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ZAPATA VOLLEYBALL ROLLIN’LADY HAWKS UNDEFEATED IN DISTRICT, 1B

During its Sept. 12 regular meeting, theZapata County Commissioners’ Court set-tled the question of who would run thecounty’s medical clinic. The court awardedthe contract to Laredo Medical Center.

Representatives of Laredo Medical Centerattended the meeting and spoke brieflyabout the organization’s proposal, accordingto Jose Vela, commissioner for Zapata Coun-ty Precinct 1. Vela also said that, all thingsconsidered, LMC’s proposal was the best onthe table.

“LMC will actually being paying the

county $10,000 a month in rent for the facil-ity,” Vela said. “We weren’t getting that withthe clinic before. That’s new revenue.”

Adding that LMC also agreed to pay util-ities and maintenance costs — all of whichwas incurred by the county previously — Ve-

COMMISSIONERS

Local medical careCourt awards Laredo Medical Center clinic contract

By MIKE HERRERA IVTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See CLINIC PAGE 10A

Federal authorities weretipped off to a Zapata homewhere they found more than 470pounds of marijuana and ar-rested one man in connectionwith the case, court records re-leased Friday state.

Zapatan Lenny Salinas, 24,was arrested and charged withpossession with intent to dis-tribute a controlled substance.U.S. Border Patrol agents andZapata County sheriff ’s depu-ties assisted Immigration andCustoms Enforcement agentsduring the enforcement action.

“An ICE Homeland Securityinvestigation led special agentsto discover 79 bundles of mari-juana at a residence in Zapata,”said ICE spokeswoman NinaPruneda.

On Wednesday, ICE agents re-ceived information indicatingthat a white Ford F-150 parkednear the vicinity of Alamo andBrazos streets was loaded withan undetermined amount ofnarcotics.

Agents approached the areato determine who owned the ve-hicle. A criminal complaintstates agents were allowed toaccess to the vehicle. They rec-ognized the odor of the marijua-na coming from the pickup.

“A Border Patrol canine wasutilized to conduct an open-air,non-intrusive sniff on the sus-pected vehicle. The caninealerted to the odor of narcoticswithin the truck and a horsetrailer parked several feetaway,” states a criminal com-plaint.

While agents attempted to geta search warrant, Salinas ar-rived at the location andclaimed he was the owner ofthe Ford F150. Salinas toldagents he was aware the truckand horse trailer had marijua-na.

“He stated he owned both thetruck and horse trailer and hewas responsible for the narcot-ics concealed within,” states thecriminal complaint.

In executing the search war-rant, agents found 12 bundlescontaining marijuana in thebackseat of the F150. Another 67bundles were found concealedwithin a compartment in thehorse trailer. All bundles to-gether weighed approximately477 pounds, states the criminalcomplaint.

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

WAR ON DRUGS

Fedsfindpot,

nab 1470 pounds seized at

Zapata residenceBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

The committee in charge ofchild care for Workforce Solu-tions South Texas voted to ap-prove a new sliding fee scale forchild care services Tuesday.

Parents are currently chargedbased on a percentage of theirgross incomes, but the new feescale takes into account familysize and the number of childrenreceiving care.

The full Workforce SolutionsSouth Texas board will meetThursday in Zapata and couldvote then to give the new feescale final approval.

The change follows a state di-rective to local workforce agen-cies. Although Workforce Solu-tions expects to generate morerevenue from the new plan, itwill not mean across-the-boardfee increases for parents.

Bertha Millan, contract man-ager for child care services, saida single mother earning the min-imum with two children couldsee her monthly payments de-cline from $94 to $70. However,those making more could seetheir payments rise.

“It all depends how manymembers of the household thereare,” she said. “There are someparents that are going to payless, and there’s some that aregoing to pay more.”

Millan said the group couldnot release the new fee scale un-til after the full board had ap-proved it.

Workforce Solutions SouthTexas serves Webb, Zapata andJim Hogg counties. An averageof 2,350 children a day are placedin child care centers that con-tract with the group.

The group, which provides un-employment benefits and servic-

WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS

Newfees for

childcare

See FEE PAGE 10A

By ANDREW KREIGHBAUM THE ZAPATA TIMES

BROWNSVILLE — A Colorado woman whosays her husband was shot and killed by drug car-tel gunmen while they were boating on a U.S.-Mexico border lake last year said Monday that

she’s still waiting for the attackers to be broughtto justice.

During a congressional field hearing on bordersecurity launched by Republican Rep. Ted Poe,Tiffany Hartley recounted how she and her hus-

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Tiffany Hartley, widow of David Hartley, speaks during a news conference after the House Committee on the Judiciaryheld a Secure our Texas Border Forum at the University of Texas at Brownsville, with Rep. Blake Farenthold at left andRep. Ted Poe, right, on Monday, in Brownsville.

Photo by Brad Doherty/Brownsville Herald | AP

CONGRESS LISTENS TOBORDER INSECURITYHearing details regional problems

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

See FORUM PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

SEPTEMBER, ALL MONTHZapata County Judge Joseph

Rathmell signed a proclamation statingthat September is National Alcohol andDrug Abuse Addiction Recovery Monthfor Zapata County.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 24Carmen Tafolla will read and

speak as part of Hispanic HeritageMonth from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. todayin the Laredo Public . The lecture isfree and open to the public. For moreinformation, contact Mary L. Gonzalesat the library at 795-2400, extension2248, or mlgonzales@laredolibrary.org.

A master class with one of thenation’s most well-regarded vocal per-formers will be provided today at TexasA&M International University by Songon the Rio Grande as part of its RioGrande Vocal Series. Series offeringsare free, and the public is welcome.Today’s master class begins at noon inthe Center for the Fine and PerformingArts’ Recital Hall. For more informa-tion, contact Dana Crabtree at 326-3040 or dcrabtree@tamiu.edu or Su-zanne Ramo-Gechter at 326-2654 orsuzanne.ramo@tamiu.edu.

The Texas A&M International Uni-versity Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetari-um will show “The Little Star ThatCould” at 4 p.m., “Extreme Planets” at5 p.m., “Star Signs” at 6 p.m. and“TechnoBeatZ” at 7 p.m. General ad-mission is $5, $4 for children and TA-MIU students, faculty, staff and alumni.Premium shows are $1 more.

The University InterscholasticLeague will sponsor a basketball clinicfrom 9 a.m. to noon today in the L.J.Christen Middle School gym, 2001Santa Maria Ave. All basketball officialsare required to attend. Those interest-ed in becoming officials are welcome-For more information, call Juan Ortizat 337-2982 after 3 p.m.

The Rio Grande InternationalStudy Center will have its latest naturewalk in the Loving Laredo Hike Series,the Lost Lakes, at 7:30 a.m. today.Walkers are to meet in the San Fran-cisco Javier Church parking lot, 2502Zaragoza St. For more information, call956-721-5392.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 27The “Anatomy of a Business

Plan Workshop in Zapata” is set for9:30 a.m. through noon at the ZapataCounty Courthouse, suite 248. The feefor the workshop is $20.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 29TAMIU’s Small Business Develop-

ment Center will open a satellite officefor Zapata between 11:30 A.M. and1:30 p.m. at 910 Hidalgo, Suite 2, inZapata.

FRIDAY, OCT 7The first day of the three-day

Bass Champs tournament takes placetoday. For more information or to reg-ister, call 817-439-3274 or check thewebsite at www.basschamps.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 8The first day of the three-day

Bass Champs tournament takes placetoday. For more information or to reg-ister, call 817-439-3274 or check thewebsite at www.basschamps.com.

SUNDAY, OCT. 9The first day of the three-day

Bass Champs tournament takes placetoday. For more information or to reg-ister, call 817-439-3274 or check thewebsite at www.basschamps.com.

FRIDAY, OCT. 28The first day of the three-day

2011 Pro/Am Event sponsored by theCouples Association of Sport Tourna-ments fishing tournament takes placetoday. For more information or to reg-ister, call 281-796-7486 or check thewebsite at www.fishcast.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 29The second day of the three-day

2011 Pro/Am Event sponsored by theCouples Association of Sport Tourna-ments fishing tournament takes placetoday. For more information or to reg-ister, call 281-796-7486 or check thewebsite at www.fishcast.com.

SUNDAY, OCT. 30The third day of the three-day

2011 Pro/Am Event sponsored by theCouples Association of Sport Tourna-ments fishing tournament takes placetoday.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Sept. 24,the 267th day of 2011. Thereare 98 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Sept. 24, 1789, Congresspassed a Judiciary Act whichprovided for an Attorney Gen-eral and a Supreme Court.

On this date:In 1869, thousands of busi-

nessmen were ruined in aWall Street panic known as“Black Friday” after finan-ciers Jay Gould and JamesFisk attempted to corner thegold market.

In 1911, future Soviet leaderKonstantin U. Chernenko wasborn in Siberia.

In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolit-tle guided a Consolidated NY-2Biplane over Mitchel Field inNew York in the first all-in-strument flight.

In 1948, Mildred Gillars, ac-cused of being Nazi wartimeradio propagandist “Axis Sal-ly,” pleaded not guilty inWashington, D.C., to chargesof treason. (Gillars, later con-victed, ended up serving 12years in prison.)

In 1955, President Dwight D.Eisenhower suffered a heartattack while on vacation inDenver.

In 1961, “Walt Disney’s Won-derful World of Color” pre-miered on NBC (it succeededDisney’s anthology series onABC).

In 1963, the U.S. Senate rat-ified a treaty with Britain andthe Soviet Union limiting nu-clear testing.

In 1976, former hostage Pa-tricia Hearst was sentenced toseven years in prison for herpart in a 1974 bank robbery inSan Francisco carried out bythe Symbionese LiberationArmy. (Hearst was released af-ter 22 months after receivingclemency from President Jim-my Carter.)

In 1981, four Armenian gun-men seized the Turkish con-sulate in Paris, killing a guardand holding 56 hostages for 15hours before surrendering.

In 1991, kidnappers in Leba-non freed British hostage JackMann after holding him cap-tive for more than two years.Children’s author TheodorSeuss Geisel (GY’-zul), betterknown as “Dr. Seuss,” died inLa Jolla, California, at age 87.

Ten years ago: PresidentGeorge W. Bush ordered afreeze on the assets of 27 peo-ple and organizations withsuspected links to terrorism,including Islamic militantOsama bin Laden, and urgedother nations to do likewise.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor-singer Herb Jeffries is 100. Ac-tress Sheila MacRae is 87.Rhythm-and-blues singer Son-ny Turner (The Platters) is 72.Singer Barbara Allbut (TheAngels) is 71. Singer Phyllis“Jiggs” Allbut (The Angels) is69. Singer Gerry Marsden(Gerry and the Pacemakers) is69. News anchor Lou Dobbs is66. Pro and College FootballHall of Famer Joe Greene is65. Actor Gordon Clapp is 63.Former U.S. Rep. Joseph Ken-nedy II, D-Mass., is 59. ActorKevin Sorbo is 53. Actress-writer Nia Vardalos is 49.Singer-musician Marty Cin-tron (No Mercy) is 40. ActorJustin Bruening is 32. Olym-pic gold medal gymnast PaulHamm is 29. Actor Kyle Sulli-van is 23.

Thought for Today: “Donot weep; do not wax indig-nant. Understand.” — BaruchSpinoza, Dutch philosopher(1632-1677).

TODAY IN HISTORY

SANFORD — On paper, Texas is well-pre-pared to meet the water needs of its expand-ing population — even when Mother Naturelays down a harsh and lengthy drought.

The price tag: $53 billion. State money al-located: $1.4 billion.

If there were funds, Texas would be able tobuild the dams, reservoirs, pipelines, wellsand other infrastructure that would ideallyavoid tight water-use restrictions imposed onresidents, farmers and ranchers duringtimes of drought while also guaranteeingthere would be enough water for the state’spopulation even in 2060.

Instead, more than four years after the lat-est blueprint was published, deadlines havepassed with some work barely begun, andmany projects never started. Meanwhile,

lakes are shrinking, rivers are drying up andtemperatures are rising.

“The longer you delay implementation, thecosts are going to go up,” said Carolyn Brit-tin, a planning official at the Texas WaterDevelopment Board, which must publish arevised plan by January.

In Texas, which is experiencing one of itsmost severe droughts on record, officialsknow what to do to guarantee water for fu-ture generations — in fact, Texas spends $16million every five years to plan ahead.

When the most recent plan was publishedin 2007, officials estimated it would cost $31billion to provide water to the population in2060. That doesn’t include more than $140billion needed for other water-related infras-tructure, including flood control. In January,the board said the cost had jumped to $53 bil-lion.

AROUND TEXAS

In this Aug. 8 photo, Texas Park Ranger Brandon Dunham stands at an overlook point above Lake Meredith, near Fritch. Thelake that measured 102 feet deep in 1973 now reaches a depth of slightly over 32 feet.

Photo by Tony Gutierrez| AP

Texas: water is problemBy RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Man slain saving sister inWaco, boyfriend charged

WACO — Police say a manhas died after being stabbed ashe saved his sister from beingstrangled by her boyfriend.

Waco police early Friday ar-rested 41-year-old Allan Story ona murder charge.

Waco officers responded to adomestic dispute Thursday nightand found the body of 25-year-oldZachary Davis on a sidewalk. Hissister wasn’t hurt.

Story was captured about fourhours later.

Arson charge againsthomeless man droppedAUSTIN — Prosecutors have

dismissed the case against ahomeless man arrested andcharged with starting an Aprilwildfire that destroyed 11 homesand damaged 10 more in Austin.

The Travis County district at-torney’s office said there wasn’tenough evidence to pursue acourt case.

Houston-area manarrested for 1982 killingHOUSTON — Authorities

have charged a 63-year-old Hous-ton-area man in the death of hisgirlfriend nearly 30 years ago.

Sheriff ’s investigators saidFriday that charges against Man-uel Pena had originally been de-clined when he was first investi-gated over the 1982 death of 19-year-old Sherri Strong.

Earlier this year, the sheriff ’soffice’s cold case unit reopenedthe investigation and ThursdayPena was taken into custody af-ter he was charged with murder.

Minor earthquake 40miles south of Dallas

WAXAHACHIE — Experts saya minor earthquake has been re-corded in North Texas.

The U.S. Geological Surveysays the 2.5 magnitude quakehappened at 11:21 p.m. Thursdayand was centered about 3 milesnortheast of Waxahachie Thesite is 24 miles south of Dallas.

Woman dies in mobilehome fire in Porter

PORTER — Authorities say amobile home fire in the Houstonarea has left a woman dead in ablaze allegedly linked to smok-ing.

Porter Fire Department ChiefJody Binnion says the woman’sson was unharmed in the firearound 3:30 a.m. Friday.

Binnion says the woman wasdead at the scene. Her namewasn’t immediately released. Anautopsy has been ordered.

Texas prisons end speciallast meals in executionsHOUSTON — It’s a tradition

with roots that can be traced farback in history: Before being putto death, a condemned prisonercan choose his last meal.

Not so anymore in Texas.Officials who oversee the

country’s busiest death chamberstopped the practice on Thurs-day.

— Compiled from AP reports

Obama’s L.A. campaignoffice smashed up

LOS ANGELES — Police saidFriday they are investigatingwhat appears to be a politicallymotivated attack on a campaignoffice for President Barack Oba-ma in Los Angeles, only days be-fore he’s scheduled to arrive inSouthern California.

Several campaign stafferswere in a room at the back of theoffice Thursday night when theyheard the sound of smashingglass at the front and side of thebuilding, said police.

They found three front-doorwindows and a side glass doorhad been smashed.

US stocks mixed afterbrutal week of selling

A brutal week for the stockmarket ended on a quiet noteFriday, but worries about theglobal economy continued topound copper, gold and other

commodities.Fears about Eu-rope’s debt were stoked early Fri-day by news that Moody’s Inves-tors Service had downgraded itsratings of eight Greek banks bytwo notches.

Europe’s problems helped feedthe heavy selling this week. But

the chief worry was that the U.S.is headed for another recessionand that policy makers are run-ning out of ways to fight it. Con-gress was in another standoffover spending that could forcethe government to shut down.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Student defendants listen during a huddle with their attorneys after the juryfound the 10 Muslim students guilty in Santa Ana, Calif., on Friday of disruptingthe Israeli ambassador’s university speech about U.S.-Israel relations.

Photo by Ken Steinhardt/Orange County Register | AP

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

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, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR

Courtesy photo

AAH Smile Dental, under Dr. Johnny Cavazos, presented Fidel & Andrea R. Villarreal Elementary with abanner to wish students and staff the best of luck for the 2011-2012 school year. Among those picturedare Annabel Alvarez, librarian; Claudia Garza, counselor; Keyiris Garcia, Rebecka Flores, Maricela Fal-con, Dr. Johnny Cavazos, Minerva Salazar and Imelda Garcia.

The Texas A&M Interna-tional University SmallBusiness Development Cen-ter will celebrate the grandopening of a new satelliteoffice in Zapata on Thurs-day. Open to the public, itwill take place from 11:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 910 Hi-dalgo, Suite 2, in Zapata.

Under the leadership ofTAMIU SBDC interim di-rector Mercurio MartinezJr., the SBDC programserves the small businessesin Webb, Zapata, and JimHogg counties. The TA-MIU-SBDC ribbon-cuttingceremony will acknowledgethe significant investmentof resources designed tohelp Zapata County resi-dents.

A certified rural busi-ness advisor will be availa-ble to help communitymembers with businessplanning, financial propos-als, computerized book-keeping, marketing, andother important manage-ment topics. SBDC busi-

ness consulting serviceswill be completely confi-dential and are availablefree of charge. Trainingclasses will teach solidmanagement solutions in aclassroom environmentand will also be availableonline, 24 hours a day, sev-en days a week.

The TAMIU SBDC isfunded in partnership withthe U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration, The Universi-ty of Texas at San Antonio,and Texas A&M Interna-

tional University. The SBDC would like to

encourage all Zapata Coun-ty residents to be part ofthis momentous event.This will be a great oppor-tunity for the public tomeet community leaders,the SBDC team, and busi-ness owners.

For more information,contact TAMIU-SBDC at956-326-2827 or visit the Za-pata offices at 910 Hidalgo,Suite 2, Zapata, Texas78076.

New office to openTAMIU center toserve businesses

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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

The 1910s and 1920swere the golden ageof the amateur ide-

al. On the golf courses,Bobby Jones, the greatestamateur golfer of all time,won a string of majorchampionships.

He served as a moralexemplar as well. In the1925 U.S. Open, he acci-dentally nudged his ballwhile setting up for ashot. He asked the mar-shals and members of thegallery if they had no-ticed. None had. Never-theless, he assigned him-self a two-stroke penalty,which cost him the tour-nament as he lost by onestroke. When compliment-ed for his sense of fair-ness, Jones replied, “Youmay as well praise a manfor not robbing a bank.”

At Princeton, HobeyBaker was the glitteringstar of college sports,dominating in both foot-ball and hockey. He wasalso famous for his sports-manship. He had only onepenalty called on him hisentire college hockey ca-reer. After each game, hewent to the opposing lock-er room to thank his op-ponents for a good match.He was acutely modestwhen people spoke of histriumphs.

There were two sides tothe amateur ideal. On theone hand, it was meant toserve as a restraint onsome of the more brutalforces of the day. SocialDarwinism was in fullflower, with its emphasison ruthless competitionand survival of the fittest.Capitalism was rough andraw. The amateur idealwas a restraining codethat emphasized fair playand honor. It held thatthose blessed with specialgifts have a special re-sponsibility to hue to achivalric code. The ideawas to make sport a partof the nation’s moral edu-cation.

On the other hand, theamateur code was elitist.It was designed to sepa-rate the affluent sportsfrom the working-classsports, to create a refinedarena that only the well-bred and well-born couldenter.

Today’s left-leaning his-torians generally exco-riate the amateur ideal forits snobbery and the hy-pocrisy it engendered.The movie “Chariots ofFire” popularized theircritique. In the film, theupholders of the amateurideal are snobbish, anti-Semitic reactionaries. Theheroes are unabashedlycommercial and practical.Modern and free-thinking,they pay people so theycan win.

Thus did the left-wingcritique welcome the cor-porate domination ofsport.

Over the decades, theword amateur changed its

meaning. It used to con-vey a moral sensibility,but now it conveys an eco-nomic one: not gettingpaid. As many universi-ties have lost confidencein their ability to instillcharacter, the moral mis-sion of the university haswithered.

Filling the holeCommercialism and

professionalism havefilled the void. TaylorBranch’s superb cover ar-ticle in the current issueof The Atlantic, “TheShame of College Sports,”shows how financial con-cerns have come to dom-inate college athletics. Ev-erybody makes money ex-cept the players. Collegefootball coaches at publicuniversities make morethan $2 million on aver-age, according to the arti-cle, and even assistantcoaches sometimes makenearly $1 million.

Quarterback Cam New-ton was investigated forviolating the amateurrules. Meanwhile, therewere at least 15 corporatelogos on the uniform hewore every week. A.J.Green, a wide receiver,was punished for sellinghis jersey. While he wasserving his suspension,the school continued sell-ing replicas of his No. 8jersey for $39.95 and up.

Branch shows the bru-tal ways the NCAA andits member schools pro-tect and advance their fi-nancial interests. For ex-ample, one of the reasonsschools fight to keep thestudent-athlete tag ontheir players is to keepfrom having to pay work-man’s compensation ifthey get hurt. Kent Wal-drep, a running back, wasparalyzed while playingfor Texas Christian. Hesued to get some compen-sation for his sacrifice forthe university. TCU foughthim in court and won.

Branch concludes it istime to give up on theamateur code. Pay theplayers and get over it.

The amateur ideal,though faded and worn,still imposes some re-straints. It forces athletes,seduced by Michael Jor-dan fantasies, to at leastthink of themselves par-tially as students. It forcescoaches, an obsessivelycompetitive group, to payhomage to academic pur-suits. College basketball ismore thrilling than probasketball because thegame is still animated byamateur passions, notcoldly calculating profes-sional interests.

The commercial spiritis strong these days. Butpeople seem to do bestwhen they have to wrestlebetween commercial in-terests and value systemsthat counteract them. Thelingering vestiges of theamateur ideal are worthpreserving.

COLUMN

It’s time forthe amateurideal to end

By DAVID BROOKSNEW YORK TIMES

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

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

We want to assure

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

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

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

WASHINGTON —So it’s come to thisthen: war, class

war. The House Republi-cans and their allies, wholive at the best addresses onearth, have a casus belli:

President Obama’s as-sault on their class by sug-gesting that they pay moretax.

The Good Lord aloneknows where it will end orhow many of the aristo-crats, the oligarchs, will beforced into exile in hostileextremes like Liechten-stein, Monaco, Geneva andBermuda.

Oh, the coming horror!Families torn apart as richbrother faces off againstpoor brother, taxpayingdaughter in love with tax-exempt heir, children whohave scored in Silicon Val-ley bitterly divided fromtheir parents over SocialSecurity and Medicare.

Even now, the battlelines are being drawn. InAspen, the Hamptons, Mar-tha’s Vineyard and PalmBeach. Surreptitiously, Per-rier and Champagne arebeing stockpiled. And safehavens are being construct-

ed for tax-shelter preparers,who fear the arrival of themiddle-class mob — thatfrenzied and irrationalmass that wants the Amer-ican Dream back. Fools!Why can they not see that ahigher power has chosenwho should be rich andwho should be in debt?

And, besides, it’s the richwho create jobs. Who dothe Democrats think hiresthe chauffeurs, private jetpilots, butlers, maids, cater-ers and house contractors(who tear down lovelyhomes and build big, uglyones)?

It’s the rich who areholding together what’s leftof the housing market.

What Keynesian, pinko,Europhile can afford sixhouses? Members of thewretched middle class canhardly hold onto the housesthey have, let alone boostthe economy by buying a$23-million triplex on ParkAvenue.

The trouble is, I’m notsure we know how to run aclass war. But as a Brit-American, I regard myselfas something of an expert.So, fellow Americans, hereare a few tips:

Sadly for House SpeakerJohn Boehner, it’s not just

about money. Those whohave ”class” know what itis, and they censure thosewho don’t.

Money is important, butonly if it was obtained un-der questionable circum-stances and/or made by anancestor at least three gen-erations ago. Money —even billions — made inyour lifetime, or that of aparent, is a no-no. It willhave you limited by thedreadful appellation ”nou-veau riche.” This is a stateworse than being broke, inclass terms.

To get into the upperclass (assuming you don’thave a hereditary title thatis at least five generationsold), you must have attend-ed the right school: Etonfor boys and Roedean forgirls.

If neither of these desir-able qualifications is yours,you must speak the”Queen’s” English, affect apassion for cricket and po-lo, and revere the unde-fined qualities of breeding,refinement and the ritualsof marriage.

The latter means thatyou can sleep with almostanyone, so long as you mar-ry someone just like youand raise children just like

you. Then you are ready forthe ruling class, and to beridiculed in the popularpress as ”bosses.”

Well, clearly that kind ofclass clash is not for the Re-publicans. Our class-warmodel is cleaner and sim-pler: Money is akin to di-vinity and should not beadulterated by taxation andthe middle class, whosemoral responsibility is totake up the tax burden andtug at a grateful forelock.

The working class, yousay, where are they? Don’tbe silly, vote-hungry politic-ians promoted them intothe middle class years ago.Anyway, now everyonethinks the workers all comefrom some other country.

Prepare for the worst: Se-cession by Martha’s Vine-yard, barricades on the Up-per East Side, MichiganAvenue and Palm Beach.Only in Malibu and BeverlyHills can we expect hand-to-hand fighting. Socklessactors in loafers standingwith their bankers, whiletheir wives fret about whatto wear to the class war.They’re tricky, class waruniforms.

(Contact Llewellyn Kingat lking@kingpublish-ing.com.)

COLUMN

The etiquette of class warfareBy LLEWELLYN KING

HEARST NEWSPAPERS

The hikers are free.Finally.

After more thantwo years in captivity,Americans Shane Bauerand Josh Fattal have beenreleased from Iran’s noto-rious Evin prison.

Let their journey backto the United States andtheir long-suffering fam-ilies be a safe one, andtheir homecoming joyous.

The two men, and a

third American, SarahShourd, were arrested onJuly 31, 2009, during a va-cation along a poorlymarked area on the borderbetween Iraqi Kurdistanand Iran.

Spy accusationIranians accused the

trio of crossing the borderillegally and spying. Lastmonth, the two men wereconvicted and sentenced to

eight years. Shourd wasreleased last year on hu-manitarian grounds, after$500,000 bail — ransom,really — was posted.

A similar amount wasrequired for both Bauerand Fattal. The moneycame from Oman, whichfacilitated all three releas-es. Officials there deserveour nation’s thanks.

But hold the applausefor the thugs who runIran, one of the world’sleading sponsors of terror-

ism, and especially theirpreening joke of a presi-dent, Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad. He had hoped tohave the hostages freedthis week in time for a vic-tory lap around the U.N.General Assembly.

Instead, let the UnitedNations and its membersopen this week’s sessionby condemning in thestrongest possible termsthe hostage-taking regular-ly practiced by this ruth-less regime.

EDITORIAL

Finally, freedom for US hikersMCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

Sheriff ’s officials say awoman driving at a highspeed disregard stopsigns and resisted arrestlast weekend in the Medi-na Addition. At the jail,the defendant assaultedcorrectional officers, theofficials said.

Gabriela Sanchez, 27,was arrested and chargedwith reckless driving, re-sisting arrest and assaultof a public servant.

According to reports,Sanchez was traveling at60 miles per hour in a 30-mile per hour zone. Alleg-edly, she also disregardedstop signs. At about 4a.m. Sept, 16, a deputyinitiated a traffic stopnear Fourth Street andZapata Boulevard.

When asked for driv-er’s license and insur-ance, Sanchez said shedid not have any. She ex-ited the vehicle and be-gan crying when beingtaken into custody forreckless driving. She re-sisted arrest by not get-ting inside the sheriff ’ssquad car, according tosheriff ’s officials.

Once en route to Zapa-ta County Jail, Sanchezallegedly started kickingthe windows and cage. Atthe county jail, she as-saulted two detention offi-cers. She was held on acombined bond of $37,000.

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

Womanfaces

multiplecharges

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES

GABRIELA SAN-CHEZ: Facesreckless driving,other charges.

ASSAULTA sexual assault was reported at

about 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in northwesternZapata County near the Dolores Creek Area.The complainant stated that she was sexual-ly assaulted by a man who was bringing agroup of people across the border.

An assault was reported at 9:23 p.m.Sept. 17 in the 100 block of Tepozan Road.

An assault family violence incidentwas reported at 10:07 p.m. Tuesday in the1600 block of Lincoln Street.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

Simon Martinez was arrested andcharged with disorderly conduct at about 11p.m. Sept. 17 at a community center nearSeventh Street and U.S. 83. He was taken toZapata Regional Jail.

Luis Antonio Garcia was arrested andcharged with disorderly conduct after mid-night Sept. 18 at the Zapata CommunityCenter, 605 U.S. 83. An incident reportstates the man was intoxicated and causinga disturbance at the community center dur-ing a quinceañera. The man was taken tothe Zapata Regional Jail.

DWI

Mario Enrique Murillo-Hernandez wasarrested and charged with public intoxicationat about 4 a.m. Sept. 16 near the post of-fice in San Ygnacio. An incident report statesMurillo-Hernandez was found asleep insidehis vehicle in the southbound lane of U.S.83. The man was taken to the Zapata Re-gional Jail.

Mario Alberto Garza was arrested andcharged with driving while intoxicated atabout 2:30 a.m. Sept. 18 in the 700 blockof Miraflores Avenue. The man was taken tothe Zapata Regional Jail.

HIT AND RUN

A hit and run was reported at 2:09a.m. Sept. 18 at the Aqua Bar parking lot,178 S. U.S. 83. A blue Dodge hit a Ford Fo-cus and fled from the scene.

THEFTDeputies responded to a theft call at

7:32 p.m. Sept. 18 in the 200 block of Hi-dalgo Boulevard. The complainant statedthat someone stole the state vehicle inspec-tion sticker from two utility trailers.

A black battery charger was reportedstolen at 7:13 p.m. Tuesday in the 700 blockof Ramireño Avenue.

THE BLOTTER

In apparently unrelatedcases, two women ridingon a commercial bus at-tempted to smuggle morethan $100,000 into Mexico,according to a news re-lease from the Procuradu-ría General de la Repúbli-ca, Mexico’s attorney gen-eral.

On Sept. 16, a commer-cial bus approached Mexi-can customs assigned tothe Nuevo Laredo, Mexico,station. A passenger iden-tified as María de JesúsLópez Parra walkedthrough an inspection ar-ea called “Turismo.” Mex-ican officers found twoboxes containing a DVDplayer each, a PGR reportstates.

Officers suspected theboxes weighed more thannormal. An X-ray scan ofthe merchandise showedabnormalities. Inside theboxes, officers found$51,609, 5 Canadian dollars

and Italian, Guatemalanand Mexican currency. Ló-pez Parra is being chargedwith smuggling money in-to Mexico.

A second commercialbus originating from theUnited States approachedthe inspection point withMexican customs in NuevoLaredo. A passengerstepped out of the bus andstated she did not haveanything to declare. Thepassenger was identifiedas Sara Balderas Reyes.

Inside her luggage, offi-cials found clothing and abox with a VHS/DVD play-er. An X-ray scan pointedout several irregularitiesinside the box. Customs of-ficers opened up the boxand found five small bun-dles containing $54,300.Balderas Reyes is facingfederal charges in the case.

Mexican federal author-ities are investigating bothsmuggling attempts.

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

Smugglingcharges levied

against twoBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

MAN SEEMS ALRIGHT AFTER ROLLOVER

Courtesy photoA Roma man, Gustavo Garza Jr., 19, was traveling Tuesday southbound on U.S. Highway 83 when heclaimed to have steering problems and lost control of the vehicle near mile marker 766, at 4:06p.m. Deputies said Garza collided with a utility pole and barbed wire fence, rolled over at least onceand ended up next to a tree in the brush. Garza suffered minor injuries, but refused medical treat-ment. Deputies said a witness claimed the vehicle suddenly veered to the left.

SAN FRANCISCO —The Blockbuster videostore chain is seekingsome revenge against oldnemesis Netflix by offeringa less expensive way towatch videos online andrent DVDs through themail.

The attack announcedFriday is being mountedby satellite-TV providerDish Network, whichbought Blockbuster out ofbankruptcy court for $234million five months ago.

Blockbuster, once thevideo rental king, had filedfor bankruptcy when itcouldn’t counter the threatposed by Netflix Inc.,whose DVD-by-mail ser-vice and subsequent ex-pansion into Internet vid-eo streaming revolution-ized home entertainment.

Netflix now reigns asthe largest U.S. video sub-scription service withabout 24 million custom-ers, but it’s in a weakenedposition after raising pric-es as much as 60 percentand announcing the spin-off of its DVD-by-mail ser-vice as “Qwikster.” Thosemoves, made in the pasttwo months, have trig-gered a Netflix customerrebellion that Blockbusterand Dish Network Corp.are preying upon.

The lure: a DVD-by-mailand Internet video pack-age that Blockbuster andDish Network are sellingfor as low as $10 permonth. That’s the sameprice Netflix charged untilit split its streaming ser-vice from DVDs.

But there’s a big catch.To get Blockbuster’s new“Movie Pass,” you have tosubscribe to Dish Net-work’s pay-TV service.Dish Network currentlyhas about 14 million sub-scribers, but only halfhave the right set-top boxto stream video, said IraBahr, the company’s chiefmarketing officer.

In an attempt to widenits audience, Dish Networkis dangling a one-year of-fer for $40 a month thatwill include more than 200TV channels and theBlockbuster Movie Pass.The company eventuallyplans to offer Movie Passto non-Dish subscribers,but it provided no detailsFriday.

Movie Pass will roll outto Dish subscribers Oct. 1,accompanied by a market-ing blitz.

It appears to be an idealtime to introduce the ser-vice because so many Net-flix customers have beencanceling their subscrip-tions and exploring otheroptions. Netflix expects tohave 600,000 fewer U.S.subscribers at the end ofthis month than it did atthe end of June, only thesecond time in its historythat it has lost customersfrom one quarter to thenext.

The only other time thathappened was in 2007when Netflix and Block-buster were locked in afierce price war. Blockbus-ter eventually retreated,buried in huge losses.

Dish Network execu-tives described the timingof the new Blockbusterservice as serendipitous.The companies, the execu-

tives said, had been draw-ing up their plans well be-fore Netflix enraged cus-tomers with its mid-Julyannouncement about theprice increases.

“No amount of planningcan replace good luck,”Dish Network CEO JoeClayton said. “We will takeall the luck we can get.”

Netflix still sees its ser-vice as a better bargain be-cause it doesn’t require asatellite-TV subscription.

“We don’t require a cov-er charge,” Netflix spokes-man Steve Swasey said.“That (Movie Pass) isn’t agood value.”

J.P. Morgan analystDoug Anmuth wasn’t im-pressed with Movie Passeither.

Although the MoviePass will compete againstother pay-TV and stream-ing services, Netflix isclearly the main target. Asif to accentuate that point,Movie Pass was unveiledat a press conference inSan Francisco, about 50miles north of Netflix’sheadquarters in Los Gatos.

Netflix, meanwhile,must also fend off othernew competition, includ-ing streaming servicesfrom Hulu.com and Ama-zon.com Inc. and $1-per-day DVD rentals from Red-box kiosks.

Another Netflix attackA Blockbuster

shot at video firm

Joe Clayton, CEO of Dish Network, speaks at a news conference inSan Francisco, on Friday. The Blockbuster video store chain andnew owner Dish Network are ganging up on Netflix with a cheaperway to watch Internet video and rent DVDs through the mail.

Photo by Jeff Chiu | AP

By MICHAEL LIEDTKEASSOCIATED PRESS

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

NEW YORK — Tissueswere on hand but therewere few tears among twodozen soap opera fansgathered to watch “All MyChildren” sign off fromABC on Friday after morethan 40 years.

That’s because thescreen faded to black witha gunshot and a cliffhang-er — an indication thatthe story may not bedead, even if the televi-sion series is. ABC has li-censed the story to a pro-duction company that ishoping to keep “All MyChildren” going online af-ter the first of next year.

Carolyn Hinsey, authorof “Afternoon Delight:Why Soaps Still Matter,”organized a watching par-ty at a Manhattan sportsbar as a message to televi-sion executives who ap-parently think soap op-eras don’t matter any-more.

Two of ABC’s three

daytime dramas, “All MyChildren” and “One Lifeto Live,” were canceledthis year. That leaves onlyfour soaps on network tel-evision, with “GeneralHospital” the only one onABC when “One Life toLive” leaves in a fewmonths.

TV executives considersoaps a losing cause,more expensive to pro-duce than talk or realityshows and with a dwin-dling audience as morewomen work and theirtastes change — eventhough the ratings forABC’s two canceled pro-grams have jumped in re-cent months.

“The soap fans are stillthere,” said Marie White,who drove in from Balti-more for the party. “It’sjust that Nielsen doesn’tcount them.”

Nielsen, the televisionratings company, doesn’tcount White. She keepsup with her favorites on-line these days.

Partygoers booed loud-ly when ABC ran a com-mercial for “The Chew,”the cooking show thatwill replace “All My Chil-

dren” next week. Theysaved their loudest cheerfor when Erica Kane, thesoap’s most memorablecharacter, portrayed bySusan Lucci, learned shewould not get marriedagain — at least not yet.

She saved her finalwords on television for apromise to keep pursuingher beau even after hetold her to have a nice life— without him.

The soap has been ty-ing up loose ends formuch of its final week.But the prospect that itcould continue led tosome last-minute scriptchanges, Hinsey said.

The final episode endedwith most of the show’scharacters gathered at theChandler house in fiction-al Pine Valley, Pa., for aparty — celebrating en-gagements, a pregnancyand some miracle medicalrevivals. Yet the characterJ.R., riled because he losthis business and fortuneand because his wife leftto raise their baby sonwith a lesbian, lurked out-side with a gun.

The series ended as hefired.

Fans gather to watch the final episode of the soap opera “All My Children at Blondies Sports restau-rant in New York, on Friday. “All My Children” signed off from ABC after more than 40 years.

Photo by Charles Sykes | AP

A cliffhanger of a showEnding leaves

‘Children’ aliveBy DAVID BAUDERASSOCIATED PRESS

SÁBADO 24 DE SEPTIEMBRECIUDAD MIER, México

— FIT 2011 presenta Leyen-das Luna Nueva a las 7 p.m.

CAMARGO, México —FIT 2011 presenta “BalletFolklórico de la Casa CulturaRio Bravo” a las 7 p.m.

DÍAZ ORDAZ, México— FIT 2011 presenta “Exposi-ción Arte Sin Límites” hastael 15 de octubre en la Presi-dencia Municipal.

DOMINGO 25 DESEPTIEMBRE

NUEVA CIUDAD GUE-RRERO, México —FIT 2011presenta: Concierto DidácticoInfantil “Paseo por África” alas 4 p.m.

CIUDAD MIER, México— FIT 2011 presenta Con-cierto Diáctico Infantil “Pa-seo por África” a las 4 p.m.

CIUDAD MIER, México— FIT 2011 presenta Came-rata Sonorus de Michoacáncon el solista Emanuel Mi-randa en el clarinete a las 7p.m. en la Parroquia.

LUNES 26 DE SEPTIEMBRENUEVA CIUDAD GUE-

RRERO, México —FIT 2011presenta: Leyendas “De PuroCorazón” a las 4 p.m.

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, Mé-xico — FIT 2011 presentaConcierto Didáctico Infantil“Paseo por África” a las 10a.m.

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, Mé-xico — FIT 2011 presentaConjunto Típico Tamaulipecoa las 4 p.m.

CIUDAD MIER, México— FIT 2011 presenta Conjun-to Típico Tamaulipeco a las7 p.m. en la Explanada de laPlaza.

CAMARGO, México —FIT 2011 presenta “ConciertoDidáctico Infantil Paseo porÁfrica” a las 4 p.m.

MARTES 27 DE SEPTIEMBREDÍAZ ORDAZ, México

— FIT 2011 presenta Con-cierto Didáctico Infantil Pa-seo por África”a las 10 a.m.

ZAPATA — Taller “Ana-tomy of a Business PlanWorkshop” de 9:30 a.m. alas 12 p.m. en el Palacio deJusticia de la Corte de Zapa-ta, salón 248. Cuota de 20dólares. Cada participanterecibirá el texto “Anatomy ofa Business Plan: a Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Bu-siness and Securing yourCompany’s Future”, de LindaPinzon. La instructora seráYael Rodríguez, asesora cer-tificada en negocios deSBDC.

MIÉRCOLES 28 DESEPTIEMBRE

DÍAZ ORDAZ, México— FIT 2011 presenta “Exposi-ción Arte Sin Límites” hastael 15 de octubre en la Presi-dencia Municipal.

DÍAZ ORDAZ, México— FIT 2011 presenta Leyen-das “De Puro Corazón”a las4 p.m.

JUEVES 29 DE SEPTIEMBRECIUDAD MIER, México

— FIT 2011 presenta Música“Curva Peligrosa” a las 7p.m.

VIERNES 30 DE SEPTIEMBREMIGUEL ALEMÁN, Mé-

xico — FIT 2011 presenta“Exposición Arte Sin Límites”hasta el 15 de octubre en laPresidencia Municipal.

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, Mé-xico — FIT 2011 presentamúsica fusión “Fishtank”desde EU a las 7 p.m.

CIUDAD MIER, México— FIT 2011 presenta Exposi-ción Fotográfica “Michoacán,Un Paisaje de Visiones” apartir de hoy y hasta el 15de octubre.

— Tiempo de Zapata

Agendaen Breve

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 24 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2011

Una de las acciones es la imple-mentación de la estrategia 5 Pasospor tu Salud que pretende educar ala población a través de motivar elactivarse, tomar agua, comer verdu-ras y frutas, medirse y compartir.

En el marco del Primer Simposi-um de Obesidad “Pandemia del Si-glo XXI”, organizado por el HospitalRegional de Alta Especialidad deCiudad Victoria “Bicentenario2010”, donde presentó la ponenciamagistral “Perspectiva epidemiológ-ica de la obesidad en Tamaulipas”,Treviño que la obesidad y su preva-lencia no deben interpretarse comoun signo de la transición del desar-rollo ni como un desequilibrio ener-gético, sino como una alteraciónnutricional que requiere la formu-

Una de las principales preocupa-ciones en cuestiones de salud enTamaulipas, es la cantidad de casosde personas con obesidad.

El Secretario de Salud de Tamau-lipas, Norberto Treviño García-Manzo, hizo un llamado urgente ala comunidad médica, institucionespúblicas y privadas a ganarle lapartida a la obesidad haciendo unfrente común contra esta pande-mia.

También dijo que se debe predi-car con el ejemplo por lo que dijoque serán “los primeros en activa-rse, hacer ejercicio y llevar una die-ta sana que cambie el rumbo al fe-nómeno evolutivo que representaen el desarrollo humano”.

Treviño calificó a la obesidad co-mo un reto.

“Estamos decididos a darle unalucha frontal, con programas y es-trategias definidos”, apuntó.

lación de políticas públicas de saludy la toma enérgica de decisiones.

Agregó que a nivel global la obe-sidad es un grave problema de sa-lud pública, ya que cifras de la Or-ganización Mundial de la Salud(OMS) estiman que en el mundo ex-isten más de mil millones de per-sonas con este padecimiento.

En Tamaulipas al menos un ter-cio de los niños en edad escolar tie-nen esta enfermedad, el 40 % de losadolescentes presenta algún gradode obesidad y siete de cada diez ta-maulipecos son portadores de ella.

Los municipios donde se concen-tra el mayor número de casos sonMier, Tampico, El Mante, CiudadMadero y Victoria, según datos dela Secretaría de Salud.

Treviño agregó que la obesidadtiene consecuencias en muchos ór-ganos y sistemas, y representa unriesgo para padecer, entre otras, lassiguientes enfermedades: diabetesmellitus, hipertensión arterial, en-fermedad cerebro-vascular, infartoal miocardio, cáncer cérvico uter-ino, de mama y de colon.

Otros programas que el Gobier-no de Tamaulipas ha implementadopara atacar a la obesidad son: la in-stalación del Consejo Estatal de Nu-trición, el Acuerdo Estatal de SaludAlimentaria, el levantamiento depeso y talla en instituciones educa-tivas, ferias de la salud, activaciónfísica, centros de atención nutri-cional, campamentos de verano, Sá-bados Deportivos, entre otros.

SECRETARÍA DE SALUD EXPONE URGENCIA DE LUCHAR CONTRA OBESIDAD

Pandemia del Siglo XXITIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Los municipios donde se concentra el mayor número de casos sonMier, Tampico, El Mante, Ciudad Madero y Victoria.

Gobierno del Estado,Jorge Alberto Reyes Mo-reno.

En comunicado deprensa, Reyes sostuvoque el Gobierno de Ta-maulipas trabaja en con-junto con dependenciasfederales y asociacionesganaderas en el mejora-miento de esta actividadconsiderada uno de lospilares económicos másimportantes del campoestatal.

“Este será un añomuy productivo para laganadería tamaulipeca,principalmente en loque corresponde a la cal-idad genética del gana-do”, dijo Reyes. “Nues-tro Estado se distingue

por su estatus de exce-lencia en los ámbitos na-cional e internacional”.

Precisó que los recur-sos naturales de Tamau-lipas determinan un am-plio mosaico de suelos yclimas que permiten de-sarrollar una ganaderíadiversificada, principal-mente con sistemas deexplotación extensivosdonde los productoreshan impulsado sus ran-chos a un nivel genéticocompetitivo.

“Tamaulipas se distin-gue por la cría de gana-do con excelente calidadgenética, que al trabajaren sus ranchos mejorala producción y calidadde la carne que hacemás competitiva esta ac-tividad en los mercadosnacionales e interna-cionales”, concluyóReyes.

Productores pecuariosde Tamaulipas podránadquirir 1,500 semen-tales bovinos, ovinos ycaprinos dentro del pro-grama Comercializaciónde Sementales de Regis-tro.

El Gobierno del Esta-do y el Federal realiza-ron una inversión de 21millones de pesos paraapoyar a los produc-tores.

“Los recursos asigna-dos, que ascienden a 21millones de pesos, pro-vienen del Programa deApoyo a la Inversión enEquipamiento e Infraes-tructura y ComponenteGanadero, dentro del ra-mo de Comercializaciónde Sementales de Regis-tro”, dijo el Secretariode Desarrollo Rural del

TAMAULIPAS

Podrán adquirir1,500 sementales

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA JORGE REYES:Anuncia que2011 es positivopara ganadería.

El Centro de Desarrollopara Pequeñas Empresas deTexas A&M InternationalUniversity (TAMIU) celebra-rá la apertura de una nuevaoficina satelital en Zapata eljueves 29 de septiembre.

La ceremonia tendrá lu-gar de 11:30 a.m. a 1:30 p.m.en el 910 Hidalgo, Suite 2.

Bajo el liderazgo del direc-tor interino de TAMIUSBDC, Mercurio MartinezJr., el programa SBDCatiende las pequeñas empre-sas en los condados de Webb,Zapata y Jim Hogg.

La ceremonia de corte delistón reconocerá la inver-sión de recursos diseñadapara ayudar a los residentesdel condado de Zapata.

Un asesor certificado deempresas rurales estará dis-ponible para ayudar a la co-munidad con la planeaciónde negocios, propuestas fin-ancieras, contabilidad com-

putarizada, mercadotecnia yotros temas de administra-ción básicos.

Los servicios de consulto-ría empresarial de SBDC se-rán confidenciales y gratui-tos.

Las clases de entrena-miento enseñarán solu-ciones sólidas de administra-ción en un ambiente de aulade clases y también estarándisponibles las 24 horas, los7 días de la semana.

El TAMIU SBDC es auspi-ciado en parte con la Admin-istración de Pequeñas Em-presas de EU (SBA), la Uni-versity of Texas en SanAntonio (UTSA), y TexasA&M International Universi-ty.

SBDC desea conminar alos residentes del condadode Zapata a ser parte de esteevento. Los organizadoresconsideran que es una opor-tunidad apropiada para queel público conozca a líderescomunitarios, el equipo deSBDC y a empresarios..

Orientarán apequeñas empresasen nuevas oficinas

POR STEVE HARMONESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Residentes de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, caminaron por calles del Municipio celebrando el Día Internacional de la Paz. Salieron del Jardín de Niños Herlinda Treviño deBalboa y concluyeron frente a las oficinas del Ayuntamiento local.

Vestidos de blanco, residentes de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, caminaron celebrando el Día In-ternacional de la Paz, el 21 de septiembre. Encabezó el evento el Presidente Municipal Luis Gerardo Ra-mos Gómez.

Fotos de cortesía | Municipio de Guerrero

POR UNMÉXICO EN PAZ

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

Jury selection andopening statements areexpected to take placeMonday in the 49th Dis-trict Court for a case in-volving a man from SanYgnacio who allegedlytouched a girl’s genitals.

Samuel Herrera, 52, isbeing charged with childindecency, a second-de-gree felony. If convicted,his punishment could BEfrom two to 20 years inprison. The girl, 10 yearsold at the time, cried outAugust 2010 when the in-cident was reported inthe 900 block of GuerreroStreet.

Prosecutors are alleg-ing Herrera encounteredthe girl when both wereat a home. He allegedlyfound her alone andaway from the otheradults in the home andreached up her skirt totouch her genitals.

Zapata County sher-iff ’s investigators openedup a case and followedup. Officials transportedthe girl to the Children’sAdvocacy Center in Lare-do for forensic inter-

views and evaluations.District attorney offi-

cials say after gatheringevidence, including docu-mentation from a childpsychologist, the CACmulti-disciplinary teamreviewed the evidenceand determined that itwas sufficient to issue anarrest warrant for Herre-ra.

He was taken into cus-tody Oct. 14 and remainsin custody. The case isexpected to wrap up byWednesday. Prosecutorsplan to put five witnesseson the stand.

Zapata’s chief prosecu-tor, Pedro “Pete” Garza,is leading the case. Ra-mon A. Villafranca Jr.,the chief prosecutor ofthe special victims unit,is the co-prosecutor inthe case. Herrera’s de-fense lawyer, GustavoAcevedo, preferred not tocomment.

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

San Ygnacioman’s trial

to beginBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMESSAMUEL HERRERA:Facing charges ofchild indecency.

EL PASO — El PasoMayor John Cook and twomembers of the CityCouncil are facing a recallelection for their role inoverturning a voter-ap-proved measure to termi-nate health care benefitsfor gay and unmarriedpartners of city employ-ees.

The city clerk onThursday certified 9,556signatures, about 3,400more than needed, toprompt a May recall elec-tion for Cook. The mayorof the West Texas bordercity of more than 800,000residents is challengingthe recall in court.

The recall election sig-nature drive was orga-nized by evangelist TomBrown, pastor of the Wordof Life Church in El Paso.He also pushed the No-vember 2010 vote to askresidents whether the cityshould limit health bene-fits to legal spouses anddependent children of cityemployees.

The mayor has chal-lenged the petitions be-cause he believes some of

the signatures were ob-tained in violation of aTexas law that bans cor-porations, includingchurches, from participat-ing in recall elections.

Cook broke a 4-4 tie inJune, voting to throw outthe ordinance passed lastNovember. The two othercouncil members, BetoO’Rourke and RachelQuintana, who voted toeliminate it are not beingrecalled because theirterms already ended.

“I predict a landslide. ...People want their votes tobe respected,” Brown toldThe Associated Press onFriday.

In June, Brown an-nounced that he would de-fend the will of the voterseither by asking city rep-resentatives who sympa-thize with his cause to re-introduce the vote in thecouncil or by pushing fora recall election.

Byrd, who is halfwaythrough her second term,said this is an opportuni-ty for her to explain whyshe voted to restore bene-fits to gay and unwed cou-ples. She said the issue “isabsolutely about gays andhow the communitychooses to treat them.”

Domestic benefitsprompts recall vote

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCAASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — It’s a tradi-tion with roots that can betraced far back in history:Before being put to death, acondemned prisoner canchoose his last meal.

Not so anymore in Tex-as.

Officials who oversee thecountry’s busiest deathchamber stopped the prac-tice on Thursday after aprominent state senatorcomplained about a heftyrequest from a man execut-ed for his role in a noto-rious dragging death. Now,inmates get to eat onlywhat the kitchen serves.

The controversy beganafter Lawrence RussellBrewer, who was executedon Wednesday for the hatecrime slaying of JamesByrd Jr. more than a dec-ade ago, asked for twochicken fried steaks, a tri-ple-meat bacon cheeseburg-er, fried okra, a pound ofbarbecue, three fajitas, ameat lover’s pizza, a pint ofice cream and a slab of pea-nut butter fudge withcrushed peanuts. Prison of-ficials said Brewer didn’teat any of it.

“It is extremely inappro-priate to give a person sen-tenced to death such a priv-ilege,” Sen. John Whitmire,chairman of the SenateCriminal Justice Commit-tee, wrote in a letter Thurs-day to Brad Livingston, theexecutive director of theTexas Department of Crim-inal Justice.

Within hours, Livingstonsaid the senator’s concernswere valid and the practiceof allowing death row of-fenders to choose their fi-nal meals was history.

“Effective immediately,no such accommodations

will be made,” Livingstonsaid. “They will receive thesame meal served to otheroffenders on the unit.”

That had been the sug-gestion from Whitmire,who called the traditionalrequest “ridiculous.”

“It’s long overdue,” theHouston Democrat told TheAssociated Press. “This oldboy last night, enough isenough. We’re fixing to exe-cute the guy and maybe itmakes the system feel goodabout what they’re fixingto do. Kind of hypocritical,you reckon?

“Mr. Byrd didn’t get to

choose his last meal. Thewhole deal is so illogical.”

Brewer, a white suprem-acist gang member, wasconvicted of chaining Byrd,49, to the back of a pickuptruck and dragging him tohis death along a bumpyroad in a case that shockedthe nation for its brutality.

It was not immediatelyclear whether other stateshave made similar moves.Some limit the final mealcost — Florida’s ceiling is$40, according to the De-partment of Correctionswebsite, with food to bepurchased locally. Others,

like Texas, which neverhad a designated dollarlimit, mandate meals beprison-made.

Some states require themeal within a specific timeperiod, allow multiple “fi-nal” meals, restrict it toone or impose “a vast num-ber of conditions,” he said.

Historical references to acondemned person’s lastmeal go as far back as an-cient Greece, China andRome, Hayes said.

Since Texas resumedcarrying out executions in1982, the state correctionsagency’s practice has beento fill a condemned in-mate’s request as long asthe items, or food similarto what was requested,were readily available fromthe prison kitchen supplies.

While extensive, Brew-er’s request was far fromthe largest or most bizarreamong the 475 Texas in-mates put to death.

On Tuesday, prisonerCleve Foster’s request in-cluded two fried chickens,French fries and a five-gal-lon bucket of peaches. Hereceived a reprieve fromthe U.S. Supreme Court butnone of his requested meal.He was on his way back todeath row, at a prisonabout 45 miles east ofHuntsville, at the timewhen his feast would havebeen served.

Last week, inmate Ste-ven Woods’ request includ-ed two pounds of bacon, alarge four-meat pizza, fourfried chicken breasts, twodrinks each of MountainDew, Pepsi, root beer andsweet tea, ice cream, fivechicken fried steaks, twohamburgers with bacon,fries and a dozen garlicbread sticks with marinaraon the side. Two hours lat-er, he was executed.

Prisons end last meal requestsBy MICHAEL GRACZYK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ricky Jason wears a photograph of James Byrd Jr. outside the Hunts-ville Unit before the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer on Wednes-day, in Huntsville. Officials stopped last meal requests Thursday aftera state senator complained about Brewer’s hefty last meal request.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

EXETER, N.H. — RickPerry is struggling.

Republicans in early vot-ing states, once excitedabout the Texas governor’spresidential bid, are openlyquestioning the strength ofhis candidacy. High expec-tations have been met bythe sudden national scruti-ny that comes with thefront-runner bull’s-eye.

Perry is leading nationalpolls, but he is also facingintensifying criticism fromthe right and the left. SomeRepublicans in Iowa andNew Hampshire are ex-pressing doubts.

One national immigra-tion group says Perry isfinished. Conservatives areslamming his support ofeducation benefits for ille-gal immigrants.

The campaign dismissesthe criticism. After all, sup-porters say, he entered thepresidential race just sixweeks ago.

Things looked rosierthen. Perry arrived to greatfanfare and seemed poisedto steal significant supportfrom his top rival, formerMassachusetts Gov. MittRomney. Many influentialGOP activists saw Perry,with his executive experi-ence and good jobs record,as an attractive alternativeto Romney.

Since then, the Texanhas campaigned repeatedlyin New Hampshire and Io-wa, states that host the na-tion’s first presidential vot-ing contests in roughlyfour months.

And unaligned Republi-cans in those states — in-cluding some who backedRomney four years ago andare looking for an alterna-tive — have watched Perryclosely this month to see ifthe early buzz would be-come lasting campaignstrength. But his debateperformances, includingbobbled attempts Thursdaynight in Florida at paintingRomney as a flip-flopper,did not impress some influ-ential activists.

“Perry has been doingdamage to himself over thelast couple weeks,” said Ja-mie Burnett, a New Hamp-shire-based Republicanwho led Romney’s politicaloperation here four yearsago but is unaligned thisyear. “Perry’s on shaky

ground, but I’m not willingto say there’s no path tovictory. But he’s definitelynot in the place he wasduring the first two weeksof his campaign.”

In Thursday night’s de-bate, Perry went after Rom-ney. But it didn’t always gosmoothly.

“I think Americans justdon’t know sometimeswhich Mitt Romney they’redealing with,” Perry saidthen. “Is it the Mitt Rom-ney that was on the side of— against the SecondAmendment before he wasfor the Second Amend-ment? Was it — was before— he was before the social

programs from the stand-point of — he was forstanding up for Roe versusWade before he was againstfirst — Roe versus Wade?”

He also suggested thatthose who oppose Texas’immigration law are heart-less and he gave a wobblyresponse to a question onPakistan.

“The guy just isn’t readyfor prime time. It’s not theissues themselves. It’s howhe handles them,” saidDoug Gross, a lawyer whowas Romney’s Iowa co-chairman in 2008 but isn’tbacking any one candidateyet this year. “He doesn’tlook like a president.”

Some doubting Perry’s candidacyBy STEVE PEOPLES AND THOMAS

BEAUMONTASSOCIATED PRESS

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry responds to cheering supporters at the Conservative Po-litical Action Conference at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., on Friday.

Photo by Joe Burbank/pool | AP

WASHINGTON — The world’s ec-onomic powers struggled on Fridayto get on top of a European debt cri-sis that is threatening to dump theglobal economy back into recession.

Officials gathered for three daysof discussion pledged to push for-ward to fulfill the goals of a programin which the Group of 20 majoreconomies promised stronger coop-eration to jump-start global growthand help Greece avoid a destabiliz-ing default.

But private economists ques-tioned whether the latest action planunveiled by the G-20 countriesThursday night went far enough todeal with market concerns that aGreek default is a virtual certaintythat threatens to destabilize otherhighly indebted European countries.

All of the discussions about Euro-pean debt were occurring aroundthe annual meetings of the 187-na-tion International Monetary Fundand its sister lending agency, theWorld Bank.

In advance of those talks, the G-20finance officials, including TreasurySecretary Timothy Geithner andFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Ber-nanke, pledged a bold effort to dealwith the debt crisis and encouragedEurope to move quickly to imple-ment its promises to help Greece.

The G-20 statement had little ini-tial impact on the market’s sourmood, with stocks continuing totumble in Asia. Europe, which hadsuffered big losses on Thursday, sta-bilized and managed to eke outsmall gains on Friday, as did WallStreet. The Dow Jones industrial av-erage was up 0.1 percent to 10,745while the broader Standard & Poor’s500 index rose 0.5 percent to 1,134.

Private analysts, however, predict-ed more down days for stocks incoming weeks as investors continueto fear the consequences of a Greekdebt default.

Jay Bryson, global economist atWells Fargo Securities, contrastedthe G-20 statement Thursday withthe bold program the G-20 put for-ward in London in April 2009 at theheight of that financial crisis withbillions of dollars of support put for-ward to boost economic growth andprovide a financial backstop for theIMF to rescue countries in trouble.

“You’ve got to back up words withactions,” Bryson said of Thursday’sstatement, which he said was an ex-ample of “political paralysis.”

Sung Won Sohn, an economicsprofessor at California State Univer-sity’s Martin Smith School of Busi-ness, said the great concern is that ifGreece doesn’t make further painfulcuts in government spending andends up defaulting on its debt, theshock waves will rock big banks inFrance and Europe with heavy expo-sure to Greek debt and will causefearful investors to flee the bonds ofother heavily indebted countriessuch as Italy and Spain, countrieswith much bigger economies.

“The fear in the markets is thatthe problem will spread to much big-ger economies such as Spain and Ita-ly. Europe would not have the re-sources to handle a crisis of thatmagnitude,” Sohn said.

The finance ministers at theWashington meetings said they be-lieved that the 17 nations that usethe common euro currency were get-ting the message that they needed tomove much more quickly to reformtheir surveillance procedures andboost their economic support.

“The leading lights of the euro-zone are aware that time is runningout,” British Finance MinisterGeorge Osborne told reporters onFriday. “There is a far greater sensethan there was three weeks agoabout the necessity for the eurozoneto address its problems.”

Canadian Finance Minister JimFlaherty said that he had stressedduring the G-20 discussions that“Europe will need an exercise of po-litical will. We need decisiveness andwe need clarity.”

Investors are worried that Eu-rope’s debt crisis could destabilizethe global economy at a time whengrowth has already slowed signifi-cantly due to a jump in oil pricesearlier in the year and a pronouncedslowdown in the United States, theworld’s largest economy.

Greece could default on its debtnext month unless it receives a $10.9billion installment from other euro-zone countries and the IMF.

Antonio Borges, the head of theIMF’s European department, told re-porters Friday if Greece continueswith the austerity measures it haspledged to put in place, then rescue

funds will continue to be provided.“They can count on full support if

they are on track,” he said at anIMF briefing. “If they are not ontrack, then I think they will see thesupport evaporate very quickly.”

A Greek default could destabilizeother financially troubled Europeancountries, such as Portugal, Ireland,Spain and Italy. It would also deal ablow to many European banks,which are large holders of Greekgovernment bonds. The concern isthat the shock could result in a re-play of what occurred when LehmanBrothers fell in September 2009,sending waves of fear throughoutthe global financial system thatcaused credit to freeze as banksstopped lending to each other.

Geithner has said the UnitedStates has a huge stake in seeing Eu-rope succeed. The G-20 group dis-cussed proposals Thursday that hehas raised to expand the resourcesof the European bailout fund.

The G-20 communique spoke oftrying to increase the flexibility ofthe rescue fund and maximize its re-sources but spelled out no specificways to accomplish those goals.

The joint statement also said theG-20 nations planned to produce a“collective and bold action plan” toboost global growth and deal withhigh government debt that will beput together in time for a G-20 lead-ers’ summit in Cannes, France, onNov. 3-4.

Trying to calm fearsGlobal leaders fight debt

crisis that threatensanother recession

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AND CHRISTOPHER S.RUGABER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks at IMF/WorldBank Annual Meetings Plenary in Washington, on Friday.

Photo by Jose Luis Magana | AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Julieta G. Martinez, 92,went to be with our Heav-enly Father on Sept. 18,2011. Born on March 10,1919, in Star County, shelived in Ramireño beforebecoming a lifelong resi-dent of Laredo.

Mrs. Martinez is preced-ed in death by her hus-band, Mr. Jose Maria Mar-tinez.

She is survived by herchildren: Blanca (Agustin)Garcia, Maria Alba (Imel-do) Palacios, Dora ElbaMartinez, Jose Maria (Fil-omena) Martinez Jr., LuisEduardo (Irma) Martinez,Mario Alberto Martinez,Rosalinda (Juan Cesar) Pa-lacios, and Ricardo Javier(Sara) Martinez; and 30grandchildren. She is alsosurvived by numerousgreat-grandchildren, niec-es, and nephews.

A rosary was recitedTuesday, Sept. 20, 2011, at 7p.m. in the Hillside FuneralHome chapel. A visitationwas held from 6 p.m. to 9p.m.

Funeral services wereheld Wednesday, Sept. 21,2011, at St. Patrick CatholicChurch. Mass was celebrat-ed at 10 a.m. Interment fol-lowed in the family plot atthe Zapata Cemetery in Za-pata.

The family thanks every-body who attended the ser-vices.

JULIETA G. MARTINEZ

HOUSTON — Two oilworkers who survived daysfloating on a life raft in theGulf of Mexico after theyevacuated their disabledvessel during a tropicalstorm have filed lawsuitsclaiming the workers wereabandoned by another shipthat could have taken themto safety.

The family of a thirdworker who died duringthe ordeal has also sued.The three men were among10 oil workers on a liftboatin the Bay of Campechewho had to abandon thevessel on Sept. 8 after itwas crippled by TropicalStorm Nate.

The workers’ attorney,Francis Spagnoletti, saidFriday that the men all suf-fered a harrowing ordealthat could have been pre-vented. Among otherthings, Spagnoletti said theworkers had to float inshark-infested waters.

The lawsuits were filedearlier this week in federalcourt in Galveston, south-east of Houston, by TedDerise Jr. and Jeremy Par-fait, two of the survivingworkers, along with thefamily of Craig Myers.

The suits were filedagainst Geokinetics Inc., aHouston-based companythat provides seismic datato the oil and gas industry;Trinity Liftboat Services, aLouisiana-based companythat operated a liftboat, atype of vessel used by theworkers and contracted byGeokinetics; and MermaidMarine Australia Ltd., anAustralian company that

owns a standby vessel thatoperated near the liftboat.

Derise, Parfait andMeyers worked for Trinityand are from Louisiana.

Trinity Lifeboat Servicesdeclined to comment. Geo-kinetics and Mermaid Ma-rine did not immediatelyreturn calls.

However, during a con-ference call last week, Rich-ard Miles, Geokinetics’CEO, said “safety is para-mount” at his company.

“We have been primarilyfocusing our extensive ef-forts on our employees andon our partners’ employ-ees, which have been ourfirst and foremost con-cern,” Miles said.

Spagnoletti alleges that astandby ship that was inplace to take the workersaway in case of trouble leftwithout them, knowing theliftboat had been crippledby the storm and the work-ers had already called forhelp. He said the standbyship was still in the areawhen the workers went in-to the water.

“The vessel didn’t standby. It just took off,” he said,adding the workers shouldhave been evacuated aheadof the storm.

Spagnoletti said thestandby vessel left becauseits crew was getting sea-sick and wanted to go backto shore.

The men tried to openseveral inflatable rafts, hesaid, but high winds blewthem away. The workersended up with only oneraft, which the attorney de-scribed as a “big life pre-server” because it had anopening in the middle cov-ered by netting.

Lawsuits allegemen left behind

By JUAN A. LOZANOASSOCIATED PRESS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

band, David Hartley, had visited achurch on the Mexican side of FalconLake and how gunman began shoot-ing at them from a boat, hitting herhusband in the head.

“It’s only by the grace of God thatI’m here today,” Hartley said.

Poe, whose district stretches northand east of Houston, called the hear-ing in the hopes that it would send amessage to Washington that the drugviolence plaguing Mexico can bleedover into the U.S.

Poe criticized the Obama adminis-tration’s border security efforts, in-cluding a failed operation in whichagents from the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives al-lowed weapons to be smuggled intoMexico to try to determine who wasbuying them.

Turning to Janice Ayala, the assist-ant director for domestic operationshomeland security investigations,who attended the hearing, Poe asked:“Has anyone in the federal govern-ment at any level been prosecuted forsmuggling those weapons to Mexi-co?”

Ayala said she could not addressthat.

“There are some in the federal bu-reaucracy who would have us believethat the violence is all in Mexico,”Poe said. “These individuals knowfirsthand the violence is not confinedto Mexico.”

Poe also repeated the figure Border

Patrol shared earlier this year thatapproximately 44 percent of thesouthwest border was under “oper-ational control.”

“I do not think 44 percent oper-ational control of the southern bor-der is anything we should be brag-ging about,” Poe said.

Last week, Homeland Security Sec-retary Janet Napolitano told the Con-gressional Hispanic Caucus Institutepublic-policy conference that thesouthwest border was “as secure as ithas even been.” Obama said as muchwhen he visited El Paso this springto urge Congress to work towardcomprehensive immigration reform.

“This is not the testimony of thosefarmers and ranchers who live onthe border,” said Texas AgricultureCommissioner Todd Staples. “It is acrisis in the very real sense of the

term.”Staples said the resources the bor-

der has received are appreciated butmore are needed.

The last time a Republican con-gressman held a field hearing on bor-der security in Brownsville was dur-ing the construction of the controver-sial border fence. Then U.S. Rep. TomTancredo of Colorado stunned the au-dience by saying “I suggest that youbuild this fence around the northernpart of your city.” Monday’s crowd atthe University of Texas-Brownsvillewas considerably smaller.

The only other congressman pre-sent was U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold,a Republican whose district includesBrownsville. U.S. Rep. Jim Sense-nbrenner was also supposed to parti-cipate was not able to get out of Mil-waukee on Sunday night, Poe said.

FORUM Continued from Page 1A

“There are some in the federal bureaucracywho would have us believe that the violence isall in Mexico . . . These individuals knowfirsthand the violence is not confined toMexico.”REPUBLICAN REP. TED POE

la said the terms of theagreement allow the coun-ty more wiggle room.

“Under this contract, weare under no long-termcommitment to LMC. Notthat we think we won’t besatisfied, but in the eventwe are not, as long as wegive 60 days notice, we canget out,” he said.

In total the court consid-ered four proposals, threeof them submitted by indi-viduals. As the only pro-posal submitted by a hospi-tal and medical care sys-tem, the LMC proposalcomes with obvious bene-fits, according to Precinct 3Commissioner Eddie Mar-tinez.

“Because they are a hos-pital,” said Martinez, “theyallow the county to benefit

from the UPL program.” UPL stands for Upper

Payment Limit. A provision of Medicare,

the UPL reimburses a hos-pital for the cost of careand then some.

“For every one dollarspent by the county for cer-tain types of care at theclinic,” explained Marti-nez, “UPL reimburses onedollar and thirty-ninecents.”

To enter the UPL pro-gram, the county has tocommit eight percent of itsgeneral revenue from prop-erty taxes to indigent care.Money paid by the countyfor indigent care goes, notto the provider, but to thestate, according to Marti-nez. Reimbursement in ex-cess of the cost then comes

from the federal govern-ment.

“Obviously, we’re goingto have a little more fund-ing to work with,” Marti-nez said.

LMC Marketing DirectorPriscilla Martinez saidcounty residents will re-ceive 24-hour care sevendays a week.

“We will continue to pro-vide primary care servicesas well,” she said.

Commissioners Martinezand Vela both stated thatone of the individuals whosubmitted a proposal torun he clinic, Dr. EdmundoO. Garcia, is now in talkswith LMC to continueworking for the clinic, pos-sibly in an administrativecapacity. As of Friday,LMC’s Martinez could not

confirm this. If Garcia, who is also the

previous clinic operator, isgoing to remain in somecapacity, that suits Marti-nez just fine.

“It would be my hopethat he stays on,” Martinezsaid.

Zapata County spent $1.7million dollars per yearover the last two years onthe clinic. As the countyenters the new fiscal yearunder its new budget, thatfigure was expected to dropto $1 million a year, Velatold The Zapata Times ear-lier this month. LMC alsoruns the Zapata MedicalCenter, a non-county pri-vate health care provider.

(Mike Herrera IV can bereached at (956) 728-2567 ormehrrera@lmtonline.com.)

CLINIC Continued from Page 1A

es related to employment,is an agency of the stateworkforce commission. Thestate cut the local agency’sbudget for child care ser-vices for this year by$200,000, Millan said.

She said the new fee for-mula will not produce sig-nificant new revenue butwould help offset the fund-ing gap.

“The goal is to makesure that we do not fall into

a negative, budget-wise,”she said.

The new fee scale wouldtake effect Oct. 1 if ap-proved. Families alreadyparticipating in the pro-gram would be grandfa-thered in to the new fees asthey are recertified everythree to six months

(Andrew Kreighbaummay be reached at 728-2538or akreighbaum@lmton-line.com)

FEE Continued from Page 1A

ORLANDO, Fla. — Keep-ing the heat on Rick Perry,rivals Mitt Romney and Mi-chele Bachmann on Fridaychallenged his suggestionthat people are heartless ifthey don’t support his Tex-as law that gives some ille-gal immigrants in-state tui-tion rates at universities.

“If you’re opposed to ille-gal immigration, it doesn’tmean that you don’t have aheart,” Romney told a gath-ering of conservatives inFlorida, which has a siza-ble immigrant population.“It means that you have aheart and a brain.”

In her speech, Bach-mann said: “We will nothave taxpayer-subsidizedbenefits for illegal immi-grants or their children.”She pledged to build afence along the U.S.-Mexicoborder, a move that Perryopposes.

One day after a debatethat underscored the 2012GOP front-runner’s vulner-ability on illegal immigra-tion, his main rivals soughtto paint the Texas governoras weak and wrong on anissue that’s a priority forconservatives.

Refusing to yield, Perryreturned the criticism andbrushed off his shaky de-bate performance a night

before.“It’s not who is the slick-

est candidate or who is thesmoothest debater that weneed to elect. We need toelect the candidate with thebest record and the best vi-sion for this country,” Per-ry said.

“Remember PresidentClinton? Man, he could sellice cubes to Eskimos. Andthen the next day, he’d beagainst ice cubes.”

It was a rap againstRomney, who has reversedhis position on touchstonesubjects.

Romney, a former Massa-chusetts governor, waslooking to derail Perry, hisbiggest threat for the nomi-nation. Bachmann, a Min-nesota congresswoman,worked to claw back intothe top tier of candidatesafter being eclipsed by Per-ry’s sudden rise over thepast month.

Both see opportunity byassailing Perry for signinga bill that grants in-statetuition to illegal immi-grants who have lived inTexas for three years andsign an affidavit statingthey will apply for perma-nent residency as soon aspossible.

Perry defended the planduring the debate Thurs-day night despite its unpop-ularity among conserva-tives.

Perry challengedon immigration

By PHILIP ELLIOTTASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The Lady Hawks’ volleyballteam finishes out the firstround of district play todayagainst Rio Grande City-LaGrulla at home.

Freshmen play at 1 p.m., ju-nior varsity at 2 p.m. and thevarsity finishes the day and

starts at 3 p.m.Zapata (5-0 District 32-3A,

11-7) faced one of its most daunt-ing opponents in the La FeriaLionettes this past Tuesday. Be-hind the sensational play of ju-nior Kristina De Leon, Zapatacame away with a four-set win,25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 27-25 to stay

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Gliding into round twoThe Zapata se-

niors havehelped lead

the team to aflawless 32-3A

record.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata volleyballers rollinto more district games

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See VOLLEYBALL PAGE 2B

Sportsmanship is quicklybecoming a dying art.

The unsportsmanlike con-duct penalties have madetheir presence known somany times during highschool and professional foot-ball games this year alone.

Last week, I sat through ahigh school football gamewhere the yellow hankycame out so many times thatit looked like fireworks werecoming out of the referee.

Katy Perry could haveused him for her “Fire-works” video and the refereewould have blended in withthe rest of the crowd becauseof the yellow flag.

Sportsmanship is taughtearly on, but some coacheshave this “win at all costs at-titude” that sportsmanshipmany times takes a backseatto winning.

All you have to do is lookat how many athletes getcaught breaking the rules inhigh school, college and theprofessional ranks.

Reggie Bush had to giveback his Heisman trophy be-cause of irregularities dur-ing his playing days at USC.

The Miami football pro-gram is in hot water becausea former booster said that heprovided many amenitiesthat are not allowed by theNCAA.

Even squeaky clean MikeKrzyzewski, head coach ofthe Duke men’s basketballprogram, had some recent al-legations of misconduct thisyear.

At the professional level,Major League Baseball hasbeen stained with the steroidscandal of the 90’s which itmight never recover from.

So youngsters are taughtthat it is okay to cheat aslong as you can get awaywith it and coaches some-times are the ones leadingthe charge.

Other times, coaches en-courage a late hit or the ath-lete takes it upon themselvesto kick their opponent whenthey are getting up from apile after a tackle in football.

When the officials are notlooking, some athletes findthat this is the time to playdirty.

About two years ago, a fe-male soccer player named El-izabeth Lambert of the NewMexico soccer team was vid-eotaped taking a cheap shotat BYU forward KassidyShumway when the officialwas not looking.

See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B

The lostart of

character

The Hawks’ boys’ cross coun-try team has not let its second-place ranking in the state hinderits progress on the course.

There is still a greater goal inmind: make it to state.

“We’re ranked second in state,

but my boys are aware that thetrue rankings are the results atstate. Competition is on thecourse, not on paper,” Zapatacoach Luis Escamilla said.

Zapata got a glimpse of the re-gional competition when it ranat the Ricardo Romo Invitationallast weekend at UTSA.

Due to unforeseen injuries, the

Hawks finished second behindLiberty Hill.

“Absolutely not,” Escamillasaid about being happy with theteam’s second-place finish. “Run-ning is my religion and I willfind a way to meet our goals inthe postseason.

“Finishing second is promis-ing to qualify to state, but in a

way, it’s better to chase than tohave a big target on our back.Many people may believe secondplace is the first loser; we see itas room for improvement and itlowers the pressure at the start-ing line.”

During the early part of the

Hawks take off with high rankingBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See CROSS COUNTRY PAGE 2B

The Lady Hawks’ cross country team hasenjoyed a great deal of success the past fewyears, including being ranked in the stateand multiple of trips to the regional and statemeets.

This year, however, has been a whole newexperience for the Lady Hawks, who aretreading into uncharted waters of not beingranked in state for the first time in a longwhile.

“The team has not been in this situationin quite sometime, but has taken on the chal-lenge full steam ahead,” Zapata coach MikeVillarreal said.

The reality of not being at the top finallyset in at the Ricardo Romo Invitational atUTSA last weekend when the Lady Hawksgot a glimpse of the regional competition andthey went home with a disappointing fourthplace finish in a field of more than 25 teams.

“They realized they weren’t top dogs as be-fore,” Villarreal said. “The Ricardo Romo In-vitational provided the opportunity to get a

feel for what our region had to offer in 2011.“Being on top for so long comes with its

advantages, but also brings out many extrapressures and anxieties. We now know exact-ly where we stand in the quest for anotherstate berth in November.”

The Lady Hawks took on a field that in-cluded more than 250 runners and did wellfor an “off” year as they registered compet-itive times at the meet.

Continuing to turn in another stellar per-

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

Zapata’s Jazmine Garcia has been a stellar comeptitor for the Lady Hawks and was a success at last weekend’s UTSA meet.

Courtesy Photo

RUNNING WITH OBSTACLESLady Hawks face new challenges without top rankings

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See GIRLS PAGE 2B

race, Carlos Rodriguez, theHawks’ No. 2 runner, hyperextended his ankle.

“When your No. 2 run-ner has to drop out due tohyper extending his ankleat the start, it’s tough towin the meet,” Escamillasaid. “However, I alertedthe team of the incidentduring the race and every-one responded. The entireteam improved their per-formances and we still hadtwo guys in the top 10.

“When we put Carlos in-to the lineup, we will be

more competitive againstLiberty Hill.”

The Hawks have beenled by team captain RafaelBenavidez and seniorsJuan Rangel, Tony Mendo-za and Edgar Hernandez.

“They are running witha lot of heart,” Escamillasaid. “These guys are theleaders and set the tone ev-ery day.”

The Hawks’ top runneris sophomore Luis Garza,who has had first, sixthand 10th place finishes thisyear.

“We are actually aheadof last year’s pace,” Esca-milla said. “The way youperform in November iswhat counts. We have twomeets (Carrizo Springsand Laredo UISD) left onthe schedule before thechampionship phasestarts.

“These next two meetswill prepare us to wherewe need to be to be win-ners for the postseason.”

(Clara Sandoval canbe reached at sand-oval.clara@gmail.com)

CROSS COUNTRY Continued from Page 1B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

The university suspend-ed Lambert even after sheissued an apology follow-ing the incident.

How about the Frenchsoccer’s Zinedine Zidane’sinfamous head butt in the2006 World Cup?

Just this past week,Floyd Mayweather Jr. tooka cheap shot at Victor Or-tiz to win a fight.

Young and impressiona-ble athletes watch all thisand they think it’s okay,because they see thosethey look up to displayingunsportsmanlike conduct.

Even shaking an oppo-nent’s hand after gameshas become a sore spot.

What happened to thedays of playing hard, andif your team came upshort you still shookhands at the end of the

game?I have witnessed ath-

letes slap their opponent’shand viciously aftergames because they wereso upset that they lost.

Coaches sometimes turnaway from what their ath-letes are doing becausethey want to win so badly.

Ohio football coach JimTressel was forced to re-sign this past year be-cause he turned awayfrom the facts that hisplayers were violatingNCAA rules and he evenutilized an illegal playerduring the 2010 season.

Sportsmanship needs tomake its way back to alllevels of sports because itis tearing at the integrityof the sports world.

Sportsmanship starts bybeing taught at home and

reinforced by coaches andthe school systems.

Coaches who cheatshould never be allowed tocoach again until theytake classes on integrityand sportsmanship beforethey are hired at any oth-er job.

Coaches who break therules should be forced tosit out at least two yearsbefore getting hired againby any institution.

NFL players who werecaught breaking an NCAArule in college should beforced to pay back theirfull cost of their collegeeducation.

All these things wouldbe avoided if we just hadgood sportsmanship.

(Clara Sandoval can bereached at sandoval.clara@gmail.com).

SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1Batop the district.

“We are really startingto come together,” Zapatacoach Rosie Villarrealsaid. “We are where weshould be and gettingready for the secondround of district.”

De Leon put on one ofthe best performances ofthe season with her 24-kill effort that kept Zapa-ta on pace with La Feria.

Also getting into the of-fensive flow was seniorShelby Bigler, who backedDe Leon’s performancewith 19 kills of her own.

Controlling the offenseand dishing out the ballto De Leon and Biglerwas setter Estella Molina,who finished the nightwith 34 assists.

“Estella has made thedifference since we wentto one setter instead of

two,” Villarreal said. “Shehas really picked up theplay of everyone and is al-ways aware of her hit-ters.”

The defense was ag-gressive and ambitious tokeep the ball off the floor,with great diving playsthat gave Zapata the edgeover La Feria.

No one was more visi-ble in the back row thanlibero Abby Aguilar, whohad 30 digs to lead allplayers. De Leon contrib-uted 11.

One aspect of Zapata’sdominance in the gamewas the weak service re-ceive that La Feria dis-played, as the Lionetteswere picked apart withseven aces, with De Leonleading the charge withthree. Bigler and GabyGutierrez had two apiece.

The Lady Hawks alsowelcomed back Jackie Sa-linas, who had been outwith an injury for amonth.

“Jackie is slowly get-ting back to her spot tohelp us take the victory,”Villarreal said. “She wasout for a long time but iscoming around.”

The win over La Feriawill help when the LadyHawks as they meet an-other one of their neme-sis on Tuesday in PortIsabel.

“The win over La Feriahas given the girls theconfidence that they cando this (win a consecutivedistrict title),” Villarrealsaid. “I feel that we need-ed that type of game togive the team the motiva-tion going into the secondround.”

VOLLEYBALL Continued from Page 1B

formance and have a ban-ner year was sophomorestate medallist JazmineGarcia, who captured sec-ond place overall with atime of 11:44.

Garcia was only six sec-onds behind eventual win-ner and state runner-up,Liberty Hill’s Susan Kem-per.

Seven of Garcia’s team-mates had personal re-cords as the Lady Hawkscontinued to drop theirtimes.

The top seven runnersfor the varsity were Gar-cia, Cassie Pena, EricaHernandez, Sara Pena, An-gela Darnell, Janet Chapaand Maria Rodriguez.

“The face of the varsityhas changed week in andweek out, as a group of 10girls do battle to earn aright to represent Zapataat district, regionals andthe state (meet),” Villarrealsaid.

“The battle lines havebeen drawn. Battle plans

have been made and arebeing executed day in andday out, as we look to de-fend the tradition of excel-lence and high expecta-tions this program de-mands. They will continueto work hard and make Za-pata proud every time theytoe the line.”

The junior varsity teamalso made the trip andplaced 14th out of 29 teams.

(Clara Sandoval canbe reached at sand-oval.clara@gmail.com)

GIRLS Continued from Page 1B

There was talk of solidarity,plans for stability, expressionsof encouragement.

And then there was a step to-ward forced confinement fromthe Big 12 as it sought to pre-vent any more departures fol-lowing a topsy-turvy year inwhich it lost Nebraska and Col-orado and learned it will loseTexas A&M soon enough.

The Big 12 dumped embat-tled Commissioner Dan Beebeon Thursday and announced aplan to bind nine memberschools together by holding ahuge financial hammer — theirTV rights for the next six years— over their heads. The plan isfar from a done deal, since itmust be approved by some ifnot all the schools’ governingbodies.

But if it sticks, any schoolthat considers leaving the Big12 would have to leave their TVrights — and millions of dollars— behind in a blow much morepunishing than a typical exitfee.

“These are very strong hand-cuffs,” Oklahoma President Da-vid Boren said after Big 12 uni-versity leaders met for morethan an hour by telephone.“The grant of rights really doesbind the conference togetherand it shows that we fully in-tend to stay together.

Handcuffs. That’s what it hascome to in a fractured leaguethat seemed ready to split aparton Monday.

And there are still signs theBig 12 has a lot of healing to do.

Oklahoma, which was tryingto leave the Big 12 for thePac-12 just a few days ago, andMissouri, which wanted toleave for the Big Ten in 2010,even staged competing newsconferences to start spreadingthe new message of goodwilland stability in the Big 12.

Texas officials, often por-trayed as the Big 12 bullies,chose not to say anything at all.Still not addressed was whetherthe Big 12 wants to do some-thing about Texas’ lucrativeLonghorn Network agreementwith ESPN that casts an omi-nous shadow over the rest ofthe league.

Beebe is gone after five up-and-down years that includedsecuring a 13-year, $1.2 billioncontract with Fox Sports butsharp criticism for failing tokeep Nebraska (Big Ten) andColorado (Pac-12) from leavingover the summer. Texas A&Mplans to leave by July for theSoutheastern Conference.

Former Big Eight Commis-sioner Chuck Neinas will serveas interim commissioner. Bo-

ren said Neinas will not be acandidate to take the job per-manently.

Revenue sharing and achange of leadership were con-sidered by some schools, nota-bly Oklahoma, as the top issuesto address to save the league inthe latest round of conferencerealignment.

The Big 12 splits revenuefrom its Fox Sports contractevenly, but only half of themoney from its top-tier dealwith ABC goes into equalshares. The rest is weighted to-ward the programs that play onthe network more frequently.

Boren said all nine remain-ing schools — all those exceptfor Texas A&M — “agreed” togive a six-year grant of theirfirst- and second-tier televisionrights to the Big 12.

The six-year term runs pastthe next negotiating period forthe top-tier contract, currentlywith ABC/ESPN, in a bid tokeep the nine schools togetherfor the next contract.

“If you wanted to talk aboutone important action that real-ly does demonstrate that thisconference is going to be stable,that we’re not going to haveyear-to-year dramas like wehave had, I think that grant ofrights is a very essential item,”

Boren said.Texas Tech President Guy

Bailey agreed.“Not everybody in the past

has been willing to do that,”Bailey said.

Texas has proposed equalrevenue sharing of top-level tel-evision rights but also said itwon’t make changes to its con-troversial 20-year, $300 millioncontract with ESPN for theLonghorn Network.

Boren said any changes tothe Longhorn Network wouldhave to be considered by a spe-cial panel to be appointed byBig 12 board chairman BradyDeaton, Missouri’s chancellor.Boren said that panel wouldlikely be chosen by Friday.

Texas officials were notavailable for comment Thurs-day night.

Thursday’s conference callcame after a whirlwind monthwhen the league appeared —again — to be on the verge ofbreaking apart.

The league nearly split whenNebraska and Colorado left.The Big 12 appeared to be setas a 10-team league until TexasA&M announced earlier thismonth it will leave in 2012 toseek membership in the South-eastern Conference.

That started a new round of

maneuvering and Texas, Okla-homa, Oklahoma State andTexas Tech all were consider-ing a potential move to thePac-12 until it announced Tues-day that it would not expand.

The 54-year-old Beebe be-came an easy target for schoolsupset about instability in theleague.

“I have no negative personalfeelings toward our previouscommissioner, but I’m alarmedby the fact that in 15 monthswe lost three teams and I’maware in detail in how of someof those situations played out,”Boren said. “I don’t feel it wasinevitable that we lost thosethree teams.”

Critics portrayed Beebe asconstantly being outmaneu-vered by other league commis-sioners who were picking offhis teams one by one and assomeone beholden to Texas, theBig 12’s biggest and wealthiestmember.

Last fall, Beebe was granteda three-year extension on hiscontract through 2015. Whenthe extension was announced,Deaton said Beebe had been“an outstanding leader” duringchallenging times.

Now, he’s gone.“I put all my effort into do-

ing what was best for the Big12. With great fondness, I wishthe Big 12 Conference a longand prosperous future,” Beebesaid in a statement released bythe Big 12.

That future includes findinga replacement for Texas A&M.Boren said an expansion com-mittee within the Big 12 hadbeen restarted, but offered notimeline.

Texas has said it wants theBig 12 to stay at 10 teams. Oth-ers may want to go back to 12.

As for the Aggies?Texas A&M’s president, R.

Bowen Loftin, participated inthe call as a voting member butBoren said “no one should takethat as a signal that they havechanged their minds.” Borensaid the other nine membersdid nothing to remove thethreat of legal action that haskept A&M’s departure from be-ing finalized.

“I think that it’s highly like-ly that they will go to theSEC,” Boren said. “They’re sofar down the line, I think, withthe SEC that I don’t think theyare likely to change theirmind.”

Texas A&M spokesman Ja-son Cook said the school is notsticking around.

“Another key to the (Big 12’s)stability will be for the leagueto assist Texas A&M with ourdeparture. The events of thisweek were positive in that re-gard,” Cook said.

Big changes face Big 12By JIM VERTUNO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This Dec. 7, 2006, file photo shows Chuck Neinas during the Home Depot Col-lege Football Sports Awards, in Lake Buena Vista Fla. The former Big Eight Com-missioner, Neinas, says he’s been contacted by the Big 12 about being the con-ferences’ interim commissioner.

Photo by Reinhold Matay | AP

NEW YORK — The NBApostponed training camps in-definitely and canceled 43 pre-season games Friday because ithas not reached a new labordeal with players.

All games from Oct. 9-15 areoff, the league said. Campswere expected to open Oct. 3.

“We have regretfully reachedthe point on the calendarwhere we are not able to opentraining camps on time andneed to cancel the first week ofpreseason games,” DeputyCommissioner Adam Silversaid in a statement. “We willmake further decisions as war-ranted.”

NBA.com’s schedule page,which has a banner across thetop listing the number ofgames on each day, waschanged Friday morning toread “0 Games” for each dateuntil Oct. 16, when there arefour games.

Those could be in jeopardy,too, without an agreement bythe end of this month or veryearly October. The leaguescrapped the remainder of itspreseason schedule on Oct. 6 in1998, when the regular seasonwas reduced to 50 games.

That remains the only timethe NBA has lost games to awork stoppage.

The cancellations were inevi-table after the latest meetingbetween owners and playersThursday ended without a col-lective bargaining agreement.Both sides still hope the entireregular season, scheduled tobegin Nov. 1, can be saved.

The league locked out theplayers on July 1 after the expi-ration of the old labor agree-ment. Owners and players stillhaven’t agreed on how to dividerevenues — players were guar-anteed 57 percent under theprevious deal — or the struc-ture of the salary cap.

The next talks aren’t sched-uled, but both sides said Thurs-day they hope to meet againnext week. They probably needa deal by the middle of Octoberto avoid canceling real games.

Asked Thursday if hethought things were far enoughalong to still believe that waspossible, Commissioner DavidStern said: “I don’t have any re-sponse to that. I just don’t. Idon’t know the answer.”

NBA canscamps,

preseasongames

By BRIAN MAHONEYASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it: FAMILY CIRCUS DENNIS THE MENACE

Dear Readers: Fifty yearsof Hints From Heloise innewspapers around theworld! This week marks theANNIVERSARY of this col-umn’s very first week ofnewspaper syndication byKing Features Syndicate.My mother, the original He-loise (1919-1977), startedwriting her column in Ha-waii when my father (andour family) was stationedthere (1958-1962) with theAir Force. I thought itwould be fun to revisitsome hints printed in thatfirst year to see how theyhold up today. The followinghint is one that I just love!Keep an eye out in the com-ing weeks for more! — He-loise (the daughter, 2011)

TWO IDEASDear Heloise: One of my

favorite ideas: If two peopleeach had a dollar and ex-changed them ... they wouldstill have only a dollar each.On the other hand, if theyexchanged ideas, theywould have TWO ideas! —Doris Bond (1961)

PET PALDear Readers: Joleen V.

of Keizer, Ore., sent a pic-ture of her adorable ShihTzu, Cuddles, who is 5 yearsold and a bit tired afterplaying with her new birth-day toy, a stuffed cupcake.To see Cuddles and our oth-er Pet Pals, go to www.He-loise.com and click on“Pets.” — Heloise

DRY TOWELSDear Heloise: I use a

standing tree-style coat rackin my guest bathroom forovernight guests and theirtowels. Long ago, I sewedloops on my towels at themiddle, along their lengths,for when I use them at thegym. These loops will en-sure that the towels don’thit the floor, and they willair out more quickly. —Laura G., Springfield, Mo.

HELP!Dear Heloise: Almost all

men think your column isonly for women. Wake up,guys! I’ve been reading thepaper for many years. I am57 years old and married. Ido the shopping, cleaning,cooking, etc. I’ve learned somuch from your columns!Just a sample: Years ago, Ihad trouble opening theplastic bags in the producesection. Your column said,“Lick your fingers.” Samecan be done with trashbags.

Start reading the column,guys. You know, if you helpyour wives in the house,then Heloise Hints willmake it a lot easier on you.Your wife will be surprisedat your knowledge! — JohnS. from Florida

Thanks for the endorse-ment, John. However, a lotof my readers are male!Lifestyle helpful hints aregenderless. — Heloise

SAFETY FIRSTDear Heloise: When back-

ing out of a parking lot, it isnot always possible to seeclearly oncoming traffic be-cause of the car next to you.I touch the emergency flash-ing-light button and slowlyease my way out. It is thebest warning signal you cangive. — Dick in Rogers, Ark.

POTTED-PLANTPROBLEM

Dear Heloise: Have a potwith a hole in the bottomthat causes dirt to fallthrough? Use mesh drywalltape. It keeps dirt in, andwater can pass through. Forlarger holes, crisscross twopieces. — Carol in San An-tonio

Send a money-saving ortimesaving hint to Heloise,P.O. Box 795000, San Anto-nio, TX 78279-5000, or youcan fax it to 1-210-HELOISEor email it to Heloise(at)He-loise.com. I can’t answeryour letter personally butwill use the best hints re-ceived in my column.

HINTS BY | HELOISE

“HELOISE

with how much practicetime Tate was missing, butTate has proven to be aquick learner.

Tate saw his first live ac-tion in more than a year inHouston’s third preseasongame, rushing for 95 yardsand a touchdown in a 27-14win over New Orleans.

Foster was inactive forthe Texans’ season-openingwin over Indianapolis, andwhen backup DerrickWard left the game with asprained right ankle, Tatemade the most of his long-delayed opportunity, rush-ing 24 times for 116 yardsand a touchdown. He ranfor 103 yards in a 23-13 winin Miami last week, help-ing the Texans keep theclock moving late with 13carries in the fourth quar-ter.

Tate expects to havesome challenging blockingassignments on Sunday

HOUSTON — Twogames into his NFL career,Ben Tate isn’t thinkingmuch about the elite grouphe’s already joined.

The Houston Texans’running back is the 11thplayer in league history toopen his career with back-to-back 100-yard games, alist that includes EarlCampbell, Billy Sims, Mar-shall Faulk and EdgerrinJames.

Carnell “Cadillac” Wil-liams is the only runningback to reach 100 yardsrushing in his first threegames. Tate will probablyhave a chance to matchWilliams on Sunday whenHouston (2-0) plays at NewOrleans (1-1), because 2010NFL leading rusher ArianFoster is still limited by aleft hamstring strain.

Despite Tate’s fast start,Houston coach Gary Ku-biak said Foster will re-gain his starting role whenhe’s fit enough to play. Fos-ter took some snaps in Fri-day’s practice, and will bere-evaluated Saturday.

“It’s tough,” Foster said.“I think it’s more mentalthan it is anything becauselike I said before, it’s notsomething you can reallypush through. It’s notsomething that you canplay with at 100 percent, soyou just got to be patientwith it. It’s just got to workthat way.”

Tate can relate to Fos-ter’s frustration. The for-mer Auburn star was asecond-round pick by theTexans in 2010, then brokehis right ankle in Hous-ton’s first preseason gameand was placed on injuredreserve.

And like Foster, Tatewas hampered by ahamstring injury duringtraining camp this year.Kubiak became concerned

against the Saints’ blitz-heavy defense. But Tatedownplays the difficulty ofthe transition from college,and says he’s confidentthat he can handle pro-lev-el pass protection as wellas he’s handled his rushes.

Eventually, Foster willget his job back, and Tatewill be relegated to a re-serve role once again. Fornow, Tate isn’t fazed bythat.

Notes: Kubiak was opti-mistic that WRs JacobyJones (bruised left knee)and Kevin Walter (bruisedright shoulder) will beready to play by Sunday,even though Jones has satout team drills this week.... Seventh-round draft pickDerek Newton will moveinto backup tackle RashadButler’s spot on the depthchart. Butler was placedon injured reserve thisweek with an elbow injury.

Tate blooms with ball

Houston Texans running back Ben Tate (44) runs during the secondhalf of a game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Miami.

Photo by Hans Deryk | AP

Rookie RB’s startranks with elite

By CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING — Tony Romois still sleeping in a reclin-er, still not practicing andstill not certain whetherhe’ll be able to playagainst the Redskins onMonday night.

He’s also not rulinghimself out.

While tests show hispunctured lung hashealed, his broken ribhurts plenty, especiallywhen he moves the wrongway. How much he canplay through that pain —not just tolerate it, butthrow the ball accurately,even after getting hit andrising from the turf — willdetermine whether hestarts in the Cowboys’home opener.

Romo has been fitted fora protective vest, and donesome light throwing. He’sbeen in meetings and isstudying the playbook to

make sure he’s ready, if ev-erything checks out OK.He said he’s getting up tofive hours of treatmenteach day.

There are certain move-ments and throws heneeds to be able to makebefore he knows he canplay. However, he’s noteven sure when he willtest himself. Dallas practic-es again Saturday and hasa walkthrough Sunday. Healso could wait all the wayuntil pregame warm-ups.

Garrett said Romo hasbeen cleared medically. Ro-mo said doctors could stillrule him out.

Romo understands themedical details of whathappened and what couldhappen if he plays again.This isn’t the kind of inju-ry that could get worse ifhe plays, but playingwouldn’t help it get betterany sooner.

Romo was hurt on thethird play against SanFrancisco on Sunday, yetstayed in throughout thefirst half. He missed partof the third quarter, then

returned and led the Cow-boys to a comeback victo-ry in overtime. His per-formance, especially con-sidering thecircumstances, earnedhim the NFC offensiveplayer of the week award.It’s also helped douse thetalk that he can’t comethrough when it mattersmost, which was all thetalk last week, followinghis flop at the finish of theopener, turning a late leadagainst the Jets into a loss.

Jon Kitna would start ifRomo can’t. Dallas also islikely to activate third-stringer Stephen McGee.The Cowboys took the riskof being without a thirdquarterback the first twogames.

Dallas (1-1) could use awin over Washington (2-0)to distance itself from theugly 1-7 start last season.

Even if Romo plays, theCowboys could be withoutseveral other key players,or with many of them atless than full strength.That includes his centerand left guard.

Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo (9) hopes to lead the Cowboys on MNF against the Red-skins, but injuries may stop him.

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP

Romo isn’t ruled outInjuries may ruin

Dallas’ MNF debutBy JAIME ARON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

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