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MEXICO REPLACES PLAYERSFIVE SUSPENDED PENDING DOPING INVESTIGATION, 1B

At the June 13 Commission-er’s Court meeting, the commis-sioners displayed fiscal pru-dence when reaching a decision

on five agenda items, managingto stay within the budget out-lined for 2011.

Two items on the agenda per-tained to proposed technologicalimprovements to further trans-parency of meetings: the re-

placement of all the commis-sioners’ television monitorswith HD monitors, and sourcingPixl Studios for a backup digitalrecording hard drive system formeetings.

The motions had been pro-

posed — and repeatedly tabled— since before County JudgeJoe Rathmell began his term,but was acted upon at this meet-ing. Combined, the approval of

ZAPATA COUNTY

Careful budgetingCommissioners’ expenditures keep county in the black

By ERICA MATOSTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See COMMISSIONERS PAGE 7A

Based on their Batmobile ap-pearance, narcotanks might beintimidating.

Don’t tell that to the Mexicanarmy.

Military officials recently re-

leased a statement highlightingseveral flaws in the customizedvehicles and labeled them “basu-ra deficiente” (deficient trash).

On Wednesday, the Secretaríade la Defensa Nacional or SED-ENA, Mexico’s defense ministry,posted on its Facebook account abrief analysis of the supposedly

indestructible vehicles.“Indestructible only in appear-

ance for its armory, turrets forshooters, and narrow openingsfor snipers, the labeled ‘monstervehicles’ seized from organizedcrime are artifacts that could bebetter used for movie sets insteadof combat. (The narcotanks) are

highly vulnerable to the Mexicanarmed forces, even to Molotovcocktails,” reads a statementfrom SEDENA officials.

An analysis made by the Mex-ican army showed that their“blindaje artesanal” (customized

WAR ON DRUGS

Mexico says narcotanks are ‘trash’By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See NARCOTANKS PAGE 7A

Federal authorities have in-dicted eight people, including agun shop owner in San Ygna-cio, in connection with federalfirearms violations, accordingto court records released Fri-

day.The alleged offenders were

identified as Abel R. ArambulaJr., Adrian Bustos, HomeroGarcia III, Hector Lozano III,Mario Magana, Raul Martinez,Manuel Rangel and Jose AngelMonsivais.

Arambula is a licensed deal-er from Abel’s Specialty Guns,a store located in San Ygnacio.

Martinez and Arambula un-lawfully conspired with eachother and with other individu-als to impede and obstruct theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives from

COURTS

Localsfacingfederalcharges

Eight indicted forfirearms violations

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZLAREDO MORNING TIMES

See FIREARMS PAGE 8A

INSIDESee related story inside on page 3A

INTENSE CONCENTRATION

Makayla Reynolds plays a board game at the Zapata Boys and Girls Club on Thursday afternoon.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

ATLANTA — Federal immi-gration authorities said Fridaythey’re changing the way theyenforce immigration policies inan effort to focus on the most se-rious criminals and to give gov-ernment field attorneys morediscretion.

Many of the changes wereprompted by concerns from locallaw enforcement agencies andcommunities, U.S. Immigrationand Customs Enforcement Direc-tor John Morton said Friday dur-ing a conference call with report-ers.

IMMIGRATION

ICE tochangefocus ofpolicies

By KATE BRUMBACKASSOCIATED PRESS

See ICE PAGE 8A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

SATURDAY, JUNE 18Veterans Helping Veterans will

meet in the Laredo Public Library, 1120E. Calton Road, from noon to 2:30p.m. today. Meetings are confidentialand for military veterans only. Formore information, contact George Men-dez at 794-3057 or georgem@border-region.org or Jessica Morales at 794-3091 or jessicam@borderregion.org.

The Run for Roofs 5K CharityRun/Walk is today at North CentralPark, 10202 International Blvd. Theevent benefits Habitat for Humanity.Registration before May 30 is $15.Otherwise, registration is $20. Formore information or to register, call724-3227, email runforroofs@gmail.comor visit Habitat for Humanity offices at4703 Warehouse Lane.

El Centro de Laredo Farmer’sMarket is from 9 a.m. to noon todayat Jarvis Plaza, in Downtown Laredo.

The Laredo City Chess Club willhost its first Summer Open today. Tro-phies will be awarded. Email AndrewStock at andrewstock@sbcglobal.netfor a registration form. Onsite registra-tion will run from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.,with the first round at 9:30 a.m. Formore information, contact Stock at956-206-5649 or andrewstock@sbcglo-bal.

The Texas A&M International Uni-versity Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetari-um will show “The Little Star ThatCould” at 5 p.m., “Earth, Moon, andSun” at 6 p.m. and “Seven Wonders”at 7 p.m. General admission is $4 forchildren, $5 for adults. Premium showsare $1 more.

FRIDAY, JUNE 24El Rincon de Los Angeles Restau-

rant will host the 2nd Annual Scholar-ship Night event from 5-10 p.m. tohelp raise scholarship funds. At thisevent, Border Patrol agents and sup-port staff assist with waiting tables forcustomers while collecting tip dona-tions to benefit the fund. This year’sevent will feature door prizes donatedby Verizon Wireless, Southern Distribu-tors and L&F Distributors. For more in-formation, call 956-765-8900.

Open Art Studio will host Sun-down Story Hour from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,during which Mystery Storyteller readsa fun book. Attendance is free, butspace must be reserved atwww.open2art.com. For more informa-tion, contact Victoria Ortega at ope-nart@rocketmail.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 1Open Art Studio will host Sun-

down Story Hour from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,during which Mystery Storyteller readsa fun book. Attendance is free, butspace must be reserved atwww.open2art.com. For more informa-tion, contact Victoria Ortega at ope-nart@rocketmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13The National Association for Lati-

no Community Asset Builders (NAL-CAB) will host its 2011 Border Summit:Empleos, Empresas y el Desarrollo Eco-nómico (A Focus on Solutions for theBorder Economy) in McAllen today.Featured speakers include MercedesMarquez, Assistant Secretary, Commu-nity Planning and Development, U.S.Department of Housing and Urban De-velopment, and Donna Gambrell, Direc-tor, Community Development FinanceInstitutions, U.S. Department of Treasu-ry. To register, visit www.nalcab.org.

FRIDAY, JULY 15Open Art Studio will host Sun-

down Story Hour from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,during which Mystery Storyteller readsa fun book and attendees take home acraft. Attendance is free, but spacemust be reserved atwww.open2art.com. For more informa-tion, contact Victoria Ortega at ope-nart@rocketmail.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 22Open Art Studio will host Sun-

down Story Hour from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,during which Mystery Storyteller readsa fun book. Attendance is free, butspace must be reserved atwww.open2art.com. For more informa-tion, contact Victoria Ortega at ope-nart@rocketmail.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 29Open Art Studio will host Sun-

down Story Hour from 6:30 – 7:30p.m., during which Mystery Storytellerreads a fun book and attendees takehome a craft. Attendance is free, butspace must be reserved atwww.open2art.com. For more informa-tion, contact Victoria Ortega at ope-nart@rocketmail.com.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, June 18,the 169th day of 2011. Thereare 196 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On June 18, 1983, astronautSally K. Ride became Ameri-ca’s first woman in space asshe and four colleagues blast-ed off aboard the space shuttleChallenger.

On this date: In 1778, American forces en-

tered Philadelphia as the Brit-ish withdrew during the Revo-lutionary War.

In 1812, the United Statesdeclared war against Britain.

In 1815, Napoleon Bona-parte met his Waterloo as Brit-ish and Prussian troops de-feated the French in Belgium.

In 1873, suffragist Susan B.Anthony was found guilty bya judge in Canandaigua, N.Y.,of breaking the law by castinga vote in the 1872 presidentialelection. (The judge fined An-thony $100, but she never paidthe penalty.)

In 1908, William HowardTaft was nominated for presi-dent by the Republican nation-al convention in Chicago.

In 1940, during World WarII, British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill urged hiscountrymen to conduct them-selves in a manner that wouldprompt future generations tosay, “This was their finesthour.” Charles de Gaulle deliv-ered a speech on the BBC inwhich he rallied his country-men after the fall of France toNazi Germany.

In 1945, William Joyce,known as “Lord Haw-Haw,”was charged in London withhigh treason for his English-language wartime broadcastson German radio. (He washanged the following January.)

In 1971, Southwest Airlinesbegan operations, with flightsbetween Dallas and San Anto-nio, and Dallas and Houston.

In 1979, President JimmyCarter and Soviet PresidentLeonid I. Brezhnev signed theSALT II strategic arms limita-tion treaty in Vienna.

In 1981, Supreme Court Jus-tice Potter Stewart announcedhis retirement; his departurepaved the way for Sandra DayO’Connor to become the firstfemale associate justice.

Ten years ago: A judge inGolden, Colo., sentenced twotherapists, Connell Watkinsand Julie Ponder, to 16 yearsin prison each for recklesschild abuse in the death of 10-year-old Candace Newmaker,who had suffocated whilewrapped in blankets during a“rebirthing” session. (Watkinswas released from prison in2008 to serve out the rest ofher sentence at a halfwayhouse; Ponder remains impris-oned.) Retief (reh-TEEF’)Goosen won the U.S. Open inan 18-hole playoff with MarkBrooks.

Today’s Birthdays: Col-umnist Tom Wicker is 85.Rock singer-composer-musi-cian Sir Paul McCartney is 69.Movie critic Roger Ebert is 69.musician John Evans (TheBox Tops) is 63. Actress Isabel-la Rossellini is 59. Actress Car-ol Kane is 59. Actor BrianBenben is 55. Actress MaraHobel is 40. Rapper Silkk theShocker is 36. Actress Alanade la Garza is 35. Countrysinger Blake Shelton is 35. Ac-tress Renee Olstead is 22.

Thought for Today:“Frailty, thy name is no longerwoman.” — Victor Riesel,American labor journalist(1913-1995).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — The Texas unemployment rateheld steady in May, matching April’s 8 per-cent, the Texas Workforce Commission an-nounced Friday.

The commission said 8,800 nonfarm jobswere added, creating a total gain of 205,400from a year ago.

“Texas continues to weather the storm,”keeping its unemployment rate below the na-tional rate of 9.1 percent, agency chairmanTom Pauken said.

So far in 2011, the state has added 92,300jobs.

“That is a trend we hope to continue untilall Texans have good jobs earning good wag-es,” Ronny Congleton, the commissioner rep-resenting labor, said.

Jobs in professional and business services

grew by 4,300 in May for a total of 53,700 po-sitions added in the past year. Mining andlogging jobs rose by 3,000 for a total of 32,700added in the past year.

Manufacturing jobs added during themonth totaled 1,900, and construction jobsincreased by 1,500.

Unemployment rates are adjusted for sea-sonal trends in hiring and firing, a picturethat economists cite as being the most accu-rate. Without such adjustments, the state’sunemployment rate for May was 7.9, and thenational figure was 8.7.

Midland continued to show the lowest un-employment rate in the state at 4.6 percent.Amarillo was second at 5.4 percent, and Lub-bock was third at 5.9 percent.

The preliminary local jobless rates forMay for Laredo, with revised April numbersin parentheses, was Laredo 8.1 (7.9).

AROUND TEXAS

DeeAnne Cole, age 31, runs up the bleachers at Baylor University’s Floyd Casey stadium on Friday. Cole was enrolled in aboot camp designed to strength the body and mind. After six weeks she has lost two dress sizes.

Photo by Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald | AP

Texas jobless rate holdsASSOCIATED PRESS

Red-light camera voteoutcome thrown out

HOUSTON — A federal judgeon Friday threw out the resultsof an election last fall in whichHouston voters decided to get ridof red-light cameras at street in-tersections in the city, saying op-ponents of the original ordinancewaited too long to act.

About 53 percent of voters inNovember said the camerasshould go, but U.S. District JudgeLynn Hughes said Friday thatthe issue as presented on the bal-lot violated the city charter cov-ering the timing for repeal of anordinance.

32 South Texans accusedof defrauding insurer

MCALLEN — Federal author-ities have arrested 32 south Tex-as residents in what they de-scribe as a wide-ranging fraudscheme that bilked insurerAFLAC out of $3 million over adecade.

The 32 — including a police of-

ficer, teachers and county em-ployees — are accused of makingfraudulent minor injury claims.

4 from San Angelo die in2-vehicle wreck

MERTZON — A head-on colli-sion in West Texas has left adriver and three passengers deadand the other driver injured.

The Department of PublicSafety says the crash happenedThursday night on U.S. Highway67 near Mertzon, about 25 milessouthwest of San Angelo.

5 charged over vandalismto Kilgore school busesKILGORE — Five graduates

will face misdemeanor chargesover dozens of damaged schoolbuses that forced classes to becanceled for a day in an EastTexas district.

The Longview News-Journalreported Friday that the localdistrict attorney says the formerKilgore High School studentshave been charged with misde-meanor vandalism offenses.

Caterpillar plans toexpand Texas plant

PEORIA, Ill. — Heavy equip-ment maker Caterpillar Inc. saysit will expand its hydraulic exca-vator plant currently under con-struction in Victoria, Texas, andadd 100 more jobs to the originalplans for 500 employees.

Caterpillar announced the$130 million, 850,000 square footplant in August. It now plans toadd $70 million and 200,000square feet to that.

Houston police seek ID onbody found burning

HOSUTON The burning re-mains of a woman have been dis-covered in a field in southeastHouston.

Police Sgt. William McPhear-son says the unidentified bodywas located late Thursday night.

A security guard making hisrounds noticed a fire in the fieldand called 911. Firefighters dis-covered the body.

— Compiled from AP reports

Wyo. gov signs disasterdeclaration for floodingCHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyom-

ing Gov. Matt Mead has signed adisaster declaration for damagesaround the state caused by theongoing flooding.

The state estimates about $6.8million in damages so far toagriculture and infrastructure.

AARP slammed for notfighting S.S. cuts

WASHINGTON — AARP washammered Friday by fellow ac-tivists for refusing to oppose anyand all cuts to Social Securitybenefits.

The group opposes cutting So-cial Security benefits to help re-duce the federal deficit, said Da-vid Certner, the organization’sdirector of legislative policy. Butfor years AARP has acknowl-edged that cuts to future benefitsmay be necessary to improve theprogram’s finances, he said.

Montana deputies stillpursuing leads on fugitive

MISSOULA, Mont. — Missou-la County sheriff ’s deputies arestill pursuing leads in the hunt

for David Burgert, the formermilitia leader who is accused ofshooting at deputies this week.

The sheriff ’s department saidFriday it was patrolling three ar-eas of Lolo National Forest westof Missoula.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Cameran Arima, 4, of Riverton, plays around in the rain at the Big Horn Eques-trian Center in Big Horn, Wyo., on May 20. Gov. Matt Mead has signed a disasterdeclaration due to the intense flooding.

Photo by Blaine McCartney/The Sheridan Press | AP

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SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 Zlocal PAGE 3A

pants, a black shirt and ablack ski mask pointingwhat looked like a rifle athim, a federal criminalcomplaint states.

Agents, assisted by a K-9unit, searched the area.The dog alerted agents tothe possible presence ofnarcotics or people in thebrush area. Agents spreadin the brush and detainedfour individuals.

All four men were deter-mined to be illegally in thecountry, a criminal com-plaint states. One man wasfrom El Salvador and the

U.S. Border Patrolagents working in theSan Ygnacio area de-tained a man whoclaimed to work for LosZetas after he wascaught smuggling threeundocumented peopleon a boat, according toBorder Patrol agents.

The incident was re-ported during the earlyhours of June 6.

Agents were conduct-ing a line watch oper-ation in a Rio Grandearea known as “HobosLanding,” an area usedfor smuggling of narcot-ics and undocumentedaliens, federal officialssay.

A property ownerfrom the area ap-proached agents andtold them that he saw aman wearing black

other three were fromHonduras.

Agents identified theman from El Salvador asJesus Alfredo Pleitez-Aguilar.

“Pleitez-Aguilar statedthat he worked for the Ze-ta Cartel as a stash houseoperator and was in-volved in smugglingaliens and narcotics fromMexico into the UnitedStates,” a criminal com-plaint states.

The man added thathe’d made arrangementsto transport nine undocu-

mented people from Mex-ico to San Ygnacio. Plei-tez-Aguilar stated he wasin possession of the .22-caliber rifle found nearthe brush area where thefour men were appre-hended. Agents seized therifle, 30 rounds of .22-cali-er ammo and eight shot-gun shells.

Two of the Honduranscaptured were held aswitnesses. They statedthat Pleitez-Aguilar wasin charge of a stashhouse in Mexico. He also,witnesses alleged, orga-nized the transportationof the nine undocument-ed people into the UnitedStates.

A criminal complaintstates Pleitez-Aguilar waspreviously deported onSept. 18, 1996.

Feds: Man claims he’s a ZetaBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES The dog alerted agents to thepossible presence of narcotics orpeople in the brush area.

The Zapata County Sher-iff ’s Office is asking thecommunity for help in solv-ing a rash of burglaries re-ported in a fishing campsouth of Zapata.

Sgt. Mario Elizondo saidthree break-ins were report-ed at the Twin Coves RVPark. All burglaries hap-pened June 10 during theevening hours. Deputiessaid the alleged offendersstole fishing equipmentworth about $8,000.

Deputies received thefirst call from a 32-year-oldman at 7:53 p.m. from TwinCoves, which is approxi-mately nine miles west ofAlejandreñas Road. Thecomplainant reported thatsomeone had broken intohis property and stolen fish-ing accessories. The proper-ty was valued at $5,000.

Deputies went out to asecond call from the samelocation at 9:23 p.m. Another32-year-old man told officersthat someone burglarizedhis property. Elizondo said itwas unclear if anything wastaken from the place. An in-ventory list is pending.

Deputies received a thirdcall from Twin Coves at10:59 p.m. A 31-year-old manreported a burglary of ahabitation. According to re-ports, the offenders stole abattery charger and fishingrods and reels, among otherfishing accessories. All prop-erty stolen was valued atabout $3,000.

To assist the sheriff ’s of-fice, call 765-9960. Peoplemay also call Crime Stop-pers at 765-TIPS (8477),where information leadingto an arrest may be reward-ed with up to $1,000. All call-ers may remain anony-mous.

Sheriff eyes aid in solvingfishing camp burglaries

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

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

Most politicalscandals involvepeople who are

not really enmeshed inthe Washington estab-lishment — people likeRep. Anthony Weiner orRep. William Jefferson.Most scandals involvespectacularly bad behav-ior — like posting pic-tures of your privateparts on the Web or hid-ing $90,000 in cash inyour freezer.

But the most devastat-ing scandal in recent his-tory involved dozens ofthe most respected mem-bers of the Washingtonestablishment. Their be-havior was not out of theordinary by any means.

For that reason, theFannie Mae scandal isthe most important polit-ical scandal since Water-gate. It helped sink theAmerican economy. Ithas cost taxpayers about$153 billion, so far. It in-dicts patterns of behav-ior that are considerednormal and respectablein Washington.

Little attentionThe Fannie Mae scan-

dal has gotten relativelylittle media attention be-cause many of the parti-cipants are still power-ful, admired and well-connected. But GretchenMorgenson, a New YorkTimes colleague, and thefinancial analyst JoshuaRosner have rectifiedthat, writing “RecklessEndangerment,” a bravebook that exposes the af-fair in clear and grip-ping form.

The story centersaround James Johnson,a Democratic sage with araft of prestigious con-nections. Appointed aschief executive of FannieMae in 1991, Johnsonstarted an aggressive ef-fort to expand homeownership.

Back then, FannieMae could raise moneyat low interest rates be-cause the federal govern-ment implicitly guaran-teed its debt. In 1995, ac-cording to theCongressional BudgetOffice, this implied guar-antee netted the agency$7 billion. Instead of us-ing that money to helpbuyers, Johnson and oth-er executives kept $2.1billion for themselvesand their shareholders.They used it to furtherthe cause — expandingtheir clout, their salariesand their bonuses. Theydid the things that everyspecial-interest groupdoes to advance its inter-ests.

Plenty of moneyFannie Mae co-opted

relevant activist groups,handing out money toACORN, the Congres-sional Black Caucus, theCongressional HispanicCaucus and other groupsthat it might need on itsside.

Fannie ginned up As-troturf lobbying cam-paigns. In 2000, for exam-ple, a bill was introducedthat threatened Fannie’sspecial status. The Coali-tion for Homeownershipwas formed and letterspoured into congression-al offices opposing thebill. Many signatories ofthe letter had no ideatheir names had beenused.

Fannie lavished cam-paign contributions on

members of Congress.Time and again expertswould go before somecongressional committeeto warn that Fannie waslowering borrowing stan-dards and posing anenormous risk to tax-payers. Phalanxes of con-gressmen would be mobi-lized to bludgeon the ex-perts and kill unfriendlylegislation.

No overseersFannie executives

ginned up academicstudies. They created afoundation that spenttens of millions in adver-tising. They spent enor-mous amounts of timeand money capturing theregulators who were sup-posed to police them.

Morgenson and Rosn-er write with barely sup-pressed rage, as if greatcrimes are being com-mitted. But there are nocrimes. This is howWashington works. Onlytwo of the characters inthis tale come off asegregiously immoral.Johnson made $100 mil-lion while supposedlyhelping the poor. Rep.Barney Frank, whosepartner at the timeworked for Fannie, wasarrogantly dismissivewhen anybody raiseddoubts about the stabili-ty of the whole arrange-ment.

Most of the peoplewere simply doing whatreputable figures do inservice to a supposedlygood cause. Johnsonroped in some of themost respected establish-ment names: Bill Daley,Tom Donilan, Joseph Sti-glitz, Dianne Feinstein,Kit Bond, Franklin Rain-es, Larry Summers, Rob-ert Zoellick, Ken Starrand so on.

Of course, it all cameundone. Underneath,Fannie was a cancer thathelped spread risky be-havior and low standardsacross the housing in-dustry. We all know whathappened next.

The scandal has sentthe message that theleadership class is funda-mentally self-dealing.Leaders on the center-right and center-left arealways trying to createpublic-private partner-ships to spark sociallyproductive activity. Butthe biggest public-privatepartnership to date led toshameless self-enrich-ment and disastrous re-sults.

It has sent the mess-age that we have hit themoment of demosclero-sis. Washington is hometo a vertiginous tangle ofindustry associations, ac-tivist groups, think tanksand communicationsshops. These forces haveoverwhelmed the govern-ment that was originallyconceived by the foun-ders.

The final message isthat members of theleadership class havedone nothing to policethemselves. The WallStreet-Industry-Regula-tor-Lobbyist tangle iseven more deeply en-meshed.

People may not likeMichele Bachmann, butwhen they finish “Reck-less Endangerment” theywill understand whythere is a market for pol-iticians like her. They’llrealize that if the exist-ing leadership classdoesn’t redefine “nor-mal” behavior, some pun-gent and colorful move-ment will sweep in anddo it for them.

COLUMN

Fannie Maeis the mother

of scandalsBy DAVID BROOKSNEW YORK TIMES

OTHER VIEWS

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Tomorrow is Father’sDay.

And I am sure thatmany of you are preparingdiligently to honor thosespecial dad’s in your lifewith a sentimental card, aspecial meal or even aweekend getaway.

Some of you might takeyour dads fishing.

Others might take dad toa ball game.

And some might play around of golf or mount thehorses at the ranch.

Whatever the occasion,you have forged a specialbond with your father andhe has played a pivotal rolein your upbringing.

I, too, will spend timewith my father on this spe-cial day in appreciation forall that he has done for meand for my family.

While I am thankful forthe all years that God has

given me with my dad, I amalso grateful for anothergroup of special men whoalso serve an importantpart in our lives — thepriests of the Diocese of La-redo.

Although slightly differ-ent, it’s also a Father’s Daycelebration for these dedi-cated men situated through-out our seven counties.

As you take time topause, pray and give thanksfor your dad, I also encour-age you to do the same forall our Fathers of theChurch.

Just like dad, our prieststeach us, feed us, console usand shepherd us.

Among the many dutiesof a priest, the members ofour clergy look after thedaily spiritual needs of thefaithful of our diocese bycelebrating Mass, witness-ing marriages, hearing con-fessions, performing funer-al rites and baptizing ba-bies as well as adults.

They are the ones whoare there in our time of joyand of need.

As the spiritual leader ofthis Catholic community, Ihave witnessed the manygood deeds and the edifyinggrowth of spirituality ourpriests have fostered amongour people.

I sincerely appreciate thecontributions my brotherpriests make on a daily ba-sis.

And it is as a man of thecloth that I remind you thatour clergy are very muchhuman, with the same emo-

tional needs as every one ofyou.

Just as you would foryour father, our priestsneed to be aware of yourcare, support and apprecia-tion.

While priests make verygood listeners, they, too, liketo engage in conversationswhere they can discuss hob-bies, interests, concerns,etc.

Our priests also needtime to rest and relax justas we all do.

We all need to rest andrenew our minds, bodiesand spirits.

As Father’s Day weekendapproaches, please givethanks to God for all thesewonderful servants of theLord. My very best wishesto all our dedicated priestsand to all the wonderfuldads who sacrifice for theirfamily, Todo Con Amor.

COLUMN

Honoring dads on their day“JAMES TAMAYO

It would be hugely costly— for this country’scredibility, for the future

of NATO and for the peopleof Libya — if Congress wereto force President BarackObama to abandon militaryoperations over Libya. How-ever, Obama cannot evadehis responsibility, under theWar Powers Act, to seekcongressional approval tocontinue the operation.

The White House’s argu-ment for not doing so bor-ders on sophistry — that“U.S. operations do not in-

volve sustained fighting oractive exchanges of fire withhostile forces, nor do theyinvolve the presence of U.S.ground troops” and thus arenot the sort of “hostilities”covered by the act.

This country’s involve-ment in the air campaign isundeniably limited. Sincethe United States handed offcommand to the Europeansin early April, the Pentagonhas provided refueling andsurveillance for NATOplanes, hit air defenses andsent in armed, remotely pi-loted drones.

But the 1973 act does not

apply solely to boots-on-the-ground, full-out shootingwars. It says that 60 or 90days after notifying Con-gress of the introduction ofarmed forces “into hostili-ties or into situations whereimminent involvement inhostilities is clearly indicat-ed,” the president must re-ceive congressional authori-zation or terminate the mis-sion.

No word games can gethim off the hook.

We support the Libyacampaign, although likemany Americans we arefrustrated that it has

dragged on this long.No matter how one sees

this mission, the War Pow-ers Act is an essential bal-ance to the White House’s— any White House’s —power to wage war. Carvingout an exception for dronesor airstrikes would be adangerous precedent, espe-cially in an era when somuch fighting can be doneby remote control.

Obama needs to go toCongress and make hiscase. Congress then needsto authorize continued U.S.support for NATO’s air cam-paign over Libya.

EDITORIAL

Obama needs to follow the lawNEW YORK TIMES

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SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

ASSAULTCassandra M. Chapa, 21, was

arrested and charged with assaultfamily violence at approximately11:15 p.m. June 10 in the 700block of Guerrero Avenue. Thewoman was taken to Zapata Coun-ty Jail and later released, pendingcourt appearance.

BURGLARYA 23-year-old man reported a

burglary of a vehicle at 8:17 p.m.June 10 in the 1300 block of Ra-mireño Avenue. The man statedthat someone stole fog lights fromhis truck valued at about $1,800.

A 49-year-old man reportedat 8:38 p.m. June 11 at SocorroRanch by Airport Road, off Texas16, that someone broke into theranch house. Deputies say foodand clothing were missing butnothing of great value was taken.

A 59-year-old man reportedat 7:50 p.m. Monday at a ranchsouth of Zapata, off U.S. 83, thatsomeone pried open the door tosteal food and beverages. Nothingof value was taken.

A 63-year-old man reportedat 10:14 p.m. Monday at RanchoLa Fe, south of Zapata off U.S. 83,that someone stole a bench grind-er, an air compressor and a wheelbarrel.

POSSESSIONJaime Sanchez Jr., 35, was

arrested and charged with posses-sion of a controlled substance atabout 2:30 a.m. June 11 near theintersection of 12th Avenue andMier Street. The man was taken tothe Zapata Regional Jail and heldin lieu of a $5,000 bond.

TERRORISTIC THREATSantiago Ramirez III, 44, was

arrested at approximately 2:30a.m. June 12 in the 1700 block ofSecond Street after deputies re-

sponded to a call reporting a manthreatening neighbors. Ramirez wastaken to the Zapata Regional Jailand held in lieu of $5,000 bond.

A 27-year-old man reportedat 4 p.m. Monday in the 2100block of Del Mar Street that some-one had threatened him.

THE BLOTTER

Two unrelated incidentsled Zapata County sheriff ’sinvestigators to recover aboat and its engine, whichhad been reported stolen re-cently.

On May 29 at 5:07 a.m.,deputies responded to theftcall at the Oso BlancoLodge., where a 54-year-oldman told authorities thatsomeone had stolen his 1997bass boat. It was valued at$12,000.

Sgt. Mario Elizondo saidinvestigators received infor-mation and a “partial de-scription” of a possible Nis-san or Honda vehicle haul-

ing the boat from OsoBlanco.

Later in the day, investi-gators recovered the boatwhile investigating an unre-lated incident at Salvadorand Siesta lanes. However,the boat was missing bothits engine and the trollingmotor.

Sheriff ’s investigatorslearned nothing else untilJune 9.

In an unrelated case, Eli-zondo said officials servinga search warrant at a homein the 700 block of RomaAvenue found an engine mo-tor matching the descriptionof the one taken from theMay 29 complainant’s boat.When matched with the

boat, deputies seized it andgave it back to the owner.

The case remains underinvestigation. No chargeshave been filed. Arrests are

pending in the case, Elizon-do said.

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

Deputies find stolen boat, engineBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

A man landed in Zapa-ta Regional Jail with sev-eral charges after depu-ties say he led them on achase throughout thecounty.

Ignores stop tryDeputies attempted to

pull over a maroon 2006Ford F150 for a traffic stopat 3:46 a.m. Tuesday nearthe intersection of SixthAvenue and U.S. 83. Theman refused and led depu-ties on a 23-mile chasearound town. He almostcrashed into several busi-nesses. He missed crash-ing into the El Tigre Ex-xon gas pumps located byU.S. 83 and Texas 16, saidSgt. Mario Elizondo.

“He disregarded safetyfor the public and proper-ty … He also (put) himselfin harm’s way because ofhis reckless driving andhigh speed,” Elizondo add-ed.

Reaching speeds of 90mph, the man eluded dep-uties and headed towardBustamante on Texas 16.

Elizondo said the manlost control of his truckby mile marker 790 and

spun 180 degrees and trav-eled backwards off thehighway.

Fighting lawmenTo keep the man from

starting another chaseand endangering the trav-eling public on the high-way, deputies rammed thefront of his vehicle andthen struggled with thesuspect when he resistedarrest and refused to behandcuffed, Elizondo said.

Deputies identified thesuspect as Hilario Rodri-guez-Delgado, 26, of EaglePass. He was arrested andcharged with four countsof aggravated assaultagainst a public servantafter he almost hit four of-ficers with his truck, Eli-zondo said.

He added that the manwas also charged withevading arrest with a mo-tor vehicle and resistingarrest. Deputies trans-ported the man to the Za-pata Regional Jail, wherehe was held in lieu ofcombined bond of$315,000. No one washarmed in the incident.

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

Six chargescatch manafter chaseBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

BARBERIO RANCH FIRE BURNS 1,200 ACRES

Courtesy photo

A brush fire sparked June 9, consuming about 1,200 acres, officials say. Firefighters responded to the Barberio Ranch, three miles north ofChihuahua. Zapata, Roma, La Rosita and Salineño fire departments joined forces to battle the blaze with six units. No property damagewas reported other than fences. Zapata County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens assistedwith traffic control.

SÁBADO 18 DE JUNIOLAREDO — Hoy es el

Mercado Agrícola “El Centrode Laredo” de 9 a.m. a 12p.m. en la Plaza Jarvis. Ha-brá tomates, chiles, papayas,mangos y calabaza, ademásde hierbas y plantas.

LAREDO — Pase latarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “The Little Star ThatCould” a las 5 p.m., “Earth,Moon, and Sun” a las 6p.m. y “Seven Wonders” alas 7 p.m. Costo: 5 dólares.

LAREDO — Dirty BlackSummer Show es hoy a par-tir de las 9 p.m. en SkyClub, 301 calle Market. Parti-ciparán: Bastard Sons, FullContact, Dead Albatross.

LAREDO — “HombresG” en concierto hoy en LasCananas Revolution Bar andRevo, 2331 Endeavor Dr., alas 9 p.m.

LAREDO — “LiquidIce” se presenta en concier-to hoy a las 11 p.m. en TKO,4100 avenida San Bernardo.

NUEVO LAREDO — Eli-minatoria Estatal de Fútbol,Categoría 45 o mayores alas 6 p.m. en Estadio UnidadDeportiva.

DOMINGO 19 DE JUNIONo se pierda la tras-

misión por NBC del certa-men Miss USA. Apoye a lalaredense Miss Texas USAAna Rodriguez.

NUEVO LAREDO —Carrera Atlética InternacionalFundadores 5 Km. a partirde las 8 a.m. Salida delCampo de Veteranos en lare-do y meta en la ExplanadaEsteban Baca Calderón deNuevo Laredo.

NUEVO LAREDO —Concierto de la Banda deViento de Oaxaca “OaxacaFiesta y Tradición” a las5:30 p.m. en la Plaza Hidal-go.

NUEVO LAREDO — Es-cuela de baile “Danssika”presenta festival en el Cen-tro Cultural de Nuevo Laredoa las 5:30 p.m. Boletos enla taquilla a 100 pesos, plan-ta baja y primer nivel; 50pesos en segundo nivel.

LUNES 20 DE JUNIOLAREDO — Pase la

tarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “The Little Star ThatCould” a las 5 p.m., “Earth,Moon, and Sun” a las 6p.m. y “Seven Wonders” alas 7 p.m. Entrada general: 5dólares.

MARTES 21 DE JUNIOLAREDO — Concierto

de Martin Valverde a las6:30 p.m. en el Laredo CivicCenter. Costo del boleto: 15y 20 dólares.

NUEVO LAREDO —Conferencia “Laredo de SanAgustín, en la Independen-cia” por Rafael García Orte-ga a las 11 a.m. en EstaciónPalabra.

NUEVO LAREDO —Performance de “La Piedra yel Río” de Eduardo AntonioParra a las 5 p.m. en la SalaGabriel García Márquez deEstación Palabra.

MIÉRCOLES 22 DE JUNIOLAREDO — Hoy es la

última fecha para inscribirseal torneo de boliche auspi-ciado por Amigos del AgenteEspecial del ICE Jaime Zapa-ta. El costo es de 25 dólarespor persona o 125 dólarespor equipo. Informes en el(956) 744-7505 o 956-791-8759.

LAREDO — Pase latarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “Black Holes” at 4p.m. and “Two Small Piecesof Glass: The Amazing Teles-cope” at 5 p.m. Entrada ge-neral: 3 dólares.

NUEVO LAREDO — Ci-clo de cine y literatura pre-senta “Oliver Twist” a las 6p.m. en auditorio de Esta-ción Palabra.

Agendaen Breve

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera SÁBADO 18 DE JUNIO DE 2011

MÉXICO — La policíafederal arrestó a un militardesertor, presunto miembrodel cártel de Los Zetas, sos-pechoso de participar en lamasacre de 72 migrantescerca de la frontera nortede Tamaulipas y del se-cuestro de autobuses de pa-sajeros en el mismo lugar.

Edgar Huerta Montielfue detenido en el Zacate-cas con su pareja BrendaAcevedo, dijo el viernes Ra-món Pequeño, responsableantidrogas de la Secretaríade Seguridad Pública.

Según Pequeño, Huerta

asesinó al menos a 10 cen-troamericanos en agosto de2010 y secuestró seis auto-buses de pasajeros.

En abril las autoridadescomenzaron a excavar fo-sas clandestinas donde hanencontrado un total de 193cadáveres que se cree eranmigrantes mexicanos quebuscaban cruzar a EstadosUnidos. Huerta dijo a lapolicía que las víctimas se-cuestradas de autobuseseran llevadas a casas de se-guridad y torturadas. Lasque morían eran enterra-das en fosas.

Huerta, agregó Pequeño,buscaba en autobuses a

miembros del cártel delGolfo, antes aliado y ahorarival. Pero agregó que tam-bién se cree que muchos se-cuestros tenían el objetivode extorsionar a familiaresde las víctimas para obten-er dinero.

Pequeño dijo que Huertaera el brazo derecho delpresunto líder de Los Zetasen Tamaulipas, SalvadorMartínez Escobedo. Agregóque era jefe del detenidoMartín Estrada Luna, cono-cido como “El Kilo”, acusa-do también del asesinato demigrantes. Estrada crecióen Estados Unidos y fue de-portado a México en 2009.

MILITAR DESERTOR DETENIDO POR MASACRE EN TAMAULIPAS

Revelan detallesASSOCIATED PRESS

NUEVO LAREDO — Ta-maulipas está realizandouna serie de homenajes adoña Amalia González Ca-ballero de Castillo Ledón.

Uno de estos se llevó acabo el miércoles 15 de ju-nio, en el marco del 163Aniversario de la Funda-ción de esta ciudad, en elCentro Cultural, ante lapresencia del GobernadorEgidio Torre Cantú y elPresidente Municipal Ben-jamín Galván Gómez.

“Fue un acto conmemo-rativo del XXV aniversarioluctuoso de esta gran ta-maulipeca”, dijo Torre.“Doña Amalia se distin-guió en la vida diplomáti-ca, cultural y social, así co-

mo en la lucha por los de-rechos de la mujer”.

Merecedora de múlti-ples condecoraciones na-cionales e internacionalespor su activa promociónde la equidad de género,Amalia González Caballerofalleció el 3 de junio de1986.

Con el apoyo del Institu-to Tamaulipeco para laCultura y las Artes (ITCA),se disfrutó de la represen-tación de la pieza dramát-ica De carne, hueso y cora-zón: llámenme Amalia, acargo de la Compañía deTeatro del Espacio Cultur-al Metropolitano de Tampi-co “Metro”.

El espectáculo combinómúsica, teatro, danza ypoesía.

CULTURA

Actores de la compañía Teatral del Centro Cultural Metropolitanode Tampico participaron en el homenaje a doña Amalia GonzálezCaballero de Castillo Ledón con la obra “Hueso, Carne y Cora-zón: Llámenme Amalia”, el miércoles en el Centro Cultural deNuevo Laredo.

Foto por Miguel Timoshenkov | The Zapata Times

Estado rindetributo a

tamaulipecaTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD VICTORIA,México — Tamaulipaspuede estar orgulloso delnivel de sus deportistas, yaque al concluir la Olimpia-da Nacional 2011, y con 154medallas, logró ubicarseen el décimotercer lugardel medallero y el octavoen eficiencia.

Tan solo en los últimosseis días, los tamaulipecosobtuvieron siete medallas,siendo dos de oro, cuatrode plata y una de bronce.

Destacó Carlos AlbertoTorres Díaz, de Reynosa,quien obtuvo una medallade oro en la especialidadde frontenis de la categoríajuvenil B; la plata fue paraEduardo Rojas de Nayarity el bronce para Adani Es-quivel de Coahuila.

La final se desarrolló enla Ciudad Deportiva “JuanFernández Albarrán” deZinacantepec, Estado deMéxico.

Por su parte, la parejaformada por Édgar DanielMuñoz Lara y Rodrigo Án-

gel Jiménez Fragoso sequedó con el segundopuesto y el metal de plataen la modalidad de trin-quete mano con pelota go-sua en la categoría juvenilC. La dupla tamaulipecacayó en la final ante losrepresentantes de Queréta-ro y previamente se ha-bían impuesto a los de Si-naloa, que finalizaron entercer lugar.

Las 154 medallas obteni-das por la delegación ta-maulipeca se dividen de lasiguiente manera: 45 med-allas de oro, 50 de plata y59 de bronce, que lo ubicanen el décimotercer lugarde la tabla general, que en-cabezan Jalisco, Nuevo Le-ón y Baja California.

Por puntos, Tamaulipastambién se ubica en el dé-cimotercer lugar con untotal de 2,654 unidades,mientras que en la tablade eficiencias, que se ob-tiene por la relación entreel número de atletas parti-cipantes y medallas obteni-das, Tamaulipas ocupa eloctavo lugar con 20.5%.

DEPORTES

Medallero ubicaa deportistas enlugar destacado

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Un dibujo elaboradopor una estu-diante del cuartogrado en Ciudad

Mier obtuvo el tercer lugarestatal en el XXXIV Concur-so Nacional de Pintura In-fantil “El Niño y la Mar”convocado por la Secretaríade Marina Armada de Méx-ico (Semar).

Otras dos alumnas de lafrontera chica obtuvieronuna mención honorífica.

Bárbara Ludivina Martí-nez Rosales, de 10 años, es-tudiante del cuarto grado enla escuela primaria Club deLeones No. 1 obtuvo el ter-cer lugar con el dibujo “Lavida en el mar”.

Las menciones honorífi-cas fueron para Adriana Li-zeth Guerra López, de Mier;y Citlalhy Carolina ReyesTovías, de Miguel Alemán.

Fue en el Centro CulturalTamaulipas en Ciudad Vic-toria donde se dio lectura alacta emitida por el juradocalificador integrado porAlejandro Rosales Lugo, Ri-cardo Cázares Yáñez y Mer-cedes Medellín Varela.

En comunicado de pren-sa del Gobierno de Tamauli-pas se informó que el jura-do calificador consideró lacalidad artística y el cumpli-miento de los puntos esta-blecidos en la convocatoriade la Semar.

El primer lugar fue obte-nido por Sebastián HerreraDávila, de 7 años, originariode Matamoros, con el dibujo“El niño y la mar”; en se-gundo lugar quedó Kelly It-zel López Balderas, de 7años, de Matamoros, con eltrabajo “Conservemos laplaya”.

Edson Alejandro RuízGarcía, de Ciudad Victoria,también obtuvo una men-ción honorífica.

A fin de reconocer la par-ticipación de todos los alum-nos de Ciudad Mier en elcertamen nacional, durantejunio se podrán admirar losdibujos participantes en laCasa de la Cultura.

“El objetivo es motivar atodos los niños partici-pantes apreciando los dife-rentes dibujos tanto el pro-pio, si participaron, como el

de sus compañeros”, dijo elPresidente Municipal, Al-berto González Peña.

Martínez Rosales recibiráun premio a nivel estado enMatamoros en fecha próxi-ma, además de la oportuni-dad de participar en la eta-pa nacional.

A nivel estado el InstitutoTamaulipeco para la Cultu-ra y las Artes (ITCA) ayudóen la coordinación del certa-men “El Niño y la Mar”.

Por otra parte, la Directo-ra de Turismo y Cultura enCiudad Mier, Carmen AliciaGuerra Rios informó que el12 de junio dieron inicio enla Casa de la Cultura los tal-leres para clases de guitarray coro, a cargo de Mario Ca-ñedo, y el de pintura, a car-go de Arturo Cavazos Peña.

Alrededor de 50 niños seinscribieron para participar.

CONCURSO

Dibujos de alumnos que participaron en el XXXIV Concurso nacional “El niño y la mar” convocado porla Semar, son parte de una exposición en la Casa de la Cultura de Ciudad Mier, México, durante junio.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Ciudad Mier

NIÑO Y LA MARAlumna de Mier destaca con dibujo

Obras de estudiantes de Ciudad Mier pueden ser admirados du-rante junio en la Casa de la Cultura.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Ciudad Mier

POR MELVA LAVÍN-CASTILLOTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD VICTORIA,México — El Gobierno deTamaulipas anunció unainversión de más de 22 mil-lones de pesos en carrete-ras y caminos.

“En el sistema integralde carreteras y caminos (seinvertirán) más de 20,000

millones de pesos, y más de2,000 millones de pesos (se-rán) para la rehabilitación,modernización y construc-ción de carreteras y cami-nos rurales”, dijo el Secre-tario de Obras Públicas es-tatal, Manuel RodríguezMorales.

Actualmente en el estadohay 2,138 kilómetros de red

carretera federal, 2,584 kiló-metros de red carretera es-tatal y 8,720 kilómetros decaminos rurales.

Rodríguez explicó quelos planes contemplan laconservación, construccióny modernización de cami-nos rurales y carreteras es-tatales, la construcción yampliación de los libra-

mientos, incrementar loscruces fronterizos, modern-izar los ejes carreteros fed-erales en el estado y aten-der las aeropistas exist-entes en la entidad.

Dentro del presupuestose contempla que 181 mil-lones de pesos sean para laatención de 167 kilómetros

de carreteras que present-an daños severos.

En el caso, por ejemplo,de Nuevo Laredo, se tienecontemplada una inversiónbipartita entre Tamaulipasy la federación del orden delos 73.3 millones de pesospara la construcción de dospasos superiores vehicu-lares.

OBRAS

Inversión estatal mejorará varios tramos carreterosESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

Jose Heberto Gonzalez,94, passed away Saturday,June 11, 2011, at LaredoMedical Center.

Mr. Gonzalez is preced-ed in death by his wife,Benilde G. Gonzalez; par-ents: Jose M. Gonzalezand Adela P. Gonzalez;brother Alfonso Gonzalez;and sisters: Emma (San-tiago) Richardson, Otilia(Serapio) Morales and SanJuana (Raul) Gutierrez.

Mr. Gonzalez is sur-vived by his son, HectorHugo Gonzalez; daughter,Mirtha Elva Gonzalez;brother Manuel (Elva)Gonzalez; sister-in-law, So-corro P. Flores; and by nu-merous nephews, niecesand other relatives andfriends.

Visitation was Monday,June 13, 2011, from 6 to 9p.m., with a rosary at 7p.m., at Rose Garden Fu-neral Home.

The funeral processiondeparted Tuesday, June14, 2011, at 9:45 a.m. for a10 a.m. funeral Mass atOur Lady of LourdesCatholic Church. Commit-tal services followed at Za-pata County Cemetery.

The family of Mr. Gon-zalez would like to give ve-ry special thanks to Dr.Arturo Garza-Gongora,Mary Plattner, F.N.P. andFalcon Lake NursingHome of Zapata for theirwonderful care.

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

JOSE HEBERTO GONZALEZ

Barry E. Kleban passedaway Wednesday, June 15,2011, at his residence in Za-pata.

Mr. Kleban is preceded indeath by his parents: Mor-ris and Ann Kleban.

Mr. Kleban is survived byhis wife, Karan Kleban; chil-dren: Mitchell Kleban, Brad-ford Kleban (JenniferYoungs), Andrea Kleban(Gregory Brucker) and Mel-anie (Roger) Rosdahl; grand-children: Amber (Brian)and Joshua Rosdahl; great-grandchildren: Anastasiaand McKenzie; and by nu-merous friends.

Visitation hours will beheld Monday, June 20, 2011,from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at RoseGarden Funeral Home.

The funeral processionwill depart Monday, June 20,2011, at 2 p.m. for a grave-side service at Zapata Coun-ty Cemetery.

Funeral arrangementsare under the direction ofRose Garden Funeral Home,Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeraldirector, 2102 Highway 83,Zapata.

BARRY E. KLEBAN

armor the vehicles are incapable oftaking gunfire from the Mexicanarmed forces. In addition, the “mon-sters” are “so vulnerable” that theycan be easily stopped by shooting atthe tires.

Recently, the army found fourdump trucks modified with armor in

armory) is useless to safeguard pas-sengers from firearms used by troops.Officials say customizing vehicles is“a desperate measure by delinquentsto protect their hit men from casual-ties caused by military personnel.”

Recently, the army has found atleast eight “monsters” in Tamaulipasand Coahuila. Officials also believedbuilding armored vehicles is an at-tempt to intimidate rival cartels.

A report made by the national se-curity committee states the creationof “monster vehicles” is a direct re-sult of cartels fighting for controlover the drug routes to United States.

Though there are no reports thecustomized vehicles have been usedin confrontations with the military,SEDENA officials say narcotanks are“extremely vulnerable” to militarytroops.

“The thrown weapons with flam-mable liquids, such as Molotov cock-tails, are effective against (the narco-tanks),” according to SEDENA offi-cials. They also said these customizedvehicles are not useful for undercoveroperations for their “obvious crimi-nal aspect.”

SEDENA officials pointed out thatnarcotanks are visible and “highlyvulnerable” from air patrol forces. Be-cause of their heavy weight, the“monsters” cannot be easily maneu-vered around urban areas.

The 1-centimeter steel plates that

Camargo, Tamaulipas, which bordersRio Grande City. More armored vehi-cles were found in Moclova, Coahuila,about 156 miles west of Nuevo Lare-do.

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

NARCOTANKS Continued from Page 1A

In this image released by Mexico’s Defense Department, SEDENA, on June 5, a makeshiftarmored truck is displayed after it was seized June 4 in the city of Camargo, Mexico. Ac-cording to Mexico’s Defense Department, two makeshift armored trucks were found in aclandestine shop that was being used to create these vehicles. Heavy machinery, weap-ons and 23 large trucks were also seized during the operation.

Photo by SEDENA | AP

these proposals could havecost the county a mini-mum of $14,000. The com-missioners decided againstthe installation of the newmonitors, splitting the costin half.

“The one we have inplace is not really old andnot really bad … The sys-tem as far as communica-tion works well,” said JoseEmilio Vela, Precinct1commissioner.

He explained that themonitors were relativelynew, as the current court-house was built in 2006,making it and its equip-ment only five years old.

The motion made byRathmell for the digital re-cording system, however,was approved. The imple-mentation of this systemwill allow for the meetingsto be recorded and placedon the Zapata County web-site, where they can beeasily accessed by citizensor other interested parties.

“People many timesdon’t have a way of goingto the CommissionersCourt meeting, and withthis, people would be ableto download the meet-ings,” Vela stated, makingthem “accessible to thepublic” and increasing“transparency.”

An item #19 calling fortermination of the two-year contract between Za-pata County and Dr. Ed-mundo O. Garcia was also

approved. Garcia is still el-igible to submit a bid forthe following term, as thecommissioners’ actionmerely functions a 90-daynotice of the completion ofthe contract, effective Sept.3.

The alternative wouldhave been to extend theagreement. The courtagreed to terminate thecontract to allow GatewayHealth Clinic and LaredoMedical Center to maketheir proposals for servic-es in Zapata.

Eight percent of generalrevenue generated by Za-pata goes toward indigenthealth care, and for thepast few years, the countyhas surpassed that cost.

“This time around, gen-eral revenue is going to belower,” Vela said. Thus,the court found the alter-native — having other en-tities placing lower, possi-bly more affordable bidsfor providing services —more favorable than ex-tending the contract

Vela expressed the hopethat if LMC became theprimary healthcare pro-vider for Zapata, it wouldincrease the likelihoodthat the county wouldsoon gain an emergencyhealth clinic. Currently, allemergencies occurring aresent to Laredo.

“(We’re hoping) that the24-hour healthcare facilitywill be able to be convert-

ed into an emergencyhealth clinic … There’s ahigh probability thatthey’ll be able to provideemergency services,” Velasaid.

Another budgetary ques-tion dealt with the pur-chase of a dump truck forthe San Ygnacio landfill,though the commissionersdetermined there were, in-deed, enough funds to cov-er this cost.

“The landfill is regulat-ed by TCEQ (Texas Com-mission on EnvironmentalQuality). They come inand check to see we’recompliant with the laws,”Vela noted.

Marin Saenz, the SanYgnacio landfill manager,pointed out to the commis-sioners that the brakes ofthe truck currently in usewere in dire need of repairand posed a hazard forsome of the employees. Ac-cording to Vela, the countyhas $84,000 allocated forequipment lease; $22,000 al-located for tractor repairs;and $22,300 budgeted forrepairs and maintenanceof equipment, for a total of$130,000 in funds for land-fill operations.

To replace the dumptruck, the county bids atBuy Board. Estimates forthe cost of the truck run toapproximately $40,000, put-ting it well within the bud-get for landfill operations.

In addition to these four

items, the commissionersapproved the proposedamendment to the ZapataCounty and Falcon LakeZoning Regulations for thecreation of a Zapata Coun-ty Farmers and RanchersMarket District. An ordi-nance has been in theworks since April’s com-missioners court meeting.The proposal was a resultof the traffic obstructionsand disturbances causedby vendors who set upalong the highway.

“Most of those vendorsthat come in sell a lot oflivestock and feed; it cre-ates a bad image of thecommunity, having thosevendors on the side of theroad. It’s also a hazard,”Vela said.

“We don’t want to runthem away,” he continued.

For this reason, thecounty is amending thezoning regulations to al-low for a Farmers andRanchers Market Districtto be established near theZapata County FairGrounds. Those wantingto sell their goods wouldneed to obtain permits,which they’d pay for, inturn bringing revenue into the county.

“At the same time, we’llbe able to know who theyare and what they sell,”Vela said.

The commissioners haveset July 1 for the comple-tion of these efforts.

COMMISSIONERS Continued from Page 1A

BROWNSVILLE — Con-gressional staff membersare finalizing a House sub-committee briefing on bor-der violence scheduled forJuly 20 in Brownsville.

The event will be hostedand led by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.

Poe spokeswoman Shay-lyn Hynes said Friday thelist was still being finalizedof witnesses to speak to theHouse Judiciary Subcom-mittee on Crime, Terror-ism and Homeland Securi-ty. However, confirmed wit-nesses include ZapataCounty Sheriff Sigi Gonza-lez and Tiffany Hartley,widow of David Hartley. Hewas an American touristpresumably gunned downon the Mexican side of Fal-

con Lake in 2010.

Ortiz donationCORPUS CHRISTI — A

former congressman whoserved nearly three decadesin Washington has donatedhistoric photos, corre-spondence and other gov-ernment documents to Tex-as A&M-Corpus Christi.

Democrat Solomon Ortizwas recognized Thursdayas he offered thousands ofitems marking his yearsrepresenting South Texas.

Thomas Kreneck, associ-ate director for the school’sspecial collections and ar-chives, said the Ortiz docu-ments range from letters toitems on Navy operationsto everyday commentsfrom constituents.

Border violence toget look on July 20

ASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

“We’re listening to thoseconcerns and addressingthem head-on and directlytoday,” he said.

Some changes will bemade to the Secure Com-munities program, whichenables local law enforce-ment to share fingerprintinformation with federalagencies to be checkedagainst the FBI criminaldatabase and against immi-gration databases. The pro-gram is a critical tool forlaw enforcement agenciesbut needs to be tweaked to“do a better job of ensuringthat the program is morefocused on targeting thosethat pose the biggest risk tocommunities,” Morton said.

Critics have said SecureCommunities can discour-age immigrants from re-porting crimes and canlead to the deportation ofpeople who haven’t beenconvicted of any crime. Sev-eral states have declined toparticipate.

Examine firstA new policy directs ICE

officers and attorneys touse appropriate discretionto make sure victims andwitnesses to crimes are notput into deportation pro-ceedings.

Morton says he’s also cre-ating an advisory commit-tee on changing SecureCommunities to focus onserious criminals. A firstreport, due within 45 days,will provide recommenda-tions on how to avoid de-porting people who arecharged with, but not con-victed of, minor traffic of-fenses if they have no othercriminal history or seriousimmigration violations.

The agency has also re-vised its detainer form toemphasize the currentguidelines that local au-thorities aren’t to keep anyperson for more than 48hours on an immigrationhold alone. The detainerform is a document ICEsends to local jurisdictionsto signal potentially depor-table people to the agency.

ICE has also worked withthe Department of Home-land Security’s civil rightsand civil liberties divisionto develop a new trainingprogram on implementingSecure Communities forstate and local law enforce-ment agencies.

Crystal Williams, execu-tive director of the Ameri-can Immigration LawyersAssociation, said creationof an advisory panel sug-gests ICE is listening tocritics.

“There was enough saidto make me think this maybe more than windowdressing,” she said. “Every-thing remains to be seen,but the thinking is in theright direction.”

Attorneys at the associ-ation’s annual meeting inSan Diego said the moresignificant developmentwas new guidelines onwhom to target for deporta-tion, giving field attorneysand agents more latitude toleave some people alone.Critics have complainedthat government lawyershave been compelled to casttoo wide a net.

“It’s going to empower(the field attorneys) to beable to make the right deci-sions and do the rightthing,” said Cleveland at-torney David Leopold.

Having been in the Unit-ed States a long time andhaving family in the coun-try are factors that govern-ment attorneys may consid-er when deciding who toleave alone, said LauraLichter, a Denver immigra-tion attorney who wasbriefed by ICE on the newrules. A criminal record ora history of immigration vi-olations would weigh in fa-vor of deportation.

Lichter likened the newrules to instructing a policeforce to go after bank rob-bers instead of jaywalkers.

“This is all very com-monsense,” she said.

Several immigrant rightsand civil liberties groupssaid the changes were en-couraging but not enough.

“These changes are no-where near sufficient to ad-dress the well-documentedproblems with the SecureCommunities program thathas, thus far, torn apartcountless families acrossthe country by funnelingpeople into a detention anddeportation system rifewith abuse,” said Andrea

Black, executive director ofDetention Watch Network,a coalition of organizationsand individuals. “The flawswith Secure Communitiesrun so deep that the onlysolution is termination ofthe program.”

The governors of Massa-chusetts, Illinois and NewYork have said their stateswill not participate in theprogram. The offices ofeach of those three gover-nors did not immediatelyrespond to requests forcomment Friday afternoon.Cities and municipalities inother parts of the countryhave also declined to parti-cipate.

The Department ofHomeland Security’s actinginspector general CharlesEdwards said last week hewould begin a review of theprogram in August ratherthan later as originallyplanned.

He said the review willdetermine the extent towhich Immigration andCustoms Enforcement usesSecure Communities tofind and deport immigrantswho are dangerous crimi-nals. Immigration officialscheck fingerprints of allpeople booked in local jailsto find immigrants to de-port.

California DemocraticRep. Zoe Lofgren had askedthe inspector general to in-vestigate whether Home-land Security employeeslied to the public, local gov-ernments and Congressabout Secure Communitiesafter reviewing thousandsof federal emails made pub-lic.

Lofgren’s office declinedto comment on the changesFriday, saying the staffhadn’t had a chance tothoroughly review them.

ICE Continued from Page 1A

enforcing federal fire-arm laws and in pre-venting illegal firearmstrafficking, according tocourt records.

A federal criminalcomplaint states themen made false state-ments with respect toinformation required tobe kept by a federal fire-arms licensee. The com-plaint goes on to say themen were part of a con-spiracy to completesales of firearmsthrough individualswho falsely claimed tobe the purchasers.

Martinez and Aram-bula created false re-cords of the purchasers,thus concealing theidentity of the true pur-chasers. These recordswere kept by Arambulasince he was the licens-ed weapons dealer.

Bustos, the complaintstates, made false state-ments in the firearmstransaction. He is con-nected with the acquisi-tion of a .38-caliber pis-tol. The criminal com-plaint adds that Bustoscertified he was the ac-tual buyer, though he

knew that was false.Magana committed the

same act when acquiring a.38-caliber pistol. Garciastated he was the buyer, butwas not. Rangel had simi-lar charges, the criminalcomplaint states.

Federal authorities link-ed Lozano to an unauthor-ized purchase of a FabriqueNationale, model FNP-9.9mm pistol. He alsoclaimed he was the buyer

to obtain the weapon, thecriminal complaint states.

Monsivais made thesame declarations whenpresenting information.He filed records claiminghe was the rightful owner.

Arambula is also ac-cused of failure as a li-censed dealer to keepproper records. He unlaw-fully sold and delivered a.38-caliber pistol to aman, a criminal com-

plaint states.If found guilty, each

man could face up to fiveyears in prison, a three-year supervised releaseand a fine of up to$250,000. ATF agents saidthe cases developed fromJuly 2007 to December2008.

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

FIREARMS Continued from Page 1A

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

DALLAS — As a new generalmanager, Joe Nieuwendyk triedputting his stamp on the DallasStars by making his first coach-ing hire a well-traveled veteranwho’d won a Stanley Cup. Thatdidn’t work too well, so Nieuwen-dyk took the opposite approachthis time.

The Stars announced Glen Gu-lutzan as their new head coachon Friday, tapping a 39-year-oldwho has never played or coachedin the NHL to revive a teamstuck in its worst rut since mov-ing to Dallas in 1993.

Nieuwendyk called the differ-ence more coincidence than de-sign, insisting, “He’s just theright guy for the job.” The frontoffice knows him well becausehe spent the last two years

coaching their top affiliate, theTexas Stars of the AHL, takingthem to the finals as an expan-sion team in 2010 and back to theplayoffs this past season.

“Even though he’s young andhasn’t coached a game in theNHL, his strengths are exactlywhat we need,” Nieuwendyksaid. “He just gets it. He under-stands players. He understandshow to mesh players and how toget the most from their ability.We’ve seen that from talking toplayers who played for him. Wewere highly impressed with thestructure and the style of play,just the bench demeanor of Glen.I think that’s going to translatewell with our players.”

Nieuwendyk said it would be a“misconception that we hired ayoung coach to go with our

HOCKEY

See HOCKEY PAGE 2B

In this undated photo provided by the Texas Stars hockey team, Texas Stars’ headcoach Glen Gulutzan, standing center, looks on during a minor league hockeygame n Cedar Park.

Courtesy photo by the Texas Stars

One star toanother

AHL’s Texas Stars’ coachhired by Dallas Stars

By JAIME ARONASSOCIATED PRESS

OMAHA, Neb. — The CollegeWorld Series opens at the newTD Ameritrade Park on Satur-day after 61 years at RosenblattStadium, and coaches are doingall they can to keep their playersfocused on what happens be-tween the lines.

There’s a lot of CWS experi-ence in the eight-team field, withdefending champion South Car-olina and 34-time qualifier Texasamong the entries. Still, the glitzof the $131 million stadium isbringing out the nerves — andnot just in first-timer Vanderbiltand a California team that hasn’tbeen to Omaha in two decades.

Longhorns coach Augie Garri-do met with his wide-eyed play-ers in the outfield at practice Fri-day and said he gave a speechlike the one in the movie “Hoo-siers” in which the coach mea-sures the basketball hoop tomake sure his team knows thevenue shouldn’t overshadow thegame.

“Hey, there’s a diamond inside

all this other stuff. That’s wherewe know how to play,” Garridosaid. “The rest of it surrounds itand embraces it. But it was a lit-tle bit overwhelming, and in avery positive way. It’s a great en-dorsement for the future of col-lege baseball.”

The CWS opens with Vander-bilt (52-10) playing North Caroli-na (50-14) and Texas (49-17) meet-ing Florida (50-17) on Saturdaynight. Sunday’s games matchCalifornia (37-21) against No. 1national seed Virginia (54-10) fol-lowed by Texas A&M (47-20)against South Carolina (50-14).

North Carolina catcher JacobStallings, who played in the CWSat Rosenblatt as a freshman in2009, will be behind the plate forthe first official pitch at the newstadium. That’ll come from Pa-trick Johnson (13-1, 2.27 ERA) af-ter former President George W.Bush delivers the ceremonialfirst pitch.

“This place, geez, it’s a big-league park,” Stallings said.“That’s what I said when I walk-

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

New venue, newfaces at CWS

By ERIC OLSONASSOCIATED PRESS

See CWS PAGE 2B

MEXICO CITY — Mexicowill be allowed to replace thefive players who have beendropped from the Gold Cupsquad after testing positive forthe banned substance clenbu-terol.

FIFA approved the move andwas asking CONCACAF, theregional governing body, to im-plement it, FIFA SecretaryGeneral Jerome Valcke saidFriday at the Under-17 WorldCup.

The five players and theMexican federation are blam-ing the positive tests on con-taminated meat. The playersinvolved are defenders Fran-cisco Rodriguez and EdgarDuenas, goalkeeper GuillermoOchoa, and midfielders Chris-tian Bermudez and AntonioNaelson.

“Given that we still don’tknow if it was an accident ornot, FIFA has authorized CON-CACAF to allow Mexico to re-place these five players at theGold Cup,” Valcke said. “Itisn’t a very effective drug, andthat’s why this case raises somany questions.”

Valcke said the five playerswould be kept from playing un-til an investigation is complet-ed.

“It’s very strange to see somany players testing positivefor a substance like this at the

same time, but both FIFA andWADA have decided that thesefootballers cannot play for thetime being,” Valcke added.

The players and some offi-cials have blamed the positiveresults, which occurred duringa pre-tournament trainingcamp in May on the outskirtsof Mexico City, on contaminat-ed meat.

Tour de France championAlberto Contador also hasblamed contaminated beef forhis positive test for clenbuterol

last July. Mexican agriculture offi-

cials have put the claim indoubt, saying few cases of con-tamination exist.

However, Mexico PresidentFelipe Calderon has acknowl-edged that contamination is aproblem in the country.

Mexico plays a quarterfinalagainst Guatemala on Satur-day in New Jersey. Despitemissing its top players, Mexicohas been the leading team inits group.

GOLD CUP

Mexican switcherooFive suspended for

doping replacedASSOCIATED PRESS

In this photo taken Sunday, June 5, 2011, Mexico’s Midfielder Gerardo Torrado(6) and Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (1) look on during a CONCACAF Gold Cupsoccer match at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Photo by Brandon Wade | AP

BETHESDA, Md. — Inone of those can’t-missmoments in sports,thousands of fans cov-

ered every inch of space on thehill behind the 10th green atCongressional. They spilledonto the clubhouse veranda,pressed their faces against thewindows and lined up againstthe balcony railing to watchRory McIlroy deliver a per-formance never before seen inthe U.S. Open.

“It was Tiger Woods of 11years ago,” Ian Poulter said.

In some respects, it waseven better.

McIlroy, the sympathetic fig-ure at the Masters, was asclose to perfect as golf allowsFriday during a stunning as-sault on the record book. The22-year-old from Northern Ire-land became the first player inthe 111-year history of the U.S.Open to reach 13-under par,and despite a double bogey in-to the water on the final hole,his 5-under 66 was enough setthe 36-hole scoring record at131.

He went 17 holes withoutmissing a green. He went 35holes without making a bogey.

“It’s very near the best I canplay,” McIlroy said.

Not since Woods destroyedhis competition at Pebble

Beach in 2000 for a record 15-shot victory has anyone madegolf look this easy, at least fortwo rounds.

As if playing under com-plete control were not enough,McIlroy hit a wedge from 114yards some 15 feet behind theflag on No. 8, then watched itroll down a slope and into thecup for eagle. The only time hecame close to making bogeywas on the par-4 11th, when heblasted out of a bunker to 8feet and made the putt.

He tied the U.S. Open recordof 12 under — previously heldby Woods in 2000 and Gil Mor-gan in 1992, both at Pebble

U.S. OPEN

MAGICAL MCILROY

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts to his eagle on the eighth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open Cham-pionship golf tournament in Bethesda, Md., Friday.

Photo by Mike Groll | AP

Record setting round displays masteryBy DOUG FERGUSONASSOCIATED PRESS

See U.S. OPEN PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

ed in. The old Rosenblatthas a ton of history butthis place is just unbeliev-able. State of the art. It’soverwhelming.”

Sonny Gray (12-3, 1.97)will start for Vanderbilt (52-10), which broke throughwith its first CWS berth af-ter losing a three-game su-per regional last year. TheCommodores and TarHeels, both 5-0 in theNCAA tournament, willmeet for the first time.

“I thought this groupcould take a step forward,”Vanderbilt coach Tim Cor-bin said. “We’re fortunateto play here, and it’s a re-lief for some people. Nowthat we’re here, we justwant to play ball.”

Texas ace Taylor Jung-mann (13-2, 1.38), the Mil-waukee Brewers’ first-round draft pick, will try tobounce back from a coupleof rocky postseason outingsagainst a Florida team thathas hit a nation-leading 67home runs.

Gators coach KevinO’Sullivan said his teamshould be able to adjust tothe spaciousness of TDAmeritrade Park, whichhas the same dimensionsas Rosenblatt and is simi-lar to the site of the South-eastern Conference tourna-ment in Hoover, Ala.

“We did some things dif-ferently there than we had

been all year long,” he said.“We bunted a bit more, wehit-and-run a bit more. Weneeded to manufacturesome runs. We’ve got thatcapability. The bottom lineis that we have to somehowfigure out a way to get lead-off men on and get to oneof the best pitchers in col-lege baseball.”

The Longhorns are builton pitching and defense.Garrido joked that his of-fense is so impotent thatthe NCAA won’t need to in-spect his team’s bats beforegames to make sure theyconform to new specifica-tions. The Longhorns arebatting .272 and have hitjust 17 home runs in 66

games. “We’ll just have to find a

way to score a run everynow and then,” Garridosaid. “Kevin’s got moreguys with home runs thanour team.”

Cal’s appearance caps aseason that started with itsbaseball program on thechopping block, only to be

saved by a $9 million fund-raising effort. The Bears,who won the first CWS in1947 in Kalamazoo, Mich.,haven’t made it this farsince 1992.

“Any morning you canwake up in Omaha it’s agreat day,” Cal coach DavidEsquer said.

Virginia survived a

three-game super regionalagainst UC Irvine in whichit rallied with two out inthe ninth inning to ad-vance to Omaha. The Cava-liers are trying to becomethe first No. 1 national seedsince Miami in 1999 to winit all.

“Any club can win it,”Virginia coach BrianO’Connor said. “It’s a mat-ter of who gets hot at theright time. Hopefully, that’sus.”

Texas A&M was the onlyroad team to win a superregional, beating FloridaState in three games. TheAggies have survived de-spite losing ace John Stil-son, who tore his labrumbefore the NCAA tourna-ment.

Ross Stripling (14-2, 2.29)will start against SouthCarolina’s Michael Roth(13-3, 1.02), one of the he-roes of last year’s CWS. Areliever, he was called on tomake two starts thathelped South Carolina be-come the first team to winsix straight games in a sin-gle CWS.

Gamecocks coach RayTanner hopes for a smooth-er ride this time.

“We’re a kind of clubthat a lot of times whenpeople play us, they don’tthink we’re very good,”Tanner said. “We win ourshare.”

CWS Continued from Page 1B

California coach David Esquer, left, and Texas A&M coach Rob Childress laugh during the coaches’ news conference at TD Ameritrade Parkin Omaha, Neb., Friday, ahead of the NCAA College World Series.

Photo by Nati Harnik | AP

young players.” “He’s going to be our

leader,” Nieuwendyk said.“Even though he’s young,has a relationship withsome of our guys, they’recertainly going to knowwho is in charge and theywill play hard for him.”

Two years ago, Nieu-wendyk hired Marc Craw-ford and the Stars missedthe postseason twice, fail-ing to make it this seasonby blowing a lead in the fi-nal period of the finalgame.

The Stars had 95 points,matching the most ever bya team that missed theplayoffs. That showsthere’s a good nucleus.And Gulutzan is familiarwith many of the up-and-coming players, havinghelped groom Jamie Benn,Aaron Gagnon and TomasVincour.

It’s getting the olderguys to believe in him thatcould be his biggest chal-lenge, and he knows it.

“First and foremost, ifyou can show the veteranplayers that what you’retrying to do will benefitthem and the team as awhole, if they can truly be-lieve you’re trying to helpthem, then everyone cangrow from those relation-ships,” Gulutzan said.“The easiest selling pointis to have success. That’swhat makes everyone buy

in.” Nieuwendyk also inter-

viewed Ken Hitchcock,coach of Dallas’ 1999 Stan-ley Cup champion club;Montreal assistant KirkMuller, who was on the2000 Dallas team that wentto the Cup finals; andNashville assistant coachPeter Horachek.

He said the trend of oth-er teams gambling onyoung, inexperiencedcoaches — and seeingmany of them hit it big —helped his decision. TheStars actually have a longhistory of hiring first-timeNHL coaches, with Craw-ford among the few excep-tions.

Gulutzan received a two-year contract, with a cluboption for a third.

A Hudson Bay, Saskatch-ewan, native, and the sonof a longtime hockeycoach, Gulutzan playedprofessionally in Europefor two seasons, thenplayed in the West CoastHockey League and the In-ternational HockeyLeague. He also had stintsin Finland and Sweden be-fore his first head coach-ing job, running the ex-pansion Las Vegas Wran-glers of the ECHL. Theymade the playoffs in five ofsix seasons and reachedthe finals once and theconference finals anothertime.

Under his guidance, theTexas Stars went 87-56-17during the regular seasonand 16-14 during the play-offs. He’s also 5-0 in Game7s.

“I think the best way todescribe my philosophy isa hard two-way game thathas today’s tempo,” Gulut-zan said.

The Stars have missedthe playoffs three straightyears after failing to qual-ify only twice in their first14 season in Dallas. Therewere some glorious sea-sons mixed in, with Nieu-wendyk starring on theclub that won the StanleyCup in 1999 and returningto the finals in 2000.

Dallas was in the confer-ence finals as recently as2008, but hasn’t made theplayoffs since. In additionto a coaching turnstile —from Dave Tippett toCrawford to Gulutzan —the club is in the processof being sold.

Gulutzan (pronouncedGULL-it-zen) said he waswilling to wade into thissticky situation in part be-cause of what a great op-portunity it is. But he alsobelieves the team is on theway back up.

“Everyone in the hockeyworld knows the piecesare here — goaltending,skill up front,” he said.“We just have to add to itnow.”

HOCKEY Continued from Page 1BBROOKLYN, Mich. —

Dale Earnhardt Jr. tries notto worry about his winlessstretch, which reachedthree years this week.

Of course, now that he’sback in Michigan, the siteof his last victory, there’sno avoiding the questions.

“Would like to win arace,” Earnhardt said.“We’re trying to, but wedon’t want to get too care-less about it and start tak-ing too many chances thatare foolish.”

The date was June 15,2008. Earnhardt’s fuel-mile-age victory at Michigan In-ternational Speedwaysnapped a 76-race winlessstring shortly after heteamed up with HendrickMotorsports. Since then,he’s raced 107 times on theSprint Cup circuit withoutfinishing first.

Despite all that,NASCAR’s most populardriver is a lot more upbeatthese days. Although hehas yet to win, he has eighttop-10 finishes in 14 racesthis season, equaling his to-tal for all of 2010.

He’s third in the pointsstandings entering Sun-day’s race.

“I think I’m having oneof the best years I’ve everhad,” he said.

The talk of his droughtwill persist until Earnhardtwins a race, but at leasthe’s in contention now on aregular basis. Kevin Har-vick passed him with fourlaps remaining to win at

Martinsville Speedway inApril. Earnhardt led on thefinal lap last month atCharlotte Motor Speedway,but settled for seventh afterhis gas tank ran dry.

He finished second inKansas and sixth at PoconoRaceway last weekend.

Sure, it’s frustrating forhis many fans, but it beatsbeing irrelevant.

“I felt like last year andthe year before that, Iwasn’t competitive enoughto even worry about it,”Earnhardt said. “Now thisyear, we’re running good,and I can think about wins,I can think about missedopportunities that we’vehad a little bit more. Butthey don’t bother me.”

And even if Earnhardtdoes win soon, he won’t besatisfied.

“One race doesn’t makea season. One win reallydoesn’t make a season,” hesaid. “We would definitelylike to win several races,and I would definitely feellike we’re where we need tobe, potential-wise. We’renot now. We’re gettingthere. We’re doing good,but we still know we can dobetter.”

The improvement hasbeen obvious, especially toHendrick teammate JeffGordon, who won at Poco-no.

“Those guys are havinga spectacular season,” Gor-don said. “I’ve been in thatsituation before wherewe’re having a great year,we’re up there leading thepoints or battling for thechampionship and we

hadn’t won a race andthat’s where the focus was.That, to me, is not right. ...I think if they keep doingwhat they’re doing, the winwill come.”

It would be fitting if itcomes this weekend at MIS,where Earnhardt has fivetop-10 finishes in his lastnine Cup races.

If not, he’ll simply moveon to the next race and tryto keep putting himself inposition to be a factor. Hefinished 21st in the stand-ings last year and 25th in2009, but those days feellike a distant memory now,and the support from hisdie-hard fans remainedstrong all along.

“I know that you don’tget a lot of second chancesin this sport, and I couldhave easily been written offover the last couple years,”he said. “I’m glad to havepeople that believe in meand stuck with me, andhopefully we can continueto make it pay off. We’rejust barely starting to turnthe corner, I think.”

Now, Earnhardt feelslike a threat to contend inpretty much every race,and he can start to antici-pate what it will feel like towin again.

“I’ve always felt like youcelebrate every win like itcould be your last. You nev-er know what could happenin this sport. I always havetore down Victory Lane ev-ery time we’ve been there,”he said. “We definitely haveenjoyed it every time, andif we get the opportunityagain this year, we’ll do it.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., takes in practice laps at Michigan international Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Friday.

Photo by Carlos Osorio | AP

Earnhardt chases long lost spark

By NOAH TRISTERASSOCIATED PRESS

Beach — on the par-5 16thwith a 4-iron from 223yards that settled 8 feetfrom the cup.

“I told him, ’I don’tthink you’ll see a bettergolf shot,”’ his caddie, J.P.Fitzgerald, said.

Then came the 17th,when McIlroy hit 7-ironfrom 175 yards that cov-ered the flag, barely clear-ed the bunker and lefthim 15 feet below the holefor yet another birdie togo to 13 under.

That number just isn’tseen on leaderboards atthe U.S. Open.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?”Steve Stricker. “Pretty in-credible what he’s doneso far.”

McIlroy knows betterthan to start the celebra-tion before Sunday. Hewas buoyed by supportcoming into the U.S. Openbecause of the calamity atAugusta National fromtwo months ago, when heled by four shots going in-to the final round of theMasters and shot 80, thekind of collapse that isn’teasily forgotten.

“It’s been two very, very

good days of golf,” McIl-roy said. “I put myself ina great position going in-to the weekend. But Iknow more than probablyanyone else what canhappen. So I’ve got to stayreally focused and tryand finish this thing off.”

Woods holds the recordfor largest 36-hole lead atthe U.S. Open, six shots atPebble Beach in 2000.That record also was like-ly to fall since Y.E. Yangwas six shots behind go-ing into the meat of Con-gressional’s back nine onFriday afternoon.

Sergio Garcia had a 71and joined Snedeker at 2-under 140 among thosewho finished the secondround. Just his luck —and Garcia doesn’t havemuch of that in the ma-jors — he is playing solidgolf at a major wheresomeone else is playingout of this world. Also at140 were Robert Garrigusand former Masterschampion Zach Johnson.

“It’s only two days,”Johnson said. “I’m not go-ing to give it to him yet.”

It was hard to ignore

what felt like a corona-tion for McIlroy as heeased his way around thegolf course. Toward theend of his round, the gal-lery in the grandstandgave him a standing ova-tion as the freckle-facedwonder boy with thebounce in his step simplywalked onto the green.

McIlroy played withfour-time major winnerPhil Mickelson, one of thebiggest crowd-pleasers ingolf who simply wasalong for the ride. Mickel-son, who also made dou-ble bogey on the 18th,shot a 69 to finish at 1-over 143.

“He’s striking it flaw-lessly and putted great onthe greens,” Mickelsonsaid. “His first tworounds were very impres-sive.”

During one stretch onthe front nine, Mickelsonmade three birdies infour holes and didn’tmake up any ground.McIlroy laid up from therough on the par-5 sixthand hit wedge to 5 feet forbirdie, then holed out forhis eagle on the eighth.

U.S. OPEN Continued from Page 1B

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it: FAMILY CIRCUS DENNIS THE MENACE

A CRABBY PETDear Readers: HERMIT

CRABS can make wonder-ful pets. Why? They re-quire very little mainte-nance and are interestingto watch. Keep in mind,though, that hermit crabsare nocturnal (they areactive at night).

Keep hermit crabs in aglass aquarium with sandfrom a pet shop. Hermitcrabs are social, and theyprefer to be with otherhermit crabs.

You can feed a hermitcrab fresh veggies andfruit, such as lettuce orgrapes. Don’t let freshfood sit for more than aday in the cage, becausethe food can attract gnats,etc. A pet store alsoshould carry special her-mit crab food. The crabsalso need a pool of water,and this should bechanged every day.

What are some negativ-es about hermit crabs?They MIGHT pinch you,but gentle water will re-lease them. They can getmites because of humidi-ty in the cage. Carefullyclean the cage with waterand vinegar. Hermit crabscan live between five and15 years, or longer. — He-loise

PET PALDear Readers: A reader

in Hammond, Ind., sent apicture of her white-and-black cat, Maggie, lettingout a BIG yawn afterwatching birds and squir-rels all day. To see Maggieand our other Pet Pals,log on to www .Heloise-.com and click on “Pets.”— HeloiseHEDGEHOGFOLLOW-UP

Dear Heloise: Therewas a recent article inour daily paper regardinghedgehogs as pets. Whenmy son was little, we hadSophie the hedgehog. I’dlike to share a few morehints for those consider-ing a hedgehog.

If you live in a colderclimate, you need to pro-vide a warming pad foryour hedgehog. If hedge-hogs get too cold, they

could go into hibernation.Also, their nails need tobe trimmed. — Trisha inWisconsin

Trisha, thanks for theadded information.Hedgehogs should be keptat temperatures between73 degrees and 76 degrees.— Heloise

TRAVEL WATERDear Heloise: I feel that

when traveling with yourdog, you should carry bot-tled water with you. Wa-ter from a different citywater system MAY bechemically different, orwater from campsitesmay not be as clean asthat to which the dog isaccustomed. If the dogdrinks water he’s notused to, it COULD pose adiarrhea risk. — G.M. inCalifornia

SOLE SOLUTIONDear Heloise: I have

discovered that my tex-tured, rubber-sole sneak-ers can pick up pet hairon the carpet along thebaseboards! Who knew?The hair just balls up,and I can suck it up witha vacuum. — Betty inTexas

SUPER SCHEDULEDear Heloise: I work ve-

ry hard to keep my ani-mals “on schedule.” Ev-ery evening when I comehome, I take my threedogs for a walk. Then weget home, rest a little bit,and they eat dinner. Thenit’s time to go out, fol-lowed by bedtime. Thedogs seem happier be-cause they know howtheir days will unfold. —S.J., via email

(c)2011 by King Fea-tures Syndicate Inc.

Photo caption: A readerin Hammond, Ind., sent apicture of her white-and-black cat, Maggie, lettingout a BIG yawn afterwatching birds and squir-rels all day.

HINTS BY | HELOISE

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011

NEW YORK — NBAowners relaxed their insist-ence on non-guaranteedcontracts in a new collec-tive bargaining agreementFriday, but players cau-tioned that isn’t enough be-cause the league is stillseeking a hard salary cap.

Even so, the proposal bythe owners during a 41/2-hour meeting was perhapstheir most significantmovement yet as the sidestry to agree to a new dealbefore the current one ex-pires June 30.

“We think it’s signifi-cant. Very significant, ac-tually,” Commissioner Da-vid Stern said.

Much more is needed,though. The sides set upanother meeting for Tues-day, which Stern indicatedwould be crucial for deter-mining if enough progresscan be made in time toavoid a work stoppage.

“I really think that thetime to have an optimisticor pessimistic view is atthe close of the day onTuesday,” Stern said. “Ithink Tuesday’s a very im-portant day in these nego-tiations.”

Stern said Friday’s meet-ing, which Knicks star Car-melo Anthony attendedalong with the players’ ex-ecutive committee, was thefirst time the players hadexpressed so strongly theirobjection to the issue ofnon-guaranteed contracts.So the league made a newproposal closer to the cur-rent system, which allowsplayers and individualteams the right to negotiateguarantees between them-selves.

“They said to us thatthey wanted to look at thatand they wanted to recon-vene next week on Tuesdayand we’re hoping that wewill receive from them aproposal directed to the ec-onomics,” Stern said.

While the players recog-nized the proposal as a pos-itive step, they downplayedit because it was givingthem something they al-ready have — without any

change to the owners’stance on the salary cap.

“We can’t talk about onepart in a vacuum becauseit impacts the entire sys-tem, so we haven’t been atthis point inclined to saythat’s a huge thing, becausewithout other things itdoesn’t mean much,” saidLakers guard Derek Fisher,the union president.

Owners are seeking sig-nificant changes to theleague’s salary structure,and Fisher last week iden-tified the issues of reduc-tions in contract lengthsand guarantees, plus thesalary cap system as thethree areas the leaguehadn’t budged on. The cur-

rent soft-cap system allowsteams to exceed it throughcertain exceptions, a sys-tem the players want tomaintain.

Also Friday, the leaguetold the players that thisweekend it would be can-celing its Las Vegas Sum-mer League, which wouldhave started in early July.Deputy commissionerAdam Silver, the league’slead negotiator, stressedthat was simply a functionof the calendar, not a threatto the players.

The sides met threetimes during the NBA fi-nals and held a small meet-ing between Stern and Sil-ver, plus union executive

director Billy Hunter andtheir staffs earlier thisweek. The meeting Tues-day is expected to includemany players, along withas many owners from thelabor relations committeeas possible on short notice.

Nine owners attendedFriday, including Maver-icks owner Mark Cuban, aday after his team’s victorycelebration in Dallas.

The sides are still farapart on numerous finan-cial issues, mainly the splitin revenues. Players arecurrently guaranteed 57percent, and owners havebeen seeking a swing ofabout $750 million annuallyin player salary costs.

NBA trims down demandsNon-guaranteed

contracts off tableBy BRIAN MAHONEYASSOCIATED PRESS

The Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry (31) shoots past the Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem (40) during thesecond half of Game 6 of their NBA Finals game June 12.

Photo by Lynne Sladky | AP

WIMBLEDON, England— The longest-match re-match is coming to Wim-bledon: John Isner andNicolas Mahut will playeach other in the firstround.

Last year, the pairplayed the longest matchin tennis history, withIsner winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 in a first-round match at the AllEngland Club that lasted11 hours, 5 minutesstretched over three days.A gasp followed the an-nouncement at Friday’sdraw, followed by laugh-ter.

“It’s going to be prettynuts,” Isner said Friday.“I couldn’t believe it. Ijoked with him earlier inthe week, last week, andsaid, ’Watch us play eachother.’ And he said, ’No,there’s no way. That’s noteven funny.”’

The two players havebecome good friends sincetheir historic encounter ayear ago. They were topractice together Satur-day but canceled thoseplans once they learnedthe rematch was on.

“We might do dinner(afterward),” Isner said.“We’re really good friendsnow, but obviously weboth want to win. Butwe’re going to enjoy itand laugh at it at thesame time.”

Isner couldn’t let go ofthe oddity, later tweetinga joke: “anyone seen thewimby draw? Who do Iplay?”

He was not the onlyone buzzing about this onTwitter.

“Isner vs mahut draw-ing each other in the firstround after last year isthe most amazing thingI’ve seen in tennis! Centrecourt anyone?!” fourth-seeded Andy Murraysaid.

Former U.S. Davis Cupcaptain Patrick McEnroeborrowed brother John’sfamous catchphrase in aposting: “you cannot beserious!!!”

The match last yearwas played on Court 18,and a plaque this yearcommemorates the epiccontest. Isner said hedidn’t mind which courtthey played on.

“I don’t care what theydo,” Isner said. “It’s goingto be crazy, they mightput us on a bigger court,(or) put us back on thatcourt (18).”

This year’s match is totake place — or begin atleast — on Tuesday. Theirfirst-round match washeld over twice because ofdarkness last year. Withrain forecast for the open-ing week of Wimbledon,there is a chance theycould be delayed again.

Defending championRafael Nadal was drawnin the opposite half fromsix-time champion RogerFederer, meaning there isa chance of a fourth Wim-bledon final between thetwo.

Seventh-seeded SerenaWilliams and big sisterVenus Williams, whoturned 30 on Friday, arein opposite halves, settingup the possibility for afifth sibling final at theAll England Club.

The sisters have wonnine of the past 11 Wim-bledon finals.

Longestmatch gets a

rematchBy CAROLINE CHEESE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Reach-ing a labor deal soon ishardly a done deal in theNFL.

Team owners will beupdated on recent nego-tiations with the playerswhen they meet in Chi-cago on Tuesday. They’vebeen told to prepare tostay an extra day be-cause of the complexityof the proposals bothsides have discussed insessions over the lastthree weeks.

Getting the required24 of 32 owners to agreeon anything can be diffi-cult, let alone somethingas complex as a new col-lective bargaining agree-ment. And there hasbeen enough pushbackfrom owners familiarwith those proposals thatprogress made recentlymight not lead to anagreement in the nextfew weeks.

Still, according to aperson with knowledgeof the negotiations, thefaction of unhappy own-ers that exists isn’t yetlarge enough to derail anagreement. That couldlead to some heavy lob-bying in Chicago at thefirst owners’ meetingspecifically scheduled todeal with the lockout.

The person, speakingon condition of anonym-ity because details of thenegotiations are not sup-posed to be made public,said a new CBA is notimminent.

Owners, Commission-er Roger Goodell andlead negotiator Jeff Pashhave been silent aboutrecent developments, cit-ing an agreement withU.S. Magistrate JudgeArthur Boylan not to dis-cuss mediated talks.Players association chiefDeMaurice Smith andseveral players on handfor the negotiations alsohave avoided comment.

Earlier this week,

Goodell responded to aletter he and Smith re-ceived from two Con-gressmen calling for theNFL to adopt a “thor-ough testing program forHGH.”

Goodell said in his re-ply dated June 13 thattesting for HGH “is acritical element of an ef-fective and credible drugtesting program” and theleague is insisting on“immediate implementa-tion of HGH testing” inthe negotiations.

Whether or not such aprovision makes it intothe CBA, it’s clear thatdeadlines are approach-ing. Training camps nor-mally would open inabout five weeks, andany lengthy delays instriking a deal will en-danger them and the pre-season. The first presea-son game is at the ProFootball Hall of Fame in-ductions; the Bears andRams are scheduled toplay Aug. 7 in Canton,Ohio.

“I know that we’vebeen talking pretty ex-tensively over the lastfew weeks,” said Saintsquarterback Drew Brees,one of 10 players on anantitrust suit broughtagainst the league onMarch 11, hours beforethe lockout began. “Itseems like things aremoving in the right di-rection, which is verypositive. It’s what we al-ways hoped for as play-ers because obviouslywe’re getting to crunchtime here. We’re nearingJuly and there’s a lot ofwork that needs to bedone (footballwise) be-tween now and when theseason will start, and ob-viously we’d love to havea settlement in place.”

One item of contentionlikely is the minimumteams can spend on sala-ries each year and how itis determined, a key forsmall-market franchisessuch as Buffalo, Jackson-ville and Cincinnati.

NFL labor dealproves elusive

By BARRY WILNERASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — HunterPence ranks in the top fivein the National League inbatting average, RBIs, dou-bles and hits. His recent 23-game hitting streak is thesecond longest in the ma-jors this season.

So why is Houston’s starright fielder unhappy?

Simple. His successhasn’t translated into morewins for the Astros, whohave the worst record inbaseball.

“We’re professional com-petitors,” he said. “Theburden is, we as a team feellike we’re letting the citydown. I owe everything andI’m very grateful for all theblessings that baseball hasbrought me, and I’m notgoing to do anything otherthan give everything I haveevery day. That’s who I amat the core.”

The Astros haven’t madethe playoffs since reachingtheir first World Series in2005. Pence began his ma-jor league career in 2007and hates that he hasn’tbeen able to get Houston tothe postseason.

“I feel guilty that wehaven’t been in the playoffssince I’ve been here and Ihave to take that personal,”he said. “It just motivatesme further to go harder, tobe more persistent, to learnmore, to focus more and inthe end it’s going to makeme a better person.”

It would be difficult forthe 28-year-old Pence to domore for the team thanwhat he’s done this season.Going into Friday’s games,his .326 batting averagewas fourth in the NL, his93 hits ranked second andhe was tied for fourth with51 RBIs.

He dislikes talking aboutpersonal success andseemed to cringe each time

he was asked about extend-ing his hitting streak. Man-ager Brad Mills said thatattitude is one of the manyreasons he’s successful.

“He’s going to give ev-erything he has to help theball club win and when theball club isn’t winning, itbothers him,” Mills said.“Him always keeping facedforward and working ongetting going in this direc-tion rather than reflectingback is probably one of thequalities that keeps himplaying so well and doingso well.”

Pence had 91 RBIs and173 hits last season, bothcareer highs. If he contin-ues at his current pacehe’ll significantly outdothose numbers this season.

“He’s just continued tobuild on what’s alreadybeen a very significant big

league career,” generalmanager Ed Wade said. “Ithink he’s turned some ve-ry significant corners thisyear. We see longer at bats.We see him laying offpitches he had trouble lay-ing off of in the past. I justthink he’s getting morecomfortable in his sur-roundings and I think theresults speak for them-selves.”

With Craig Biggio andJeff Bagwell retiring in re-cent years, Pence truly be-came the de facto face andleader of this young teamlast July when longtimestars Lance Berkman andRoy Oswalt were traded.

It’s a role the fifth-yearplayer from Arlington, Tex-as, had to grow into.

“My role and what I feelon the inside and what Iwant to do is everything I

can to help this team win,”he said. “I know that it en-tails helping some of theyoung guys.”

Wade said he and Pencetalked about leadership twooffseasons ago and at thattime the player told him heknew his time would even-tually come. Wade told himif he saw a void, then may-be it was his turn to fill it.

To that end, Pence spentmuch of this offseason atMinute Maid Park workingout with younger playersincluding Brett Wallaceand Chris Johnson.

“I think Hunter’s inter-ested in spending that ex-tra time that it takes notonly to make himself betterindividually, but the teamalso,” Wade said. “He has agreat passion for us to getthis thing straightened outand headed in the right di-rection.”

Wallace said Pence hasbeen a major factor in help-ing him adjust to the ma-jors. His .316 batting aver-age in his first full seasonin the big leagues ranksfifth in the NL.

“Working out with himthis offseason we saw theway he goes about his busi-ness, how hard he works,the energy he plays withand he just kind of instilledthat in us and I think itcarried into this season,”Wallace said. “We are allreally comfortable withhim and he can give uspointers along the way, buthe also just leads by exam-ple with his energy andpassion.”

Pence has missed justone game this season, torest a sore back. He didn’twant to sit out that day andcampaigned to pinch hit.

“He wants to be outthere,” Mills said. “Youlove guys like that and ifyou have nine guys likethat it would be pretty spe-cial.”

Astros pin their prayers on PenceBy KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

The Houston Astros’ Hunter Pence runs in a baseball game againstthe Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, in Houston.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP