we know, basically,” he said.“We’re here to learn. We haven’tbeen here before.”

Also practicing for the firsttime as a Texan was quarterbackTom Savage, a fourth-round pickout of Pittsburgh. He’ll get a lotof work during this minicamp asthe only quarterback in thegroup.

“It’s definitely a jump from col-lege, but I think it’s going to befun,” he said. “I’m excited. I’ve al-ready ... started trying to get asmuch as I can and soak up as

much knowledge as I can fromthis whole deal so that when I gointo OTAs, then I’m ready to go.”

O’Brien, who worked with TomBrady as an assistant with theNew England Patriots, did speakabout how Savage performed inthe workout.

“Quarterback is not an easy po-sition to play in any system, forany team,” O’Brien said. “Ithought for the first day, Tomcame out, he tried to grasp whatwe were telling him. He’s got a lotof corrections to make. He seemsto be working hard and process-ing through it.”

TEXANS Continued from Page 1B

old Harrison hasn’t de-cided to undergo anotherback operation, one thatwould fuse disks togeth-er. Harrison is likely lostfor the season regardlessof his decision. He’s 1-1with a 4.15 ERA in fourstarts.

The Rangers went intoFriday night’s homegame against Torontohaving lost four of theirlast five games to dropbelow .500 for the firsttime since mid-April.Amid the latest seriousinjuries to their startingrotation, Texas’ typicallypotent hitting attackranks ninth in theAmerican League inhome batting average(.258) and 12th in homeslugging percentage(.380).

Manager Ron Wash-ington said the prospectof losing Perez for theseason and Harrisonpossibly for good won’taffect how his team goesabout its business.

“These guys are pros,”Washington said. “We’vegot to put 25 guys outthere, and we’ve got togo play baseball. I thinkif you start trying to cre-ate a mental effect, thatcreates an excuse.

“Now, human nature?Yes, you think about it.”

Harrison was Texas’Pitcher of the Year in2012 with an 18-11 recordand then was limited in2013 to two early startsbefore being shut downfor two back surgeries.He finally made his firstappearance of 2014 onApril 27 but left his startTuesday in Houston inthe second inning be-cause of back stiffness.

Harrison said he’sscheduled to receive anepidural Monday to re-lieve pain and is fightingthe reality that he mighthave pitched for the lasttime.

“I’m trying to stay pos-itive as much as I canand take it day to day,”he said, “but I obviouslycan’t go out there andpitch the way I was lasttime with this stuff go-ing on.”

PEREZContinued from Page 1B

streak to finish the season kept the Lions out ofthe playoffs and cost coach Jim Schwartz his job.

Dallas took the play-calling duties away fromBill Callahan just a year after trying to ease Gar-rett’s load by giving those duties to him, and Gar-rett reached out to Linehan. They were on Mia-mi’s staff in 2005, Garrett’s first year in coaching.

“We were doing some meshing and moldingback then,” said Linehan, who was head coach inSt. Louis for two-plus seasons before going to De-troit.

Now they’re doing some meshing again, as Li-nehan likes to call it — combining a Dallas sys-tem that’s been in place since Garrett’s first sea-son as offensive coordinator in 2007 and a Line-han program that Detroit had for five years.

“If you’re going in and you say, ‘Hey, we used tocall this apple but now we’re calling it orange,’ itslows you down,” Linehan said. “There’s no rea-son to do that. So we’ll keep the language prettymuch the same as it’s been. We come out here sowe can play fast and operate. That’s the goal.”

Callahan’s focus is back on the offensive line,which is where it was when Garrett brought himin two years ago. The switch in 2013 was mostlydriven by owner and general manager JerryJones wanting Garrett to have more time forgame-management decisions.

The latest change brings a coach who sharesmore of Garrett’s passing philosophy — butdoesn’t want to be known as a pass-first coach.Garrett has been preaching balance, and the Cow-boys made another move to improve one of theleague’s worst rushing attacks by drafting an of-fensive lineman in the first round for the thirdtime in four years.

The Cowboys believe running back DeMarcoMurray can lead a strong rushing attack.

“We threw it a lot in Detroit but a lot of ourpassing game was designed to be a lot of what wedidn’t feel we had in the running game,” Linehansaid.

The defensive switch in Dallas is mostly aboutwho’s running the meetings. It’s Marinelli nowinstead of Kiffin, whose title is assistant headcoach/defense.

“The great thing about those guys is they knoweach other so well,” Garrett said. “They play offof each other so well. So it’s really a collective ef-fort. It’s great having those guys.”

NOTES: The Cowboys signed DT Amobi Okoyeand released LB Jonathan Stewart. Okoye was 19when Houston picked him 10th overall in 2007. Heplayed four seasons for the Texans and two withChicago before sitting out last season. ... TheCowboys have signed four of their nine draftpicks, all seventh-rounders: S Ahmad Dixon, DEBen Gardner, CB Terrance Mitchell and LB WillSmith.

DALLAS Continued from Page 1B

Donald Sterling’s lawyer has writ-ten the NBA stating the owner of theLos Angeles Clippers does not intendto pay the $2.5 million fine imposed bythe league for racist comments, a per-son with knowledge of the letter’s con-tents said.

Sports Illustrated first reported theletter from Maxwell Blecher. The con-tents were confirmed by the personwho spoke to The Associated Press onthe condition of anonymity.

Blecher, a prominent antitrust at-torney, acknowledged sending a letterbut would not discuss its contents Fri-day.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silverbanned Sterling for life and imposedthe fine following the release late lastmonth of a recording in which Ster-ling makes racist remarks. Silver alsocalled on owners to oust Sterling fromthe league, which would require athree-fourths vote among the league’s29 other controlling owners.

“We regard the dispute betweenSterling and the NBA to be a privatematter,” Blecher said. “We do not in-tend to have a trial in the press.”

Blecher said he has known Sterlingsince the early ‘80s, when he helped re-solve a dispute that allowed the Clip-pers to move from San Diego to LosAngeles. Sterling has owned the Clip-pers since 1981.

Sports Illustrated reported that theletter to NBA executive vice presidentand general counsel Rick Buchanansaid Sterling would not pay the finebecause it violated his right to dueprocess. It also says the controversy“will be adjudicated,” according to thereport.

The person who spoke to the APsaid that if Sterling doesn’t pay thefine, the league could withhold $2.5million from the Clippers when dis-bursing money to teams.

The league’s Advisory/FinanceCommittee met via conference call asrecently as Tuesday, according toleague spokesman Mike Bass.

“The committee discussed the re-cent media appearances by Donald

Sterling and Shelly Sterling, receivedupdates on the hiring of Dick Parsonsas the Los Angeles Clippers interimCEO and on his meeting yesterdaywith Clippers employees, and re-viewed the status of the charge for ter-mination of the Clippers’ ownership,”he said in a brief statement.

Bass added that the committee willreconvene next week.

The NBA’s constitution, which Do-nald Sterling signed as controllingowner of the Clippers, gives its boardof governors broad latitude in leaguedecisions, including who owns theteams. Article 13 (d) of the constitu-tion says that an owner cannot “fail orrefuse to fulfill” contractual obliga-tions to the NBA “in such a way to af-fect the Association or its membersadversely.”

Sterling has said he does not wantto sell the Clippers. His estrangedwife, Shelly, has said she’d like to keepher stake in the team even if her hus-band is ousted.

In a recent interview with CNN’sAnderson Cooper, Sterling cast doubton going to court if the NBA gover-

nors ultimately do vote to force himout.

“People want me to hire a wall oflawyers and them to have to hire awall of lawyers and go to war,” Ster-ling said on CNN. “I don’t think that’sthe answer.”

Sterling also said he was not a rac-ist and apologized for the comments,which he made to a female compan-ion. The recording of their conversa-tion was posted to TMZ.com on April25 and drew immediate condemnation.

Players threatened to boycott leaguegames and several sponsors suspendedtheir relationship with the Clippers.After Silver’s quick rebuke in the daysfollowing the recording’s release,many of the sponsors returned.

But the issue remains contentious.Star forward LeBron James said Mon-day that he understands it may taketime, but he wants Sterling out of theNBA.

The Clippers were eliminated fromthe NBA playoffs Thursday night aftera 104-98 loss to the Oklahoma CityThunder in the Western Conferencesemifinals.

Sterling says he won’t pay fineBy ANNE M. PETERSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Donald Sterling has informed the NBA he doesn’t intend to pay the $2.5 million fine imposedby the league.

File photo by Mark J. Terrill | AP

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Heloise: Afterreading your hints onLADDER SAFETY, I’d liketo suggest another impor-tant one. Although it maybe apparent, sometimes astepladder is placed side-ways to the job rather thanfacing it. This can create adanger of the ladder tip-ping out away from the joband possibly injuring theuser.. — Louis B., viaemail

Too many of us thinkwe can hop on a ladder fora quick repair with noworries butsafety is impor-tant when working withany ladder! — Heloise

SUET STRIPSDear Heloise: I like to

put out suet for the birdsand found this nifty way toserve it up. First, don’t useground suet, but ask thebutcher for strips. To makethe suet holder, take a wirehanger, pull it straight andcut it in the middle. Hold-ing the two ends together,“shish kebab” the suetstrips onto the wire. Becareful: The wire ends aresharp, and one should usegloves to do this. Keep fill-

ing the wire up until youhave about 7 to 8 inchesleft, then bend these endsup 90 degrees. That willprevent the suet from fall-ing off and also serves as aperch for the birds. Thenmake a hook at the top endand simply hang the wholething on a tree branch. —John in Washington

DOUBLE-CHECKDOORKNOB

Dear Heloise: Recently, I exited our

home via the front door,something we don’t do ve-ry much since we usuallygo out by the garage exit.For some reason, I jiggledthe doorknob severaltimes, and to my astonish-ment, it unlocked itself. Iused the key to lock thedoor, again, and jiggled theknob a second time. Sureenough, the door came un-locked.

Now I am sure to set thedeadbolt (using my key)whenever I go out thefront of the house, just incase, even though we obvi-ously have changed the en-tire doorknob assembly. —Claire M., Reading, Pa.

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014