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pata County,” ZapataCounty Sheriff SigifredoGonzalez said.

Gonzalez and othercounty leaders saidthey’re confident Zapataand San Ygnacio are safefrom flooding due to highland elevations.

“We don’t anticipate anevacuation,” Zapata Coun-ty Commissioner Jose E.Vela said. “Zapata is oneof those areas. We’relucky.”

The areas near the lakeare government restrictedand land owners are notallowed to build, Velasaid, which helps avoidresidential flooding prob-lems.

IBWC releasesFalcon Lake is 60 miles

long and 12 miles wide.The International Bound-ary and Water Commis-sion has been releasingwater from Falcon Dam,connecting FalconHeights and Ciudad Guer-rero, as it pours down theRio Grande. The waterwas moving through thestructure at a rate of near-

State officials warnedZapata County residentswho have watercraft orother property near Fal-con Lake to take promptaction to move them tosafety because the wateris expected to rise asmuch as eight feet.

“Anyone with boats,docks or other equipmentnear the lake should takeimmediate step to move itabove the 301 level ... asfurther rises in the lakeare possible,” said stateRep. Ryan Guillen, D- RioGrande City, who also rep-resents Zapata County.Falcon Lake is expected toreach a depth of 301 feet;the maximum it can holdis 306.5 feet.

Not so badResidents inside the

towns of Zapata and SanYgnacio don’t need to beas worried, county offi-cials said Friday.

“We have been meetingwith IBWC and other localofficials and we’ve cometo the conclusion thatthere is no threat for Za-

RIO GRANDE RACINGTHROUGH FALCON

The International Boundary and Water Commission releases thousands of gallons of water Friday afternoon from Falcon Lake.

Photos by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

Zapata, San Ygnacioexpects little flooding

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

People standing at the top of the mighty Falcon Dam look tiny asthey watch water rushing through the gates Friday.

See FLOOD PAGE 9A

Laredoan Hector Bena-vides has long pursued adream of becoming a film-maker, and now he is us-ing his own backyard as abackdrop for his latestproject.

Zapata, along with Heb-bronville, Oilton and Lare-do, are used as locationsas part of his most recentZe Divaneb Productionsfilmmaking venture, “ElPeso de Oracion.”

Benavides always knewhe wanted to be a film-maker. He headed to Dal-las at a young age to pur-sue a career in the filmindustry. Leaving Laredo

with little money, he spenthis first night under abridge, he said.

He later became an en-trepreneur in severalbusinesses, but writing re-mained his passion.

He’s living and breath-ing that passion now ashe draws closer to com-pleting his masterpiece.

The film should bewrapped by December,and Benavides said heplans to donate all reve-nue to local nonprofit or-ganizations.

“El Peso de Oracion,” ashort film scheduled to bean hour long, tells the sto-ry of a cold-hearted,

ENTERTAINMENT

Hector Benavides, producer of Ze Divaneb Productions, shoots ascene for his upcoming film, "El Peso de Oracion."

Courtesy photo

Man chasesfilm dreamBy LORRAINE R. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See MOVIE PAGE 9A

A proposal made byChamber of CommercePresident Jose F. “Paco”Mendoza to become thenew museum curator andsimply take on the newduties at no extra cost tothe county does not sitwell with HildegardoFlores, Ph.D., chairman ofthe Zapata County Mu-seum of History.

At last month’s regularCommissioners Courtmeeting, the commission-ers put off hiring AmparoMontes-Gutierrez as mu-seum curator at a salary

of $30,000 per year plusfringe benefits due to anadvertisement disagree-ment. Flores had recom-mended that she be hired.

According to Commis-sioner Jose E. Vela, the adfor the museum curatorposition was only madeavailable online and peo-ple complained because itwas not advertised in thelocal newspaper.

“On account of that wedecided to rescind to hirea curator,” Vela said.

According to Flores,the museum structurealone cost more than a

COUNTY

Spat brewingover museumdirector offerBy LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See MUSEUM PAGE 9A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

SATURDAY, JULY 10Clay Walker performs tonight at

8 p.m. at the Laredo Energy Arena aspart of the Deer in the Headlights Mu-sic Fest. The multi-platinum sellingcountry music sensation will be accom-panied by Casey Donahew, JR Castillo,Rob Baird, Mick Cruz, Whiskey Myersand Brison Bursey Band.

Pawsitive Pet Pals, an organiza-tion aimed to raising money andawareness for homeless and abusedanimals in the community, will behosting The Pooch Parade at NorthCentral Park. Registration for the pa-rade begins at 8 a.m. and is $10 perentry. Forms may be picked up at La-redo Animal Shelter, Petland and KGNSPro-8 News. For more information, call(956) 724-8364 or (956) 724-5118.

SUNDAY, JULY 11Youth Archery Fun Shoot will be

held today at the El Tepozan Ranch,south of Zapata on Hwy 83 from 5 to8 p.m. All youth participants must beaccompanied by an adult, and partici-pants are encouraged to bring theirown equipment. For more information,contact Caleb Eaton, County ExtensionAgent for Zapata County at (956) 765-9967 or Larry Perez, county extensionagent for Jim Hogg County, at (361)527-3169.

MONDAY, JULY 12Faith Academy, located across

from the fire department, will begin of-fering math and reading classes start-ing today from 1 to 3 p.m. For moreinformation about this three week pro-gram, call (956) 750-7822 or (956)750-7157.

Texas A&M International Universi-ty will have a free seven-day SummerAcademic Mathematics and WritingBoot Camp to help boost THEA scores.Two camps are scheduled: July 12 – 21and July 26 – Aug. 4, from 9 a.m. tonoon or 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Only cur-rent students or students registered atTAMIU for fall 2010 may apply. Formore information, call Norma Cortez at326-2722.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14Anyone interested in youth ath-

letics is invited to attend Fair PlaySport’s committee meeting today at6:30 p.m. at El Paraiso Restaurant.

The American Cancer Societyand Doctors Hospital of Laredo will co-sponsor classes for people with cancerand their family and friends todayfrom 6 to 8 p.m. at Doctors Hospitalof Laredo. The I Can Cope educationalprogram give participants an opportu-nity to share their concerns with oth-ers having similar experiences and todesign ways to cope with the challeng-es that arise from a cancer diagnosis.Call Jessica Guajardo at (956) 523-2658 or Diana Juarez at (956) 723-9682 for more information.

FRIDAY, JULY 16Texas AgriLife Extention Service

and the Zapata County ANR ProgramArea Committee invites the communityto “Pasture to Plate” Beef MarketSeminar, part of the 2010 Beef Im-provement Program Series today from9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Oswaldoand Juanita Ramirez Exhibit Hall. Acomplimentary lunch will be sponsoredby Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, Juan-carlo Rendon. For more information,call (956) 765-9967.

The 2nd Annual Fish for Life Ex-travaganza will kick-off today, with reg-istration at Oso Blanco from 5 to 7p.m. The March of Dimes benefit fish-ing tournament will be on Saturday,July 17 at Falcon Lake in Zapata.

SATURDAY, JULY 17The Zapata County Chamber of

Commerce presents the Second AnnualFishing Tournament for Life Extravagan-za March of Dimes on Falcon Lake.Take off time is at 7 a.m. with weigh-inat 3 p.m. at the Oso Blanco LodgeBoat Ramp. Prizes will be based on100 teams. For more information, callMelissa Ramirez at (956) 765-4444 orJuan Gamez at (956) 285-7225.

SATURDAY, JULY 31Knights of Columbus and Colu-

bian Squires host a 5k Run and 2 milewalk today. Registration begins at 7a.m., with the start of the race at 8a.m. Registration forms are available atthe Zapata County Chamber of Com-merce. Call Homer Carrizales at (956)285-0220 for more information.

To submit an item for thecalendar, send the name of theevent, the date, time, locationand contact phone number toeditorial@lmtonline.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, July 10,the 191st day of 2010. There are174 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in Histo-ry:

On July 10, 1940, duringWorld War II, the Battle of Bri-tain began as Nazi forces be-gan attacking southern Eng-land by air. (The Royal AirForce was ultimately victo-rious.)

On this date: In 1509, theologian John Cal-

vin, a key figure of the Protes-tant Reformation, was born inNoyon, Picardy, France.

In 1890, Wyoming becamethe 44th state.

In 1919, President WoodrowWilson personally deliveredthe Treaty of Versailles (vehr-SY’) to the Senate, and urgedits ratification. (However, theSenate rejected it.)

In 1929, American papercurrency was reduced in sizeas the government began issu-ing bills that were approxi-mately 25 percent smaller.

In 1951, armistice talksaimed at ending the KoreanWar began at Kaesong.

In 1962, the Telstar 1 com-munications satellite waslaunched from Cape Canaver-al.

In 1973, the Bahamas be-came fully independent afterthree centuries of British colo-nial rule.

In 1985, the Greenpeace pro-test ship Rainbow Warrior wassunk with explosives in Auck-land, New Zealand by Frenchintelligence agents; one activ-ist was killed. Bowing to pres-sure from irate customers, theCoca-Cola Co. said it would re-sume selling old-formula Coke,while continuing to sell NewCoke.

In 1991, Boris N. Yeltsin tookthe oath of office as the firstelected president of the Rus-sian republic.

In 1999, the United Stateswomen’s soccer team won theWorld Cup, beating China 5-4on penalty kicks after 120 min-utes of scoreless play at theRose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Ten years ago: Texas Gover-nor George W. Bush, facing askeptical audience, told theNAACP convention in Balti-more that “the party of Lin-coln has not always carriedthe mantle of Lincoln,” andpromised to work to improverelations. Israeli President Ez-er Weizman resigned, effective-ly ending a seven-year termthat turned sour when he wasfound to have acted improperlyby accepting gifts while in of-fice.

Today’s Birthdays: Formerboxer Jake LaMotta is 89. Writ-er-producer Earl Hamner Jr. is87. Former New York CityMayor David N. Dinkins is 83.Actor William Smithers is 83.Broadway composer JerryHerman is 79. Director IvanPasser is 77. Actor LawrencePressman is 71. Singer MavisStaples is 71. Actor Mills Wat-son is 70. Actor Robert Pine is69. Rock musician Jerry Miller(Moby Grape) is 67. Interna-tional Tennis Hall of FamerVirginia Wade is 65. Actor RonGlass is 65. Actress Sue Lyonis 64. Folk singer Arlo Guthrieis 63. Rock musician DaveSmalley is 61. Country-folksinger-songwriter CherylWheeler is 59. Rock singer NeilTennant (Pet Shop Boys) is 56.Banjo player Bela Fleck is 52.

Thought for Today: “Onecan pay back the loan of gold,but one dies forever in debt tothose who are kind.” — Ma-layan proverb.

TODAY IN HISTORY

HOUSTON — A rare, stinky corpse floweris expected to bloom this weekend in Hous-ton.

Botanists at the Houston Museum of Nat-ural Science are measuring the flower daily,and Friday said it stood nearly 5 feet tall andweighing 30 pounds. The museum’s plant isnicknamed Lois after a former staff mem-ber’s mother.

The Amorphophallus titanum — which isnative to the Indonesian island of Sumatra— has only been seen in bloom in the UnitedStates 28 times, including twice in Texas,said Nancy Greig, the museum’s CockrellButterfly Center director.

The Latin name translates to “giant shape-less phallus.”

When in bloom, the plants emit a foulodor that attracts pollinating carrion beetleshoping to lay their eggs in rotting flesh. Theplant has a central stalk that is surroundedby a leafy, purple collar. Inside that stalk is ahollow gas chamber that heats its natural oiland emits the stinky smell for eight to 12hours. It looks like a tower surrounded by afrilly, liver-colored Elizabethan collar, accord-ing to the Houston Chronicle. Thousands ofmale and female flowers surround the base.

The plant doesn’t flower every year andwhen it does, it’s only for two days. Theflower can grow up to 200 pounds, and startsas a $75 walnut-sized corm.

A corpse flower bloomed in Nacogdochesin 2004 and the smell was so bad, fans sur-rounded the plant to blow the scent away sovisitors could approach.

AROUND TEXAS

Nancy Greig, director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center, left, points to Lois, the corpse flower, as, from left, Anthony Garza,Caitlin Nowak, Shana Hagemeyer and Mark Gewurz look on at the center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science onWednesday. Botanists think Lois will open this weekend and unleash a smell reminiscent of a corpse.

Photo by Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle | AP

Stinky flower to bloomASSOCIATED PRESS

Latino advocates fight AZlaw at convention

SAN ANTONIO — Hispanicleaders are focused on Arizona’stough new immigration law asone of the nation’s largest Latinoconferences gets under way.

National Council of La Razapresident Janet Murguia saidFriday discussing ways to com-bat the law will seep into everytopic at the national convention.

Federal inmate escapes El Paso jail

EL PASO — A Mexican na-tional facing federal drug charg-es escaped from El Paso’s down-town jail early Friday, El PasoCounty sheriff ’s officials said.

Carlos Roberto Medina Bailon,30, was booked into the jail June6 on federal charges of conspir-acy to possess with the intent todistribute narcotics.

He went to work in the jail’sbasement kitchen about 12:45a.m. Friday and vanished some-time after about 2:30 a.m.

Univ. of Texas presidentsupports renaming dorm

AUSTIN — The University ofTexas president will propose re-moving the name of a white su-premacist with ties to the KuKlux Klan from one of theschool’s dorms.

The president will endorse anadvisory group’s recommenda-tion to pull the name of formerlaw school teacher William Stew-art Simkins from the building.

US rig count increases by 10

HOUSTON — The number ofrigs actively exploring for oil andnatural gas in the U.S. increasedby ten this week to 1,567.

Houston-based Baker HughesInc. said Friday 964 rigs were ex-ploring for natural gas and 592for oil. Eleven were listed as mis-cellaneous. A year ago this week,the count stood at 916.

Of the major oil- and gas-pro-ducing states, Louisiana and Tex-as each lost two.

Houston couple mustdisplay theft signs

HOUSTON — A couple con-victed of theft must displaysigns, outside home and near amall, saying they are thieves.

Eloise Guerrero Mireles andDaniel Domingo Mireles weresentenced to 10 years of proba-tion.

She is a former administrativeassistant in the Harris CountyDistrict Attorney’s Office.

Man dies as watercrafthits tree on bayou

BEAUMONT — A personalwatercraft accident in JeffersonCounty has left a Louisiana mandead after his vehicle hit a tree.

Friday the victim was identi-fied as 46-year-old Scott Henry ofLafayette, La.

The accident happened Thurs-day night on Taylor Bayou. Thevictim and a woman were onpersonal watercrafts when theman’s went out of control.

− Compiled from AP reports

‘Grim Sleeper’ probe tocheck unsolved killingsLOS ANGELES — Los An-

geles Police investigators will ex-amine more than 30 cold casefiles for possible links to a sus-pect in the “Grim Sleeper” serialkillings.

The cases, dating to 1984, willbe reviewd with informationgleaned from the investigationinto Lonnie Franklin Jr., whowas arrested Wednesday and ac-cused of murdering 10 people.

Into the cold: Swappedspies face uncertain lives

MOSCOW — They are abrupt-ly entering radically differentlives — 10 spies for Russia whohid in suburban America bar-tered for four agents imprisonedby Moscow in the biggest spyswap since the Cold War.

Family dramas unfolded be-hind the scenes Friday as the fic-tion of American life was re-

placed by the realities of Russia.

Duck boat, girl’s bodyremoved from river

PHILADELPHIA — Crews re-covered the body of a Hungarian

teen who was tossed into the wa-ter when a 250-foot barge hit astalled sightseeing boat, whichwas also raised from the waterFriday. A second body was spot-ted during salvage operationsbut has not yet been recovered.

− Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Washington’s Mount St. Helen’s volcano is seen through a layer of smog as anAlaska Airlines plane comes in for a landing at Portland International Airport, onFriday. Officials have issued a heat advisory and smog alert for the area.

Photo by Don Ryan | AP

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The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the LaredoMorning Times and for those who buy the Laredo MorningTimes at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted.

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SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 Zlocal PAGE 3A

GIVING EDUCATION A BOOST

Courtesy photo

Trustees from theGuadalupe and LiliaMartinez Foundationwere at Zapata High

School on June 29 toannounce the donation

of $120,000 to supportthe LCC Zapata Satellite

Jump-Start Program.Shown, left to right,

front row, are ZapataCounty Judge-Elect Joe

Rathmell, Zapata CountyCommissioner Jose Vela,

Martinez Foundationadvisory trustee DavidSlaughter Jr., Martinez

Foundation VicePresident DeaconLarry Sandlin and

LCC President Juan L. Maldonado; back row,

Zapata County TreasurerRomeo Salinas, LCC

Education FoundationVice President Andres

Cuellar, LCC South DeanLuciano Ramon and LCC

Education FoundationEx-Officio Ramiro V.

Martinez.

Since school is out andchildren have more timeon their hands, El Tepo-zan Ranch is sponsoring aYouth Archery Fun-Shootfor some summer enter-tainment while exposingchildren to the sport.

“We want kids to getoutdoors, have some funand learn archery,” Zapa-ta County ExtensionAgent Caleb Eaton said.

The event will takeplace at El TepozanRanch, south of Zapata onUS 83, Sunday from 5 to 8

p.m. The event is free.“In the summer time

there are limited activ-ities for kids to do espe-cially free of charge,” Eat-on said.

Eaton said a brief dem-onstration will show par-ticipants the differenttypes of archery and howthe types will be scored.Afterwards, children willparticipate in a 3-D targetfun shoot.

“If you have any inter-est in archery come out,”Eaton said.

Jim Hogg County Ex-tension Agent Larry Pe-rez said participants will

be primarily taught thesafety rules and the prop-er etiquette on how toshoot.

“Our safety and thekids safety is our numberone priority,” Perez said.

No one will be able toshoot unless they knowand understand the rulesand that people can gethurt, he added.

“We try to teach somelife skills and keep theminterested and active inoutdoor sports,” Perezsaid.

All participants are en-couraged to bring theirown equipment and must

be accompanied by anadult, Eaton said.

The goal after the eventis to put together a shoot-ing sports program in Za-pata, Eaton added.

“It would be a big hitwith the kids,” Eatonsaid.

Also, since equipmentis limited and pizza willbe provided for partici-pants, an RSVP is neededat (956) 765-9967.

Sponsors include El Te-pozan Ranch, Eaton andPerez.

(Lorraine L. Rodriguezmay be reached at (956)728-2557.)

Fun shoot teaches archeryBy LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Zapata County Sheriffofficials are investigatingan aggravated robberywith a firearm at a localstore.

The offender is at large.Deputies responded to

an emergency call for a re-ported robbery at about10:19 p.m. Tuesday at Taik-kiris grocery store, 2300block of U.S. 83.

Authorities arrived afterthe assailant had fled thepremises with $500 takenfrom the cash register, Sgt.Mario Elizondo said.

The clerk, a 26-year-oldwoman, stated she washeld at gunpoint, he said.

According to the com-plainant, the unknownmale wore a brown mask,a blue long-sleeve shirtand light blue jeans.

“His mask covered hiswhole face and she couldonly see his eyes,” Elizon-do said.

She also noticed theman had red and whitetennis shoes, the sergeantadded.

No one was harmedduring the incident.

Investigators have anopen case in the hold-up.

To provide information,call the sheriff ’s depart-ment at 765-9960 or CrimeStoppers at 765-8477. Allcallers may remain anony-mous.

Deputies seekarmed man

in store robberyBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

ASSAULTNoel Zamora, 20, was ar-

rested on charges of assault fam-ily violence at 12:15 p.m. June 2in the 2400 block of Elm Street.He was booked, taken to ZapataRegional Jail, and fined $300.

Deputies responded to anassault call at 5:45 p.m. June 2in the 5400 block of Garry Lanein the Siesta Shores subdivision.A woman, 20, reported a knownman assaulted her.

Andres Perez Jr., 23, wasarrested on charges of resistingarrest and sexual assault at 11:30a.m. Sunday in the 1700 block ofNorth Siesta Lane. He was book-ed, transported to Zapata Region-al Jail, and held in lieu of a com-bined bond of $95,000.

A woman, 35, reported anassault at 11:45 p.m. July 4 in

the 2100 block of Cardinal Drive.A woman, 20, reported at

6:30 a.m. Monday in the 2100block of Retama Lane a knownperson assaulted her.

BURGLARYA man, 45, reported at

11:15 a.m. June 2 in the 800block of Zapata Street someonebroke into his house. Deputiessaid nothing was taken.

A man, 46, reported at 6p.m. July 4 in the 500 block ofSecond Street in Lopeño some-one broke into his residence andstole a washer, dryer, microwave,TV and jewelry, valued at $3,000.

A man, 27, reported at11:45 a.m. Thursday at the Sher-iff’s Office someone opened hisunlocked Ford F150 but stolenothing.

THE BLOTTER

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

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

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

It appears RepublicanNational CommitteeChairman Michael

Steele will — in the shortterm — keep his job. Heshouldn’t.

The thinking amongparty insiders is thatSteele’s term runs out inJanuary. Better to let himwalk out the door afterthe November generalelection than try to draghim out and embroil theparty in a leadershipfight. Nothing, they be-lieve, should detract fromthe effort to roll back theObama-Pelosi-Reid imperi-um in November.

Now’s the timeBut that is exactly why

Steele must go — now. Speaking at a recent

GOP fundraiser, Steelesaid that Afghanistan was“a war of Obama’s choos-ing.” He also derided thestupidity of engaging in aland war in a place where“everyone who has tried,over a thousand years ofhistory, has failed.”

Unexpected opinionsThose are comments

you might imagine com-ing from Azzam al-Amri-ki, the American-born

spokesman for al-Qaida.They are not what youwould expect to hear fromthe titular head of the oneAmerican party that hasconsistently supported theglobal war against Islamicextremism, the only partyupon whom PresidentObama can rely upon tosupport his war strategy.

Let’s stipulate that onejob of a national partyleader is to make partisanpoints. Still, some thingsshould be beyond parti-sanship, among them thenation’s security, the well-being of its men and wom-en in uniform and the pri-macy of victory.

Reflects DemocratsSadly, too many parti-

sans abandoned that prin-ciple during the last ad-ministration. Steele’s re-marks about Afghanistanare a hollow echo of thatpartisan zealotry, exempli-fied by the reflexive hostil-ity to Bush’s war effort bythe Democratic NationalCommittee under HowardDean, the bizarre beliefthat somehow the worldwould be a better placewith a genocidal dictatorand his psychopathic sonslording over Iraq, and Mo-veOn.org’s scandalous at-tack on Gen David Pe-traeus, now the last besthope for Obama’s war ef-fort.

Afghanistan was not awar of Obama’s choosing.It was not, for that matter,a war of Bush’s choosing.It was a war thrust uponthe United States by agroup of extremists brood-ing to restore a medievalworld of theocratic dark-ness.

Fruitless warNor is the United States

simply engaged in anoth-er Central Asian land war,indistinguishable fromthe 19th century attemptto incorporate Afghani-stan into the British Em-pire or the brutal 20thcentury campaign tobring it under the Sovietheel. Afghanistan willnever be an American col-ony. And American sol-diers and aid workers aredying, literally, to buildschools and hospitals andbring health care and san-itation projects to a long-neglected and long-suffer-ing people — all while try-ing to minimize civiliancasualties.

Raise fundsSteele has lamely tried

to re-interpret the mean-ing of his words, whichonly highlights his errors.The problem is not onlythat Steele is so wrongand so out of his depth. It

is also that it is none ofhis business.

The other jobs of a na-tional party leader are toraise money and to man-age an organization thatcan support the party’scandidates, not to makepolicy statements. Steele’sAfghanistan commentsalong with previous gaffesand RNC scandals involv-ing lavish spending — in-cluding a $1,946 tab at aLos Angeles lesbian bond-age-themed nightclub —don’t inspire the confi-dence of donors or candi-dates.

Party lackyAs a GOP officeholder

or candidate, Steele wouldbe free to publicly opposethe war in Afghanistan,though that would placehim in an exceedinglysmall GOP minority. As aprivate citizen, Steelewould be free to voice hisopposition, as manyAmericans do for com-pletely honorable, non-partisan reasons.

But Steele isn’t any ofthose. He’s an easily re-placeable party bureau-crat, one who has discred-ited his party by opposingthe war on dishonorable,partisan grounds. Repub-licans can and should dobetter.

(E-mail: jgurwitz@ex-press-news.net)

COLUMN

GOP needs new leader nowBy JONATHAN GURWITZ

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

WASHINGTON —President Obama’s be-havior over the past year,and particularly the lastmonth, borders on bi-zarre.

The candidate whopromised to bring peopletogether and move be-yond polarization hasmorphed into a divisiveand defensive president.

DisapprovalHis sinking approval

numbers underscore thegrowing public disap-pointment in the gap be-tween his campaign rhet-oric and his governingstyle.

The president’s thinskin at news conferencesis now part of Washing-ton press corps lore. His“ass kicking” commentsabout the Gulf oil spillwere weird and un-presi-dential. Lately, he’s re-sorted to criticizing indi-vidual members of Con-gress personally at townhall events, tactics moresuited to a rookie politi-cal hack than the leaderof the free world.

What happened? Some believe the presi-

dent is just stressed out.Maybe he could use afew beers and a couplesmokes with his buddyJoe Biden in the RoseGarden. After all, to par-aphrase the vice presi-dent’s comments abouthealth care: This job is abig (expletive) deal!

Eye on NovemberBut the president’s

madness may also have amethod. He needs toavoid electoral disasterin November. These off-year contests are differ-ent — more about turn-ing out base voters thanpersuading the less com-mitted.

Obama’s peculiar tac-tics are intended to dojust that. Fire up thefaithful now; worryabout swing voters in2012.

How? First, instead ofseeking bipartisan legis-lative consensus, he useshis party’s majority pow-er like a steamroller.Democratic partisansswoon when SpeakerNancy Pelosi crushes Re-publicans using theHouse’s unique majoritypowers.

Next, every Obamainitiative also includes adesignated villain. Turn-ing political opponentsinto piñatas always rilesup the base. Democratsbuilt momentum forpassing stimulus legisla-tion last year because ofthe mess PresidentGeorge Bush left behind.When touting healthcare, they blasted greedyinsurance companies.And, of course, the WallStreet reform emasculat-ed the big banks beforethey could spend anymore of those obsceneCEO bonuses.

Eyes supportTaken together, these

tactics are an attempt toenergize partisan Demo-crats prior to November.And Obama needs theirhelp. A quick look atmidterm turnout pat-terns explains why thepresident has cause foralarm.

The electorate always

looks different in non-presidential years. Forexample, just over 80 mil-lion Americans voted, orabout 37 percent of thevoting age population(VAP) in 2006. But twoyears earlier in the 2004presidential contest, 122million showed up onElection Day (over 56percent of the VAP). Inother words, over 41 mil-lion fewer votes werecast in 2006 compared to2004.

This was no fluke.Looking back at recentmidterm elections, turn-out usually drops about20 percent from the pres-idential election twoyears prior.

About 132 million peo-ple voted in 2008. Basedon history, 30 million to40 million of them won’tshow up this November.

Older votersWho are the higher

and lower propensity vot-ers? History again pro-vides some insights here.Age is one key variable.Midterm contests in-clude a higher percent-age of older compared toyounger voters.

For example, in 2008,Americans 65 and olderrepresented about 16 per-cent of the electorate,while 18-29 year oldsmade up a slightly larger18 percent of the total,according to exit polls. In2006, however, older vot-ers represented 19 per-cent of the total com-pared with only 12 per-cent for the younger bloc.

How are these olderand younger votersstacking up to the lastmidterm election in2006? Pew Research re-leased a poll last weekdemonstrating a massiveGOP turnaround witholder voters compared tofour years ago.

GOP inches aheadDemocrats held a 14-

point lead with votersover 50 in June of 2006.Today, the GOP enjoys an11-point lead with thisdemographic — a net 25-point swing among thesehigh propensity midtermvoters.

Turnout rates are alsohigher among those whosay they are more enthu-siastic or following theelection closely. Hereagain Pew finds a mas-sive shift compared tofour years ago. In June of2006 Democrats led Re-publicans by 16-points onvote enthusiasm. Today,the GOP enjoys a 14-point edge.

The president’s nameis not on the ballot thisNovember. Still, the mid-term election will signif-icantly impact the WhiteHouse, shaping the finalcontours of his firstterm. Losing the con-gressional majoritywould translate to a ma-jor political setback.

Some might thinkObama needs anger man-agement. After all, vilify-ing businesses and kick-ing some Republicanbutts around the countryseems more fitting for anirate community orga-nizer than a transforma-tional political figure.

Yet the president’s ac-tions are very sane. Puttransformation on holdand get the base “firedup and ready to go.” Fail-ure to do so will produceanother political buttkicking − his own.

COLUMN

Obama needs his

supportersBy GARY ANDRES

HEARST NEWSPAPERS

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

PAGE 6A Zentertainment SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

Even with a bevy of hitsand chart-topping records tohis credit, Clay Walker staysclose to his Texas roots.

Walker’s career startedwhen he was 16 — hecaught a break in his home-town of Beaumont. In the 17years since then, he’s cata-pulted to the top of countrymusic’s charts.

He’s headlining the DeerIn The Headlights MusicFest today at Laredo EnergyArena.

“We are excited to havesuch a great lineup of coun-try artists that are makinga name for themselves na-tionally and are visiting allthe major Texas cities,” saidRoy Medina, general man-ager for the SMG-managedLEA.

“This event will surely bean overwhelmingly fun ex-perience for all.”

New albumWalker also is out with a

new album, “She Won’t BeLonely Long,” on the CurbRecords label.

It is a collection of songsthat appears to be as solidas those he’s recorded in hisprevious albums. One of

them is a cover of Alaba-ma’s “Feels So Right” withRandy Owen, a member ofthe band and the writer ofthat song. It’s only appropri-ate that Owen sings a duetwith Walker on that tune.

Alabama has a close con-nection to Walker’s heart.The band’s concert in Beau-mont was the first one hesaw — his mother took him.

Mom’s a fan“I remember them taking

the stage and the emotionthat came over my mom,”Walker said. “I just fell inlove with their perform-ance. As entertainers, theyinfluenced my wanting tobecome an entertainer. Ithink that’s where the ener-gy of my live show comesfrom. So the song has a spe-cial place in my life, and I’mproud to do it.”

Reviewing his list of suc-cesses is, well, pretty incred-ible.

Of Walker’s nine previousalbums, four are RecordingIndustry Association ofAmerica-certified platinumand two others are certifiedgold. Reviewing nearly 36singles released, 11 havereached No. 1.

Taking a stand

Walker’s career and life,though, took a sharp turnin 1996, when he was diag-nosed with multiple sclero-sis.

“My first thought was‘I’m not going to be able towalk my daughter down the

aisle,’” he said of his reac-tion to the diagnosis. “Theother was that I thought mykids would be ashamed ofme because I was incapaci-tated.”

But Walker, who is acompetitive cutting horserider and skilled golfer, is

one of the fortunate oneswhose MS is now containedby medication.

His illness pushed him tofind a cure for MS and offersupport with his charity or-ganization, Band AgainstMS.

What about that earlybreak Walker received? As a16-year-old, he was workingnights as a desk clerk at aSuper 8 Motel in Beaumont.Walker took a tape of a songhe wrote to a local radio sta-tion, but the disc jockeysaid it was against corpo-rate policy to play suchtapes on the air. Walkerpicks up the story himself.

“I was heartbroken, butwhen I left the studio andgot in my car — and I re-member it was about 6:30 inthe morning — as I wasdriving away from the radiostation, he said, ‘Folks, I’mnot supposed to do this, butthis song is just too good topass up. This song was writ-ten by a hometown boy; hisname is Clay Walker!’ Hespun it, and I could not be-lieve it. It was one of thehighlights of my whole ca-reer.”

His big break“Even to this day,” Walk-

er continued, “when I think

about the one moment intime, it said to me: ‘This iswhat you’re going to be!’That defined it. I knew withno question, that was it.”

Also appearingOther country perform-

ers on the main stage in-clude Casey Donahew, JRCastillo, Mick Cruz and Dia-mondback, The Brison Bur-sey Band, Rob Baird, Whis-key Myers, Zona Jones andZack Walther.

Featured on the outdoorstage will be Buddy Vargas,The Bottom Line, JoeyGreen, Turnpike Trouba-dours and Rodney Parker &The 50 Peso Reward.

Doors open at 2 p.m.,with the first artist sched-uled to hit the stage at 2:45p.m.

Tickets to the event areavailable at all Ticketmasterlocations, which include theLEA box office, H-E-B loca-tions around Laredo, CasaRaul, Guerra Communica-tions, Rumor’s CountryGrill & Patio and Rudy’sBBQ. Tickets also can be or-dered by calling toll-free 1-800-745-3000 or online atwww.ticketmaster.com.

(Joe Rutland may bereached at 728-2529 or jrut-land@lmtonline.com)

For headliner Clay Walker, it’s about TexasBy JOE RUTLAND

LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Clay Walker is shown on Feb. 15, 2003. He will perform at the DeerIn The Headlights Music Fest today at Laredo Energy Arena.

Edward A. Ornelas/San Antonio Express-News

SÁBADO 10 DE JULIOLAREDO — Hoy es la

Clínica de Vacunación en elDepartamento de Salud dela Ciudad de Laredo de 8a.m. a 12 p.m. Las vacunastienen costo de 4 dólarespor niños, con un máximode 12 dólares por familia.Más información en el 795-4906.

LAREDO — Hoy sepresenta Clay Walter en el“Deer in the Headlights Mu-sic Fest” a llevarse a caboen la Laredo Energy Arena apartir de las 2 p.m. Otrosartistas a presentarse seránBuddy Vargas, Joel Green ylos Turnpike Troubadours, yThe Bottom Line. Los bole-tos en preventa a 30 y 35dólares. Adquiera sus boletoen Ticketmaster, la taquillade LEA, Guerra Communica-tions, Casa Raul, Rumor’s yRudy’s BBQ.

NUEVO LAREDO — Ci-ne Club Infantil presenta“Mulán” en Estación Palabraa las 12 p.m. y 4 p.m. Entra-da libre.

MARTES 13 DE JULIONUEVO LAREDO — Ci-

ne Club Emilio Fernándezpresenta “Mujercitas” en elTeatro Lucio Blanco de laCasa de la Cultura a las 7p.m. Entrada libre.

NUEVO LAREDO — ElTaller de Arte “Renacimien-to” presenta ‘Esta Noche esMéxico Lindo, Voces y Guita-rras” a las 8 p.m. en la An-tigua Aduana. Entrada libre.

MIÉRCOLES 14 DE JULIOLAREDO — Pase la

tarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “The Zula Patrol: Un-der the Weather” a las 3p.m. y “Planet Quest” a las4 p.m. La entrada general esde 3 dólares, el día de hoy.

LAREDO — El LaredoHeat recibe a Dallas RioGrande Valley en las canchasde TAMIU a las 8 p.m.

NUEVO LAREDO — Ci-ne Club Gabriel Figueroapresenta “Mariana, Mariana”en Estación Palabra a las 7p.m. Entrada libre. La pelícu-la es para adolescentes yadultos.

JUEVES 15 DE JULIOLAREDO — Pase la

tarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “One World, OneSky: Big Bird’s Adventure” alas 3 p.m. y “Origins of Life”a las 4 p.m. La entrada ge-neral es de 3 dólares, el díade hoy.

LAREDO — Hoy sepresenta “The Sound of Mu-sic”, una producción de TA-MIU y el Laredo TheaterGuild International, a las 8p.m. en el Teatro del Centerfor the Fine and PerformingArts de TAMIU. Entrada ge-neral es de 15 dólares.

.

SÁBADO 17 DE JULIOLAREDO — Hoy se

presenta “The Sound of Mu-sic”, una producción de TA-MIU y el Laredo TheaterGuild International, a las 8p.m. en el Teatro del Centerfor the Fine and PerformingArts de TAMIU. Entrada ge-neral es de 15 dólares.

LAREDO — Pase latarde en el Planetario LamarBruni Vergara de TAMIU yexplore “Attack of the SpacePirates” a las 6 p.m., “Starsof the Pharaohs” a las 7p.m., y “Rock on Demand” alas 8 p.m. La entrada gene-ral es de 5 dólares, el día dehoy.

ZAPATA — La Cámarade Comercio de Zapata pre-senta el Torneo de Pesca pa-ra Life Extravaganza Marchof Dimes en el Lago Falcon.Las inscripciones son hoy de5 p.m. a 7 p.m. en el OsoBlanco Lodge Boat Ramp.Más información llamando al765-4339.

— Tiempo de Zapata

Agendaen Breve

Pese a los niveles deagua subiendo del RioGrande y el Lago Falcóntras que la Comisión In-ternacional de Límites yAgua dejó escapar aguade la creciente de la PresaFalcón debido a las condi-ciones río arriba y los ni-veles de reserva incre-mentándose, el Condadode Zapata no se encontra-ba en riesgo de inunda-ción, dijeron oficiales.

Oficiales del Condadode Zapata se sentían con-fiados que Zapata y áreascircunvecinas estaban se-guras de la inundación de-bido a la alta elevación dela tierra.

De acuerdo al Alguacildel Condado de Zapata Si-gifredo Gonzalez, Zapata ySan Ignacio están eleva-dos y no serán afectados.

“Nos hemos estado reu-niendo con CILA y otrosoficiales locales y hemosllegado a la conclusión deque no hay amenaza parael Condado de Zapata”, di-jo Gonzalez.

Otros oficiales del con-dado confirmaron que elCondado de Zapata no esun área de preocupacióncuando se trata de inun-daciones y no se esperaevacuaciones.

“No anticipamos unaevacuación”, dijo el Comi-sionado del Condado deZapata Jose E. Vela. “Za-pata es una de esas áreas,somos afortunados”.

Algunas áreas están ce-rradas al lago pero sonrestringidas del gobiernoy propietarios no tienenpermitido construir, dijoVela.

La Presa Falcón, ubica-da en Falcon Heigths yCiudad Guerrero dejó sa-lir casi 40,000 pies cúbicospor segundo el jueves aprimera hora y había em-pezado inicialmente de-jando salir 15,000 pies cú-bicos por segundo.

Los trasvases a esta ta-sa son controlados con lacapacidad de la parte deEU dentro del Rio GrandeFlood Control Project quese extiende de Peñitas alGolfo de México, dijo CI-LA.

“El río se abre al lagomuy ampliamente”, dijoGonzalez. “Todo deberáestar bien”.

De acuerdo a Joel Ruiz,residente en San Ignacio,el nivel del agua en el lagoalcanzó las 3-pulgadas en

tres horas y el lago es de60 millas de largo y 12 mi-llas de ancho. Fue forzadoa cerrar una de las ram-pas de botes debido a losniveles de agua con deshe-chos.

“Esa es mucho agua yel agua sigue subiendo”,dijo Ruiz.

Aunque Ruiz cerró unade sus rampas para botes,estuvo de acuerdo que elCondado de Zapata no es-taba en riesgo de inunda-ción.

“San Ignacio es alto enelevación y no ha tenidouna inundación en másde 10 ó 15 años”, dijo él.“No se espera una inunda-ción en San Ignacio, perono sabemos”.

Es muy difícil calcularcuando el agua viene dediferentes áreas, agregóél.

De acuerdo al comuni-cado de CILA, el agua estáfluyendo río abajo haciala parte baja del Rio Gran-de Valley, donde se ubicaun sistema de diques decontrol de inundaciones,presas de desvío y cauces.

Los esfuerzos de trasva-se de agua de CILA empe-zaron en la Presa de Des-vío Anzalduas en el Con-dado de Hidalgo hacia elinterior de los cauces deEU y continuó incremen-tándose durante el jueves.

Los canales de alivio deEU incluyen a BankerFloodway, Main Floodway,North Floodway, ArroyoColorado a través de loscondados de Hidalgo, Ca-meron y Willacy.

“Estamos revisando aRoma porque las personasestán siendo evacuadas yse dirigen hacia Zapatapara albergarse”, dijoGonzalez.

El agua no ha sido des-viada hacia canales de ali-vio de EU desde 1998, de-bido al Huracán Gilberto,indica CILA.

“Los arroyos estaránllenos, pero es normal”,dijo Gonzalez.

Sin temoresen Zapata

POR LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZTIEMPO DE ZAPATA “No

anticipamosunaevacuación”.COMISIONADO DE ZAPATA JOSE E. VELA

Los daños que el Hura-cán ‘Alex’ dejó en variosmunicipios serán atendi-dos por el Gobierno Fede-ral y el Estatal.

Aunado a esto, la llegadade la tormenta tropical‘Bonnie’ mantiene a las au-toridades en alerta, espe-cialmente en la zona deMatamoros.

Hasta el momento sola-mente se tiene reportadauna persona fallecida en elmunicipio de San Carlos,como consecuencia de lasinundaciones.

En Ciudad Mier, desde el7 de julio empezó la eva-cuación de familias en al-gunas zonas.

Los residentes de la calleAlameda y Terán así comopor la Allende y Morelos,considerados puntos bajos,fueron evacuados debido ala crecida del Río Álamo.

Las familias fueron tras-ladadas al Salón CasinoArguelles, implementadopor el Gobierno Municipalcomo albergue.

Elementos de ProtecciónCivil estuvieron notifican-do de la evacuación y auxi-lió en el desalojo de fami-lias. El objetivo fue preve-nir accidentes en caso deque el río siga aumentandosu nivel.

Las familias estuvieronpresentando problemas conlos servicios como la ener-gía eléctrica, Internet y te-léfono.

También se reporta quelas vialidades están afecta-das en diversos puntos.

El Presidente de MéxicoFelipe Calderón Hinojosaestuvo el jueves en Tamau-lipas y junto al Goberna-dor Eugenio HernándezFlores recorrieron algunaszonas afectadas en Mata-moros.

“Tamaulipas cuenta conel apoyo irrestricto del go-bierno federal”, dijo Calde-rón durante un encuentroen el que representantes dela SCT, SEDESOL, CONA-GUA, SEDENA y Secreta-ría de Marina dieron a co-nocer las principales estra-tegias y esquemasimplementados para apo-yar a esta entidad.

En ese aspecto se anun-ció que se pusieron a dis-ponibilidad del estado 26millones de pesos de recur-sos del FONDEN.

Además de la evacua-ción de personas de zonasde riesgo, la Secretaría deSalud realiza labores sani-tarias.

Durante la junta Calde-rón reiteró la importanciade estar atentos a las ins-trucciones emitidas por lasautoridades, a fin de prote-ger la integridad de las fa-milias que habitan en zo-nas de riesgo.

“No podemos impedirque se presenten fenóme-nos de esta naturaleza, pe-ro lo que si podemos haceres trabajar coordinados co-mo lo estamos haciendoahora en labores preventi-vas de auxilio y posterior-mente en labores de repa-ración y construcción de lainfraestructura dañada”,dijo Calderón.

El Paso del Cántaro en Ciudad Mier es visto cubierto por el agua del Río Álamo. A la extrema derechase observan las instalaciones del Hotel Urrutia, bajo el agua.

Foto de cortesía | La del Miernes

Autoridades enalerta por crecienteESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

El Presidente de México Felipe Calderón, a la derecha, recorrió zo-nas afectadas por el Huracán Alex, el jueves, acompañado por elGobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

CIUDAD MIER — En elmarco del cierre del cicloescolar 2009-2010, los alum-nos de la Escuela PrimariaUrbana Federal “Club deLeones No. 1” y de la Es-cuela Primaria FranciscoRamírez Canales recibie-ron sus certificados de gra-duación y fin de cursos.

El 6 de julio fue realiza-da la graduación de la Ge-neración XLVIII de la pri-maria “Club de Leones #1”.

La Directora de la escue-la Melva Alicia Stringel Ro-dríguez encabezó la cere-monia oficial.

En ese marco la alumnaLesly Jazmín Izaguirre Lu-cio recibió la Medalla a laExcelencia de manos deStringel, la responsable deVinculación EducativaBlanca Delia Alanís Barre-ra y la Presidenta del Siste-ma para el Desarrollo Inte-gral de la Familia (DIF) Isa-bel Cristina Treviño deMancias.

En tanto el 7 de julio, du-rante la ceremonia en laprimaria “Francisco Ramí-rez Canales” la alumnaPaola Cordero Hernándezrecibió la Medalla a la Ex-celencia.

La ceremonia ahí fue en-

cabezada porla Directorade la escuelaMaría delCarmen Gar-cía Garza;Alanís y elJefe de Go-bierno JoséIván ManciasHinojosa.

ProgramaAMA

Con el ob-jetivo de apo-

yar a las madres adolescen-tes de esta ciudad se creó elprograma AMA.

Treviño hizo entrega deuna beca con ayuda econó-mica de 500 pesos a las in-tegrantes del programaAMA.

El dinero, explicó Trevi-ño, es enviado por la Presi-denta del Sistema DIF Ta-maulipas Adriana Gonzá-lez de Hernández.

El programa AMA sigueabierto para recibir a ma-dres de familia, cuya edadfluctúe entre los 14 a 20años de edad.

“Si están interesadas enrecibir este tipo de becaslas invitamos a las oficinasdel DIF”, dijo Treviño.

Alumnas recibenmedallas de honor

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CORDERO

IZAGUIRRE

Pasadas las eleccionesestatales del 4 de julio, elInstituto Electoral de Ta-maulipas dio a conoceroficialmente en su páginade Internet los nombres delos triunfadores en las ciu-dades de la frontera ribe-reña.

El Distrito 4, con cabe-cera en Miguel Alemán,incluye las ciudades deMiguel Alemán, Camargo,Guerrero, Díaz Ordaz,Mier y la parte ponientede Reynosa.

En este distrito, comoen el resto del Estado, Egi-

dio Torre Cantú, de laCoalición Todos Tamauli-pas obtuvo el triunfo comoGobernador.

Para Diputado Local,obtuvo el triunfo el Parti-do Revolucionario Institu-cional, cuyo candidato fueAdolfo Víctor García Ji-ménez.

En cuanto a las Presi-dencias Municipales, sonya alcaldes electos:

En Camargo, triunfóMaría del Carmen RochaHernández, quien era can-didata por el Partido de laRevolución Democrática.

En Guerrero, obtuvomayoría de voto el candi-dato de la Coalición PRI-

Nueva Alianza Luis Gerar-do Ramos Gómez.

En Gustavo Díaz Or-daz, Humberto Roque Cue-llar, de la Coalición PRI-Nueva Alianza, obtuvo eltriunfo.

En Mier, obtuvo elvoto ciudadano el candida-to de la Coalición PRI-Nue-va Alianza Alberto Gonzá-lez Peña.

En Miguel Alemán,triunfó Ramón EduardoRodríguez Garza, quienera candidato de la Coali-ción PRI-Nueva Alianza.

(Localice a Melva Lavín-Castillo en el (956) 728-2569ó en mramirez@lmtonli-ne.com)

IETAM oficializaresultados de eleccionesPOR MELVA LAVÍN-CASTILLO

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 10 DE JULIO DE 2010

APOYO A LCC-ZAPATA

Foto de cortesía | LCC

Fideicomisarios de laFundación Guadalupeand Lilia Martinez es-tuvieron en ZapataHigh School, a finalesde junio, haciendoentrega de uncheque con donaciónde 120.000 dólarespara apoyar el Pro-grama SatelliteJump-Start Programde LCC-Zapata.

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

After the dismal invest-ment decade that endedlast December, the first sixmonths of 2010 signaled on-ly more of the same.

The Dow Jones industri-als, the Standard & Poor’s500 and the Nasdaq 100 in-dexes all fell during thefirst half of 2010, largely be-cause of a swoon in stockprices in May and June. In-vestors just do not see aclear sign the economic re-covery will hold up.

The momentum cominginto 2010 actually was quitegood, with healthy advanc-es in stock prices in 2009.Even those, however, failedto bring the past decadeback to even. The Standard& Poor’s 500 index lost 9.14percent from 2000 to 2009.

It’s a circleUntil the jobs and hous-

ing outlooks improve,

stocks in general won’t goanywhere. Housing valueswon’t firm up until morepeople find jobs. Employersable to hire are not findingthe skilled workers theywant.

Employer needs haveshifted somewhat since lay-offs occurred in 2008 and2009. Efficiency and pro-ductivity are critical whenhiring decisions are made.If the experienced workersare not there, nothingchanges for the wider econ-omy.

Of 28 selected San Anto-nio-area public companies,share prices were, at best,mixed. Exactly half of thecompanies, 14 of them, sawshare prices rise duringthe first half of 2010.

Some local companiescould have rewarded inves-tors with huge percentagegains in the past sixmonths. But it probablydidn’t happen for investorsbecause many of the com-panies have small marketcapitalizations. Stock pric-

es were so low for some ofthe best-performing compa-nies that even small pricegains resulted in outsizedpercentage gains.

Boerne-based Tootie PieCo. Inc., for example, is thetop company on the SanAntonio list, but it only hasa market capitalization of$3.47 million.

The No. 2 company, ra-dio-and-billboard giant CCMedia Holdings Inc., is 70percent owned by two Bos-ton private equity compa-nies. The 30 percent stillpublicly held is thinly trad-ed. Advertising revenueshave improved somewhatthis year, but analysts donot think ad volume willever return to levels radiosaw several years ago. CCMedia Holdings still facesmassive debts from its 2008leveraged buyout.

No. 3 on the list is Night-hawk Systems Inc. with amarket capitalization of on-ly about $730,000 and astock price of less than 1cent per share.

Greehey successThe main San Antonio

companies that generatedwealth for investors thepast six months were bothbuilt by William Greehey.

NuStar GP Holdings,with a market capitaliza-tion of $1.29 billion, andNuStar Energy LP, with$3.64 billion, rewarded in-

vestors with decent pricegains. So did San Antonio’slargest market capitaliza-tion stock, Valero EnergyCorp., with $9.72 billion, al-though Greehey is no long-er there.

Don’t read too much intothe 12.04 percent decline atRackspace Hosting Inc.The Rackers had a fabu-lous year in 2009, with a

287.55 percent price explo-sion, so its shares werebound to moderate thisyear.

How will stocks performthe rest of the year? Em-ployers are in the best posi-tion to know the answerbetter than anyone.

(Reach David Hendricksat dhendricks@express-news.net)

Most stocks stay low in first half of 2010By DAVID HENDRICKS

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

HOUSTON — New labo-ratory test results releasedFriday showed that most ofthe tar balls that washed upon Texas shores during thepast week were not from themassive Gulf of Mexico oilspill, the Coast Guard said.

Officials had initiallysaid on Monday that the tarballs that were rolling upover the weekend on Galves-ton and other Texas Gulfshorelines were from theBP-operated Deepwater Ho-rizon rig that blew up April20, killing 11 people andcausing an oil spill that has

yet to be controlled. Now,the Coast Guard said onlytar balls found Mondaywere from the rig.

The tar ball sightings inTexas, and the news that ithad originated from the BPwell, created a stir becauseit had been the only Gulfstate untouched by the spill.

From the beginning, offi-cials were perplexed bywhat they called “the weath-

ering” of the tar balls, say-ing it was inconsistent withoil that had traveled 400miles. They speculated theoil had not arrived with thecurrents or naturally, butmay have been carried inby a vessel.

Tuesday, National Inci-dent Commander Thad Al-len said officials were inves-tigating five vessels thatmay have carried it.

Coast Guard: Most Texastar balls not from spill

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI ANDJUAN A. LOZANO

ASSOCIATED PRESSThey speculated the oil had notarrived with the currents ornaturally, but may have beencarried in by a vessel.

Carmen Ramirez - Rathmell, D.D.S.“Let your smile be

a sign of happiness& good health”

1520 Corpus Christi StreetTelephone (956) 726-0160

greedy man named Da-mian who made his fortuneby taking advantage of ille-gal immigrants trying tocarve out a living in theUnited States.

“There is so much injus-tice and so many peopletake advantage of immi-grants,” Benavides said. “Iwant to show people dis-crimination among our-selves.”

Damian’s journey beginswhen he falls sick in themiddle of nowhere. He thenencounters several mira-cles through the very peo-ple he once took advantageof.

Previously oblivious tofaith, the miracles changehis life completely — hevows to instead help immi-grants.

“There is time to changeyour life no matter how oldyou are,” Benavides said.

The filmmaker hopes tobring back faith in Godthrough his film. AlthoughBenavides said he is not areligious man and does noteven attend church regular-ly, when his father died twoyears ago, he became moreemotional and claims hiswriting has improved.

The film is dedicated tohis father, he said, becauseon his death bed, his fatherencouraged Benavides tocontinue writing. He en-dured 42 days of pain andsuffering, but neverstopped praying, Benavidessaid.

“This taught me thatthere are more important

things in my life,” he said.“My life since has beenmore peaceful.”

Benavides had a vision ofhow he wanted the film tobe and who the charactershad to be like, but his latestdecision to play the role ofDamian himself was an in-ability to find the perfectperson to play that role.

He said his cast initiallysuggested he play the rolebecause he embodies whothe character is.

“It’s not going to be easy,but I do have to do it,” Be-navides said. “My fulfill-ment is this film.”

(Lorraine L. Rodriguezmay be contacted at (956)728-2557.)

MOVIE Continued from Page 1A

“There is so much injustice and somany people take advantage ofimmigrants.” HECTOR BENAVIDES

million dollars and morethan half a million hasbeen spent on exhibits.

“It will be a world-classmuseum,” Flores said,adding that the facility de-serves an experienced di-rector.

The museum will con-sist of several exhibits fea-turing the historical time-line of the area, flora andfauna, Native AmericanPeriod, Spanish ColonialPeriod, Mexican Periodand the Republic of Texas.Also included are the Re-public of the Rio Grande,Confederacy Period, Re-construction Period and

the Modern Era. “Zapata is supposed to

be targeting tourism andto hire a person that hasnever been in a museumto run a museum spells di-saster,” Flores said. “I’mgoing to fight it.”

Meanwhile, Mendoza re-fused to comment abouthis proposal.

An agreement betweenZapata County and the Za-pata County Chamber ofCommerce’s Board of Di-rectors to transfer cham-ber of commerce staff tothe Zapata County Mu-seum of History is an itemon next week’s regular

Commissioners Courtmeeting.

The museum is slated toopen in September aftermany construction and ex-hibit approval delays. Thenew building, located onU.S. 82, is still missing car-peting and proper land-scaping.

(Lorraine L. Rodriguezmay be reached at (956)728-2557.)

MUSEUM Continued from Page 1A

ly 40,000 cubic feet persecond early Thursday; onWednesday, the rate wasat just 15,000 cubic feetper second.

Nevertheless, releasesat this rate are well with-in the capacity of the U.S.portion of the lower RioGrande Flood Control Pro-ject that extends fromPenitas to the Gulf ofMexico, IBWC officialssaid.

“The river opens to thelake pretty wide,” Sigifre-do said. “Everythingshould be OK.”

According to San Ygna-cio resident Joel Ruiz, thewater level at the lakerose 3 inches in threehours. He was forced toclose one of his boatramps because of the ris-ing water levels with de-bris.

“That’s a lot of water,and the water is still ris-ing,” Ruiz said.

Although Ruiz had toclose one of his boat

ramps, he agreed that Za-pata County likely wasnot at risk for major flood-ing.

“San Ygnacio is high inelevation and has notflooded in over 10 or 15years,” he said. “No flood-ing is expected in San Yg-nacio but we don’t know.”

It is very difficult to cal-culate when water is com-ing from different areas,he added.

Starr CountyThe problem was ex-

pected to be much moreacute in Starr County,where flooding was pre-dicted at Roma. Mandato-ry evacuation had alreadybeen ordered of the De laCruz, Campo Verde andGarza subdivisions by 6p.m. Friday, according toRep. Guillen.

Sheriff Gonzalez saidZapata was ready to helpits neighbors.

“We’re checking intoRoma because people arebeing evacuated and areheaded to Zapata for shel-ter,” Gonzalez said.

Rio Grande City alsowas expected to be hithard.

The Rio Grande reached52.35 feet early Fridaymorning, and officialssaid major flooding occurswhen the river reaches 53feet, which was expectedto occur Friday night.

“The latest forecast isnow for a peak of 55.5 feetover the weekend and intonext week,” the state rep-resentative said. “And offi-cials say it could go high-er if there are additionalreleases caused by addi-tional heavy rains fromthe second tropical de-pression across the SierraMadre mountains over thenext few days.”

Drainage and irrigationstructures were closed onJuly 3 by the U.S. sectionof IBWC in order to pre-

vent floodwaters from theRio Grande and interiorfloodway from flowing in-

to adjacent communities,according to a water com-mission news release.

(Lorraine L. Rodriguezmay be reached at (956)728-2557.)

FLOOD Continued from Page 1A

A man tosses water from his flooded home in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Friday. A tropical depressionthat came ashore just north of the mouth of the Rio Grande on Thursday was expected to add 6 to 8inches of rain to rivers and reservoirs in south Texas and northern Mexico already swollen from theheavy rains dropped by Hurricane Alex.

Photo by Miguel Tovar | AP

SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

Basketball is still a fewmonths away, but over 60local basketball players gota leg up on the competi-tion this summer by hit-ting the court this past

week for a four-day basket-ball camp at Zapata HighSchool.

The 3rd Annual HawkPride basketball camp wasa huge success for the Za-pata community.

Under the direction ofhead basketball coaches

Clyde Guerra Jr. and JuanVillarreal, players from allages were tutored on thefundamentals of the game.

Former Hawks and La-dy Hawks players were al-so on hand to help outwith the camp.

“Camp was a great suc-

cess,” Guerra said. “Weare extremely happy thatour young leaders have agreat interest in basket-ball. I want to thank allour basketball coaches andour volunteers for a greatcamp.”

Campers were taught

the basic fundamentals ofdribbling, shooting andpassing in a variety ofdrills during the four-daycamp.

Guerra and Villarrealbroke down each funda-

BASKETBALL

Sixty camp participants learned the fundamentals of basketball at the 3rd annual Zapata High basketball camp held last week.

Courtesy Photo

A success of hoopsThird annual Zapata High hoops camp brings in 60

By CLARA SANDOVALZAPATA TIMES

See HOOPS PAGE 2B

GUEUGNON, France —Mark Cavendish made ittwo straight Tour deFrance stage victories Fri-day, leading a sprint forthe line as the main titlecontenders finished in aclosely trailing pack.

The 25-year-old native ofBritain’s Isle of Man raisedhis hands in celebration atthe end of the hot, mostlyflat 141.3-mile sixth stagefrom Montargis to Gueug-non.

The HTC Columbia rid-er earned his 12th careerTour stage victory andfifth in all races this year— clocking 5 hours, 37minutes, 42 seconds toedge Tyler Farrar of theU.S. and Alessandro Petac-chi of Italy.

The main title conten-ders crossed 3 seconds af-ter Cavendish. Defendingchampion Alberto Conta-dor was 28th, seven-timechampion Lance Arm-strong was 38th, and over-all race leader Fabian Can-cellara was 41st.

The top of the standingsdidn’t change: Cancellararetained the yellow jerseyhe has worn everyday butone this year, SpaniardContador stayed ninthoverall, and Armstrongkept his 18th spot. CadelEvans of Australia, a two-time Tour runner-up andthe highest-placed poten-tial title contender, is third— 39 seconds behind Can-cellara.

The heat appeared to betaking a toll on the ridersas Carlos Barredo of Spainand Rui Costa of Portugalgot into a fight after thefinish. The cause of thefracas was not immediate-ly clear, but video footageposted on the website ofsports daily L’Equipeshowed Barredo of theQuick Step team chargingtoward Costa and attempt-ing to strike him over thehead with a bike wheel.

Costa, who rides forCaisse d’Epargne, triedpunching Barredo in theface several times beforeboth fell to the groundscreaming at one another.They were eventually sep-arated and Tour organiz-ers cited both for “insultsand threats” and “incor-rect behavior,” fining eachof them about $190 (200Swiss Francs). It was notimmediately knownwhether there would befurther discipline.

Cavendish’s victorycame a day after he brokedown in tears after win-ning Stage 5, experiencinga sense of redemption afterfailing to meet expecta-tions he would win a stageearlier in the race.

“I’m really happy. I’mspeaking better today be-cause I was pretty emo-tional yesterday,” Caven-dish said.

The sprint attempt byFarrar suggested the Gar-min-Transitions rider’scondition has improvedsince he broke his leftwrist in one of numerouscrashes on rain-slickedroads in Monday’s Stage 2.

“I’m still not 100 per-cent,” Farrar said inFrench on French televi-

TOUR DE FRANCE

Britainwins6th

stageBy JAMEY KEATENASSOCIATED PRESS

See TOUR PAGE 2B

JOHANNESBURG —Spain aims to create afootball dynasty in Sun-day’s World Cup finalagainst a Netherlandsteam trying to emulate itsopponent by finally shrug-ging off a long history ofchronic underachieve-ment.

Spain ended a 44-yearbarren spell when it wonthe 2008 European Cham-pionship and can becomeonly the third team to beworld and Europeanchampion at the sametime.

Spain’s exquisite talentis reminiscent of that ofthe Dutch when “TotalFootball” carried them to

2 CLUBS OF SIMILARITIES

South African kids play soccer in a street in Soweto, South Africa, Friday. On Sunday, Spain and the Netherlands face each other inthe final of the first soccer World Cup on the African continent.

Photo by Luca Bruno | AP

Dutch,Spain

seek titleBy STUART CONDIEASSOCIATED PRESS

See WORLD CUP PAGE 2B

JOHANNESBURG —Doomsday scenarios seemto go hand-in-hand withmega events like theWorld Cup, and concernwas even deeper than usu-

al heading into the tourna-ment in South Africa.

This a country bestknown for the brutality ofits apartheid past, and afuture clouded by highrates of crime and poverty.Beyond that, South Africawas a distant and little-un-

derstood destination totens of thousands of WorldCup visitors from Europeand the United States —making it all too easy tofill in the gaps with spec-ulation about race warsand terror attacks, and tobelieve warnings that

tourists would need torent stab-proof vests be-fore venturing from theairports.

With two games still togo, those doomsday fearshave faded. South Africais being praised as awarm and capable host,

and even a possible Olym-pic candidate — assumingall goes well at the final onSunday at Soccer City.

Jorge Santos, a 26-year-old Brazil fan from Rio deJaneiro, was among those

World Cup fears have vanishedBy DONNA BRYSONASSOCIATED PRESS

See FEARS PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

who braved the trip andlived to tell the tale:

“I didn’t get mugged,” hesaid as he strolled throughan upscale Johannesburgshopping center betweenmatches. “My experiencehere was way better thanexpected.”

Crime — armed robber-ies, carjackings and evenmurder — was a major con-cern.

Most of the country’scrime, though, pits the poor-est of South Africansagainst other poor SouthAfricans. Police said theydid not expect tourists to betargets, but they took nochances. Leaves were can-celed, 40,000 new officershired and recruits taken outof academies for temporaryduty to ensure enough staff-ing to keep World Cup fanssafe.

Fikile Mbalula, SouthAfrica’s deputy police min-ister, said the country cannow celebrate.

“You have fought a warand won it on the basis ofthe feeling that this thing isgoing to be a failure,” Mbal-ula said Friday at a publicdebate on the legacy of theWorld Cup.

If anything, officials havebeen criticized for takingtoo hard a line on law andorder. Special courts estab-lished to expedite cases dur-ing the World Cup havehanded down strikinglyharsh sentences.

In one case, five hotelmaids convicted of pilferingfootball shirts, a medal andunderwear from membersof the England team weregiven three years in prisonand fined 6,000 rand (about

$800). Such sentences, espe-cially coming as they didwhile the games were stillon, were meant as deter-rents. Some may be lessenedon appeal.

In January, a deadly at-tack on the Togo soccerteam while in Angola forthe African Cup of Nationstournament in January fo-cused attention on the possi-bility of a terror attack onthe World Cup. Never mindthat South Africa has noseparatists like the Angolangroup that claimed respon-sibility for the attack, andthat many terror expertsrated the possibility of anattack here as low.

The Iraqi government an-nounced in May it had ar-rested a Saudi citizen ac-cused of targeting the WorldCup, based on conversations

he had had with a friendabout lashing out at Danishand Dutch teams to avengeinsults against the ProphetMuhammad.

Fears were raised againin late June, when statemedia in neighboring Zim-babwe linked a man tryingto cross into South Africausing a fake passport to theNovember 2008 attacks inthe Indian city of Mumbai.It was never clear why sucha suspect would have de-signs on the World Cup, andPakistani officials did noteven deem the story worthyof comment. Within weeksZimbabwean police weresaying that the terrorismlinks were “a media cre-ation” and that the man wasonly facing illegal immigra-tion charges.

The death of white su-

premacist Eugene Terre-blanche with just weeks togo before the World Cupstarted set off speculationracial tensions could erupt.Police say a wage disputeled two black farmworkersto beat Terreblanche todeath. White militants inthe South African heart-land, who considered Terre-blanche their leader, at firstvowed revenge but thencalled for calm. And JuliusMalema, leader of the youthwing of the African Nation-al Congress, has toned downrhetoric seen as anti-white.

Race and violent crimemay be particularly SouthAfrican issues. In at leastone other area, South Africawas part of a global trend —fears that human traffickingspikes during events likethe World Cup.

FEARS Continued from Page 1B

The June 12, 2010 file photo shows police officers being inspected by their commander before beendeployed to provide security outside the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa. Dooms-day scenarios seem to go hand-in-hand with mega event like the World Cup. The paranoia was moremega than most in the lead-up to the tournament in South Africa.

AP Photo

the 1974 and ’78 finals. But the Dutch lost each

time and still carry the ti-tle of the best team neverto have won the WorldCup.

The Netherlands’ streakwithout a title only standsat 22 years but whateverhappens at Johannes-burg’s Soccer City, one ofthe teams will become theeighth champion in the 80-year history of the WorldCup and the first newname on the cup sinceFrance 12 years ago.

Spain won Euro 2008 af-ter adding midfield steel toa free-flowing style basedupon first-time passingand quick movement.

Although Xabi Alonsoand Sergio Busquets nowprovide the midfieldshield that protects the de-fense and allows the likesof Xavi Hernandez,Andres Iniesta and DavidVilla to dismantle the op-position, the pattern is soeffective that Netherlandscoach Bert van Marwijk isamong those pursuingsomething similar.

Captain Mark van Bom-mel and Nigel de Jong,who should return fromsuspension after being re-placed by Demy de Zeeuwfor the 3-2 semifinal winover Uruguay, are morephysical and destructivethan their Spanish coun-terparts but offer a simi-lar platform from whichthe Dutch build.

It’s a policy that has de-nied the Netherlands theweight of neutral supportit usually enjoys from fansof entertaining football,but has brought sixstraight 90-minute wins atthe tournament and a firstWorld Cup final appear-ance for 32 years.

“We won every qualify-ing game, every gamehere. We are not going toallow Spain to beat usnow,” playmaker WesleySneijder said.

But in an ideal world,Van Marwijk wants styleand substance.

“We play well. Spainplays well, but they aremore attractive and this iswhere we want to get too,”Van Marwijk said.

More sparkling Dutchsides than the currentcrop have come and gone,most notably those elimi-nated in the second roundof the 1990 World Cup andthe semifinals in 1998, butnone have as successfullyblended hard-nosed indefa-tigability with raw talent.

Sneijder won the Cham-pions League, Italianleague and Italian cupwith Inter Milan this sea-son before scoring five ofthe Netherlands’ 12 goalsat this tournament. Victo-ry Sunday would makehim the first European towin the world title in thesame season as such a tre-ble.

“They don’t even giveyou time to think aboutit,” Sneijder said. “After-ward, I’ll have timeenough to enjoy it. Now itdoesn’t really enter mymind.”

Winger Arjen Robbenhas overcome injury aftermissing the first twomatches and, if he andhitherto goalless striker

Robin van Persie are onform, Spain’s defensecould wobble.

Spain also has a misfir-ing striker in FernandoTorres, whose first touch,pace and confidence havedeserted him in SouthAfrica.

Coach Vicente del Bos-que dropped the Liverpoolforward for the 1-0 semifi-nal victory over Germanybut hinted that he may re-call him for the showpiece.Torres endured a similarlygoalless European Cham-pionship before playing asa lone forward in the finaland scoring the only goal.

Del Bosque will stickwith more or less thesame lineup that hassteadily improved sincethe team’s surprise open-ing loss to Switzerland,meaning that as many aseight players who ap-peared in the 2008 Euro-pean Championship finalare likely to start.

“We’ve kept a certainblock of players in thesesix games, so I don’t thinkthere will be many chang-es,” Del Bosque said.

Del Bosque fielded thesame starting 11 for threestraight games before re-placing Torres with PedroRodriguez. Pedro excelledin his first start, whichcame in only his fifth ap-pearance.

Striker Villa shares thelead in the tournamentscoring charts withSneijder but, while DelBosque wants Spain tostick to the attractive styleof football that has made itfavorite, he is looking atdefenders Gerard Piqueand Carles Puyol to dotheir bit.

Spain hasn’t conceded agoal in three straightknockout matches.

“We will be halfwaythere if we defend like wedid against Portugal andGermany,” Del Bosquesaid.

WORLD CUP Continued from Page 1B

Del Bosquewill stickwith more orless the samelineup thathas steadilyimprovedsince theteam’ssurpriseopening losstoSwitzerland,meaning thatas many aseight playerswho appearedin the 2008EuropeanChampionshipfinal arelikely to start.

sion. “Maybe I’m stupidnot to stop after the break,but today I was feeling bet-ter.”

Thor Hushovd of Nor-way, who wears the bestsprinter’s green jersey thatCavendish covets, finished10th, and expressed disap-pointment that he wasn’table to keep up. He has 118points in the green-jerseyclassification chase — onlyfour more than Petacchi.

“If I want to win this jer-sey I can’t continue likethis,” Hushovd said.

Barring crashes or mis-haps, the overall standingsrarely change much on flatstages. But with the Tourabout to leave the lowlandsfor the mountains, theclimbers are poised to takecenter stage and the con-tenders will test their ri-vals for weakness.

Riders get their first realtaste of climbing this yearin Saturday’s seventh

stage, a 102.8-mile trekfrom Tournus to Stationdes Rousses with six low-

to mid-grade ascents in theJura range.

The climbing begins in

earnest Sunday, when thethree-week race enters theAlps.

TOUR Continued from Page 1B

Stage winner Mark Cavendish, of Britain, reacts on the podium after the sixth stage of the Tour deFrance cycling race over 227.5 kilometers (141.4 miles) with start in Montargis and finish in Gueugnon,France, Friday.

Photo by Christophe Ena | AP

mental so that the young-est camper was able tocomprehend the conceptof the drill and why thefundamental was impor-tant in the game of bas-ketball.

Campers enjoyed thestructure that Guerra andhis staff provided, maxi-mizing the time allottedfor the camp.

They moved from drillto drill with ease and alsoengaged in defensivedrills.

Guerra and Villarrealhope that the basketballcommunity continues tosupport the camp andthey are looking to in-crease next year’s num-bers.

“It was a great camp,and the support that theZapata community givesis unparallel,” Guerra

said. “Next year we’ll con-tinue to move in the rightdirection and increase thenumbers.”

(Clara Sandoval can bereached at csandovalzapa-tatimes@gmail.com)

HOOPS Continued from Page 1B

“It was a greatcamp, and thesupport thatthe Zapatacommunitygives isunparallel.”CLYDE GUERRA JR.,COACH

COLORADO SPRINGS,Colo. — A new test thatprovides a breakthrough indetecting human growthhormone in blood is expect-ed to become available soonand make it more difficultfor athletes to use HGHwithout getting caught.

It’s a test some expertsconsider so good, however,it could blunt the push forthe urine-based test soughtby some in baseball andfootball, possibly stallingpromising research thathas already cost manythousands of dollars.

The new test, called abiomarkers test, scans theblood for chemicals thebody produces after HGHuse, which are detectablefor up to two weeks. Thetest, expected to be availa-ble in the coming weeks ormonths, is a complement to— or maybe an improve-ment over — the currenttest, called an isoform test,which scans blood for syn-thetic HGH.

More toolsThe isoform test detects

synthetic HGH in the blood

for only about 48 hours af-ter use, making it easierfor users to avoid detection.

“Anytime we have moretools, it’s a good thing,”said Larry Bowers, the leadscientist for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “We viewthe two tests as working to-gether. One doesn’t replacethe other, but it certainlygives us a wider windowand a greater opportunityfor catching people.”

Following these develop-ments anxiously are scien-tists from a Virginia labcalled Ceres Nanosciences,where a $65,000 grant fromUSADA has been used tofund research that couldsomeday lead to a urinetest for HGH — the onlyHGH test Major LeagueBaseball players wouldhave to submit to under thecurrent “Joint Drug Agree-ment” between baseballand the union.

Need cashBuoyed by success from

the early phases of theirtesting, which the Ceresscientists say has debunkedlong-held claims that HGHparticles can’t be effectivelycaptured in urine, Ceres isnow applying for a grant to

take the experiments to thenext step.

“To move forward afterthis, we desperately needmoney,” said Lance Liotta,lead scientist on the CeresHGH project. “Funding iscritical for us. If all themoney goes toward theblood test that other peopleare working on, thenthey’re missing a fantasticopportunity in urine thatthey shouldn’t dismiss off-hand.”

Ceres’ best chance forfunding is from the Part-nership for Clean Competi-tion (PCC), a collaborativefounded in 2008 by theNFL, Major League Base-ball, USADA and the U.S.Olympic Committee thathas provided $1.3 million ingrants for promising anti-doping research over thelast two years.

The founders of the PCC,which delivers grants afterreceiving advice from a sci-entific advisory boardchaired by Bowers of USA-DA, have different agendas.

Realistic feelings“We’re optimistic but

realistic” about the possi-bility of a urine test, USA-DA CEO Travis Tygart

said. “Right now, and forthe foreseeable future, youhave to collect blood to de-tect and deter HGH.”

Baseball and footballhave long held out againstblood tests, with leaders oftheir respective unionsquestioning the validityand effectiveness of theoriginal isoforms test,which has been availablesince 2004 — and on awider basis since 2008.

Encouraged by that de-velopment and others, theNFL has come around onblood testing over the pastseveral months, saying itwould like to implementHGH blood testing if it cancome to terms with theplayers’ union. That debatefigures to be part of nextcollective-bargaining agree-ment.

“In a perfect world, aurine test would be far eas-ier for us to deal with andadminister than a bloodtest,” said Adolpho Birch,who oversees the NFL’sdrug policy. “The problemis, we thought there wassome chance a urine testcould be developed. That’sincreasingly looking lesslikely. The practical realityis, we need to focus on atest that works, and the testthat works is blood.”

Test concerns athletesBy EDDIE PELLS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE ZAPATA TIMES | 3BSATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

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call 724-4342; 645-8145For sale! 6pc used girl

bedroom set! $650, Call 717-8167 or 763-5078Gas Stove & Washer,With

Warranty $175ea.

Call 401-8223Kenmore dryer, Sony 36in

tv, old refridgerator, & coke machine, $50 & up

call:722-6059Kenmore Refrigerator

2dr., ice/water despenser & GE Stove $900 OBO Call

334-6614Kenmore Washer & Dryer,Space

saver,$500 OBO Call 334-6614

Laredo Country Club Fullmember-

ship $2,500 No transfer fee.call:740-2621

Large Refrigerator in good working condition. $75

OBO Call 251-1296

PPEETTSS && SSUUPPPPLLIIEESS 112288

Russell/Rat Terrier Mix Puppies, 3F/1M Excellent Dogs in or out door, 7wks,

$100 Call 645-7777

Shih-tzu,7 months old,$400 Nego-

tiable, Call 229-1366

Venta de canarios,$50, Call 718-9943

LLIIVVEESSTTOOCCKK && SSUUPP--PPLLIIEESS 113300

CABRITOS, Live/Vivos,Chivos/Chivas $50 & up

948-5218Hay Round bales starting at

$50.00 Call: 401-3070

Longhorn Cattle for Sale.$300 & up

Call 956-285-2222Reg. & Com. Red Brangus Bulls.2yrs. & up Starting at $1500 & up763-1116 & 763-7832

MMIISSCCEELLLLAANNEEOOUUSS

AARRTTIICCLLEESS FFOORR SSAALLEE113366

2 racing A tv’s $3800 OBO call:723-6633

PPEETTSS && SSUUPPPPLLIIEESS 112288Adorable Chihuahua(Toy) pup-

pies,7wks old,1st shots,3girls & 1boy,

$125-$250 Call:220-5095

Boxer Puppies for sale. 3f/3m,Tigerstriped,5wks.,$150ea.Call

775-0022Chihuahua apple head pup-

pies, all shots/dewormed $175

call:319-2469Chihuahua puppies,Toy &

T-Cup, 6wks,1112 Coolidge Dr.

Call SOLDFull blooded Blue Heiler dogs,

1/2 yrs old,great ranch dog,good

w/children,$150 to good home only

call:324-8781Jack Russell Terrier

Puppies,pure breed,shots,3mths.,both

parents on site, $150326-5865

Jack Russell, Purebreed CKC,6weeks,

Tail Cut,Dewormed $250956-337-9194;

791-8274Male Shih-tzu 8wk,white &

brown,$290 small parents, playful, call:

251-0652Mini Pinscher Puppy,

Female, 2mths old, $135 Call 645-5225

Pug Puppy,6wks.old,Male$350

OBO Call:(956) 750-1260;286-9603

Pure breed Huskies,white,blueeyed,

$200 OBO, Call 744-7077Parents on site!

LLOOTTSS FFOORR SSAALLEE 7700

Lot for sale. 3009 Pecos,62x100, $35,000Call 771- 4897

CC OO MM MM EE RR CC II AA LLIINNVVEESSTTMMEENNTT 7799

Professional Offices for Sale-408Shiloh Dr.,

2buildings,front building over6,000sqft,

rearbuilding 3,000sqft.Total property

approx 60,000sqft

Currently leased!INCOME PRODUCING! $1.1mil-

lion Nego-tiable

Call Julio Patino956-229-5454

BBUUSSIINNEESSSS OOPPPPOORRTTUU--NNIITTYY 8822

Profitable shipping/bill payment station

$20,000 OBO call:717-8384

PPEETTSS && SSUUPPPPLLIIEESS 112288

1.5 mo old, Pitbull 5M/1F,pure breed, $250, & up!

Call 956-401-9377

HHOOMMEESS FFOORR SSAALLEE 6611

Alexander-3608 Josefina4bd/3ba/2cg,

Pool,3,000sqft LA,REDUCED$298,500

Call 774-9702; 771-3831For Sale by Owner 3227 Windfall (Windfield) 3bd/2ba 2000sqft,

tile in all rooms,ref/stv.$235,000 OBO

Call 744-7373

For Sale by Owner 3227 Windfall (Windfield) 3bd/2ba 2000sqft,

tile in all rooms,ref/stv.$235,000 OBO

Call 744-7373

North Side, Beautiful 3bd/2.5ba/2cg, $189,900

All the upgrades. Call 206-9615

OWNER FINANCE! South SideHome,2614

Comal Lp.,3b/2ba,big yard,$99,900

$8500 DOWN Neg. Move inToday! Call 206-9615

Well kept 4/2/2 great schools,1963 Sq

ft., lot 8320 Sq ft.,$212,000 neg.3221

Windfall 220-2679Windfield Sub

3202 Wingate Ct,3bd/2ba/2cg, palapa

W/bedroom & full bath,pool, 2,140sq.ft, $220,000 neg., Call 956-489-3003

or 791-1913

2817 San Dario vacant commer-cial lot,

24x15,great opportunity $55,000call:

635-4188

‘99 FordExpedition Likenew, One owner,new tires, bumper

guard A/C,CD, $6,500 OBO

Call:237-4812237-4823

THE BEST LEASHDear Readers: What kind

of LEASH might be best foryou and your dog? Here iswhat our friends at theAmerican Society for thePrevention of Cruelty toAnimals have to say on thesubject:

Retractable leashes arebest for romping in the parkor in more open spaces. Itcan be difficult to controlthe dog in a small area, as Ihave found when takingCabbie, my miniatureschnauzer, to the vet.

Chain leashes are agood bet for a big dog thatlikes to chew or pull, eventhough they are heavy andnot as easy to handle.

Leather leashes are du-rable and feel comfortable inhuman hands. (Plus they dolook lovely.)

Nylon leashes are stur-dy and durable but can leavea leash burn if they getwrapped around a leg orarm. So don’t use with ananimal that is prone to pull-ing.

-- HeloiseHANDY ICE PICKDear Heloise: When my

Siamese cat, Sassy, is in thebathroom and the door isclosed, she sometimes grabshold of the handle on the

cabinet drawer next to thedoor, pulling it open andthereby making it impossi-ble to open the bathroomdoor from the outside.

The only way for me toget inside is through a tinyopening, where I insert anice pick into the side of thewooden drawer, edging itclosed, and open the door.

I’ve had to do this manytimes, and I always use myice pick! -- Keri E., Sacra-mento, Calif.

CHEESE TO GIVE PILLSTO DOGS

Dear Heloise: My dog ispretty smart. She knowsthat when I get out thecheese and stand at thekitchen counter, she’s aboutto get a pill, but she seems toforget about the medicineand eagerly gobbles downthe yummy cheese holdingthe pill. My other dog (noton medicine) gets a smallpiece of cheese also. -- AReader, via e-mail

Check with your vetabout giving human food toyour dog. -- Heloise

HINTS BY | HELOISE

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

JOHANNESBURG —Leading scorers WesleySneijder of the Nether-lands and David Villa ofSpain headline the list ofFIFA’s 10 nominees for theWorld Cup Golden Ball.

FIFA honors the tour-nament’s best player withthe award.

Sneijder and Villa haveeach scored five goals andwill go head to head inSunday’s final at Johan-nesburg’s Soccer City.

Also nominated wereDiego Forlan of Uruguay,Asamoah Gyan of Ghana,Andres Iniesta of Spain,Lionel Messi of Argentina,Mesut Oezil of Germany,Arjen Robben of the Neth-erlands, Bastian Schwein-steiger of Germany andXavi of Spain.

Media members willvote to determine the win-ner after the final.

Past winners have beenPaolo Rossi of Italy, 1982;Diego Maradona of Argen-tina, 1986; Salvatore Schil-laci of Italy, 1990; Romarioof Brazil, 1994; Ronaldo ofBrazil, 1998; Oliver Kahnof Germany, 2002; Zine-dine Zidane of France,2006.

Best young playersGermany’s Thomas

Mueller, Andre Ayew ofGhana and Mexico’s Gio-vani Dos Santos are incontention for the bestyoung player at the WorldCup.

Players must be bornafter January 1989 to beeligible.

The 20-year-old Muellerscored four goals in Ger-many’s run to the semifi-nals, but was suspendedfor its 1-0 loss to Spain be-

cause he received two yel-low cards.

The list was deter-mined by a FIFA technicalpanel of coaches and for-mer players. The panelwill choose the winnerSunday after the WorldCup final.

The award was firstmade at the 2006 tourna-ment to Germany’s LukasPodolski.

Players robbedSpain players Sergio

Busquets and Pedro Rodri-guez had money and docu-ments stolen from theirrooms in Potchefstroombefore their World Cupsemifinal win over Ger-many in Durban.

Busquets lost docu-ments and about $1,000.Pedro reportedly lost near-ly $1,300 from his safe.

Busquets said Fridaythat “nobody likes to berobbed ... but I’ll exchangeall of my documents forthe World Cup.”

Spain plays the Nether-lands in Sunday’s final.

Three Greece players al-

so had money stolen fromtheir hotel rooms just out-side Durban earlier in thetournament.

‘Out of reach’Former Netherlands

star forward Ruud vanNistelrooy agrees withSpain’s status as the favor-ite in the World Cup finalagainst the Dutch, sayingthe European champions’style of play is “out ofreach.”

Van Nistelrooy said inan interview with Spanishsports daily Marca pub-lished Friday that “no onemoves the ball as well asthe Spanish team. Thatand its past three yearsmake it a big favorite towin.”

However, the formerManchester United andReal Madrid striker said itwould be a mistake to un-derestimate the Nether-lands in Sunday’s matchat Soccer City in Johan-nesburg.

“Spain will have theball, but (Arjen) Robbenand (Wesley) Sneijder can

kill you on the counterat-tack,” Van Nistelrooysaid.

Antic’s anticsSerbia coach Radomir

Antic has criticized FIFA’sdecision to suspend andfine him, calling it “inap-propriate and unde-served.”

Antic said in a state-ment Friday he felt “dis-belief and displeasure.“During my yearslong ca-reer as a coach ... I’ve nev-er been suspended or pun-ished.”

Serbia’s soccer associ-ation said this week thatFIFA suspended Antic forfour matches and finedhim $13,000 for his “inap-propriate behavior” aftera World Cup first-roundmatch against Australiain South Africa.

It was not clear whyAntic was punished, al-though he criticized therefereeing of the match,which Serbia lost 2-1 toeliminate it from the tour-nament.

Antic reiterated Fridaythe referee made “severalmistakes at the cost of ourteam.”

Spain players on the bench, including David Villa, center, cheer as the final whistle is blown during the World Cup semifinal soccermatch between Germany and Spain at the stadium in Durban, South Africa, Wednesday. Spain won 1-0 to advance to the final.

Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza | AP

10 nominees for BallASSOCIATED PRESS WORLD CUP NOTEBOOK

PORT ELIZABETH,South Africa — Uruguaycoach Oscar Tabarez thinksit’s time to prove Germa-ny’s oracle octopus wrong.

Tabarez said he isn’t su-perstitious but the selectionof Germany by the world fa-mous octopus Paul to winthe third-place playoff todayat Port Elizabeth’s NelsonMandela Bay Stadium is an-other motivation for histeam.

“It’s not just a matter ofbeating Germany but alsobeating the octopus,” a smil-ing Tabarez said Friday onthe eve of the penultimategame of the World Cup. “Itwould be absolutely spectac-ular, and I think it is possi-ble.

“(It) would send a mess-age to everyone by sayingnothing is impossible infootball.”

The octopus has correct-ly predicted the result of allsix of Germany’s games —including the semifinal lossto Spain — and five out ofsix matches at the 2008 Eu-ropean Championship.

Meanwhile, Germanycaptain Philipp Lahm andforward Lukas Podolskimissed Friday’s trainingwith a cold, as did coachJoachim Loew.

Striker Miroslav Klosehad some fitness tests onhis back problems in theteam hotel, while backupgoalkeeper Tim Wiese sat itout because of a right kneeinjury.

Even with a growing sicklist, Germany is still the fa-vorite, according to Taba-rez.

“Since 1934, Germanyhas been participating allthe time in the World Cupand Germany has written agreat history in the book ofthe World Cups,” he said.

“Before the matchagainst Spain this (Germanside) had been the bestteam of the tournament, sothis is very motivating forus. We recognize this matchwill be difficult but we don’tthink it will be impossible.”

Uruguay, a two-time

World Cup winner, is alsoplaying for its place in his-tory. Victory would give theSouth Americans their bestfinish at a World Cup sincewinning its last title in 1950.

“We have overall deliver-ed great performances,” Ta-barez said. “I think overallit has been a great WorldCup (for Uruguay).”

Tabarez said strikers Die-go Forlan and Luis Suarez,who is back after a one-game suspension, will bothstart.

Forlan, who is fit afterbeing substituted in thesemifinal loss to the Nether-lands with a right thigh in-jury, has scored four goalsat the World Cup, one goalfewer than leading scorersDavid Villa of Spain andNetherlands midfielderWesley Sneijder.

Forlan has also beennominated among the 10candidates to be selected asthe best player of the tour-nament, but Tabarez saidForlan was not focused onpersonal awards.

“It’s a matter of standingup for our country and hehas done so,” Tabarez said.“It would be great for Uru-guayan football if he wastaken into account as one ofthe top players (at the WorldCup) ... but he is not goingfor that. It is a collectivesport.”

Tabarez paid tribute tohis team’s fighting spiritahead of what could be hislast game in charge.

“At any rate tomorrow,my contract with the Uru-guayan football associationwill be over and that’s it,”Tabarez said. “Whatevercomes in the future will de-pend on me.”

Uruguay’s Diego Forlan, right top, controls the ball as coach OscarTabarez, left, walks during a training session in Port Elizabeth,South Africa, Friday. Uruguay will face Germany today for thirdplace in the World Cup.

Photo by Fernando Vergara | AP

Paul choosesGermany

By GERALD IMRAYASSOCIATED PRESS