The Zapata Times 8/15/2018

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WEDNESDAYAUGUST 15, 2018

CARMELO SIGNS WITH ROCKETS

FREE

ANTHONY OFFICIALLY JOINS HOUSTON, A9

ZAPATA COUNTY

Health services get $6M boost Area residents to benefit from federal grant By Maria Gardner ZA PATA T I ME S

A local health care provider and a social services program will receive more than $6 million in federal funds to serve Webb and surrounding counties. Gateway Community Health Center, which received $4,269,405 and serves Zapata County, is a major provider for the uninsured in the area. More than 47 percent of Zapata County’s residents do not have health insurance. The clinic is a federally qualified health center that depends on federal funds to cover their operational costs. In addition to accepting most insurHealth continues on A16

Courtesy photo

Congressman Henry Cuellar presents Gateway Community Health Center with grants last week. Pictured are, from left, Dr. Melissa Martin-Jacaman, Dr. Tiffany Willers, Terrie Sifuentes, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed, Elena Weatherholt, Romeo Sifuentes, Dr. David E. Garza, Cuellar, Elmo Lopez Jr., Lauro A. Garcia, Nelly Trust, Oralia Garcia and Ricardo Gonzalez.

GATEWAY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER

PROCLAMATION PRESENTATION

Danny Zaragoza / Laredo Morning Times

Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz and Gateway Community Health Center board of directors and staff gather for a photo Monday after Saenz proclaimed Aug. 12-18 as Community Health Center Week. The proclamation was held at Gateway Community Health Center. The Zapata clinic is located at 210 N. Rathmell Ave.

ZAPATA COUNTY

BORDER PATROL

Agents seize 433 Back-to-school fishing tourney set for Saturday pound of pot near Falcon Lake ZA PATA T I ME S

The Zapata County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Back to School Kid’s Fishing Tournament is set for Saturday at Bravo Park. Registration starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 8:30 a.m. The fishing tournament is set to run from 7:30 a.m. to noon followed by an hour for food and refreshments. Fishing continues on A16

ZAPATA TIME S

Courtesy photo

Children who participate in the fishing tournament will receive a backpack and school supplies.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Zapata Station seized 433 pounds of marijuana near Falcon. On Monday, agents were conducting field operations when they observed suspicious activity near Falcon Lake. Agents identified a white Ford F-150 leaving the area and proceeded to follow the vehicle. Shortly after, agents observed the driver of the vehicle

park inside the parking lot of a local business establishment in Falcon. Agents approached the vehicle and observed numerous bundles in the bed of the truck. Agents seized 38 bundles of marijuana with a value of $346,654. Three people, a U.S. citizen and two Mexican nationals, were arrested and processed accordingly. The case was turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Seizure continues on A16


In Brief A2 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

CALENDAR

AROUND THE NATION

TODAY IN HISTORY

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 15

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions. Domestic Violence Coalition Meeting. 12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders. Tower B, 1st floor. The Webb County Domestic Violence Coalition holds its monthly meeting. The luncheon is open to those interested in learning more about resources available to help victims and their children who find themselves in dangerous situations. For more information, call Sister Rosemary Welsh at 956-718-6810. Joint Replacement Surgery Seminar. 6 p.m. Learn more about this innovative program, offered by the Laredo Bone and Joint Center at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-3009 or 7963223.

Evan Vucci / AP

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok’s lawyer said he was fired late Friday by FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich.

THURSDAY, AUG. 16 Laredo Boys and Girls Club fundraiser raffle. 6 p.m. Benavides Club, 500 Moctezuma. Tickets sold for 39 chances to win from $1,000 to $25,000. Information call (956) 723-1051 or 242-4975. Website bgclaredo.com. Tiny Toes Super Milk Class – Spanish. 6-7 p.m. This class offers mothers-to-be all the information they need before their baby’s birth to ensure a successful breastfeeding experience. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes. Cancer Friends Meet. 6 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1700 East Saunders, Tower A, 1st floor. The Laredo Cancer Society, in partnership with Laredo Medical Center, holds its monthly meeting for cancer patients and their families. For more information, call 956-796-4725. Celiac Support Group Meeting. 7:15 p.m. Laredo Medical Center, 1700 East Saunders, Tower B, 1st floor. The Laredo Chapter of the Celiac Disease Foundation invites the community to attend. For more information, email laredo@celiac.org.

FBI FIRES AGENT PETER STRZOK WASHINGTON — Peter Strzok, a longtime FBI agent who was removed from the Russia investigation over anti-Trump text messages, has been fired by the agency, his lawyer said Monday. The FBI had been reviewing Strzok’s employment after the politically charged text messages were discovered last year. President Donald Trump’s allies have seized on the texts, saying they show the investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia is tainted by political bias. Strzok was fired late Friday by FBI

Deputy Director David Bowdich, said his lawyer, Aitan Goelman. He said the 21year veteran of the FBI was removed because of political pressure and “to punish Special Agent Strzok for political speech protected by the First Amendment.” Goelman also said the FBI had overruled the agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, which he said had determined that a 60-day suspension and demotion from supervisory duties was “the appropriate punishment.” — Compiled from AP report

TUESDAY, AUG. 21 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – English. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes. Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – English. 6-7:30 p.m. This class gives mothersto-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, fullterm baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Hard cover $1, paperbacks $0.50, magazines and children’s books $0.25. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions. Weight Loss Surgery Seminar. 6:30 p.m. Learn more about this innovative program, offered by Laredo Medical Center’s Weight Loss Program. To reserve a space, call 956-796-3223.

THURSDAY, AUG. 23 Tiny Toes Prenatal Class – Spanish. 6-7:30 p.m. This class gives mothers-to-be the most important information to help them deliver a healthy, full-term baby from the start of labor until birth. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

TUESDAY, AUG. 28 Tiny Toes Virtual Tour – Spanish. 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 1700 East Saunders. Tower B, 1st floor. The virtual tour gives mothers-to-be detailed information about what to expect upon arrival and during their stay at Laredo Medical Center. To reserve a space, call 956-796-4019 or visit www.laredomedical.com/tiny-toes.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 29 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. Public is invited. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

FRIDAY, AUG. 31 The Concert on the Green. 8 p.m. Max Mandel Municipal Golf Course. Free. Held by the South Texas Advancement Resource, a nonprofit. Headliner is Kimberly Dunn and opener is Clay Hollis.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 1 Golf tournament for the South Texas Advancement Resource. 8 a.m. shotgun start. $300 registration before Aug. 1. Late registration is $400. Championship flight first prize is $5,000.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 2 Day 2 of the golf tournament for the South Texas Advancement Resource. Championship flight first prize is $5,000.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5 First United Methodist Church Used Book Sale. 1220 McClelland Ave. 10 a.m. to noon. Proceeds are used to support the church’s missions.

Drenching rains triggers flooding in parts of US DARBY, Pa. — Heavy rains triggered flash flooding in parts of central and eastern Pennsylvania on Monday, closing down a heavily traveled interstate and sending water into homes in the mountainous coal regions. State highway and emergency management officials reported numerous closed roads in a wide swath of the state from

Williamsport to the Philadelphia suburbs, and some motorists had to be rescued. Hazel Coles said water rose so quickly at her home in Darby, outside Philadelphia, that she had to evacuate through a window. She said there was about 3 feet of water on her street, and some people had to be evacuated by boat. She said the Red Cross was helping displaced residents. “It’s just crazy,” she said. “I thank God it wasn’t worse.” The National Weather Service in State College said there

were numerous reports of 6 inches of rain or more in Schuylkill and Columbia counties. Police in Bloomsburg set off a mandatory evacuation siren late Monday afternoon for a few hundred people in the west end of town after Fishing Creek came out of its banks and was rising rapidly. Columbia County emergency official Dave Witchey said a fire hall in Berwick was accepting evacuees, and another shelter may be opened if necessary. — Compiled from AP report

AROUND THE STATE Prisons still face guard vacancies despite bonuses HOUSTON — The Texas prison system is facing staffing shortages seven months after designating $9 million to bring down the 14 percent officer vacancy rate. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has 3,675 unfilled positions, about 30 more than January when state officials started addressing the issue, the Houston Chronicle reported. Still, prison officials said they’re making progress, given the vacancy numbers are down from a peak of 3,930 unfilled jobs in April. “I am in no way ringing the bell of victory,” said Bryan Collier, the department’s executive director. “These numbers make me cautiously optimistic.” The system’s vacancy rate has long been an issue and stems in part from the facilities’ remote locations, tough work-

Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle

Ellis Unit of Texas Department of Criminal Justice is shown in Huntsville. The prison system is facing staffing shortages.

ing conditions and relatively low pay. Officer vacancy rates have been around 13 percent since 2008. Prison officials this year expanded hiring bonuses of $4,000 and $5,000 to 29 understaffed units and increased starting pay by 12 percent. New guards can now make $36,000 per year instead of $32,000.

The prison system ended up spending over $9.1 million on bonus pay alone, which is more than any fiscal year over the past decade. The bonuses and pay bumps didn’t make much of a difference until May, but figures would be far worse without them, prison officials said. — Compiled from AP report

AROUND THE WORLD AMLO expands plan for Yucatan tourist train MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s president-elect announced an even more ambitious proposal for a train on the Yucatan peninsula Monday that would link nearly all the region’s main tourist draws and cost double or more than the previously announced figure. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had campaigned on build-

ing the tourist train from the beach resort city of Cancun down through Tulum and to the Mayan ruins of Palenque, 520 miles to the southwest. The new plan adds a western spur that could stop in the cities of Campeche, Merida and Valladolid — the latter near the famed ruins of Chichen Itza — and ultimately complete the circuit in Cancun. Lopez Obrador said the “Mayan train” would cost between $6 billion and $8 billion, compared with the previous figure

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 15, the 227th day of 2018. There are 138 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 15, 1945, in a pre-recorded radio address, Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced that his country had accepted terms of surrender for ending World War II. On this date: In 1483, the Sistine Chapel was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV. In 1812, the Battle of Fort Dearborn took place as Potawatomi warriors attacked a U.S. military garrison of about 100 people. (Most of the garrison was killed, while those who remained were taken prisoner.) In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory. In 1944, during World War II, Allied forces landed in southern France in Operation Dragoon. In 1947, India became independent after some 200 years of British rule. In 1961, as workers began constructing a Berlin Wall made of concrete, East German soldier Conrad Schumann leapt to freedom over a tangle of barbed wire in a scene captured in a famous photograph. In 1965, the Beatles played to a crowd of more than 55,000 at New York's Shea Stadium. In 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York. In 1971, President Richard Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents. In 1974, a gunman attempted to shoot South Korean President Park Chung-hee during a speech; although Park was unhurt, his wife, Yuk Youngsoo, was struck and killed, along with a teenage girl. In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, one day after P.W. Botha resigned as the result of a power struggle within the National Party. Ten years ago: Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili grudgingly signed a U.S.-backed truce with Russia, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country. Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal with his sixth world record, in the 200-meter individual medley at the Summer Olympics. American Nastia Liukin won the gold in women's individual all-around gymnastics; friend and teammate Shawn Johnson was second. Record producer Jerry Wexler, who coined the term "rhythm and blues," died in Sarasota, Fla. at age 91. Five years ago: President Barack Obama scrapped plans for joint military exercises with Egypt, where spiraling violence in and around Cairo were claiming hundreds of lives. A powerful car bomb ripped through a crowded southern Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah, killing at least 27 people. One year ago: President Donald Trump, who'd faced harsh criticism for initially blaming the deadly weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on "many sides," told reporters that there were "very fine people on both sides" of the confrontation and that groups protesting against the white supremacists were "also very violent." (In between those statements, at the urging of aides, Trump had offered a more direct condemnation of white supremacists.) An Army Black Hawk helicopter with five soldiers aboard crashed during offshore training in Hawaii; all five were declared dead after a lengthy search. Today's Birthdays: Actress Abby Dalton is 86. Actress Lori Nelson is 85. Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan is 83. Actor Jim Dale is 83. Actress Pat Priest is 82. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 80. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is 80. Musician Pete York is 76. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 74. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 72. Rock singer-musician Tom Johnston is 70. Actress Phyllis Smith is 69. Britain's Princess Anne is 68. Actress Tess Harper is 68. Actor Larry Mathews is 63. Actor Zeljko Ivanek is 61. Actor-comedian Rondell Sheridan is 60. Rock singer-musician Matt Johnson is 57. Movie director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is 55. Philanthropist Melinda Gates is 54. Country singer Angela Rae is 52. Actor Peter Hermann is 51. Actress Debra Messing is 50. Actor Anthony Anderson is 48. Actor Ben Affleck is 46. Singer Mikey Graham is 46. Actress Natasha Henstridge is 44. Actress Nicole Paggi is 41. Christian rock musician Tim Foreman is 40. Actress Emily Kinney is 34. Figure skater Jennifer Kirk is 34. Thought for Today : "Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom." — Hannah Arendt, author (1906-1975).

CONTACT US of $3.2 billion. He said it would be financed over six years through both public and private investment, including tourism taxes that currently net about $370 million a year. What was to be 560 miles (900 kilometers) of track would rise to about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers), and would be completed in four years “at the latest,” he said. Most of the route lies on land already owned by the federal government. — Compiled from AP report

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SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 The Zapata Times is distributed on Wednesdays and Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata and Jim Hogg counties. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times in those areas at newstands, 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. Call (956) 728-2500.

The Zapata Times


THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

A3

LOCAL Human smuggler with outstanding warrant busted ZA PATA T I ME S

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents recently responded to a

call for assistance from the Zapata County sheriff’s deputies near the Zapata. Deputies advised they had

conducted a traffic stop on a white four door car with four occupants. Agents made contact with

Courtesy photo

Zapata fire department receives donation Zapata County Fire Department received a donation of $1,000 to support its mission. On behalf of the Zapata County Fire Department family, they would like to thank Barry Smith and Tony Arce Jr. with AEP and Electric Transmission Texas for their donation and support. Electric Transmission Texas is an electric utility joint venture between American Electric Power and Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, whose purpose is to build, own and operate electric transmission projects within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Six migrants arrested after vehicle chase ZA PATA T I ME S

Border Patrol agents in Zapata said they foiled a human smuggling attempt on Aug. 7. It happened after agents saw several people getting into a 2003 gold Cadillac Sedan just north of Zapata. Agents attempted to conduct a vehicle stop, but the driver refused to pull over. Agents requested assistance from Zapata

County Sheriff ’s Office and followed the vehicle into the Medina Subdivision where the driver had bailed. Agents apprehend six undocumented immigrants, all Mexican nationals. One of them, a woman, required medical assistance due to an injury sustained while trying to escape from the moving vehicle. She was transported to Laredo Medical Center for treatment.

the occupants and after an immigration inspection, it was determined that three of the four were illegally present in

the United States. All of the occupants were arrested. Zapata County sheriff’s deputies took custody of the driver due to an outstanding felony warrant.


Letters to the editor Send your signed letter to editorial@lmtonline.com

A4 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

COLUMN

OTHER VIEWS

Pope Francis is right about death penalty By John M. Crisp TR IBUNE NEWS SE RV ICE

I’m not a particular fan of the Catholic Church, but I like Pope Francis, who appears to be a simple, devout, humble man who has somehow found himself at the head of a vast, opulent patriarchy. I’ll like him even more when he finds a way to establish the equality of females in the church hierarchy. In the meantime, he has done some good things. For example, the Catholic Church hasn’t always been at the forefront of science, but on the crucial issue of climate change the pontiff is way ahead of our current American leadership. And recently Pope Francis, who has for years criticized the death penalty, changed several sentences in the Catholic catechism to fully reject capital punishment, and he committed the church to its abolition worldwide. In some respects, Francis rises above his religion with this position. The long JudeoChristian tradition is fraught with capital punishment, bookended by the wrathful God of the Old Testament — which prescribes capital punishment for everything from cursing your parents to pretending to be a virgin — and the postJudgment-Day, everlasting death that sinners face in Hell. Indeed, Christianity’s central event is the most famous execution of all, the crucifixion of Jesus, which according to traditional theology is the sacrifice that redeems all sinners, at least the ones who believe in Jesus. In fact, without capital punishment, there would be no Christianity. While it’s hard to reconcile Jesus’s most benevolent sentiments — Judge not, that ye be not judged; Let him that is without sin cast the first stone; Love your enemies — it’s not hard to find other scriptures that appear to authorize capital punishment, and Christianity — with notable exceptions — has never mounted organized, systematic objections to the death penalty. So we can commend Pope Francis for favoring what Jesus said over the actual practice of the Christian church, although it’s worth noting that he’s only catching up to developed Western countries, nearly all of which abolished capital punishment long ago. And the countries that still use capital punish-

ment — China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and so on — aren’t likely to pay much attention to the moral authority of the world’s leading Catholic. The exception to the Western abolition of capital punishment is the United States, where we use it capriciously: Some states don’t use it at all, and others are avid practitioners, even though we’ve never found ways to ensure that we apply the penalty even-handedly, without regard to race, gender or social class. And we continue to use it, even though clearly we sometimes execute innocent people. It’s inevitable, and it probably happens more often than we think. American Catholics don’t always heed what the pope says. In defiance of church doctrine, according to a Pew Research Center report, 89 percent of them believe that artificial contraception is morally acceptable or not a moral issue, at all. But maybe Francis’s ruling last week will provide the occasion for soul searching by some American Catholics who are in a position to change things. For example, the governor of Texas, the nation’s leading death-penalty state, is a Catholic. So are five justices of the Supreme Court, and if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, he’ll make the sixth. These Catholics, as well as the rest of us, may ignore the sound reasons to abolish capital punishment, as well as other Catholic doctrines, but Pope Francis is a good, smart man, and when he says that the death penalty is "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person," maybe we should listen. Of course, Supreme Court justices are obligated to a different authority, the Constitution, which prohibits "cruel" punishment, no matter how evil the criminal. The Constitution hasn’t changed, but our conception of cruelty has, and what the founders accepted in 1791 — hanging, flogging — we see as cruel. This is a move in the right direction, but it’s always threatened with reversal. Pope Francis calls capital punishment "inhuman." "Cruel" and "inhuman" aren’t identical, but they’re in the same ballpark. The pope is right on this one. It’s time to abolish capital punishment. John M. Crisp is Tribune News Service columnist.

COLUMN

Don’t cry for Strzok; worry about the FBI By Noah Feldman BL OOMBERG NEWS

There’s no need to shed tears for Peter Strzok, the senior FBI agent who was fired Friday by the bureau’s deputy director, David Bowdich. Strzok’s antiDonald Trump texts, sent while he was taking part in the Hillary Clinton email investigation, harmed the bureau’s appearance of impartiality. But the firing of Strzok, after an internal investigation recommended only reprimand and demotion, is wrong anyway, and for a related reason. The firing further unravels the line between partisan politics and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s proper role as a nonpartisan criminal justice investigative arm. President Trump, who had been pushing for Strzok to go, lost no time in tweeting that the Clinton email investigation should be reopened. The fact that Trump’s FBI has fired an agent for texts that have not been found to have affected his job performance makes it look as though the political views of senior agents are now grounds for dismissal. Worse yet, for the public, the message of the firing is that everything in Washington is partisan politics all the way down — including crime fighting. That message helps Trump in his crusade to discredit the Department of Justice, the FBI and the justice system as a whole. Once public trust in those institutions collapses, it will take decades to reestablish it. When you drill down to see what Strzok really

did wrong, it comes down to terrible judgment — not necessarily a firing offense. The texts no doubt reflected real disdain for Trump. And, taken slightly out of context, one of them could be made to sound as if it reflected some secret plan to stop Trump from getting elected. (That was the one where Strzok’s interlocutor, then-FBI lawyer Lisa Page, wrote that Trump is “not ever going to become president, right?” and Strzok replied “No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”) Strzok also sent a copy of a sensitive search warrant to his personal email account, a violation of policy to be sure — and not a good look in an investigation of Clinton’s use of private email server. But there was no evidence that the warrant got out or was hacked or leaked. Because the inspector general’s investigation of Strzok’s texts did not find evidence sufficient to prove that Strzok’s privately expressed views affected the performance of his duties, the Office of Professional Responsibility at the FBI didn’t recommend that he be fired. In an intensely politicized environment, it’s important that hiring and firing decisions be made on the basis of what the professional bureaucracy recommends, not on the basis of partisan politics or presidential interference. After all, the whole basis for the idea that the FBI and Department of Justice investigate and prosecute crime in a nonpartisan manner is that they follow independent policies and procedures — like those that went

into the inspector general’s report and OPR’s recommendation. Trump, of course, did what he could to pressure the FBI to fire Strzok. He called him “treasonous,” which would seem to call for his prosecution, not just firing. That’s because Strzok’s texts were a tremendous gift to Trump in his coordinated, long-standing effort to convince the public that the FBI and the Justice Department are arrayed against him as part of a partisan, powerful “deep state.” The deputy director’s decision to fire Strzok is a further gift to Trump. It not only makes it seem as though Trump was right in calling Strzok treasonous. But it also makes it seem as if the FBI believes that Strzok’s texts really did reflect some wrongdoing in the conduct of his official duties. This interpretation seems so plausible because, if Bowdich didn’t think Strzok had acted wrongly in his official duties, then he should have followed the OPR’s recommendation. The other alternative is that Strzok is really being fired for the substance of his anti-Trump views, which would be an illegal firing in violation of the First Amendment. It’s all well and good to say that the president as executive should be able to fire executive branch employees like Strzok. But FBI agents, even senior ones, aren’t political appointees. Strzok had been deputy assistant director of the counterintelligence division. He was a 22-year career FBI agent — the kind of person who is supposed to be hired and fired

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letter. Laredo Morning Times does not allow the use of pseudonyms. This space allows for public debate of the issues of the day. Letters are edited for style, grammar, length and civility. No name-calling or gratuitous abuse is allowed. Also, letters longer than 500 words will not be accepted. Via email, send letters to editorial@lmtonline.com or mail them to Letters to the Editor, 111 Esperanza Drive, Laredo, TX 78041.

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

based on performance and nothing more. The upshot is that the firing looks partisan. It underscores the public perception that Trump is correct to perceive and depict the FBI in partisan terms. After Trump, rebuilding trust in the FBI and Justice Department won’t be easy. After the Watergate scandal, the Senate’s Church Committee took more than a year to hold hearings and publish material that revealed nefarious intelligence community activities. No doubt that transparency helped restore public confidence in the FBI. But the situation now is very different. The FBI hasn’t actually been acting in a partisan fashion — so there’s no obvious material to disclose. The problem now is more perception than reality. And even the Church Committee didn’t know that FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt had been “Deep Throat,” the Washington Post’s secret source who helped bring down Richard Nixon. Not knowing that was a boon to restoring public confidence. Today information of that kind would confirm the worst conspiracy theories about the “deep state.” It’s an irony of history that the FBI and the Justice Department are being seen as partisan in what is probably the height of their historic independence. But it’s not an accident. It’s a concerted plan by the president. The damage he is doing will take a long time to reverse. Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg News columnist.


THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

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Frontera A6 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

RIBEREÑA EN BREVE REGRESO A CLASES ZAPATA 1 El distrito escolar Zapata County Independent School District inicia hoy su regreso a clases para el año escolar 20182019 en todas las escuelas del distrito.

GATEWAY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER Y SCAN

Reciben subsidios federales Otorgan más de 6 millones a organizaciones locales Por María Gardner

PEQUEÑAS EMPRESAS 1 La Administración de Microempresas de los Estados Unidos (SBA) llevara a cabo una sesión informativa para personas que desean comenzar una pequeña empresa el miércoles 15 de agosto de 1 p.m. a 3 p.m. en el Edificio del Condado de Zapata. Habrá información sobre programas de apoyo, préstamos, certificados y contratos gubernamentales. El evento contará con representantes del Departamento de Agricultura, Centro de Desarrollo de Pequeñas Empresas de TAMIU y LiftFund. Para mayores informes contacte a Verónica Z. Ortega al 956-427-8533, Ext. 233 o vía correo electrónico a veronica.ortega@sba.gov.

TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Un proveedor local de atención médica y un programa de servicios sociales recibirán más de seis millones de dólares en fondos federales para servir al Condado de Webb y condados circundantes. Gateway Community Health Center, que recibió 4.269.405 dólares y sirve al Condado de Zapata, es un proveedor importante para personas que residen en el área y no cuentan con un seguro médico. Más del 47 por ciento de los residentes del Condado de Zapata no tienen seguro de salud. La clínica es un centro de salud calificado federalmente que depende de fondos federales para cubrir sus costos operativos.

Además de aceptar la mayoría de los planes de seguro, el centro también atiende a los no asegurados en función de los ingresos y el tamaño de la familia. Las cinco clínicas de Gateway que prestan servicio en el área tienen más de 30.000 pacientes registrados con un estimado de 96.000 visitas el año pasado, dijo Elmo López Jr., CEO de Gateway Community Health Center. También se otorgaron fondos para organizar un programa de residencias médicas en el centro en asociación con la universidad Incarnate Word. Laredo y la región del sur de Texas son áreas médicamente desatendidas y están experimentando una escasez de profesionales médicos, dijo Mara López, vocera del Gateway Community Health Center. Para que el área sea atendida adecuadamente, "Necesitaríamos 120 médicos de medicina familiar y solo tenemos 30 en Laredo", dijo López. Por otra parte, la organización SCAN recibirá 2.125.000 dólares en los próximos cinco

TAMAULIPAS

SOUTH TEXAS FOOD BANK

FESTIVAL PROMUEVE Invitan a primer evento TURISMO

de cata de vinos

CONSULADO MÓVIL 1 El Consulado General de México en McAllen anuncia su programa de Consulado Móvil en la Ciudad de Río Grande City, el 25 de agosto, en 5332 E. Highway 83, de 8 a.m. a 1:30 p.m. Los servicios que se pueden solicitar incluyen: pasaporte, matrícula consular, credencial de elector, y actas de nacimiento. Se requiere de cita. Llame al 1-877639-4835 o visite la página http://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/ mcallen/ REGRESO A CLASES ROMA 1 El distrito escolar Roma Independent School District inicia hoy su regreso a clases para el año escolar 2018-2019 en todas las escuelas del distrito. UNIDAD MÓVIL VA 1 La unidad movil médica de Asuntos de Veteranos regresa a Roma el 19 de septiembre de 9 a.m. a 3 p.m. en 1708 Flores St., en Roma, Texas. Se invita a los veteranos de Roma y las comunidades vecinas visitar la clínica. SERVICIOS DE GENEALOGÍA 1 ¿Quiere conocer sobre sus raíces familiares? Visite el centro Roma Birding Center/ Computer Lab en Roma, cada martes a las 6:30 p.m., para obtener información.

años para relanzar el Programa de Reintegración Fronteriza e Integración Comunitaria. El programa, que terminó debido a la falta de fondos, ahora está listo para atender a 350 personas. El programa brindará servicios de apoyo y tratamiento por abuso de sustancias a hombres y mujeres que regresen a la comunidad luego del encarcelamiento. El personal de SCAN se coordina estrechamente con la Oficina del Alguacil y otras agencias de las fuerzas del orden para conectar con el programa a las personas recientemente liberadas, dijo el congresista Henry Cuéllar, quien estuvo presente el martes en el Gateway Community Health Center para anunciar los fondos otorgados por la Administración de Recursos y Servicios de Salud y la Administración de Servicios de Salud Mental y Abuso de Sustancias. Cuellar se refirió a un informe de 2017 realizado por la Junta Legislativa del Presupuesto de Texas que establece que el 46 por ciento de las personas liberadas de la prisión son detenidas nuevamente.

E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

Foto de cortesía / Gobierno de Tamaulipas

El Segundo Festival de Ala Blanca se llevó a cabo los días 11 y 12 de agosto en las instalaciones del Club de Tiro Caza y Pesca Santa María de Aguayo, A.C., en Ciudad Victoria, México. E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

CIUDAD VICTORIA, México— Con la participación de los municipios de Abasolo, Miguel Alemán, Casas, Güemez, Jiménez, Padilla, San Fernando, San Nicolás y Victoria, los cuales albergan Unidades de Manejo para la Conservación de la Vida Silvestre (UMA), así como cazadores deportivos locales, nacionales y extranjeros, inició el Segundo Festival de la Paloma Ala Blanca en Tamaulipas, con el objetivo de promover el turismo cinegético y el aprovechamiento sustentable de especies para la caza deportiva. El evento se llevó a cabo del 11 al 12 de agosto en el marco de la temporada de caza de Paloma de Ala Blanca que inició este fin de semana. “Este tipo de eventos nos concientizan de que no es matar, cazar por cazar. Tiene que ser aprovechamiento y sustentable. Por ello se crearon las Comisiones de Parques y Biodiversidad, que fomenta la conservación; y la Comisión de Caza y Pesca Deportiva, que fomenta el aprovechamiento. Siempre debe haber un equilibrio”, manifestó Gilberto Estrella, titular de la Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Medio Ambiente, en representación del gobernador Francisco García Cabeza de Vaca. Tamaulipas cuenta con el área natural

protegida de Paloma de Ala Blanca más grande de Latinoamérica, ubicada en Parras de la Fuente, municipio de Abasolo, lo que convierte a la entidad en uno de los principales destinos cinegéticos del país y Norteamérica. Muestra de la recuperación de las UMA´s en Tamaulipas es el registro de tiradores con que cuenta la SEDUMA, que en 2016 llegó a apenas 86, mientras que en 2017 alcanzó hasta mil 600 tiradores en los distintos ranchos cinegéticos de la entidad. El Segundo Festival de la Paloma Ala Blanca de Tamaulipas contó como invitado especial a Dave Watson, presentador del popular programa de televisión estadounidense The Journey, especializado en caza y campismo, quien calificó a la entidad como uno de los principales destinos de caza en Norteamérica y reconoció al Gobierno de Tamaulipas por promover el turismo y el aprovechamiento sustentable de la vida silvestre. Durante el evento se llevó a cabo un torneo de skeet y trap americano en las categorías abierta, femenil y novatos, en el que participaron cazadores deportivos de distintos municipios, asimismo, se realizó una degustación de gastronomía local, música y regalos entre los asistentes.

Con un 33 por ciento de menores que sufren hambre, una cifra que se ha mantenido estable en el sur de Texas, el Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas, una organización sin fines de lucro, continúa en su lucha por la eterna batalla contra la epidemia de la hambruna que afecta nuestras comunidades. Los niños son uno de nuestros grupos más vulnerables afectados por el hambre. Hay daños y consecuencias de desarrollo a largo plazo debido a la falta de nutrientes en aquellos menores que no tienen una seguridad en la ingesta de alimentos. Además de la reciente compra de las instalaciones que serán pronto el futuro sitio de South Texas Food Bank, el banco de alimentos se ha expandido y ha agregado nuevos programas para brindar más alimentos a sus beneficiados. Las iniciativas incluyen una cocina móvil y nuevos sitios del programa Kids Café: uno de temporada en Eagle Pass y dos sitios más que serán anunciados este año. A fin de continuar con estos programas, el banco de alimentos depende de los esfuerzos de recaudación de fondos y en la generosidad de los patrocinadores y de la comunidad. Es por esto que el Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas se enorgullece en dar a conocer que está coordinando su primer

COLUMNA

AVIARIO 1 La Ciudad de Roma invita a visitar el aviario Roma Bluffs World Birding Center en el distrito histórico de Roma. El aviario estará abierto desde el jueves a domingo de 8 a.m. a 4 p.m. hasta enero. Para mayores informes llame al 956-8491411.

Represión deja 9 desaparecidos

BOTES DE BASURA

Poco a poco asoman verdades ocultas. Fechada el 11 de julio de 1951, una resolución presidencial concedía el área en disputa a los invasores, escamoteándoselas durante casi tres años mediante tretas burocráticas. Acaso como prestanombres, el mayor abatido sacaba provecho, mientras que el susodicho administrador, ingeniero español, atendía cierta franja acaparada, según tras-

1 La Ciudad de Roma informa a la comunidad que sólo estará recolectando basura contenida en botes propiedad de la ciudad. Para mayores informes llame al 849-1411.

Nota del editor: Este es la segunda parte de una columna sobre un episodio de injusticia ocurrido en el México autoritario que dominó parte del siglo XX. Por Raúl Sinencio Chávez E SPECIAL PARA TIEMP O DE ZAPATA

ciende, por Alfredo del Mazo Vélez, parlamentario mexiquense en la cámara alta. Las partes restantes del fértil polígono estaban repartidas entre prósperos miembros del oficialismo. Por lo demás, el mentado capitán aviador cumplía funciones de inteligencia para la tenebrosa Dirección Federal de Seguridad, en vez de que el Departamento Agrario resolviera aquel conflicto. Lágrimas Distantes siempre de centrales dóciles al régimen, el domingo siguiente los tundidos realizan multitudinaria reunión. Crean el Comité de Lucha por la Tierra y Defensa de los Presos Revolucio-

narios en Tamaulipas. Logran así entrevistarse con el doctor José Quevedo, emisario presidencial, quien promete el 15 de junio “plena justicia”. Los detenidos salen libres, salvo dos, acusados de homicidio. Pero en aspectos de fondo hay nulo avance. Los terratenientes rechazan obedecer la aludida resolución presidencial. Compuesto por 10.000 solicitantes de parcela, dirige el movimiento Everardo J. Hernández. Transcurren pláticas negociadoras cuando a los cuatro vientos puntualiza que no existe moneda capaz de comprarlo. La frase hace pensar en intentos de soborno, rechazados con firmeza. Artera ofensiva entonces se desa-

evento de cata de vinos para beneficiar los programas del banco de alimentos. Este evento dará a la comunidad una oportunidad para disfrutar de una noche en el corazón de Laredo, y al mismo tiempo causar un gran impacto. Gracias a los patrocinadores, Texas Community Bank y L&F Distribuitors, se llevará a cabo el primer evento anual de Cata de Vinos del Banco de Alimentos del Sur de Texas, el sábado 18 de agosto. Con la compra de boletos para el evento, los invitados pueden disfrutar de muestras de buen vino y comida gourmet en el hotel La Posada. El evento presentará música en vivo, una subasta silenciosa y otras sorpresas. Alma Boubel, directora ejecutiva del Banco de Alimentos de Texas, dijo que este evento brindará una oportunidad de probar vinos finos y a la vez ayudar al banco de alimentos. “Este evento dará a los conocedores de vinos y a aquellos que simplemente desean pasar una noche agradable en la ciudad, una oportunidad para disfrutar mientras retribuyen a su comunidad. Esperamos que muchas personas se unan a este evento porque lo que se recaude irá a la comunidad en forma de alimentos. Esperamos que este evento sea un éxito, al que deseamos que continúe por varios años”, manifestó Boubel.

ta. Sujetos desconocidos el 3 de julio secuestran al líder. Sabiéndose intocable, la elite latifundista en una inserción periodística el posterior martes 13 despotrica: “Los autores [de las movilizaciones] fueron provocadores […] que sustentan ideas extrañas”. Impuesto virtual estado de sitio, en la madrugada del 17 de julio efectivos militares rodean el referido comité e impiden cualquier acto público. Más todavía, contra la dirigencia sobreviviente cunden amenazas de muerte. Las autoridades nunca esclarecen, para colmo, el paradero de Everardo J. Hernández y ocho correligionarios, también desaparecidos, quizás inhumados en fosas clandestinas. El verano de 1954 despunta con fuertes descargas pluviales. Sosegado por la presa Falcón, cauce arriba, el río Bravo pasa frente a Reynosa. Encuentra la tierra húmeda de lluvia, de sangre, de lágrimas.


THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

STATE

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / AP

This photo shows a dunes sagebrush lizard. The little lizard is a matter of concern after national conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify the lizard as either endangered or threatened and to protect its habitat.

State revises plan to protect lizard species A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

AUSTIN — The Texas comptroller’s office is seeking federal approval to reform a troubled state program designed to protect a rare lizard species in the petroleum-rich Permian Basin. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar has requested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approve the state agency’s new version of the Texas Conservation Plan, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The move comes amid threats by the federal agency to designate the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered, which would enact strict land-use regulations. Some environmentalists have critiqued the old Texas Conservation Plan as favoring oil and gas companies over species

protection. Hegar’s office was quick to rewrite the plan after environmental groups asked the Fish and Wildlife Service in June to consider the lizard species endangered due to the area’s newly booming sand-mining industry. The new proposal aims to eliminate some of the old plan’s failures, such as its inability to address the sudden arrival of sand-mining companies. The original plan only applies to oil and gas companies, but sand miners are disrupting thousands of acres of lizard habitat in the Permian Basin. The comptroller’s office also identified other ways the original plan failed to protect the species. “Investigation revealed problems that were systemic and not amenable

to piecemeal fixes,” the comptroller’s office wrote in a letter this month to U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials. The rewritten proposal defines ways companies can avoid lizard habitat and incentivizes industrial activities to focus on non-habitat areas. The new plan also eliminates scientifically unsupported conservation options. “It’s fair to say we’re very pleased that it strikes balance of protecting species while also allowing growth and development in the Permian Basin,” said Robert Gulley, who oversees endangered species conservation for the comptroller’s office. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will gather comments from companies and affected parties in the coming months.

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A8 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

STATE

Grand jury indicts 17-year-old in school shooting A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

GALVESTON — A Texas grand jury on Thursday indicted a 17-year-old student accused of fatally shooting 10 people in May at a Houston-area high school. Dimitrios Pagourtzis was formally indicted on charges that include capital murder of multiple persons. Under Texas law, capital murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with a parole option for those younger than 18. He also was indicted on a count of aggravated assault of a public ser-

vant for the shooting of a school police officer who survived. Pagourtzis is being held at the Galveston County Jail without bond. A trial date has not been set. Investigators have said Pagourtzis admitted going on a shooting rampage at Santa Fe High School that killed eight students and two teachers. Authorities said the teen used his father’s pistol and shotgun to burst into the school’s art classroom and begin shooting. Witnesses said the gunfire went on for 10 to 15 minutes, and police said Pagourtzis engaged

in a prolonged firefight with officers before finally surrendering. Gov. Greg Abbott has said Pagourtzis intended to kill himself but gave up and told police that he did not have the courage to take his own life. Pagourtzis also had described planning the attack in private journals, according to investigators. A judge has ordered a mental evaluation of the teen, but the report from that evaluation remains confidential. The rampage was the nation’s deadliest such attack since the mass shooting at a Florida

high school in February that gave rise to a guncontrol campaign by teens. In Texas, grand juries have 90 days from the date of a suspect’s detention to indict or not indict a suspect, said Galveston County prosecutor Ross Hill. The Pagourtzis case was presented to a Galveston County grand jury impaneled last month, he said. After the shooting, Abbott called for schools to have more armed personnel, though he faced pushback after suggesting tightening of some gun laws.

Galveston County Jail / AP

This undated photo shows Dimitrios Pagourtzis. A grand jury indicted the teenage student accused of fatally shooting 10 people at the Houston-area Santa Fe High School.


Sports&Outdoors

THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: HOUSTON ROCKETS

A9

NFL: HOUSTON TEXANS

Rockets sign Carmelo Anthony joins Houston on a 1-year, $2.4M deal By Brent Zwerneman and Jenny Dial Creech H OUSTON CHRONICLE

Should the Rockets face Golden State in the playoffs once again next season, they will have Carmelo Anthony on their side. The Rockets officially signed Anthony to a one-year, $2.4 million contract Monday. Shortly after noon, general manager Daryl Morey welcomed Anthony to the Rockets via a tweet. The 34-year-old Anthony was traded from Oklahoma City to Atlanta in July in a salary cap move by the Thunder, and the Hawks bought out Anthony's contract, making him a free agent. Anthony still will receive his full $25.4 million contract that was owed to him by the Thunder. The Rockets' signing doesn't pack the punch of the Lakers adding LeBron James, but the

Rockets are counting on the quartet of shooting guard and reigning NBA MVP James Harden, point guard Anthony Chris Paul, center Clint Capela and Anthony to propel the franchise in the 2019 postseason. "Obviously there are a lot of egos, a lot of talent," Harden said this summer, prior to Anthony officially signing. "But some of that has to be sacrificed for us to get to where we need to go. Everybody in the world knows what Carmelo brings, how gifted and talented he is, and he still has a lot more to go." Anthony, 34, is a 10-time All-Star and has averaged 24.1 points on 44.9 percent shooting over 16 seasons. He averaged a career-low 16.2 points last sea-

son with Oklahoma City, where he spent one year following eight with Denver and seven with New York. His shooting touch would have come in handy for the Rockets in May, especially with the Rockets grasping an 11-point lead in the third quarter of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the Warriors at Toyota Center. With Paul sidelined by a hamstring injury in the series' final two games, the Warriors erased the double-digit deficit in what turned out to be the Rockets' final half of the season, with the home team missing a numbing 27 consecutive 3-pointers in what became a nine-point Golden State victory. The Warriors went on to sweep James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, leaving the Rockets wondering what might have been following the second-half collapse. "We all know how easy he can score the basketball," Harden said of Anthony. Anthony's signing comes after small forwards Trevor

Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute left the Rockets this offseason. The Rockets also traded seldom-used backup center Chinanu Onuaku to the Dallas Mavericks for cash, and the Mavericks own the right to swap secondround NBA Draft selections with the Rockets in 2020. The Rockets' pick will be protected, however, if it's between 31-40. The Rockets saved money on the NBA luxury tax that comes with a high payroll by ridding themselves of Onuaku's contract. The Rockets selected Onuaku, 21, in the second round of the 2016 draft out of Louisville. He played in six games combined over the past two seasons, in spending most of his time with Rio Grande Valley, the Rockets' NBA G League affiliate. Anthony (6-8, 240) led Syracuse to the 2003 national title and was named the Final Four's most outstanding player. Anthony scored 33 points – his career high in college – in Syracuse's victory over the Longhorns in the 2003 Final Four in the Superdome in New Orleans.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: DALLAS COWBOYS

WIDEOUTS STILL THE MAIN CONCERN FOR COWBOYS

Brett Coomer / Associated Press

Texans fans wait to have autographs signed during training camp on Monday at the Methodist Training Center in Houston. The Texans are donating the turf they played on at NRG Stadium last season to C.E. King High School after its field was destroyed in flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Texans give turf to school flooded in Harvey By Kristie Rieken ASSOCIATED PRE SS

Ron Jenkins / Associated Press file

Dallas wide receivers Allen Hurns (17), Deonte Thompson (15) and Michael Gallup (13) are three new faces in the Cowboys’ wide receiver corps as the squad tries to move on from losing star Dez Bryant this offseason.

Engel: WR is where Dallas needs to coach them up By Mac Engel FO RT WORT H STAR-T E LE GRAM

OXNARD, Calif. — The biggest acquisition for Dak Prescott this offseason was an assistant coach. Unless first-year wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal can turn water into beer, which if he can I will marry him, he can’t be expected to turn Allen Hurns or Terrance Williams into Antonio Brown or Julio Jones. The high end for a position coach is that he may be able to dramatically affect no more than about one guy per team per season. Thus far into training camp, the receiving corps for the Dallas Cowboys looks like what we all expected: A lot of No. 2 1/2s and No. 3s. When The Little Rapper That Could, Cole Beasley, is your go-to wide receiver, and he was so easily taken away last season, you’ve got concerns. There is no Fantasy Football pick among your Dallas Cowboys wide receivers. Don’t panic. Not yet. Have that button, however, polished up and ready to crush.

The "Moneyball" plan of going with strength in numbers at the position rather than relying on overwhelming talent will work, as long as Dak can get them the ball on time and in a position where only they can catch it. If this sounds like the New England way, you would be correct. The Dallas Cowboys passing game ranked 26th in the NFL last season, and that was with Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. Cowboys coaches readily admit they did not handle the play calling well in 2017 when offensive tackle Tyron Smith was out, and Ezekiel Elliott served his six-game suspension. They were inconsistent, a bit reactionary, and not stable. Dez Bryant is gone, never to return, and even with some new wide receivers on the roster, every single one of their wide outs comes with a worrisome asterisk. Enjoy, and have a barf bag. 1 1. Cole Beasley. Dak said that’s his guy, and in his rookie year he continually used him to beat defenses. He’s a wonderful slot receiver who can catch anything.

Asterisk: In Week 2 in Denver in ’17, the Broncos took him away and the passing game suffered for the rest of the season as a result. Beasley’s catches went from 75 in ’16 to 36 in ’17. 1 2. Allen Hurns: The free agent signee spent the first four years of his career in Jacksonville. In ’15, he had more than 1,000 yards receiving. So far, he’s your best "wide out" on this team. Asterisk: Jacksonville didn’t want to keep him, and he has had no more than 39 catches in either of the last two years. 1 3. Tavon Austin. The Cowboys are raving about the former top 10 pick from West Virginia whom they acquired in April. When right, he can be used virtually anywhere and is a major problem in space. "He has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. That’s great. Can he play? Asterisk: Why did the Rams dump Austin for a sixth round pick? 1 4. Terrance Williams. When right with the world, he’s a nice No. 2 who has seen his ceiling. His former quarter-

back, Tony Romo, routinely praised him. Asterisk: He’s Terrance Williams. 1 5. Michael Gallup: The third round pick from Colorado State has looked impressive so far in camp, and he caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Dak in the first preseason game. Gallup posted big numbers in college, including a 100-catch season as a senior. Asterisk: He’s a rookie. And he’s a rookie. 1 6. Deonte Thompson: The free agent signee has been on three teams since he entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He’s a maybe to make the team. Asterisk: Where to begin? 1 7. Lance Lenoir. On the practice squad as a rookie in 2017, he has been a pleasant surprise in this training camp. He can play special teams, which makes him attractive for a roster spot. Asterisk: He was not drafted. He was active in 2017 for Week 17. All of these things happen for a reason. These are Dak’s choices at wide receiver. Coach Lal, coach ’em up.

HOUSTON — A high school hit hard by Hurricane Harvey is getting a new playing surface thanks to the Houston Texans. The Texans said Monday that they’re donating the turf they played on at NRG Stadium last season to C.E. King High School after its field was destroyed in flooding from Harvey, which hit the area last August. “These guys get to go out there every day and know that they’re playing on something that J.J. Watt played on,” King coach Derek Fitzhenry said. “Of course, that’s everybody’s favorite player, so it’s exciting.” Fitzhenry and several members of the team were guests of the Texans at practice on Monday, and Watt spoke to the group for a few minutes before posing for pictures with them. “It means a lot to me to play on a field the Texans played on,” senior linebacker Rodrick Crumedy said. “I’ve never even stepped on an NFL field, so stepping on one every day will mean a lot to me.” Students at the high school had to attend classes in an elementary school last year because of damage from the flooding, and much of the team’s equipment and facilities were lost. Almost a year later, the team is excited about a fresh start this season on its fancy albeit gently used turf. “These guys have really come through that struggle really well,” Fitzhenry said. “A lot of that stuff is behind us now and we’re excited for this year.” Before Watt spent time with the guys, several other players stopped by to chat with them on their way off the field after practice. Linebacker Benardrick McKinney encouraged them to work hard and wished them luck on their season. Safety Tyrann Mathieu smiled broadly as he autographed miniature helmets for the players. “Any time we can reach out to the high schools and help them out in the ways that we do — we do a great job headed by (Texans president) Jamey Rootes and his crew,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “They do a great job with community relations and I think the high school football is a big part of that.”


A10 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

ENTERTAINMENT

Soul icon Aretha Former WWE star Jim Franklin is seriously ill Neidhart dies at 63 By Mesfin Fekadu

By Dan Gelston

A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ASSOCIATED PRE SS

NEW YORK — Fans and friends, including Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott, offered prayers and well wishes to Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, who is seriously ill. A person close to Franklin, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to publicly talk about the topic, told The Associated Press on Monday that the singer is seriously ill. No more details were provided. Carey, who considers Franklin one of her biggest influences, wrote on Twitter that she is “praying for the Queen of Soul.” Missy Elliott said that the public has to celebrate iconic artists before they die. “So many (of them) have given us decades of Timeless music,” the rapper wrote on Twitter. Mark Frost, Andy Cohen and Ciara also posted about Franklin, who is considered the greatest singer of alltime and is known for hits like “Respect” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” Franklin canceled planned concerts earlier this year after she was ordered by her doctor to stay off the road and rest up. She was originally scheduled to perform on her 76th birthday in March in Newark, New Jersey, and at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April. Last year, the icon announced her plans to

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who joined with brother-in-law Bret Hart to form one of the top tag teams in the 1980s with the WWE, has died. He was 63. The Pasco Sheriff ’s Office said Neidhart fell at home, hit his head and “succumbed to his injury” on Monday in Wesley Chapel, Florida. No foul play was suspected. Neidhart’s daughter, known as Natalya, wrestles for the WWE and is a former women’s champion. Neidhart made appearances with his daughter in the WWE reality series, “Total Divas.” Neidhart, Bret “Hitman” Hart and manager Jimmy “The Mouth of the South” Hart made up the Hart Foundation stable in the 1980s and 1990s and the tag team won two WWE championships. “What a great run we had. I couldn’t believe how it took off,” Jimmy Hart Andy Martin Jr. / TNS

Aretha Franklin, whose health has long been on the decline, is said to be suffering major health woes.

retire, saying she would perform at “some select things.” One of those select events was a gala for Elton John’s 25th anniversary of his AIDS foundation in November in New York City, where Franklin closed the event with a collection of songs including “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Freeway.” Abdul “Duke” Fakir, the lone surviving original member of the Four Tops, told the AP on Monday morning they have been “very close” for decades and their most recent conversation was about a week ago by phone. Fakir said they talked after Franklin had stopped by his Detroit house when he wasn’t there. “She was telling me she rides around the city

every now and then — she talks about how beautiful it is again,” Fakir said. “We were reminiscing about how blessed we were — only a couple two of us are around from that era. We were just kind of reminiscing about the good times we had.” Fakir, who calls Franklin “baby sis” because he’s older than she is by six years, said despite her health troubles “she was talking about the future.” “She talked about this great, big special she was going to have in New York, with all her great friends performing,” he said. “It made me feel good as well — she was still hoping and wishing and dreaming as we do in this business.”

told The Associated Press. “But the reason why was, Neidhart was such a great character back then. Bret was more cool, the girls loved him. Neidhart and myself were kind of the evil twins.” Neidhart married Hart’s sister, Ellie, and became part of the famed family wrestling dynasty in Canada. Stu Hart trained his sons, including Bret and former WWE star Owen Hart, as well as Neidhart in the 1970s. Neidhart started his pro wrestling career in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling promotion and eventually signed with the WWE in 1985. Hart posted a picture on social media of himself with Neidhart and the WWE tag team belts around their waists with the caption, “Stunned and saddened. I just don’t have the words right now.” Neidhart wrestled mostly for WWE from 1985 to 1997 and was known for his pink and black gear, maniacal laugh and goatee.


LAREDO MORNING TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

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A12 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Trump and Omarosa trade insults, charges By Catherine Lucey and Jill Colvin A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman faced off Monday in a messy clash that involved an explosive tellall book, secret recordings, an ethnic slur and plenty of insults — reviving their roles as reality show boss and villain. Late Monday, Trump tackled Manigault Newman’s claim that she had heard an audiotape of him using the N-word. He tweeted that he had received a call from the producer of “The Apprentice” assuring him “there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I

used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa.” Trump insisted, “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have.” He said Manigault Newman had called him “a true Champion of Civil Rights” until she was fired. Manigault Newman, the former White House liaison to black voters, writes in her new memoir that she’d heard such tapes existed. She said Sunday that she had listened to one after the book closed. Earlier, Trump accused Manigault Newman as “wacky” and “not smart” after his former co-star revealed her recording of a phone con-

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

A new book by Omarosa Manigault Newman, "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House," is displayed on a book shelf.

versation with the president.

Beyond their war of words, the row touched

on several sensitive issues in Trump’s White

House, including a lack of racial diversity among senior officials, security in the executive mansion, a culture that some there feel borders on paranoia and the extraordinary measures used to keep ex-employees quiet. In an unusual admission, Trump acknowledged that the public sparring was perhaps beneath a person in his position, tweeting that he knew it was “not presidential” to take on “a lowlife like Omarosa.” But he added: “This is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!”


LAREDO MORNING TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

A13

HOROSCOPES BY FRANCIS DRAKE

HINTS | BY HELOISE Dear Heloise: I never know how long FRUIT will keep at room temperature. I like having a bowl of fresh fruit sitting out, but some of it goes bad before we can eat it. Any suggestions? -- Ruth S., Mankato, Minn. Ruth, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says to ripen fruit at room temperature, then store it in the refrigerator for the following times: Apples: 1 month. Apricots, bananas, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, plums and watermelon: three to five days. Berries and cherries: two to three days. Cranberries and melons (except watermelons): one week. -- Heloise BETTER BUTTER? Dear Heloise: Back in June, I saw your answer to a letter about which butter to use in recipes. I never buy unsalted butter. Many recipes call for it. Can I use regular butter instead of unsalted butter? Will the flavor change? -- A Fan, Levelland, Texas If you're baking something simple such as cookies, there might be very little taste or texture difference, although the unsalted butter may produce crisper cookies. While it's always advisable to follow the instructions for a recipe, in a pinch you might have to substitute one for the other. Speaking of substitutes, did you know that you can substitute up to 1/2 cup of oil with applesauce in a recipe for a healthier alternative? For example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of oil, substitute 1/2 cup of applesauce along with 1/2 cup of oil. -- Heloise SOGGY PIE CRUST

“

HELOISE

Dear Heloise: My problem is with pie crust. When I prepare one and poke holes in the crust with a fork, bake it and then pour my hot pie filling in and chill it for several hours, the pie crust is always soggy where the filling has run through. What am I doing wrong? -- Joann M., Williamsport, Md. Joann, if you're putting hot filling into your pie, you might wait until it has cooled to room temperature. Also, before you add your filling, you might want to try brushing your baked pie crust with an egg white wash. Beat one white with a tablespoon of water, apply to the crust, then bake for another five to 10 minutes. This seals the crust. Another step could be to use more thickeners in your filling. Just a little additional cornstarch or flour can help to keep it from soaking into the crust. -- Heloise COOKING WHILE CAMPING Dear Heloise: My husband and two boys love camping, but after a long drive to a campsite, the last thing I want to do is cook a meal. Any hints on how to make that first meal a little easier? -- Kate V., Ephraim, Utah Kate, after a long drive with hungry kids, it's always best to have something such as cold fried chicken or sandwiches that don't require any cooking. Have that first meal prepared and ready to feed everyone before you go. -- Heloise

ADVICE | DEAR ABBY DEAR ABBY: I'm 22, and my boyfriend wants sex, but I absolutely do not. I don't feel sexual desire -- not at all. I'm asexual, but he refuses to believe me and insists my "past relations have scarred me" and that I "need to get over it." When I was 17, I was raped by my ex-boyfriend, and I admit it traumatized me. But that isn't what my problem is. This has become a serious problem for us because my boyfriend keeps pushing for it. Last year, we had sex on his birthday, but I froze up. I couldn't make myself refuse -- just as I didn't consent -- but he doesn't seem to understand that. His birthday is coming up soon and he wants to have sex again, but like I've said, I DON'T. What am I supposed to do? -NO DESIRE IN THE SOUTH DEAR NO DESIRE: Whether your lack of desire is related to the rape or you are naturally asexual is something no one can answer without a mental health professional seeing and evaluating you. However, I can unequivocally say this: If you don't want to have sex, pay attention to your feelings and don't do it. There has been some conjecture that because we live in such an oversexualized society that some individuals have become desensitized to it. However, because of your sexual history, it might benefit you to find a rape counseling center and talk to a counselor to ensure that the sexual assault didn't cause or contribute to this. DEAR ABBY: After dating a guy I'll call Charlie for two years, I

broke up with him. It was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I know I can't change anything, but now we have started talking again, and Charlie told me he had planned to propose to me the day I dumped him. We have been discussing starting over again together. He's about to go to college, and he asked me to move with him. Of course I said yes! When I asked Charlie when we'd make us official, he said he has to focus on college first. Why would he want me to move with him and hold off being official if we're going to be together in the end? -- STARTING OVER IN THE EAST DEAR STARTING OVER: The difference between being a girlfriend who goes with him to college and being Charlie's fiancee is night and day. What do you plan to do when you get there? Get a job? Go to college, too? Who is going to support you financially on this adventure? As a girlfriend, you will have far less status than if you were engaged. If he met someone else, you could be discarded like a gum wrapper along the highway of life. Please talk to your parents or some other adult relatives about this. As Charlie has made clear, he isn't ready for marriage -- or even a committed relationship. You may not want to lose him, but the surest way to do that would be to do what you are planning.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Something unexpected, especially dealing with inheritances or shared property, might prompt you to have a serious, practical discussion with a boss, parent or someone in authority. It's time to act. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Be patient with partners and close friends today, especially this morning. Don't blow your cool. Later, educational or travel plans look solid. GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Equipment breakdowns might be just one reason your work routine changes this morning. Ultimately, this will prompt you to make practical plans to ensure you're covered in the future. CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Protect your kids from accidents early this morning. Later in the day, discussions about social plans, education for your kids or exploring the arts will be positive. LEO (July 23 to Aug. 22) Something will interrupt your home routine this morning. (It might be an argument.) A serious discussion, especially with someone older, will yield positive advice. VIRGO (Aug. 23 to Sept. 22) Think twice before you speak or act early this morning to avoid regrets. Later in the day, a serious discussion will be practical and productive. Well done! LIBRA (Sept. 23 to Oct. 22) This morning, guard your money and your possessions against something unexpected. Later in the day, you might buy something long-lasting and practical.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23 to Nov. 21) You are restless this morning. (Don't do anything you will later regret.) Fortunately, a serious discussion with someone, probably older or more experienced, will bring you benefit later in the day. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22 to Dec. 21) As this day begins, you feel restless and uneasy about something. Don't worry, because as the day wears on, you feel fine. In fact, you will be quite productive working alone or behind the scenes. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 to Jan. 19) Avoid arguments with a friend or member of a group this morning. Instead, look for ways to make long-range plans and focus on your goals. You can do this. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18) Be polite with parents and bosses early this morning. Don't look for trouble. Later in the day, discussions will be productive. PISCES (Feb. 19 to March 20) Travel plans might be canceled or changed early this morning. You will find it easy to study something serious today, especially later. A teacher might help you. YOU BORN TODAY You are perceptive, disciplined and creative because you can see beyond the obvious. You stand up for your beliefs. This year it's time to think success, power and money! Oh yes, it's a year of harvest and major achievements because you are reaping the benefits of the past decade. You will taste power and leadership in all your relationships. Get going. Make it happen! Birthdate of: Angela Bassett, actress; Steve Carell, actor


A14 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

NATIONAL

Dozens trapped in homes by flash flooding, damage By Chris Carola A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

ALBANY, N.Y. — Dozens of people were trapped in their homes Tuesday by fast-rising water from flash floods caused by heavy pre-dawn downpours that drenched New York state’s Finger Lakes region, inundating roads and sweeping tons of trees, debris and a camper with a woman trapped inside into one of the lakes, authorities said. The woman was rescued by a boater, and emergency crews were rescuing about 50 people trapped in their homes and evacuating others by boat on Seneca Lake, Seneca County officials and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “It’s amazing, the devastation,” the Democrat said as he toured some of the hardest hit areas late Tuesday morning, a few hours after heavy rains

Mike Groll / AP

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, second from right, tours flooded upstate areas of Seneca and Broome counties Tuesday. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for more than a dozen counties in the Finger Lakes region and along New York's border with Pennsylvania.

turned small creeks into overflowing rivers that devastated an area known for its scenery and wineries. The Seneca County Sheriff’s Office issued a no unnecessary travel alert after roads flooded in four

towns between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. County officials declared a state of emergency in the towns of Covert, Lodi, Ovid and Romulus, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) west of Albany. The National Weather

Service said up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell in that area, prompting a flash flood alert advising residents to seek higher ground. There were no reports of fatalities or injuries. Carolynn Shangraw, co-owner with her husband of the Sunset on Seneca campground in Lodi, told The Associated Press a woman was inside her camper when flood waters swept it downhill into Seneca Lake before sunrise. Shangraw said the camper flipped over in the lake, trapping the woman inside, but she was rescued by a boater. A Seneca County emergency management official confirmed her account but couldn’t provide additional details. Several other campers

were displaced, numerous uprooted trees clogged the lake’s eastern shoreline and a campground creek that was dry Monday is now a river, Shangraw said. “Our terrain has been restructured, let’s just say that,” she said during a phone interview. “It’s gnarled mass of trees and roots in the road near my house.” Walter Rudolph and his wife Nancy had 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) of water in one of the two homes that make up their Glass Magnolia Bed and Breakfast in neighboring Covert. He said he woke up around 5 a.m. and watched water course through his property for the next hour. Rudolph said the flooding washed debris across

his lawns and tore up his driveway, and his immediate neighbors all have damage to their property. “We got whacked pretty good,” Rudolph told The Associated Press over the phone. The weather service has issued flash flood warnings for parts of the Finger Lakes and New York’s Southern Tier and bordering Pennsylvania counties, along with flash flood watches for upstate counties from central New York to New England. New York’s flooding comes a day after heavy rains triggered flash flooding in parts of central and eastern Pennsylvania on Monday, closing a heavily traveled interstate and sending water into homes in the mountainous coal regions.


THE ZAPATA TIMES | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 |

A15

BUSINESS

Stocks tumble as Turkey worries continue By Marley Jay A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

NEW YORK — Stocks fell further on Wall Street Monday as Turkey’s central bank was unable to stop a steep plunge in that nation’s currency. That’s helping to push the dollar higher, which hurts big U.S. exporters. Stocks were coming off their worst losses in a month as investors worried about financial and economic upheaval in Turkey and the possibility it will spread to other countries. Asian markets fell overnight, while European markets were slightly lower. Global markets skidded Friday as investors worried that financial distress in Turkey could affect the international

banking system and the broader economy. Many analysts say that isn’t likely, but it’s caused sharp losses for stocks. On Monday Turkey’s central bank announced measures to help that country’s banks, but the Turkish lira and Turkey’s stock market continued to slide. The lira has been tumbling as investors question whether the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can cope with problems including the weakening currency and a diplomatic spat with Washington that has resulted in higher U.S. tariffs. Erdogan has ruled out the possibility of higher interest rates, which can slow economic growth, but independent analysts say higher rates are urgently needed to stabilize the

country’s currency. Erdogan’s refusal is one of several factors worrying investors. Investors also backed away from Argentina’s stock market. The Argentinian peso sank to an all-time low amid investor caution and a local corruption scandal involving former government officials. While Turkey and Argentina face very different political situations, the currencies of both countries have tumbled to all-time lows against the dollar, partly because rising interest rates in the U.S. lure investors to take money out of their markets and move it to the U.S. The U.S. dollar is the strongest it’s been in more than a year, which could eventually create problems for U.S. companies that make a lot of sales

overseas. Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, said the dollar has strengthened because economic growth has picked up and other regions aren’t doing as well. “The U.S. is a relative beacon of strength with stable to improving economy. That suggests a stronger dollar,” he said. The S&P 500 index lost 11.35 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,821.93 after a drop of 0.7 percent Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 125.44 points, or 0.5 percent, to 25,187.70. Energy and industrial companies and basic materials companies took some of the worst losses. Technology companies held up better.

The Nasdaq composite fell 19.40 points, or 0.2 percent, to 7,819.71. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks sank 11.49 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,675.32. Investors are worried about a confluence of factors including Turkey’s reliance on foreign loans, which become more difficult to repay when the country’s currency is plunging. Also, a diplomatic spat with the U.S. is resulting in sharply higher tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum. After a yearlong stretch where much of the global economy was speeding up together and stocks were rising, the recent losses for Turkey and Argentina have caused emerging market indexes to fall out of favor.

Google tracks your movements, like it or not By Ryan Nakashima ASSOCIATED PRE SS Justin Kaneps / The New York Times

The Tesla Model 3 assembly line is shown at a factory in Fremont, California. Elon Musk, Teslas CEO, said he met with Saudi sovereign wealth fund representatives who expressed an eagerness to help him take the company private.

Musk eyes Saudi money to take Tesla private By Tom Krisher A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS

DETROIT — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund would be the main source of money for Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s grand plan to take the company private, but the deal isn’t done yet, Musk disclosed in a blog on Monday. The fund approached Musk about going private multiple times during the past two years, and Musk says he left a July 31 meeting with no question that the deal could be closed. That’s why he tweeted on Aug. 7 that he had “funding secured” to take the company private. It is that phrase that may lead to trouble for Musk. If the tweet is deemed by regulators to be a factual statement, and it was taken as such by investors who drove shares up 11 percent on that day, Musk could be at risk for securities fraud if it wasn’t entirely true. Already there are reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Musk’s tweet. Funding for the deal would

come from the ultraconservative kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. Founded in 1971, the fund has some $250 billion in investments across the world, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, based in Las Vegas. Among its holdings include a $3.5 billion stake in the ride-sharing app Uber. A fund spokesman declined to comment Monday night in Riyadh. Musk’s blog , posted before the markets opened Monday, didn’t impress investors much. Shares fell $3.10 to $352.39 in midday trading. Under his proposal, only investors who don’t want to remain with a private company would be paid, and funding for the deal would come from Tesla stock, not debt. Musk wrote that he expects about one-third of shareholders to take an offer of $420 per share, making the buyouts worth roughly $23.6 billion. Presumably the wealth fund and perhaps other investors would put up the money to buy the shares and would be repaid in Tesla equity.

SAN FRANCISCO — Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so. Computer-science researchers at Princeton confirmed these findings at the AP’s request. For the most part, Google is upfront about asking permission to use your location information. An app like Google Maps will remind you to allow access to location if you use it for navigating. If you agree to let it record your location over time, Google Maps will display that history for you in a “timeline” that maps out your daily movements. Storing your minute-byminute travels carries privacy risks and has been used by police to determine the location of suspects — such as a warrant that police in Raleigh, North Carolina, served on Google last year to find devices near a murder scene. So the company lets you “pause” a setting called Location History. Google says that will prevent the company from remembering where you’ve been. Google’s support page on the subject states: “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.” That isn’t true. Even with Location History paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location

Seth Wenig / AP

A mobile phone displays a user's travels in New York. Google records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.

data without asking. (It’s possible, although laborious, to delete it .) For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like “chocolate chip cookies,” or “kids science kits,” pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account. The privacy issue affects some two billion users of devices that run Google’s Android operating software and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users who rely on Google for maps or search. Storing location data in violation of a user’s preferences is wrong, said Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist and former chief technologist for the Federal Communications Commission’s enforce-

ment bureau. A researcher from Mayer’s lab confirmed the AP’s findings on multiple Android devices; the AP conducted its own tests on several iPhones that found the same behavior. “If you’re going to allow users to turn off something called ‘Location History,’ then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off,” Mayer said. “That seems like a pretty straightforward position to have.” Google says it is being perfectly clear. “There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people’s experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through devicelevel Location Services,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to the AP. “We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.”


A16 | Wednesday, August 15, 2018 | THE ZAPATA TIMES

FROM THE COVER HEALTH From page A1

Border Patrol / Courtesy photo

Border Patrol agents seized 38 bundles of marijuana with a value of $346,654. Three people were arrested.

SEIZURE From page A1

To report suspicious activity such as alien and/or drug smuggling, download the “USBP Laredo Sector” App or contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll-free at 1-800-343-1994.

FISHING From page A1

From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., backpacks and awards will be distributed. Children must be between the ages of 3 to 12 in order to participate and they must be accompanied by their parent/ guardian during the entire tournament. Children will receive a backpack, school supplies, food and refreshments, fishing rod, bait and Tshorts. The prizes are $100 for first place, $75 for second and $50 for third.

ance plans, the center also serves the uninsured on a sliding scale based on income and family size. The five Gateway clinics servicing the area have over 30,000 registered patients with an estimated 96,000 visits occurring last year, said Elmo Lopez Jr., Gateway Community Health Center CEO. Funds were also granted to host a medical residency program at the center in partnership with the University of Incarnate Word. The reason why bringing a residency program to Laredo is important, Cuellar said, is that increases the likelihood of medical students staying here after they complete the residency. Laredo and the South Texas region are medically underserved areas and are experiencing a shortage of medical professionals, said Mara Lopez, Gateway Community Health Center spokesperson. For the area to be properly served, “We would need 120 family medicine physicians and we only have 30 in Laredo,” Lopez said.

Gateway Community Health Center, which received $4,269,405 and serves Zapata County, is a major provider for the uninsured in the area. More than 47 percent of Zapata County’s residents do not have health insurance. Serving Children and Adults in Need will receive $2,125,000 over the next five years to relaunch the Border Reentry and Community Integration Program. The program, which ended several years ago due to a lack of funding, is now set to serve 350 Webb County residents. The program will provide support services and substance abuse treatment for men and women returning to the community following incarceration. SCAN staff coordinates closely with the Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies to connect recently released individuals to the program, said U.S. Rep. Henry

Cuellar. Cuellar was on hand Tuesday at Gateway Community Health Center to announce the funds awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Cuellar referred to a 2017 report conducted by the Texas Legislative Budget Board which states that 46 percent of individuals released from prison are rearrested. About 36 percent are re-convicted, and 21 percent are incarcerated/re-incarcerated. Program director Enrique Manrique said the services provided are essential for their integration back into the community. The program also provides counseling and case management and support in finding employment, Manrique said. “It’s hard enough simply getting a job, but if you are getting out of prison and then have the stigma of addiction, it’s even more difficult,” Manrique said. He said they are developing an insurance program which they can offer to employers that may be hesitant to hire a person with a criminal record.


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