WEDNESDAYJANUARY 21, 2015

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PATRIOTS LAUGH OFF TALKNEW ENGLAND FINDS HUMOR IN TALK OF DEFLATED FOOTBALLS, 5A

A Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, universityclosed down its doors indefinitely afterreceiving a threat from organized crime,a school representative based in MexicoCity said Monday.

Universidad del Valle de México Cam-pus Nuevo Laredo officials posted a signon the campus’ gate informing studentsof the closure. Milenio Tamaulipas, aMexican media outlet, reported the signwas put up Sunday. The message re-mained as of Monday morning.

“To all the community, be advised thatbecause of circumstances beyond ourcontrol, all activities are suspended untilfurther notice,” states the message.

School representatives for the NuevoLaredo campus could not be reached for

comment. Sofia Anaya, a Mexico City-based university spokeswoman, con-firmed the Nuevo Laredo campus re-ceived a threat last week. Anaya said shecould not elaborate further because offear of retaliation against school admin-istration.

“We received a threat from organizedcrime,” Anaya said, declining additionalcomment.

She said the university’s administra-tion evaluated the situation and decidednot to open the campus until security is-sues are solved.

The Nuevo Laredo campus’ Facebookpage posted a message regarding the clo-sure Thursday. On Friday, the campusfollowed up with another post concern-ing tuition as many students turned to

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO

University closes doorsOfficial: Organized crime threat cited as cause for indefinite closure

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

A sign on the front gate of Universidad del Valle de México Campus Nuevo Laredo announces what uni-versity officials say is a temporary closure.

Courtesy photo

See UNIVERISTY PAGE 11A

In his inaugural address in 1995,George W. Bush called the presence inAustin of governors of Mexican states“a clear sign of the importance of therelationship between Texas and Mexi-co.”

At his 2003 inauguration, Rick Perrycalled the governors of Chihuahua,Coahuila and Tamaulipas “specialguests” and “friends,” and in his 2007speech, he said the attendance of thegovernors of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas,Veracruz and Zacatecas was a signthat Texas “always proudly rolled outthe welcome mat.” He also welcomedMexican governors in 2011, accordingto transcripts. So did Ann Richards in1991.

But when Gov.-elect Greg Abbotttook his oath of office on Tuesday, gov-ernors from Mexico were not at theevent — a break in tradition duringthe change of the guard at the TexasCapitol. That’s according to a list ofMexican dignitaries provided by aspokeswoman for Secretary of StateNandita Berry. A

USTIN — Greg Ab-bott was sworn inTuesday as Texas’first new governor

in 14 years and promisedthat the state will stay as de-

fiantly conservative as ever— vowing to battle Washing-ton on spending, regulationand any federal initiative“that uses the guise of fair-ness to rob us of our free-dom.”

Fighter jets streakedthrough sunny skies, cere-

monial cannons boomed, theUniversity of Texas march-ing band blared and thesmell of four tons of beefbrisket prepared for the in-augural barbeque hung overthe steps of the state Capitol,where Abbott and new Lieu-tenant Governor Dan Pa-

trick formally took office. Abbott, who was previous-

ly state attorney general,sued the Obama administra-tion around 30 times, mostlyfor what Texas claimed wasoverreach on federal envi-

INAUGURATION

TEXAS’ NEW GOVERNOR

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at his inauguration ceremony, Tuesday in Austin, Texas.

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Abbott vows to battle Washington on spendingBy WILL WEISSERT AND JIM VERTUNO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY — Mexi-can prosecutors said Tues-day that an Austrian fo-rensics lab has been un-able to find any moreDNA that could be used byconventional means toidentify charred remainsthat might be those of 42missing college students,but said they have author-ized a final, unconvention-

al effort.The Attorney General’s

Office said the Universityof Innsbruck reported that“excessive heat” damagedthe mitochondrial DNA infragments of teeth andbones, “at least to thepoint that normal meth-ods cannot be used to suc-cessfully analyze them.”

Failure to positivelyidentify the remainswould be a setback for the

government, which hasstruggled with wide-spread, often violent pro-tests demanding that thestudents be returned alive,and with relatives’ skepti-cism about the official be-lief they are dead.

The University had pre-viously found DNA in theremains that belonged toone of the 43 students whowere detained and disap-peared in the southern

state of Guerrero in Sep-tember. Prosecutors saythe students were turnedover to a drug gang thatkilled them and then in-cinerated their bodies ona fuel-fed pyre, beforecrushing the charred re-mains and them in a river.

Authorities sent only 16sets of remains to Austria,saying the rest were so

43 MISSING STUDENTS

DNA tests can’t ID remains

In this Dec. 28, 2014 file photo, the shadow of a demonstrator iscast on a wall with graffiti protesting the disappearance of 43 ruralcollege students, in front of the Mexican Attorney General’s office.

Photo by Marco Ugarte | AP

See REMAINS PAGE 11A

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See ABBOTT PAGE 11ASee ABSENT PAGE 11A

Mexicangovernorsabsent atceremonyBreaking tradition, Abbott

did not invite neighborsBy JULIÁN AGUILAR

TEXAS TRIBUNE

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21“America’s Four Republics,” an

exhibit of colonial-era historical docu-ments, will be on display at the VillaAntigua Border Heritage Museum, 810Zaragoza St. until Feb. 24. Opening re-ception, gallery talk and book-signingwith curator Stanley Klos on Wednes-day, Jan. 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. WebbCounty Heritage Foundation at 727-0977, heritage@webbheritage.org or onFacebook.

THURSDAY, JAN. 22The American Cancer Society

kickoff party for 2015 Relay for Life ofWebb County at Laredo Firefighters’Union Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. Diana Jua-rez at 319-3100 or Laura Nañez at286-6955.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub will meet at the Laredo CountryClub at 1:15 to 5 p.m. Beverly Cantu at727-0589.

FRIDAY, JAN. 23TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci-

ence Center Planetarium. Back to theMoon, 6 p.m., Saturn: Jewel of theHeavens, 7 p.m. Admission $4 for chil-dren and $5 for adults, and $4 for TA-MIU students, faculty and staff.

SATURDAY, JAN. 24STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU

Student Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 20th Annual Crime Stoppers

Menudo Bowl at the LIFE Fairgroundson Highway 59. Gates open 11 a.m.Menudo cooking contest. 724-1876.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci-ence Center Planetarium. The LittleStar that Could, 2 p.m. Stars of thePharoahs, 3 p.m. Back to the Moon, 4p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 5p.m. Admission is $4 for children and$5 for adults, $4 for TAMIU students,faculty and staff.

Holy Redeemer Church 7th An-nual Dance. 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., CaesarsReception Hall. Amparo Ugarte at 286-0862.

SUNDAY, JAN. 25STCE’s Comic Con at TAMIU

Student Center. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Pro-Life Rosary Walk .2:30 p.m.

to 4 p.m., start at Boston Street andSanta Ursula Avenue. Martha E. Millerat mmiller@dioceseoflaredo.org. End atSan Agustin Cathedral.

MONDAY, JAN. 26Chess Club, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

LBV-Inner City Branch Library, 202 W.Plum St. next to the Inner City Pool.John Hong at john@laredolibrary.org, orlaredolibrary.org/innercityevents.html or795-2400 x2521.

TUESDAY, JAN. 27TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci-

ence Center Planetarium. Back to theMoon, 5 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of theHeavens, 6 p.m. General Admission is$4 for children and $5 for adults. Ad-mission is $4 for TAMIU students, fac-ulty and staff.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29Spanish Book Club from 6-8

p.m. at the Laredo Public Library, Cal-ton Road. Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Villa San Agustin de Laredo Ge-nealogical Society meeting. 3 p.m. to 5p.m. St. John Neuman Catholic ParishHall. Sanjuanita Hunter at 722-3497.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub will meet at the Laredo CountryClub at 1:15 to 5 p.m. Beverly Cantu at727-0589.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci-

ence Center Planetarium. Back to theMoon, 6 p.m. Saturn: Jewel of theHeavens, 7 p.m. Admission is $4 forchildren and $5 for adults, and $4 forTAMIU students, faculty and staff.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Sci-

ence Center Planetarium. The LittleStar that Could, 2 p.m. Stars of thePharoahs, 3 p.m. Back to the Moon, 4p.m. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens, 5p.m. Admission is $4 for children and$5 for adults, and $4 for TAMIU stu-dents, faculty and staff.

SUNDAY, FEB. 1Accepting applications from vol-

unteers to help foster youth. No expe-rience needed, must be 21 years orolder, and have a clear background.Free training program offered. Voz deNiños for electronic application.www.vozdeninos.org.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21,the 21st day of 2015. There are344 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Jan. 21, 1915, the firstKiwanis Club, dedicated tocommunity service, wasfounded in Detroit.

On this date:In 1793, during the French

Revolution, King Louis XVI,condemned for treason, wasexecuted on the guillotine.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis ofMississippi and four otherSoutherners whose states hadseceded from the Union re-signed from the U.S. Senate.

In 1908, New York City’sBoard of Aldermen passed anordinance prohibiting womenfrom smoking in public estab-lishments (the measure wasvetoed by Mayor George B.McClellan Jr., but not beforeone woman, Katie Mulcahey,was jailed overnight for refus-ing to pay a fine).

In 1924, Russian revolution-ary Vladimir Lenin died atage 53.

In 1975, female reporters en-tered a National HockeyLeague locker room for post-game interviews for the firsttime. Robin Herman of TheNew York Times and Cana-dian radio reporter Marcel St.Cyr were allowed to talk toplayers following the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal inwhich the Wales Conferencedefeated the Campbell Confer-ence 7-1.

In 1977, President JimmyCarter pardoned almost allVietnam War draft evaders.

In 1994, a jury in Manassas,Virginia, found Lorena Bobbittnot guilty by reason of tempo-rary insanity of maliciouslywounding her husband John,whom she’d accused of sexual-ly assaulting her.

Ten years ago: A car bomboutside a Shiite mosque inBaghdad killed at least 14 peo-ple; a suicide bombing at aShiite wedding south of thecapital killed at least sevenpeople.

Five years ago: FormerDemocratic presidential candi-date John Edwards finally ad-mitted fathering a daughterduring an affair before his sec-ond White House bid.

One year ago: Former Vir-ginia Gov. Bob McDonnell,once viewed as a rising star inthe GOP, and his wife, Mau-reen, were indicted on federalcorruption charges; the coupledenied wrongdoing. (A jury inSept. 2014 convicted theMcDonnells of doing favors forformer Star Scientific CEOJonnie Williams in exchangefor more than $165,000 in low-interest loans and gifts.)

Today’s Birthdays: Ac-tress Ann Wedgeworth is 81.World Golf Hall of Famer JackNicklaus is 75. Opera singer-conductor Placido Domingo is74. Singer-songwriter BillyOcean is 65. Former U.S. Am-bassador to China Gary Lockeis 65. U.S. Attorney GeneralEric Holder is 64. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is 62. Ac-tress Geena Davis is 59. Bas-ketball Hall of Famer HakeemOlajuwon is 52Rock singer-songwriter Cat Power is 43.Rock DJ Chris Kilmore (Incu-bus) is 42. Actor Vincent La-resca is 41. Singer Emma Bun-ton (Spice Girls) is 39.Rhythm-and-blues singer No-kio (Dru Hill) is 36. ActressIzabella Miko is 34.

Thought for Today: “Theroad to ruin is always in goodrepair, and the travellers paythe expense of it.” — Josh Bill-ings (Henry Wheeler Shaw),American humorist (1818-1885).

TODAY IN HISTORY

SAN ANTONIO — Parades and other com-munity pride events have been held acrossTexas to remember slain civil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr.

Crowds turned out for Monday’s MLKmarch in San Antonio. Organizers expectedmore than 100,000 people to attend the eventbilled as one of the largest King marches inthe country.

Marches and parades honoring King werealso held in cities including Houston, Dallasand Nacogdoches. A march and a peace rallywere held in Amarillo.

As the marchers made their away alongthe route in San Antonio, excitement built atthe park where the march ended, where thepeople were enjoying speeches, music andfood.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling of cama-raderie with the community, and keepinghope alive,” Joyce Mitchell, a veteran of sev-en MLK Day marches.

Ghada Ghannam and Chrissa Kozaki fromthe University of Texas at San Antonio saidthey felt honored to take part in the San An-tonio march.

“This is everyone’s struggle,” said Ghan-nam, 20, originally from Egypt. “Regardlessof where they’re from.”

Volunteers in some Texas cities, includingFort Worth, spent the day helping others.The Tarrant Churches Together MLK day ofservice was promoted as a “stream of com-passion” to serve together across the com-munity.

“There’s always a way you can serve,” Rev.Melinda Veatch, executive director of Tar-rant Churches Together, said.

AROUND TEXAS

A Girl Scout Brownie troop marches in Houston’s 2015 Original Martin Luther King Parade Monday, in Houston, Texas.

Photo by Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle | AP

Texas remembers MLKASSOCIATED PRESS

Ex-officer convicted of 3manslaughter counts

WICHITA FALLS — A formerNorth Texas police officer hasbeen convicted of causing a 2011patrol car wreck that left twocousins and an unborn childdead. Ex-Wichita Falls police Of-ficer Teddie Whitefield was con-victed Tuesday of three counts ofmanslaughter.

A judge in Wichita Falls foundWhitefield guilty in the crashthat killed 18-year-old driver YeniLopez, her unborn child and 13-year-old Gloria Montoya.

Former CEO of truckingcompany admits to fraud

HOUSTON — The ex-CEO of aSouth Texas trucking companyserving Mexico factories faces upto 20 years in prison for his rolein a $26 million credit scheme.Sergio Lagos on Tuesday pleadedguilty to conspiracy to commitwire fraud and six counts of wirefraud. Lagos formerly led USADry Van Logistics in McAllen.

2 dead, several hurt ingunfire at parking lot

SAN ANTONIO — San Anto-nio police say two men havebeen fatally shot and at least fiveother people hurt in gunfire intoa crowd at a carwash parkinglot.

Police say several unknownpeople on Monday night droveup to the carwash and beganshooting into a crowd apparentlyhanging out at the site. Policesay about 100 people were onhand as shots rang out, then thesuspects fled.

Broken gym light blamedfor more than 100 sickROBY — A broken mercury

vapor light bulb in a gymnasiumhas been blamed for makingmore than 100 people sick afterhigh school basketball games inWest Texas. Dozens of peoplewho attended the Jan. 6 gameslater reported having sorethroats, headaches and irritatedeyes.

9 districts spent nearly$117K during Ebola scare

AUSTIN — Nine Texas schooldistricts together spent nearly$117,000 for cleaning campusesamid concerns about the possi-ble spread of Ebola.

The districts paid for cleaningeven as medical professionals de-clared it unnecessary. The fig-ures reported Monday camefrom public information requeststo the districts.

Houston-area ATM theftresults in arrest of 5

HOUSTON — Five individualsare facing aggravated robberycharges after police in suburbanHouston arrested them for alleg-edly robbing an ATM from a gasstation.

Police in Humble say severalmen used a stolen truck to raminto the side of the gas stationearly Monday morning. Thestore was open at the time but noinjuries were reported.

— Compiled from AP reports

Doctor shot insidehospital, gunman deadBOSTON — Police have identi-

fied the gunman who shot a doc-tor at Brigham and Women’sHospital in Boston before shoot-ing himself.

Fifty-five-year-old StephenPasceri of Millbury was founddead of a self-inflicted gunshotwound in a hospital examinationroom Tuesday after he apparent-ly shot the doctor twice.

The hospital, affiliated withHarvard Medical School, saysthe doctor sustained life threat-ening injuries and was in sur-gery Tuesday evening. Police sayPasceri entered the hospital’scardiovascular center and specif-ically sought out the doctor.

Duke suspends fraternityafter assault allegationDURHAM, N.C. — Duke Uni-

versity says it has suspended afraternity while police investi-

gate allegations a woman wassexually assaulted at an off-cam-pus party.

A statement from the universi-ty says Alpha Delta Phi has beensuspended while Durham policeinvestigate.

Local media outlets obtained a

search warrant that says thewoman told police she haddrinks at the party before awak-ing the next day in only a T-shirt. The warrant says the lastthing she remembers was danc-ing with friends. — Compiledfrom AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Medical personnel walk past law enforcement officials, right, as they depart theShapiro building at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Tuesday. A personwas critically shot at the hospital and a suspect was in custody, police said.

Photo by Steven Senne | AP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

The Harlem Ambas-sadors are making astop in Zapata.

The team will takeon the Zapata Lion TailTwisters Thursday, Feb.5 at 7 p.m. at the ZapataHigh School Gym.

“The Harlem Am-bassadors Show is aprofessional basketballgame that is a fresh,family friendly commu-nity event,” Aurelio Vil-larreal, Zapata LionsClub president, said ina press release. “It in-cludes high-flying slamdunks, comedy and funfor the whole family.”

Sponsors for theevent are the offices ofZapata County Attor-ney Said Alfonso Figue-roa, Zapata CountySheriff Alonso M. Lo-pez, Webb and Zapatacounties District Attor-ney Isidro ‘Chilo’ Ala-niz, Representative Tra-cy O. King, SouthernDistributing of Laredoand the Holiday InnExpress of Zapata. Allproceeds benefit the Li-ons Scholarship Fund.

Tickets can be pur-chased in advance or atthe door. For more in-formation, contact anyLion member or theZapata Chamber ofCommerce at 956-765-4871.

Run for the Healthof It

The Zapata Chamberof Commerce will behosting a 5k run/walkand kids run Jan. 24.

Run for the Health ofIt will begin at RomeoPark on Glenn and 1stStreet in Zapata. Therace is 1980s themedand will begin at 8 a.m.Onsite registration isfrom 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.and costs $20. Preregis-tration is $15 and avail-able online at active-.com.

Family events lined upSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Harlem Ambassadors are set to play the Zapata Lion Tail Twisters Thursday, Feb. 5.

Courtesy photo

HUNTSVILLE — The killingsof a San Antonio couple and a 90-year-old family friend, eachstabbed or cut up to 31 times,went unsolved for about sevenmonths before an informant’s tipsent detectives to a relative 300miles away.

A grandnephew of the slaincouple implicated himself, hisbrother and a friend, ArnoldPrieto, in the attack with an icep-ick, screwdriver or knife thatkilled Rodolfo Rodriguez, 72, hiswife, Virginia, 62, and Paula Mo-ran, 90, whom they cared for attheir home.

Prieto, 41, was set to be execut-ed Wednesday for the slayingsmore than 21 years ago. No ap-peals to halt the punishmentwere in the courts Tuesday.

The lethal injection will be thefirst this year in Texas. Two moreare scheduled for next week.

Prieto was arrested with broth-ers Guadalupe and Jesse Hernan-dez, who were the grandnephewsof the Rodriguezes. Moran hadbeen nanny to that couple’s chil-dren.

Authorities said Prieto toldthem he and the brothers droveto San Antonio early on Sept. 12,

1993, to rob the couple they be-lieved had about $10,000 used fora checking-cashing business theyoperated out of their home. Courtdocuments show Prieto had fi-nancial problems and the Her-nandez brothers talked oftenabout their rich uncle in San An-tonio.

Prieto told police the three hadbeen using cocaine and continuedto do so during their drive to SanAntonio. Virginia Rodriguez fedthem breakfast after they arrived.Then she, her husband and Mo-ran were attacked.

The assailants fled with somejewelry and a purse containingabout $300.

Back in the Dallas suburb ofCarrollton, they split the moneyand pawned some of the jewelry.

A woman arriving at the Ro-driguez’s home found the bodies.

Police later recovered a ringfrom a friend of Prieto who toldauthorities Prieto said he and theHernandez brothers were respon-sible for the killings.

“He had a number of voluntarystatements that were admitted in-to evidence in which he admittedto the crime,” Michael Bernard,Prieto’s lead trial lawyer, recalledlast week. “He was in physicalpossession of some of the proper-ty afterward.”

Man who killed 3set to be executed

By MICHAEL GRACZYKASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Oil servicescompany Baker Hughes Inc. saysit will lay off about 7,000 workersas it prepares for a downturn inorders.

Baker Hughes previously re-ported a record $663 million innet income in the fourth quarterof 2014, more than double itsearnings during the same periodof the prior year.

Leading the growth was thecompany’s North American divi-

sion, which posted revenue of $3.3billion.

But the Houston-based compa-ny said in an earnings call Tues-day that it expects a “sharp dropin product sales” because of theplummeting price of crude.

The layoffs represent about an11 percent cut to the 62,000-plusemployees Baker Hughes says itemploys worldwide.

The announcement comes af-ter Schlumberger Ltd. said lastweek it would reduce its work-force by 9,000 employees.

Baker Hughes to layoff 7,000 workers

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

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

The movie "Selma"takes us back half a cen-tury to one of the moststirring and momentousevents of that era: themarch that helped securepassage of the VotingRights Act of 1965, final-ly bringing the franchiseto millions of people whosupposedly had beengranted it nearly a centu-ry before. Some havecriticized the film for at-tributing to PresidentLyndon B. Johnson acouple of actions forwhich there is little orno historical evidence.Some have speculatedthat it got fewer Acade-my Award nominationsthan it deserved, in partbecause of the controver-sy over whether it con-tained distortions of his-tory.

But the truth is thatLyndon Johnson’s statu-re as a champion of civilrights legislation willsurvive any movie mis-representation, and "Sel-ma" will, we’d guess, bewatched for years tocome — on screens,phones and devices yetto be invented — as aninspirational tale of agreat American leader,the Rev. Martin LutherKing Jr.

The truly history-mak-ing significance of thatbloody police assault onpeaceful marchers at Sel-ma, Ala., 50 years agolies in the discrediting ofa far more perniciousdistortion of history, onethat became firmly es-tablished in parts of thecountry and was accept-ed, if not endorsed, bymuch of the rest of socie-ty. It began after Recon-struction, the brief peri-od following the CivilWar when newly freedslaves gained the right tovote and, in many places,elected black people tooffice. Reconstructionwas ended by violent re-sistance from manywhite Southerners andby a general lack of willin the rest of the countryto pursue the business ofracial justice any fur-ther. A new mythologywas created to discreditthe short-lived venturein black participation ingovernment: Recon-struction rule was por-trayed as dictatorial andblack officeholders asuniformly corrupt andincompetent.

This "history" was rep-resented in films such as"Birth of a Nation" and(less malevolently) "GoneWith the Wind." It per-meated many other partsof popular culture, wasaccepted as largely truein school textbooks inmany parts of the coun-

try and influenced someof our proudest nationalinstitutions in ways thatshame us to this day:West Point, for example,had no black cadets afterReconstruction until1932, when Benjamin O.Davis (later to commandthe Tuskegee Airmen)was admitted, and thenspent four years beingshunned by his class-mates.

Underlying all thehurtful discrimination,of course, was force andviolence, whether offi-cial, unofficial or a com-bination of the two. Ittook the form of unequaljustice in the courts andon the streets, and ofcommunity-sanctionedmurder by lynch mobs,often horrifying specta-cles of depravity. If cam-eras had been every-where, as they are now,perhaps things wouldhave been different. Theshock of a beating or anextrajudicial murder hasproved to be far more in-tense when witnessedthan when we read aboutit in the newspaper orhear of it on radio.

One great accomplish-ment of Martin LutherKing and those whoserved with him inAmerica’s civil rightsrevolution was to recog-nize the power of thenew media: Americanscould see the face of RosaParks on film, the busboycotters, the murder ofchildren in SundaySchool, the brutal attackon the Selma marcherswith fire hoses and at-tack dogs — peaceabledemonstrators batteredand beaten for seekingtheir constitutionalrights in a vicious dis-play of force that ap-palled the great mass ofAmericans. It was a mor-ality play on film whosetruth and effectivenessare beyond dispute,though it has manyscenes still to be played.

EDITORIAL

Significanceof Martin

Luther KingDay, 2015

THE WASHINGTON POST

But the truth isthat LyndonJohnson’sstature as achampion ofcivil rightslegislation willsurvive anymovie(representation),and "Selma"will … bewatched foryears to come

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

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

We want to assure

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

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

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Even before the murder-ous rampage by Islamist ex-tremists in Paris thismonth, some members ofCongress were soundingalarm bells about IslamicState militants using West-ern passports to enter theUnited States. Now theymay be even more temptedto undermine, suspend orend the visa waiver pro-gram that allows nationalsof 38 countries to travel tothe United States without atemporary visitor’s visa.

"The visa waiver pro-gram is the Achilles’ heel ofAmerica," Sen. Dianne Fein-stein, D-Calif., said lastweek. Terrorists can "comeback from training, they gothrough a visa waiver coun-try, and they come into thiscountry."

Congress shouldn’t actbased on this sort of over-

statement.The visa waiver program

allows people from coun-tries including the UnitedKingdom, Japan, the CzechRepublic, Singapore and,yes, France to skip other-wise required pre-visit in-terviews at U.S. embassiesand consulates. It takes a lotless time and money for for-eigners in visa waiver coun-tries to visit the UnitedStates. About 19 million peo-ple from such countries vis-ited the United States in fis-cal year 2012 — that’s 40percent of all internationalvisitors. They conduct busi-ness, go to amusementparks, shop at outlet malls— pumping billions into theeconomy, not to mention thecultural and diplomatic val-ue of cross-border exchange.What’s more, their homecountries can’t demand ex-pensive or time-consumingvisa procedures of Ameri-

cans who want to traveloverseas.

Against those benefitslies the fear that visa waiv-ers might allow the wrongone or two people into thecountry. No system caneliminate all risks. But theprogram isn’t about lettingAmerica’s guard down. Itdemands that visa waivernations take several securi-ty-enhancing steps. Usingsecure electronic passports,for example, scales back therisk of fraud, as doespromptly reporting lost orstolen travel documents.Sharing intelligence withthe United States improvesthe database of people whoshouldn’t be allowed to fly.Passengers also have to sub-mit biographical informa-tion in advance, which isquickly checked againstelectronic records. The visawaiver program, in otherwords, has compelled other

countries to improve theirsecurity game. The forgonein-person interviews, mean-while, are likely more usefulin catching would-be illegalimmigrants than trainedterrorists.

The program isn’t per-fect. A few old passports outthere lack electronic identi-fication features yet havebeen grandfathered into thesystem; the United Statescould stop accepting those.The Department of Home-land Security just made asmall change of its own, in-creasing the amount of in-formation it requires pas-sengers to submit beforetraveling.

But the nation’s no-fly listsystem is a much more im-portant line of defense. U.S.leaders should worry moreabout keeping it up to dateand refrain from scalingback the visa waiver pro-gram.

COLUMN

An overblown travel riskTHE WASHINGTON POST

In an expected, thoughdisappointing, vote lastweek, conservative Repub-licans in the U.S. Houseundermined President Ba-rack Obama’s efforts to acton the nation’s broken im-migration system.

The House passed a $40billion funding package forthe Department of Home-land Security, but thatpackage contained amend-ments that would defundthe president’s executiveorders delaying the depor-tation of millions of immi-grants who are in the U.S.illegally. He acted becauseCongress wouldn’t. Thoserepresentatives who votedfor this bill should finallycome up with their owncredible plan.

The exercise is politicaltheater because the

amendments within theHouse bill are unlikely topass in the U.S. Senate,where Democrats are like-ly to stage a filibuster.President Obama alsothreatens a veto.

U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert,a Washington state Repub-lican, was one of only 26Republicans willing to joinwith Democrats to voteagainst one of the amend-ments to freeze the Obamaadministration’s 2012 pro-gram allowing some immi-grants who entered theU.S. as children to stay.Disappointingly, Reichertvoted to dismantle Oba-ma’s executive action lastNovember allowing thosein the country illegally forat least five years to applyfor work permits.

Before Obama’s orders,the administration deport-ed record numbers of im-

migrants, breaking upfamilies in the process.

Oddly, U.S. House Speak-er John Boehner claimedthat undoing the presi-dent’s actions is not aboutdeporting immigrants, butabout punishing executiveoverreach. The actual in-tention could affect an esti-mated 5 million adults andchildren.

Meanwhile, House Re-publican leadership offersno viable alternatives totackle the real issue: 11million immigrants illegal-ly living in the U.S. andcontributing to the econo-my.

For nearly two years,the House has ignored abipartisan Senate agree-ment that provides com-prehensive immigrationreform. That bill includesa lengthy, challenging pathto citizenship for those in-

dividuals who wish tocome out of hiding, play bythe rules and become pro-ductive members of socie-ty.

When Congress refusedto act, Obama did. NowBoehner and others callhim "reckless." That’s emp-ty criticism from a caucusthat not only refuses to fixa broken immigration sys-tem, but also tries to scorepolitical points by puttingimportant legislation atrisk unless it gets its way.

Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell prom-ised that Republican con-trol would lead to a func-tioning, cooperative gov-ernment.

Two weeks in, Congressis off to a bad start.

Republican leadersshould end this obsessionwith fighting the presi-dent.

EDITORIAL

Congress off to a bad startTHE SEATTLE TIMES

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rockwoman says middleweight boxingchampion Jermain Taylor point-ed a gun at her 5-, 3-, and 1-year-

old children, threat-ened kill them andher husband, andfired into the air.

Taylor — who al-ready faces chargesin an August shoot-ing in Maumelle,Arkansas — wasarrested shortly af-ter the incident

Monday and is jailed on chargesof aggravated assault, endanger-ing the welfare of a minor anddrug possession.

Toya Smith of Little Rock toldthe Arkansas Democrat-Gazette(http://bit.ly/1EliLks ) that Taylorbecame enraged when her 5-year-old son dropped the boxer’s cham-pionship belt that he had taken tothe Martin Luther King Day pa-rade.

A Little Rock police report saysTaylor was arrested without inci-dent and a gun was recovered.

BOXING

ChampTaylor

arrestedTaylor allegedly

pointed gun at kidsBy KEN MILLER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAYLOR

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —The New England Patriots arebrushing off and even findinghumor in questions aboutwhether they used under-in-flated footballs in the gamethat put them in the SuperBowl.

The NFL hasn’t indicatedhow long its investigation willlast into whether the team im-properly let air out to makeballs easier to throw and catch.That raises the possibility thatit could extend into next weekwhen the Patriots and SeattleSeahawks will be in Arizonapreparing for the Super Bowlon Feb. 1.

A Seahawks spokesman saidthe team would defer to theleague on the matter.

The NFL has said it is re-viewing whether the Patriotsmanipulated footballs duringtheir 45-7 home win over theIndianapolis Colts in the AFCchampionship game Sundaynight. Deflating a football canchange the way it’s gripped byplayer or the way it travelsthrough the air. Under NFLrules, each team provides ballseach game for use when its of-fense is on the field. The balls

are inspected before the game,then handled during the gameby personnel provided by thehome team.

Patriots quarterback TomBrady says the investigation isthe least of his worries. Andtight end Rob Gronkowskitweeted a photo of himselfspiking the ball with the

words: “WARNING GRONK-ING MAY CAUSE DEFLA-TION.”

Belichick on Tuesday de-ferred questions about the in-vestigation, saying reportersshould ask league officials.NFL officials declined com-ment except to say the investi-gation was still pending.

Belichick earlier said hewasn’t aware there was an is-sue until Monday morning andpromised to “cooperate fullywith whatever the leaguewants us to, whatever ques-tions they ask.”

Special teams captain Mat-thew Slater said the Patriots“try to do things the right way.We work hard at our jobs, ourprofessions, to be successfuland it’s unfortunate thatthings like this come up, butthat’s life, that’s the world welive in.”

Colts coach Chuck Paganosaid he did not notice issueswith the football and didn’tspecify when asked whetherthe Colts had reported the is-sue to officials.

“We talk just like they talkto officials (before the game),”he said. “We have an opportu-nity to talk to the officialsabout a lot of things.”

Patriots wide receiver JulianEdelman said the balls didn’tfeel different than usual.

And defensive tackle VinceWilfork seemed amused by thematter and didn’t shed anylight on it.

“I don’t know anythingabout that,” he said. “I don’ttouch footballs. I tackle peo-ple.”

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Pats brush off talkNew England finds humor in talk of deflated footballs

By HOWARD ULMANASSOCIATED PRESS

Official game balls for the NFL’s Super Bowl XLIX sit in a bin before being lacedand inflated at the Wilson Sporting Goods Co. in Ada, Ohio on Tuesday.

Photo by Rick Osentoski | AP

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Thefirst time James Holmes ap-peared in court, he wore chainsand an orange jail jumpsuit andlooked dazed, with his hair dyeda comic-book shade of orange.

As the first day of jury selec-tion ended Tuesday in the Colora-do theater shooting case, it was afar different Holmes at the de-fense table: The jail uniform wasreplaced with khakis, an un-tucked blue shirt with whitestripes and a blue blazer. Hishair, now a dark brown, wasneatly trimmed.

Later in the day, he wore a dif-ferent shirt.

The former graduate studentwhose attorneys acknowledgethat he opened fire at a midnight“Batman” movie back in 2012 al-so had a curly, medium-lengthbeard and wore oval-shaped red-dish glasses. No restraints werevisible, though the judge had or-dered him to be tethered to thefloor in a way the public couldn’tsee for the trial.

Holmes’ more conventional ap-pearance was an indication thatthe case was drawing closer tothe time when a jury would seethe defendant accused of killing12 people and wounding 70 othersat a suburban Denver theater.But first attorneys have to sortthrough thousands of potentialjurors.

Court officials initially sum-moned a jury pool of 9,000 people,the largest in the nation’s history.But that figure later fell to about7,000 after some summons couldnot be delivered and some peoplewere excused. The pool will bewinnowed to a handful in theweeks ahead.

It could take until June to seat

the jurors and alternates for atrial that might last until Octo-ber.

Holmes, who has pleaded notguilty by reason of insanity tomurder and attempted murdercharges, could get the death pen-alty if convicted.

It took deputies longer than ex-pected to search and screen thefirst prospective jurors and bringthem into the courtroom. Someof the 130 or so people carriedbooks or newspapers or looked attheir cellphones as they waited topass through a security station inthe hallway.

They heard instructions fromthe judge and began filling outsurveys with 77 questions.

Seven prospective jurors weredismissed, either because theyshowed proof that they live out-side Arapahoe County or broughta note from a doctor. One showedup at the wrong trial; prosecutorssuspected another of sleeping in

the courtroom.Judge Carlos Samour suggest-

ed earlier that attorneys mightnot have to screen all the pros-pective jurors before beginning toselect panelists. He said the pro-cess could stop after a few thou-sand people are screened if bothsides agree they have a largeenough pool of people.

Earlier in the day, the defensesaid it objected to the use of avideo during the trial, sayingprosecutors gave it to them toolate. The video is apparently fromthe jail where Holmes has beenheld, but its contents have notbeen made public.

The judge also went overground rules for jury selectionand the trial, urging attorneys onboth sides to be professional andrespectful.

“We’re going to be spending alot of time together,” Samoursaid.

The scope of jury selection and

the trial are testaments to the lo-gistical hurdles of trying the rarecase of a mass shooter who sur-vives his attack.

The case has sparked an emo-tionally charged debate, withHolmes’ parents begging for aplea deal that would save his life,while many survivors and familymembers of victims have de-manded that he be executed.

After the July 20, 2012, shoot-ing, the 27-year-old Holmes wasarrested as he stripped off com-bat gear in the parking lot of theCentury 16 movie theater in Aur-ora.

If jurors convict him, theymust then decide whether to rec-ommend the death penalty. IfHolmes is acquitted, he would becommitted to the state mentalhospital indefinitely.

Defense attorneys acknowl-edge Holmes was the gunman inthe attack but say he was in thegrip of a psychotic episode at the

time.Under Colorado law, defend-

ants are not legally liable fortheir acts if their minds are so“diseased” that they cannot dis-tinguish right from wrong. Partof the reason the case hasdragged on is the battle overwhether that standard applies toHolmes.

Few details on those argu-ments have been made public.Prosecutors and defense attor-neys remain under a long-run-ning gag order, and court docu-ments detailing the issue havestayed under seal.

Holmes’ sanity was evaluatedby a state psychiatrist but the re-sults were not made public. Pros-ecutors objected to the findingsand persuaded a judge to order asecond evaluation. Those resultswere contested by the defense.

Prosecutors previously reject-ed at least one plea deal proposedby Holmes’ attorneys, criticizingthe lawyers for publicizing the of-fer and calling it a ploy meant todraw the public and the judge in-to what should be private plea ne-gotiations.

Survivors of the attack andfamily members of victims havehad a long time to get ready for atrial.

“We’ve all been to therapistsand have talked to our familiesand have our support groups, sowe’re prepared,” said MarcusWeaver, who was shot in the armand whose friend Rebecca Wingodied in the attack. “It’s going tobe quite the journey.”

Judge Samour called nearlynine times as many prospectivejurors as were summoned in theongoing Boston marathon bomb-ing trial. That meant the county’s600,000 residents had a nearlyone-in-50 chance of being select-ed.

Jury selection starts in shooting trialBy SADIE GURMAN AND DAN ELLIOTT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

People wait in a security line at the Arapahoe County Justice Center, in Centennial, Colo., Tuesday. The jury selection pro-cess in the trial of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes is expected to take several weeks to a few months.

Photo by Brenna Linsley | AP

CINCINNATI — Tons ofconcrete and steel coveredthe southbound lanes of amajor artery Tuesday afteran overpass collapse dur-ing demolition work leftone worker dead, a tractor-trailer driver injured andpolice considering whatthe potential toll mighthave been had the accidentoccurred amid heavy traf-fic.

The removal of debrisfrom Interstate 75 beganTuesday afternoon andwas expected to take 24 to48 hours. Ohio transporta-tion authorities will thenassess the pavement wherethe section of overpassdeck landed Monday nightwith what a resident de-scribed as an earth-shak-ing thud. The Ohio Depart-ment of Transportationsaid it’s difficult to predicthow long pavement repairsmight take without seeingthe damage.

Cincinnati Police ChiefJeffrey Blackwell said ca-sualties could have beenmuch higher had the acci-dent occurred at a busytime on the interstate thatcarries more than 178,000vehicles a day through thearea some 5 miles north ofthe Ohio River.

Authorities identifiedthe worker who was killedas Brandon William Carl,35, of Augusta, Kentucky.The Hamilton County cor-oner’s office will do an au-topsy to determine causeof death; Cincinnati fire of-ficials said the body was

recovered from rubblewith the help of air bagsand special equipmentearly Tuesday morning,about four hours after theaccident.

The name of the tractor-trailer driver wasn’t re-leased immediately. Hewas taken to a hospitalwith what were describedas minor injuries. Histruck slammed into theoverpass as the debrislanded.

“In a matter of secondshis fate would have proba-bly been different,” Black-well said.

Transportation officialssaid heavy equipment wasbeing used to separate theconcrete deck from struc-tural steel when the spanfell. Gary Middleton, act-ing deputy director of theOhio transportation de-partment’s southwest Ohiodistrict, said it was a “rou-tine operation” being car-ried out by a major con-tractor.

Westerville, Ohio-basedKokosing Constructionwas doing the demolitionunder a nearly $91 millioncontract for a three-yearproject meant to improvetraffic capacity and safetyin a busy stretch of I-75.The company had a goodsafety track record, federalregulators said.

The cause of the acci-dent is under investiga-tion.

“I would say there anynumber of possibilities,”Middleton said.

The overpass once car-ried a ramp that had beena left-hand exit from north-

bound I-75 and carriedtraffic over the south-bound lanes to HoppleStreet. It was replaced by anew ramp that exits to theright from northbound 75near the University of Cin-cinnati.

Middleton said Kokos-ing is a “very safety-con-scious” contractor withhigh ratings.

The company didn’t im-mediately respond to mess-ages left Tuesday.

The firm is responsiblefor debris cleanup andcould be assessed damagesfor forcing lane closuresand other work, Middletonsaid. Kokosing also couldface fines and other disci-plinary action by the feder-al Occupational Safety andHealth Administration,which was investigatingthe work-related death.

Suburban commutersheaded downtown were di-verted to Interstate 71south, where traffic slowedTuesday morning. Motori-sts headed to Kentuckycould take the Interstate275 loop around the city.Southbound side streets al-so were congested.

The construction projecthad been scheduled forcompletion in June 2016.Planned northbound I-75closures for work Tuesdaynight were postponed.

A nearby resident saidthe collapse rattled hishouse.

“Just heard a thud, andthe house shook,” CaseyWright told WLWT-TV. “Itfelt like an earthquake. I’msure the whole neighbor-hood felt it.”

Crews investigate the scene and start to clean up debris, Tuesday in Cincinnati. A constructionworker was killed and a truck driver injured when the overpass undergoing demolition collapsed.

Photo by Nick Graham/The Journal-News | AP

Overpass collapse leftone dead, one injured

By DAN SEWELLASSOCIATED PRESS

GLENDIVE, Mont. —Eastern Montana residentsrushed to stock up on bot-tled water Tuesday after au-thorities detected a cancer-causing component of oil inpublic water supplies down-stream of a Yellowstone Riv-er pipeline spill.

Elevated levels of benzenewere found in water sam-ples from a treatment plantthat serves about 6,000 peo-ple in the agricultural com-munity of Glendive, nearNorth Dakota.

Scientists from the feder-al Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention said thebenzene levels were abovethose recommended forlong-term consumption, butdid not pose a short-termhealth hazard. Residentswere warned not to drinkor cook with water fromtheir taps.

Some criticized the tim-ing of Monday’s advisory,which came more than twodays after 50,000 gallons ofoil spilled from the 12-inchPoplar pipeline owned byWyoming-based BridgerPipeline Co. The spill oc-curred about 5 miles up-stream from the city.

Adding to the frustra-tions was uncertainty overhow long the water warningwould last. Also, companyand government officialshave struggled to come upwith an effective way to re-cover the crude, most ofwhich appears to be trappedbeneath the ice-covered Yel-lowstone River.

A mechanical inspectionof the damaged line Tues-day revealed the breach oc-curred directly beneath theriver, about 50 feet from thesouth shore, Bridger Pipe-line spokesman Bill Salvinsaid.

The cause remained un-determined.

By Tuesday, oil sheenswere reported as far awayas Williston, North Dakota,below the Yellowstone’s con-fluence with the MissouriRiver, officials said.

“It’s scary,” said 79-year-old Mickey Martini of Glen-dive. “I don’t know howthey’re going to take care ofthis.”

Martini said she first no-ticed a smell similar to die-sel fuel coming from her tapwater Monday night. Offi-cials previously didn’t knowwhether the spill happenedbeneath the iced-over river

or somewhere on the river-bank.

Martini said she was un-able to take her daily medi-cines for a thyroid conditionand high cholesterol untilshe picked up water from apublic distribution centerlater in the day.

Representatives from thestate and the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agencyearlier said preliminarymonitoring of the city’s wa-ter showed no cause for con-cern. The water treatmentplant operated until Sundayafternoon, more than 24hours after pipeline oper-ator Bridger Pipeline discov-ered the spill, officials said.

Additional tests were con-ducted early Monday afterresidents began complain-ing of the petroleum- or die-sel-like smell from their tapwater. That’s when the highbenzene levels were found.

Benzene in the range of10 to 15 parts per billion wasdetected from the city’s wa-ter, said Paul Peronard withthe EPA. Anything above 5parts per billion is consid-ered a long-term risk, hesaid.

Peronard acknowledgedproblems in how officialsaddressed the city’s watersupply, including not havingthe right testing equipmenton hand right away to pickup contamination. But Pero-nard and others involved inthe spill response said offi-cials acted based on the bestinformation available.

“Emergencies don’t workin a streamlined fashion,”said Bob Habeck with theMontana Department of En-vironmental Quality. “It’s aprocess of discovery and re-sponse.”

Several residents inter-viewed by The AssociatedPress said they first heardabout the water problems

through friends and socialmedia sites, not the officialadvisory.

“They could have beenmore on top of it,” WhitneySchipman said as shepicked up several cases ofbottled water for her extend-ed family from a water dis-tribution center. “As soon asthere was a spill, theyshould have told everybody.”

Officials took initial stepsTuesday to decontaminatethe water system. GlendiveMayor Jerry Jimison said itwas unknown when the wa-ter treatment plant would beback in operation.

Until that happens, Sal-vin said the company willprovide 10,000 gallons ofdrinking water a day toGlendive.

The company establisheda hotline for people withquestions about the watersupply and to report anywildlife injured by the spill:(888) 959-8351.

Another pipeline spillalong the Yellowstone Riverin Montana released 63,000gallons of oil in July 2011.An Exxon Mobil Corp. pipe-line broke during flooding,and oil washed up along an85-mile stretch of riverbank.

Exxon Mobil faces stateand federal fines of up to$3.4 million from the spill.The company has said itspent $135 million on thecleanup and other work.

The Poplar pipeline in-volved in Saturday’s spillruns from Canada to Baker,Montana, picking up crudealong the way from Monta-na and North Dakota’s Bak-ken oil-producing region.

The pipeline receives oilat four points in Montana:Poplar Station in RooseveltCounty, Fisher and Richeystations in Richland County,and at Glendive in DawsonCounty.

Cancer-causing agentdetected in water

By MATTHEW BROWNASSOCIATED PRESS

Cesar Rodriguez, left, hands a case of bottled drinking water toWhitney Schipman of Glendive, Mont., on Tuesday.

Photo by Matthew Brown | AP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —California lawmakers arepursuing right-to-die legisla-tion after the highly pub-licized story of a youngwoman with brain cancerwho moved to Oregon to le-gally end her life.

Democratic legislatorsare pushing to allow doctorsto prescribe life-ending med-ication nearly a decade aftersimilar legislation failed.Terminally ill patients canlegally take their lives infive states including Oregon.

Advocates for aid in dy-ing are ramping up their ef-forts across the U.S. usingthe story of Brittany May-nard, a 29-year-old SanFrancisco Bay Area womanwho ended her life in No-vember. She argued in on-line videos and nationalmedia appearances that sheshould have had the right todie in California.

“Why should someonewho willingly wants to availthemselves of this optionhave to go to another state?”said State Sen. Bill Mon-ning, D-Carmel, who willappear with Maynard’s fam-ily to promote right-to-dielegislation today. “It justadds to the suffering andchallenge at an already diffi-cult time.”

Monning’s bill is modeledoff of Oregon’s law, whichwas approved by voters in1994. It would be limited tothose with less than sixmonths to live and requirespatients take deadly medica-tion themselves withouthelp from a doctor.

Opponents say some pa-tients may feel pressured toend their lives if doctors areallowed to prescribe fatalmedication. Religiousgroups have condemned aid-in-dying legislation asagainst God’s will.

Deathlaweyed

By FENIT NIRAPPILASSOCIATED PRESS

CLARKSON, Ky. — Thefather of a 13-year-old girlwho police say went on amulti-state crime spreewith her older boyfriendsaid Tuesday that he isnot angry with the 18-year-old.

Cheyenne Phillips, 13,and Dalton Hayes, 18,were arrested late Satur-day in Panama CityBeach after authoritiesfound them sleeping in astolen vehicle.

“I don’t have anythingagainst him. I’m not upsetwith this boy. He’s a boy.And apparently he thinkssomething of my daugh-ter. He’s just not thinkingclearly,” Shawn Phillipstold The Associated Press.

Shawn Phillips also de-nied as “completely bo-gus” Hayes’ allegationthat Cheyenne Phillipstold him she had beenabused at home.

“Anyone that knows usknows better. My familyis pretty well respected inthe community,” saidPhillips, 38.

Hayes made the abuseallegations during a jail-house interview with TheNews Herald of PanamaCity, telling the paper

they just wanted to es-cape Phillips’ family, whoshe claimed were beatingher, and planned to makeit to Miami. Officials andothers said Tuesday thatthey did not know of anyallegations of abuse.

“All I had to do was tellher to go home and noneof this would’ve hap-pened, but it’s hard to tellsomeone getting beat onto go home,” Hayes said.“But, if I could go back,I’d be paying for bus ridesinstead of stealingtrucks.”

Shawn Phillips said heand his wife divorced be-fore Cheyenne Phillipswas born. He said he andhis grandparents haveraised her since she was 3on their farm near Clar-kson, where he saidCheyenne had everythingshe could ever want. Buthe said Cheyenne wouldoften lie to him. Still, shehad a 9 p.m. curfew onschool nights and a 10p.m. curfew on weekends,rules that she neverbroke.

The abuse allegationsare “something we’ll talkabout when they get backto Kentucky,” GraysonCounty Sheriff NormanChaffins told The Associ-ated Press. He said he

was unaware of any pre-vious accusations ofabuse.

The crime spree start-ed on Jan. 3 when policesay Cheyenne Phillips’mother, Sherry Phillips,picked Cheyenne up fromher house near Clarkson.Sherry Phillips does nothave custody or visitationrights with her daughter,and police arrested heron Monday on a charge ofcustodial interference.She is in jail on a $50,000cash bond and has acourt hearing scheduledfor Thursday morning.

The pair’s travels tookthem to South Carolinaand Georgia and includeda night in a frigid barn,Hayes said.

Shawn Phillips said po-lice in BreckenridgeCounty caught up withthe couple two days afterthey disappeared, butwere unable to catchthem. Phillips said he andother family memberssearched the woods untilabout 10:30 that nightlooking for the teens.Hayes agreed in courtMonday to return to Ken-tucky to face charges. Heis expected to be chargedin Kentucky with burgla-ry, theft and criminal tres-passing.

Dalton Hayes appears in court via a video link-up between the Bay County Jail and the Bay CountyCourthouse, Monday.

Photo courtesy of the Bay County Courthouse | AP

Dad of girl in crimespree is not madBy ADAM BEAM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Thefirst issue of the satiricalFrench magazine CharlieHebdo printed since theParis attacks finally ar-rived in the United StatesTuesday, and it took justone hour to sell out at aManhattan bookstore.

Customers paid $6 atthe French-languagebookstore Albertine onFifth Avenue, which got100 copies of an issue thatdefiantly displays theprophet Muhammad.

Two gunmen who shotand killed 12 people at themagazine’s office saidthey were avenging Mu-hammad — a frequentsubject of ridicule in themagazine’s cartoons.

Until the Paris attack,

the magazine was notnormally distributed inthe United States but inthe days after the Parisshootings, New York mag-azine vendors fieldedthousands of phone inqui-ries about it.

Two other independentbookstores in Manhattanhave sold out of their 100copies each — for a totalof 300 available in NewYork. Another 300 copiesare going to the rest of thecountry.

“We’re trying to getmore, but I don’t knowhow many or even if we’llget more,” said FloraGreeson, manager ofBook Culture on the bor-ough’s Upper West side.

Five million copieshave been printed so farin France. A digital edi-tion is available online.

Charlie Hebdosells out in NY

By VERENA DOBNIKASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

MEXICO CITY — Rela-tives and supporters of ajailed vigilante leader whoholds dual U.S. and Mexicancitizenship said Tuesdaythat she and her communi-ty police force never de-manded bail for or mistreat-ed the prisoners in theircare.

Nestora Salgado, a resi-dent of theSeattle sub-urb of Rent-on, was ar-rested in Au-gust 2013after peopledetained bythe communi-ty force she

leads in the southern stateof Guerrero alleged thatthey had been kidnapped. Afederal judge cleared Salga-do of those charges lastyear, but related state charg-es have kept her locked up.

Salgado’s fellow com-manders said during a newsconference in Mexico Citythat the force in the town ofOlinala never demandedbail money, which her ac-cusers called ransom. Thecommanders said many ofthose detained were youthsheld at the request of theirparents for “re-education.”

“The communitarian sys-tem does not request anybail,” said regional commu-nity police commanderCruz Morales Reyes. “Itdoes not request any ran-som. There is no amount ofmoney that can get some-one out.”

A state law allows Olina-la and Guerrero’s other in-digenous communities toorganize their own policeforces.

Morales said the commu-nity police, which rose upas a result of corruptionwithin the local governmentand organized crime, ar-rests people accused ofcrimes but also young peo-ple whose parents deemthem out of control.

One of those was Francis-co Flores Jimenez, who saidhis mother asked that he beheld and “re-educated” bythe community police. Hedescribed a regimen ofmanual labor and lessonsabout the value of hardwork. He said detaineeswho worked hard were fedwell, while those who didn’treceived whatever was avail-able.

Flores also questionedcharges by some detaineesthat they were abused.

Manycall for

woman’srelease

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

SALGADO

BUENOS AIRES, Argen-tina — The ex-wife of aprosecutor who accusedArgentine President Cristi-na Fernandez of protectingthe masterminds of a 1994bombing does not believean initial finding that hekilled himself on the eve ofhis testimony before con-gress.

While acknowledgingthat investigators needtime to examine the facts,Judge Sandra Arroyo wasclear in answering report-ers who asked Tuesdaywhether her ex-husband’sdeath was a suicide.

“No,” she said. The 51-year-old Nisman

was found in the bathroomof his locked apartmentearly Monday, a bulletwound on the right side ofhis head and, next to hisbody, a .22 caliber handgunand a single bullet casing,authorities said.

Nisman had spent 10years investigating the 1994bombing of a Jewish com-munity center in BuenosAires, a still-unsolved at-tack that killed 85 people.His death came hours be-fore he was to appear incongress to detail his accu-sation that Fernandez, herforeign minister and othertop officials had agreed toshield Iranian officialswho allegedly mastermind-ed the bombing.

Administration officials

dismissed the allegationsas ludicrous.

Viviana Fein, the leadinvestigator into Nisman’sdeath, said Monday it ap-peared to be a suicide andthat no indications hadsurfaced to suggest anyoneelse was involved.

The gun found next toNisman had been given tohim by a colleague, shesaid. An initial test forgunshot residue on hishand was negative, butFein said that was not un-usual given the small cali-ber of the weapon.

No suicide letter wasfound, according to an ad-viser to the ministry whospoke on condition of ano-

nymity because he was notauthorized to talk to thepress. Colleagues saidthey’d seen no sign heplanned to kill himself.

Nisman’s family andfriends rejected that hecommitted suicide in con-dolence notices publishedTuesday in the La Nacionnewspaper.

“A profound sadness andpain for a death so unjust,”said a notice from his un-cles, aunts and cousins.

Nisman had said he’dbeen threatened repeatedlyfor his work and, at thetime of his death, 10 feder-al police officers had beenassigned to protect him. In-vestigators planned to

question the officers, start-ing Tuesday with thoseposted outside his buildingthe night of his death.

Arroyo, who met withinvestigators to learnabout the progress of theprobe, said answers wouldcome in due time.

“There is an investiga-tion underway. We must letjustice proceed. I cannotmake conjectures,” shetold reporters.

The 1994 bombing of theArgentine-Israeli MutualAssociation is consideredthe worst terrorist attackin Argentina’s history. In2005, Nisman was appoint-ed by then-President Nes-tor Kirchner, Fernandez’s

husband, to revive thefloundering investigation.He requested arrest ordersbe issued against severalIranian officials, includinga former president and for-eign minister, which anArgentine judge agreed todo in 2006. Interpol laterput most of them on itsmost-wanted list.

But the case made littleprogress and, in 2013, Ar-gentina and Iran agreed tojointly investigate the at-tack, a move critics saidwas meant to undermineNisman’s probe.

Last week, Nismanasked a federal judge tocall Fernandez and others,including Foreign MinisterHector Timerman, forquestioning, accusingthem of having made “thecriminal decision to fabri-cate Iran’s innocence tosate Argentina’s commer-cial, political and geopolit-ical interests.” The judgewas considering Nisman’srequest.

Congresswoman Corne-lia Schmidt-Liermann saidshe had planned to pickNisman up at his resi-dence Monday and accom-pany him to congress forhis testimony.

“Everybody who hadcontact with him the last24 hours says he was confi-dent” about his testimony,she told The AssociatedPress. “There is no indica-tion, under any circum-stances, that he killed him-self.”

Mystery lingers around deathBy ALMUDENA CALATRAVA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A demonstrator hits riot police as women hang an Argentine flag on a barrier during a protestsparked by the death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday.

Photo by Rodrigo Abd | AP

JUNTA DE COMISIONADOSEl lunes 26 de enero,

los Comisionados de la Cortedel Condado de Zapata reali-zarán su junta quincenal enla Sala de la Corte del Con-dado de Zapata, a partir delas 9 a.m. a 12 p.m.

Para mayores informesllame a Roxy Elizondo al(956) 765 9920.

TORNEO DE PESCAEl torneo de pesca de

bagre Falcon Lake Babe —In-ternational Catfish Series—para damas solamente, sellevará a cabo el sábado 14de febrero.

La serie de cinco torneosque se realizan mensualmen-te desde noviembre finalizarácon una ronda de campeona-to en el mes de marzo.

El torneo es un evento in-dividual que permite hastatres concursantes por embar-cación. Las participantes de-berán pagar la cuota de par-ticipación en los cinco torne-os para tener derecho a laronda de campeonato.

Las inscripciones se reali-zan el viernes anterior al sá-bado del torneo en BeaconLodge Rec. Hall. La cuota deinscripción es de 20 dólarespor persona.

El siguiente torneo será el7 de marzo para finalizar conla ronda de campeonato el 7de marzo.

Para mayores informescomuníquese con Betty Ortizal (956) 236-4590 o con El-cina Buck al (319) 239 5859.

JUNTA DE COMISIONADOSEl lunes 09 de febre-

ro, los Comisionados de laCorte del Condado de Zapatarealizarán su junta quincenalen la Sala de la Corte delCondado de Zapata, a partirde las 9 a.m. a 12 p.m.

Para mayores informesllame a Roxy Elizondo al(956) 765 9920.

PATROCINIOLa Cámara de Comer-

cio de Zapata invita a la co-munidad a participar en elWinter Texan & Senior Citi-zen Appreciation Day, que secelebrará el 19 de febrero enel Centro Comunitario delCondado de Zapata.

Durante el evento se re-conocerá y mostrará la grati-tud de la comunidad paralos adultos mayores que con-tribuyeron con la comunidad.

Si desea puede participarcomo patrocinados: Platino,2.000 dólares; Oro, 1.000dólares; Plata, 500 dólares;Bronce, 300 dólares. El dine-ro recaudado será destinadoa la compra de comida, re-frescos, entretenimiento, pre-mios y regalos para el even-to.

En 2013, el evento ayudóa más de 400 adultos mayo-res participantes.

Para más informaciónpuede llamar al (956) 765-4871.

TORNEO DE PESCAEl torneo de pesca de

bagre Falcon Lake Babe —In-ternational Catfish Series—para damas solamente, sellevará a cabo el sábado 14de febrero.

La serie de cinco torneosque se realizan mensualmen-te desde noviembre finalizarácon una ronda de campeona-to en el mes de marzo.

El torneo es un evento in-dividual que permite hastatres concursantes por embar-cación. Las participantes de-berán pagar la cuota de par-ticipación en los cinco torne-os para tener derecho a laronda de campeonato.

Las inscripciones se reali-zan el viernes anterior al sá-bado del torneo en BeaconLodge Rec. Hall. La cuota deinscripción es de 20 dólarespor persona.

El siguiente torneo será el7 de marzo para finalizar conla ronda de campeonato el 7de marzo.

Ribereñaen Breve

Una universidad de Nuevo Lare-do, México, cerró sus puertas indefi-nidamente después de recibir ame-nazas por parte de un grupo crimi-nal, dijo un representante de laescuela el lunes.

Oficiales de la Universidad delValle de México, campus Nuevo La-redo, colocaron un cartel a la entra-da del campus para informar a losestudiantes sobre la clausura. Mile-nio Tamaulipas, un medio de comu-nicación mexicano, reportó que elcartel fue colocado el domingo. Elmensaje permanecía en la entradade la escuela el lunes.

“A toda la comunidad, se notificaque debido a causas de fuerza ma-yor se suspenden todas las activida-des hasta nuevo aviso”, señala elmensaje.

Representantes escolares no pu-dieron ser contactados para hacercomentarios.

Sofia Anaya, portavoz de la uni-versidad con base en la Ciudad deMéxico, confirmó que el campusNuevo Laredo, recibió amenazas lasemana pasada. Anaya dijo, vía tele-fónica, que no podía brindar másdetalles, debido a que se teme se to-men represalias en contra de la ad-ministración de la escuela.

“Recibimos una amenaza porparte del crimen organizado”, dijoAnaya, declinando a hacer comenta-rios adicionales. Dijo que la admi-nistración evaluó la situación y de-cidió no abrir el campus hasta quelos problemas de seguridad quedenresueltos.

La página en Facebook del cam-pus UVM de Nuevo Laredo publicóun mensaje sobre la clausura el jue-ves. El viernes, publicaron una ac-

tualización relacionada con la ins-cripción ya que varios alumnos en-traron a la red social en busca derespuestas.

En cuanto a la inscripción, launiversidad no tendrá cambiosmientras esté cerrada. Además,Anaya dijo que la universidad res-ponderá de acuerdo con las necesi-dades de los estudiantes.

“La decisión para cerrar el cam-pus fue realizada porque no es segu-ro para la comunidad universita-ria”, se lee en el mensaje colocadoen la red social.

Hasta el lunes, la administraciónno contaba con una fecha determi-nada para restaurar las clases.

“Esperamos tener buenas noti-cias pronto”, dijo Anaya.

La Universidad del Valle de Mé-xico, campus Nuevo Laredo, sirve aalrededor de 700 estudiantes, deacuerdo con Anaya. La universidad

está localizada en 6150 de avenidaEmiliano Zapata en la Colonia LaConcordia, al sureste de Nuevo La-redo.

Toma un tiempo estimado de 15minutos llegar del Puente Interna-cional de las Américas, a la univer-sidad, de acuerdo con Google Maps.

Una advertencia para viajar aMéxico fue emitida por el Departa-mento de Estado de Estados Unidosel 24 de diciembre, y continúa acti-va.

Los ciudadanos de EU deberán“aplazar viajes no esenciales al esta-do de Tamaulipas”, señala la alerta,citando los riesgos que suponen losasaltos a mano armada, incidentesde robo de autos con violencia, en-cuentros violentos entre organiza-ciones del crimen organizado y ele-mentos militares mexicanos.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguez en728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO

Obligan a cierrePOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Zfrontera PÁGINA 9AMIÉRCOLES 21 DE ENERO DE 2015

Durante el fin de sema-na eventos violentos enlos municipios de Reyno-sa y Miguel Alemán, Mé-xico, dieron lugar a dosmuertes, decomisos,arrestos y persecuciones.

El sábado en el munici-pio de Reynosa, elementosde la policía estatal, fede-ral y de Defensa Nacional,detuvieron a dos personasque presuntamente traba-jan para un grupo delicti-vo, tras seguir una denun-cia ciudadana, señala uncomunicado de prensa.

La denuncia informósobre la presencia de LuisEnrique Santiago Gerardoy Rodolfo Mondragón An-tonio, quienes supuesta-mente estaban armados ya borde de dos camionetasen un lugar conocido co-mo “La India”, cerca delkilómetro 13. Al momentode su detención, los doshombres señalaron quefueron llevados por gentearmada, con la instruc-ción de desmantelar losterrenos.

En un caso diferentes yde acuerdo con elementosfederales, alrededor de las3:40 p.m., del domingo enlos terrenos de la ColoniaPradera de Elite, se repor-tó un encuentro entre ofi-ciales y civiles armados,tras el cual, fueron abati-das dos personas. Uno de

los hombres fue identifi-cado como Ángel SánchezRodríguez, de 43 años deedad. El segundo tenía de35 a 40 años.

Miguel AlemánFue el sábado que ele-

mentos de la policía esta-tal de Miguel Alemán eje-cutaron el arresto de Feli-pe López Rubio, despuésde que se decomisarantres vehículos, 360 kilo-gramos de marihuana, 98poncha llantas, dos armaslargas, tres cargadores, 59cartuchos y una máquinaeléctrica para contar bille-tes.

De acuerdo con repor-tes, militares notaron unacamioneta con placas deTexas que circulaba a ex-ceso de velocidad y quetransportaba a personasarmadas, tras lo cual semarcó alto al conductor,quien ignoró la solicitud,señala un reporte.

Durante un operativoespecial entre elementosde Fuerza Tamaulipas delos municipios de Mier,Camargo, Guerrero y Mi-guel Alemán, se ubicó alas camionetas buscadasen la carretera Camargo-Puente Internacional RíoGrande, a la altura de laColonia Nuevo Camargo-Solo se logró el arresto deLópez Rubio.

FRONTERA

Encuentrosdejan 2 muertos

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

A partir de febrero, elementos de las po-licías estatales acreditables de Tamaulipasreanudarán entrenamiento a través de unCurso de Capacitación y AdiestramientoMilitar.

El curso pretende reforzar los conoci-mientos, destrezas y habilidades de vigi-lancia, señaló el general Arturo GutiérrezGarcía, Secretario de Seguridad Públicadel Estado.

Alrededor de 250 elementos han sido en-viados a un campamento militar ubicadoen Mazaquiahuac, Tlaxcala, señala un co-municado de prensa. El curso tiene dura-

ción de ocho semanas.“Se pretende proponer una modifica-

ción en cuanto a la cantidad de elementosque se envían a esta capacitación, paraque sean sólo 125”, dijo Gutiérrez. “Se estáplanteando la necesidad en virtud del plande trabajo que se lleva a cabo en Tamauli-pas para atender los diferentes operativosde seguridad y para combatir la delin-cuencia e inseguridad”.

La capacitación se apega a las instruc-ciones del Gobierno de la República, paratener cada vez policías mejor capacitadosy certificados, ya que el convenio señalacomo fecha límite el 31 de junio, señala elcomunicado.

TAMAULIPAS

Policía estatal volverá acurso de entrenamiento

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

TEXAS

NUEVO GOBERNADOR

El nuevo Gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, a la derecha, tomó protesta como Gobernador de Texas, durante una ceremonia en el Capitolio en Austin, el martes por la maña-na, y prometió que el Estado permanecerá como desafiante conservador.

Foto por Eric Gay | AP

GANADOR DE ORATORIA

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán

Diego Pérez Tabullo durante la participación que le otorgó el primer lugar en el concurso de oratoriaSentimiento Juarista, en Los Guerra, Miguel Alemán, México.

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO — Thedeath of 100 birds in theSan Francisco Bay Areahas baffled wildlife officialswho say the creatures’feathers were coated with amysterious substance thatlooks and feels like rubbercement.

The birds began turningup on a beach Friday. Ne-cropsies and lab tests willbe done Tuesday, but resultsmay not be known until lat-er this week, California De-partment of Fish and Wild-life spokesman AndrewHughan said.

“We’ve never seen any-thing quite like it,” Hughansaid. “So it’s a mystery forthe moment.”

Volunteers were sloggingthrough mud and bog inthe foggy, cold weatherlooking for dead surf sco-ters, buffleheads andhorned grebes. The birdseach weigh about 4 poundsand are roughly the size ofa duck.

Dead birds have turnedup on shorelines, beachesand trails in the suburbs ofSan Leandro, Alameda andHayward.

“Volunteers are combingevery inch of shoreline withtheir eyes and binoculars,running down the beachwith a 20-foot pole with anet attached to it trying tosave a bird,” Hughan said.

International Bird Res-cue Interim Executive Di-rector Barbara Callahansaid she has never seenanything like the stickygray goo in 20 years in thebusiness.

“The goo appears to belight gray in color and tome looks like rubber ce-ment that’s been playedwith all day and is sort ofdirty,” she said. “It has verylittle smell.”

Officials were investigat-ing whether the substancecould be polyisobutylene,which is sticky, odorless,largely colorless, and killedthousands of seabirds inthe United Kingdom in2013.

“While on its face, thissubstance seems very simi-lar to reports from the U.K.two years ago, we won’tknow definitively until labtests are completed,” Call-ahan said.

Officials believe the cul-prit substance was dumpedinto the San Francisco Bayand is not a public healthor safety risk to humans.Callahan said it’s likely aman-made product, mean-ing a pipeline might haveburst or someone intention-ally dumped the substance.

The International BirdRescue center in Fairfieldhas received 280 birds and242 are alive and receivingmedical care and stabiliza-tion, cleaning and recondi-tioning. Baking soda andvinegar is used to loosenthe sticky substance beforewashing it off with dishsoap,

The cost of the bird res-cue is running between$7,000 and $8,000 daily withthe use of full-time staffmembers and roughly 40volunteers.

A male surf scoter, left, and female surf scoter interact after being treated, washed and dried at In-ternational Bird Rescue, Tuesday, in Fairfield, Calif. The death of 100 birds in the San Francisco Bay Ar-ea has baffled wildlife officials who say the feathers of the birds were coated with a mysterious sub-stance that looks and feels like rubber cement.

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP

Mysterious gooblamed in bird deaths

By KRISTIN J. BENDER ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Socorro P. Flores, 97,passed away on Sunday,January 18, 2015 at LaredoMedical Center in Laredo,Texas.

Ms. Flores is precededin death by her husband,Hector A. Flores; great-granddaughter, Sophia M.Montañez; parents, Pedroand Aurelia Peña; brother,Ruben (Rosaura) Peña anda sister, Aurelia (Humber-to) Rendon.

Ms. Flores is survivedby her son, Hector A.Flores (Marissa Gutier-rez); daughter, LeticiaFlores (Ramiro J. Guerra);grandchildren, Melissa Y.(Eduardo) Cruz; Jorge A.Flores; Annabelle Hernan-dez (Ricardo Montañez),Daniel A. (Roberta) Barre-ra, Jessica A. (Corando)Buruato; great-grandchil-dren, Desiree Garcia, Ed-ward Cruz, Jr., Meledy A.Cruz, Jose Angel Hernan-dez, Joel Anthony Her-nandez, Alejandro Monta-ñez, Aubrey Montañez,Daniel A. Barrera, Jr., Jes-salyn Buruato, JaquelineBuruato; brother, Rafael(Elsa) Peña and by numer-ous nephews, nieces, oth-er family members andfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld on Tuesday, January

20, 2015, from 6 p.m. to 9p.m. with a rosary at 7p.m. at Rose Garden Fu-neral Home.

The funeral processiondeparted on Wednesday,January 21, 2015, at 9:30a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeralMass at Our Lady ofLourdes Catholic Church.

Committal services fol-lowed at Zapata CountyCemetery.

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

SOCORRO P. FLORES

Dec. 25, 1917 – Jan. 18, 2015ronmental regulations. Hepromised more of the sameas governor: “I will contin-ue my legacy of pushingback against Washington ifthey spend too much, regu-late too much, or violateour state sovereignty.”

“Any government thatuses the guise of fairnessto rob us of our freedomwill get a uniquely Texanresponse: ‘come and takeit,”’ Abbott said, a refer-ence to a famous battlefrom the Texas revolution.“We Texans aren’t spoilingfor a fight, but we won’tshrink from one if thecause is right.”

That resonated with Te-resa Ward, a retiree visit-ing from Tyler in East Tex-as, who said, “The federalgovernment has gone toofar.”

“They have limited free-doms of Americans. It’sour right to be free,” saidWard, 57. “What the feder-al government is trying todo is be a police govern-ment.”

Organizers raised morethan $4.5 million for the in-augural festivities, whichalso include a parade, aball and a concert featur-ing Lady Antebellum.About 3,000 people attend-ed, many wearing red,white and blue and waving

Texas flags — but somebailed on the speeches tobeat the line for a plate ofbarbeque at $10 a head.

A souvenir stand solditems ranging from $5 beer“koozies” to $100 cufflinks.

Joe Gaston, a 61-year-oldlay minister from Pearlandin suburban Houston, ar-rived early, lugging a 12-foot, 45-pound cross — hop-ing to bring a spiritualmessage to the event. Tak-ing inspiration from thebiblical story of Joshua atJericho, he said he’d walkaround the Capitol forthree days, “praying forleadership.”

The 57-year-old Abbottsucceeds Rick Perry, whotook office in December2000 and says he’ll an-nounce an expected secondpresidential run perhapsas early as May. Perry, whosucceeded George W. Bushwhen he was elected presi-dent, was the longest-serv-ing governor in Texas his-

tory. Abbott called Perry “a

man I am humbled to suc-ceed,” but his predecessorwasn’t around to hear it.Abbott aides said Perryskipped the swearing-inper Texas tradition, point-ing to Democrat Ann Rich-ards avoiding Bush’s 1995inauguration. However,many previous gubernato-rial predecessors attendedtheir successor’s swearing-in.

Asked about Perry’swhereabouts Tuesday,spokeswoman LucyNashed said only, “he’s inAustin.”

Unlike Perry and his po-litical cowboy persona, Ab-bott has a judicial mental-ity. He nearly choked upTuesday when thankinghis wife and daughter andGod.

Patrick, a tea party fa-vorite who will oversee thestate Senate, snapped self-ies from the podium, then

promised to take Texasconservatism “to the nextlevel.”

Abbott and Patrickvowed to secure the Texas-Mexico border. Both alsopromised to continue theeconomic growth that hasmade Texas America’s topjob-creating state — evenin the face of plummetingoil prices that could hurtareas that rely on oil andnatural gas production.

Abbott, who lost the useof his legs in 1984, when afalling tree crushed himwhile he was jogging inHouston, is the nation’sfirst governor who uses awheelchair since Alaba-ma’s George Wallace leftoffice in 1987.

“Let’s face it, for me thismoment was highly im-probable,” Abbott told thecrowd.

He has made his person-al story a centerpiece ofhis rise to political promi-nence, often joking thatwhile many politiciansboast about having a“spine of steel,” he actuallyhas one.

“I am living proof thatwe live in a state where ayoung man’s life can litera-lly be broken in half,” Ab-bott added, “and yet he canstill rise up and be gover-nor of this great state.”

ABBOTT Continued from Page 1A

Abbott called Perry “a man I amhumbled to succeed,” but hispredecessor wasn’t around tohear it.

social media seeking an-swers. The university saidit will not charge tuitionwhile the campus remainsclosed.

The post added: “A deci-sion to close down the cam-

pus was made becausethere is no security for theuniversity community.”

As of Monday, adminis-tration was uncertain of adate to resume classes.

“We hope to have good

news soon,” Anaya said.Universidad del Valle de

México Campus Nuevo La-redo serves about 700 stu-dents, according to Anaya.The university is located at6150 Avenida Emiliano Za-

pata in Colonia La Concor-dia in Southwest Nuevo La-redo.

That’s about a 15-minutedrive from Gateway to theAmericas InternationalBridge.

UNIVERSITY Continued from Page 1A

badly deteriorated there was no chance of iden-tifying them.

The university has offered to use one lasttechnique to identify the remains, but saysthere is a risk the testing may destroy the sam-ples without obtaining any useful information.

That technique is known as massively paral-lel sequencing, which uses many computers incoordination to perform a task.

The university said it expected the testing totake another three months, but could not givean exact date for results.

“The main risk is that the DNA extractedmay be destroyed “without yielding any usableresults, prosecutors cited the university as say-ing.

Prosecutors said, however, they had author-ized the new round of testing.

Vidulfo Rosales, a lawyer representing fam-ilies of the missing teachers college students,said prosecutors should have consulted the fam-ilies of the missing students before making thatdecision.

“If these tests are done on the bone frag-ments, there could be practically nothing left,”Rosales told local media. “This is going to havean impact on the parents’ belief system. ... Inrural tradition, mourning is highly symbolic,highly important.”

The students went missing Sept. 26 after con-frontations with police in the Guerrero statecity of Iguala in which three students and threebystanders were killed. Attorney General JesusMurillo Karam has said they were attacked bypolice on orders of Iguala’s then mayor, JoseLuis Abarca, who has since been detained aftergoing into hiding.

The police and Abarca allegedly had ties tothe Guerreros Unidos drug gang. Police alleged-ly turned the students over to Guerreros Unidosgunmen, who took them to a local dump, killedthem and stacked their bodies on a pyre andused diesel, wood and old tires to burn them.

Authorities are holding more than 70 peoplein the case, which also forced the governor ofGuerrero to resign.

REMAINSContinued from Page 1A“We have not received a

formal invitation, and Ipresume that’s the same forthe other governors” ofMexican states that borderTexas, Guillermo Martinez,a spokesman for Tamauli-pas Gov. Egidio Torre Can-tú, said Friday.

When asked whether anyMexican governors were in-vited to the inauguration,the Berry spokeswoman,Alicia Pierce, said the inau-gural committee could bet-ter answer that question. Aspokesman for the inaugu-ral committee did not re-spond to questions aboutwhether Mexican gover-nors were invited. In an in-terview with The TexasTribune on Friday, Abbottdemurred when askedwhether Mexican gover-nors were invited.

"It will come as no sur-prise that, consistent withmy campaign for governor,you will see a level of His-panic theme in the inaugu-ration," Abbott said.

Abbott touted his wife’sHispanic roots during hiscampaign and visited the

Rio Grande Valley and ElPaso often before ElectionDay.

John Wittman, the Ab-bott inaugural committeespokesman, said severalhigh-ranking Mexican offi-cials were in Austin. Theyinclude Dr. Sergio Alcocer,the undersecretary forNorth American affairs; Jo-sé Octavio Tripp, the con-sul general for Mexico inDallas; and Carlos Gonzá-lez, the consul general forMexico in Sacramento.

The inauguration comesat a time when Mexico isthe state’s No. 1 trade part-ner and is opening its ener-gy sector to private invest-ment, which many see as apotential boon to Texas’economy. From January toNovember, more than $326billion in combined two-way trade passed throughthe Laredo and El Paso cus-toms districts.

Given those economicand cultural ties, it is un-fortunate the governorswill not be in Austin, saidDuncan Wood, the directorof the Mexico Institute at

the Woodrow Wilson Inter-national Center for Schol-ars in Washington, D.C.

“The opportunities fordeepening the relationshipbetween Texas and Mexicoare multiple and abun-dant,” he said. “So it seemsa great shame that this op-portunity to involve Mexi-can border governors in arelationship with the newadministration is beingpassed up.”

Texas’ leaders have alsobeen critical of Mexico’sgovernment, specifically onthe issues of illegal immi-gration and border securi-ty. In September, Perry ac-cused Mexican PresidentEnrique Peña Nieto of do-ing little to stop the surgeof undocumented immi-grants who poured into theRio Grande Valley lastsummer.

Martinez, the spokesmanfor Tamaulipas’ Torre, saidhis office stood ready tocontinue promoting hisstate’s economic agenda inTexas.

“We have a stupendousrelationship with the busi-

ness community in Texas,with the universities inTexas, and we’re promot-ing our energy initiatives(there),” he said. He addedthat Torre recently trav-eled to the Eagle FordShale and to Austin tomeet with academics, ener-gy experts and businesspe-ople.

Rolando Pablos, a boardmember of the HispanicRepublicans of Texas PACand a former Perry appoin-tee to the Public UtilityCommission, cautionedagainst reading too muchinto who attends Abbott’sinauguration.

“I think Gov.-elect Ab-bott’s commitment to Mex-ico and to developing rela-tions with Mexico is prettyclear, especially by the factthat he appointed (formerCameron County JudgeCarlos) Cascos as secretaryof state,” he said. “I thinkit’s been a busy last coupleof months, and so I am notworried about it all. Iknow for sure Gov. Abbottis going to step up Texas-Mexico relations.”

ABSENT Continued from Page 1A

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015