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ZAPATA SOFTBALL WINS DISTRICTTEAM FINALLY BEATS A LAREDO TEAM IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, 1B

The former board presidentof the Zapata County Fair Asso-ciation wrote unauthorizedchecks totaling more than $9,000of association funds, said PacoMendoza, the incoming presi-dent.

Carmen Paredes, who over-saw the 2012 fair, has since paidthe money back. The board de-cided not to pursue charges

against her.“In this town, when some-

thing like this is done by an in-dividual, the people here don’tforget,” said Mendoza, who isalso president of the ZapataCounty Chamber of Commerce.“I believe that to be punishmentin itself.”

Mendoza said Paredes did notelaborate on what she used themoney for but admitted beforethe board in a June 18 meetingthat she indeed cashed unau-

thorized checks using the fairassociation’s account.

The fair association is a non-profit that uses the proceedsfrom the event, in beer salesand admission, to fund its oper-ations.

It received $15,000 this yearfrom the county hotel-motel taxfund to promote the fair.

“The Commissioners Court isupset,” County Judge Joe Rath-

ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION

Fair repaymentNo charges since missing money repaid

By JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See FAIR PAGE 9A

Sunday, Mexico will hold itssecond presidential electionsince the 2000 vote that unseat-ed the Institutional Revolution-ary Party after more than sev-en decades in power.

The candidate of the formerruling party, or PRI, is widelyexpected to win the presidency,opening a new chapter in thestory of Mexico’s young democ-racy.

Former Mexico state gover-nor Enrique Peña Nieto hassaid his party has abandoned

its legacy of corruption and re-pression of dissent, and willgovern in an open and plural-istic manner. The argument ap-pears to be working amongMexicans looking for a changeafter nearly six years of abloody militarized offensiveagainst drug cartels and gener-ally lackluster economic per-formance. But many Mexicansfear a return of the PRI, a sen-timent that has spawned a vo-cal student-led movementagainst Peña Nieto and his par-

MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Congressman tobe in Mexico

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See ELECTION PAGE 10A

BROWNSVILLE — The fam-ilies of two U.S. immigrationagents shot more than a year agoon a Mexican highway renewedtheir demand Friday that theU.S. government explain the de-cisions that put them there andanswer questions about howguns purchased in the U.S. fellinto the hands of their attackers.

The parents of slain Immigra-tion and Customs Enforcementagent Jaime Zapata joined withthe sister of agent Victor Avila topress the government on wheth-er an operation similar to one inArizona that allowed illegallypurchased guns to be smuggled

into Mexico in hopes of trackingthem to higher-ranking criminalfigures was responsible for theguns used in the attack. Two ofthe weapons have been traced toillegal purchases in Texas.

The families spoke in Zapata’shometown of Brownsville, oneday after the U.S. House voted tohold Attorney General EricHolder in contempt for not pro-viding documents relevant to aninvestigation of so-called Oper-ation Fast and Furious in Arizo-na. In that case, agents with theU.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives losttrack of hundreds of weaponsthey had hoped to trace higherin criminal organizations. Jus-tice Department policy had long

forbid such “gun walking” andtwo guns from that operationwere found at the scene of theslaying of U.S. border agentBrian Terry.

“I feel that I owe my son jus-tice and I still haven’t gotten it,”said Mary Zapata, the slainagent’s mother, wearing a lapelpin with her son’s picture.

Earlier this month, Zapata’sfamily filed a $25 million wrong-ful death claim against the U.S.government. Avila is seeking$12.5 million, claiming negli-gence and intentional inflictionof emotional distress. The claimsare an initial step toward law-suits. They note that at least two

US GOVERNMENT

Mary and Amador Zapata, the parents of slain Immigration Customs and Enforce-ment agent Jaime Zapata, appear during a news conference Friday, in Browns-ville. They demanded the U.S. government answer questions about how guns pur-chased in the U.S. fell into the hands of their son’s attackers.

Photo by Yvette Vela/The Brownsville Herald | AP

Agents’ families want answersBy CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See AGENTS PAGE 9A

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — A car bomb exploded Friday morning in front of themayor’s office at city hall.

Seven people were injured, authorities said. The Tamaulipas Public Security agency and Attorney General’s Office said in

a statement that a Ford Ranger pickup with Coahuila license plates was used in the bomb-ing.

The vehicle was placed in the parking spot of Mayor Benjamin Galvan Gomez, about 33feet from his second floor office, which faces Heroe de Nacataz Street. The pickup blew upat 11:15 a.m.

“The Tamaulipas state government condemns this lamentable deed, and will redoubleits efforts to help provide safety to the city,” the statement read.

The blast damaged 11 vehicles and the City Hall building, authorities said. Debris fromthe bombing was scattered throughout several blocks of downtown.

Galvan Gomez was not in his office at the time of the explosion. He told reporters byphone that federal and state authorities are investigating the bombing.

A federal spokesman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the debris from theblast was scattered through a 2,800-foot area, or about 15 blocks.

Authorities said some who were injured in the blast were covered with blood, and thatone of the victims was partially burned. All were treated at the scene by the Red Cross andCivil Protection agency. Five were taken to General Hospital and two to Social SecurityHospital for further treatment.

After firefighters put out fires caused by the blast, authorities evacuated the site sur-rounding the blast and cordoned off a two-block area around City Hall.

“We don’t have any leads yet on who is responsible, but we’re working to determine(who could be responsible),” the federal spokesman said.

Authorities in the United States took steps to keep violence from crossing over into thecountry.

Authorities say car bomb wasparked in front of mayor’s office

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BOMBING PAGE 10AA Ford Ranger pick-up burns in front of city hall inNuevo Laredo, on Friday after a bomb placed insideblew up, just 33 feet from the mayor’s office.

Courtesy photo

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

SATURDAY, JUNE 30The Texas A&M International

University Lamar Bruni Vergara Plane-tarium will show “The Little Star ThatCould” at 5 p.m., “Stars of the Phara-ohs” at 6 p.m. and “2012: AncientSkies, Ancient Mysteries” at 7 p.m.General admission is $4 for childrenand $5 for adults. “Ancient Skies” is$1 more. For more information, call956-326-3663.

SUNDAY, JULY 1Hello Kitty will appear at the

Vans at Mall del Norte, 5300 San Da-rio Ave., at 2 p.m. today. The eventwill include personal photos, giveawaysand prizes. Attendance is limited. Formore information, call 728-7322.

TUESDAY, JULY 3Distinguished Artist Veterans,

the third annual group exhibition byTexas veterans with disabilities, will bein the Laredo Public Library, 1120 E.Calton Road, until July 30. For moreinformation, call 795-2400 or visitwww.vsatx.org.

The Alzheimer’s support groupwill meet today at 7 p.m. in MeetingRoom 2, Building B of the LaredoMedical Center. The support group isfor family members and caregiverstaking care of someone who has Alz-heimer’s. For more information, callMelissa L. Guerra at 693-9991.

SATURDAY, JULY 7The Texas A&M International

University Lamar Bruni Vergara Plane-tarium will show “Earth, Moon, andSun” at 5 p.m., “Seven Wonders” at 6p.m. and “2012: Ancient Skies AncientMysteries” at 7 p.m. General Admis-sion is $4 for children and $5 foradults. Premium shows are $1 more.For more information, call 956-326-3663.

MONDAY, JULY 9The Zapata Commissioners Court

will have its regular meeting today at9 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11The Texas A&M International

University Lamar Bruni Vergara Plane-tarium will show “Attack of the SpacePirates” at 4 p.m. and “Star Signs” at5 p.m. General admission is $3. Formore information, call 956-326-3663.

SATURDAY, JULY 14The Laredo Specialty Hospital’s

free CEU seminar for Parkinson’s dis-ease is today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.There will be a lecture and hands-ontraining. Seminar has approved CEUsfor PTs and OTs. Breakfast and lunchwill be provided. Certificate of comple-tion will be given at the end of theseminar. Space is limited. To reserve aspace, contact Nick Nilest at 956-764-8381 or nicknilest@ernesthealth.com.

The Texas A&M InternationalUniversity Lamar Bruni Vergara Plane-tarium will show “IBEX: Search for theEdge of the Solar System” at 5 p.m.,“Violent Universe” at 6 p.m. and“2012: Ancient Skies, Ancient Myster-ies” at 7 p.m. General admission is $4for children and $5 for adults. Premi-um shows are $1 more. For more in-formation, call 956-326-3663.

SATURDAY, AUG. 11The Back To School Kids Fish-

ing Tournament takes place today.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 21The Sun Country Fishing Tour-

nament begins and runs through Fri-day, Sept. 28, at Falcon Lake.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 22The Bud Light 2012 San Anto-

nio Division tournament takes place atFalcon Lake.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18The Anglers Quests tourna-

ments begin, to run through Sunday,Oct. 21.

SATURDAY, OCT. 27The Bass Champs South Region

Championship takes place today andSunday, Oct. 28.

SATURDAY, NOV. 17The Bud Light Tournament Fall

2012 San Antonio Division tournamentreturns to Falcon Lake.

To submit an item for the calendar,send the name of the event, the date,time, location and contact phonenumber to editorial@lmtonline.com.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, June 30,the 182nd day of 2012. Thereare 184 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On June 30, 1912, Canada’sdeadliest tornado on recordoccurred as a late-afternooncyclone struck Regina, the pro-vincial capital of Saskatche-wan, killing 28 people and de-stroying or damaging 500buildings.

On this date:In 1859, French acrobat

Charles Blondin (blahn-DAN’)walked back and forth on atightrope above the gorge ofNiagara Falls as thousands ofspectators watched.

In 1860, the famous OxfordUniversity Museum debate onDarwin’s theory of evolutiontook place as Anglican BishopSamuel Wilberforce led hisside in denouncing the con-cept, while biologist T.H. Hux-ley defended it.

In 1908, the Tunguska Eventtook place in Russia as an as-teroid exploded above Siberia,leaving 800 square miles ofscorched or blown-down trees.

In 1921, President WarrenG. Harding nominated formerPresident William HowardTaft to be chief justice of theUnited States, succeeding thelate Edward Douglass White.

In 1934, Adolf Hitler carriedout his “blood purge” of politi-cal and military rivals in Ger-many in what came to beknown as “The Night of theLong Knives.”

In 1936, the epic Civil Warnovel “Gone with the Wind”by Margaret Mitchell was firstpublished by The MacmillanCo. in New York.

In 1952, “The GuidingLight,” a popular radio pro-gram, began a 57-year televi-sion run on CBS.

In 1958, the U.S. Senatepassed the Alaska statehoodbill by a vote of 64-20.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI wascrowned the 262nd head of theRoman Catholic Church.

In 1972, for the first time, aleap-second was added to Co-ordinated Universal Time toaccount for the slowing rota-tion of the Earth.

In 1982, the proposed EqualRights Amendment to the U.S.Constitution expired, havingfailed to receive the requirednumber of ratifications for itsadoption, despite having itsseven-year deadline extendedby three years.

In 1985, 39 American hostag-es from a hijacked TWA jetlin-er were freed in Beirut afterbeing held 17 days.

Ten years ago: LeonardGregg, a part-time firefighter,was charged with starting oneof the two wildfires thatmerged into a monstrous blazein eastern Arizona. (Gregg lat-er pleaded guilty and was sen-tenced in 2004 to 10 years infederal prison; he was releasedin June 2011.) Brazil defeatedGermany, 2-0, for the team’s re-cord fifth World Cup title.

Today’s Birthdays: Jazzmusician Stanley Clarke is 61.Rock musician Hal Lindes(Dire Straits) is 59. Actor-co-median David Alan Grier is56. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is53. Boxer Mike Tyson is 46.Rock musician Tom Drum-mond (Better Than Ezra) is 43.Actor Brian Bloom is 42. Ac-tor Brian Vincent is 42. Ac-tress Monica Potter is 41.Olympic gold medal swimmerMichael Phelps is 27.

Thought for Today: “Theman who has done his levelbest is a success, even thoughthe world may write himdown a failure.” — B.C.Forbes, Scottish journalist(1880-1954).

TODAY IN HISTORY

FORT HOOD — A military judge ruledFriday against delaying the trial of the FortHood shooting suspect, an Army psychiatristwho remains banned from the courtroom be-cause his beard violates Army regulations.

Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial will proceed asscheduled, beginning on Aug. 20. Defense at-torneys wanted the trial moved to December,saying they needed more time to prepare.

But the judge, Col. Gregory Gross, said thedefense already had plenty of time. Prosecu-tors had indicated they were ready for triallast fall, but the court-martial was set forMarch and postponed first to June and thenAugust — all at the request of the defense.

Hasan faces the death penalty if convictedof 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32counts of attempted premeditated murder in

the 2009 attack on the Texas Army post.Gross said Friday that top Army officials

had rejected Hasan’s request for a religiousexemption — due to his Islamic faith — tothe rule banning beards. An appeals courtalso denied a defense request to overturn thejudge’s decision last week to bar Hasan fromthe courtroom unless he shaves.

Hasan watched Friday’s hearing from aclosed-circuit television in a nearby room, ashe did during last week’s hearing.

Gross also denied a defense request to stepdown as the trial judge, disputing allegationsthat he was biased against Hasan.

Lead defense attorney Lt. Col. Kris Poppesaid the judge had asked defense attorneysto clean up a court restroom after Grossfound a medical waste bag, adult diaper andwhat appeared to be feces on the floor after ahearing earlier this month.

AROUND TEXAS

This undated photo provided by the Bell County Sheriff’s Office shows Nidal Hasan. A military judge decided Friday not tofurther delay the trial of Hasan, an Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shootings.

Photo by Bell County Sheriff’s Department via The Temple Daily Telegram | AP

No Ft. Hood trial delayBy ANGELA K. BROWN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ex-EPA administrator joinsSierra Club campaign

HOUSTON — A former ad-ministrator with the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agencywho resigned amid claims thathe was biased against the oil andgas industry is going to work forthe Sierra Club.

Al Armendariz resigned inApril as EPA’s administrator forRegion 6, which oversees Texasand other states with oil and gasinterests.

Aransas Pass girl, 16, isfound dead

ARANSAS PASS — Police saya 16-year-old girl missing for sev-eral days has been found dead.

Officials say the death of Jen-na Hernandez has been deter-mined to be a homicide. Herbody was discovered Thursdayclose to the water.

Authorities believe the girl,last seen Monday leaving a rela-tive’s home, was targeted bysomeone she knew.

Gang leader gets life inprison drug case

EL PASO — Prosecutors say aWest Texas border gang leaderhas been sentenced to life in fed-eral prison for helping distributedrugs to other inmates.

The Justice Department onFriday announced the sentencefor 38-year-old Hector Galindo ofEl Paso. Galindo in 1992 beganserving a 25-year state prisonsentence for murder.

Clerk in Houston shoots,kills beer theft suspectHOUSTON — Houston police

say a man who allegedly stolebeer from a store has been fatal-ly shot by the clerk.

Police say Friday’s death willbe referred to a Harris Countygrand jury.

Police say the shooting hap-pened outside the store as theworker confronted the suspect.

Names of the suspect and thestore worker weren’t immediate-ly released.

Workers discover body inBeaumont city pool

BEAUMONT — Workers in aSoutheast Texas city have discov-ered a body in a municipal pool.

The Beaumont Fire Depart-ment says the body was locatedin the water Friday morning.

Police say the body of theyoung male has not been identi-fied.

Police say it appears someonecut a lock on a gate to get intothe pool area and also may havecut the fence.

Man gets life in prison fordeadly attack in WacoWACO — A Central Texas

man has been sentenced to lifefor a 2008 attack that left his ex-girlfriend’s mother dead.

A judge in Waco accepted therevised plea deal for Jeremy LeeLowrey of Itasca.

His two life prison terms willbe served concurrently. He’ll beeligible for parole in 30 years.

— Compiled from AP reports

Congress passes studentloans, highway jobs billWASHINGTON — Congress

approved legislation Friday pre-serving jobs on transportationprojects and avoiding interestrate increases on new loans tomillions of college students, giv-ing lawmakers bragging rightson what may be their biggest ec-onomic achievement before theNovember elections.

5 more states grantedNCLB waivers

Five more states have beengranted relief from key require-ments of the No Child Left Be-hind law, bringing the total to 24states given waivers, the Educa-tion Department said Friday.

Arkansas, Missouri, South Da-kota, Utah and Virginia will befreed from the No Child require-ment that all students test profi-cient in math and reading by2014, a goal the nation remains

far from achieving.

4 arrested after calling NCdeputy for drugs

SALISBURY, N.C. — Four peo-ple have been arrested in North

Carolina after they mistakenlycalled the wrong person aboutdrug purchases.

The man they got was a Row-an County sheriff ’s deputy whomet with them. All four were ar-rested.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

People stand in line to buy tickets for the Cyclone ride on New York’s Coney Is-land on Tuesday. The internationally-known Cyclone turned 85 today.

Photo by Mary Altaffer | AP

Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505Copy Editor, Nick Georgiou ....................... 728-2565Managing Editor, Mary Nell Sanchez........... 728-2543Sports Editor, Adam Geigerman..................728-2578Spanish Editor ........................................ 728-2569

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The Zapata Times is free.The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning

Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129,Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500.

The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Ave-nue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mailthezapatatimes.net

CONTACT US

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

The 58th annual TexasA&M Beef Cattle ShortCourse, conducted by theTexas AgriLife ExtensionService, is scheduled forAug. 6-8 at Texas A&M Uni-versity in College Station.

A variety of cattle pro-duction management topicswill be presented at thisyear’s short course, includ-ing a weather outlook, saidJason Cleere, AgriLife Ex-tension beef cattle specialistand conference coordinator.

‘Management’“Our topics this year will

fit right into what Texasbeef producers are experi-encing with forage manage-ment, beef cattle manage-ment and beef cattle market-ing,” Cleere said.Thegeneral session will featurea virtual tour of a U.S. feedyard and U.S. beef packingplant, a presentation about

what consumers want toknow about raising beef, aswell as challenges and op-portunities for ranchers inthe next 20 years. Sessionswill be held at various loca-tions on the Texas A&Mcampus with the main gen-eral sessions at Rudder Au-ditorium.

Need based“Planning committee

members from around thestate have met with us andhelped us put together an-other outstanding pro-gram,” he said. “The shortcourse has become one ofthe largest and most com-prehensive beef cattle educa-tional programs in the U.S.”The cattleman’s college por-tion of the three-day shortcourse provides participantswith an opportunity tochoose workshops based onthe level of production expe-rience and the needs of theranch, Cleere said.

“These concurrent work-shops will feature informa-tion on introductory cattleproduction, managementpractices in the areas of for-age, nutrition and reproduc-tion, record keeping, brush-busting, cattle handling,landowner issues and muchmore,” he said.

In addition to classroominstruction on Aug. 6-7, par-ticipants can attend one ofthe popular demonstrationson the morning of Aug. 8.

“There will be demon-strations on chute-side calfworking, cattle behavior,penning, selection andbrush-busting,” Cleere said.“These provide an opportu-nity for ranchers to see beefcattle production practicesput to use.”

The goal of the shortcourse each year is to pro-vide the most cutting-edgeinformation that is neededby beef cattle producers, andthis year is no exception.”

Participants can receive aTexas Department of Agri-

culture private pesticide ap-plicator’s license during theshort course and can earnat least seven pesticide con-tinuing education units ifthey are already licensed,Cleere added. An industrytrade show will be held dur-ing the event, featuringmore than 110 agriculturalbusinesses and service ex-hibits.

RegistrationRegistration is $160 per

person and includes educa-tional materials, a copy ofthe 600-page Beef CattleShort Course proceedings,trade show admittance, ad-mission to the prime ribdinner, lunches, breakfastsand daily refreshments. Reg-istration information can befound on the short coursewebsite at http://beef.ta-mu.edu. Producers can reg-ister online at http://beef.ta-mu.edu or contact Cleere’soffice at 979-845-6931.

Cattle course set for A&MSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Federal authorities ar-rested three men and awoman suspected of try-ing to smuggle a largegroup of undocumentedpeople June 21 about onemile south of the JimHogg-Starr County line,according to a criminalcomplaint made publicTuesday.

Manuel Anaya Sauce-do, Noemi Carrillo, Vic-tor Manuel Garcia-Bou-chot and Raul Sosa IIIare being charged withalien smuggling.

U.S. Border PatrolAgents assigned to theZapata and Hebbronvillestations were observingtraffic on FM 649 in JimHogg County when theynoticed a white DodgeDakota, a gray FordRanger and a Blue FordF150 heading north onFM 649.

According to a crimi-nal complaint, the bluevehicle, driven by Gar-cia-Bouchot, was the oneloaded with undocu-mented people. A crimi-nal complaint states theDodge Dakota was es-corting the blue Ford.

Complaint infoAuthorities had re-

ceived previous reportsthat a white Dodge Da-kota and gray FordRanger had been con-nected to previous nar-cotic and human smug-gling attempts throughthe Rio Grande Valleyand Laredo Sector areas,a complaint states.

An agent stopped theDodge Dakota truck and

identified the driver asCarrillo. An intelligenceagent immediately iden-tified Carrillo as a “wellknown scout and/or fa-cilitator” for alien smug-gling, a criminal com-plaint states.

Meanwhile, the blueF150 turned around andheaded south on FM 649.A complaint states thetruck went off the high-way and drove through aranch fence. The driver,Garcia-Bouchot, exitedthe vehicle along withseveral other people andran toward the brush.

Agents followed thetracks and apprehendedthree people. At 10 a.m.June 22, agents in Zapa-ta received informationthat 12 undocumentedpeople wanted to turnthemselves in to author-ities. They were alleged-ly riding in the blueF150 and identified Gar-cia-Bouchot as the driv-er.

Carrillo said she wasscouting out the area forany law enforcement.She would have gottenpaid $600 for being a fa-cilitator. Sosa was goingto drive the blue pickupback to Roma. AnayaSaucedo refused to givea statement. Garcia-Bou-chot told agents he wastrying to make his wayto North Carolina.

According to the com-plaint, Garcia-Bouchotalleged use of excessiveforce during his arrest.He met with a MexicanConsulate representativeregarding the allegedabuse.

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

Four accusedof smugglinglarge group

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

MUSLIM-INFLUENCED FASHION

Photo by Allison Slomowitz | AP

Models wear Muslim-influenced clothing during the Compassion For Fashion Show in Dallas, on June 15. The 30 or so models wore vibranteye shadow, bejeweled dresses and high heels. But the stilettos led no further than the hems of loose-fitting dresses that revealed almostno skin.

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

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

In the end, most of thearguments about Presi-dent Barack Obama’shealth-care overhaul turn-ed out to be beside thepoint.

The law’s defenders forthe most part argued thatCongress can require peo-ple to buy health insur-ance because the Consti-tution lets it regulate com-merce "among the severalstates." Their fallback ar-gument was that Con-gress can impose the re-quirement because theConstitution gives it thepower to make "all lawswhich shall be necessaryand proper for carryinginto execution" its regula-tions.

Opponents of the lawconcentrated on knockingthose arguments down.Most people on both sidesassumed that the individ-ual mandate would standor fall on those grounds.

So the conventionalwisdom wasn’t just wrongabout the outcome of thecase — a much more se-vere blow to the law wasexpected — it was wrongabout what the casewould, in the minds of thejustices, be about.

A majority of the justic-es concluded that themandate couldn’t be justi-fied under the CommerceClause, even with the nec-essary-and-proper back-ing. A different majorityof the justices also de-clined to get rid of themandate.

Chief Justice John Ro-berts, the only one in bothmajorities, bought the ad-ministration’s second fall-back argument: The man-date is an exercise of thegovernment’s power totax.

The mandate, in thisargument, is like the taxdeduction for charitablegiving. If you don’t give tocharity, you pay more tothe federal government.

The same goes for notbuying insurance underObama’s health-care law.In this view, the differ-ence is merely that thehealth-care statute callsthe extra money you paythe government a "penal-ty" for breaking the lawrather than a "tax."

Not many people doubtthat the government canmake different groups ofpeople pay differentamounts of money basedon economic decisions.Nobody thinks the charit-able deduction is uncon-stitutional.

So, Roberts and fourcolleagues conclude, it

can also tax people differ-ently based on whetherthey purchase health in-surance.

In defense of those ofus who didn’t expect thisargument to be decisive,no lower court had con-sidered it compelling. Inour further defense, itisn’t compelling.

The text of the billdoesn’t help Roberts’ case.The problem isn’t justthat the bill repeatedly us-es the word "penalty." It al-so refers to the mandateas a "requirement" andsays that people "shall"buy insurance. That’swhere the analogy to tax-es breaks down. Peoplearen’t required to donateto charity. The law doesn’tsay that they "shall" bephilanthropic.

The health-care act, onthe other hand, does sug-gest that people who re-fuse to get insurance arebreaking the law (unlessthey are exempt from therequirement for one of thereasons listed in the law).

Congress could havewritten a law that merelyimposed an extra tax onnon-purchasers of insur-ance, or that gave a taxbreak to purchasers. May-be Congress would havedone exactly that if it hadknown a majority of thecourt doesn’t believe ithas the power to impose amandate under the Com-merce Clause. What Con-gress actually did wassomething different.

Roberts performs thesame maneuver elsewherein the opinion. Like thefour justices who thinkthe law should be struckdown (and like two liberaljustices), Roberts believesthat the law unconstitu-tionally coerces the statesby threatening to cut offall federal Medicaid fund-ing if they don’t expandthe program. Instead ofstriking down the law,however, he again re-writes it, so that only aportion of federal Medi-caid funding is withheldfrom balky states.

The resulting law maybe a better one than Con-gress wrote. It is not, how-ever, the law that Con-gress wrote. Roberts maythink he has threaded aneedle. He has avoided af-firming an expansivereading of the CommerceClause, which conserva-tives loathe, while refus-ing to give liberals theammunition to call him apartisan for dismantlingtheir cherished law.

He acted cleverly. He al-so acted less like a judgethan like a politician, anda slippery one.

COLUMN

Roberts saysit’s the power

of taxationBy RAMESH PONNURU

BLOOMBERG NEWS

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

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

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

We want to assure our

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

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

ing or gratuitous abuse isallowed.

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

To the editor:None of us want to go

to the hospital; however,when we do have to goand the experience is ve-ry favorable, we like toshare the informationwith others.

I was so pleased withthe care and treatment Ireceived while in LMCfor 21 days. I was in somuch pain in my legsbefore my hospital stayand had to use a wheel-chair to get around. Itwas very depressing. Af-ter receiving a filter toprevent blood clots fromcausing damage to myheart and lungs, I havebeen able to start usingmy walker to get aroundmy home.

I want to thank mydoctors, Rafael Deliz andFrancisco Morales, forgiving me a new leaseon life. The staff at thehospital were so kindand professional and hadsuch beautiful attitudes.I am so happy, thankyou to the staff of Inter-ventional Radiology: Al-len Alvarez, RN; Adria-na Espinoza, RN; Moni-ca Rizas, RTR; VeronicaValadez, RTR; Mando Sa-linas, RTR; Elias Oli-vares, RTR; and FredJuarez, ONT. “You are awonderful team, workingtogether to make lifebetter for your patients.I will never forget you.”

R.P. LopezZapata

YOUR OPINIONWriter states appreciation for medical care

received at Laredo hospital

Friday, June 22,Catholics acrossthe United Statesof America began

a Fortnight for Freedom —two weeks of prayer, reflec-tion, fasting and public ac-tion on faith and freedom.

These two weeks bringus to a better awarenessand appreciation of ourright as people of faith andcitizens of this great coun-try to promote and defendour religious liberty.

The First Amendment toour Constitution grants usthe right to freely exerciseour religion and it forbidsthe Congress from makingany law that prohibits thatexercise.

Because the protectionof our religious freedom isenshrined in our laws, theCatholic Church in the U.S.has been able to grow andcontribute so much to thecommon good of our na-tion.

According to the Catho-lic Information Project bythe United States Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops,we form 23 percent of theUS population, and eachyear we treat one out of ev-ery six hospital patients,employ nearly 600,000 peo-ple in our hospital sys-tems, care for over 50,000orphans, educate over 3million students, provideemergency help to 6.5 mil-lion people through ourCatholic social servicesnetwork, bring relief to 80million people in foreignnations through our Catho-lic Relief Services, resettlea third of refugees enteringthe US, give over $6 billionin charitable donationsand Catholic church organ-izations, such as the

Knights of Columbus, aswell as the Catholic Daugh-ters of the Americas, andprovide over 64 million vol-unteer hours of communi-ty service.

When we Catholics arefree to exercise our reli-gion, it is indeed a goodthing for our country, notsomething to fear or penal-ize.

However, today’s secularculture finds itself increas-ingly alarmed by religionand is making efforts tolimit the exercise of reli-gion in several ways.

Among the most recentthreats to religious libertyis the Health and HumanServices mandate thatwould force every individu-al, business owner andChurch institution to pro-vide health insurance cov-erage for contraception,sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs for all theiremployees even if it vio-lates the employer’s andemployee’s religious be-liefs.

I recently saw the movieFor Greater Glory andfound it to be an exampleof incredible faith andcourage in defense of reli-gious freedom. The movietells the story of los Criste-ros in Mexico, who foughtand died to restore the reli-gious freedom eliminatedby the 1917 Mexican Con-stitution.

There is a scene in themovie where the youngmartyr Saint Jose Sanchez

del Rio pleads with PadreChristopher to hide fromthe soldiers coming to ar-rest and kill him.

Refusing to hide, PadreChristopher tells the youngboy, “Who are you if youdon’t stand up for whatyou believe?”

Moments before hisdeath, Padre Christopherutters, “For greater glory,one lays down his life forhis friends.”

During this Fortnightfor Freedom, the Catholicbishops of the UnitedStates call men and womenof faith and goodwill tounite and stand up forwhat we believe, to beGod’s faithful servants firstand to defend our religiousfreedom when our consti-tutional right to the freeexercise of our religion ischallenged.

Religious liberty is notconfined only to a freedomto pray in our churchesand homes. The freedom tofollow our religious beliefsis guaranteed at all timesby the First Amendment toour nation’s Constitution.

If we are not free to fol-low our conscience andour practice of religion,then we are not truly afree people or a free coun-try.

Sadly, some have tried tointerpret “Freedom of Reli-gion” to mean “Freedomfrom Religion,” as if reli-gious beliefs had no role toplay in promoting the com-mon good of our country.

Our freedom of religionmeans that all citizens arefree to practice their reli-gious beliefs and to maketheir positive contributionsto the common good.

Our faith teaches us that

all people have an im-mense and inviolable dig-nity because we are creat-ed in the image and like-ness of God and becausethe precious blood of Jesushas redeemed us.

This belief in the sacreddignity of the human per-son must govern all of ouractions, whether regardinghow we treat the poor andthe undocumented, or re-garding how we respectmarriage and family life. Ifwe do not work to defendour belief in human digni-ty, then those who do notshare that belief will deter-mine the laws of our coun-try.

June 22, the start of theFortnight for Freedom,marked the feast days ofSt. John Fisher and St.Thomas More.

Yesterday marked thefeast day of our first pope,St. Peter, and of St. Paul,followed by today’s feastday of the First Martyrs ofRome.

These brave men gavetheir lives in defense oftheir faith, religious liber-ty and the right of theirconsciences to follow God’slaw.

I am not asking you togive your life for the causeof religious liberty, but Iam asking you to give ofyour time and energy forthis great cause.

May the holy martyrswhom we celebrated dur-ing this Fortnight for Free-dom inspire us to be gener-ous in giving of ourselvesin the challenge to defendand preserve the religiousfreedom given to us by theFirst Amendment of theConstitution of the UnitedStates of America.

COLUMN

Celebrating freedom for prayer

“JAMES TAMAYO

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES Health Care SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.— Republicans in at leastfour states want to aban-don an expansion of Medi-caid in President BarackObama’s health care over-haul, and more than a doz-en other states are consid-ering it in the wake of theSupreme Court decision re-moving the threat of feder-al penalties.

The high court upheldmost of Obama’s law, butthe justices said the federalgovernment could not takeaway states’ existing feder-al Medicaid dollars if theyrefused to widen eligibilityto include adults who areonly slightly above the pov-erty line. Some Republicangovernors and lawmakersdeclared they would notcarry out the expansion.

The states consideringwhether to withdraw fromthe expansion include pres-idential battlegrounds Flor-ida, Ohio, Pennsylvaniaand Colorado.

“One thing is clear, statelegislatures will play a bigrole in the future of Oba-macare,” said Republicanstate Rep. Todd Richardsonof Missouri.

For elected officials, thehigh court decision pre-sented a stark choice: agreeto accept an ambitious ex-pansion of Medicaid orleave behind a vast pile offederal money that couldprovide health care to mil-lions of poor constituents.

The law signed by Oba-ma in 2010 was projected toprovide coverage to morethan 30 million Americans,reducing by more than halfthe number of uninsuredpeople. Of those, about 17million were supposed tobe added to Medicaid, thejoint federal and statehealth care program forthe poor. The rest were tobe covered by a strength-ened and subsidized pri-vate insurance market.

The federal governmentagreed to pay the full tabfor the Medicaid expansionwhen it begins in 2014. Butafter three years, statesmust pay a gradually in-creasing share that topsout at 10 percent of thecost. That may not soundlike much, but it translatesto a commitment of billionsof dollars at a time whenmany local officials arestill anxious about the sloweconomic recovery.

In Texas alone, whereone quarter of the popula-tion is uninsured, the Med-icaid expansion is project-ed to provide coverage to 2million people in the firsttwo years alone. Over adecade, the Texas Healthand Human Services Com-mission estimates the ex-pansion would cost thestate an estimated $27 bil-lion. Lawmakers will weightheir options when they re-turn to work in 2013.

But other states aren’twaiting to announce theirintentions.

Mississippi, which is oneof the poorest states in thenation and has more than640,000 people on Medicaid,could cover an additional400,000 people if it chose toexpand Medicaid. But do-ing so would cost about $1.7billion over 10 years andforce deep cuts to educa-

tion and transportation,state officials said.

“Mississippi taxpayerssimply cannot afford thatcost, so our state is not in-clined to drastically expandMedicaid,” Republican Lt.Gov. Tate Reeves said.

Republican NebraskaGov. Dave Heineman prom-ised to block any effort toexpand Medicaid, which hesaid would require tax in-creases or education cuts.And Indiana Senate Presi-dent Pro Tem David Long,also a Republican, assertedthat his state “will certain-ly” opt out of the Medicaidexpansion.

The expansion was alsoquickly nixed by GOP leg-islative leaders in Missou-ri, where 255,000 of thestate’s roughly 835,000 un-insured residents stood tobe added to the program.In 2005, Missouri slashedits Medicaid eligibility forparents to the lowest levelsallowed by the federal gov-ernment in order to helpbalance the budget. The ex-pansion in Obama’s healthcare law would restore cov-erage to those people andadd many more. The cost:$2 billion annually, ofwhich Missouri would payabout $100 million begin-ning in 2017, with its sharerising above $150 millionby 2019.

Some states wantno more Medicaid

Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., center, holds up a copy of the SupremeCourt’s health care ruling Thursday. Republicans in at least threestates want to abandon an expansion of Medicaid in President Ba-rack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Photo by Cliff Owen | AP

By DAVID A. LIEBASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Somuch for Mitt Romney es-caping health care.

Reminders of the Re-publican presidential can-didate’s signature achieve-ment as Massachusettsgovernor — a sweepingstate health care overhaul— now are everywhere.And Democrats and liber-als — from Justice RuthBader Ginsburg to Presi-dent Barack Obama toparty faithful in Congress— are making sure every-one knows that Romney’srequirement that all peo-ple have health insurancewas the basis of the feder-al mandate that the Su-preme Court just upheldas a tax.

“Congress followedMassachusetts’ lead,”Ginsburg wrote in thelandmark decision. By de-sign or not, she ended upgiving Democrats ammu-nition against Romney.

Romney has spentmuch of the presidentialcampaign shying awayfrom talking about the law

he signed as governor andthat Obama used as ablueprint for his nationalhealth care plan. Bothmeasures require individ-uals to have health insur-ance, mandate that busi-nesses offer healthcare totheir employees and pro-vide subsidies or exemp-tions for people who can’tafford it. Both laws alsoimpose penalties on peo-ple who can afford healthinsurance but decide notto buy coverage.

The Supreme Court’sruling Thursday high-lighted those similarities.

Mindful of them, Rom-ney long has sought to jus-tify his position: He de-fends the Massachusettslaw but says he would re-peal Obama’s national ver-sion. Romney also hastried to explain away com-parisons between the twomeasures by telling audi-ences he would have beenhappy to help the presi-dent write a better law.

Obama “does me greatfavor by saying I was theinspiration,” Romney hassaid. “If that was the case,why didn’t you call me?

Why didn’t you ask mewhat was wrong?”

Since the court’s ruling,the Republican has takencare not to mention hisstate law. He left it out ofhis statement Thursday inresponse to the SupremeCourt ruling and didn’tbring it up when he talkedabout health care at a pri-vate fundraiser Friday.

“What happened yester-day calls for greater ur-gency, I believe, in theelection,” Romney told do-nors. “I think people rec-ognize that if you want toreplace Obamacare you’vegot to replace PresidentObama.”

In the day since the rul-ing, GOP officials havecriticized Obama by point-ing out the SupremeCourt’s determinationthat the requirement thatall individuals carryhealth insurance is a tax.But in using that to castObama as a tax-raiser, Re-publicans risk turning thefocus on their candidate.The state law Romneysigned includes a similarpenalty for people whodon’t buy insurance.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 14. Turned awayat the Supreme Court, congressional Republicans sketch a filibuster-proof strategy to repeal the na-tion’s health care law in 2013.

Photo by Evan Vucci | AP

GOP candidate can’tescape health care

By KASIE HUNT AND STEVE PEOPLESASSOCIATED PRESS

LAREDO06/30 — Planetario La-

mar Bruni Vergara de TAMIUpresenta “The Little StarThat Could” a las 5 p.m.;“Stars of the Pharaohs” alas 6 p.m.; y “2012: AncientSkies, Ancient Mysteries” alas 7 p.m. Costo: 4 dólarespara niños y 5 dólares paraadultos. “Ancient Skies”cuesta 1 dólar más.

06/30 — Ringling Bros.and Barnum and Bailey Cir-cus Barnum Bash a las 2:30p.m. y 6:30 p.m. en LaredoEnergy Arena.

06/30 — Proyecto deTeatro LCC Summer Stockpresenta ‘Extremities’ de Wi-lliam Mastrosimone, a las7:30 p.m. en el teatro delGuadalupe and Lilia MartinezFine Arts Center de LaredoCommunity College. Costogeneral: 7 dólares; estudian-tes, 5 dólares.

07/01 — Hello Kitty sepresentará en Vans del Malldel Norte, 5300 avenida SanDario, a las 2 p.m. El eventoincluirá fotografías persona-les, premios y regalos. Cupolimitado.

07/01 — Ringling Bros.and Barnum and Bailey Cir-cus Barnum Bash a las 2:30p.m. en Laredo Energy Are-na.

07/01 — Proyecto deTeatro LCC Summer Stockpresenta ‘Extremities’ de Wi-lliam Mastrosimone, a las 3p.m. en el teatro del Guada-lupe and Lilia Martinez FineArts Center de Laredo Com-munity College. Costo gene-ral: 7 dólares; estudiantes, 5dólares.

07/03 — Hoy inicia latercera exhibición ArtistasVeteranos Distinguidos, porveteranos de Texas con dis-capacidades, en la BibliotecaPública de Laredo, 1120 E.Calton Road. Horario de ofi-cina.

07/04 — Laredo HeatSoccer Club recibe a NewOrleans Jesters a las 8:15p.m. en el Complejo Soccerde TAMIU. Costos: general, 5dólares; niños de 12 años ymenores, 1 dólares; VIP, 20dólares.

07/06 — Hoy es la fe-cha límite para participar enel Concurso de Fotografía or-ganizada por la Fundaciónpara el Patrimonio de Lare-do. Los ganadores serán par-te del Calendario 2013 de lafundación. Vea las bases enwww.webbheritage.org.

07/06 — Laredo HeatSoccer Club recibe a NewOrleans Jesters a las 8:15p.m. en el Complejo Soccerde TAMIU. Costos: general, 5dólares; niños de 12 años ymenores, 1 dólares; VIP, 20dólares.

07/07 — Venta de librosusados de 8:30 a.m. a 1p.m. en First United Metho-dist Church, 1220 avenidaMcClelland. Libros de pastadura a 1 dólar; libros pastasencilla a .50 centavos; li-bros infantiles a .25 centa-vos y revistas a .25 centa-vos.

07/07 — Planetario La-mar Bruni Vergara de TAMIUpresneta “Earth, Moon, andSun” a las 5 p.m., “SevenWonders” a las 6 p.m. y“2012: Ancient Skies AncientMysteries” a las 7 p.m. Cos-to: 4 dólares para niños y 5dólares para adultos.

NUEVO LAREDO06/30 — Estación Pala-

bra presenta “Bazar de Arte”a las 12 p.m.; Festival Infan-til “Marcianos, Inventos yNaves Espaciales” a las 2p.m. Entrada gratuita.

06/30 — Museo paraNiños presenta “El Verano enel Arte” en la Sala de Servi-cios Educativos del CentroCultural a las 4 p.m. Entradagratuita.

07/07 — Grupo Los Sie-te invita a la exposición“México Mágico” a las 7p.m. en la Sala Sergio Peñade la Antigua Aduana.

Agendaen Breve

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 30 DE JUNIO DE 2012

La disminución del valorde los minerales tiene alCondado de Zapata enfren-tándose a un presupuestocon un déficit de 4 millonesde dólares, y opciones estánsiendo exploradas para miti-garlo, dijo el Juez del Con-dado Joe Rathmell.

Con la reducción de lapresencia de la industria delpetróleo y de la gasolina almomento en que Eagle FordShale lleva a sus compañíasal norte de Zapata, oficialesdel condado han reconocidoque están en proceso de des-pegarse del dinero del petró-leo y buscando otras fuentesde ingresos.

La fuente de ingresos deZapata de la escena de lapesca está fluyendo, pero no

lo suficientemente alto có-mo para balancear las pér-didas de la producción degas y petróleo.

“Ciertamente va a serotro presupuesto desa-fiante”, dijo Rathmell. “He-mos perdido una cifra sig-nificante de valor este año.Va a ser un proceso difícil.Oficiales electos y emplea-dos saben que va a ser difí-cil”.

El valor de los minerales,que son estimados basadosen la producción de petróleoy gas en años pasados, com-pensa la mayoría del valorsujeto a impuestos del Con-dado de Zapata. En un re-porte anual del 2011 del dis-trito de valoración del con-dado, los valores mineralesrepresentan el 73 por cientodel valor sujeto a impuestosdel Condado de Zapata.

Pero la producción de gasy petróleo ha disminuido lo-calmente en los años re-cientes, con la crecientefracturación de hidráulicosha llevado a las compañíasfuera de los pozos conven-cionales y hacia las forma-ciones ricas en hidrocarbu-ros que están siendo descu-biertas por todo el país.

Una pérdida de aproxi-madamente 400 millones dedólares, del 2011 al 2012, envalores minerales bajaronlas ganancias de los ingre-sos fiscales por 4 millonesde dólares, dijo Rathmell, ci-tando información preelimi-naría suministrada por laAuditor del Condado Ama-da González.

Las figuras preelimina-rías indican que los valoresminerales conforman el 64por ciento del valor total su-

jeto a impuestos de este año.En el 2008 el valor mineralrepresentaba el 84 por cien-to.

El condado fue valoradoen tener 3.4 billones de va-lor sujeto a impuestos en el2008, de acuerdo con los re-portes de González. Infor-mación preliminar del re-porte de González coloca alvalor sujeto a impuestos deeste año en 1.6 billones dedólares.

“Es la mitad de nuestrovalor en un lapso de menosde 5 años, lo cual es consid-erable”, dijo Rathmell.

Con los ingresos dismi-nuyendo, el condado se en-frenta a “decisiones difí-ciles” por delante para redu-cir gastos, dijo.

Rathmell está en el proce-so de redactar el presupues-to, lo cual el dijo la semana

pasada es “un trabajo enproceso”.

El año pasado, dijo, elcondado estaba en un pre-dicamento similar, ya que seenfrentaba a un déficit de 4millones de dólares. En res-puesta, el condado recortópor completo las mejores deproyectos capitales y redujolos beneficios para los em-pleados, el dijo.

Rathmell está asistiendoa talleres para presupuestosperiódicamente con jefes dedepartamentos en el conda-do. Una vez que el presu-puesto sea terminado, elcual Rathmell indicó que se-ría en julio, se harán audi-encias públicas para recibiraportaciones de los resi-dentes.

(JJ Velásquez puede serlocalizado en el 728-2579 ójjvelasquez@lmtonline.com)

CONDADO DE ZAPATA BUSCA NUEVAS FUENTES DE INGRESOS

Déficit de 4 millonesPOR JJ VELASQUEZTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

WASHINGTON — Orga-nizaciones de activistasvinculadas a la comunidadhispana expresaron su ben-eplácito por la ratificaciónque la Corte Suprema dioel jueves a la ley de salud,pero advirtieron que ungrupo importante de per-sonas permanecerá sinatención médica.

La Corte Suprema ratifi-có la obligatoriedad del se-guro de salud individual in-cluida en la reforma impul-sada por el presidenteBarack Obama, lo que ben-eficiará de manera especiala los inmigrantes latinosque residen legalmente enEstados Unidos porque lesdará la opción de adquirirseguro médico a quienesno lo tienen, dijo a AP laexperta en temas de saludpara la Coalición de Inmi-grantes de Nueva YorkJackie Vimo.

“Lo que cambia ahora esque los inmigrantes con pa-peles tienen la obligaciónde tener seguro si lo pue-den pagar. Si un inmi-grante ahora no tiene segu-ro en el trabajo pero ganademasiado para calificarpara Medicaid, ahora ten-drá la obligación de com-prar seguro médico a tra-vés de estos mercados” co-nocidos en inglés como“insurance exchanges”, ex-plicó.

Medicaid es el programagubernamental de asisten-cia médica para pobres.

Un 32% de latinos care-cían de seguro médico en2009 —más que cualquierotro grupo étnico— y la mi-tad de los latinos no veíana un médico de forma regu-lar, según cifras oficiales.Debido a eso, la ley de sa-lud tendrá mayor impactoentre latinos que en cual-quier otro grupo étnico, se-gún datos del Urban Insti-tute, un centro no partidis-ta para estudios sociales.

Nora Sándigo, directorade la organización Frater-nidad Americana con sedeen Miami, calificó la deci-sión de la Corte como “undía de gloria para la genteque no tiene seguro médi-co, para los menos privile-giados y que muchas com-pañías no les proveían deseguro médico y ahora po-drán tenerlo”.

La Casa Blanca sostieneque desde que comenzó aimplementarse la ley en2010, seis millones de lati-nos obtuvieron acceso acuidados médicos preventi-vos y que nueve millonesde hispanos lo tendrán en2014.

EU

Corteratificareformaa salud

POR LUIS ALONSO LUGOASSOCIATED PRESS

CIUDAD VICTORIA, México —Por lo menos siete personas re-sultaron heridas por la explosiónde un vehículo en Nuevo Laredo,en un hecho que las autoridadesatribuyeron a la lucha entre gru-pos rivales del crimen organiza-do.

La Procuraduría de Tamauli-pas informó el viernes en un co-municado que la detonación delvehículo ocurrió el viernes frentea las instalaciones de la presiden-cia municipal de Nuevo Laredo.

La autoridad estatal señaló queninguno de los siete heridos tiene

heridas graves que ponga en ries-go su vida.

El secretario de Gobierno deTamaulipas, Morelos Canseco, di-jo en Milenio Televisión que nose trató propiamente de un cochebomba, sino de una granada quefue colocada dentro de una ca-mioneta, la cual se hizo detonar.

“Quiero matizar, las palabrascoche bomba suenan a medio ori-ente”, señaló Canseco a MilenioTelevisión.

Canseco dijo que se trató de“una expresión propia de rival-idades entre bandas delincuen-ciales que realizan actividadesilícitas en Nuevo Laredo”. El fun-

cionario, sin embargo, no men-cionó a ningún grupo en específ-ico.

La explosión también dañóotros vehículos, además de algu-nas paredes y vidrios de la presi-dencia.

Canseco dijo que tras el estalli-do se reforzará la seguridad enNuevo Laredo, para buscar ga-rantizar que las elecciones presi-denciales del domingo se realicencon tranquilidad.

“Hay una serie de medidas decarácter operativo que son pro-pias de la jornada electoral y quese están adelantando”, añadió,aunque evitó dar detalles.

VIOLENCIA

Una imagen de cortesía muestra a una camioneta Ford Ranger envuelta en llamas tras que una granada fuera detonada en suinterior, según comunicado oficial del Gobierno de Tamaulipas, el viernes por la mañana en Nuevo Laredo, México.

Foto de cortesía

DETONACIÓNEstallido deja siete heridos en Nuevo Laredo, México

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MÉXICO — Los cuatrocandidatos a la Presiden-cia de México firmaron eljueves un acuerdo pararespetar el resultado delas elecciones del domin-go.

Convocados por el In-stituto Federal Electoral(IFE), los aspirantes En-rique Peña Nieto, del Par-tido Revolucionario Insti-tucional, Josefina Váz-quez Mota, del Partido deAcción Nacional, Andrés

Manuel López Obrador,del Partido de la Revolu-ción Democrática, y Ga-briel Quadri de la Torre,de Nueva Alianza, tam-bién se comprometierona rechazar la compra ycoacción del voto y cual-quier acto de violenciaque impida a los votantesllegar a las urnas estedomingo.

En una breve ceremo-nia realizada en las ofici-nas del IFE, el consejeropresidente del IFE, Leo-nardo Valdés Zurita, dio

lectura al documento quedespués fue firmado porlos candidatos.

“El domingo primerode julio, los ciudadanosmexicanos votaremos conabsoluta libertad, se hanestablecido las condi-ciones para garantizarun clima de confianza yde paz”, dijo Valdés Zur-ita después de leer el pac-to.

Mucha de la atenciónen los días previos a laelección se ha centradoen el candidato de iz-

quierda, López Obrador,quien hace seis años cer-ró las calles del centro dela capital del país en pro-testa tras haber perdidopor un estrecho margenla elección presidencial,lo cual aseguró fue prod-ucto de un fraude elector-al.

López Obrador firmóel documento, saludó demano a sus contendientesy, como el resto de loscandidatos, dejó el lugarsin hacer comentario al-guno a la prensa.

MÉXICO

Candidatos presidenciales pactan respetar resultado ASSOCIATED PRESS

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

WASHINGTON — TheJustice Department de-clared Friday that AttorneyGeneral Eric Holder’s deci-sion to withhold informa-tion about a bungled gun-tracking operation fromCongress does not constitu-te a crime and he won’t beprosecuted for contempt ofCongress.

The House voted Thurs-day afternoon to find Hold-er in criminal and civilcontempt for refusing toturn over the documents.President Barack Obamainvoked his executive privi-lege authority and orderedHolder not to turn over ma-terials about executivebranch deliberations andinternal recommendations.

In a letter to HouseSpeaker John Boehner, thedepartment said that it willnot bring the congressionalcontempt citation againstHolder to a federal grandjury and that it will take noother action to prosecutethe attorney general. DatedThursday, the letter was re-leased Friday.

Deputy Attorney Gener-al James Cole said the deci-sion is in line with long-standing Justice Depart-ment practice across ad-ministrations of bothpolitical parties.

“We will not prosecutean executive branch officialunder the contempt of Con-gress statute for withhold-ing subpoenaed documentspursuant to a presidentialassertion of executive privi-lege,” Cole wrote.

In its letter, the depart-ment relied in large parton a Justice Department le-gal opinion crafted duringRepublican Ronald Rea-gan’s presidency.

Frederick Hill, thespokesman for Rep. DarrellIssa, said it is regrettablethat “the political leader-ship of the Justice Depart-ment” is taking that posi-tion. Issa, the House Over-sight and GovernmentReform Committee chair-man, is leading the effort toget the material related toOperation Fast and Fu-rious.

Although the House vot-ed Thursday to find Holderin criminal and civil con-tempt, Republicans proba-bly are still a long wayfrom obtaining documentsthey want for their inquiryinto Operation Fast andFurious, a flawed gun-tracking investigation fo-cused on Phoenix-area gunshops by Justice’s Bureauof Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-arms and Explosives.

The criminal path isnow closed and the civilroute through the courtswould not be resolved any-time soon.

“This is pure politics,”White House spokesmanJay Carney said.

“Remarkably the chair-man of the committee in-volved here has assertedthat he has no evidencethat the attorney generalknew of Operation Fastand Furious or did any-thing but take the right ac-tion when he learned of it.

“No evidence, so if youhave no evidence as he hasstated now about the WhiteHouse and the attorneygeneral, what else couldthis be but politics?”

More than 100 Demo-crats walked out of theHouse chamber to boycottthe first of two contemptvotes, saying Republicanswere more interested inshameful election-year poli-tics than documents.

Republicans demandedthe documents for an ongo-ing investigation, but theirarguments focused more onthe need for closure for thefamily of slain Border Pa-trol agent Brian Terry. Twoguns identified by the Fastand Furious operation

were found near his bodyafter a shootout in Arizona.

Democrats promised clo-sure as well, but said a less-partisan Republican inves-tigation was the only wayto get it.

Adding to the emotion,the family of the slainagent issued a statementbacking the Republicans.

“The Terry family takesno pleasure in the con-tempt vote against Attor-ney General Eric Holder.Such a vote should nothave been necessary. TheJustice Department shouldhave released the docu-ments related to Fast andFurious months ago,” thestatement said.

The contempt votes hap-pened on the day that Oba-ma’s health care law sur-vived in the SupremeCourt, prompting someDemocrats to speculate thatthe votes were scheduled tobe overwhelmed by newsstories about the ruling.

About five hours afterthe court ruled, with newssites flooded with informa-tion about the health care

ruling, the House voted 255-67 to declare Holder incriminal contempt.

A second vote of 258-95held Holder in civil con-tempt and authorized theHouse to file a lawsuit.

In past cases, courtshave been reluctant to set-tle disputes between the ex-ecutive and legislativebranches of government.

Issa’s committee willconsult with the Housecounsel’s office about acourt challenge to the ad-ministration’s decision notto cooperate, spokesmanFrederick Hill said.

The documents werewritten after Fast and Fu-rious was shut down. Thesubpoena covered a 10-month period from Febru-ary 2011, as the Justice De-partment expressed grow-ing concern that the Fastand Furious operation hademployed a risky investiga-tive tactic known as “gun-walking.” In early Decem-ber 2011, the department fi-nally acknowledged thatthe initial denial of gun-walking was in error.

No prosecution for HolderBy LARRY MARGASAK AND PETE YOST

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Left, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.,Rep, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, and other Democratswalk out of the Capitol during the vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt Thursday.

Photo by J. Scott Applewhite | AP

HOUSTON — Gov. RickPerry has spent much ofthe past three years loud-ly and defiantly fightingagainst what he views asWashington meddling instate affairs, often refus-ing to cooperate with theU.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency and be-coming a leader in thebattle against PresidentBarack Obama’s healthcare plan.

Other Republican gov-ernors pursuing a similartactic may want to takenote of what’s happenedin Texas amid Perry’shard-fought battle: An ob-stinate refusal to cooper-ate has resulted in more,not less, federal oversight.

“We’re very conserva-tive and we’re very stub-born,” said Bill Miller, alobbyist in Austin for Hill-Co who has representedboth Republicans andDemocrats. He describedthe Texas mindset thisway: “We’re not going tobe smart. We’re going tobe pure. It’s a point ofpride and if there’s some-thing else we’re proud of,it’s our pride.”

One area where Texashas fought ferociouslywith the feds has been onenvironmental regula-tions. Yet as the state chal-lenged EPA rules in courtover the past three years,the federal agency side-stepped the state to workdirectly with industry.

A similar scenario isplaying out with Obama’shealth care overhaul inTexas, where nearly aquarter of the population,or 6.2 million people, areuninsured. Now that theU.S. Supreme Court hasgiven the law the greenlight, it’s highly likelythat Texas won’t havetime to build a key pro-gram, forcing the federalgovernment to design andmanage it.

“When Texas main-tains programs ... they’reable to allow Texas valuesto predominate,” said CalJillson, a political scien-tist with Southern Metho-dist University in Dallas.

And when the federalgovernment steps in, it ac-tually strengthens the an-ti-Washington sentimentin Texas.

“Typically, federal in-volvement in Texas drivesthe argument that it’s nodamn good for Texas,”Miller said.

Richard Hyde, deputyexecutive director of theTexas Commission on En-vironmental Quality, hasbeen dealing with such is-sues for several years.First, the EPA overturneda long-standing air-per-mitting program, forcingmore than 120 plants toget new operating papers.As Texas pursued courtchallenges, the EPA of-fered the companies op-tions for getting new per-mits so the nation’s large-st refineries couldoperate.

Then, when Texas re-fused to participate in anew requirement thatcompanies that emitgreenhouse gases get spe-cial permits, saying itdoes not have the author-ity to issue such paper-work, the EPA began di-rectly administering theprogram, Hyde said.

“With greenhouse gaspermitting and flexiblepermits, certainly theyfelt like we should fit in abox just like all the other50 states. And if you wantto ... think out of the boxand it doesn’t fit in themold, it doesn’t work forthem,” Hyde said. “Wewant to show the Texasway works for Texas.”

Gov. Rick Perry talks about the Texas Budget Compact during anevent April 16 to announce key budget principles for future bud-gets, in Houston. Perry has spent much of the past three yearsfighting against what he views as meddling in state affairs.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

Battle againstfeds meanssupervision

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTIASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Adelia Chapa, 57,passed away Tuesday,June 26, 2012, at Doctor’sHospital in Laredo, Texas.

Ms. Chapa is precededin death by father, DanielChapa-Garza.

Ms. Chapa is survivedby her mother, LeonilaChapa-Chapa; brothers:Jose (Paula) Chapa, Este-ban (Laura) Chapa, Da-niel Jr. (Lydia) Chapa andFrancisco Javier (Sandra)Chapa; sisters: Enedelia(Primitivo) Garza, Amalia(Sergio) Chapa, Sylvia (Je-sus) Gutierrez and Laura(Salvador) Benavides; andby numerous nephews,nieces and many friends.

Visitation hours will beWednesday, June 27, 2012,from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. atRose Garden FuneralHome. Committal servic-es will follow at PanteonDel Pueblo in Rancho

Nuevo, NL. Funeral ar-rangements are under thedirection of Rose GardenFuneral Home, Daniel A.Gonzalez, funeral director,2102 N. U.S. 83 Zapata, TX.

Adelia Chapa

Antonia Morales, 87,passed away Monday,June 25, 2012, at LaredoMedical Center in Laredo,Texas.

Mrs. Morales is preced-ed in death by her sonsFrancisco Caballero andFernando Morales.

Mrs. Morales is sur-vived by her husband, Fe-lipe Morales; children Ol-ga M. (Humberto) Perez,Gloria M. (Corando)Thatcher, Adelaida M. Pi-ña, Yolanda M. (Arman-do) De Los Santos, IsmaelMorales, Felipe Jr. (Rosi-ta) Morales, Braulio (Syl-via) Morales, Efrain (Let-icia) Morales, Amada(Sherman) Thompson,Antonia M. (Amador Hu-go) Guzman and MariaIsabel (Javier) Lerma; 43grandchildren; 59 great-grandchildren; sevengreat-great-grandchil-dren; daughter-in-law,Amanda Caballero; and asister, Angelica Cuellar;and by numerous neph-ews, nieces and manyfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld Tuesday, June 26,2012, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.with a rosary at 7 p.m. at

Rose Garden FuneralHome.

The funeral processiondeparted Wednesday,June 27, 2012, at 9:30 a.m.for a 10 a.m. funeral Massat Our Lady of LourdesCatholic Church. Com-mittal services followedat Zapata County Cemete-ry. Funeral arrangementswere under the directionof Rose Garden FuneralHome, Daniel A. Gonza-lez, funeral director, 2102N. U.S. 83 Zapata, TX.

Antonia MoralesArmando Martinez, 73,

passed away Saturday,June 23, 2012, at Doctor’sHospital in Laredo, Texas.

Mr. Martinez is preced-ed in death by his parents:Clemente and RosendaMartinez; and brothersAurelio Martinez, RefugioMartinez, Clemente Marti-nez and Baltazar Marti-nez.

Mr. Martinez is survivedby his wife, Oralia S. Mar-tinez; sons: Jose A. (MariaC.) Martinez, Homero(Christina) Martinez andArnoldo Martinez (CindyRosel Leal); daughters: SanJuana (Zachary) Garza, Ir-ma (Jose Maria) Martinez,Maria Oralia (Juan C.)Martinez and Claudia (Ja-vier) Paredes; numerousgrandchildren and great-grandchildren; brothersRomeo Martinez, AntiocoMartinez and Rogelio Mar-tinez; sisters: Cenovia Gar-za, Lucia M. Mejia and Eli-da Gonzalez; and by nu-merous nephews, niecesand many friends.

Visitation hours wereheld Monday, June 25, 2012,from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. witha rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose

Garden Funeral Home.The funeral procession de-parted Tuesday, June 26,2012, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10a.m. funeral Mass at OurLady of Lourdes CatholicChurch. Committal servic-es followed at ZapataCounty Cemetery. Funeralarrangements were underthe direction of Rose Gar-den Funeral Home, DanielA. Gonzalez, funeral direc-tor, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata,TX.

Armando Martinez

LAREDO — Carlos Z.“Chale” Cavazos Jr., 44,passed away Wednesday,June 27, 2012, in CorpusChristi, Texas.

Mr. Cavazos is precededin death by his father, Car-los Z. Cavazos; maternalgrandparents: Ruben andTrinidad Salazar; paternalgrandparents: Antonio andBertha Cavazos; and an un-cle, Hector V. Cavazos.

Mr. Cavazos is survivedby his daughters: GenevaE. (Javier) Villarreal, TaraC. Cavazos and Carly Cava-zos; mother, Norma (Igna-cio) Arce; brother, Luis H.(Nora L.) Cavazos; neph-ews: Luis D. “Danny,” Este-ban and Marco Cavazos;maternal aunts and uncles:Ruben E. (Irma) Salazar,Noelia (Roberto) Villarreal,Nilda (John) Albright, He-berto J. (Blanca) Salazarand Maria Del Carmen(Francisco) Davila; friend,Michael (Connie) Mungiaand family; paternal aunt,Juanita I. Cavazos; and Ca-vazos aunts and uncles;and by numerous cousinsand many friends.

Honorary pallbearerswill be: Luis Daniel Cava-zos, Mitchell Mungia, Mar-co L. Cavazos, ArmandoYruegas, Edgar Vasquez,Jorge Vasquez, RicardoVerduzco, Francisco S. Da-vila, Robert Villarreal, Jr.,Roy Villarreal, Robert J. Al-bright and Joey Aguilar.

Pallbearers will be: Ru-ben E. Salazar, Heberto J.

Salazar Sr., Luis E. Cava-zos, Heberto J. Salazar Jr.,Juan H. Salazar, MichealMungia, Felipe Alemanand Luis H. Cavazos.

Visitation hours will beSunday, July 1, 2012, from 6p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosaryat 7 p.m. at Rose GardenFuneral Home. The funeralprocession will departMonday, July 2, 2012, at 9:30a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeralMass at Our Lady of Ref-uge Mission in San Ygan-cio, Texas. Committal ser-vices will follow at PanteonDel Pueblo Cemetery inSan Ygnacio, Texas. Funer-al arrangements are underthe direction of Rose Gar-den Funeral Home, DanielA. Gonzalez, funeral direc-tor, 2102 N. U.S. 83 Zapata,TX.

Carlos Z. ‘Chale’ Cavazos Jr.

mell said. “We give lot of faith andtrust to the people involved thatthey’re going to spend these mo-nies as they are supposed to, andit’s upsetting when they don’t.”

County assistanceThe fair association, like the

county chamber of commerce andconvention and visitor’s bureau,receives county funds but is a sep-arate entity.

The association’s governingbody is its board of directors andwould therefore be charged withresolving such situations.

The board discovered the unau-thorized transactions in earlyJune, Mendoza said.

In the June 18 meeting, theboard gave Paredes until June 26to pay back the funds. She return-ed the money on June 25, he said.

Mendoza said he turned overevidence in the case to the ZapataCounty Sheriff ’s Office. But sincerestitution has been met, the boarddecided not to pursue legal actionagainst Paredes, and the case isclosed, he said.

The decision to seek restitutionwas made unanimously by the as-sociation’s 16-member board, Men-doza said.

“The board of directors decidedit would be in the best interest ofthe fair association to try and getthe money back as soon as possiblein a lump sum,” he said. “And ifthat would be achieved, then wereally didn’t have to pursue legalaction against the individual be-cause, really and truly, we aren’tgoing to gain anything from goingthrough the legal system and get-ting a maximum penalty of proba-tion.”

Paredes could not be reached forcomment Friday.

(JJ Velasquez may be reached at728-2579 or jjvelasquez@lmton-line.com)

FAIR Continued from Page 1A

weapons used in the at-tacks originated in Texasand were passed to cartelgunmen in Mexico byknown gun runners inthe U.S.

“I do believe that gunsthat were walked throughthe Dallas area especiallywere responsible,” saidMary Zapata.

Tom Crowley, a spokes-man for the Dallas fielddivision of the U.S. Bu-reau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives,said the agency “has al-ways said that this inves-tigation has no connec-tion whatsoever to Fastand Furious.”

Crowley denied theagency knew about theDallas-area gun purchasebeforehand.

“We had no knowledgeof the Oct. 10, 2010, pur-chase of that weapon pri-or to the transaction; wehad no idea the transac-tion was going down,”said Crowley.

Zapata and Avila wereon their way back to Mex-ico City on Feb. 15, 2011,after meeting a colleaguein San Luis Potosi to pickup equipment. They weredriving an armored blackChevrolet Suburban whentwo SUVs carrying gun-men ran them off theroad. Once they placedthe Suburban in park, thedoor locks automaticallyopened. In the struggle toclose the door, a windowwas opened and shotswere fired into the vehi-

cle, killing Zapata andwounding Avila.

People involved in theillegal purchase of theguns used in the attackhave been convicted inU.S. courts. One personallegedly involved in theattack, Julian Zapata Es-pinoza, has been extradit-ed to the U.S. and awaitstrial in Washington, D.C.,on murder charges.

Attorneys for both fam-ilies say the U.S. govern-ment has told them littlesince the days immediate-ly following the attack.Trey Martinez, one of thelawyers, said some of theoutstanding questions in-clude why the agentswere on the road aftersharing their safety con-cerns with superiors;whether superiors wereaware of a flaw in the ar-mored vehicle that auto-matically unlocked thedoors; and why an alter-native diplomatic servicewasn’t used to transferthe equipment.

Magdalena Villalobossaid her brother’s physi-cal wounds have healed,but he is still recoveringemotionally from the at-tack during which 90shots were fired into thevehicle. She said herbrother is receiving treat-ment to move past it.

“Being there whenJaime expired has beenan incredibly difficultthing for him to try towrap his mind around,”she said.

AGENTS Continued from Page 1A

LAREDO — Officers at a Laredo border crossingseized about $1.3 million worth of cocaine hidden ina car.

Officials say the 42-year-old driver from Houstonwas turned over to Homeland Security investiga-tors. Further details on the individual weren’t im-mediately released.

Agents seize 43pounds of coke

ASSOCIATED PRESS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

ty.Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-

Laredo) will be in MexicoCity for the election, ac-cording to a press releaseissued from his office. Hewill meet with Mexican of-ficials, including candidateEnrique Peña Nieto, whomCuellar has previouslyhosted in Washington D.C.

He is a member of theHouse Homeland Securi-ty’s Subcommittee on Bor-der and Maritime Security.

A glance at the upcom-ing national election:

79,454,802 Mexicansare eligible to vote at morethan 143,151 polling placesfor president, 500 membersof the lower house of Con-gress and 128 senators. Vot-ers will also select MexicoCity’s mayor and gover-nors in the states of Chia-pas, Guanajuato, Jalisco,Morelos, Tabasco and Yu-catan. The president iselected for a single six-yearterm and cannot stand forre-election.

Polling stations openat 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.Zapata time. The first exitpolls are expected by 8 p.m.Zapata time. The country’sFederal Electoral Institutewill release results from aquick count of selectedpolling places at 11:45 p.m.

A glance at the candi-dates:

Enrique Peña Nieto,45. The telegenic formergovernor married to a

soap-opera star has ledpolls throughout the raceand the final pre-electionpolls showed him with alead of 8 to 17 percentagepoints. Opponents say hehas received behind-the-scenes support from dis-liked former leaders of hisparty, and from Mexico’stwo market-dominating tel-evision networks, allega-tions he denies. He hassuggested allowing privateinvestment in Mexico’sstate-run petroleum com-pany and deemphasizingarrests of drug-cartel boss-es in favor of reducing vio-lent crimes that most affectordinary citizens.

Andres Manuel LopezObrador, 58. The candidateof the Democratic Revolu-tion Party is a former Mex-ico City mayor and leaderof the country’s main left-ist movement. He led mas-sive street protests in 2006and declared himself to bethe legitimate president ofthe country after narrowlylosing to current PresidentFelipe Calderón. The pro-tests cost him supportamong many Mexicans,and he softened his rheto-ric in the three-monthcampaign that endedWednesday, saying hewanted to build a “Repub-lic of Love” marked bypeace and reconciliation.He hardened his attacks onthe PRI in recent weeks,however, and has been run-

ning second, well behindPeña Nieto. Lopez Obradorsays he wants to keep Pe-mex state property, makeMexico self-sufficient inenergy and food produc-tion, and fund new socialspending and jobs pro-grams by cutting wasteand corruption, not raisingtaxes.

Josefina Vazquez Mo-ta, 51. The candidate of theNational Action Party is aformer secretary of educa-tion and social develop-ment in the conservativeadministrations of Presi-dent Vicente Fox and hissuccessor, Calderón. Shehas struggled to distin-guish herself from Calde-rón while maintaining thesupport of the party’s pow-er structure. The first daysof her campaign weremarred by organizationalmishaps and speakinggaffes, and she has slid in-to third place in most polls.She has pledged to contin-ue Calderón’s war on drugcartels, increase penaltiesfor public corruption andease rules on hiring andfiring employees in orderto spur economic growth.

Gabriel Quadri de laTorre, 57. The candidate ofthe New Alliance Party,which has links to the pow-erful teacher’s union. Hissupport remains in the sin-gle digits, although it sawsome growth after strongdebate performances.

ELECTION Continued from Page 1A

Zapata County SheriffSigifredo Gonzalez Jr. saiddeputies increased theirpatrols. Anytime armedconfrontations occur onthe Mexican said, survi-vors tend to swim acrossthe border, he said.

“We understand peoplemay flee into United States,maybe injured. We want tomake sure the citizens areprotected,” Gonzalez said.“It’s unfortunate for thepeople of Mexico the vio-lence is contained (there)right now. If it was here, itwould be a different story.”

Meanwhile, Trooper Eli-seo Ceja, Department ofPublic Safety spokesman,said DPS activated a 24-hour surveillance at 6 p.m.Friday. Additional unitsare out patrolling alongU.S. 83 throughout Webband Zapata counties. Cejasaid the purpose is tomaintain police presenceand curtail any violentspurt from coming acrossthe Rio Grande.

On Monday, DPS officialswill meet and re-evaluate

the situation to decide ifthe troopers are still need-ed along the highway, Cejasaid.

According to the Associ-ated Press, Secretary ofState Morelos Canseco dis-cussed the bombing withMilenio Television.

“The words ‘car bomb’conjure up an image of theMiddle East,” he told Mile-nio.

He added that the inci-

dent was conducted by anorganized crime group, butdid not identify it.

Tamaulipas Gov. EgidioTorre Cantu condemnedthe attack. He said thestate government would doeverything it could to helpthe victims, and would in-crease security with elec-tions for the country’s newpresident, congressmenand senators scheduledSunday.

BOMBING Continued from Page 1A

Mexican Army soldiers look at vehicles damaged in Friday’s carbombing of Nuevo Laredo’s city hall.

Courtesy photo

EL PASO — Prosecutorssay a West Texas bordergang leader has been sen-tenced to life in federalprison for helping distrib-ute drugs to other inmates.

The Justice Departmenton Friday announced thesentence for 38-year-oldHector Galindo of El Paso.Galindo in 1992 beganserving a 25-year state pris-

on sentence for murder.

ConspiracyGalindo in January

pleaded guilty to partici-pating in a drug-relatedracketeering conspiracy. Afederal judge in El Pasosentenced the Barrio Azte-ca gang member.

Two associates of Galin-do who pleaded guilty to

conspiracy to commit rack-eteering were also sen-tenced.

Others sentencedOfficials say Ricardo

Gonzales, 44, of Anthony,N.M., was sentenced to 30years in prison. AnotherEl Paso resident, AdamGarcia, 35, received 20years.

Prison drugs net lifeASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The 2012 Olympic Games inLondon are just around thecorner, and the UnitedStates is in the midst of

holding its Olympic trials. Or that is what I thought and

most people assumed — that if youget one of the top three spots at thetrials, it is an automatic bid to theGames. We are so wrong.

This past week I was fortunate tofly out to Eugene, Ore., to cover thetrials, since for the first time, wehad someone representing the Gate-way City.

Sam Humphreys, who attendedAlexander High School and nowthrows the javelin for Texas A&MUniversity, had hit the trials markearly in the year and was invited tothe meet.

Humphreys was No. 6 headinginto the trials and was not consid-ered a threat.

It was exciting to be in the mid-dle of the action and be around for-mer and future Olympians roamingthe track.

Eugene prides itself on its trackatmosphere and even calls itself“Track Town USA,” featuring Hay-ward Field, the place the late long-distance runner Steve Prefontainebuilt.

More than 21,000 people filled thestadium every day, and it is themost electrifying track atmosphereI had ever been in.

People like Justin Gatlin, GalenRupp and Ashton Eaton, all Olym-pic hopefuls, were getting ready fortheir events and won them, mean-ing they will represent the USA atthe Olympics.

I was absorbing everythingaround me — the sounds, the sightsand the track town festival beingheld adjacent to the stadium.

I had one main assignment: tocover Humphreys’ bid to earn aspot on the U.S. Olympic team,since he was the first athlete fromLaredo to even compete at thetrials.

See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B

Humphreysinches away

fromLondon

“CLARA SANDOVALVAL

After four years of trying to get overthe Laredo hump, the Zapata softball all-star juniors (13 to 14 years old) were fi-nally able to beat Laredo Gateway, 8-5,on Tuesday night to claim the District 34title.

Zapata’s Selissa Lopez went the dis-tance on the mound and picked up thewin.

The Zapata all-stars will play in sec-tionals in Corpus Christi, with the site,time and date to be determined.

Gateway struck first with a run in the

first inning, prompting Zapata coach Ja-vier Ramirez to make a pitching changeand bring Lopez to the mound.

After getting the jitters out, Zapatasettled down in the second inning as Da-niella Martinez hit a single. CassandraGarcia’s base knock later in the inningbrought Martinez home to knot up thegame.

In the third inning, it was all Zapata,

as a great defensive effort by the all-stars ignited an offensive outburst at theplate.

Isela Gonzalez got things started forthe Zapata all-stars by laying down aperfect bunt single. After another Zapatasingle, a Gateway throwing error al-lowed both runners to score to give Za-

SOFTBALL JUNIORS

District champs

ABOVE: Zapata Juniors All-Star pitcher Selissa Lopez delivers a pitch Tuesday against the Laredo Gateway All-Stars at Gateway Field. BELOW: Zapata playersapplaud after beating Gateway.

Photos by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

Zapata beatsLaredo Gateway

to advanceBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See SOFTBALL PAGE 2B

Calling all future basketballplayers who want a jump onthe competition and wouldlike to learn the fundamentalsof basketball without travelingout of town — Zapata is offer-ing a basketball camp.

All basketball players andaspiring basketball players areinvited to attend the annualZapata High School Boys andGirls basketball camp.

The camp runs from 8 a.m.to 12: 30 p.m. July 9 to 12 at Za-pata High School.

The camp is for boys andgirls ages 6 to 14.

The camp fee is $50, andchecks are to be made payableto Zapata High School.

Registration starts at 7:30a.m. July 9 and will last allmorning, and each camperwill receive a basketball uponregistration. For more infor-mation, call 956-750-0785.

Campers should bring thecorrect attire for basketballcamp, including, shorts, T-

shirt and court shoes.The camp will be conducted

by the Zapata High Schoolboys’ and girls’ coachingstaffs, and the campers willreceive one-on-one instruc-tion.

“We want for young camp-ers to get a taste of the basicbasketball skills,” Zapata boyscoach Juan Villarreal said.“All campers will go through

BASKETBALL CAMP

See BBALL PAGE 2B

Zapata to holdbasketball campfor boys and girls

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

Zapata boys’ basketball coach JuanVillarreal will be among the coachesteaching at the camp.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

South Carolina athletic direc-tor Eric Hyman has left after sev-en years to guide Texas A&M’stransition into the SoutheasternConference as the Aggies’ newAD.

The 61-year-old Hyman saidFriday he looked forward to lead-ing his new school in its transi-tion from the Big 12 Conferenceinto the SEC. Hyman will takeover for Texas A&M’s Bill Byrne,who retired in May.

Texas A&M is officially joiningthe SEC on Sunday.

“I am very excited for the op-portunity to help transition TexasA&M into the Southeastern Con-ference,” he said. “While this is atremendous opportunity, thedownside is leaving all the dedi-cated and loyal fans in GamecockNation and the best athletic de-partment in the country.”

Hyman played a big role in theGamecocks’ unprecedented athlet-ic success during his tenure. Thebaseball team under coach RayTanner won two national titlesand played for a third before fall-ing to Arizona at the CollegeWorld Series earlier this month.

Steve Spurrier’s football team

reached its first SEC champion-ship game in 2010, then won aprogram-record 11 games last fall.

Dawn Staley’s women’s basket-ball team made the NCAA’s roundof 16 in its first tournament ap-pearance in nine years.

In one Hyman’s final personnelmoves, he lured successful Kan-sas State coach Frank Martin lastMarch to revitalize a last-placebasketball team.

Even when Hyman’s athletic

program made mistakes, he ledthe department back on top. TheNCAA uncovered three major vi-olations including failure to mon-itor the department because of vi-olations in the football and trackprograms. However, the NCAA inhanding down its final decisioncomplemented Gamecock admin-istrators for the thorough andabove-board approach they tookduring the inquiry.

“They wanted to ask all thehard questions of all the rightpeople,” NCAA committee on in-fractions chairman Britton Ba-nowsky said. “Even went beyondwhat the NCAA staff was doing.We see that less likely than wesee the other approach.”

University of South CarolinaPresident Harris Pastidesthanked Hyman for his effortsand wished him well after the re-signation became official.

“We will miss him on ourteam, but his legacy has made usstronger,” Pastides said.

Hyman has overseen a revamp-ing of Gamecock athletic facili-ties. He finished a $35.6 millionCarolina Stadium baseball fieldthat has helped that team’s na-tional rise. Williams-Brice Stadi-um, where the football team

TEXAS A&M ATHLETICS

Hyman to replace Byrne asTexas A&M athletic director

Eric Hyman has accepted an offer tobecome Texas A&M’s new athletic di-rector, said a person familiar with themove.

Photo by Perry Baker | AP

By PETE IACOBELLIASSOCIATED PRESS

See COLLEGE PAGE 2B

plays, has had massive upgrades, and a $6.5million video board is currently being in-stalled in time for this fall. A $30 milliontailgate area in what was formerly the stateFarmer’s Market across the street will alsobe finished by football season.

One of the first new buildings was a $13million Academic Enrichment Center,known as “The Dodie,” which has done itsjob. South Carolina athletes posted theirhighest fall GPA (3.202) ever in 2011 and all19 of the programs countable sports achiev-ing multi-year scores or 950 or better in theNCAA’s latest Academic Progress Reports(APR).

Hyman, though, won’t get to enjoy thesoon to be completed, $11.7 million coach’ssupport building. The athletic departmentis poised to move out of its crumbling, old

facility, nicknamed “The Roundhouse,” inJuly.

Hyman and wife Pauline have a daughterand son, both married and living in FortWorth, Texas. Son Ryan and his wife areexpecting Hyman’s first grandchild laterthis year.

Pastides appointed a panel of five, includ-ing Staley, to make recommendations onthe search process and help appoint an in-terim AD until Hyman’s successor is hired.

Former Texas A&M AD Byrne retired ayear before his contract would have ex-pired. John Thornton has served as interimathletic director since Byrne’s retirement.

The 66-year-old Byrne was hired at TexasA&M in December 2002 and the Aggies alsosaw unprecedented success and improve-ments in facilities during his tenure.

The school won 45 Big 12 championshipsin 13 different sports under his watch. Al-though he was the athletic director whenTexas A&M decided to move to the SEC, hehas said he was not involved in the final de-cision.

Byrne was a vocal critic of the LonghornTV network that Texas and ESPN created,which was one of the factors that pushedA&M to seek a new conference home.

One of his biggest hires came in 2003 inwomen’s basketball coach Gary Blair. Blairbuilt the Aggies into a contender and ledthem to a national title in 2011.

The improvement in Texas A&M’s bas-ketball programs was also helped by theconstruction of a $26 million basketballpractice facility that opened in 2008. The68,000 square foot facility, which is used by

the men and women, has two practicecourts, a weight room and a player lounge.

Byrne was also proud of a $26 millionrenovation to the baseball stadium that wascompleted earlier this year.

Texas A&M developed into a powerhousein indoor track in Byrne’s time at theschool and both the men’s and women’steams picked up three straight nationalchampionships from 2009-11, and the Ag-gies also saw success in several othersports.

The football team wasn’t able to keeppace with the other teams and was 58-54 inByrne’s time at the school. A 27-25 loss toarchrival Texas on Thanksgiving capped adisappointing 6-6 regular season that cameafter the team entered the season with atop-10 ranking.

COLLEGE Continued from Page 1B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

pata a 3-1 edge. The fourth inning brought no

runs for either team, but Zapatagot back on track in the fifth in-ning with consecutive hits by theall-stars.

Norma Ramirez and Lopez eachreached with a hit to set up a RBIsingle for a 5-1 lead late in thegame.

Zapata would add three moreruns and hold off Gateway to winthe district title.

HistoryThis victory was four years in

the making as the Zapata all-starsgot through the first few rounds ofdistrict play in previous years be-fore usually running into powerfulLaredo American.

This group of all-stars started as

Minors (9-10) composed of Zapata’sbest players, led by coach JavierRamirez.

Their first venture into all-starland was not very welcoming, asthey were pounded by the Laredoteams, especially the Laredo Amer-ican team, which beat them by 20runs, run-ruling them.

At that point in their softball ca-reers, the Zapata all-stars lackedall-star experience, but they wouldbe prepared for the following year,as they understood what theyneeded to do to improve.

The second year, the Zapata all-stars came back with a vengeanceand made their way to the cham-pionship game, losing to a power-ful American team that still hadtheir number on the diamond.

The finish was a vast improve-ment from the years when theygave up 20 runs, and Zapata wasready to build on that success.

Last year, Zapata came into dis-trict play better prepared to takeon the powerful Laredo teams asparents, coaches and the team putmore effort into reaching theirgoals.

Zapata almost pulled off the up-set, as it had Laredo American onthe ropes with the latter’s threeconsecutive championships injeopardy.

The Zapata all-stars headed intothe final inning and were ahead byone run. All Zapata needed wasthree outs for the victory.

Zapata could not hold onto thelead, as Laredo American scoredthe winning run. Instead, Zapatagot second place for the secondconsecutive year.

With no Laredo American teamin the all-star tournament, it wasonly a matter of time before theall-stars broke through, beatingGateway for the championship.

SOFTBALL Continued from Page 1B

The Zapata Juniors All-Star team beat Laredo Gateway, 8-5, on Tuesday to win the District 34 championship. Zapata will next play insectionals in Corpus Christi

Photos by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

In the preliminary round for javelin tossers, hetossed a 78.12 to head into Monday’s finals in secondplace.

I was excited, pulling for Humphreys to earn thatspot.

In the finals, Humphreys would need to finish inthe top three and hit the ‘A’ Olympic standard of 82meters to represent the USA at the Olympic games inLondon.

On that cold and rainy Monday evening, Hum-phreys stepped on to the javelin track and into the La-redo record books, breaking his personal best fourtimes.

When he threw 81.86, chills went up my spine, and Iwas really pulling for him to get that 82-meter mark.

Humphreys won the javelin event at the trials andput Laredo on the map, as many journalists startedasking where Laredo is. I was more than happy topoint it out to them on the map.

He is the pride of Laredo for all his efforts on thatcold and wet Monday evening.

The crazy part is that he did not make the Olympicteam, since he did not hit the 82-meter mark despitewinning.

The third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers will rep-resent the USA in London because they had thrown 82meters at other meets.

That is the ironic part — Humphreys does not getto go to the Olympics, and the other guys do — butthat is the way the rule is written, and I guess we willhave to wait four more years to get another chance tosee an Olympian from Laredo.

Brazil 2016 had better be ready for Sam Humphreys!

SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1B

basic skills and progressevery day to drills thatwe do at the high schoollevel.”

Campers will be goingthrough drills that hitall major parts of bas-ketball.

Each camper will dodribbling drills to im-prove ball handling withboth hands while under-standing court vision.

They will also learn

correct shooting tech-niques and why it is im-portant to shoot correct-ly early in their basket-ball careers.

The camp will alsotouch on correct passingform and when to usedifferent types of passes.

Defense also will bestressed, and games willbe played at the end ofthe camp to put all ofthe aspects together.

BBALL Continued from Page 1B

COLLEGE STATION,Texas — Texas A&Mfreshman quarterbackJohnny Manziel was ar-rested and jailed early Fri-day after he was involvedin a fight and police saidhe produced a fake ID.

College Station policespokeswoman RhondaSeaton says Manziel, 19,was charged with disor-derly conduct, failure toidentity and possessing afalse identification card,all misdemeanors. He wasjailed overnight and re-leased Friday afternoon,Seaton said.

Manziel, a prep stand-out at Kerrville Tivy HighSchool, redshirted lastseason. He was expectedto compete for the start-ing job with sophomoreJameill Showers in thefall.

“I have been madeaware of the situationwith Johnny Manziel,” in-coming coach Kevin Sum-lin said. “We are gather-ing all the facts and willhandle the situation oncewe have all of the infor-

mation. We are disap-pointed with his actionsand this is out of charac-ter for Johnny.”

Police also arrested 20-year-old Steven Brant and47-year-old MarvinMcKinney after the inci-dent, which occurred justafter 2 a.m. in a street inthe Northgate entertain-ment district.

Seaton says an officeron bike patrol intervenedto break up a fight be-tween Manziel andMcKinney. McKinney toldthe officer that Brant,Manziel’s friend, calledhim a racial slur and heapproached Brant. Seatonsays Manziel then shovedMcKinney and the two ex-changed punches.

When officers askedManziel for an ID, he pro-duced a phony Louisianadriver’s license thatshowed his birthday asDec. 6, 1990. Policechecked Manziel’s walletand found two more IDcards — a fake Texas driv-er’s license and Manziel’sreal driver’s license thatlisted his date of birth asDec. 6, 1992.

A&Mquarterback

arrestedASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis and Austin Riversbegan their first full day as pros together on Hornetsowner Tom Benson’s private plane.

They flew from the New Jersey to New Orleans, wherethe two 19-year-olds will be expected to ignite the turn-around of an NBA franchise before they’re even oldenough to participate fully in the Big Easy’s renownednight life.

They aren’t giving themselves much time to party any-way.

Their plan is to remain in New Orleans and work outtogether at the Hornets’ training center until Davis, thetop pick in Thursday night’s draft, has to leave for TeamUSA tryouts on July 5. If there’s time, they might evenfind places to live.

Rivers will get ready for Las Vegas summer league lat-er in the month.

Davis, who has dealt with the pre-draft hype that goeswith being the consensus No. 1 pick, seemed relieved thatchapter of his life was over, and that he could start focus-ing on getting ready to compete against best basketballplayers in the world.

“I just wanted to get everything out of the way, step onthe court and not have to worry about anything else,” Da-vis said Friday after his formal introduction and photoop at the New Orleans Arena.

Davis, who stands nearly 6-foot-11 and, as Benson notedwith a smile, might still be growing, has been working onadding bulk with a trainer in California. The formerKentucky star affectionately nicknamed “the unibrow”said he now weighs 230 pounds, and lists his traininggoals as getting bigger, improving his conditioning andrefining the skills he’ll need to become a premier NBAbig man.

“Guys do this for a living and now I’ve got the opportu-nity to do it as well, so I’ve got to make sure I’m ready,”Davis said.

Rivers, the son of former NBA player and current Bos-ton Celtics coach Doc Rivers, also seemed eager to get towork.

“It’s almost like I’ve been teased my whole life, gettingto see it firsthand, but I’ve actually never gotten to do it,”Rivers, who starred at Duke, said of growing up aroundthe NBA. “A lot of people settle when they’re in the NBA.I’m even more motivated than I was in college now that

I’m here.” Shortly after the pair arrived in New Orleans, they

made their first community appearance at Hornets for-ward Jason Smith’s basketball camp. Davis’ parents, An-thony Sr. and Eranier made the trip, as did Rivers’ moth-er, Kris, and his sister, Callie.

Hornets coach Monty Williams and general managerDell Demps said that when New Orleans wound up withthe first and 10th overall picks in the draft lottery, theyknew they would take Davis first and wanted Rivers atNo. 10. They have stressed, however, that they do notwant to put too much pressure on the teenage rookies tovault the Hornets up the standings right away.

“I think coach does a great job taking pressure off ofguys,” said Davis, who joins a team that went 21-45 lastseason.

Oklahoma City, which has used youth to build a con-tender, needed several seasons to make the finals afterdrafting Kevin Durant and has yet to win a title.

“They’re still going through it. That’s where we haveto get. We have to keep building and keep getting better,”Rivers said. “The time will come. We’ve just got to keepworking at it.”

Davis said he hopes trying out and possibly playing forTeam USA at the London Games accelerates his devel-opment.

“Playing with the superstars in this league — it’ll be agreat opportunity for me,” Davis said. “They’ll show methe ropes, show me things I’ve never seen before. ... I justcan’t wait to learn from them.”

When Davis returns to New Orleans, he’ll have achance to continue playing with his former Kentuckyteammate, small forward Darius Miller, who was pickedby New Orleans in the second round, 46th overall.

“I was ecstatic. He’s a great player,” Davis said of Mill-er, whom he was close with at Kentucky. “It’s fun playingwith him and I think he can really help this organiza-tion.”

Rivers said he would be comfortable playing eitherpoint guard or shooting guard.

Williams likes the idea of restricted free agent EricGordon — whom the Hornets expect to re-sign — andRivers playing in the back court together at times, givingNew Orleans two players in the backcourt who can createtheir own shots from either the perimeter or on the drive.

Rivers is also eager to see how the presence of Davishelps him and fellow Hornets guards run the pick-and-roll offense.

Davis, Rivers to lead HornetsBy BRETT MARTELASSOCIATED PRESS

DENNISTHE MENACE

PARDON MY PLANET

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES | HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT:

JUDGE PARKER

REXMORGAN M.D.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

HINTS | BY HELOISE

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Readers: Here area few “favorite hints”learned from OLDERFAMILY MEMBERS. Readon, and you might learnsomething new:

Hi, Heloise: My grandfa-ther-in-law lived to be 105years of age. When he was90, I asked him what he at-tributed his longevity to.The answer was: “Neveroverindulge in any way.Don’t overeat, don’t over-sleep, don’t overdrink,don’t smoke more thanone cigar a day!” Every-thing in moderation. —Dorothy in Alexandria, Va.

Dear Heloise: Duringthe early days of my mar-riage, I stopped by myaunt’s house for a casualvisit. I left my house with-out bothering with myhair or makeup. Whileconversing with my aunt,my uncle softly said myname, adding, “A littlepowder and a little paintmakes a woman look likewhat she ain’t.” I got themessage, and have sincemade an effort to adhereto that little bit of advice!— R.S., via email

Dear Heloise: My grand-mother was born in 1892.She told me this when Iwas probably 15 years old.She said, “When you applycream or lotion to your

face, apply it to your neck,too.” I have always fol-lowed that advice. — Belvain San Antonio

These are just a few ofthe many that came in! Ifyou have a bit of wisdomthat has helped you, pleasesend it along, and I’ll printmore. Send to: Heloise, P.O.Box 79500, San Antonio,TX 78279-5000; email to:Heloise(at)Heloise.com; orfax to: 210-HELOISE. —Heloise

PET PALDear Readers: Terry in

Jacksonville, Fla., sent apicture of her gorgeousrescued white terrier mix,Beauty, peeking out frombehind the couch with agreat big smile on herface! To see Beauty andour other Pet Pals, visitwww.Heloise.com andclick on “Pets.” — Heloise

COVER MEDear Heloise: I use latex

swim caps to cover theheadrests in my car. Thismakes it very easy to wipeclean, and they fit perfect-ly. — Susie, via email

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012

HOUSTON — TheHouston Rockets say thethree players they ac-quired in the draft will be“a big part” of their fu-ture.

Whether that meansthey’ll be cornerstones ofthe roster or assets topackage in a trade re-mains to be seen.

The Rockets used allthree of their first-rounddraft picks without mak-ing a subsequent deal onThursday, selecting Con-necticut guard JeremyLamb (12th), Iowa Stateforward Royce White(16th) and Kentucky for-ward Terrence Jones(18th).

Speculation grew thisweek that Houston wascollecting picks aimed to-ward a blockbuster deal,possibly a push to lureDwight Howard awayfrom Orlando. After trad-ing Samuel Dalembert onWednesday, the Rocketsneed a big man even morenow, a need general man-ager Daryl Morey sayswill likely be filled in freeagency.

On Friday, Lamb, Whiteand Jones donned Rocketsbaseball caps and posedfor photos with Moreyand coach Kevin McHaleon a dais, a sign that allthree will be here for awhile. But Moray also ac-knowledged that the Rock-ets will continue to huntfor deals and be activewhen free agency beginson Sunday.

“We have interest intop-level talent, but we’vebeen very straightforwardabout what we need to doto get back to being achampionship team,” Mo-rey said. “We’ve got tolook at adding top-leveltalent, through free agen-cy or a trade, or we’ve gotto add guys like to myright, who have the abilityto be top-level players inthe league.

“There’s no way to liveup to whatever was chat-tered about, prior to this,”Morey said. “Obviously,whenever there is a toptalent in the league, thatwe can add and get uscloser to being a conten-der, we’re going to be in-volved and try and look atit.”

While they struck out

on making the much-anti-cipated major moveThursday night, the Rock-ets felt like they picked upa trio of players with starpotential.

The 6-foot-5 Lamb aver-aged 17.7 points, 4.9 re-bounds and 1.2 steals lastseason. The previous year,he helped the Huskieswin the national cham-pionship, scoring 12points in its 53-41 title-game win over Butler atnearby Reliant Stadium.Lamb also has valuableinternational experience,after representing the U.S.in the Under-19 FIBAWorld Championships lastsummer.

But Lamb says Connec-ticut’s disappointing 2011-12 season taught him themost valuable lessonshe’ll need in the pros. TheHuskies followed up theirchampionship season bygoing 20-14 and bowingout to White’s Iowa Statesquad in the first round ofthe NCAA tournament.

“I had a really interest-ing college career,” Lambsaid. “One year, won thenational championship.One year, didn’t do any-thing.”

Houston Rockets first-round draft picks Royce White, left, Terrence Jones, center, and Jeremy Lambpick up their jerseys at a news conference on Friday in Houston.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP

Welcome to HoustonBy CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS

WIMBLEDON, England— A day after Rafael Na-dal’s stunning exit at Wim-bledon, the only other menwho have won the tourna-ment since 2003 — six-timechampion Roger Federerand defending championNovak Djokovic — foundthemselves trailing far-less-accomplished opponents,too.

Here we go again?Not quite.Federer sure came close

to following Nadal out thedoor, though. The owner ofa record 16 major trophies,and a quarterfinalist or bet-ter at 32 consecutive GrandSlam tournaments, thethird-seeded Federerdropped the first two setsagainst 29th-seeded JulienBenneteau of France, thenwas two points away fromlosing six times, before com-ing all the way back Fridayto pull out a 4-6, 6-7 (3), 6-2,7-6 (6), 6-1 victory in thethird round.

“Oh, my God, it was bru-tal,” Federer said. “Thething, when you’re downtwo sets to love, is to staycalm, even though it’s hard,because people are freakingout, people are worried foryou. ... You don’t have, obvi-ously, many lives left outthere. You just try to playtough and focus point forpoint. Sounds so boring, butit’s the right thing to do outthere.”

He should know. This was the eighth time

in Federer’s illustrious ca-reer that he overcame atwo-set hole, includingagainst 2009 U.S. Openchampion Juan Martin delPotro in the French Openquarterfinals 3 1/2 weeksago.

“Mentally, he’s a rock.He’s two sets down and he

doesn’t show anything. Andafter that, if your level is alittle bit lower — right here,right now, he takes the op-portunity,” said Benneteau,whose cramping thighswere massaged by a trainerduring two final-set change-overs. “At the beginning ofthe third set, I was not asgood as I was in the firsttwo sets, and in 5 minutes,it’s 4-0.”

Actually, that took about10 minutes. Still, it hardlywas the last key moment.With Federer serving whiledown 6-5 in the fourth set,Benneteau hit a forehandwinner to get to 15-30, put-ting him two points fromthe upset. Federer hit a fore-hand winner that made it

30-all, still two points awayfor Benneteau. The gamehad two deuces, too — eachone placing Benneteau thatclose again. But Federerheld there, the crowd roar-ing with each point he won.

“I appreciate their sup-port for so many years outhere,” Federer said. “To-night was special.”

In the tiebreaker, Federerwas two points from beinggone at 5-all, then 6-all. Buton the latter, a nine-strokeexchange ended with Ben-neteau netting a backhand.That gave Federer his sec-ond set point — he alreadyhad wasted three others inthe second set — and a pow-erful forehand forced a Ben-neteau forehand error.

Federer comes backfrom two-set defecit

By HOWARD FENDRICHASSOCIATED PRESS

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot against Julien Benne-teau of France during the third round of Wimbledon at the All Eng-land Lawn Tennis Championships on Friday.

Photo by Anja Niedringhaus | AP