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Zapata County employees gath-ered Wednesday for a Thanksgiv-ing luncheon provided by thecounty in appreciation for theirhard work all year.

“We don’t do this every year,but this is another way for thepublic officials to show gratitudeto all the county employees,” Za-pata County Judge Rosalva Guer-ra said. “We are grateful for thehard work they do for the coun-ty.”

The county sponsors a Thanks-giving luncheon every other year,Guerra said.

“We don’t do this every year,but the employees were asking forit,” Guerra said.

During the luncheon, countyemployees sat on several tablessurrounded by their co-workers,colleagues, and friends while en-joying their Thanksgiving lunch,donated by Justice of the PeaceFernando Muñoz.

While eating turkey and all thetrimmings, county employees lis-tened to a few words of encour-

agement by Captain Aaron San-chez of the Zapata County Sher-iff ’s Office and by AudeliaHernandez, the county judge’ssecretary.

Sanchez made the county em-ployees aware of what is going onin the community and Hernandezgave a presentation on the Volun-teer Income Tax Assistance (VI-TA) Program, Guerra said.

“Many county employees don’tknow this program is available tothem and that (they’re income

COUNTY

THANKSGIVING FEAST

Zapata County hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon for its employees Wednesday at the Zapata County Community Center.Among those in attendance were, from left, Duvleza Orengo, Fire Chief Juan Meza, Nellie Trevino and Mari Gutierrez.

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

County offers appreciation luncheonBy LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See LUNCHEON PAGE 10A

The Zapata County Sheriff ’sOffice is asking the community’shelp in solving a vandalism casedeputies say may be a retalia-tion.

Deputies responded to a crimi-nal mischief call Sunday in the100 block of Carla Street by theFalcon Lake Nursing Home.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

On the lookoutSheriff seeks

vandal ofdeputy’s car

Authorities are asking for the community’s help to find the person responsible forthe damages on this 2006 Mustang. To provide information on the case callCrime Stoppers at 765-8477. Callers may remain anonymous and may be entitledto a reward of up to $1,000.

Courtesy photo

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

See CAR PAGE 10A

The holidays can be a joyfultime with family and friends,even a time of relaxation andtime away from home, butburglars are lurking and wait-ing for their lucky breaks.

That is why the ZapataCounty Sheriff ’s Office is en-couraging residents to securetheir properties, especiallyduring the holidays.

Residents are encouraged tocontact the sheriff ’s office ifthey will be away from theirhomes for more than a day,Sergeant Mario Elizondo said.

“They can leave a contactnumber or if they have analarm they can provide thecompany so we can speak tothem directly,” Elizondo said.“They should also notify trust-worthy neighbors and familymembers so they can go by thehouse to check in.”

Some other safety tips in-clude leaving a light, a T.V. ora radio on, and have a neigh-bor or family member pick upnewspapers, Elizondo said.

“Habitual or veteran bur-glars go casing houses, espe-cially during the holidays,”Elizondo said. “Burglars cas-ing houses will look at a stackof newspapers that have not

been picked up as a sign of aresident not being home.”

During the holidays bur-glars expect to find presentsand other valuables at theirdisposal, especially when aChristmas tree is set in frontof a window, Elizondo said.

“They know there are pre-sents so windows and doorsshould be locked,” Elizondosaid. “Call back to your houseand let it ring a couple oftimes and hang up. Don’tmake it seem like you are notat your house.”

A burglary happens in lessthan three minutes, Elizondosaid.

“They break a window andtake as much as they can takein a minute or two,” Elizondosaid.

The sheriff ’s office has re-covered unwrapped gifts andother valuables, Elizondo add-ed.

“That’s what they look for,easy cash like that,” he said.“People get stuck with a $100broken window and no giftsand whatever else they took.”

Zapata County is populatedby winter Texans who are usu-ally gone for six months out ofthe year and often fall victimto their homes being burglar-ized and don’t realize it untilthey return, Elizondo said.

“There’s no way of us know-ing,” Elizondo said.

For winter Texans and oth-er local residents, the sheriff ’soffice provides ‘round-the-

SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Safety tips forthe holidays

Residents given tipsto keep homes, safewhile they’re away

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See SAFETY PAGE 10A

Before taking the Thanks-giving holiday off, VillarrealElementary School StudentCouncil members and officersshowed off their talent bysinging and dancing in frontof the entire student body andstaff.

The talent show consisted of14 acts, including two largedancing groups and 12 solo orsmall groups of all ages, saidVictoriana Gallegos, Villarrealreading interventionist andStudent Council sponsor.

Student Council membershad wanted to put on the showsince the beginning of theyear, Gallegos said.

“I agreed and we’ve beenpracticing the past month,”Gallegos said.

The Student Council con-sists of members and officersfrom third through fifthgrades, Gallegos said.

“We let students be the lead-ers of the school and I try toportray that to them,” Galle-gos said. “When they camewith the talent show idea Ireally wanted to put it on eventhough I knew it was going tobe hard work, but I reallywanted to show them thatthey are important and taketheir ideas into consideration.We just went for it and had alot of fun.”

One of the large groups con-sisting mostly of student coun-cil members performed “DJGot Us Falling in Love,” asong by Usher and choreo-graphed by Gallegos, she said.

The other large group per-formed “I Like It,” by EnriqueIglesias and choreographed bycheerleading sponsor VickyGarza, Gallegos said.

Before the performance in-dividuals and groups had tochoose a song to be approved

SCHOOLS

Villarreal studentsput on talent show

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See TALENT PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

SATURDAY, NOV. 27Veterans Helping Veterans will

meet in TAMIU’s Western HemisphericTrade Center, Room 126, from noon to2:30 p.m. today, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18.Meetings are confidential and for mili-tary veterans only. Contact GeorgeMendez at 794-3057 or georgem@bor-derregion.org, or Jessica Morales at794-3091 or jessicam@borderre-gion.org.

MONDAY, NOV. 29The creative works of several

Laredo Community College studentsare on display as part of the art exhib-it, Hecho en LCC II, now through Fri-day, Dec. 10 at the Yeary Library onthe Fort McIntosh Campus. The exhibitmay be viewed Monday through Thurs-day from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridayfrom 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and week-ends from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admissionis free and open to the public. Formore information, call 721-5280.

TUEDAY, NOV. 30Texas A&M International Univer-

sity’s Center for the Fine and Perform-ing Arts will host a Fall Piano StudioRecital, today from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. inthe CFPA Recital Hall. The event isfree and open to the public. ContactDr. Gechter at 326.2639 or e-mailfgechter@tamiu.edu .

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1A Tony Award-winning musical,

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” is coming toLaredo Community College this spring.The Laredo Community College’s OperaWorkshop is holding auditions from 7to 9:30 p.m. today for the upcomingproduction, slated for performancesMarch 3-6 at LCC. Contact the LCCperforming arts department at (956)721-5330 or Joseph Crabtree at jcrab-tree@laredo.edu.

THURSDAY, DEC. 2Laredo Community College ush-

ers in the Yuletide season at 7 p.m.during the annual Holiday Celebrationand Posada in front of the Yeary Li-brary courtyard on the Fort McIntoshCampus. Bring the entire family. Ad-mission is free and open to the public.Call 721-5350.

Laredo elementary schools willsing and perform traditional Christmascarols at the Laredo Public Library at1120 E. Calton Ave. from 6 p.m. to 9p.m. Free hot chocolate and cookieswhile they last. Admission is free.

FRIDAY, DEC. 3Today is the NavidadFest Parade

and Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.The parade kicks off at 6 p.m. fromthe Burlington Coat Factory parking lotand heads south on San Bernardo Ave.to the Laredo Civic Center, whereChristmas performances, a Mexicanpastorela, food booths, free rides forchildren and, of course, the officialCity of Laredo Christmas Tree Lightingwill take place, ending at 11 p.m. En-trance is free for the whole family.

SATURDAY, DEC. 4A book sale will be held from

8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today in the Wid-ener Room, First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. The pub-lic is invited, and there is no admis-sion fee.

PETCO will be celebrating theseason by having the annual “Photosfor Santa with Pets” photo session atthe PETCO store at 5410 San BernardoAve. between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.. Allpets are welcome.

Border Region MHMR will havea toy drive benefiting children ages 3-17 participating in the Child, Adoles-cent & Parent Services (CAPS) Pro-gram. The toy drive will take place atthe Walmart at 5610 San BernardoAve. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Donationsof unwrapped toys will be most appre-ciated. Contact Kathleen Seitel byemail at kathleens@borderregion.org.

SUNDAY, DEC. 5Memorial Bells of the First Unit-

ed Methodist Church, under the direc-tion of Linda Mott, will present aChristmas Concert entitled "Ring, SingNoel" at 4:00 p.m. in the sanctuary at1220 McClelland. This event is freeand open to the public. Donations willbe accepted to help defray concert-re-lated expenses. For more information,call the church office at (956) 722-1674 or email at FUMC_laredo@sbcglo-bal.net.

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

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Nov. 27,the 331st day of 2010. There are34 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Nov. 27, 1910, New York’sPennsylvania Station officiallyopened as it became fully op-erational with regular throughtrain service from the Penn-sylvania Railroad.

On this date: In 1701, astronomer Anders

Celsius, inventor of the Celsi-us temperature scale, wasborn in Uppsala, Sweden.

In 1901, the U.S. Army WarCollege was established inWashington, D.C.

In 1909, author, poet andcritic James Agee was born inKnoxville, Tenn.

In 1939, the play “Key Lar-go,” by Maxwell Anderson,opened at the Ethel Barry-more Theater in New York.

In 1942, during World WarII, the French navy at Toulonscuttled its ships and subma-rines to keep them out of thehands of German troops.

In 1953, playwright EugeneO’Neill died in Boston at age65.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI, visit-ing the Philippines, was slight-ly wounded at the Manila air-port by a dagger-wielding Boli-vian painter disguised as apriest.

In 1978, San Francisco May-or George Moscone and CitySupervisor Harvey Milk, agay-rights activist, were shotto death inside City Hall byformer supervisor Dan White.

In 1983, 181 people werekilled when a ColombianAvianca Airlines Boeing 747crashed near Madrid’s Barajasairport.

In 1989, a bomb blamed ondrug traffickers destroyed aColombian Avianca Boeing727, killing all 107 people onboard and three people on theground.

Ten years ago: A day afterGeorge W. Bush was certifiedthe winner of Florida’s presi-dential vote, Al Gore laid outhis case for letting the courtssettle the nation’s long-countelection. Canadian Prime Min-ister Jean Chretien’s LiberalParty won a third straight ma-jority in the House of Com-mons.

One year ago: Tiger Woodscrashed his SUV outside hisFlorida mansion, sparkingwidespread attention to re-ports of marital infidelity. For-mer President Bill Clinton andSecretary of State Hillary Rod-ham Clinton announceddaughter Chelsea’s engage-ment to longtime boyfriendMarc Mezvinsky.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorJames Avery is 62. AcademyAward-winning director Kath-ryn Bigelow (Film: “The HurtLocker”) is 59. TV host BillNye (“Bill Nye, the ScienceGuy”) is 55. Actor WilliamFichtner is 54. Caroline Ken-nedy is 53. Academy Award-winning screenwriter CallieKhouri (Film: “Thelma andLouise”) is 53. Rock musicianCharlie Burchill (SimpleMinds) is 51. Minnesota Gov.Tim Pawlenty is 50. Rock mu-sician Charlie Benante (An-thrax) is 48. Rock musicianMike Bordin (Faith No More)is 48. Actor Fisher Stevens is47.

Thought for Today:“Nothing is more despicablethan a professional talker whouses his words as a quack useshis remedies.” — Francois Fe-nelon, French theologian(1651-1715).

TODAY IN HISTORY

HOUSTON — The conviction of Tom De-Lay, once one of the most powerful Republi-can wheelers-and-dealers in Congress, marksthe beginning of a lengthy appeals processthat will seek to cleanse the name and therecord of the former House majority leader.

DeLay’s lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, ex-pressed confidence on Friday the Third Cir-cuit Court of Appeals in Austin will rule inhis favor because it has in the past. Add tothat a varied assortment of available argu-ments, and DeGuerin and law experts saythey’re convinced this is only the start ofwhat will become a precedent-setting case.

"This is the first and only time that a pros-ecution like this has ever taken place in Tex-as. It’s totally unprecedented, and we believewe’re right," DeGuerin said.

DeLay was convicted Wednesday of illegal-ly funneling corporate money to Texas can-didates in 2002. He faces up to life in prisonon the money laundering conviction, andtwo to 20 years for the charge of conspiracyto commit money laundering.

DeLay resigned due to the indictment anda separate federal investigation into his tiesto former disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Some legal experts argue that such un-precedented cases immediately raise the in-terest of the appellate courts. Others, howev-er, note that Texas’ conservative, largely Re-publican appellate courts do not have astrong record of siding with defendants.

"Statistically, he is going to be fighting anuphill battle," said Philip H. Hilder, a formerprosecutor, now a Houston attorney.

The courts could see it as a "partisanfight" though, Hilder said.

AROUND TEXAS

Tom DeLay leaves the courtroom at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center on Wednesday, in Austin. DeLay — onceone of the most powerful and feared Republicans in Congress — was convicted Wednesday on charges he illegally funneledcorporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

Photo by Larry Kolvoord/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Appeals start for DeLayBy RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ID remains elusive for lastknown Ike victim

GALVESTON — GalvestonCounty’s last known victim fromHurricane Ike remains unidenti-fied more than two years afterthe storm.

The woman was found 16 daysafter Ike made landfall on Sept.13, 2008.

People on all-terrain vehiclesdiscovered the decomposed bodyon the shore of Pelican Island.

Man has heart attack,dies after pit bull incident

TYLER — An East Texas mandied after suffering a heart at-tack when he tried to help hismother-in-law stave off an attackby pit bulls.

The mother-in-law intervenedwhen the pit bulls attacked hertwo dogs Thursday, but was bit-ten by one of the pit bulls.

The dog was stabbed andkilled by her son-in-law, who lat-er had a heart attack while thewoman was being treated.

Police: Thanksgivingvisitor shot at home

HOUSTON — A Houstonhomeowner fatally shot a visitorafter the acquaintance waskicked out of the home and thenforced his way back in.

The man allegedly became bel-ligerent about 2 a.m. Thursdayand assaulted the homeowner.The homeowner removed theman and locked the door.

The man stood outside yellingbefore allegedly breaking a frontdoor window and reaching in-side to unlock the door. He wasshot once in the chest after open-ing the door and charging to-ward the homeowner.

Twins killed in Waco fireWACO — Twin Central Texas

brothers have died in a fire thatdestroyed a portable buildingwhere they were sleeping.

The boys died five days shortof their third birthday.

The children’s mother andboyfriend were in a mobile homenearby.

Tree farm has ‘first Noel’since Ike

LUMBERTON — Jay andBeckie Kelley worry their for-mer Christmas tree farm cus-tomers will stick to decoratingartificial trees this season.

Bozeman’s Christmas TreeFarm reopens today, after Hurri-canes Ike and Rita destroyedmost of its trees.

The Kelleys said people askwhen they can get their tree.

Texas grand jury clearsaccused deputy

MINDEN, La. — A Texasgrand jury cleared a sheriff ’sdeputy of charges he molested a6-year-old girl in the 1990s.

Robert Booth’s daughter saidthe Nueces County District At-torney told her father, 63, on Nov.18 the charges were thrown out.

Booth was arrested in Juneand charged on two counts of ag-gravated sexual assault of achild.

— Compiled from AP reports

San Diego drug tunnel hadrailcar, tons of pot

SAN DIEGO — U.S. author-ities say more than 20 tons ofmarijuana was seized in connec-tion with a cross-border tunnelthat was equipped with a rail car— the second discovery of a ma-jor underground drug passage inSan Diego this month.

The passage ran 2,200 feetfrom Tijuana, Mexico, to SanDiego.

Three were arrested in theUnited States and five in Mexico.

Mother, 2 kids stabbed todeath in Ohio; man hurtCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Police

say a mother and her two chil-dren were found fatally stabbedin their apartment after familyreported that she hadn’t shownup for Thanksgiving or work.

Officers found the three vic-tims Friday afternoon and a manstill alive with stab wounds.

Marine stabbed bysuspected shoplifter

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A U.S. Ma-rine collecting toys was stabbedwhen he helped stop a suspected

shoplifter. The man was seen on surveil-

lance cameras Friday putting alaptop under his jacket.

A Marine collecting toys for“Toys For Tots” stopped theman, who then stabbed him.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Fans line up to meet pop star Justin Bieber at Barnes & Noble bookstore on FifthAvenue in New York City on Friday.

Photo by Charles Sykes | AP

Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226Chief Accountant, Thelma Aguero .............. 728-2553General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510Retail Adv. Manager, Raul Cruz................... 728-2511Classified Manager, Sandra Valderrama....... 728-2525Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505Editor, Diana Fuentes ................................ 728-2581City Editor, Mary Nell Sanchez .................. 728-2543Sports Editor, Dennis Silva II......................728-2579Business Journal Editor, Joe Rutland .......... 728-2529Entertainment Editor, Emilio Rábago III ....... 728-2564Online Editor, Julie Daffern ....................... 728-2565

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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.

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

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

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

CONTACT US

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010 Zlocal PAGE 3A

INFORMATION ON BULLYING

Courtesy photo

The Zapata County Juvenile Probation Department and the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office visit Villarreal Elementary to provide studentswith information on bullying. Pictured, from left to right, are Angel Garza, Marshall Davidson and presenters Roger Miller and Myrna Busta-mante.

ACCIDENTPolice responded to an ac-

cident at 2:41 p.m. Nov. 20 at9th Avenue and US Highway 83.

Police responded to an ac-cident involving damages at 4:04p.m. Nov. 21 at US Highway 83and El Paraiso.

ASSAULTPolice responded to an as-

sault causing bodily injury callat 4:29 p.m. Nov. 20 in the 300block of Gonzalez Street.

Police responded to an as-sault causing bodily injury callat midnight Nov. 21 in the 1900block of Bravo.

Police responded to an ag-gravated assault call at 5 a.m.Nov. 21 at 13th and Medina.

Police responded to an as-sault causing bodily injury call

at 8:02 a.m. Nov. 21 in the 2500block of Carla Street.

BURGLARYPolice responded to a bur-

glary of habitation call at 6:25p.m. Nov. 19 in the 300 block ofThird Street. in the 130 block ofFlores Street.

Police responded to a bur-glary of vehicle call at 4:22 a.m.Nov. 21 in the 2500 block of

Brazos Street. Police responded to a bur-

glary of building call at 9:26a.m. Nov. 21 in the 1600 of Me-dina Avenue.

THEFTPolice responded to a

theft call at 4:44 a.m. Nov. 20at an Exxon station in the 1300block of US Highway 83.

THE BLOTTER

Zapata County Cham-ber of Commerce readiesfor the annual Christmasparade and lighting of theplaza, inviting the commu-nity and surroundingcommunities to partici-pate in the spirit of givingby donating toys to theless fortunate during theholidays.

“We had a good turnoutlast year, and hope to havea better turnout this year,”said Jose F. “Paco” Mendo-za Jr., the chamber’s presi-dent and chief executiveofficer. “We look to im-prove it every year and in-crease participation fromthe community.”

Last year, more than 250toys were collected, saidCelia Balderas, the cham-ber’s membership servicescoordinator.

“We ran out of toys.Hopefully, we have morethis year,” Balderas said.

The Chamber of Com-merce staff also handedout 400 bags of candy tochildren last year, Balde-ras added.

“It was overwhelming,the expression on the kids’faces,” she said. “I wouldlike to see it again thisyear.”

The event will takeplace Wednesday. The pa-rade will line up at 5:30p.m. at the corner of 17th

Street and Hidalgo Boule-vard. The parade will startat 17th Street and willhead south on US 83 andend on 6th Avenue at theCounty Plaza, according toa Zapata County press re-lease.

This year the event willinclude carolers, entertain-ment, pictures with Santa,hot cocoa, and food booths.

Entertainment will beprovided by UltimateSound of Zapata and SteveSanchez and his wife,Blanca, will dress up asMr. and Mrs. Santa, Balde-ras added.

Border Patrol, TexasParks and Wildlife, theHawk band, and other or-ganizations have also con-firmed their participationin the event, Balderassaid.

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

Christmasparade set forWednesday

By LORRAINE L. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES “It was

overwhelming,the expressionon the kids’faces” CELIA BALDERAS,CHAMBER MEMBERSHIPSERVICES COORDINATOR

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

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

What we need nowis another Jona-than Swift.

Most people knowSwift as the author of“Gulliver’s Travels.” Butrecent events have methinking of his 1729 es-say “A Modest Proposal,”in which he observed thedire poverty of the Irishand offered a solution:Sell the children as food.“I grant this food will besomewhat dear,” he ad-mitted, but this wouldmake it “very proper forlandlords, who, as theyhave already devouredmost of the parents,seem to have the best ti-tle to the children.”

Satirist neededOK, these days it’s not

the landlords, it’s thebankers — and they’rejust impoverishing thepopulace, not eating it.But only a satirist — andone with a very savagepen — could do justice towhat’s happening to Ire-land now.

The Irish story beganwith a genuine economicmiracle. Eventually,though, this gave way toa speculative frenzy dri-ven by runaway banksand real estate develop-ers, all in a cozy relation-ship with leading politic-ians. The frenzy was fi-nanced with hugeborrowing on the part ofIrish banks, largely frombanks in other Europeannations.

Banks in troubleThen the bubble burst,

and those banks facedhuge losses. You mighthave expected those wholent money to the banksto share in the losses. Af-ter all, they were con-senting adults, and ifthey failed to understandthe risks they were tak-ing that was nobody’sfault but their own. But,no, the Irish governmentstepped in to guaranteethe banks’ debt, turningprivate losses into publicobligations.

Before the bank bust,Ireland had little publicdebt. However, with tax-payers suddenly on thehook for gigantic banklosses, even as revenuesplunged, the nation’screditworthiness was putin doubt. So Ireland triedto reassure the marketswith a harsh program ofspending cuts.

Step back for a minuteand think about that.These debts were in-curred, not to pay forpublic programs, but byprivate wheeler-dealersseeking nothing buttheir own profit. Ordi-nary Irish citizens arenow bearing the burdenof those debts.

Or to be more accu-rate, they’re bearing aburden much larger thanthe debt — because thosespending cuts havecaused a severe reces-sion so that in additionto taking on the banks’debts, the Irish are suf-fering from plunging in-comes and high unem-ployment.

Confidence soughtThere is no alterna-

tive, though, say the seri-ous people: all of this isnecessary to restore con-fidence.

Strange to say, howev-er, confidence is not im-proving. On the contrary,investors have noticedthat all those austerity

measures are depressingthe Irish economy — andare fleeing Irish debt be-cause of that economicweakness.

Painful reformNow what? Last week-

end Ireland and itsneighbors put togetherwhat has widely been de-scribed as a “bailout.”What really happened,though, was that theIrish government prom-ised to impose even morepain, in return for acredit line that wouldpresumably give Irelandmore time to, um, re-store confidence. Mar-kets, understandably,were not impressed asinterest rates on Irishbonds have risen evenfurther.

Does it really have tobe this way?

In early 2009, a jokewas making the rounds:“What’s the differencebetween Iceland and Ire-land? Answer: One letterand about six months.”This was supposed to begallows humor. No mat-ter how bad the Irish sit-uation, it couldn’t becompared with the utterdisaster that was Ice-land.

At this point, however,Iceland seems, if any-thing, to be doing betterthan its near-namesake.Its economic slump wasno deeper than Ireland’s,its job losses were lesssevere and it seems bet-ter positioned for recov-ery. In fact, investorsnow appear to considerIceland’s debt safer thanIreland’s. How is thatpossible?

Money talksPart of the answer is

that Iceland let foreignlenders to its runawaybanks pay the price oftheir poor judgment,rather than putting itsown taxpayers on theline to guarantee bad pri-vate debts. As the Inter-national Monetary Fundnotes — approvingly! —“private sector bankrupt-cies have led to a markeddecline in external debt.”Meanwhile, Icelandhelped avoid a financialpanic in part by impos-ing temporary capitalcontrols — that is, bylimiting the ability ofresidents to pull fundsout of the country.

Iceland has also bene-fited from the fact that,unlike Ireland, it stillhas its own currency; de-valuation of the krona,which has made Ice-land’s exports more com-petitive, has been an im-portant factor in limitingthe depth of Iceland’sslump.

None of these hetero-dox options are availableto Ireland, say the wiseheads. Ireland, they say,must continue to inflictpain on its citizens — be-cause to do anything elsewould fatally undermineconfidence.

But Ireland is now inits third year of austeri-ty, and confidence justkeeps draining away.And you have to wonderwhat it will take for seri-ous people to realize thatpunishing the populacefor the bankers’ sins isworse than a crime; it’s amistake.

COLUMN

It’s rags toriches to rags

for Irish“PAUL KRUGMAN

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

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

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

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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

As we all prepare togain a few poundsover Thanksgiving, I

promise not to be a buzz killwagging my finger aboutstarva ... well, never mind.You see, this is that rarest ofbirds: a happy columnabout hunger.

And our hero, appropri-ate for this season, is ahigh-tech and heroic ver-sion of the vitamin-packed,orange-fleshed sweet potato.Along with a few other new-ly designed foods, it mayhelp save hundreds of thou-sands of children’s liveseach year.

If there’s any justice inthe world, statues may even-tually be erected of this no-ble root, the Mother Teresaof the dinner plate. But,first, the back story. Wethink of starvation as ashortage of calories, but re-searchers are finding thatthe biggest reason peopledie of malnutrition is sim-ply lack of micronutrients.

Without enough zinc,children die of diarrhea.Without enough iron, chil-dren are anemic and wom-en die in childbirth. With-out enough vitamin A,small children often goblind or die. More than one-third of African preschool-ers lack vitamin A, andhundreds of thousands dieas a result. (Americans getenough vitamin A becauseof a more varied diet and

fortified foods.) UNICEF and other aid or-

ganizations like Helen Kell-er International have beenworking frantically to dis-tribute vitamin A capsulesand iron and zinc supple-ments in poor countries, orto fortify foods with miner-als and vitamins. But it’s along, hard slog. A vitaminA capsule costs only a cou-ple of cents, but deliveringthe capsules to remote vil-lages can cost as much as $1each.

So a decade ago scientistsbegan experimenting withthis approach: What if theytinkered with crops so thatthey naturally containediron, zinc or vitamin A?

That’s where our hero,the sweet potato, comes in.

Orange sweet potatoes onour Thanksgiving tables arefull of beta carotene, whichthe body turns into vitaminA. But our sweet potatoesdon’t grow well in Africa.Africans eat an estimated 7million tons of sweet pota-toes a year, but theirs lackvitamin A.

So scientists cross-bredsweet potatoes until theycame up with vitamin A-rich orange varieties that

grow well in Africa. Hard-bitten health specialists goweak-kneed over them.

More than 170,000 Ugan-dan and Mozambiquan fam-ilies are now growing thesesweet potatoes. And thesweet potato is just the firstof a number of crops thathave been bred or engi-neered to address micronu-trient deficiencies. This mixof agriculture and nutritionis called biofortification,and it’s one of the hot wordsin the global poverty lexi-con.

Also in the works arerice and wheat packed withzinc, pearl millet and beanswith iron, bright orangecorn and golden cassavathat give people vitamin A.These crops are in variousstages of testing by HarvestPlus, a nonprofit based inWashington. The alliance isfinanced by the Bill and Me-linda Gates Foundation, theWorld Bank, aid agenciesfrom Canada, Britain andthe United States, and theaim is to produce cheapseeds in the public domain.

“Biofortification is slow,but it has a huge impact inthe end,” said HowarthBouis, director of HarvestPlus. One of the questions,though, is this: Will ruralAfricans want to eat orangesweet potatoes? Iron andzinc don’t change the coloror taste of foods, but foodsthat produce vitamin A are

often an unearthly orange. While the crops backed

by Harvest Plus are all con-ventionally bred, othercrops have been geneticallyengineered. The best knownis “golden rice”: Scientistsplucked genes from daffo-dils and corn to come upwith rice that produces vita-min A. Gerard Barry of theInternational Rice ResearchInstitute said it is now intrials and, if widely accept-ed around the world, couldbe a huge step in reducingchild deaths and blindness.

There are plenty of rea-sons to be skeptical. No bat-tle against poverty goessmoothly, or as planned.And the European left’s sadhostility to scientific tinker-ing with crops may slow ac-ceptance of biofortification.If that hostility gainsground, it will be harder tosave children from blind-ness and death.

But, so far, the science ispromising. It may turn outthat one of the best ways tosave children’s lives, or tosave women in childbirth,doesn’t involve doctors butrather high-tech seeds.

Children have been dyingfor lack of vitamin A, ironand zinc for thousands ofgenerations. These newseeds may finally help endthe scourge of starvation inthis century, on our watch.And that’s a special reasonto give thanks.

COLUMN

Fixing crops to feed the world

“NICHOLAS KRISTOF

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

PAGE 6A Zentertainment SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

sounds of La Tropa F and Tex-Mex Kadil-laks.

The event, set for Saturday, Dec. 4 atthe LIFE Downs, will feature a variety offoods and is a fundraiser for the upcom-ing LIFE Fair.

Tickets are $8 presale and are availableat Kelly’s Western Wear, Mike’s WesternWear and Casa Raul. Tickets will be $10at the door.

LIFE grounds is located off U.S. 59.For more information, call Hector Es-

parza at 771-5389 or 722-9948.

Randy Rogers Band returnsin January

Country artist Randy Rogers and hisband will back in Laredo at the CasaBlanca Ballroom.

The band is scheduled to perform Sat-urday, Jan. 22.

The Randy Rogers Band has openedshows for the likes of Willie Nelson andThe Eagles, and has been featured on“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” and“Late Show With David Letterman.” Theband’s two previous albums debuted atNo. 1 on the iTunes Country chart and inthe Top 5 on the Billboard Top CountryAlbums chart.

Tickets are $15 presale and available atbryanpromotions.com

— The Zapata Times

Costumbre to accompany EmilioThe upcoming Return of Emilio Navai-

ra concert just added another band to thelineup.

Grupo Costumbre will play alongsideEmilio and Los Palominos at the LaredoEnergy Arena on Saturday, Dec. 11. A lo-cal opening band will also be announcedsoon.

Norteño/Tejano group Costumbre wasformed by Zapata High School graduateManuel Edgar Luján and Mexican nativeJosé Zamora Jr., debuting with the releaseof a self-titled album Oct. 5, 1999. Cos-tumbre returned in 2001 with “DéjameSer,” featuring Billboard’s Hot LatinTrack “Y Ya Después.” Tickets are avail-able at all Ticketmaster locations, includ-ing the LEA box office.

Fight Fest at Civic CenterThe Laredo Civic Center will host

Mixed Martial Arts fighting on Thursday.Dubbed Fight Fest, the MMA fights

will feature Laredoan Sonny Luqueagainst Elias Marks in the main eventbout.

Also fighting will be Victor O. vs. Ra-fael Lopez, George C vs. Peter Ruiz, Dan-ny L. vs. Jonathan W., Alex vs. Ruben andDanny Cervantez vs. Davis Mc.

Tickets are $15 and doors open at 6 p.m. The event is being presented by Tri-

ple-A Promotions and Cage Fitness.For more information, call 235-2706.

‘Guitarras de Navidad’ is Thursday

For the ninth consecutive year, guitarstrings will strum in artistic unison forthe annual “Guitarras de Navidad” atTexas A&M International University.

Set for Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Centerfor the Fine and Performing Arts’ recitalhall, the concert features the TAMIU Clas-sical Guitar Ensemble, directed by Gilber-to D. Soto.

Co-sponsored by the Women’s CityClub, “Guitarras de Navidad” is free andopen to the public.

For more information, call 326-3046.

Dance for LIFE next weekendThe Laredo International Fair and Ex-

position will have a dance featuring the

COMING UP

GIVING UP HER CROWN: Laredoan Chelsea Ni-cole Morgensen, the 2010 Miss Texas Teen USA,above, will crown a new winner Sunday at theHilton Post Oak in Houston. Three area girls arecompeting for the 2011 title this weekend. Theyare Kassandra Flores, Miss Central Laredo TeenUSA and a senior at Zapata High School; DestinyBailey, 17, Miss Laredo Teen USA; and DaniellaRodriguez, 14, Miss Gateway City Teen.

Courtesy photo

Just a week after TheReturn of Emilio Navaira,the Laredo Energy Arenawill host norteño/corridolegends Los Tigres delNorte for another dance/concert.

E11even Promotions, ledby Laredoan Roy Grana-dos, is presenting LosTigres, along with CelsoPiña, Control, Sonora Di-namita and Adrian Perezy Origen.

The concert at the LEAstarts at 7:30 p.m. Friday,Dec. 17.

According to an LEA re-lease, no norteño act ismore renowned than LosTigres del Norte — agroup of Mexican-Ameri-can brothers based in Cal-ifornia.

Los Tigres began its re-cording career in the early1970s and has enjoyedwidespread acclaim forfour decades, especially

from the Mexican-Ameri-can segment.

Celso Piña from Mon-terrey, Nuevo León, is anotable Mexican singer,composer and accordion-ist. His popularity stemsfrom songs such as “Cum-bia Sobre el Rio” and“Cumbia Poder.”

La Sonora Dinamita, aColombian cumbia group,was one of the first cum-bia groups to reach inter-national success and iscredited with helping topopularize the genrethroughout Latin Ameri-ca.

Specializing in norteñomusic, Control (aka GrupoControl) is a regional Mex-ican group based in Hous-ton. Control bills itself asLos Reyes de la Cumbia.

Adrian Perez Y Origenis four years into its cre-ation. The group of talent-ed young locals wishes toconquer the public withits music. They are nowpromoting their second al-

bum and hope to succeedin Mexico and the U.S.

“We are very excited tobring such a great lineupto the Laredo Energy Are-na with a dance atmo-sphere,” said Granados,CEO of E11even Promo-tions. “I invite all of Lare-do to come out and dancethe night away.”

Arena floor tables willbe available for this event,with prices at $450, $550and $650 for a table of 10.Individual table seats willbe at $45, $55 and $65, plusfacility fees. A special $45standing GA floor areawill be available. Individu-al tickets for arena bowlseating will be available at$35 for lower bowl, and $25upper bowl (facility feenot included).

Tickets are available atall Ticketmaster locations,including the LEA box of-fice.

(Emilio Rábago III maybe reached at 728-2564 orerabago@lmtonline.com)

Los Tigres Del Norte’s Jorge Hernandez, left, and his brother Hernan Hernandez perform during the59th Annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo at the AT&T Center in 2008. The band returns to Lare-do on Friday, Dec. 17. Tickets start at $45.

Photo by Edward A. Ornelas | San Antonio Express-News

Los Tigres del Nortereturn to Laredo

By EMILIO RÁBAGO IIITHE ZAPATA TIMES

S

SÁBADO 27 DE NOVIEMBRELAREDO — Lleve a su fami-

lia al Festival Navideño Anual delPlanetario Lamar Bruni Vergara deTAMIU. Las puertas abren a las 11a.m.; “Holiday Music Magic” sepresentará a las 12 p.m. y 3 p.m.;una película navideña a la 1 p.m.,4 p.m. 6 p.m. y 8 p.m. Las pre-sentaciones musicales serán a las2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. y 5:30 p.m.También estará Santa Claus to-mándose fotos con los niños.

NUEVO LAREDO — Hoy sepresenta el cuento teatralizado“Alicia en el País de las Maravillas”a las 3 p.m. en Estación Palabra.Entrada gratuita.

NUEVO LAREDO — Padiversapresenta “Lazy Town” en el teatroprincipal del Centro Cultural endos funciones, 4 p.m. y 6 p.m. Es-te evento tiene costo de entrada.

NUEVO LAREDO — Hoy sepresenta la obra teatral “Como elMaíz” en el parque Silao de la Co-lonia Las Torres a las 6 p.m. En-trada gratuita.

DOMINGO 28 DE DICIEMBRENUEVO LAREDO — Domingos

Familiares de Museo presenta “Éra-se Una Vez…” en el Museo de His-toria Natural a las 4 p.m. Entradagratuita.

LUNES 29 DE NOVIEMBRELAREDO — Los trabajos

creativos de varios estudiantes delLaredo Community College semostrarán en la exhibición “Hechoen LCC II”, a partir de hoy y hastael viernes 10 de diciembre en laBiblioteca Yeary del Campus FortMcIntosh. La entrada es gratuita yabierta al público en general.

MARTES 30 DE NOVIEMBRELAREDO — Hoy es el Recital

de Piano de Estudio de Otoño de 7p.m. a 8 p.m. en el Recital Hall delCenter for the Fine and PerformingArts de TAMIU. El evento es gratui-to y abierto al público en general.

LAREDO — Dos grupos demariachi y un grupo de primariase unirán durante “Viva! El Maria-chi En Concierto” en el LaredoCommunity College a las 7:30 p.m.en el teatro Guadalupe and LiliaMartinez Fine Arts Center del cam-pus Fort McIntosh Campus. Entra-da general es de 5 dólares. Lasganancias se destinarán a becasestudiantiles y futuras produccio-nes.

JUEVES 2 DE DICIEMBRELAREDO — Hoy a las 7 p.m.

es la Celebración Navideña y Posa-da del Laredo Community Collegefrente a la Biblioteca Yeary delCampus Fort McIntosh. La entradaes gratuita y abierta al público engeneral.

LAREDO — Texas A&M Inter-national University presenta “Guita-rras de Navidad” a las 8 p.m. enel Center for the Fine and Perfor-ming Arts Recital Hall. El eventoes gratuito y abierto al público engeneral.

VIERNES 3 DE DICIEMBRELAREDO — Hoy es el Desfile

NavidadFest a las 6 p.m. por SanBernardo Ave., iniciando en el es-tacionamiento de Burlington CoatFactory hasta el Laredo Civic Cen-ter (2400 San Bernardo Ave.),donde habrá presentaciones artísti-cas, una pastorela, juegos para ni-ños y el encendido del Árbol deNavidad oficial. Entrada gratuita.

LAREDO — Texas A&M Inter-national University presenta “BalletFolklórico’s 2010 Las Posadas Con-cert” a las 7 p.m. en el Center forthe Fine and Performing ArtsTheatre. La entrada es de 5 dóla-res y gratis para niños de 10 añosde edad y menores.

LAREDO — Hoy se presentala Pastorela cómica “Ya nos llevóla…. Diabla” con el Grupo Misivade Guadalajara, a las 8 p.m en elCentro Cívico de Laredo (2400San Bernardo).

SÁBADO 4 DE DICIEMBRELAREDO — Hoy es el en-

cuentro HEB Holiday Bowl en elSAC a partir de las 10 a.m. El par-tido de fútbol de bandera tienecosto de 5 dólares la entrada ó unjuguete sin envolver. Habrá diver-sas actividades, concursos y pre-mios. Invitado especial estará la le-yenda de los Vaqueros de Dallas,Drew Pearson.

Agendaen Breve

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 27 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2010

MÉXICO — El gobierno feder-al anunció el miércoles el envíode miles de efectivos para refor-zar la seguridad en el noreste delpaís, una de las zonas más afecta-das en 2010 por la violencia delnarcotráfico.

El vocero del gobierno federalen materia de seguridad, Alejan-dro Poiré, informó que la Opera-ción Coordinada Noreste se apli-cará en los estados fronterizos deNuevo León y Tamaulipas, dondelos narcotraficantes están enfras-cados en una cruenta lucha trasla ruptura entre los carteles delGolfo y Los Zetas.

La operación aumentará elnúmero de efectivos militares yde agentes federales, cuya misiónserá reforzar la presencia de laautoridad e impedir el reagrupa-miento de los grupos del narco-tráfico tras varios golpes que leshan sido asestados.

El anuncio fue realizado en lacapital mexicana en presencia detodos los miembros del gabinetede seguridad y de los goberna-dores de Nuevo León y Tamauli-pas, aunque no se informó elnúmero específico de efectivosque habrá en la zona.

Horas antes, la Policía Federalanunció la captura de CarlosMontemayor, alias “El Charro” eidentificado como el suegro y su-cesor del presunto capo de lasdrogas recientemente detenidoEdgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “LaBarbie”.

Montemayor fue detenido elmartes junto con dos presuntoscómplices.

La violencia atribuida al cri-men organizado ha dejado másde 28.000 asesinados desde di-ciembre de 2006, cuando el presi-dente Felipe Calderón lanzó laprimera ofensiva contra el narco-tráfico. En 2010, una cantidad im-

portante de asesinatos han ocur-rido en el noreste.

El secretario de Gobernación,Francisco Blake, responsabilizóal crimen organizado “de la vio-lencia que se vive en el país” ydijo que la Operación CoordinadaNoreste buscará no sólo capturara los cabecillas de los gruposcriminales, sino a desmantelarsus redes logísticas, operativas yfinancieras.

El gobierno federal ya man-tiene operaciones coordinadas enotras zonas del país, como enChihuahua, donde se localiza Ci-udad Juárez, la localidad más gol-peada por la violencia.

El anuncio se dio un día des-pués de que una encuesta de laempresa Mitofsky señaló que porprimera vez desde que el gobier-no del presidente Felipe Calderónlanzó en diciembre de 2006 su es-

trategia contra el crimen organi-zado, una mayoría de mexicanosconsidera que los operativos con-tra el narcotráfico han sido unfracaso.

Poiré dijo que el noreste deMéxico significa una zona estra-tégica para el crimen organizado,con 900 kilómetros de fronteracon Estados Unidos y 420 kilóme-tros de costa en Tamaulipas.

Señaló que los factores geo-gráficos “han hecho de la zonauna ruta codiciada por las orga-nizaciones criminales para eltráfico de drogas y personas, ytambién para la recepción de re-cursos financieros ilícitos y ar-mamento hacia territorio mexica-no”.

El gobierno federal ha dado di-versos golpes en los últimos añosal narcotráfico en el noreste, aun-que uno de los mayores ocurrió a

principios de noviembre cuandoinfantes de marina abatieron aEzequiel Cárdenas Guillén, unode los líderes del Cartel del Golfo.

Pero en la zona se registró lapeor masacre en la historia re-ciente del país cuando 72 mi-grantes centro y sudamericanosfueron asesinados en Tamaulipasen un hecho atribuido a Los Ze-tas.

La violencia también ha lleva-do a decenas de familias a huirhacia lugares más seguros.

El gobernador de Tamaulipas,Eugenio Hernández, dijo que sibien desde hace décadas su esta-do ha sido “estratégico” para loscriminales, “a últimas fechas hasido más complicada la situa-ción” por el escalamiento de losenfrentamientos entre los car-teles de las drogas y contra lasautoridades.

Vienen más tropas al norestePOR E. EDUARDO CASTILLO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

El Gobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores habla tras el anuncio del envío de más fuerzas federales al norestede México. De izquierda a derecha, el vocero de la policía federal Alejandro Poré, el Procurador General Arturo Chavez, elSecretario General de la Defensa Gen. Guillermo Galván Galván, el Gobernador de Nuevo León Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz, elSecretario de Gobernación José Francisco Blake, el Secretario de la Armada Adm. Mariano Francisco Saynéz Mendoza y elSecretario de Seguridad Pública Genaro García Luna, en la Ciudad de México, el miércoles.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

CD. VICTORIA, México —Más de 400 desayunadores es-colares, un CRIT Teletón, 18Centros Mejores Familias, 11Centros de Desarrollo Famil-iar, 27 guarderías y estanciasMi Casa DIF, así como 45 Cen-tros de Atención Infantil Co-munitarios, son parte del re-cuento de seis años del trabajode corazón que realizó la Pres-identa del Sistema DIF Ta-maulipas, Adriana Gonzálezde Hernández en el marco desu sexto informe de activ-idades.

González resaltó la amplia-ción y remodelación del Cen-tro de Rehabilitación y Educa-ción Especial(CREE) que im-plementó un sistemaTelerehabilitación que brindaservicio a 26 municipios; elprograma PASAF que aseguróel alimento diario en los ho-gares de mayor necesidad conla entrega de casi cinco mil-lones de despensas, así como80 comedores COPUSIS en lo-calidades rurales que sirvie-ron más de 14 millones rac-iones alimentarias.

Agregó que estas accionespermitieron el crecimiento ysuperación de los niños, jó-venes, abuelitos y de las per-sonas con capacidades dife-rentes.

El momento emotivo ocur-rió cuando González recordó aRodolfo Torre Cantú, a quiendistinguió “como artífice deléxito obtenido en estos seisaños de trabajo en bien de losque más necesitan”.

“No puedo dejar de agrade-cerle, en un día tan impor-tante para mí y de grandessatisfacciones, porque muchosde estos logros fueron graciasa sueños que compartimosjuntos”, dijo ella.

Torre Cantú era candidatoa la Gubernatura de Tamauli-pas cuando fue acribillado cer-ca de Ciudad Victoria.

González hizo entrega aLaura Graciela de la GarzaTorre y a su hijo Rodolfo, elprimer ejemplar de las memo-rias del DIF.

En el ejmeplar destaca elprograma Salud Integral de laMujer con el que se da un tra-to especial a la detección opor-tuna del cáncer cervicouterinoy mamario, por lo que se au-

mentó tres veces la cantidadde unidades, tanto fijas y mó-viles para contar actualmente33 debidamente equipadas pa-ra realizar los estudios de cán-cer en todo el territorio y queha permitido atender 300 milmujeres con lo que creció laesperanza de vida de las ta-maulipecas.

Para asegurar el registro detodos los menores tamaulipe-cos, se implementó el progra-ma Al Momento de Nacer, Re-gístrame, esquema por inicia-tiva de la Presidenta del DIFEstatal se presentará ante laCámara de Diputados paraque todos los niños que nacenen México sean registradosdesde el momento de su naci-miento.

González aseguró que a seisaños de distancia deja unmodelo que impulsa la unidade integración de los hogares,así como las bases para el ple-no desarrollo de la mujer yuna sólida protección para losadultos mayores.

Ella aseguró que con el pro-grama “Vive Diferente” se pu-do llegar a mil 340 localidadesen la que habitan más de 68

mil familias, las cuales reci-bieron servicios de salud, ali-mentación, educación, mejora-miento de viviendas y respal-do a sus proyectosproductivos, entre otros bene-ficios; quehacer al que se su-maron 25 dependencias guber-namentales organizacionesciviles y voluntarios.

“Para orgullo de los tamau-lipecos, estos logros institu-cionales, nos permitieron reci-bir el reconocimiento interna-cional en el ForoIberoamericano y del Caribesobre Mejores Prácticas, reali-zado en la ciudad de Medellín,Colombia”, dijo González.

Destacó que con el progra-ma Lánzate a Vivir, estrategiaintegral de este gobierno en laprevención y combate de lasadicciones, se abrieron 18 Cen-tros de Atención Nueva Vidadonde se les atiende con infor-mación preventiva o trata-miento ambulatorio y recien-temente con la inauguracióndel Centro de Internamiento yRehabilitación Lánzate secuenta ya con un espacio detratamiento primario, recaí-das y prevención de éstas.

Presidenta del DIFEstatal rindió Informe

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La Presidenta del Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia de Ta-maulipas Adriana González de Hernández presentó su sexto y último in-forme de actividades, el miércoles en el Centro Cultural Tamaulipas, de Ci-udad Victoria, México.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

CD. VICTORIA, México — Ta-maulipas tendrá un presupuestosuperior a los ocho mil 500 mil-lones de pesos para el ejercicio fis-cal en el 2011, según autorizacióndel Presupuesto de Egresos de laFederación por la Cámara de Dip-utados.

De acuerdo al dictamen aproba-do en sesión, Tamaulipas recibirámás recursos para infraestructuracarretera, recursos hidráulicos,agricultura y educación, así mismose lograron asignaciones para elfortalecimiento de las áreas metro-politanas del norte del estado.

Dentro de los principales rubrosen la asignación de los recursosdestacan los 3,463 millones 920 milpesos para el sector agropecuario.

En Infraestructura carretera seaprobaron más de 2,000 millones depesos; en Recursos Hidráulicos seetiquetaron para el estado, mas de896 millones de pesos.

También se logró un incrementoen el presupuesto de mil millonesde pesos para iniciar con la obliga-toriedad de la Educación Media Su-perior.

“En este rubro de educaciónmedia superior, el estado ejercerádurante el 2011 un presupuesto demil 376 millones de pesos, a loscuales se suman otros 31.5 millonesde pesos para cultura”, indica uncomunicado de prensa.

Para la atención de la salud seautorizó un monto de 156 millones770 mil pesos. Al fondo Metropoli-tano del Ramo 23 “Provisiones Sal-ariales y Económicas” se destinóuna inversión de 66 millones 580mil pesos, con los cuales se efectua-rán diversas obras en el área met-ropolitana de Reynosa-Río Bravo yla zona conurbada de Matamoros-Valle Hermoso.

Resalta la creación y asignaciónal estado de la cantidad de12 mil-lones 510 mil pesos para el Fondopara la Accesibilidad al TransportePúblico para Personas con Disca-pacidad, así como el Fondo de Pavi-mentación y Espacios Deportivospara municipios por 33 millones400 mil pesos.

En materia de desarrollo social334 millones de pesos y en seguri-dad pública 150 millones de pesospara sistemas penitenciarios, entreotros fondos asignados en el dicta-men de la Comisión de Presupues-to y Cuenta Pública para Tamauli-pas.

Asignanfondos

para 2011TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

ZITACUARO, Mexico —This small patch of moun-tain fir forest is a model ofsorts for the global effort tosave trees and fight climatechange. The problem isthat saving trees has notsaved the forest’s most fa-mous visitors: Monarchbutterflies.

Millions of Monarch but-terflies migrate here fromthe United States and Can-ada every year, but theirnumbers declined by 75percent last year alone, ap-parently because of chang-ing weather and vegetationpatterns.

The Monarch butterflyreserve shows how com-plex the battle against cli-mate change has become,as the world prepares for aUnited Nations climateconference in Cancun nextweek. The conference is ex-pected to focus in part onhow best to preserve for-ests, with questions aboutwho should pay and how totreat communities that al-ready live in the junglesand forests of developingcountries.

Forest preservation is

the goal of a popular U.N.-sponsored program knownas REDD, or ReducingEmissions from Deforesta-tion and Degradation,which garnered more men-tions than any other pro-gram approved at the lastclimate meeting in Copenh-agen. The hope is for devel-oped nations to pay poorerones $22 billion to $38 bil-lion per year to help thempreserve forests.

“It is not a hypotheticalidea or theory,” said Mexi-can Environment SecretaryJuan Rafael Elvira Quesa-da of the program. “It’sworking in many countriesaround the world. What wereally require is ... that itconvert into an agreementat Cancun.”

The Monarch butterflyreserve is an example bothof how the program couldwork, and of its limitations.

The reserve in themountains west of MexicoCity benefits from interna-tional help, such as pay-ments to communities topreserve trees and alterna-tive income projects. Thedeforestation rate there isdown by about 95 percent.

Fernando Solis Marti-nez, 54, is the head of a

communal-property com-mission that takes care ofjointly owned land inherit-ed from Indian ancestors inSan Juan Xoconusco, a vil-lage within the 33,482-acrereserve. He oversees thewatering and replanting ofoyamel fir seedlings at the

village’s tree nursery. The120,000 seedlings will bedistributed throughout thereserve come June, whenthe rains return, to replaceareas cut or washed awayin severe storms.

Set up three years agowith help from the World

Wildlife Fund, the nurseryis part of a mix of projects— payments from the gov-ernment and contributionsfrom private companies; ascheme for collecting sapand selling it to turpentinemanufacturers; sales ofwoven pine-needle artisan-

ry, and hopes for a touristoperation — that could pro-vide income streams for fu-ture generations.

It is not paradise; mostresidents of Xoconusco stillhave to work for about 120pesos ($10) per day at flow-er hothouses down in thevalley, and illicit loggersare a constant threat. Mostcommunities send patrolsof 10 men into the moun-tains every day to listen forthe distant sounds of chain-saws. But despite the chal-lenges, the program ap-pears to be working.

Gabriel Colin Camacho,37, the new head of commu-nal lands in the village ofCrescencio Morales, hasstarted to turn around thatcommunity’s reputation asone of the worst areas fordeforestation in the re-serve. Now he says most ofhis neighbors realize that asteady stream of govern-ment payments would endif the forest disappears.

“Before, we saw the for-est as nothing more thanmoney, that we could takewithout any considera-tions,” he said. “You couldsay that we were fools, be-cause we sold the wood forless than it was worth.”

Reserve saves trees but not butterfliesBy MARK STEVENSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A worker waters a patch of pine seedlings at a reforestation project in San Juan Xoconusco, Mexico onNov. 5, part of the wintering grounds of the Monarch butterfly in the mountains west of Mexico City.The Monarch butterfly reserve is a link between developed and developing nations — the butterflies mi-grate to Mexico from the United States and Canada. The wintering grounds have benefited from in-ternational help, like payments to communities to preserve trees and alternative income projects thathelped cut the deforestation rate here by about 95 percent.

Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills | AP

WASHINGTON — Lore-nia Ton visits the morguesof southern Arizona search-ing for clues among the un-claimed bodies and belong-ings of people who tried tocross the desert.

Sometimes it’s a phonenumber written inside pan-tlegs, or a piece of papersewn into a backpack. Oth-er times there are familyphotos, images of saints, orlove letters.

“Sometimes we cannotfind anything,” says Ton,whose job at the Mexicanconsulate in Tucson in-volves helping identify theremains and return them toMexico.

To confirm the IDs, theconsulate sends DNA sam-ples to Bode TechnologyGroup Inc., a private lab in

Lorton, Va., outside Wash-ington, as part of a projectthat has brought closure todozens of families andcountless relatives on bothsides of the dangerous bor-der.

During one trip in April,Ton came across a body re-cently discovered by a hun-ter. Found with the deadman were his tennis shoes,a belt, a couple of dollarsand pesos, a wallet, a base-ball cap and voter identifica-tion card. Ton had a name:Agustin Gutierrez Ortiz, 34.

Jesus Gutierrez Ortiz, 37,who lives in Bradley Beach,N.J., described his brotheras a hardworking father oftwo who left their hard-scrabble town of La Nativi-dad in the state of Oaxaca tohelp his family. He reportedthe younger Gutierrez Ortizmissing to Mexican author-ities in June 2009, and Bode

confirmed the worst a yearlater.

“I always asked God thathe be alive, but in my heartI felt that he was dead be-cause he was in the desert,”Gutierrez Ortiz says inSpanish. “If I could haveflown into the desert ... tolook for him I would have.”

The lab has made at least47 positive identificationssince the program began acouple of years ago. Manyother cases are pending asthe number of people whotry to cross the border ille-gally has grown.

The number of deathsalong the border hit a peakof 492 in 2005 and had beendeclining, according to U.S.Customs and Border Protec-tion. But last year, the agen-cy recorded 422 deaths, upfrom 390 the previous year.Most deaths are attributedto the heat.

Lorenia Ton-Quevedo packages human skelatal remains for shipment to Virgina for positive identifiica-tion Friday, Oct. 16, at the Mexican Consulate office in Tucson, Ariz. Ton-Quevedo visits morgues in thearea to go through the personal effects of migrants whose remains are discovered in the desert in or-der to identify them and get them returned to their families.

Photo by Matt York | AP

US-Mexico project IDsborder-crossing victims

By NAFEESA SYEEDASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — ’Tisnow the season at theWhite House.

A day after celebratingThanksgiving, the WhiteHouse shifted into Christ-mas mode on Friday as Mi-chelle Obama and daugh-ters Malia and Sasha ac-cepted the gift of an18-1/2-foot Douglas fir fromPennsylvania as the officialWhite House ChristmasTree.

The tree was hauledthrough the White Housegates by horse-drawn car-riage and presented to theObamas by ChristopherBotek. It was grown on hisfamily’s Christmas treefarm in Lehighton, Pa. —the second time the farmhas supplied the WhiteHouse with its official tree.

Botek’s parents present-ed a tree in 2006, duringthe George W. Bush years.

Botek, who brought hiswife and two daughters tothe White House, said hewas honored to hand overthe fir.

“It doesn’t get any big-ger than this for us as

Christmas tree growers,”he said.

Mrs. Obama and herdaughters walked aroundthe carriage to inspect thetree and the first lady bentover to take in the fra-grance. She asked herdaughters for their opin-ions and they gave the treea unanimous thumbs-up.

“We’ll take it,” Mrs. Oba-ma exclaimed.

The tree will go on dis-play in the Blue Room and

is typically the main attrac-tion for the thousands ofpeople who stream throughthe mansion in Decemberfor holiday parties andpublic tours. White Housestaffers and volunteers willdecorate it.

Botek earned the rightto donate a tree by winninga National Christmas TreeAssociation contest. WhiteHouse staff then visited thewinner’s farm to choosethe official tree.

White House gets Xmas treeBy DARLENE SUPERVILLE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The official White House Christmas tree, a Douglas fir from theCrystal Spring Tree Farm in Leighton, Pa., arrives on the NorthDriveway at the White House in Washington, on Friday.

Photo by Charles Dharapak | AP

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

LISBON, Portugal — Eu-rope struggled mightilyFriday to keep the debt cri-sis from engulfing countryafter country. Portugalpassed austerity measuresto fend off the speculativetrades pushing it toward abailout and Ireland rushedto negotiate its own immi-nent rescue.

As Portugal and Spaininsisted they will not seekoutside help, creating aneerie sense of deja-vu forinvestors, Europe bracedfor what seems inevitable— more expensive bailouts.

The Portuguese Parlia-ment approved an unpop-ular debt-reducing package,including tax hikes andcuts in pay and welfarebenefits. But while thathelped to avoid a sharperdeterioration in bond mar-kets, the sense among ana-lysts was that the movehad only bought a littletime.

Adding to the pressure,Ireland’s major banks werehit with credit downgrades— one to junk bond status— as speculation mountedthat the EU-IMF bailout ofIreland, to be revealedwithin days, would requireinvestors to take losses, apossibility earlier deniedby officials.

“This confusing ’pea-

soup’ of indecision, vacilla-tion and disunity by theEU is beginning to createunnecessarily seismicwaves of fear in interna-tional bond and moneymarkets,” said David Buik,markets analyst at BGCPartners.

Yields in fiscally weakeurozone countries re-mained near record highsFriday, stocks slumpedacross the board and the16-nation euro lost another0.8 percent on the day totrade at $1.3241, just offtwo-month lows.

Portugal’s high debt andlow growth have alarmedinvestors, but the govern-ment insists it doesn’t re-quire an international res-cue — a line ominouslyreminiscent of claims byGreece and Ireland beforetheir massive rescues.

Analysts say marketsneed more reassurancefrom EU leaders that therot can be stopped in Por-tugal before spreading toSpain, the continent’sfourth-largest economy — ascenario that would threat-en the 16-nation euro cur-rency itself.

The financial crisis tooka step in that direction thisweek, as it increasingly be-comes apparent that bondinvestors will not be paci-fied by austerity measuresbut want weak countries’public finances to be

plugged once and for all.Greece, which accepted abailout six months ago, andIreland are still far frombeing able to return to in-ternational debt markets.

Ireland wallowed in po-litical turmoil Friday,frightening investors withthe prospect of a powervacuum even as it mustpass its bailout and auster-ity plan.

Prime Minister BrianCowen saw his hold on

power slip another notch,as his ruling Fianna Failparty lost a special electionfor a long-empty seat inparliament. The winnervowed to force Cowen fromoffice before he can pass anemergency 2011 budget be-ing demanded as part ofthe international rescue.

Dublin still negotiatedthe final details of an $113billion EU-IMF rescuepackage, which is expectedto be presented within

days. Bonds yields rose to anew euro-era high of 9.19percent, up from 9.02 per-cent the day before, as in-vestors dumped Ireland’sdebt.

The New York-basedStandard & Poor’s creditrating agency said it waslowering Anglo Irish Banksix notches to a junk-bondB grade. It also cut the rat-ings on Bank of Ireland onenotch to BBB+, and down-graded both Allied Irish

Banks and Irish Life & Per-manent one notch to BBB.

The agency said Ireland“may be forced to reconsid-er its current supportivestance toward Anglo’s un-guaranteed debt.”

“There really is a seri-ous question as to whetherAnglo Irish Bank shouldeven have a banking li-cense,” said ConstantinGurdgiev, a finance lectur-er at Trinity College Du-blin.

Portugal’s Finance Min-ister Fernando Teixeirados Santos acknowledgedthat some in Europe didn’tagree with his govern-ment’s refusal to consider abailout.

“There are those amongour (EU) partners whothink the best way to en-sure the euro’s stability isto push and force thosecountries which are mostin the spotlight to acceptassistance,” he said Friday.

The European Commis-sion, the European CentralBank and the German gov-ernment all denied theywere pressuring Portugalto take financial aid.

Portuguese Prime Minis-ter Jose Socrates said afterParliament approved the2011 spending plan that thecountry had “no alterna-tive at all” to the belt-tight-ening.

“We must make this ef-fort,” Socrates said.

Turmoil, contagion fears sweep EuropeBy BARRY HATTONASSOCIATED PRESS

A broker works at the Stock Exchange in Madrid on Friday. Madrid’s Ibex 35 bourse continued its week-long downward trend, dipping 1.89 percent by mid-afternoon.

Photo by Victor R. Caivano | AP

Oil prices recoveredsomewhat on Friday afterdipping earlier in the dayon growing concernsabout Europe’s debt crisis.

Benchmark oil for Janu-ary delivery fell 10 cents to$83.76 per barrel. Priceshad dipped below $83 earli-er as traders focused ondebt woes in Europe. Por-tugal’s parliament ap-proved a debt-reductionpackage and Ireland’sbanks suffered a string ofcredit downgrades. Inves-tors are worried that thepain will spread to Spain,the continent’s fourth-largest economy, andthreaten the 16-nation eu-ro.

Jim Ritterbusch, presi-dent of energy consultancyRitterbusch and Associatesin Galena, Ill., said the re-covery in oil prices as theday went on “was prettyimpressive given the two-month lows on the euro,and the selling on thestock market. That’s tell-

ing us that fundamentalsare gradually improving”for oil, he said.

Recent economic newshas been coming in betterthan expected, includingWednesday’s consumersentiment and joblessnumbers.

“They’re all developinginto the mix here to con-jure up ideas of strongeroil demand down theroad,” he said.

China’s energy con-sumption has led growthin global oil demand thisyear, but investors are wor-ried that recent measuresaimed at containing infla-

tion will undermine its ec-onomic expansion.

China’s gross domesticproduct growth, which hasaveraged about 10 percenta year for the last fiveyears, will likely slow nextyear to between 8 percentand 9 percent, Capital Eco-nomics said in a report.

In other Nymex trading,heating oil was about flatat $2.32 a gallon.

Natural gas rose 1.1cents to $4.399 per 1,000 cu-bic feet.

In London, Brent crudedropped 30 cents to $85.80 abarrel on the ICE Futuresexchange.

Oil hovers below $84,recovers from dip

By JOSHUA FREEDASSOCIATED PRESS “They’re all developing into the

mix here to conjure up ideas ofstronger oil demand down theroad,”JIM RITTERBUSCH, PRESIDENT OF ENERGY CONSULTANCYRITTERBUSCH AND ASSOCIATES

NEW YORK — The dol-lar jumped Friday as amajor credit rating agen-cy downgraded the debt ofIreland’s banks and inves-tors worried that Portugalwould become the thirdEuropean country to needa bailout this year.

Tensions also escalatedin Asia as North Koreawarned that U.S. andSouth Korean militarymaneuvers put the regionon the brink of war. Thesabre rattling drove inves-tors to seek safety in theU.S. dollar. The U.S. cur-rency tends to benefit dur-ing periods of internation-al turmoil.

The euro, used by 16European countries, fell to$1.3237 in late trading Fri-day from $1.3368 lateThursday, earlier dippingbelow $1.32 for the firsttime since Sept. 21. TheBritish pound dropped to$1.5602 from $1.5760.

The dollar also jumpedabove 84 yen for the firsttime since late September.In late trading in New

York, it was worth 84.07yen, up from 83.57 yen.

Ireland on Sundayasked for a massive loanfrom the EU and the IMF,as Greece did in May. In-vestors are anxious thatother countries, chieflySpain and Portugal, willalso have to seek aid astheir borrowing costssoar.

The Portuguese Parlia-ment on Friday approvedtax increases and cuts ingovernment spending tohelp bring its finances inline. Officials denied thatthey would need a rescue.But borrowing costs hit aeuro-era high Friday asinvestors remained wary.

“Press reports that Por-tugal is being pushed torequest an aid programhave been denied by offi-cials, but the way thingsare going, it seems like it’s

only a matter of time be-fore Portugal succumbs,”said Brown Brothers Har-riman analyst Win Thinin a research note Friday.

Meanwhile, Standard &Poor’s cut debt ratings onthree Irish banks, sendingAnglo Irish Bank down tojunk grade, amid specula-tion that a bailout fromthe European Union andthe International Moneta-ry Fund could inflictheavy losses on seniorbondholders.

In other trading Friday,the dollar rose to 1.0199Canadian dollars from1.0094 Canadian dollarsand gained to 1.0030 Swissfrancs from 1.0002 Swissfrancs. Thursday was thefirst time the dollar hadbeen above parity —meaning it was worthmore than 1 Swiss franc— since Sept. 21.

Tensions in Europe, theKoreas boost dollar

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ireland on Sunday asked for amassive loan from the EU andthe IMF, as Greece did in May.

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

Deputies met with anoth-er deputy, who told themhis 2006 Ford Mustang hadbeen vandalized whileparked at his residence.

According to Sgt. MarioElizondo, deputies noticedthe windshield of the vehi-cle had been smashed withwhat appeared to be a base-ball bat.

Deputies also noticed abroken passenger window,damages to the hood, a bro-ken side mirror and asmashed head lamp.

Elizondo added that twotires were also damaged.

Anyone with informationabout the case should callthe sheriff ’s office at 765-9960. People may also callCrime Stoppers at 765-8477,where all callers may re-main anonymous and mayqualify for a reward of upto $1,000.

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

CARContinued from Page 1A

clock checks of premises ifnotified that residents willbe out of town, Elizondosaid.

“There’s not a problemwith us sending a patrol-man on a daily basis,” Eli-zondo said.

Leaving a contact num-ber with the sheriff ’s of-fice is very important incase there is propertydamage, Elizondo added.

“We would have some-one to call and the fasterwe get notified, the fasterwe can catch the burglar,”Elizondo said. “It’s hardfor us to get evidence,footprints and finger-prints, when a burglaryhappens and we don’t getnotified until a week laterafter the family returns.”

There is no set averageof burglaries in ZapataCounty, however, the num-ber does increase duringthe holidays, Elizondoadded.

“We have thefts regard-ing ornaments outsidelike an inflatable snow-man, since they don’t fas-ten down easily,” Elizondosaid. “You’d be surprisedwhat they take. Some ofthose decorations are

worth more than $80.”A burglar will take any-

thing he can resell, Eli-zondo added.

Other holiday safetytips include keepingChristmas trees wateredand away from curtains,Elizondo said.

“When a Christmas treecatches fire is becausethey are too dry,” Elizon-do said. “Make sure tokeep wires away from ani-mals, cats and dog, be-cause they can chew onthem.”

Often enough housefires also happen becauseresidents leave heatersand candles unsupervised,Elizondo said.

“People keep them oneven when they leave thehouse,” Elizondo said.“There have been a fewtragic times and peoplehave lost their homes.”

One of the biggest mis-conceptions in a house-hold is that someone elsewill watch the candle orthe incense, Elizondo add-ed.

People should also con-sider travel safety, Elizon-do said.

“If you travel be careful,

don’t rush and leave withplenty of time,” Elizondosaid. “Watch the trafficand get sleep before trav-eling.”

People should also mindtheir pets and have some-one watch them or callthe animal shelter to holdthem for them, Elizondoadded.

All burglaries and acci-dents are avoidable, Eli-zondo said.

“Don’t make yourself avictim and practice basichouse security everyday,”Elizondo said. “Be mind-ful of your surroundingsand if you leave the house,even to go to the store orthe neighbors, secureyour front door.”

Zapata is a small townwith friendly people, buttimes have changed, Eli-zondo said.

“If you get out of yourcar to buy a pack of gumlock your car,” he said.“There are people wedon’t know have moved tothe town, so don’t take itfor granted this isn’t May-berry.”

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

SAFETY Continued from Page 1A

by Gallegos, she said.“Once I gave them the

thumbs up they had topractice at home,” Galle-gos said. “Yesterday, Mon-day, they had to presentwhat they were going todo the day before theshow to see how theywere doing and after thatthey were on their ownand they did a reallygood job.”

The day of the perform-ance the performers werenot letting their nervesget the best of them, Gal-legos said.

“As soon as I walked inthey were saying, ‘Are weready, are we gonna go,I’m getting nervous, Ican’t feel my legs, andmy knees are weak,’”Gallegos said. “So theywere really nervous butexcited at the same time.”

The day before the per-formance both Gallegosand the performers wereslightly more nervous asthey forgot the choreog-raphy, she said.

“I think they were justthinking about having toperform in front of peo-ple,” Gallegos said. “Onceit came down to it theywere so excited that theyjust did and they had ablast and they did a real-ly good job.

I’m so proud of them.”Since the talent show

ran in the morning andafternoon, Gallegos re-ceived plenty of com-ments from the staff andparents, she said.

“I got really good com-ments this morning,”Gallegos said. “One ofour teachers told me shewas really happy that the

kids did great and thather kids were really ex-cited.”

Parents also enjoyedthe girls’ performances,Gallegos said.

Most of the groupswere girls, she added.

“We had mostly girlson stage, but we had onesolo artist, David Chapa,performed to Pitbull,”Gallegos said. “He didsuch a good job and someparents were comment-ing that he was reallyconfident.”

Chapa is a third graderat Villarreal and ser-geant-at-arms for the Stu-dent Council, Gallegosadded.

“I was really proud ofhim,” Gallegos said.

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

TALENT Continued from Page 1A

taxes will be computed) forfree,” Guerra said.

An 18-minute slide showrecapping all Zapata Coun-ty projects followed thepresentations, Guerra add-ed.

Immediately followingthe slide show was a pre-sentation full of laughs bycomedian and motivation-al speaker Happy Guerre-ro.

Overall the luncheonrepresented a sense of uni-ty, Guerra said.

“We never get togetherand this is the only timeall the county employeescome together and can beproud to work for thecounty.”

Mirna Bustamante, aclerk at the Zapata CountyMuseum of History, foundthe luncheon inspirational

and joyful, surrounded byher friends whom shecalled her family.

“I enjoyed it and thefood was delicious,” Busta-mante said. “I was aroundmy friends for Thanksgiv-ing. They are a part of myfamily, too, because wework together.”

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

LUNCHEON Continued from Page 1A

POLICE VS GANGS IN BRAZIL

Photo by Silvia Izquierdo | AP

Alleged gangmembers aimweapons dur-

ing a policeoperation at

the Complexode Alemao

slum in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil,on Friday. Mili-

tary armoredvehicles con-tinued Friday

carrying policeand navy sol-diers into theheart of gang

strongholds.

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

ARLINGTON — Seeinghis defense shredded easilyand his offense flub ascreen and a shotgun snap— all before the first quar-ter even finished — JerryJones had to be wonderingwhat happened to all theimprovements interimcoach Jason Garrett hadbrought to the Dallas Cow-boys.

Then came the secondhalf and evidence of thenew life Garrett has

pumped into the club. The offense started mak-

ing big plays and littleones, piling up points onnearly every drive. The de-fense helped by slowingDrew Brees and getting theball back without giving upmany more points. The spe-cial teams provided every-thing from a long field goalto a forced fumble to a bi-zarre drop-kicked punt. Alltold, a pair of 17-point def-icits became a fourth-quar-ter lead.

Although the Cowboysended up losing to the New

Orleans Saints, their rallyThursday could be consid-ered another step in theright direction in Garrett’sbid to remain in charge.

“The obvious thing tome as a coach is our teamcontinued to fight,” Garrettsaid. “Ultimately, we arenot into moral victories. ...But I think, overall, the ef-fort, the fight, all that stuffis what we want. We justhave to clean up some ofthe things.”

At 3-8, Dallas has felt thesting of losing enough thisseason to be numb to it.

But the last few losses hadbeen blowouts, a totally dif-ferent feeling. Garrett hadgotten them used to win-ning again.

Add in the circumstanc-es surrounding this game— the rally, playing onThanksgiving, facing theSuper Bowl champs — andthe mournful mood wasunderstandable.

“I don’t know if I haveplayed in a game that is soemotional and come out onthis end,” tight end Jason

COWBOYS

’Boys fall shortThursday’s loss still shows improvement

By JAIME ARONASSOCIATED PRESS

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Jon Kitna (3) is sacked by New Or-leans Saints defensive end Will Smith (91) forcing a fumble duringthe football game against the New Orleans Saints on Thursday inArlington.

Photo by Jose Yau | AP

See COWBOYS PAGE 2B

HOUSTON — Vince Young won’tbe celebrating another triumphantreturn to his hometown.

In 2006, the former Texas starquarterback dashed through theHouston Texans’ defense for the win-ning touchdown for the TennesseeTitans at Reliant Stadium, his firstNFL game in the city where he grewup.

Young ripped off his helmet, rantoward a pack of fans wearing Long-horns gear and blew kisses to hisfamily in the stands. He later calledthe moment one of the highlights ofhis career.

Since then, he’s drawn as muchattention for his negative behavioras his play. After this week’s blowupwith Titans coach Jeff Fisher, it’shard to gauge where Young’s futureis headed.

Fisher doesn’t expect Young to beon the sideline when the Titans (5-5)visit the Texans (4-6) on Sunday. Roo-kie Rusty Smith will make his firstcareer start following a tumultuousweek that began with Young tearinga flexor tendon in his right thumb inthe loss to Washington.

Young threw his pads into the

stands after Fisher would not puthim back in the game, and the twoargued in the locker room after-ward. Fisher said Young "wasn’t wel-come" at Monday’s team meetingand was later placed on injured re-serve.

Young wasn’t traveling with theteam to Houston, but Fisher saidthat’s standard procedure for playerson the injured list. The Titans havedropped three in a row, but Fishersaid Young’s situation hasn’t dis-rupted preparations for facing theTexans.

"What we do on Monday is wemeet and put the (previous) game inperspective, correct the mistakes, ad-dress any issues that took place, andthen you move on," Fisher said."And that’s what we’ve done."

Young apologized to Fisher onTuesday via text message, but thathardly seemed to repair the rift.Fisher said he didn’t send a text inresponse, and hinted he would’ve

preferred a face-to-face apology."This issue has nothing to do with

what’s going on this Sunday," Fishersaid. "Our focus is on our next oppo-nent that’s playing very well. This isa must-win game for both teams.That has no merit as far as what’sgoing on here."

The Titans encountered a secondcrisis on Wednesday, when Fisherannounced that offensive coordina-tor Mike Heimerdinger has been di-agnosed with cancer and is expectedto start chemotherapy treatmentMonday.

Heimerdinger will still call theplays on Sunday and guide the 6-foot-5 Smith, one of Tennessee’ssixth-round picks last summer.Smith beat out Chris Simms for theNo. 3 spot on the depth chart andmoved up when backup Kerry Col-lins strained his left calf in the Ti-tans’ 29-17 loss to Miami two weeks

TEXANS

TUMBLING TEXANSTAKE ON TITANS

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) stiff-arms New York Jets defensive end Mike Devito (70) during the football game atNew Meadowlands Stadium on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

Photo by Bill Kostoun | AP

Both teams look to rebound in HoustonBy CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS

See TEXANS PAGE 2B

Just about every opposing quarterback haslooked good against the Texans’ NFL-worstpass defense this season.

AUSTIN — It’s a familiarstory by now: A formerlyhigh-flying private enter-prise hits the skids. Desper-ate to avert financial calam-ity, the government bailsout the business. Taxpayersbecome the new owners of atanking enterprise. Ink runsred.

But this is not the federalgovernment’s multibillion-dollar rescue of insurancegiant AIG or automakerGeneral Motors. It concernsthe small northwest TravisCounty town of Lago Vista,which in the past threeyears has become the unex-pected owner of two former-ly private — and failing —golf courses.

The taxpayer bailoutshave left the city of 6,500 inan unusual financial posi-tion. Today, Lago Vista’s golfbudget is bigger than its ad-ministrative, police andcourt spending — com-bined.

“It’s an interesting com-munity,” said City ManagerBill Angelo, “to say theleast.”

In rescuing the strug-gling businesses, the city ishoping to accomplish whatprivate enterprise has re-peatedly failed to do. Duringthe past two decades, fivedifferent owners have tried,unsuccessfully, to operatethe courses at a profit. Twohave landed in bankruptcycourt.

“I will acknowledge that

at the moment the golf busi-ness is not a highly sought-after business, and not aprofitable business,” saidMayor Randy Kruger.

Correct, said Greg Nath-an, senior vice president ofthe Florida-based NationalGolf Foundation. A buildingboom in the 1990s and early2000s has left too manycourses chasing too fewplayers. Thanks to the ail-ing economy, he added,rounds played nationallydropped 3.6 percent lastyear.

Indeed, Lago Vista’s pro-posed 2010-2011 budget anti-cipates a $260,000 deficit oncourse operations; the cityis borrowing from its utilityfund to cover the gap. That’sin addition to the more than$3 million it already bor-rowed when it sold bondsand raided other accountsto buy the 36 holes.

Yet city officials say thatletting the courses failwould have been even moredisastrous to the communi-ty. The city’s Master Plangoes out of its way to notethe importance of golfing toLago Vista’s economic well-being.

Originally developed as aretirement community 40years ago, the area stillboasts few tax-paying busi-nesses. Almost all its taxrevenue comes from resi-dential properties — manyof them on or near the tend-ed greens and scenic fair-ways of the two golf cours-

GOLF

In this photo taken on Tuesday, city council member Bob Bradley,one of five council members who belong to the Men’s Golf Associ-ation, heads toward the scenic 16th hole overlooking Lake Travis. ofthe Lago Vista golf course in Lago Vista, Texas. The community ofLago Vista in northwest Travis County is in the business of oper-ating two public golf courses. The city’s golf budget is bigger thanits administrative, police and court spending combined.

Photo by Ralph Barrera | AP

Governmentventures intogolf business

By ERIC DEXHEIMERASSOCIATED PRESS

See GOLF PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010

es.“We have a lot of citizens

surrounding the golf cours-es,” Kruger said. “So if thisthing turned into a weedpatch, a lot of citizenswould suffer.”

You could say golf in La-go Vista was too big to fail.

“Necessity makes strangebedfellows,” said Angelo.“The city realized it didn’thave much of a choice otherthan to get into the golfbusiness.”

By turning to publicmoney to rescue its ailinglinks, Lago Vista residentsfind themselves wrestlingwith a local version of a na-tional paradox: How to rec-oncile their philosophicalopposition to Big Govern-ment while at the sametime demanding its tax dol-lars when a vital need hitsclose to home.

Earlier this month, three-quarters of Lago Vista vot-ers who cast straight-partyballots selected Republicans.In 2008, Barack Obama re-ceived less than a third ofthe votes in the city’s large-st precinct, compared withtwo-thirds in Travis Countygenerally.

“Lago Vista is one of themost conservative areas inall of Texas,” said an exas-perated Patrick Dixon, aformer City Council mem-ber and local leader of the

Libertarian Party who op-posed the golf course acqui-sitions. “But if you thinkthat Barack Obama is em-ploying the wrong policiesby bailing out GM andbanks, you have to applythe same thinking locally.

“Don’t complain about so-cialized medicine if yousupport socialized golf.”

The seeds of the commu-nity that was to become La-go Vista were planted in1969, when an Indiana com-pany purchased severalthousand acres of rollinghills on the shores of LakeTravis, divided them intoabout 11,000 home lots andbegan promoting the devel-opment as an ideal retire-ment center.

Golf was an integral partof the plan from the begin-ning, and the first nine-holecourse opened only twoyears later. The developersoffered potential buyers sev-eral years of free play as anincentive, according to ahistory of the courses com-piled by the Lago VistaMen’s Golf Association,which was formed in 1974.

That same year, the LagoVista Golf Course was ex-panded to 18 holes. A sec-ond course, the World of Re-sorts Country Club — laterto become Highland LakesGolf Course — was complet-ed in 1978. It included an

“upscale club house” andswimming pool.

Descriptions of links-sidelife at the time depict agolden era of uncrowdedfairways, cheap greens fees,jolly clubhouse gatheringsand excellent dining. Butduring the past two dec-ades, the courses havestruggled.

In 1989, the original devel-opers sold the properties toTaiyo Corp., a Japanesecompany hoping to attractgolf-crazy Japanese busi-nessmen to Central Texas.

Six years later, however,with that country’s econo-my foundering, the proper-ties were turned over to atrustee, who eventually soldthe courses to an Irvingcompany called the Ever-green Alliance Golf Ltd.

Citing lousy returns, Ev-ergreen walked away in2003. A year later, the Bankof America sold the twocourses to a Colorado devel-oper and his partner, a Dal-

las homebuilder.The new owners prom-

ised to turn the courses,which are open to the pub-lic, into swanky members-only country clubs. Instead,Highland Lakes was shutdown in early 2005 because,they explained, there wasn’tenough business to supporttwo courses.

Across town, the LagoVista course wasn’t faringmuch better.

“John Deere repossessedits leased mowers. Greensturned brown in late 2005after a drought-plagued falland winter of neglect,” thegolf club history reported.A local member proclaimedthe Lago Vista Golf Courseas “the worst maintained inCentral Texas.”

In 2006, the Lago VistaGolf Course was purchasedby its former turf manag-ers, Jordan Eldredge andLaVergne Fairchild. “Theywere mowing the greenswith weed-eaters,” Fairchild

recalled. “It was in deplora-ble condition.”

Fairchild says the couplebrought the course back tothe brink of profitability by,among other things, pro-moting it to nonresidents, astrategy she said chafed La-go Vista’s old-timers. “Theydid not like outside play,”she said. “They wanted toplay whenever they wantedto play. It’s like they wantedtheir own private golfcourse.”

A year later, however, El-dredge and Fairchild de-clared bankruptcy, unable tomeet a balloon payment.They emerged in February2008 with a new investorand “ready to rock androll,” Fairchild said.

But only hours later, thecity filed a condemnationpetition to acquire thecourse through eminent do-main. The reason for theconfiscation, explained CityManager Angelo, was thecity’s need to maintain its

right to spray its treatedsewage effluent on thecourse.

“Without the course, we’dhave to go buy propertyelsewhere,” he said. “Or tellpeople not to flush their toi-lets.”

Fairchild said the city al-ready had a long-term con-tract for the effluent dis-charge on the property, sothere was no need to forceher to sell out. Kruger con-tends the contract didn’t ap-ply if the course wasn’t op-erational.

But Dixon, the formercouncil member, points outthat Lago Vista had recentlypurchased a large tract forspraying, only a small por-tion of which is being used.“The claim that we had touse eminent domain to takethat golf course just didn’tmake sense,” he said.

Fearing a protracted legalfight, Eldredge and Fair-child caved, selling thecourse to the City of LagoVista for $2 million in 2008.Angelo said the city hasspent another $500,000 onrepairs, upgrades and newequipment.

“It’s going to be a strug-gle to set up,” said Angelo,who noted that several mu-nicipal projects have beenput on hold. “I’m not mak-ing like this is going to bean easy task.”

GOLF Continued from Page 1B

“I will acknowledge that at the moment the golfbusiness is not a highly sought-after business, and nota profitable business,” MAYOR RANDY KRUGER

ago."We drafted Rusty partic-

ularly because of the typeof things that he did in col-lege," Fisher said. "Heplayed in a pro-style of-fense and made all thethrows. He’s a very accu-rate passer. He has a strongarm, (is) tall and sees well.He’s very intelligent."

Smith is the third starterfor Tennessee in as manyweeks, and the Titanssigned Simms on Tuesdayto be his backup. Collinswill be listed as the Titans’No. 3 quarterback on Sun-day.

Just about every oppos-ing quarterback has lookedgood against the Texans’NFL-worst pass defense

this season. Houston hasdropped four straightgames, and the secondaryhas given up long passes inthe final seconds to lose thepast two.

Last week, Mark Sanchezguided the New York Jets72 yards in under a minutewith no timeouts for thewinning touchdown in a 30-27 victory. Sanchez hitBraylon Edwards down thesideline for 42 yards to setup a 6-yard TD pass to San-tonio Holmes with 10 sec-onds remaining.

Texans owner BobMcNair said Wednesdaythe team is "underperform-ing" and the late collapsesare no longer acceptable.

"The team has got to re-

alize that during thatcrunch time, you’ve got toturn it up," he said. "Theother team’s going to turnit up. If we don’t turn it up,we’re going to be on theshort end of the stick."

Houston has allowed atleast two TD receptions ineight straight games andgiven up a league-high 13receptions covering 40yards or more. The Titans’pass defense isn’t muchbetter, giving up 258.7 yardsper game to rank 26th.

But the starting runningbacks might have more tosay about the outcome thaneither secondary.

Houston’s Arian Fosterleads the NFL with 1,004yards rushing and 1,382 to-

tal yards from scrimmage.Tennessee’s Chris Johnsonis third in the league andsecond in the AFC in rush-ing with 968 yards rushing.

Johnson, who’s made thePro Bowl in each of hisfirst two seasons andrushed for more than 2,000years in 2009, says one ofhis goals this season isbeating out Foster for therushing title.

"It’s very important tome," Johnson said. "I can’tworry about what he’s do-ing. I just got to keep wor-rying about myself andhopefully at the end I’ll bethe leader. At the end of theday, I just worry about myjob and just continue to putup numbers myself."

TEXANS Continued from Page 1B

Witten said. Receiver Roy Williams

nearly sealed the win with along catch and run. But hehad the ball jerked awayfrom behind at the end ofthe play, setting up New Or-leans’ winning drive.

“We had it, but just didn’tfinish,” he said. “I didn’tfinish.”

Kicker David Buehlerwas equally deflated. His 59-yard field goal try thatwould’ve tied it with 25 sec-onds left went wide left byabout a yard.

“It came down to me,” hesaid. “I’ve got to make that.”

Jones didn’t speak to re-porters afterward, his emo-tions probably still wobbly.

Garrett, meanwhile,

didn’t look, sound or actlike a guy who’d beenthrough nearly four hoursof incredible highs andlows, with the pressure of itall riding on him. Heseemed amazingly calm fora 44-year-old, first-timecoach who just lost for thefirst time after being oh-so-close to getting his careeroff to a 3-0 start.

“We talk a lot about pro-cess and we all know thatit’s a bottom-line businessfor everybody,” he said.“Hopefully the results willcome our way. I’m proud ofour football team today. Wedidn’t get it done and we’vegot to work to get it done.But if we continue to workin practice and play with

the intensity and enthusi-asm and passion that we’vebeen playing with, we willget some of these victories.And we’re going to startMonday morning.”

He sure hopes so. Garrett’s next challenge is

reviving that spunky spiritnext Sunday when they goto Indianapolis to play theother team from last sea-son’s Super Bowl, PeytonManning and the Colts.

Remember, the Cowboyshad all sorts of close lossesearly in the season. Thenthey lost hope and startedgetting blown out. At 1-7,coach Wade Phillips wasfired and Garrett was pro-moted from offensive coordi-nator. His marching orders

were to get the most out ofwhat Jones still thoughtwas a talented roster.

Winning the first twogames was impressive. Butnow that bubble has burst.The Cowboys are guaran-teed not to have a winningseason. If players slip backinto old habits, that strongstart to the Garrett eracould be chalked up to be-ginner’s luck.

“I’m not going to bedown,” nose tackle Jay Rat-liff said. “We fought, playedour hearts out. We had acouple of bad breaks. Butthe emotion we had today,I’m not going to hold myhead down. If we play likethat every week and be con-sistent, we have a shot.”

COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B

DENTON — The collegehome of “Mean” JoeGreene, and the backdropof the Fightin’ Armadilloswith supermodel Kathy Ire-land as their kicker, will behosting its final game.

North Texas (3-8) playsfor the last time at 58-year-old Fouts Field on Saturdayagainst Kansas State (6-5),whose coach Bill Snyderspent three seasons thereearly in his career.

“I’m sure it will bringback some memories,” saidSnyder, an assistant onHayden Fry’s staff from1976-78. “I coached at NorthTexas State when it wascalled North Texas State.”

That was during astretch when the MeanGreen had a 26-7 overall re-cord and lost only once athome — during a snowstorm to Florida State and

its first-year coach, BobbyBowden, in 1976.

Those were some of thesuccessful days at NorthTexas, which is wrappingup its sixth consecutive los-ing season since winningfour straight Sun Belt titles(2001-04). Coach ToddDodge was fired last monthafter 31/2 miserable sea-sons (6-37) and replaced byoffensive coordinator MikeCanales, who is 2-2 as inter-im coach.

Canales is a candidate tokeep the job after this sea-son. Other candidates in-clude former TCU, Alaba-ma and Texas A&M coachDennis Franchione, formerTulsa and Louisville coachSteve Kragthorpe and for-mer Iowa State coach DanMcCarney.

Whoever gets the NorthTexas job will oversee theteam’s move next seasonacross Interstate 35 into anew, 30,000-seat stadium.

Kansas State is alreadybowl-eligible, but has lostits last two games.

“More than anything, wejust have to finish strong.These last two games havebeen a skid that none of uswanted to take,” quarter-back Collin Klein said. “Wehave to stop the bleeding,get back on track and fin-ish the season strong, notonly for the bowl game, butfor next year.”

Before he was a Hall ofFame defensive tackle whoplayed on four Super Bowl-winning teams with thePittsburgh Steelers, JoeGreene was a three-yearstarter for North Texas(1966-68).

It was during the 1966season when fans, whoseteams were known as theEagles, adopted the MeanGreen nickname, referringto the tenacious defenseand the school color.

N. Texas closes stadium todayASSOCIATED PRESS

“More than anything, we just haveto finish strong. These last twogames have been a skid that noneof us wanted to take,”QUARTERBACK COLLIN KLEIN

LUBBOCK — Formercoach Mike Leach suedESPN Inc. and a public re-lations firm on Wednesday,accusing them of libel andslander after he was firedby Texas Tech amid accu-sations that he mistreateda player suffering from aconcussion.

The suit filed in Texasdistrict court claims thenetwork’s coverage ofLeach’s firing last yearwas “willful and negligentdefamation” and that itfailed to “retract false anddamaging statements” itmade from “misinforma-tion” provided to ESPN byCraig James, the father ofthe Texas Tech player.

Josh Krulewitz, spokes-man for the network basedin Bristol, Conn., said offi-cials had not seen the law-suit and declined com-ment.

Leach attorney Ted Lig-gett said the former coachwants “to set the record”straight.

“Mike Leach is ada-mant,” Liggett said. “MikeLeach wants his namecleared. His reputationhas taken a severe hit andbeen tarnished.”

The university firedLeach last Dec. 30, twodays after suspending himamid allegations he mis-treated Adam James.Leach has denied theclaim.

Adam James has saidhis coach twice orderedhim to stand for hourswhile confined in a darkplace during practice. OnWednesday, Liggettclaimed that Adam Jamesunder oath said hethought it was “humor-ous” what Leach told himto do and that he didn’tthink Leach should havebeen fired.

The suit, which seeksundisclosed damages andretractions from ESPNand the PR firm, was filednow because the statute oflimitations on slander andlibel is one year.

“On a daily basis we’restill seeing stories acrossthe country” with ac-counts Leach claims arecounter to the truth, Lig-gett said. “Mike Leach islooking forward to gettingback into coaching — he’ssaid that on several occa-sions.”

Leach was fired a fewdays before Texas Tech

beat Michigan State in theAlamo Bowl, a game CraigJames was slated to call asa broadcaster before he re-placed by Mike Patrick.

The suit identifies an-other broadcaster — Lig-gett said the mistakewould be amended — andsays he described AdamJames to “an audience ofmillions” and declared:“There is Adam James,who is the young manwho was actually puni-shed for having a concus-sion.”

Craig James is also adefendant in the lawsuitLeach filed against TexasTech when he was fired.The university has ap-pealed a ruling that TexasTech waived its sovereignimmunity protection byits conduct in Leach’s fir-ing. A ruling is pendingfrom the 7th Court of Ap-peals in Amarillo.

In June, State DistrictJudge William C. Sowderdismissed three top ad-ministrators — universitysystem Chancellor KentHance, school PresidentGuy Bailey, athletic direc-tor Gerald Myers — fromthat suit. The two sidesearlier this week agreedthat the three would notface future lawsuits overLeach’s firing.

The libel suit alsonames Spaeth Communi-cations as a defendant,claiming James hired thefirm for “purposes of cre-ating public opinion hos-tile to Leach.”

Liggett said Spaeth wasbehind the Internet post-ing of a video AdamJames shot while he stoodin one of the dark places.

Leach tries toget even withESPN lawsuit

By BETSY BLANEYASSOCIATED PRESS The

universityfired Leachlast Dec. 30,two days aftersuspendinghim amidallegations hemistreatedAdam James.Leach hasdenied theclaim.

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PET PALDear Readers: Jan La-

Flamme of Waterville,Maine, sent in a picture ofArlo, her beloved Mainecoon cat, celebrating Hal-loween with all of hisspooky props, along withsome seasonal pumpkins.To see Arlo, go to www.He-loise.com, and click on“Pets.” — Heloise

ORPHANED-BIRD STO-RY

Dear Heloise: My daugh-ter works at an animalemergency hospital. Some-one brought in two babybirds that had fallen fromtheir nest. My daughtertook one home, and she and

my granddaughter tookturns nurturing and feedingit until it grew big enoughto turn loose. It turned outto be a starling. My daugh-ter took it outside, put it inher hand, gently raising itup and down until it flew.The next day, as my grand-daughter was standing inthe yard, the bird flew downand landed on her shoulderas if to say “thank you.”Then it flew off. — Carolyn

McInnis, Boardman, OhioBLANKETS OF LOVEDear Heloise: Our sewing

group makes blankets forhospitalized children. Withall the scraps of leftover ma-terials, we make beddingpillows for our animal shel-ter. This gives the dogs andcats something soft to sleepon. — Eileen Blaney inOhio

How lovely to help twogroups at the same time! AHeloise Hug to all! -- Heloise

Photo caption: Jan La-Flamme of Waterville,Maine, sent in this pictureof Arlo, her beloved Mainecoon cat, celebrating Hal-loween.

HINTS BY | HELOISE

“HELOISE

LUBBOCK — TexasTech players who lost toHouston last year circledSaturday on their calen-dars at the beginning ofthis season.

Cougars quarterbackCase Keenum scored on a4-yard run with 49 secondsleft in last year’s game tobeat the Red Raiders, 29-28.Houston was playing as aranked team for the firsttime in 18 years afterknocking off then-No. 5 Ok-lahoma State two weeksearlier.

“We walked away fromthat game last year feelinglike we should have won,”said Texas Tech quarter-back Taylor Potts, whosedesperation, final-play passto Lyle Leong in Houstonwas broken up. “A couple ofplays here and there andthe game would have turn-ed out different, but itdidn’t.”

Keenum won’t be a fac-tor this year, though. Hewent out with a season-end-ing knee injury in Septem-ber.

Instead, true freshman

David Piland will lead theCougars (5-6, 4-4 C-USA)who are need a win to be-come bowl eligible. Pilandhas started the last sevengames and threw for fourtouchdowns and a career-best 467 yards in Houston’s41-59 loss at Southern Mis-sissippi last week.

Cougars coach KevinSumlin said Piland isyoung and has handledwell the pressure of step-ping in for Keenum.

“Has he been great? No,”Sumlin said. “Has he hadgreat moments? Yes. Hehas had his good and badmoments out there. I thinkhe has a done a really goodjob on what we’ve askedhim to do.”

Houston is 8-5 againstthe Red Raiders (6-5, 3-5 Big12) in Lubbock.

Texas Tech coach Tom-my Tuberville said gettingbowl eligible after lastweek’s 64-21 win over Web-er State will help thisweek.

“I think the biggestthing for us is there is nopressure now, and if theyhave to win this one to getto six I am sure we will gettheir best effort,” he said.

“This is not just anothergame for them. This is achance to play for anothermonth and go to a bowl.”

Tuberville said the mem-ory of the loss last year isgood motivation for hisplayers.

“When you lose a closegame to an in-state team itbrings back old memories,”he said. “Not that there is arevenge factor here at all.Whether we can win it ornot, they want to go outand perform better thanthey did last year.”

One of Texas Tech’smost prolific passers willbe on the sidelines for theCougars on Saturday. KliffKingsbury, who is secondbehind Graham Harrell incareer yardage at TexasTech with 12,429 yards, inhis third year as Houston’sco-offensive coordinator.Potts said the offense is “to-tally different” since Tu-berville’s become coach.

“He has never reallybeen a part of anything wehave going on right now,”Potts said. “There is reallyno stealing of signs, plays,schemes or anything likethat. I expect it to be justanother hard fought game.”

Texas Tech’s Dion Chidozie (23) tackles Weber State’s Bo Bolen as he runs into the end zone duringtheir football game on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.

Photo by John Bowersmith | AP

Red Raiders wantrevenge vs. Houston

By BETSY BLANEYASSOCIATED PRESS

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Coach Gary Pattersoninsists he’ll leave townwith a smile Saturday ifNo. 4 TCU beats woefulNew Mexico by a singlepoint.

Such a slim marginprobably won’t be an is-sue, with the HornedFrogs favored by 44.

Consider also that thenation’s top-rated defenseis facing a freshmanquarterback and TCU(11-0, 7-0 Mountain West)can cap an undefeatedregular season with theleague championship forthe second straight year.

Still, the question ofcomparison scores cameup this week.

Patterson was askedwhether TCU needs tomatch Oregon’s 72-0 sea-son-opening victory overNew Mexico to impresscollege football pollsters.The Frogs are jockeyingwith Oregon, Auburnand fellow non-automaticqualifier Boise State for aticket to the national titlegame.

Patterson’s answer?His focus is to win thisone, just like any other,and he’ll be satisfied ifhis team puts up onemore point than NewMexico (1-10, 1-6).

“If I think anythingoutside of that boundary,then I’m going to get my-self in trouble, becauseI’m going to control whatI can control,” he said.“For somebody to thinkthat we’re so shallow atTCU that I’ve got to go upand beat New Mexico byx-amount of points toprove I have a good foot-ball team, that’s not go-ing to happen.”

We already knew Patter-son has a good team. TheHorned Frogs demonstratedthat with an unbeaten sea-son, which earlier thismonth included a decisive47-7 victory at conferenceheavyweight Utah and acome-from-behind 40-35 winover surging San DiegoState.

Going into their regularseason finale, TCU’s seniorscan become the most suc-cessful class in school histo-ry. One more victory pushestheir four-year total to 43wins.

Yet the Frogs keep hear-ing criticism from outsidethe Mountain West that they

don’t play a tough sched-ule, and there’s even thepossibility they could getdropped from the top fivebowl games if Boise Statepasses them in the BCSstandings.

Sure, it’s a frustratingsituation, but those thingsare beyond TCU’s reach.

“I mean, we won everygame. We went out andtook care of business,” saidAndy Dalton, the nation’sleader among active quar-terbacks with 40 wins.“Our goal was to come inand be undefeated. That’sthe only thing that wecould do. We can only han-dle what we can control.”

No. 4Frogs

look forperfection

By TIM KORTEASSOCIATED PRESS

TCU running back Matthew Tucker (29) runs for yardage as SanDiego State linebacker Logan Ketchum (31) misses the tackle dur-ing the college football game against TCU in Fort Worth last Sat-urday. TCU won 40-35.

Photo by Mike Fuentes | AP

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES NCAA SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2010