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LAREDO — The port ofentry at the Lincoln-Jua-rez International Bridge,also known as bridge II,will undergo more thantwo years worth of reno-vations starting Septem-ber that will eventuallybuild a new bus inspec-tion and passenger pro-cessing area; an improvedwaiting area; restroomsand a canopy for loadingand unloading buses.

The $62 million revampis meant to improve traf-fic flow and reduce wait-ing times at the port ofentry, said U.S. Congress-man Henry Cuellar, D-La-redo.

Cuellar and other feder-al and city officials an-nounced the project’skick-off Tuesday by theLincoln-Juarez Interna-tional Bridge.

Project manager RaulMoreno Jr., who workswith the U.S. General Ser-vices Administration,said the port of entry wasoriginally designed for in-specting six buses a daywhen it opened in 1980.

Now, U.S. Customs andBorder Protection officersgo through about 100 in-spections a day. Process-ing a bus takes at least 45minutes, Moreno said

The project managersaid he hopes the complet-

LINCOLN-JUAREZ INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE

$62M RENOVATIONS

Rep. Henry Cuellar on Thursday announced a $62 million renovation project for bridge II in Laredo. Pictured from left is Cuellar, GSARegional Administrator Sylvia Hernandez, CBP Director of Field Operations David Higgerson, Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz and Nuevo Lare-do Mayor Carlos Canturosas.

Courtesy photo

Construction project to begin next monthBy KENDRA ABLAZA

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Congressman Henry Cuellar, holding cellphone, takes a selfie withGSA representatives Sylvia Hernandez and Raul J. Moreno, andwith CBP Director of Laredo Field Operations David Higgerson andNuevo Laredo Mayor Carlos Canturosas Villarreal Tuesday morningfollowing a press conference at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge.

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

See BRIDGE PAGE 10A

A San Antonio womanwho was shot in the headin Nuevo Laredo, Mexico,was flown out to the SanAntonio Military MedicalCenter soon after the inci-dent, according to re-ports.

Additionally, a LaredoPolice Department inci-dent report identified thewoman as Virginia Valen-zuela de Medina, 36.

She remains in seriouscondition at the SAMMCas of Tuesday afternoon,according to hospitalspokesman.

Reports further statethe case was assigned tothe local Federal Bureauof Investigation officewith FBI task force inves-

tigators to follow up onthe case.

Assistant Driver VictorLopez, Laredo Fire De-partment spokesman, saidparamedics responded tothe Lincoln-Juarez Inter-national Bridge at about5:15 p.m. Saturday.

Paramedics renderedaid to Valenzuela, whowas alert and orientedwhen EMS crews tookover, Lopez said.

She was rushed to La-redo Medical Center,where she was listed incritical condition. Later,Valenzuela was airliftedto San Antonio for spe-cialized care that sameday, according to MindyCasso, an LMC spokeswo-man.

The American Consul-ate in Nuevo Laredo re-

leased a brief statementon the incident.

“The U.S. Consulate inNuevo Laredo is aware ofthe case but is preventedfrom sharing specificsdue to privacy considera-tions of those involved,”reads the statement.

ShootingThe shooting occurred

at about 3 p.m. in NuevoLaredo. Valenzuela hadcrossed into Mexico onSaturday morning to visither sister and run someerrands.

Reports state Valenzue-la then went to a dentist’soffice with her niece. Herniece was getting dentalwork, according to police.

When Valenzuela and

her niece came out of theoffice, they walked towardtheir Chevy TrailBlazer.

Valenzuela attemptedto turn on the ignitionwhen an unknown manwalked up to the driverside window, pointed a re-volver and shot Valenzue-la at point blank range inthe left temple, states anincident report.

Reports state Valenzue-la’s items and moneywere not stolen.

The assailant allegedlywalked away after he shotthe woman. Police saidthe niece sought helpfrom a taxi cab becauseshe did not know how todrive.

The cab took them toHospital General, which

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO

Woman shotVictim attacked when leaving dentist’s office

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See SHOT PAGE 10A

LAREDO — Rep. HenryCuellar, D-Laredo, an-nounced Tuesday the ex-pansion of health care ser-vices for veterans at theLaredo Department of Vet-erans Affairs (VA) Outpa-tient Clinic.

A new partnership be-tween the VA Texas ValleyCoastal Bend Health CareSystem, TriWest and Doc-tors Hospital of Laredowill allow qualifying Lare-do-area veterans, includ-ing those in Zapata, to re-ceive inpatient surgicaland emergency care ser-vices.

This partnership bringsthe convenience of a com-munity hospital within

reach to over 5,000 WebbCounty veterans who willno longer have to travel toSan Antonio for theirhealthcare needs.

As per this agreement,Doctors Hospital will noti-fy the VA when a local vet-eran arrives to the emer-gency room, or when a vet-eran arrives as a transferfrom the Laredo VA Out-patient clinic. The hospitalwill then provide in-pa-tient services, emergencyroom care and advancedradiological services in-cluding MRI and CT scans.

These new services arein conjunction with exist-ing on-site clinic services,which have recently been

VA OUTPATIENT CLINIC

Partnershipwill expandsurgical care

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

See CLINIC PAGE 10A

WASHINGTON — TheObama administration isproposing to cut methaneemissions from U.S. oil andgas production by nearlyhalf over the next decade inan unprecedented step tocurb climate change.

The administration’s tar-get is to cut methane fromoil and gas drilling by 40 to45 percent by 2025, com-pared to 2012 levels. Themove was not unexpected —officials set the same goal ina preliminary blueprint inJanuary. Still, by movingforward with the officialproposal, President Barack

Obama is adding to a list ofenergy regulations thathave drawn applause fromenvironmentalists and irefrom energy advocates.

To meet the goal, the ad-ministration was expectedto issue the first U.S. regula-tions cutting emissions fromnew natural gas wells, alongwith updated standards fordrilling to reduce leakagefrom wells on public lands.It’s unclear how much thoseregulations will cost the en-ergy industry to comply.

The Environmental Pro-tection Agency scheduled anoon announcement to un-veil the proposal.

“Today, through our cost-

OIL & GAS

In this June 15, 2005 photo, methane gas burns off a stack nearthe Washington Electric Cooperative power plant in Coventry, Vt.The Obama administration is proposing to cut methane emissionsfrom oil and gas production by nearly half over the next decade.

Photo by Toby Talbot | AP file

US proposes tocut methane

by nearly halfBy MATTHEW DALY

AND JOSH LEDERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

See METHANE PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20Azteca Economic Development

presents a series of small businessworkshops. Classes are free and inEnglish at the Goodwill on I-35 andMann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 726-4462 to register or for more informa-tion.

The Elysian Social Club will meetat 7 p.m. For more information, con-tact Herlinda Nieto-Dubuisson at 956-285-3126.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21South Texas Food Bank Empty

Bowls IX fundraiser, 6 p.m. dinner, 8p.m. concert, Laredo Energy Arena.Concert by Kansas. Table (of 10) spon-sorships start at $1,500, on sale fromSouth Texas Food Bank staff 324-2432.Concert tickets $10, $15, $25 availableat LEA box office and Ticketmaster.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22District Attorney Isidro “Chilo”

Alaniz and J’s Party Town are holding aback-to-school supply drive from 10a.m. to 7 p.m. at J’s Party Town, 6516McPherson Rd. Show receipt of schoolsupplies and redeem it towards ridinggo-karts and paintball.

MONDAY, AUGUST 24First day of school for students

in the Laredo and United IndependentSchool districts.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25Azteca Economic Development

presents a series of small businessworkshops. Classes are free and inEnglish at the Goodwill on I-35 andMann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 726-4462 to register or for more informa-tion.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27Spanish Book Club from 6 to 8

p.m. at Laredo Public Library-CaltonRoad. Contact Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Azteca Economic Developmentpresents a series of small businessworkshops. Classes are free and inEnglish at the Goodwill on I-35 andMann Road from 6–8 p.m. Call 726-4462 to register or for more informa-tion.

The Webb County Heritage Foun-dation will host an opening receptionfor “New Spain: The Frontiers of Faith,”an exhibit featuring photographic re-productions of rare documents, engrav-ings, paintings and artifacts concerningthe conquest and colonization of Mexi-co and its northern territories from 6to 8 p.m. at the Villa Antigua BorderHeritage Museum, 810 Zaragoza St. Formore information, contact the WebbCounty Heritage Foundation at 956-727-0977 or visit www.webbheritage-.org.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28“Imitate Jesus!” is the theme for

this year’s convention of Jehovah’s Wit-nesses in Corpus Christi. The first oftwo three-day events at the AmericanBank Center, 1901 N Shoreline Blvd.,will begin at 9:20 a.m. with the Eng-lish Convention. The keynote address isscheduled for 11:45 a.m. and is enti-tled “Concealed in Him Are All theTreasures of Wisdom.” The conventionis open to the public; no admissionfee.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3The Villa San Agustin de Laredo

Genealogical Society will meet from 3to 5 p.m. at St. John Neumann to dis-cuss the state conference. For more in-formation call Sanjuanita-Martinez Hun-ter at 722-3497 or visit vsalgs.org forconference info.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4Martin High School Class of ’75

40th year reunion from 7 p.m. to mid-night at 105 Regal Drive. Contact Yo-landa Gonzalez-Robbins at 286-4627 oryolandarobbins@hotmail.com.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5Martin High School Class of ’75

40th year reunion from 8 p.m. to 1a.m. at The Mirage, 5411 McPhersonRd. Contact Yolanda Gonzalez-Robbinsat 286-4627 or yolandarobbins@hot-mail.com. RSVP required.

Used book sale at First UnitedMethodist Church, 1220 McClellandAve. Hardcovers $1, paperbacks $.50,magazines and children’s books $.25.Open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thepublic is welcome.

8th Annual Football TailgatingCook-Off at L.I.F.E. Downs from 9 a.m.to 10 p.m.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, August19, the 231st day of 2015. Thereare 134 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On August 19, 1955, torren-tial rains caused by HurricaneDiane resulted in severe flood-ing in the northeastern U.S.,claiming some 200 lives.

On this date:In A.D. 14, Caesar Augustus,

Rome’s first emperor, died atage 76 after a reign lastingfour decades; he was succeed-ed by his stepson Tiberius.

In 1812, the USS Constitu-tion defeated the British fri-gate HMS Guerriere off NovaScotia during the War of 1812,earning the nickname “OldIronsides.”

In 1934, a plebiscite in Ger-many approved the vesting ofsole executive power in AdolfHitler.

In 1936, the first of a seriesof show trials orchestrated bySoviet leader Josef Stalin be-gan in Moscow as 16 defend-ants faced charges of conspir-ing against the government(all were convicted and execut-ed).

In 1942, during World WarII, about 6,000 Canadian andBritish soldiers launched a di-sastrous raid against the Ger-mans at Dieppe, France, suf-fering more than 50-percentcasualties.

In 1964, The Beatles openedtheir first full-fledged U.S. touras they performed at SanFrancisco’s Cow Palace.

In 1976, President Gerald R.Ford won the Republican pres-idential nomination at the par-ty’s convention in Kansas City.

In 1980, 301 people aboard aSaudi Arabian L-1011 died asthe jetliner made a fiery emer-gency return to the Riyadhairport.

In 1991, Soviet hard-linersmade the stunning announce-ment that President MikhailS. Gorbachev had been re-moved from power. (The coupattempt collapsed two days lat-er.)

Ten years ago: A Texas ju-ry found pharmaceutical giantMerck and Co. liable for thedeath of a man who’d takenthe once-popular painkillerVioxx, awarding his widow$253.4 million in damages.(Texas caps on punitive dam-ages reduced that figure toabout $26 million; a Texascourt overturned the verdictin May 2008, but the widowhas asked the U.S. SupremeCourt to hear her case.)

Five years ago: The lastAmerican combat brigade ex-ited Iraq, seven years and fivemonths after the U.S.-led inva-sion began.

One year ago: A video re-leased by Islamic State mili-tants purported to show thebeheading of American jour-nalist James Foley as retribu-tion for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorL.Q. Jones is 88. Actor and for-mer U.S. senator Fred Thomp-son is 73. Former PresidentBill Clinton is 69. Vice Presi-dent Al Gore, is 67. Actor Pe-ter Gallagher is 60. Actor JohnStamos is 52. Actress KyraSedgwick is 50. Country singerLee Ann Womack is 49. ActorMatthew Perry is 46. Countrysinger Clay Walker is 46. Rap-per Fat Joe is 45. Olympic goldmedal tennis player Mary JoeFernandez is 44. Actress ErikaChristensen is 33. Olympic sil-ver medal snowboarder Lind-sey Jacobellis is 30. Rapper Ro-meo is 26.

Thought for Today:“Cheer up! The worst is yet tocome!” — Philander ChaseJohnson, American author(1866-1939).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — The death of Sandra Bland ina rural county lockup launched a new re-view of jail safety in Texas, but state law-makers were noncommittal Tuesday aboutwhether Bland’s family would be part of theprocess.

Republican Lt. Dan Patrick did not sayBland’s name while announcing that legisla-tive hearings on jail suicides would begin inSeptember. He said a new Senate committeeis not focused on any one death, and whenthe question of whether Bland’s relativeswould be involved was raised, noted that thefamily had recently filed a lawsuit.

But Democratic Sen. John Whitmire, whowill chair the committee, made it clear thatBland’s death July 13 in a Waller County jailwas the impetus. Authorities say Bland

hanged herself with a garbage bag, a findingher family has questioned.

“There’s no question that Ms. Bland’s trag-edy has led us to this point,” said Whitmire,who added that he has yet to determine whowill be invited to the hearings.

A message left with attorneys for theBland family was not immediately returnedTuesday.

Texas has seen an average of 25 suicides incounty jails each year since 2012. There havebeen 29 this fiscal year, including Bland, whowas found dead three days after she was ar-rested. She had been pulled over for signal-ing a lane change, but the routine trafficstop quickly became confrontational afterthe trooper asked her to put out a cigarettein her car.

Authorities have said that Waller Countyfailed to keep a close watch on Bland.

AROUND TEXAS

Attorney Cannon Lambert, left, along with Sandra Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, center, and sister Sierra Cole hold anews conference Aug. 4 in Houston. Bland was found dead in a Texas county jail three days after a confrontation with awhite state trooper. The death of Bland launched a new review of jail safety in Texas.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP file

Jail suicides scrutinizedBy PAUL J. WEBERASSOCIATED PRESS

Perry asks top criminalcourt to nix 2nd chargeAUSTIN — Former Gov. Rick

Perry’s legal team has asked Tex-as’ highest criminal court to tossthe second and final felonycharge against him.

Last month, a lower statecourt threw out a coercion of apublic servant charge againstPerry, but allowed an abuse ofpower charge to stand.

Perry’s attorneys respondedTuesday by asking the Court ofCriminal Appeals to quash thesecond charge.

2 high schools to startclasses 2 weeks late

ODESSA — Construction de-lays have forced a West Texasschool district to push back thestart of classes at two highschools by more than two weeks.

Superintendent Tom Croweblamed weather and deliverydays for upgrades and additionalstructures at the two highschools not being finished.

Woman, boyfriend slain incar, so far no arrests

HOUSTON — Houston policeare trying to determine who fa-tally shot a woman and her boy-friend while they were in aparked car outside her family’shome.

Police on Tuesday identifiedthe victims as 26-year-old YvetteRodriguez and 24-year-old DavidChavez.

Neighbors reported hearingseveral gunshots late Mondaynight. The victims were founddead in the vehicle.

Body of missing boy, 3,found in pond near home

LUFKIN — Searchers havefound the body of a missing 3-year-old East Texas boy in apond near his family’s home. Au-thorities say the body of MasonCuttler was located before dawnTuesday east of his residencenear Lufkin. A deputy searchingfor the boy spotted the body nearthe surface of the pond.

State Fair announces 8finalists for new foodsDALLAS — Lobster, alligator

and buffalo fried delicacies areamong the eight finalists for thisyear’s State Fair of Texas besttasting and most creative foods.

Fair officials in Dallas an-nounced the finalists Tuesday.Winners will be chosen Aug. 30by a panel of celebrity judges.

The other finalist foods in-clude fried cowboy corn crunch,with sweet corn, jalapeno, creamcheese and a hint of smoky ba-con.

Man gets nearly 5 years inprison over pipe bombsSAN ANTONIO — A 21-year-

old South Texas man has beensentenced to nearly five years infederal prison for making pipebombs. Michael Anthony Keichof D’Hanis was sentenced Mon-day in San Antonio. Keich inMay pleaded guilty to making adestructive device.

— Compiled from AP reports

FDA approves female sexpill, but with restrictions

WASHINGTON — The Foodand Drug Administration onTuesday approved the first pre-scription drug designed to boostsexual desire in women, a mile-stone long sought by a pharma-ceutical industry eager to repli-cate the blockbuster success ofimpotence drugs for men.

But stringent safety measureson the daily pill called Addyimean it will probably neverachieve the sales of Viagra,which has generated billions ofdollars. The drug’s label willbear a boxed warning alertingdoctors and patients that com-bining the pill with alcohol cancause dangerously low bloodpressure and fainting.

Subway’s Jared to admitto child-porn charges

INDIANAPOLIS — LongtimeSubway pitchman Jared Fogle is

expected to plead guilty to child-pornography charges, an Indianatelevision station reported Tues-day.

The report on Fox 59 comessix weeks after authorities seizedelectronics and other items fromFogle’s home in Zionsville, an af-

fluent Indianapolis suburb.Citing sources it did not iden-

tify, the station said Fogle wouldenter a plea Wednesday. It alsosaid the U.S. Attorney’s Office inIndianapolis planned to hold anews conference Wednesday.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

In this June 22 photo, a tablet of flibanserin sits on a brochure for Sprout Phar-maceuticals in the company’s Raleigh, N.C., headquarters. The Food and DrugAdministration on Tuesday approved the drug.

Photo by Allen G. Breed | AP file

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 Local & State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

McALLEN — A DrugEnforcement Administra-tion agent in South Texashas been accused ofdownloading child por-nography.

James Patrick Burke ofMcAllen remains in fed-eral custody pending a de-tention hearing Thursday.

FBI agents on Fridaysearched Burke’s homeand confiscated his laptopcomputer. He was arrest-ed on a charge of know-ingly accessed with intentto view child pornogra-phy.

A criminal complaintsays the case involves theviewing and downloadingof videos of children asyoung as age 10 havingsex with adults.

Burke had been withthe DEA’s office in McAl-len for two years. Aspokesman says Burke,who made an initial courtappearance Monday, wasput on administrativeleave following his arrest.

No lawyer attorneycould immediately be lo-cated Tuesday to speakfor Burke, who requesteda court-appointed attor-ney.

Agentchargedfor child

pornASSOCIATED PRESS

MCALLEN — A studentpilot and a flight instruc-tor were killed when thesmall aircraft they wereflying crashed shortly af-ter takeoff from a SouthTexas airport.

A Federal Aviation Ad-

ministration statementsays the single-engine Ze-nair CH2000 crashedshortly after takeoff justbefore 7 p.m. Monday justsouth of the main runwayat McAllen Miller Interna-tional Airport.

McAllen Police ChiefVictor Rodriguez says

both occupants were killedin the fiery crash. Noidentities have been re-leased.

Rodriguez says the air-craft was practicing take-offs and landings at theairport when it crashed.

No other injuries ordamage were reported.

Two killed in planecrash near airportASSOCIATED PRESS

The Zapata CountyChamber of Commerce ishosting its annual Back-to-School Kid’s Fishing Tour-nament and Family FunFest this Saturday from 7a.m. to 3 p.m.

The tournament is openfor children ages 3–12 andwill take place at BravoPark, 201 West 9th Ave.

There will be food andrefreshments, games, back-packs, school supplies, sur-prise gifts, prizes andmore.

Sponsors of this eventare Powell Watson Toyotaof Laredo; Medina ElectricCooperative, Inc.; McDo-nald’s; Zapata County Sher-iff ’s Office; Zapata County;Pediatric Practice Associ-ation; INOVA Data Solu-tions; Ahh… Smile FamilyDentistry; The PediatricCare Center; ChampionCare, Inc.; Stewart Title;BMG Xtreme Sports; Zapa-ta Marine; Pronto; PremierEngineering Surveying;Rodeo Dental & Orthodon-tics; Zapata County Fair;Boys & Girls Clubs of Zapa-ta County; Zapata CountyNews; Brush County HomeHealth; Morning GloryProvider Services; Dr. Ike’s;A. Villarreal State FarmInsurance; Falcon LakeTackle; Shady Haven, LLC;and Ace Home Center.

Fishing tournament setSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Kids are shown with their fishing poles at last year’s Back-to-School Fishing Tournament. The event willbe held this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bravo Park, 201 West 9th Ave.

Courtesy photo

Volunteers organize food and refreshments at last year’s Back-to-School Fishing Tournament. This yearthere will be food and refreshments, games, backpacks, school supplies, surprise gifts and more.

Courtesy photo

DALLAS — An officer’svideotaped beating of asuspected car thief duringan arrest last month isjust the latest troubling in-cident involving the Lub-bock police department,including the unexplaineddemotion and subsequentresignation of the policechief earlier this summerand a federal notice criti-cal of the department’shiring practices.

The latest episode wasthe July 29 arrest of JoseEscarcega-Ysaias, who isbeing held on two countsof aggravated assaultagainst a public servant.Police say Cpl. Ryan Dur-rett stopped to help Escar-cega push a stalled vehicleinto a parking lot, only todiscover that the car hadbeen reported stolen. Af-ter a short foot chase, Es-carcega was able to speedoff in Durrett’s patrol ve-hicle while Durrett fought

with the Mexican nationalfrom the vehicle’s door-way, authorities say.

The SUV soon careenedinto a utility pole anddash-cam video shows thetwo on the ground adja-cent to the SUV when offi-cers arrive, Escarcegawith one arm up and theother obscured by Dur-rett’s motionless body. Oneofficer appears to chargeforward and kick Escarce-ga and then straddles himwhile delivering at leastfive blows. Police say Dur-rett was hospitalized withserious injuries. He is nowrecovering at home, ac-cording to Jeremy Jones,president of the LubbockProfessional Police Associ-ation.

Police don’t plan to dis-close the name of the offi-cer who struck Escarcegaor say whether he hasbeen placed on leave pend-ing the outcome of an in-ternal review of the inci-dent, said Lt. Ray Mendo-za.

Online jail records didnot indicate an attorneyfor Escarcega and a guardat the Lubbock County jaildid not have the informa-tion.

The violent arrest isjust the latest troublingepisode for the depart-ment.

In June, the U.S. Depart-ment of Justice notifiedthe city that its practice ofhiring probationary policeofficers discriminatesagainst women and His-panics.

“We have concludedthat the city’s use of thewritten examination since2009 has caused an ad-verse impact on Hispanicapplicants for probation-ary police positions,” Van-ita Gupta, an assistant at-torney general, said in aletter to the city.

Gupta also said the po-lice department’s physicalfitness test resulted in dis-parities in passing ratesbetween male and femaleapplicants.

Jones said the DOJ alle-gations lack merit.

“If you speak with His-panic officers and femaleofficers at the departmentthey would say they’re of-fended by the claims inthat letter,” Jones said.

But Mendoza said Tues-day the department hasforwarded to federal offi-cials proposed changes toits testing procedures.Lubbock officials hope tohave the DOJ approve thechanges in time for thenext round of testing forapplicants in October.

The police force, whichhas more than 400 swornofficers patrolling a city of245,000 people, has hadabout 300 applicants ap-pear for an exam, Mendo-za said. Approximately 70officers are needed to fillthe ranks, he said.

One of the positionsthat must be filled is po-lice chief, following the de-motion in June of RogerEllis, who held the job forfour years and who has

since resigned. City Man-ager James Loomis onTuesday declined to ex-plain the demotion, sayingthe city doesn’t commenton personnel matters. Amessage left for MayorGlen Robertson was notreturned.

It remains unclear if thedemotion is related to theDOJ findings or some oth-er matter, such as the well-publicized killing of a 15-year-old boy that Mendozasaid will be addressed byinterim Chief Jerry Brew-er at some point thisweek.

Mark Anthony Ysasa-ga’s remains were foundin June with the help of atipster after the teen hadgone missing in 2012. Crit-ics have questioned wheth-er the tipster, a young manwho was arrested on unre-lated charges, may havebeen involved in the kill-ing.

Mendoza said the re-sults of an internal reviewof the Ysasaga case will be

announced by Brewer, in-cluding an answer toclaims that police ar-ranged for the tipster toleave town after disclosingwhere Ysasaga’s body wasdumped.

The recent controversyhasn’t been confined tothe police department.Mayor Robertson was in-vestigated this summer af-ter allegedly pulling a gunduring a confrontationwith another man, the cityattorney resigned lastyear following charges ofsexual assault, and thechief executive for a city-owned utility resigned lastyear amid claims herigged a lucrative bid infavor of one company. ButMendoza said the lens isnow focused on city police.

“Officers are still goingto come to work and dotheir jobs, but that’s in theback of their mind thatthere will be people al-ways criticizing their ac-tions and what they do,”he said.

Actions of police force gain broad scrutinyBy DAVID WARRENASSOCIATED PRESS

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

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The rise of DonaldTrump has many of hisGOP rivals asking: Howcan we steal away thesource of his apparentappeal to GOP primaryvoters? This week, we’regetting one answer tothat question from ScottWalker, who seems tohave decided thatTrump’s surge is rootedpartly in those voters’frustration with the fail-ure of GOP leaders tostop Obama.

To appeal to those vot-ers, Walker will take apage from Ted Cruz’smanual of demagogueryand distortions, arguingin a speech Tuesday thatWashington Republicanslet the country down byfailing to live up to theirpromise to repeal Oba-macare — and that hewould be willing to takeon GOP leaders overtheir betrayal. Politicoreports:

In a speech set to deliv-er in Minnesota on Tues-day, Walker will take onthe GOP’s leaders inCongress.

“Republican leaders inWashington told us dur-ing the campaign lastyear that we needed a Re-publican Senate to repealObamacare,” the Wiscon-sin governor will say, ac-cording to excerpts of hisremarks released by thecampaign. “Well, Repub-licans have been incharge of both houses ofCongress since Januaryand there still isn’t a billon the president’s desk torepeal Obamacare.”

Walker will say thathe’s had to take on theestablishment in his par-ty before and that he toldGOP lawmakers in Wis-consin, “It was put up orshut up time. If we didn’tdo what we said we’d do,the voters would have ev-ery right to throw usout.”

Congressional Repub-licans, of course, havevoted dozens of times torepeal Obamacare. Thefact that Republicansnow control both housesof Congress doesn’tchange the underlyingreality that there aren’tenough GOP Senators toovercome a Dem filibus-ter of repeal, let aloneenough CongressionalRepublicans to overridean Obama veto. PerhapsWalker will now tell uswhat, specifically, hethinks they should havedone differently.

But Walker may havedecided that blaming theGOP establishment forgoing all squishy in thequest to roll back theObama agenda is theway to capture some ofthe energy Trump hasunleashed. In a radio in-terview earlier thisweek, Walker suggestedthat the failure to votethis year to repeal Oba-

macare and the failure toroll back Obama’s execu-tive actions on deporta-tion (which House Re-publicans also voted toroll back, but nevermind) help explainTrump’s (and Ben Car-son’s) rise. “This iswhere the frustrationis,” Walker said. “This iswhy non-elected candi-dates are surging in thepolls.”

Meanwhile, in thespeech, Walker is also setto roll out his own planto repeal and replaceObamacare. The planwould scrap the Medi-caid expansion and capfederal payments tostates for some parts ofMedicaid. It would re-peal the Obamacare sub-sidies that help lower-in-come people get cover-age, but that would bereplaced with a new sub-sidy scheme that is basedon age, rather than in-come. It would roll backthe protections for peo-ple with pre-existing con-ditions, but that wouldbe replaced with fundingto the states for thosepeople.

While the plan is prob-ably significantly lessgenerous in terms of itscoverage expansion thanObamacare is, PhilipKlein explains in theWashington Examinerthat it is actually some-what less of a conserva-tive free-market alterna-tive than the approachfavored by some of his ri-vals, because it contin-ues to spend some gov-ernment money to coverpeople. This, Klein ar-gues, “reveals his judg-ment is that to be politi-cally viable, a replace-ment has to offer alifeline to Obamacare’sbeneficiaries and cannotsimply wipe away thelaw and proceed as if itnever existed.”

And so, while Walkeris blustering about howsquishy GOP leaders areto blame for failing to re-peal Obamacare, he alsoseems to be quietly ac-knowledging that the lawis increasingly en-trenched and just mightbe helping a lot of peo-ple.

COMMENTARY

Walker tries tounderstand

Trump’s appealBy GREG SARGENT

THE WASHINGTON POST Meanwhile, inthe speech,Walker is alsoset to roll outhis own planto repeal andreplaceObamacare.The planwould scrapthe Medicaidexpansion …

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

It is my habit to read alot every day. That’s part ofbeing a writer.

I’m usually reading abook. I read two or threemagazines on a regular ba-sis, even though one or twomight be online and youdon’t get to grip paper pag-es. I read two daily newspa-pers each day and severalcommunity weeklies regu-larly.

Writers read a lot for sev-eral reasons, the most obvi-ous being news and infor-mation. There’s also a mat-ter of style, of reading greatwriting and of learning tocraft sentences, phrases,paragraphs and stories wor-thy of a reader’s attention.And, I ‘fess, I occasionallyfind a typo that I mightpoke fun at in one of mycolumns. One must be care-ful about such, however,since it could backfire.

What does that have todo with Southern hominyor grits?

Patience. We’ll get there.I promise.

Also on my busy retire-ment agenda is watching alittle TV. Okay, that’s alwayshad some place on my listof daily activities. Used tobe though, that the 14-hourdays of weekly newspaperediting and publishing al-lowed for only a bit of boob

tube viewing, so that wasstrictly limited to news, doc-umentaries and very welldone comedy or a drama ortwo, and all of them exceptnews were infrequent.

That’s expanded some,but I won’t elaborate. Don’twant to spoil my “literateimage.” Mmm-huh.

But, let’s get back on thetrail to hominy and grits.

Long- and well-establish-ed in this space, my tastesfor movie or TV viewingbegin with Westerns. Yeah,I know, resort to the “guytype.”

While reading The Hous-ton Chronicle online a cou-ple of years ago, I noticed aNew York Times-creditedstory about the death ofDale Robertson at age 89.

Now, we’re hot on thetrail of that hominy andgrits statement.

Robertson was a prettyfair actor. He starred in twoTV series: “Tales of WellsFargo” and “Death ValleyDays.” He did a lot of narra-tion on “Death Valley.” Nat-urally, I watched those.

Robertson also was a reg-

ular on “Dynasty” and hada frequently recurring rolein the original “Dallas.” Ididn’t watch those so muchbut my Life Mate did.

One of the things Ilearned about Robertson inhis obituary was that he al-ways had disdain for East-ern actors. He thought theyjust played at being cow-boys. Now, that’ll make afan of someone who thinksof those actors as sissies.

Robertson got some ad-vice from Will Rogers Jr.,son of the noted Oklahomahumorist, also someone Iadmired and whose auto-graphed book, “The Illiter-ate Digest,” I proudly pos-sess.

Here we are at the originof “hominy and grits.”

Rogers told Robertson:“Don’t ever take a dramaticlesson. They will try to putyour voice in a dinner jack-et, and people like their ho-miny and grits in everydayclothes.”

That pretty well estab-lishes hominy and grits asregular fare for Southernfolks.

But, truth be known, Iwas never a fan of eitheruntil I was grown.

I’m still not a fan of ho-miny. It reminds me of in-flated corn kernels withoutany taste. Give me sweet

corn or corn on the cob. In my final two years of

college, as I’ve mentionedbefore, I lived with an auntand uncle in Houston. Theywere a working class familyof six, eking by on a pain-ter’s wages and $50 a monthroom and board from thiscollege student.

Growing up in Teague ina farming-ranching family,we ate potatoes. No rice. Nogrits. And certainly no ho-miny.

Upon moving in with myaunt and uncle to attendthe University of Houston, Igot a steady diet of rice. I of-ten watched my uncle fillhis plate with a heapingmound of steaming rice,slather it with severalhealthy chunks of butter,then add some sizablespoonfuls of sugar to it. Oc-casionally, he did that withgrits. Ta da: dessert!

Frankly, I’ll take my gritswith three eggs fried sunnyside up. Cut up those eggsand allow running yellow tosaturate the grits, then addlots of black pepper.

That’s grits in “everydayclothes,” Southern all theway.

Willis Webb is a retiredcommunity newspaper edi-tor-publisher. He can bereached by email atwwebb1937@att.net.

COLUMN

Never a fan of hominy or grits

The ideologues have sodisfigured Common Corethat supporters of the edu-cational reform now darenot speak its name. “Theterm ‘Common Core’ is sodarned poisonous, I don’teven know what it means,”Jeb Bush said in responseto a question at the IowaState Fair on Friday. Theformer Florida governorthen described what he does

favor: “I’m for higher stan-dards, state-created, locallyimplemented, where the fed-eral government has no rolein the creation of standards,content or curriculum.” Inother words, he’s for Com-mon Core.

Perhaps unaware thatwhat they were hearing waspractically identical to thepolicy that’s now reviled onthe tea-party right, the audi-ence members clapped andcheered.

We don’t blame Mr. Bushfor shying away from theterm. Most of the governorsand ex-governors he’s com-peting against in the Repub-lican presidential race haveturned fully, not just rheto-rically, against it. Some whoonce stoutly supported thestandards, including NewJersey Gov. Chris Christieand Louisiana Gov. BobbyJindal have buckled underpressure from the right.

The pressure is built on

bogus premises. CommonCore is not a federal take-over of education. States de-veloped the standards, ac-cepted them voluntarily andimplement them with localflexibility. The federal gov-ernment merely encouragedstates to adopt them, as itshould have. The standardsalso aren’t some conspiracyto force children to learnabout climate change andevolution; they cover basicsin language arts and math.

EDITORIAL

Right, left poison Common CoreTHE WASHINGTON POST

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

CHELAN, Wash. — Wild-fires are putting such astrain on the nation’s fire-fighting resources that au-thorities have activated themilitary and sought inter-national help to beat backscores of blazes burning un-controlled throughout thedry West.

The situation is so urgentthat the National Interagen-cy Fire Center in Boise thisweek called in 200 active-du-ty military troops to helpcontain roughly 95 wildfires.It’s the first time since 2006that the agency has mobili-zed soldiers for fire-suppres-sion.

“Nationally, the system ispretty tapped,” said Rob Al-len, the deputy incidentcommander for the firesaround the Cascade Moun-tain resort town of Chelan.“Everything is being usedright now, so competitionfor resources is fierce.”

The troops are all comingfrom the 17th Field ArtilleryBrigade at Joint Base Le-wis-McChord near Tacomaand will be sent to a firenorth of Republic, a town incentral Washington, about30 miles south of the Cana-dian border.

Fire managers at the cen-ter are able to enlist mili-tary help when there arenot enough civilian fire-fighting teams, thanks to a1975 agreement between theDefense, Interior and Agri-culture departments.

The help can be crucialin particularly active yearslike this one, when the cen-ter’s firefighting teams andequipment are fighting hun-dreds of fires across manystates. In the last two weeksalone, more than 1,500square miles have burnedin the Lower 48 states, cen-ter spokesman Ken Freder-ick said.

“It’s like the fire seasongas pedal has been pushedto the floor in a really shortperiod of time, and that’sstressed our resources,” Fre-derick said. “And that’s gotus relying on help from re-sources we don’t normallyuse.”

The fires in the PacificNorthwest get top prioritywhen it comes to allocatingpinched resources.

More than 1,000 peopleare battling the massivefires near Chelan that haveburned more than 170square miles and destroyedan estimated 75 buildings.They are just some of thehuge blazes raging in theWest.

A lightning-sparked firein Oregon’s Malheur Na-tional Forest has grown to63 square miles and de-stroyed at least 26 houses.An additional 500 structuresare threatened by the flamesnear the community ofJohn Day, also in Oregon.

In the Northern Rockies,so many wildfires have ig-nited this month that offi-cials are letting some thatmight be suppressed undernormal circumstances burnbecause manpower andequipment are committedelsewhere.

The area experienced anormal fire season until lastweek, when a combinationof drought, high temper-atures and lightning-packedstorms created new blazesacross western Montanaand Idaho.

As of Tuesday, at least 95fires were burning in thetwo states, about 30 of themconsidered large, accordingto the Northern Rockies Co-ordination Center in Mis-soula.

That included a group offires in northern Idaho that

have scorched 90 squaremiles and destroyed 42homes in the last severaldays, as well as a wildfire inthe western part of the statethat led about 120 residentsto evacuate and others toprepare to flee near McCall.

California is doing wellin terms of resources, de-spite a pair of massive blaz-es in the north. Officialsprepared for a drought-fueled fire season by bring-ing in several hundredmore firefighters than inprevious years.

In Chelan, about 180miles east of Seattle, flamesburned through grass,brush and timber. Air tank-ers established containmentlines to keep the flamesfrom reaching downtown,and utility workers replacedburned power poles and in-spected wires.

No buildings have beenlost in the Chelan fires inthe past two days, officialssaid.

But nearly 1,000 peopleremained under mandatoryevacuations.

On Tuesday, smoke wasthick in the air of down-town Chelan. Particles ofash fell from the sky. Someresidents wore surgicalmasks as they walkedthrough town.

The firefighters sleep inthe woods, get up everymorning and work a fullday, said Allen, the deputyincident commander.

“It’s hot. It’s dirty,” saidAllen, who usually worksfor the Bureau of LandManagement in Alaska. Hesaid authorities were look-ing for all the resourcesthey could muster.

“The military has beenactivated. We have NationalGuard here to help us out,”Allen said, adding that Can-ada loaned resources, too,and authorities were alsotalking to New Zealand andAustralia.

Timber burns in the First Creek fire near lakeside structures on thewestern shore of Lake Chelan late Monday, near Chelan, Wash.

Photo by Ted S. Warren | AP

Massive blazesdrain resources

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS AND TED S. WARREN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Twowomen have passed the Ar-my’s Ranger School, be-coming the first females tocomplete the grueling com-bat training program andearn the right to wearRanger tabs on their uni-forms.

The Army’s Rangerheadquarters in Fort Ben-ning, Georgia, says thewomen and 94 men passedthe tough 62-day coursethat tests their ability toovercome fatigue, hungerand stress during combatoperations.

While completing theleadership course lets thetwo women wear the covet-ed Ranger black-and-goldtab, it does not let them be-come members of theRanger regiment. Neitherwoman has been identifiedby the military.

Allowing women to par-ticipate in the Rangercourse is part of the U.S.military’s push to openmore combat jobs to wom-en. But the toughest jobsremain closed to female sol-diers — including infantry,

armor and special oper-ations positions. That in-cludes the 75th Ranger Re-giment, which requires ad-ditional schooling that isphysically and mentallychallenging before soldierscan join.

Still, former Army offi-cers such as Sue Fulton,who in 1980 was among thefirst women to graduatefrom the U.S. Military A-cademy at West Point, cele-brated the news as anothermilestone toward endinggender barriers in the mil-itary.

“This answers whatever

questions may still remainabout whether women havethe strength, the will andthe physical courage to be-come combat leaders,” saidFulton, a former Army cap-tain who now chairs theWest Point Board of Vis-itors, an advisory panel ofpresidential appointees andmembers of Congress. Agraduation ceremony willbe held Friday at Fort Ben-ning, the Army post nearthe Georgia-Alabama line.

“Each Ranger Schoolgraduate has shown thephysical and mental tough-ness to successfully lead or-

ganizations at any level,”Army Secretary JohnMcHugh said in a state-ment. “This course has pro-ven that every soldier, re-gardless of gender, canachieve his or her full po-tential.”

“We owe soldiers the op-portunity to serve success-fully in any position wherethey are qualified and capa-ble,” he added.

The 62-day Rangerschool includes three phas-es, each in a different partof the country: wooded ar-eas of Fort Benning, theAppalachian mountains ofnorth Georgia, and swampsin Florida.

The first 20 days of Rang-er school focus on militaryskills and endurance. Then,the mountain phase nearDahlonega, Georgia, in-cludes more small-unit op-erations and survival tech-niques. The final so-calledswamp phase takes place inFlorida and includes air-borne assault, amphibiousoperations and extrememental and physical stress.

Female soldiers wereheld to the same physicalstandards as men.

2 women pass Ranger SchoolASSOCIATED PRESS

This April 26 photo shows one of the 20 female soldiers amongthe 400 students who qualified to start Ranger School.

Photo by Robin Trimarchi/Ledger-Enquirer | AP

WASHINGTON — A fo-rensic examination ofHillary Rodham Clinton’sprivate computer servercould unearth more de-tails than what she put inher emails. It could an-swer lingering questionsabout the security of hersystem, who had access toit and whether outsiderstried to crack its contents.

Clinton last week hand-ed over to the FBI her pri-vate server, which sheused to send, receive andstore emails during herfour years as secretary ofstate. The bureau is hold-ing the machine in pro-tective custody after theintelligence community’sinspector general raisedconcerns recently thatclassified informationhad traversed the system.

Clinton leads the racefor the Democratic presi-dential nomination by awide margin even thoughquestions about her useof the server have shad-owed her campaign. Re-publicans have seized onthe issue to raise ques-tions about Clinton’strustworthiness.

Speaking to reportersTuesday in North Las Ve-gas, Nevada, Clinton saidshe was “very comfort-able that this will eventu-ally get resolved and theAmerican people willhave plenty of time to fig-ure it out.”

She added: “In retro-spect, this didn’t turn outto be convenient at alland I regret that this hasbecome such a cause ce-lebre. But that does notchange the facts.” She re-iterated that what she didwas “legally permitted”and said she did not sendany emails marked “clas-sified.” Clinton had ini-tially justified her use of

a private server — forboth official and personalemails — by saying shefelt it would be more con-venient to use one sys-tem.

As she departed theavailability with report-ers, she said, “Nobodytalks to me about it otherthan you guys.”

Clinton’s emails showsome messages she wrotewere censored by theState Department for na-tional security reasonsbefore they were publiclyreleased. The governmentblacked out those messag-es under a provision ofthe Freedom of Informa-tion Act intended to pro-

tect material that hadbeen deemed and proper-ly classified for purposesof national defense or for-eign policy.

What hasn’t been re-leased: data that couldshow how secure her sys-tem was, whether some-one tried to break in, andwho else had accounts onher system. A lawyer forPlatte River Networks, aColorado-based technolo-gy services company thatbegan managing the Clin-ton server in 2013, saidthe server was providedto the FBI last week.

Indeed, many physicaldetails of the server re-main unknown, such aswhether its data wasbacked up. In March, TheAssociated Press discov-ered her server tracedback to an Internet con-nection at the Clintons’home in Chappaqua, NewYork.

A computer server isn’ta marvel of modern tech-nology. Just like a homedesktop, the computer’sdata is stored on a harddrive. It’s unclear wheth-er the drive that Clintonused was thoroughlyerased before the devicewas turned over to feder-al agents.

Probe could find more than emailsBy JACK GILLUM

AND STEPHEN BRAUNASSOCIATED PRESS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns at a town hall-style meeting inExeter, N.H., Aug. 10.

Photo by Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist/New York Times | AP file

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 International THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

BRUSSELS — U.N. andEuropean border agency of-ficials urged the EuropeanUnion on Tuesday to stepup measures to help thou-sands of people who havefled violence in Syria, Af-ghanistan and Iraq and arepouring into Greece andother EU countries in re-cord numbers.

Fabrice Leggeri, head ofthe EU border agencyFrontex, described it as an“emergency situation forEurope that requires all EUmember states to step in.”Speaking in Brussels, heurged member nations toprovide more help forGreece and Hungary, whichare two of the most affectedcountries.

Frontex said 107,500 mi-grants were detected at EUborders in July — the thirdconsecutive monthly recordand the first time themonthly number topped100,000. Nearly 340,000 mi-grants were spotted at EUborders in the first half ofthe year, compared to280,000 for all of 2014.

William Spindler, aspokesman for the U.N.High Commissioner on Ref-ugees, told reporters in Ge-neva that the wealthy Euro-pean bloc needed to “wakeup” to the dire conditionsfaced by many refugees. Hesaid 160,000 migrants havereached Greece since Janu-ary, compared to 43,500 inall of 2014. More than four-fifths of them are from Sy-ria, and 14 percent from Af-ghanistan.

Spindler noted thatGreece faces an economiccrisis, but called on its gov-ernment to help interna-tional organizations likeUNHCR take a more activerole in places like the over-burdened island of Kos.

Migrantshit new

record inJulyASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGKOK — In thegrainy security video, aman in a yellow shirt sitson a bench at the crowdedErawan Shrine, removes abackpack he is wearing,and leaves it behind whenhe walks away.

For police hunting whowas responsible for Mon-day’s deadly bombing incentral Bangkok, therewas no doubt about theman with youthful shaggydark hair and glasses.

“The yellow shirt guy isnot just the suspect. He isthe bomber,” police spokes-man Lt. Gen. Prawut Tha-vornsiri told The Associat-ed Press on Tuesday.

Prime Minister PrayuthChan-ocha called theshrine bombing near a bu-sy intersection that killed20 and wounded more than100 “the worst incidentthat has ever happened inThailand,” and he prom-ised to track down thoseresponsible.

“There have been minorbombs or just noise, butthis time they aimed forinnocent lives,” Prayuthsaid. “They want to de-stroy our economy, ourtourism.”

Bangkok was rattledagain Tuesday when an-other pipe bomb blew upat the Sathorn Pier, whichis used by tourists, al-though no one was hurt.

Prawut released severalphotos of the man, withand without the backpack,on social media. The imag-es were apparently takenfrom closed-circuit videoat the shrine before thebomb exploded.

Video posted separatelyon Thai media appeared toshow the same man sittingon a bench at the shrine,taking off the backpackand leaving it behind as hewalked away.

Without elaborating, theprime minister said, “To-day we have seen theclosed-circuit footage, wesaw some suspects, but itwasn’t clear. We have to

find them first.”Prayuth said the govern-

ment will expedite “all in-vestigative efforts to findthe perpetrators and bringthem to justice.”

The bomb, which policesay was made from a pipeand weighed 3 kilograms(more than 6 pounds),went off about 7 p.m. in anupscale area filled withtourists, office workersand shoppers. No one hasclaimed responsibility.

Prawut said Tuesday’sblast at the Sathorn Pierfrequented by tourist boatsalso was caused by a pipebomb and could be relatedto the shrine attack.

Police said the bombwas thrown from the Tak-sin Bridge and fell into theChao Phraya River, whereit exploded. Security videoshowed a sudden blast ofwater over a walkway atthe pier as bystanders ranfor safety.

The Erawan Shrine isdedicated to the Hindu godBrahma, but is extremelypopular among Thailand’sBuddhists as well as Chi-nese tourists. AlthoughThailand is predominantlyBuddhist, it has enormousHindu influence on its reli-gious practices and lan-guage.

Thai authorities identi-fied five victims as Thaiand four as Chinese — twoof them from Hong Kong— along with two Malay-

sians and one Singapo-rean, and said the nation-alities of the other eightvictims remained un-known.

The British Foreign Of-fice said one victim was aBritish citizen named Vi-vian Chan who lived inHong Kong. It was not im-mediately clear whethershe was one of the twoHong Kong victims identi-fied by Thai officials. Offi-cials at London’s BPP Uni-versity said she had stud-ied there.

“Everyone at BPP Uni-versity is devastated tohear of the loss of one ofour students, Vivian ChanWing Yan, in Bangkok yes-terday. Our thoughts arewith Vivian’s family andwe will work to supportthem in any way we can,”the school said in a state-ment.

Defense Minister PrawitWongsuwan said author-ities had no idea an attackhad been planned.

“We didn’t know aboutthis ahead of time. We hadno intelligence on this at-tack,” he said.

Prayuth vowed to “hur-ry and find the bombers,”though he noted there maybe just one perpetrator.Speaking to reporters, hecontinued what has been anotoriously prickly rela-tionship with the mediasince the former generaltook control in a May 2014

coup that ousted a civiliangovernment.

Asked if there wereleads on the suspects,Prayuth bristled: “We arestill investigating. Thebomb has just exploded —why are you asking now?Do you understand theword investigation? It’s notlike they claim responsibil-ity.”

In Washington, State De-partment spokesman JohnKirby said the U.S. is offer-ing to support Thailand inits investigation but hasnot received a request. Hesaid there was no indica-tion that any Americanswere among the casualties.

Thailand has seen manyviolent attacks in recentyears, particularly in amore-than-decade-long in-surgency by Muslim sepa-ratists that has killed over5,000 in the country’ssouth. Those attacks havenever reached the capital,however.

Bangkok has seen politi-cally charged violence inthe past decade; the dead-liest, in 2010, killed morethan 90 over two monthsand was centered on thesame intersection whereMonday’s bomb went off.But none of those attacksincluded a bomb thatseemed intended to pro-duce mass casualties.

Matthew Wheeler,Southeast Asia securityanalyst for the Internation-

al Crisis Group, said thebombing was a “new typeof attack for Bangkok” thatdoesn’t bear the marks oftypical violence in the pastdecade from political insta-bility or separatists.

“It is certainly not likepolitically motivated at-tacks we’ve seen in thepast which have generallybeen designed to grab at-tention but not cause casu-alties,” Wheeler said, add-ing that he expected itwould have “major ramifi-cations for security inThailand.”

The suspect seen in thevideo wearing a yellowshirt raised initial ques-tions about whether the vi-olence was politically moti-vated, since one group ofprevious protesters wasknown to wear that colorof clothing. But officialshave not linked the attackto Thai politics.

In the morning, investi-gators surveyed the dam-age as police and soldiersguarded the area, still lit-tered with shattered glassand other debris. The nor-mally busy intersectionwas closed to traffic andeerily empty, aside fromonlookers standing behindpolice tape to take pic-tures. Barricades were setup outside nearby five-starhotels, and security per-sonnel stopped cars to in-spect trunks before lettingthem pass. The intersec-tion was reopened by mid-day.

At least 20 people wereconfirmed dead and 126 in-jured, according to theErawan Emergency Cen-ter.

Bangkok has been rela-tively peaceful since themilitary coup after severalmonths of sometimes vio-lent protests against theprevious government.

At the same time, themilitary government hastightly controlled dissent,arresting hundreds of itsopponents and banningprotests. Tensions have ris-en in recent months, withthe junta making clear itmay not hold elections un-til 2017.

Man is focus of bombing probe

Erawan Shrine, the site of Monday’s deadly bombing is surrounded by barricades early Wednesday, inBangkok. Thailand’s prime minister described the bombing as the country’s worst attack ever.

Photo by Karly Domb Sadof | AP

By NATTASUDA ANUSONADISAI AND PAPITCHAYA BOONNGOK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

AUSTIN, Texas — Forthree years, Daje Johnsonhas been the great hopeand the great disappoint-ment for Texas.

The playmaker with theblazing speed and shiftymoves has spent most ofhis career teasing fanswith a few touchdowns inbetween long stints on thebench or under suspension.

He is down to his lastchance at Texas. And heknows it.

“I’m trying to be remem-bered around here, withnames all over the walls,”Johnson said as he sat inthe players’ lounge sur-rounded by photos of Texasgreats like Vince Young,Ricky Williams and ColtMcCoy.

“I’m worth the invest-ment,” Johnson said. “I’mletting people know now,I’m not going to disappointanybody.”

Johnson has been sus-pended three times overhis career, including a longstretch last year when hegot sideways with first-yearcoach Charlie Strong. Heappeared ready to leave allthat behind, then raisednew questions in Julywhen he released a rap

song titled “Dealer” withreferences to selling drugs.

Johnson hoped for somenotoriety about a buddingmusic career but all it didwas raise new questionsfrom his coach.

“I called Daje and said,’You’re no longer on theteam, huh?”’ Strong said.“(Daje) said, ’What do youmean?’ I said, ’You got yourrap song out, you must notbe on the team anymore.You’re a rapper.”’

Johnson quickly apol-ogized for the song andpulled it off his website.

“I was like, ’Aww, I madea bad decision again,”’Johnson said. “I know thatnow.”

Those sort of antics thathave frustrated Texas fanswho saw fleeting momentsof his dazzling talent on thefield, like his 84-yard touch-down run on the first playfrom scrimmage againstBaylor in 2012 and his 85-yard punt return for ascore against Oklahoma in2013.

When training campopened, Strong sent a clearmessage that it was timefor Johnson to live up tohis promise.

“Daje is someone we(have) talked enough aboutin the program,” Strongsaid. “You want to see him

all of a sudden become aguy that we can count onand count on each and ev-ery down.”

The coach and playerneed each other.

Johnson needs Strong tokeep giving him chances toget on the field.

And Strong needs John-son to deliver touchdownsall season if the Longhornsare going to improve onlast season’s dismal 6-7 re-cord.

After fielding one of theBig 12’s worst offenses lastseason, Strong is scrappingsome of the power rungame to spread things out.

Texas lacks a provenplaymaker, a role Johnsoncould fill as he moves fromhis traditional runningback spot into the corps ofreceivers. He also expectsto return punts this season.

“I’m capable of doing ev-erything on the field—catching kickoff returns,receiving, running back —I feel like I’m very versatileon the field,” Johnson said.“I’ve had trouble not reallygetting on the field withmy own conflicts and ev-erything. I’m going awayfrom that and just having apositive lifestyle, so nowI’m on the field, healthy, noissues off the field. I’m justready to ball.”

NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS

Johnson making his mark

After already being suspended three times in his career at Texas, Daje Johnson is attempting to stayout of trouble as he moves from running back to receiver.

Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez | AP

Moves to WR in last chance at TexasBy JIM VERTUNO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

HORARIOSEl Distrito Escolar In-

dependiente de Zapata infor-ma los horarios de entrada ysalida para el ciclo escolar2015-2016. El horario de en-trada para las escuelas pri-marias (Benavides, ZapataSouth, Zapata North, Villarre-al) será a las 7:45 a.m. y lasalida a las 3:15 p.m. En Za-pata Middle School el horariode entrada será a las 7:45a.m. y la salida a las 3:24p.m. En Zapata High Schoolla hora de entrada será a las7:45 a.m. y la salida a las3:36 p.m. El primer día declases es el lunes 24 deagosto.

PERMISOS PARAESTACIONAMIENTOSe informa a estudian-

tes con permiso para condu-cir en Zapata High Schoolque el Departamento de Poli-cía de ZCISD estará distribu-yendo los Permisos para Es-tacionamiento a partir dehoy, miércoles 19 de agosto,hasta el viernes 21 de agos-to, de 10:30 a.m. a 12 p.m. yde 1:30 p.m. a 3 p.m. en elZapata High School HawksNest. El costo del permiso esde 5 dólares. Estudiantes in-teresados deben presentarPrueba de Seguro Vehicular,Licencia de Conducir, y el ve-hículo para cual se busca elpermiso.

DÍA DE ORIENTACIÓNZapata High School in-

forma que el día de Orienta-ción para Freshmen será eljueves 20 de agosto a las5:30 p.m. en ZHS Hawk’sNest; también se les haráentrega de sus horarios.Alumnos para Sophomores,Junior and Seniors podránrecoger sus horarios jueves20 y viernes 21 de agosto de9 a.m. a 4:30 p.m. en elZHS Hawk’s Nest.

CONOZCA AL MAESTROZapata County ISD ce-

lebrará su Noche de Conoceral Maestro en Zapata North,Zapata South y Villarreal Ele-mentary School será de 5p.m. a 6:30 p.m. Podrán lle-var sus útiles escolares. Es-cuelas entregarán horarios.

TORNEOEl Torneo Anual de

Pesca Infantil ‘Back to Scho-ol’ organizado por la Cámarade Comercio de Zapata, ensu quinta edición, se realiza-rá el sábado 22 de agosto. Elevento se realizará de 7 a.m.a 3 p.m. en Bravo Park Pond.

Se están aceptando patro-cinadores desde 300 dólareshasta 2.000 dólares.

BANCO DE UNIFORMESMIGUEL ALEMÁN, Mé-

xico— La Cámara Nacionalde Comercio invita a la co-munidad de Miguel Alemán aparticipar en el banco deuniformes para apoyar a losestudiantes de bajos recur-sos. Se solicita donación deuniformes en buen estado decualquier grado, desde guar-dería, jardín de niños, prima-ria, secundaria y hasta pre-paratoria. El acopio se lleva acabo en las instalaciones dela CANACO Miguel Alemán.

ARRESTOSLa policía estatal de

Tamaulipas detuvo a cincopresuntos integrantes de ungrupo delictivo, en la ciudadde Reynosa, México.

Los sospechosos fueronidentificados como David Cis-neros González, Ramón Sán-chez Vallejo, Francisco JavierGuzmán Vázquez, Jorge Esté-fano Gómez Fernández yJuan Manuel Mendoza Agui-rre.

Durante el arresto se de-comisaron 46 cigarros demarihuana, 15 bolsitas conmarihuana, 10 bolsas peque-ñas con cocaína en piedra,37 bolsitas de cocaína enpolvo, tres celulares, dos mo-chilas y 16 poncha llantas.

Ribereñaen Breve

Imagine estar en la línea frontalde combate, regresar a casa en losEstados Unidos, ser llamado un“asesino de bebés”, y más tarde serdeportado.

Para muchos veteranos de Viet-nam, esta línea de tiempo retratacómo han sido sus vidas.

José María Martínez, de 54 años,ahora vive en Nuevo Progreso, alsur de Reynosa al norte del estadode Tamaulipas, México.

Martínez fue un ex empresarioen Brownsville y visitaría NuevoLaredo dos veces a la semana paraabastecer su tienda.

Como marino de los Estados Uni-dos, él sirvió en Vietnam de 1967 a1968.

Además de haber sido dado de

baja con honores, él recibió la Me-dalla por Acto de Combate, Medallapor Buena Conducta, Medalla deServicio en Vietnam, Medalla deExpedición Vietnamita, Cruz de Ga-llantry Vietrnamita y la Medalla deServicio Nacional.

“Cuando fui dado de baja miDD214 (Certificado de Liberación oBaja del Deber Activo) decía, ‘Naci-do en México, dado de baja comociudadano de los Estados Unidos’”,dijo Martínez en un mensaje a La-redo Morning Times. “Inmigracióndijo, ‘¡No! ¡No es suficiente!’ Así queaquí estoy en Nuevo Progreso. Soypropietario de un pequeño negocio.Vendo teléfonos Movistar. (Yo) aho-ra estoy tratando de expandir minegocio con AT&T”.

Martínez estaba en los EstadosUnidos legalmente cuando se unióal Cuerpo de Marinos. Tenía una

tarjeta verde (residente). Ahora, losveteranos de Iraq y Afganistán tam-bién enfrentan una situación simi-lar.

A pesar de haber sido dados debaja con honores de la milicia, losveteranos no ciudadanos que des-pués son sentenciados por algúncrimen, son deportados a sus paísesde origen.

Los residentes permanentes lega-les o poseedores de la tarjeta verdetambién han sido expulsados de for-ma permanente del país por come-ter crímenes.

La Casa de Apoyo a los VeteranosDeportados es una red de apoyo enTijuana, Baja California, México.

Héctor Barajas, el fundador de lared, se enfoca en ayudar a los vete-ranos deportados a recuperarse alproporcionarles comida, alojamien-to y ayuda legal, entre otros servi-

cios.Barajas dijo que ahora la ciuda-

danía de veteranos se expide mien-tras están en servicio.

Él sirvió en el Ejército de Esta-dos Unidos de 1995 a 2001. Fue con-denado por un crimen, pagó su sen-tencia, fue deportado y fue atrapadotratando de cruzar la frontera ile-galmente. Él ahora tiene una sen-tencia de deportación de por vida.

Barajas ahora asesora a los vete-ranos que, como él, han sido depor-tados y están viviendo en paísesque no consideran “hogar”.

Hay una opción para registrarseen el “programa médico foráneo”.

Para mayor información, visitela página de Facebook “DeportedVe-teransSupportHousepage”. Una co-lecta económica se programó y sepueden hacer donaciones en: http://www.gofundme.com/6zumc0

VETERANOS

DeportacionesPOR GABRIELA A. TREVIÑO

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Zfrontera PÁGINA 9AMIÉRCOLES 19 DE AGOSTO DE 2015

Una mujer de San Anto-nio recibió un disparo en lacabeza en Nuevo Laredo,México, mientras salía delconsultorio de un dentista,de acuerdo con la policíade Laredo.

La policía dijo que lamujer, de 36 años de edad,presentaba una herida po-tencialmente mortal.

“Fue afortunada de estarviva”, dijo el InvestigadorJoe E. Baeza, portavoz delDepartamento de Policía deLaredo (LPD, por sus siglasen inglés).

La policía dijo que lamujer estaba concientecuando llegó al Laredo Me-dical Center. Ella señalóque salía, junto a su sobri-na, de la cita con el dentis-ta cuando un hombre cami-nó hacia ella y le disparó,de acuerdo con reportes. Elhombre se fue después dedispararle, de acuerdo conla policía.

El incidente ocurrió alre-dedor de las 6 p.m. del sá-bado. Reportes no especifi-caron la ubicación del tiro-teo.

El sábado, oficiales acce-dieron a LMC por un re-porte de persona lesionada.Al llegar, la policía descu-brió que la mujer recibió eldisparo en Nuevo Laredo,señalan reportes.

Reportes indican que elhombre le disparó a que-marropa mientras se senta-ba en el asiento del conduc-tor de un vehículo Chevro-let TrailBlazer, color gris,dijo la policía.

La bala supuestamentesalió por la parte inferiorde su barbilla. No se daña-ron otros órganos vitales,de acuerdo con la policía.

La sobrina llamó a un ta-xi para que la llevara a unhospital de Nuevo Laredo.Después, una ambulanciatransportó a la mujer a unPuente Internacional, don-de los paramédicos del De-partamento de Bomberosde Laredo se hicieron car-go.

Los informes indicanque no hubo intento de ro-bo o de provocación que lle-varan al tiroteo, dijo la po-licía.

En mayo, se actualizóuna alerta de viaje a Méxi-co emitida por el Departa-mento de Estado de Esta-dos Unidos y continúa acti-va.

Oficiales del Departa-mento de Estado dijo quelos estadounidenses deben“aplazar todos los viajes noesenciales al estado de Ta-maulipas.

(Localice a César G. Ro-driguez en 728-2568

NUEVO LAREDO, MX

Recibedisparo

encabeza

POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La comunidad de Testigos de Je-hová invitan a la comunidad a parti-cipar de la asamblea “Imitemos aCristo 2015”.

La serie de eventos, que tendránlugar por tres días, comenzarán elviernes, a las 9:20 a.m. en AmericanBank Center, en la ciudad de CorpusChristi.

Durante la asamblea se busca pro-mover el bienestar social a través deherramientas para padres e hijosque apoyarán la unión y edificaciónfamiliar, señala un comunicado deprensa.

El programa también incluye unanálisis del Sermón de la Montañade Jesús.

“En su Sermón de la Montaña, Je-sús ofreció consejos intemporales

que ayudan a los padres a usar me-jor su tiempo y sus recursos paracrear un ambiente familiar dondereinen la seguridad y el amor”, seña-ló Gabriel Maldonado, portavoz de laasamblea, en el comunicado.

El evento es gratuito y abierto apersonas de todas las edades.

Para más información contacte aMaldonado llamando al (361) 244-6264.

RELIGIÓN

Evento busca mejorar comunidadTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

SEGURIDAD

REUNIÓN REGIONAL

El Gobernador Egidio Torre Cantú, primero desde izquierda, participó en la reunión Regional Noreste de Seguridad Nacional, en Escobe-do, Nuevo Len, México, encabezada por el Secretario de Gobernación, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, donde se revisaron los avances delas estrategias que han implementado en México. Durante el encuentro, realizado en la Séptima Zona Militar, estuvieron presentes elSecretario de la Defensa Nacional, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda; El Secretario de Marina, Almirante Vidal Francisco SoberónSáenz; el Comisionado Nacional de Seguridad, Monte Alejandro Rubido García; y la titular de la PGR, Procuradora Arely Gómez Gon-zález, así como gobernadores de otros estados.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

WASHINGTON — Una irrupciónal sistema del Servicio Interno deImpuestos del Departamento del Te-soro, en el que unos ladrones roba-ron información fiscal de miles decontribuyentes, es mucho peor a loque la agencia había revelado origi-nalmente.

Otras 220.000 víctimas potencialessufrieron el robo de su informacióndesde un sitio de internet del IRS (si-glas en inglés del servicio de im-puestos) como parte de un sofistica-do ardid para usar identidades roba-das con el fin de cobrarfraudulentamente devoluciones deimpuestos, indicó el lunes el IRS.Con esta nueva revelación la cifra deposibles víctimas aumenta más deldoble a 334.000.

La agencia reveló por primera vezel robo de información en mayo.

Los ladrones accedieron a un sis-

tema llamado "Get Transcript",donde los contribuyentes pueden ob-tener devoluciones de impuestos yotros documentos de años ante-riores. Para acceder a esa informa-ción los ladrones superaron una pá-gina de seguridad que requiere co-nocimiento sobre el contribuyente,incluido su número de seguridad so-cial, su fecha de nacimiento, infor-mación sobre sus declaraciones deimpuestos y su domicilio, dijo el IRS.

La información personal fue apa-rentemente robada de otras fuentes.El IRS cree que los ladrones accedie-ron a su cibersitio para obtener aúnmás información sobre los contri-buyentes, lo que les podría ayudar areclamar fraudulentamente devolu-ciones de impuestos en el futuro.

"Como lo hizo en mayo, el IRSavanza enérgicamente para protegera los contribuyentes a cuya informa-ción se pudo haber tenido acceso",dijo la agencia en un comunicado."El IRS comenzará a enviar cartasen los próximos días a cerca de

220.000 contribuyentes donde huboinstancias de posible acceso a la in-formación de la cuenta del contri-buyente en ’Get Transcript’’’.

En total los ladrones usaron infor-mación personal de cerca de 610.000contribuyentes en un esfuerzo poracceder a antiguas devoluciones deimpuestos. Lograron obtener infor-mación de cerca de 334.000 contri-buyentes.

El IRS dijo que ha notificado a to-das las posibles víctimas y les ofreceservicios gratuitos de monitoreo. Laagencia también ofreció incluir a lasposibles víctimas en un programaque les da un número de identifica-ción especial que deben usar parapresentar sus declaraciones.

El IRS no identificó el lunes a laposible fuente del crimen. Pero enmayo, las autoridades dijeron quelos investigadores de la agencia deimpuestos creen que la identidad delos ladrones forma parte de una so-fisticada operación criminal coordi-nada desde Rusia.

NACIONAL

IRS: Alcance de robo es mayorPOR STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015

ed project will help get in-spection wait times downto about 30 minutes.

“(U.S. Customs and Bor-der Protection) wants peo-ple moving through fas-ter,” Moreno said. “…Travelers recognize thatthey don’t want to stophere. They want to contin-ue.”

Moreno said once con-

struction is complete, trav-elers waiting for their bus-es can relax in shadedwaiting areas with air con-ditioning.

“It’ll be more comfort-able for everybody, includ-ing the officers,” Morenosaid.

Cuellar previously saidit has been about 10 yearssince bridge II has seen

improvements.He said Tuesday the new

passenger processing andwaiting area will mimican airport in that “individ-uals could come in for so-da, drinks and snacks.”

During the project’s firstphase, bus inspections willbe temporarily moved tothe port of entry’s old im-port dock, Moreno said.

In its second phase, alltraffic at the port of en-try’s west canopy willmove to its east canopy.

The building will beknocked down and re-placed with an entirelynew structure, he said.

Once construction iscomplete on the west cano-py, it will open up to traf-fic and the same process

will occur at the east cano-py.

The project’s fundingamount also includes somerenovations to the Gate-way to the Americas Inter-national Bridge, alsoknown as bridge I.

Bridge I renovationsstill await other sources offunding, but they will in-clude updating its historic

administration building toimprove pedestrian flowand new technology, Cuel-lar said.

Neither bridge will closecompletely, but there willbe closed lanes while theyare under construction, hesaid.

(Kendra Ablaza can bereached at 728-2538 or ka-blaza@lmtonline.com)

BRIDGE Continued from Page 1A

effective proposed stan-dards, we are underscoringour commitment to reduc-ing the pollution fueling cli-mate change and protectingpublic health while support-ing responsible energy de-velopment, transparencyand accountability,” EPAAdministrator Gina McCar-thy said in a prepared state-ment.

The administration is ex-pected to finalize the rulesnext year shortly beforeObama leaves office.

Methane, the key compo-nent of natural gas, tends toleak during oil and gas pro-duction. Although it makesup just a sliver of green-house gas emissions in theUnited States, it is far morepowerful than the more

prevalent gas carbon diox-ide at trapping heat in theatmosphere. That makesmethane a top target for en-vironmentalists concernedabout global warming.

With his presidency draw-ing to a close, Obama hasbeen in a rush to proposeand then finalize sweepingregulations targeting green-house gases blamed for glob-al warming.

The methane rule followsa landmark regulation Oba-ma finalized earlier thismonth to cut carbon dioxideemissions from coal-firedpower plants by 32 percent.The plan, a key element ofObama’s climate changestrategy, drew immediate le-gal challenges from powercompanies and Republican-

led states.Obama also has proposed

regulations targeting carbonpollution from airplanesand set new standards toimprove fuel efficiency andreduce carbon dioxide pollu-tion from trucks and vans.

In total, Obama has set agoal to cut overall U.S. emis-sions by 26 percent to 28 per-cent over the next decade, ashe seeks to leave a legacy ofusing the full range of hisexecutive power to fight cli-mate change and encourageother countries to do thesame.

Katie Brown, a spokeswo-man for Energy In Depth,an oil industry group, saidmethane emissions from hy-draulic fracturing — alsoknown as fracking — are al-

ready declining because ofimproved drilling tech-niques.

“Cheap natural gas hasdelivered substantial cli-mate benefits that camelargely from voluntary re-ductions by industry andtechnological innovation,”she said. “Federal regula-tions, especially if craftedpoorly, could inflict morepain on the men and wom-en who work in the oil andgas industry.”

Earlier this year, the ad-ministration said it only in-tends at first to regulateemissions from new or mod-ified natural gas wells,meaning thousands of exist-ing wells won’t have to com-ply.

Environmentalists say

that the ambitious goals an-nounced under the proposedrule would be difficult tomeet without targeting ex-isting wells.

David Doniger, climatepolicy director for the Natu-ral Resources Defense Coun-cil, an environmental group,called the new rule “a goodstart.” But Doniger said,“EPA needs to follow up bysetting methane leakagestandards for existing oiland gas operations nation-wide.”

The methane rule comesone day after Obama ap-proved a final permit allow-ing Shell to drill for oil inthe Arctic Ocean off theAlaska coast. Environmen-tal groups have criticizedthe move, saying the permit

clashes with the messageObama will deliver when hevisits Alaska this month toemphasize the dangers ofclimate change.

The U.S. Geological Sur-vey estimates that U.S. Arc-tic waters hold 26 billionbarrels of recoverable oil.Shell is eager to explore in abasin that company officialssay could be a “game chang-er” for domestic production.

Democratic presidentialcandidate Hillary RodhamClinton on Tuesday opposedObama’s decision to allowdrilling in the Arctic Ocean,writing in a Twitter postthat “The Arctic is a uniquetreasure. Given what weknow, it’s not worth therisk” of a major spill to al-low drilling.

METHANE Continued from Page 1A

is located in downtownNuevo Laredo.

Later, Valenzuela re-quested to be transferred tothe United States for treat-ment. Nuevo Laredo CivilProtection paramedics tookher to international bridge2, where LFD crews tookover.

Laredo police respondedto LMC for an injured per-son report at 6:08 p.m. Au-thorities learned from rela-tives that Valenzuela is alegal resident.

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

SHOTContinued from Page 1A expanded to include pri-

mary care, dentistry,mental health, women’shealth, telemedicine, po-diatry, on-board EMS, ra-diology and laboratorywork.

With this new agree-ment, the Laredo VA Out-patient Clinic now haspartnerships with two La-redo hospitals to makesure veterans get the carethey need.

“Veterans’ needs havebeen a priority of minesince being elected intoCongress more than 10years ago. Our veteranshave paid a great price todefend our country. They

deserve nothing but thebest and that means re-ceiving the best health-care here at home, withtheir families.

“This new partnershipwith the VA and DoctorsHospital of Laredo is an-other step to our sharedcommitment to provideexcellent healthcare toour area veterans. I thankthe VA Texas ValleyCoastal Bend DirectorRobert Walton and Doc-tors Hospital of LaredoCEO Rene Lopez for theirhard work and dedicationto our local veterans,”said Congressman HenryCuellar.

CLINIC Continued from Page 1A

Rep. Henry Cuellar today announced a new partnership between the Department of Veterans AffairsTexas Valley Coastal Bend and Doctors Hospital of Laredo.

Courtesy photo

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Rosa Maria Gonzalez, 95,passed away on Aug. 16,2015 at Starr County Memo-rial Hospital in Rio GrandeCity, Texas.

Mrs. Gonzalez is preced-ed in death by her husband,Luis L. Gonzalez; brothers,Romulo Rangel and Cande-lario (Santos) Rangel; sister,Hortencia (Catarino) Gra-cia; and brother-in-law, Mar-tin Salvador Volpe.

Mrs. Gonzalez is survivedby her sons, Hector Luis(Noelia) Gonzalez, Jose Gil-berto (Yolanda) Gonzalezand Roberto Steve (Linda)Gonzalez; daughter, RosaMaria (Jose Rogelio) Sali-nas; six grandchildren,three great-grandchildren,two great-great-grandchil-dren; sister, Juanita Volpe;sister-in-law, Julia Rangel;and by numerous cousins,nephews, nieces, other fam-ily members and friends.

Visitation hours wereheld on Tuesday, Aug. 18,2015, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.with a rosary at 7 p.m. atRose Garden Funeral Home.

The funeral processionwill depart on Wednesday,

Aug. 19, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. fora 9 a.m. funeral Mass atOur Lady of Lourdes Catho-lic Church.

Committal services willfollow at the Zapata CountyCemetery.

Funeral arrangementsare under the direction ofRose Garden Funeral HomeDaniel A. Gonzalez, funeraldirector, 2102 N. U.S. Hwy 83Zapata, Texas.

ROSA R. GONZALEZ

April 14, 1920 – Aug. 16, 2015

PALO ALTO, California— The office has all thetrappings of a high-techstartup. There’s a giantbeanbag in the foyer anderasable, white board wallsfor brainstorming. Some-one’s pet dog lounges happi-ly on the sunny balcony.

Welcome to the Palo Altohome of the Ford Motor Co.,six miles from the head-quarters of Google.

Meanwhile, in a squat,industrial building in sub-urban Detroit, a short drivefrom Ford’s headquarters,workers are busy building asmall fleet of driverlesscars.

The company behindthem? Google.

The convergence of carsand computers is blurringthe traditional geographicalboundaries of both industri-es. Silicon Valley is dottedwith research labs openedby automakers and suppli-ers, who are racing to devel-op high-tech infotainmentsystems and autonomouscars. Tech companies —looking to grow and sensingan industry that’s ripe fordisruption — are heading toDetroit to better understandthe auto industry and gettheir software embedded in-to cars.

The result is both heatedcompetition and unprece-dented cooperation betweentwo industries that rarelyspoke to each other fiveyears ago.

“It’s a cross-pollination.We’re educating bothsides,” says Niall Berkerey,

who runs the Detroit officeof Telenav, a Sunnyvale,California-based firm thatmakes navigation software.

There’s also plenty of em-ployee poaching. Apple re-cently hired Fiat Chrysler’sformer quality chief. Ride-sharing service Ubersnagged 40 researchers andscientists from CarnegieMellon’s Pittsburgh roboticslab. Tesla’s head of vehicledevelopment used to workat Apple.

For years the fast-pacedtech industry showed littlerespect for the plodding carindustry. Google and PaloAlto-based Tesla, with itshigh-tech electric sedans,helped change that.

“People think it’s shinySilicon Valley versus grun-gy Detroit, but that’s gar-bage,” says Chris Urmson,who leads Google’s self-driv-ing car program. “If youlook at the complexity of avehicle, it’s an engineeringmarvel.”

Dragos Maciuca, a for-mer Apple engineer who’snow the technical directorof Ford’s Palo Alto researchlab, says he’s seeing a newexcitement about the autoindustry in Silicon Valley.For one thing, cars providea palpable sense of accom-plishment for software engi-neers.

“If you work at Google orYahoo, it’s hard to pointout, ‘Well, I wrote that pieceof code.’ It’s really hard tobe excited about it or showyour kids,” Maciuca hesays. “In the auto industry,you can go, ‘See that but-ton? The stuff that’s behindit, I worked on that.”’

But cocky tech compa-nies have had to adapt tothe tough standards of theauto industry, which re-quires technology to workperfectly, for years, in allkinds of conditions. Maciu-ca spends much of his timeeducating software and appdevelopers about the indus-try’s needs.

“Silicon Valley goes to-ward this model of a mini-mum viable product. It’seasy to throw things outthere and try them and seeif they work,” Maciuca says.“We can’t do that.”

Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia was bestknown for making chips forcomputer games before itgot into the car business.Now, it makes the computerprocessors that power Tes-

la’s 17-inch touchscreendashboard and Audi’s ex-perimental self-driving cars,among other products. Ithad to develop new manu-facturing techniques andhigher levels of certificationfor the auto business, suchas tests to make sure itscomputer chips would stillwork in subzero temper-atures, says Danny Shapiro,Nvidia’s senior director ofautomotive.

For their part, the auto-makers are learning thatrolling out cars that remainstatic for years until thenext model comes out is nolonger practical. At the in-sistence of tech companiessuch as Telenav and Nvidia,they’re learning to makecars with navigation, info-tainment and other features

that can be constantly up-dated. Mercedes-Benz, Tes-la, Toyota, BMW, and otherscan now update vehicle soft-ware wirelessly to fix prob-lems or add more capability

Shapiro says the cost-con-scious auto industry hashad to learn to spend a lit-tle more — maybe $10 to $20per car — on computerhardware. Automakerswould often go with thecheapest option but thenspend even more fixingbugs, or be forced to replaceprocessors that didn’t haveenough power to add up-dates.

Nvidia now has eightpermanent engineers atvarious automakers in Mi-chigan.

“We’ve helped themadopt more of a computer

industry mindset, which isnot to reinvent what they’redoing every five to sevenyears,” Shapiro says.

Even with that new spiritof collaboration, automak-ers and tech companies alsouse their local labs to do alittle spying.

Frankie James, a formerNASA researcher who nowruns General Motors’ PaloAlto office, says spottingtrends and potential threatsis one of the most impor-tant parts of her job. Herteam alerted GM to the car-sharing trend, for example,and the automaker invested$3 million in Relay Rides in2011.

Now, she’s watching com-panies that could potential-ly disrupt the auto busi-ness, such as Google andApple. Google has promiseda self-driving car within fiveyears, and Apple has hiredpeople from Tesla, Ford andother car companies for itsown top-secret project.

“We need to say, ‘OK, ifwe think Apple is going tobuild something like thisbecause they’ve got this vi-sion of the future,’ if wetake that same vision of thefuture, what can we do?How can we continue toplay?” James says.

The tech industry is alsowatching its back. Telenavis making a new navigationsystem for the 2016 Tacomapickup and other Toyota ve-hicles, but Apple and Goo-gle are also vying for thecar’s dashboard with theirCarPlay and Android Autosystems, which give driversaccess to certain smart-phone apps.

High-tech cars connect Detroit, Palo AltoBy DEE-ANN DURBIN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this photo taken Aug. 13, technical director Dragos Maciuca poses while sitting in a driving simulatorin the immersion lab of the Ford Motor Company Research and Innovation Center in Palo Alto, Calif.

Photo by Eric Risberg | AP

WASHINGTON — U.S.builders started work onsingle-family houses lastmonth at the fastest pacesince the Great Recessionbegan in late 2007.

Housing starts in Julyrose 0.2 percent to a season-ally adjusted annual rate of1.21 million homes, theCommerce Departmentsaid Tuesday. Constructionof single-family houses ac-counted for all of the gains,shooting up 12.8 percentlast month to the highestrate since December 2007.

The increase pointed toa housing market that hasstrengthened for much ofthe year, reflecting an in-creased sense of financialsecurity for many Ameri-cans amid steady jobgrowth, modest layoffs andrelatively low mortgagerates. Continued gains inhousing would help extendthe current economic ex-pansion.

“More housing starts

means more constructionjobs as well as confidencefrom real estate developersthat people will be buying,”said Tara Sinclair, a GeorgeWashington University pro-fessor and chief economistfor job site Indeed. “We’llknow the economy is reallyhitting stride when we seethese starts in the range of1.5 million.”

Total housing starts haverisen 11.3 percent year-to-date. The market is attract-ing more buyers and rent-ers, as starts for apartmentbuildings have climbed 12.2percent so far this year de-spite last month’s drop.

The improved housingmarket has already benefit-ed sales at supply storessuch as Home Depot. Theworld’s largest home im-provement retailer reportedTuesday that sales at U.S.stores open at least oneyear had climbed 5.7 per-cent during the secondquarter, pushing its stockto an all-time high of $123in morning trading.

But Tuesday’s report al-

so showed the potentiallimits of further gains fromnew construction as thenumber of building permitsfell, a possible sign that de-mand will need to continueimproving to further thepace of homebuilding.

“It is in all likelihood go-ing to take another leg upin new single-family homesales to sustain the pace ofsingle family starts thatwas recorded in July,” saidJoshua Shapiro, chief U.S.economist at the consultan-cy MFR.

Approved building per-mits decreased 16.3 percentin July to an annual rate of1.12 million, after achievingan eight-year high in June.

The decrease likely re-flects some pullback aftermonths of gains and wascaused primarily by asharp plunge in permits toconstruct apartment com-plexes after a tax break ex-pired in New York.

Homebuyers and rentershave crowded into thehousing market this year,pushing up prices to levels

that have worsened afforda-bility and placed a potentialcap on sales growth.

Builders have relievedsome of this financial pres-sure by ramping up con-struction, yet the increasesin housing starts and build-ing permits still lags thesurging demand.

The National Associ-ation of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder senti-ment index released Mon-day reached 61 this month,up from 60 in July. Anyreading above 50 signals ex-pansion.

Still, only 5.4 months’supply of new homes isavailable, compared to sixmonths in a healthy mar-ket. In the rental sector,prices are increasing atdouble the rate of hourlywage growth largely be-cause of fewer vacantapartments available. Homerental prices are up 4.3 per-cent in the past year, ac-cording to the real estatefirm Zillow. Average hourlyearnings have improved amere 2.1 percent.

Homebuilding grows in JulyBy JOSH BOAK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015