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WASHINGTON — Re-publican House membersand senators slammed Sen-ate Democrats Tuesday forrefusing to vote on a billpassed by the House totoughen immigration laws.

At a Capitol Hill pressconference, Sen. Ted Cruz,

R-Texas, and other Texaslawmakers also criticizedPresident Barack Obamafor delaying his executiveaction on immigration un-til after the November mid-term elections.

“House representativesare standing up and provid-ing strong, principled lead-ership to address the (im-migration) crisis facing the

nation while (Senate Major-ity Leader Harry) Reid andSenate Democrats do noth-ing,” Cruz said. “We cannotsolve the crisis at the bor-der until we end PresidentObama’s antics.”

The House bill, spon-sored by Rep. MarshaBlackburn, R-Tenn., wouldlimit the Obama adminis-tration’s Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals pro-gram, which temporarilyholds up deportation ofthose who came to theUnited States illegally be-fore age 16.

Cruz said “amnesty” forunauthorized immigrantsis not the solution to pro-tecting unaccompaniedchildren crossing the U.S.-Mexico border against vic-

timization and sexual as-sault.

“Amnesty is not compas-sionate,” Cruz said. “It’slawless, inhumane, andwrong.” Reid should “allowthe Senate to do its job andshow up and schedule avote,” Cruz said.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-SanAntonio, argued that grant-ing amnesty to unauthor-

ized immigrants is not fa-vored by a majority ofAmericans and that is thereason Obama is forgoingany action until after Nov.4.

“Delaying administrativeamnesty is dodging whatthe voters feel on ElectionDay,” said Smith, who rep-

IMMIGRATION

Action on bill criticizedBy LISA HAGEN

HEARST NEWSPAPERS

See IMMIGRATION PAGE 10A

NEW YORK — Airstrikes in Iraq, ongoingunrest in Syria and thebeheadings of two Ameri-can journalists are cast-ing a long shadow overthe 13th anniversary ofthe Sept. 11 attacks.

While there is no spe-cific threat against NewYork ahead of the Thurs-day commemoration, therising power of disparatemilitant groups aroundthe world presents themost complex terrorismdanger since the twintowers were destroyed,New York intelligence of-ficials said this week.

“It is layer upon layerupon layer — not all com-ing from the same placeor ideology,” said JohnMiller, the New York Po-lice Department’s deputycommissioner of intelli-gence and counterterror-ism.

That differs from fiveyears ago, when the riskwas chiefly from al-Qaida,Miller said. Now, he said,the threat is also coming

from the well-funded,highly sophisticated“mass marketing of ter-rorism” — affiliategroups, foreign fighters,uprising militants and theidea of “al-Qaida-ism.”

“When you look at thelevel of sophistication, theamount of slickness ap-plied to their video pro-duction, the amount ofthought that goes into cre-ating a narrative,” hesaid, “They’re doing thesame kind of thing aswe’ve seen in commercialpublishing or in the ad in-dustry.”

New York remains thetop target, and that makespreparing for big events,including the U.S. Opentennis tournament, theUnited Nations GeneralAssembly and the Sept. 11commemoration, thatmuch more critical, offi-cials said. Plus, PresidentBarack Obama plans thisweek to outline an ex-panded U.S. campaignagainst militants in Iraqand Syria following thebeheadings of American

SEPT. 11

NYPD: Terrorthreat the

most complexBy COLLEEN LONGASSOCIATED PRESS

See THREAT PAGE 10A

IRVING, Texas — BrianBoone is practicing his sillyvoice. The 39-year-old sol-dier, who lost his lower leftleg while serving in Afghan-

istan, looks down at Brindle,a 2-year-old Labrador-goldenretriever mix — and highlytrained service dog.

“Good boy,” says Boone.Sarah Koch, Brindle’s train-er, looks on. “I want you toget a little silly with your

praise,” she says. Boonetries again. “Gooooooodbooooooooy,” he coos. Brin-dle looks up with doe eyesat his new master and looksall too pleased with himself.

Brindle and Boone areone of four teams united

through a partnership be-tween Canine Companionsfor Independence and Bay-lor Scott and White Healthin the Dallas suburb of Irv-ing. They believe it’s the

CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE/BAYLOR SCOTT AND WHITE HEALTH

A MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Brian Boone, a 39-year-old soldier, left, who lost his lower left leg while serving in Afghanistan in 2011, holds the leash to Brindle, his two-year-old Labrador-golden retriever mix at Home Depot in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Photo by David Woo/The Dallas Morning News | AP

Pet project soothes those with disabilitiesBy SEEMA YASMIN

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

See BEST FRIEND PAGE 10A

DALLAS — A NorthTexas woman found guiltyby reason of insanity ofstrangling her two chil-dren must remain at astate mental hospital fortreatment unless a judge

approves her discharge.Saiqa Akhter, 34, killed

her two special-needs chil-dren because she wanted“normal kids,” the DallasMorning News reported.The Irving woman’s 5-year-old son, Zain, had se-vere speech problems and

her 2-year-old daughter,Faryaal, was developmen-tally delayed, according torelatives.

Medical experts testi-fied Monday that Akhterwas diagnosed as schizo-phrenic and insane whenher children were at-

tacked and died in July2010. She believed she wassaving them, psychologistKristi Compton said.

Akhter “a woman bat-tling a mental illness thatshe grew up not under-standing,” Compton said.

Akhter told a 911 oper-

ator that she strangled thechildren because theywere a burden, saying, “Iwant normal kids.”

She had planned to killher children weeks beforeshe strangled them, spe-cial prosecutor NancyMulder said. Akhter had

previously searched on-line how to kill childrenand what amount of bath-room cleaner is fatal.

“They don’t drink it, sothere’s a wire there so Ijust grabbed their neck

DALLAS, TEXAS

Mom found not guilty in strangling of 2 kidsASSOCIATED PRESS

See MOM PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Wednesday, Sept. 1021st annual Logistics & Manu-

facturing Symposium. Texas A&M Inter-national University. Contact the LaredoDevelopment Foundation at 800-820-0564, 722-0563 or ldfinfo@ldfon-line.org.

Thursday, Sept. 11Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub meeting. 1:15 to 5 p.m. LaredoCountry Club. Contact Beverly Cantu at727-0589.

The Laredo Area Retired SchoolEmployees Association meeting. 11 a.m.to 1 p.m. Blessed Sacrament ParishHall. Main Focus will be the dedicationfor the yearbook

Vidal M. Treviño School of Com-munications and Fine Arts will observethe anniversary of the 9/11 attacks atSt. Peter’s Plaza. Guest speaker is La-redo Mayor Raul Salinas. 9:30 a.m to10:45 a.m. St. Peter’s Plaza. Contact273-7800.

21st annual Logistics & Manu-facturing Symposium. Texas A&M Inter-national University. Contact the LaredoDevelopment Foundation at 800-820-0564, 722-0563 or ldfinfo@ldfon-line.org.

Saturday, Sept. 13South Texas Collectors Expo. 10

a.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Energy Arena.Celebrities, comic book artists, cos-players, vendors and more. Tickets onsale at LEA box office and Ticketmas-ter.com. Visit southtexascollectorsexpo-.com or email info@stcelaredo.com.

Tuesday, Sept. 16Bereavement Program grief sup-

port group. “Grief Journey: Using Cre-ative Arts to Heal and Remember.” 6p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Laredo PublicLibrary, contact Michelle Ramirez 210-567-0528.

Thursday, Sept. 18Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub meeting. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Lare-do Country Club. Contact Beverly Can-tu at 727-0589.

Spanish Club Meeting. 5:00 p.m.to 6:00 p.m. Laredo Public Library-Cal-ton. Sylvia Reash 763-1810

Saturday, Sept. 20Mercy Day with the Sisters of

Mercy. 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mass at Christthe King Church. Contact Rosanne Pa-lacios at rosanne.palacios@mercy.net.

Thursday, Sept. 25Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Villa de San Agustin de LaredoGenealogical Society meeting. 3 p.m.to 5 p.m. St. John Newmann Church,Parish Hall. Presentation of “Peru andthe Legacy of the Incas,” by SylviaReasch. Contact Sanjuanita Martinez-Hunter at 722-3497.

Friday, Sept. 26Los Amigos Duplicate Bridge

Club will meet at the Laredo CountryClub from 1:15 to 5 p.m. Contact Be-verly Cantu at 727-0589.

Monday, Sept. 29Monthly meeting of Laredo Par-

kinson’s Disease Support Group. 6:30p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Laredo Medical Cen-ter, Tower B, First Floor CommunityCenter. Patients, caregivers and familymembers invited. Free info pamphletsavailable in Spanish and English. CallRichard Renner (English) at 645-8649or Juan Gonzalez (Spanish) at 237-0666.

Thursday, Oct. 2Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

(Submit calendar items at lmton-line.com/calendar/submit or by email-ing editorial@lmtonline.com with theevent’s name, date and time, locationand purpose and contact informationfor a representative. Items will run asspace is available.)

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Sep-tember 10, the 253rd day of2014. There are 112 days left inthe year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On September 10, 1939, Can-ada declared war on Germany.

On this date:In 1608, John Smith was

elected president of the James-town colony council in Virgin-ia.

In 1813, an American navalforce commanded by Oliver H.Perry defeated the British inthe Battle of Lake Erie duringthe War of 1812. (Afterward,Perry sent out the message,“We have met the enemy andthey are ours.”)

In 1914, movie director Rob-ert Wise (“West Side Story”;“The Sound of Music”) wasborn in Winchester, Indiana.

In 1919, New York City wel-comed home Gen. John J.Pershing and 25,000 soldierswho’d served in the U.S. FirstDivision during World War I.

In 1935, Sen. Huey P. Longdied in Baton Rouge two daysafter being shot in the Louisia-na state Capitol, allegedly byDr. Carl Weiss.

In 1945, Vidkun Quislingwas sentenced to death in Nor-way for collaborating with theNazis (he was executed by fir-ing squad in October 1945).

In 1955, the long-runningTV Western series “Guns-moke,” starring James Arnessas Marshal Matt Dillon, pre-miered on CBS television.

In 1979, four Puerto Ricannationalists imprisoned for a1954 attack on the U.S. Houseof Representatives and a 1950attempt on the life of Presi-dent Harry S. Truman werefreed from prison after beinggranted clemency by PresidentJimmy Carter.

In 1994, the prison drama“The Shawshank Redemp-tion,” starring Tim Robbinsand Morgan Freeman, pre-miered at the Toronto Interna-tional Film Festival.

Ten years ago: CBS Newsvigorously defended its reportabout President George W.Bush’s Air National Guardservice, with anchor DanRather saying broadcast me-mos questioned by forensic ex-perts came from “what weconsider to be solid sources.”

Five years ago: PresidentBarack Obama said he’d ac-cepted Republican Rep. JoeWilson’s apology for shouting“You lie!” during the presi-dent’s health-care speech toCongress.

One year ago: An Indiancourt convicted four men inthe fatal gang rape of a youngwoman on a moving New Del-hi bus. (The four were latersentenced to death.)

Today’s Birthdays: WorldGolf Hall of Famer ArnoldPalmer is 85. Actor Philip Bak-er Hall is 83. Actor Greg Mul-lavey is 81. Country singerTommy Overstreet is 77. Jazzvibraphonist Roy Ayers is 74.Singer Danny Hutton (ThreeDog Night) is 72. Singer JoseFeliciano is 69. Actor Tom Li-gon is 69. Actress Judy Geesonis 66. Former Canadian firstlady Margaret Trudeau is 66.Political commentator BillO’Reilly is 65. Rock musicianJoe Perry (Aerosmith) is 64.Actress Amy Irving is 61.Country singer Rosie Flores is58. Actress Kate Burton is 57.Movie director Chris Colum-bus is 56. Actor Colin Firth is54. Rock singer-musician Da-vid Lowery (Cracker) is 54.

Thought for Today:“There are years that askquestions and years that an-swer.” — Zora Neale Hurston,American author (1891-1960).

TODAY IN HISTORY

DALLAS — Some Texas children are find-ing their teachers are moving at a fasterpace after a shift in math test standards hasforced educators to cover more ground.

The Dallas Morning News reported Satur-day that the changes moved some contentthat previously was covered in higher gradesto lower grades. And students in uppergrades will have to get up to speed with con-tent that they should’ve covered in previousyears under the new standards.

For instance, using a protractor to mea-sure an angle was a skill learned at a sixth-grade level. Now students in fourth gradewill learn to do it. Therefore, children cur-rently in fifth and sixth grade are assumedto know how to use it, even if they did notcover it in previous years.

Last year’s State of Texas Assessments ofAcademic Readiness tests results showedthat 9 percent of fifth-graders and 11 percentof eighth-graders did not pass the tests theyneeded to get automatic promotion.

A chart produced by the Richardson Inde-pendent School District shows that 46 per-cent of fifth grade students’ curriculum re-mained the same, 28 percent was moveddown from the sixth and seventh grade and26 percent is new content.

Children will also be required to covermore content on financial literacy since kin-dergarten.

Math standards for higher grades won’tchange until next fall.

The changes have been coming since 2011,when the Texas Education Agency recom-mended major shifts to meet college and ca-reer readiness.

AROUND TEXAS

Norvis Boodram prepares his classroom during the first day of school at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School on Monday,Aug. 26 in Houston. Some Texas children are finding their teachers are moving at a faster pace after a shift in math teststandards has forced educators to cover more ground.

Photo by Cody Duty/Houston Chronicle

New math standardsASSOCIATED PRESS

Man dies in Austin-areashootout with police, FBI

WELLS BRANCH — Texas au-thorities say police fatally shot abank robbery suspect whoopened fire on officers and FBIagents.

Acevedo says two Austin offi-cers and one Round Rock officershot the man, later identified as24-year-old Tyler Caraway. Hewas taken to an area hospitalwhere he later died.

Police: Janitor steals fromHouston cheerleaders

HOUSTON — A Texas janitorhas been arrested after policesay he stole credit cards and cell-phones from cheerleaders at theUniversity of Houston’s new sta-dium.

University police Lt. Bret Col-lier says 27-year-old Jacob LeeBryant has been charged withtheft and credit card abuse. Hesays the theft happened on Aug.28, the day before the universi-ty’s first football game.

Postal carrier notindicted over dog deathFORT WORTH — A grand ju-

ry has declined to indict a NorthTexas mail carrier charged withanimal cruelty after a pet dog onhis route was injured and had tobe euthanized.

Ricky Eugene Jackson, 48, wascharged after a May 17 incidentinvolving a Yorkshire terrier. Po-lice said the dog was not on aleash. The owner had said hispet apparently wandered acrossthe street, began howling and hebelieves the mail carrier hit thedog with a rock.

Fort Bliss increasessecurity procedures

FORT BLISS — The Army isramping up security at FortBliss, its sprawling West Texaspost near the US-Mexico border.

The move comes a week afterkey lawmakers warned that theUnited States is being eyed as atarget by militants of the groupthat calls itself the Islamic State.

Forest Service returns firesuppression funds

COLLEGE STATION — TheTexas A&M Forest Service is re-turning more than $43 million infire suppression funds to thestate after getting reimburse-ments.

The service said the surpluswas generated after the agencyworked with the other agenciestoget reimbursements related to di-saster declarations.

Meat-free Monday lunchesdraws ire from officialAUSTIN — The state’s agricul-

ture commissioner says he’s notpleased with a school districtthat’s started a pilot programaimed at encouraging kids to gowithout eating meat duringlunch once a week.

John Crowley heads childhoodnutrition services for the dis-trict. He says the program is toencourage healthy and environ-mentally conscientious eating.

— Compiled from AP reports

FBI scrutinizes bodyprograms in 3 states

SALEM, Ore. — The FBI is in-vestigating programs in at leastthree states that collect humanbodies donated for scientific re-search, medical training and oth-er purposes.

An FBI official in Detroit con-firmed that the bureau is lookingat an Oregon research center. In-vestigators also have raided facil-ities in Michigan and Arizona.

Authorities won’t go into de-tail about what they’re examin-ing.

Panel of global leadersurges drug policy overhaul

NEW YORK — A 21-memberinternational panel is calling fora global overhaul of drug poli-cies, saying the traditional tac-tics of the “war on drugs” havefailed.

In a report released Tuesday,the Global Commission on Drug

Policy called for legalizing somedrugs such as marijuana, endingincarceration for drug use andpossession, and putting greateremphasis on protecting publichealth.

The report pointed to risingdrug production and use, despite

efforts to eradicate illicit crops,jail offenders and seize largequantities of illegal narcotics.

The commission includes for-mer U.N. Secretary-General KofiAnnan and the former presi-dents of Brazil and Colombia.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

A couple sits on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River as the full moon rises inthe distance Monday in Kansas City, Mo. Monday night’s full moon, also known asa Harvest Moon, will be the third and final "supermoon" of 2014.

Photo by Charlie Riedel | AP

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

FORT WORTH — TexasDemocratic gubernatorialcandidate Wendy Davissaid revealing in a memoirthat she terminated a preg-nancy in which the fetushad developed a severebrain abnormality was notmeant to boost her cam-paign in its final stretch,but rather to help familiesfacing a similar choice.

The 1996 abortion was “adeeply profound part of mypersonal story,” and read-ing about other families’experiences at the time“helped tremendously,” Da-vis told The AssociatedPress on Monday duringthe first stop of her booktour.

Davis’ revelations in thememoir, “Forgetting to beAfraid,” could help or hin-der a candidate who madeher name nationally, as astate senator from FortWorth, for a 13-hour filibus-

ter over a tough new stateabortion law. During the fil-ibuster, she had describedending an earlier ectopicpregnancy, in which an em-bryo implants outside theuterus.

The bill required doctorswho perform abortions to

obtain admitting privilegesat nearby hospitals andmandated that clinics up-grade facilities to hospital-level operating standards.A federal judge in Austinlast month blocked a por-tion of the law that wouldhave left Texas with only

seven abortion facilitiesstatewide.

Davis’ Republican oppo-nent, Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott, asked the Tex-as Ethics CommissionMonday to decide on the le-gality of Davis’ book-pro-motion activities duringthe campaign. His requestasks for “clarification re-garding whether the bookpublisher’s promotional ad-vertising activities consti-tute in-kind contributions,”according to a news re-lease.

Davis supporters at acampaign rally in Dallasover the weekend applaud-ed her for revealing theabortion.

“Having that kind of per-sonal story around what isa divisive issue will help,”said 35-year-old campaignvolunteer Abigail Self.

Davis’ ex-husband, JeffDavis, said Monday theaborted fetus had been“gravely ill,” but declinedto comment further.

Davis: Book not to aid bidBy EMILY SCHMALLASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis presentsher new education policy during a stop at Palo Alto College in SanAntonio on Tuesday, Aug. 26.

Photo by Eric Gay/file | AP

AUSTIN — Lawyers fortwo same-sex couples chal-lenging Texas’ gay mar-riage ban are refutingstate claims the prohib-ition promotes raisingchildren in “stable, lastingrelationships,” arguing inan appeals brief Tuesdaythat it serves no legitimatestate interest.

The 88-page filing withthe 5th U.S. Circuit Courtof Appeals says the ban de-nies gay couples’ childrenthe “protection and stabil-ity” afforded if their par-ents were allowed to mar-ry. It answers a July briefby Texas Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott’s office, whichclaimed the ban was con-stitutionally protectingsince it promoted childrearing by couples whoserelationships were strongand stable, and thus morelikely to endure.

Texas voters over-whelmingly approved a2005 state constitutionalamendment banning gaymarriage. In February, U.S.District Judge OrlandoGarcia declared it uncon-stitutional but allowed theban to remain in effectpending appeal.

Abbott, the front-runnerto be elected Texas gover-nor in November, arguedin his earlier brief thatTexas voters have the rightunder the U.S. Constitu-tion’s equal protectionclause, the same amend-ment often cited by banopponents, to define mar-riage in a way that bestsupports children.

Mark Pharriss, a long-time friend of Abbott’s, isamong those suing to over-turn the ban, along with

his partner. Their brief ar-gued that it hurts childrenof gay parents.

“Far from encouraginga stable environment forchild rearing,” the ban“denies children of same-sex parents the protectionsand stability they wouldenjoy if their parents couldmarry,” it said.

The brief also calledTexas’ past assertions thatthe ban encouraged re-sponsible procreation “il-logical” as part of a largerargument that there’s “nological relationship” be-tween the ban and a “legit-imate state interest.”

“Even accepting pro-creation as a legitimatestate interest, it defies log-ic and the undisputed evi-dence to claim that pre-venting lesbians and gaymen from marrying willencourage heterosexualmarriage or, conversely,that allowing lesbians andgay men to marry will dis-courage heterosexual mar-riage,” the brief states.

Attorneys for thosechallenging the ban saythey are hoping both sideswill be allowed to presentoral arguments before theNew Orleans-based appealscourt — but that a date forthose has yet to be set.

Gay marriage propo-nents have won more than20 legal decisions aroundthe country since the U.S.Supreme Court struckdown part of the federalDefense of Marriage Actlast year, though most areunder appeal. Lawsuitschallenging such banshave been filed in all 31states that prohibitedsame-sex marriage, while19 states and the Districtof Columbia allow suchmarriages.

Lawyers:Ban hurtschildren

By WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Attorneysfor a Texas death row in-mate scheduled for execu-tion today for a double slay-ing in Houston alleged in afederal lawsuit the sedativeintended for his lethal in-jection is expired and itsuse could cause him uncon-stitutionally “torturous”pain.

Willie Trottie, 45, facedexecution for the 1993shooting deaths of his es-tranged common-law wife,Barbara Canada, 24, andher brother, Titus, 28, attheir home. He would beeighth Texas prisoner exe-cuted this year.

State lawyers argued thepentobarbital planned forTrottie was effectivethrough the end of this

month. The lawsuit, reject-ed by a federal judge inHouston and before the 5thU.S. Circuit Court of Ap-peals on Tuesday, wasmerely another attempt toforce Texas prison officialsto reveal its drug provider,they said.

Texas, like several otherstates with capital punish-ment, has addressed the re-fusal by mainstream drugcompanies to sell drugs forexecutions by turning tocompounding pharmacies,which operate under lessstringent supervision. Alsolike some other death pen-alty states, the Texas De-partment of Criminal Jus-tice has refused to identifyits supplier, a practice thecourts so far have upheld.

Maurie Levin, the leadattorney for the drug law-suit, said the pentobarbital

for Trottie would comefrom a supply Texas ob-tained earlier this year andthat scientific literature oncompounded drugs sug-gests they lose effectivenessafter a week or a month de-pending on factors likestorage and sterility.

“All they’re saying is:Take our word for it —Sept. 30,” Levin said, call-ing Texas prison officials“untrustworthy.”

The lawsuit sought acourt order identifying thedrug source, the com-pounding date, how it wastransported and how it’sbeen stored, and a reprievefor Trottie so the legalityand constitutionality of theprocess can be adjudicated.

The arguments were“nothing more than rankspeculation,” assistant Tex-as Attorney General Fre-

dericka Sargent said in acourt filing.

The death penalty hascome under scrutiny sinceexecutions recently wentawry in Oklahoma and Ari-zona, states that use drugcombinations for capitalpunishment. Texas uses on-ly pentobarbital.

“Whatever happened inthose states has nothing todo with what happens inTexas,” Sargent said.

At least one other appealto halt Trottie’s punish-ment was headed to theU.S. Supreme Court afterthe 5th Circuit rejected ar-guments from another le-gal team that argued de-fense lawyers at Trottie’strial were deficient for notadequately addressing hisassertion that Titus Cana-da’s death was in self-de-fense.

Suit makes drug argumentBy MICHAEL GRACZYK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

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

I still remember it per-fectly, more than 10 yearslater. It’s terrifying to bestopped in your car andapproached by first oneand then two more whitepolice officers with theirhands resting on theirholstered guns. I kept myhands in plain sight onthe wheel while they in-spected my license andregistration. On secondthought, I recall thinkingduring the 15-minutestop, perhaps the scruffysweats and baseball capthat were perfect for myspin class weren’t thebest choices when you’reAfrican American andyou’ve just bought a redcar. (Why didn’t I pickthe gray Camry?) I wasgiven a written warningabout running a stop signthat I’d actually stoppedat, but I knew better thanto argue.

“Forty-five percent ofblacks say they have ex-perienced racial discrimi-nation by the police atsome point in their lives;virtually no whites saythey have,” according toa recent New YorkTimes/CBS News nation-wide poll. (I’m shockedthe 45 percent figure isn’thigher, considering thestories African Ameri-cans tell each other allthe time.) So when Ishare the trauma of thatparticular incident andso many like it — fraughtinteractions that mayhave involved a son(stopped driving a nicecar in our nice neighbor-hood), nephew or friend— I expect, first of all,that I will be believed.

Yet whites are, fre-quently, disappointingly,incredulous. Very often a“friend’s” reaction thatgoes something like this:“I don’t think a police of-ficer would stop anyonefor no reason at all.” Or:“You must have donesomething suspicious.”Or my favorite: “If youhaven’t done anythingwrong, you don’t haveanything to worryabout.” I am not somechild coming home withsome tall tale, and I amcertainly not a delusionalliar.

I don’t expect much.Just nodding and ac-knowledging my wordswould be enough. In-stead, jumping in to ex-plain what must havereally happened before Ican finish a sentencemeans that — whetheryou realize it or not —you’ve shattered an im-portant bond and trav-eled the distance fromfriend to acquaintance. Ismile, make a mentalnote, and change the sub-ject, realizing that withthis person, topics fromnow on will be limited torating entrées at the lat-est neighborhood bistroor judging whether thenew Scorsese film showsthe master back in topform.

In the national conver-sation about race, espe-cially after a well-pub-licized confrontation likethe one in Ferguson thissummer, different sidesdon’t need to agree. Butthey do have to acceptthat the other side isspeaking sincerely andfrom the heart. Andwhites need to believeblacks when we say whatwe’ve been through.

The discussions I’mtalking about are thosethat have the potential tobe most effective — onesthat happen naturally,

among people of differentraces who already inter-act with an easy rapport:the women who sweat to-gether at the gym andcompare aches and pains,the moms and dads at thePTA with questionsabout the new coach,neighbors exchangingtips on backyard gardens.It’s people who alreadyshare the ordinary, some-time mundane details oflife. From there, it shouldbe easy for one side togive the other the benefitof the doubt. (Yes, Amer-ica is deeply segregated,but most people do haveco-workers of differentraces; there are opportu-nities for interaction.)

That’s why it’s espe-cially disappointing whensome of the folks whosekids have enjoyed home-made blueberry pie atmy kitchen table are theones who greet my sto-ries with blank stares orworse, excuses. Whenthey deny my life experi-ence, I know the friend-ship has its boundaries.These are educated peo-ple, but I wonder, werethey asleep during histo-ry class or did they neverread a book about thecomplicated history ofAmerica that makes Fer-guson about much morethan one 18-year-old, onepoliceman, and one sub-urban community?

I don’t get upset whena white friend recounts abad interaction he or shehas had with a black per-son to explain his or herview of me as an excep-tion — much. Though Imight recommend thatfriend get out more. APublic Religion ResearchInstitute survey showsthat the social networksof whites are more than90 percent white, themost homogeneous ofany group. I might alsoask if judging groupsrather than individuals isany way to live life or anefficient way to enforcethe law, since 90 percentof those stopped in NewYork City’s stop-and-friskroutine resulted in noth-ing but aggrieved citi-zens.

Americans will neverhave a forthright conver-sation on race unless peo-ple listen with openminds. They have to be-lieve, and be willing tolearn. And most of all,they need an empatheticimagination. “Whenasked whether policeforces should reflect theracial makeup of thecommunities they serve,nearly six in 10 blackssay yes; whites are aboutevenly divided,” wrotethe Times. Would whitesfeel comfortable living ina predominantly whitecommunity policed by anoverwhelmingly blackforce? I’ve been therewhen guests at a neigh-borhood holiday partycongratulate themselveson living in an integratedcommunity — and I’mthe only black guest. Re-verse the numbers andreflect; that’s all I ask.

Is this conversation —one that depends on ra-cial trust — even possi-ble? Given the episodesI’ve just described, youmay wonder that I haveany white friends at all. Ido. Amid the more com-mon chats about food andmovies, we have those ra-cial conversations,change each other minds,and agree to disagree. Imarried one of them. Ourstyles are completely dif-ferent, but we respecteach other’s experiencesand opinions.

COMMENTARY

Discussionabout racialfriendship

By MARY C. CURTISTHE WASHINGTON POST

OTHER VIEWS

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

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

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

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-call-

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Congress begins an ab-breviated session this weekfollowing the August recess,so let’s begin with the goodnews, since there’s so littleof it from Capitol Hill thesedays: The threat of yet an-other government shut-down, mercifully, appears tobe off the table for now.

Some Republicans hadtalked of a possible shut-down at the end of the fiscalyear on Sept. 30. Most ofthat had to do with the pres-ident potentially going over-board on immigration andusing his executive author-ity to halt deportations. Re-publicans would be so fu-rious, some said, that theywould retaliate by refusingto fund the government.

Speaker John Boehnershot down that idea, howev-er, saying the House willtake up a stop-gap fundingbill in this month that

keeps the federal govern-ment open until early De-cember. No, members won’tapprove an actual budgetfor the entire fiscal year, asresponsible lawmakers usedto do — that would be ask-ing too much from this Con-gress — but at this point apublic weary of congres-sional theatrics will proba-bly settle for this piecemealapproach.

And, for good measure,the threat made earlier thissummer by some fringemembers to impeach thepresident is also not hap-pening. “We have no plansto impeach the president,”Mr. Boehner conceded lastmonth. It almost makes thespeaker and the members ofhis caucus sound like thevoice of reason.

Actually, the stop-gapfunding measure for fiscalyear 2015 is the only "mustpass" piece of legislationfacing Congress in the rela-

tively few days they’ll bemeeting before the pre-elec-tion recess (to be followedby the year-end holiday re-cess after a probable lame-duck session). But thatdoesn’t mean there’s noth-ing useful they can do ifthey overcome their cus-tomary gridlock.

The most important, forregions that thrive on inter-national trade, is reauthori-zation of the agency thatfunds imports and exports.The loans and loan guaran-tees made by the Export-Im-port Bank to foreign cus-tomers of American expor-ters are vital to the nationaleconomy — especially toglobal gateways like Miamiand South Florida.

Critics call it corporatewelfare, but bank figuresshow that 90 percent of itstransactions benefit smallbusinesses. The agencybacked $7 billion of exportsales in Florida in fiscal

2013, including $1.5 billionin South Florida. And thebank earns money for tax-payers: Last year, it reducedthe deficit by $1 billion fromthe fees and interest it re-ceived.

This should be a no-brainer. If Congress wantsto tinker with the agency’srules and guidelines, theycan debate changes, buteliminating the bank alto-gether would amount to leg-islative malpractice.

Keeping the bank alive isone of the priorities, themost urgent, we believe, onSenate Majority LeaderHarry Reid’s agenda.

Among the others is anincrease in the federal mini-mum wage to $10.10 anhour.

Republican House Major-ity Leader Kevin McCarthy,meanwhile, has said hiscaucus will push for approv-al of the Keystone XL pipe-line, among other projects.

EDITORIAL

Don’t expect much actionTHE MIAMI HERALD

What is most disturbingabout the emergence Mon-day of a video showing for-mer Baltimore Ravens play-er Ray Rice punching outhis future wife in an Atlan-tic City elevator in Febru-ary is what it says about so-ciety’s willingness to kid it-self about — and look awayfrom — domestic violence.

What had taken place in-side the elevator had al-ready been evident from anearlier video, which showed

Rice dragging the limp bodyof the woman, Janay Palm-er, from the elevator. Butthat seemed of little con-cern to Baltimore’s NFLteam, which stood by Riceand even suggested thatPalmer might share respon-sibility for what happened.Fans rewarded him withcheers and standing ova-tions. The National FootballLeague gave Rice a slap onthe wrist (although, to itscredit, it later admitted itsleniency had been a mis-take and put in place tough-

er rules).All of this making allow-

ances for Rice suddenlyended Monday with the re-lease of the stomach-churn-ing video of the actualpunch. Within hours of thevideo being posted onTMZ.com, the Ravens termi-nated Rice’s contract andcut him loose, and the NFLsuspended him indefinitely.The time for excuses andlooking the other way wasover; never mind the hypoc-risy of their earlier accept-ance of Rice.

Domestic violence is afact of life for too many peo-ple. And too often their suf-fering is compounded by atendency by outsiders todisbelieve them, belittle theharm or try to explain itaway.

There are lessons to belearned from what hap-pened in that elevator.Namely: This is what do-mestic violence looks like,and you shouldn’t need avideo to believe it, be dis-gusted by it and refuse totolerate it.

EDITORIAL

What domestic violence looks likeTHE WASHINGTON POST

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

FERGUSON, Mo. — Cityleaders in Ferguson, wherethe fatal shooting of an un-armed black 18-year-old bya white police officersparked days of sometimesviolent protests, say theywill establish a reviewboard to help guide the po-lice department and makeother changes to fix thecity’s relationship with itsresidents.

The Ferguson City Coun-cil was set to meet Tuesdayfor the first time since theAug. 9 shooting of MichaelBrown by officer DarrenWilson. The shooting ex-posed an undercurrent ofracial unrest in Fergusonand other nearby suburbsin mostly black communi-ties of north St. LouisCounty.

Changes the City Coun-cil plans to make includereducing the revenue fromcourt fines used for generalcity operations and reform-ing court procedures, ac-cording to a statement froma public relations firmhired by Ferguson. Criticssay reliance on court reve-nue and traffic fines to fundcity services more heavilypenalizes low-income de-fendants who can’t affordprivate attorneys and who

are often jailed for notpromptly paying thosefines.

“The overall goal of thesechanges is to improve trustwithin the community andincrease transparency, par-ticularly within Ferguson’scourts and police depart-ment,” Councilman MarkByrne said in the state-ment. “We want to demon-strate to residents that wetake their concerns ex-tremely seriously.”

The U.S. Justice Depart-ment announced last weekthat it was launching abroad investigation into theFerguson Police Depart-ment, looking for patternsof discrimination. That in-quiry is separate from theone into Brown’s death,which a local grand jury isalso investigating.

Ferguson, a city of 21,000,is about 70 percent black.Its 53-member police de-partment has just threeblack officers. The mayorand five of the six CityCouncil members arewhite.

A 2013 report by the Mis-souri attorney general’s of-fice found that Ferguson po-lice stopped and arrestedblack drivers nearly twiceas often as white motorists,but were less likely to findcontraband among theblack drivers.

In the last fiscal year,court fines and fees ac-counted for $2.6 million, ornearly one-fifth of the citybudget. That’s nearly twiceas much as the city collect-ed two years earlier.

ArchCity Defenders, a St.Louis legal group that rep-resents indigent defendants,recently singled out courtsin Bel-Ridge, Ferguson andFlorissant as “chronic of-fenders” among a group of30 municipal courts whereproblems were documented.

In Ferguson, defendantsdescribed a system so over-whelmed by crowds thatbailiffs would lock the doorfive minutes after thescheduled start time —thenissue failure to appear war-rants for those who arrivedlate.

Police have said theshooting of Brown came fol-lowed a scuffle after Wilsontold Brown and a friend tomove out of the street andonto a sidewalk. Some wit-nesses have reported seeingBrown’s arms in the air be-fore the shooting. Autopsiesconcluded he was shot atleast six times.

On Tuesday morning,Brown’s parents joinedabout 20 supporters and ac-tivists at a press conferenceoutside police headquartersto reiterate their calls forWilson’s immediate arrest.

Police wait to advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd during a protest for Michael Brown,who was killed by a police officer Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Mo., on Sunday, Aug. 17.

Photo by Charlie Riedel/file | AP

Planning reformsBy ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND — An at-torney for the family ofan autistic teenager whohad feces and bodilyfluids dumped on himwhen he thought he wasparticipating in the IceBucket Challenge saidMonday that police knowwho the perpetrators areeven as celebrities con-tinue to offer rewardmoney to find those in-volved.

Attorney Dean Valore,who represents the boyand his family, said thathe has spoken with BayVillage police.

“I know police have avery good handle on theinvestigation,” Valoresaid. “Everyone’s prettymuch been identified.”

Bay Village policeChief Mark Spaetzel didnot return telephonecalls Monday. But Bay

Village schools Superin-tendent Clint Keener saidthat police have knownfrom “the get-go” who theperpetrators are.

“The investigation isto sort out everyone’s in-volvement and how itcame to be,” Keener said.

Police have said thepranksters could face de-linquency charges. Butthe school district likelywon’t be able to do any-thing beyond supportingthe teenager, Kennersaid, because the prankoccurred before the startof the school year and offschool property.

The prank caught theattention of the world af-ter the mother of theteen, who had been toldhe was participating inthe Ice Bucket Challenge,found a video of it on hiscellphone and allowedmedia outlets to make itavailable for public view-ing.

The celebrity rewardoffers began Saturdaywith comedian, gameshow host and Clevelandnative Drew Carey post-ing to his Twitter ac-count that he’d donate$10,000 if others wouldjoin him. Other celebri-ties have followed withtheir own offers on Twit-ter.

Valore said he hopesthe celebrities will con-vert those offers intocash for the teen and hisfamily. He said his officehas received an outpour-ing of calls in support ofthe teen, including offersof money and gifts fromacross the U.S., Englandand Australia.

He said the teen re-mains “pretty emotional”about what happened tohim.

“He’s pretty scarredand pretty damaged,” Va-lore said. “He thoughtthey were his friends.”

Lawyer: Pranksters ID’dBy MARK GILLISPIEASSOCIATED PRESS

LAREDO09/10— El 21 Simposio

Anual de Logística y Fabrica-ción, patrocinado por la Fun-dación para el Desarrollo deLaredo, se llevará a cabo de7:30 a.m. a 3:30 p.m. en elCentro Estudiantil de TAMIU,con el tema de “Logísticas,Fabricación, Hidrocarburos:Emergiendo Oportunidadesde Mercado en la Frontera yMás Allá”. Informes en el722-0563.

09/10— Clases de Auto-Manejo de Diabetes “Vivien-do Mejor”, a partir de las 8a.m. en el Departamento deSalud de la Ciudad de Lare-do, 2600 avenida Cedar. In-formes al 721-4994.

09/10— Estudio de LaBiblia a las 7 p.m. en Ligh-thouse Assembly of GodChurch, 8731 Belize Dr. In-formes con Ricardo RangelJr al (956) 333-9294.

09/10— Cuarta VigiliaAnual para Prevención delSuicidio “Prevención del Sui-cidio: Un Mundo Conectado”de 6 p.m. a 8 p.m. en NorthCentral Park, InternationalBlvd. Se conmina a llevaruna Foto del Recuerdo.

09/11— Estudiantes dela Escuela de Comunicacio-nes y Bellas Artes Vidal M.Treviño de LISD realizaránuna ceremonia por el 13erAniversario del 9/11 en St.Peter’s Plaza, de 9:30 a.m. a10:45 a.m. El orador invitadoserá el Alcalde Raúl Salinas.

09/11— Concierto deAlejandra Guzmán, en Lare-do Energy Arena, a las 8p.m. Costo del boleto varíade 79, 59, y 43 dólares.

09/12— SOCCER: Elequipo varonil Dutsdevil deTAMIU recibe a Eastern NewMexico a las 5 p.m. en Dus-tdevil Field. Entrada gratuitapara estudiantes con identifi-cación válida de TAMIU.

09/13— South Texas Co-llector Expo se realizará enLaredo Energy Arena. Es elComic Con de Laredo dondehabrá artistas de historietas,cosplayers, vendedores, en-tre otras cosas. Más infor-mación en southtexascollec-torsexpo.com

09/13— El ConsuladoGeneral de México en Laredoofrecerá una recepción conmotivo del CCIV Aniversariode la Independencia de Mé-xico, a partir e las 7 p.m. enel Hotel La Posada, West Pa-tio, 1000 Zaragoza. Se re-quiere invitación.

09/14— SOCCER: Elequipo varonil Dustdevil deTAMIU recibe a Fort LewisCollege a la 1:30 p.m. enDustdevil Field.

09/14— SOCCER: Elequipo femenil Dustdevil deTAMIU recibe a St. Edward’sUniversity a las 7 p.m. enDustdevil Field.

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO09/10— Feria Expomex

2014 presenta un Homenajea Nuevo Laredo en el Teatrodel Pueblo. Evento tiene cos-to.

09/10— Cineclub cele-bra el mes de septiembrecon cortometrajes mexica-nos, a las 6 p.m. en la Casade la Cultura. Entrada gratui-ta.

09/11— Feria Expomex2014 presenta a Teo Gonzá-lez en el Teatro del Pueblo.Evento tiene costo.

09/11— En honor al“Mes de Happening y ArtePerformático” se proyectaránvideos de performance sobrela obra de Orlan en MaquilaCreativa, a partir de las 4p.m. Evento para adultos.

09/11— Concierto paraTodos presenta “Velada Ro-mántica”, a las 7 p.m. en laSala Sergio Peña.

09/12— Feria Expomex2014 presenta a La SonoraDinamita en el Teatro delPueblo. Evento tiene costo.

09/12— Cine en tu Ba-rrio presenta “Pueblerina”,en la Casa del Adulto Mayor,a las 6 p.m.

Agendaen Breve

MEXICO — México, Estados Uni-dos y tres países de Centroaméricaacordaron que sus fiscalías confor-men un grupo de alto nivel para en-frentar el tráfico de personas, enparticular de menores inmigranteshacia territorio estadounidense queen los últimos meses mostró un in-

cremento inusitado.La creación del grupo fue acorda-

da el martes durante una reuniónde los fiscales de El Salvador, Esta-dos Unidos, Guatemala, Honduras yMéxico, informó en un comunicadola Procuraduría General mexicana.

La dependencia mexicana señalóque el grupo de alto nivel se reuni-rá en las próximas semanas para

presentar propuestas específicas pa-ra enfrentar a las organizaciones detráfico de inmigrantes, con especialatención a los menores.

En la primera mitad del 2014 lasautoridades estadounidenses infor-maron sobre un incremento del nú-mero de menores migrantes quecruzaron sin autorización la fronte-ra de México con Estados Unidos,

aunque a partir de julio el númeroha ido a la baja.

Datos de la Secretaría de Seguri-dad Interior estadounidense señalóhace unos días que en agosto fue-ron detenidos 3.129 menores, en sumayoría de Honduras, El Salvadory Guatemala. En julio, la cifra fuede poco más de 5.400, mientras queen junio superaron los 10.600.

INMIGRACIÓN

Toman medidaASSOCIATED PRESS

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera MIERCOLES 10 DE SPETIEMBRE DE 2014

WASHINGTON — Una veintena deniños cuyos padres fueron deportadoso están en proceso de serlo acudieronel lunes a la Casa Blanca a pedirle alpresidente Barack Obama que detengalas deportaciones.

Fue la primera protesta realizadafrente a la Casa Blanca desde que elpresidente Obama anunció el fin de se-mana que postergará hasta después delas elecciones de noviembre sus decre-tos para ajustar su política migratoria,pero había sido convocada antes delanuncio presidencial.

Activistas adultos cargaban a variosbebés, y otros niños eran tan pequeñosque apenas podían tenerse en pie.

Nora Sandigo, directora de la orga-nización American Fraternity, dijo quelos 20 menores de edad que la acompa-ñaron representan a los casi 800 niñosestadounidenses de los que ella asumióla tutela legal desde que sus padresfueran deportados.

“Pedimos al presidente Barack Oba-ma que pare las deportaciones y alCongreso que no vea a estos jóvenessolo cuando cumplan 18 años y puedanvotar”, dijo Sandigo. “Ellos tambiénson estadounidenses, no son ciudada-nos de tercera clase”.

La protesta también fue convocadapor la National Domestic WorkersAlliance. Su directora, Andrea Merca-do, acusó a Obama de “jugar a la polí-tica mientras los niños sufren, pasanhambre y viven con miedo a que másparientes sean deportados”.

Se estima que dos millones de perso-nas han sido deportadas desde queObama llegó a la presidencia en 2009, aun promedio de 1.100 diarias.

Obama decidió demorar hasta des-pués de las elecciones legislativas denoviembre cualquier acción del poderejecutivo en política migratoria, rom-piendo así su promesa de que actuaríatras el receso legislativo de agosto.

Varios senadores demócratas quebuscarán la reelección en noviembrehabían expresado temores sobre lasconsecuencias negativas que podríantener los decretos presidenciales enmateria migratoria.

NACIONAL

Buscanalivio

migratorioPOR LUIS ALONSO LUGO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cinco municipios fueron de-clarados en desastre naturaltras el paso de la tormenta tro-pical “Dolly”, que arribó a cos-tas mexicanas la semana pasa-da. Tras los hechos autoridadesde Tamaulipas han instaladoun Comité de Evaluación de Da-ños, indica un comunicado deprensa.

El Gobernador de Tamauli-pas, Egidio Torre Cantú firmóel acta declaratoria de desastrenatural para los municipios deAldama, González, Soto la Ma-rina, Xicoténcatl y Victoria, Mé-xico, el sábado. Se espera ingre-sar a los recursos del Fondo Na-cional de Desastres (FONDEN).

El Comité se encargará detrabajar en detallar las afeccio-nes de diferentes municipiospara precisar si hay que decre-tarlo zona de desastre. El Mantees uno de los municipios estu-diados.

“Les agradezco mucho a to-

dos y cada uno de ustedes eltrabajo coordinado que realizanen beneficio de los tamaulipe-cos”, dijo Torre Cantú a los in-tegrantes del comité.

El director general para laGestión de Recursos de la Fede-ración, José María Tapia Fran-co, a través de una tele-confe-rencia mencionó que se incor-poró a la evaluación de daños alsector naval de la Armada deMéxico en Tamaulipas, por lasafectaciones a sus instalacio-nes.

El Comité de Evaluacióncuenta con 10 Subcomités Téc-nicos, que buscan cubrir los as-pectos afectados, que son: lasáreas carreteras; hidráulicas;de vivienda; el aspecto urbano;la afección ambiental; el dañocultural; educativo; deportivo;el sector salud; y los daños eléc-tricos.

A partir del sábado 6 se tie-nen 10 días hábiles para entre-gar un diagnóstico final de losdaños, señala un comunicado.

TAMAULIPAS

Declaran ciudadeszona de desastre

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La “Vuelta Ciclista Ta-maulipas 2014”, llegó asu final durante el fin desemana y se consolidó

como uno de los mejores eventosciclistas en México, dijeron auto-ridades tamaulipecas.

“Esta competencia fue un éxi-to y ojala el año entrante poda-mos llevar esta vuelta al título deinternacional, para lo cual la Fe-deración Mexicana de Ciclismohará la invitación a cinco o seispaíses para darla de alta en laUnión de Ciclismo Internacional

y ya esté en el calendario”, dijoEdgardo Hernández Chagoya,Presidente de la Federación Me-xicana de Ciclismo.

El evento ciclista concluyó enel municipio de Madero el domin-go 7 de septiembre, teniendo co-mo ganador absoluto al jaliscien-se Florencio Ramos, y como ga-nadores de las categorías MejorTamaulipeco y en Montaña, a lostamaulipecos Edgar Leija y Da-vid Salomón, respectivamente.

En el evento se reunieron másde 130 ciclistas de 17 equipos dediversas entidades del País y delextranjero arribaron a la plaza

principal de la localidad de ElMante, el sábado 6 de septiembre,realizando un recorrido de másde 136 kilómetros.

La tercera “Vuelta Ciclista aTamaulipas” constó de un reco-rrido total de 1.015 kilómetrosque arrancó en la Ciudad de Nue-vo Laredo el pasado 31 de agostoy que culminó en el municipio deMadero, pasando por los munici-pios de Miguel Alemán, Reynosa,Matamoros, San Fernando, Ciu-dad Victoria y El Mante.

La competencia se realizó encoordinación con la FederaciónMexicana de Ciclismo.

DEPORTES

FINALIZA EVENTO

La ‘Vuelta Ciclista por Tamaulipas 2014’ llegó a su final durante el fin de semana. El Gobierno tamaulipeco espera con-vertir el evento nacional en internacional en 2015.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Consolidan Vuelta Ciclista 2014TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

INICIA CAMPAÑA

Foto de cortesíaLa tienda de conveniencia Stripes, en colaboración con MD Anderson Children’s CancerHospital dio inicio a la campaña “Stripes Celebrates Tomorrows” al pintar una línea rojaa través de la palabra cáncer afuera de la tienda sobre Jacaman Road/Loop 20 en Lare-do, Texas. En la imagen Elsa Grupta, pintora honoraria en el inicio de la campaña.

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The Hawks cross countryteam is vying to return to theClass 4A state meet after a yearremoved from missing out. Zapa-ta’s lone representative was LuisGarza, who moved on to the col-legiate level.

Zapata started out the season

on the right note with a greatfinish at the ninth annual SouthTexas Stampede meet held athome on Aug. 31. The teamplaced fifth out of 12 opponents,all of which are regarded assome of the best in South Texas.The Hawks had to battle thelikes of Eagle Pass, Laredo Mar-tin and Progreso, all of whichtook the district titles in their

respective categories last year. Eagle Pass was perfect, scor-

ing 15 points as the Eagles indi-vidually took home the No. 1-5spots.

The Hawks were paced byDanny Hinojosa, who recorded a27th-place finish and wasclocked 18:42 on the three milecourse. Isauro Sanchez was thesecond Hawk across the finish

line in 35th at 19:41. Hinojosaand Sanchez were followed byAlvaro Rodriguez in 40th (20:20),Luis Rodriguez in 45th (20:56)and Job Alvarado in 58th (26:35).

"The Hawks will continue towork hard and look to improveto make a run at another districttitle and regional qualification,"Zapata coach Roel Ibañez said.

The junior varsity team took

third place out of the 12 JVteams that competed at the meet.

"Great job (from the) boys,"Ibañez said. "They have beenworking hard in the summerand it is showing at the firstmeet of the season."

Any high school boys interest-ed in joining the Hawks crosscountry team can contact coachIbanez at the school.

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: ZAPATA HAWKS

Hawks compete at homeCross country runs ninth annual South Texas Stampede meet

By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES

HOUSTON — JadeveonClowney, the No. 1 overallpick of the Houston Texans,will be out 4-6 weeks afterarthroscopic surgery on hisright knee Monday.

Coach Bill O’Brien saidhe didn’t know exactly whatwas repaired in Clowney’sknee when asked if it was atorn meniscus.

“I’m not a doctor so Idon’t know,” O’Brien said.“It’s just something theywent in there and tried to

fix it. It seems like it wentwell.”

Clowney, who had onetackle for a loss, was injuredlate in the second quarter inSunday’s win over theWashington Redskins. Hewas hurt when he jumpedup to try and bat down apass. He put his hand to hisright knee and began limp-ing after he landed.

Some have speculatedthat his foot slipped be-tween one of the 8-by-8-footpalettes of real grass thatmake up Houston’s field. Ifthat was the case, O’Brien

said he didn’t know aboutit.

“He didn’t say anythingto me about that,” O’Briensaid. “From looking at allthe angles on film, he justcame down awkwardly.Most of those types of inju-ries are non-contact.”

Some of the Texans talk-ed to Clowney on Sundaynight and said they felt forthe rookie.

“That’s just somethingyou don’t want to happen asa rookie, as anybody really,”safety D.J. Swearinger said.“But as a rookie coming in

having a lot of the hype thathe has, that’s something hedoesn’t want to happen. Ifeel his frustration.”

This isn’t the first prob-lem for Clowney, who hasstruggled to stay on the fieldsince joining the Texans.

He left a dual practiceAug. 20 after a helmet-to-hel-met hit with Denver Bron-cos tight end Jacob Tamme.He missed the Texans’ finaltwo preseason games. Hehad to sit out the beginningof camp, too, after offseasonsurgery to repair a sportshernia.

Texans’ top pick Clowney to miss 4-6 weeksBy KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

Houston linebacker Jadeveon Clowney will miss 4-6 weeks after ar-throscopic surgery on his right knee.

File photo by Patric Schneider | AP

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

JOHANNESBURG — The judge inthe Oscar Pistorius murder trial wastaciturn through months of court pro-ceedings that caught the attention ofthe world. On Thursday, however,she’ll deliver a judgment that bringsher to the forefront.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, 66, has saton a dais in red robes throughout thetelevised trial, rarely interrupting thedrama unfolding below as the prose-cutor sought to prove that the Olym-pic athlete murdered girlfriend ReevaSteenkamp and defense lawyers ar-gued that the shooting was a terriblemistake.

Her cryptic demeanor, likely meantto project neutrality during conten-tious proceedings, masks the rich per-sonal story of a former social workerand journalist who became one of thefirst black female judges in a countrythat jettisoned white rule in 1994.

Some experts have pointed to Masi-pa’s record of tough action againstcriminals who victimized women asindicators that she would not be eas-ily swayed by Pistorius’ assertion thathe shot Steenkamp through a closedtoilet door on Feb. 14, 2013 by mistake,thinking there was an intruder in hishouse. Yet they also describe her as agood listener and a dispassionate ana-lyst of facts.

For some South Africans, Masipa isa symbol of accomplishment in acountry where poverty and unemploy-ment block progress even though all-race politics replaced white minority

rule in a euphoric but troubled transi-tion.

“From our historical backgroundin this country, it is very importantthat young black people see role mod-els that are positive,” said Kabelo Sea-bi, a Pretoria lawyer who teachescriminal law. “I’m sure that a youngfemale person that’s sitting anywherein South Africa ... would be lookingup to her and would wish that, if theywere to study law, that they would beable to reach that benchmark that shehas set.”

Masipa studied social work and lat-er worked as a reporter for TheWorld, The Sowetan and other SouthAfrican publications. Under apar-theid, she was arrested during a pro-

test against the detention of mediacolleagues, according to South Afri-can reports.

In 1998, Masipa became a provin-cial judge on a bench that was stillheavily populated by white males.

South Africa does not have a jurysystem, so Masipa will read her ver-dict Thursday in a lengthy processthat some analysts say might requiremore court time on Friday.

Pistorius could face 25 years to lifein prison if convicted of premeditatedmurder. He could also be convicted ofa lesser murder charge or negligentkilling, both of which call for years injail. The judge could acquit him if shebelieves the 27-year-old made a tragicerror.

Judge to give verdictBy CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Murder accused Oscar Pistorius cries in court while listening to forensic evidence being ledin Pretoria, South Africa, on Monday, April 7.

Photo by Themba Hadebe/file | AP

BEIRUT — The leader ofan ultraconservative Islamicrebel group in Syria waskilled Tuesday in a suicidebombing along with otherof its top officials, its alliessaid, weakening the ranksof the country’s already sha-ky armed opposition.

No group immediatelyclaimed responsibility forthe attack that killed Has-san Aboud and other lead-ing members of Ahrar al-Sham, part of the strongestfront that challenged the Is-lamic State group, whichholds wide swaths of territo-ry in Iraq and Syria. Butgiven that forces loyal toPresident Bashar Assad’sgovernment do not typicallyuse suicide bombers, it ap-peared likely that forces inthe murky mix of opposi-tion fighters in Syria’s 3-year-old civil war were in-volved.

The attack struck a high-level meeting of Ahrar al-

Sham, or The Islamic Move-ment of Free Men of the Le-vant in English, held in thenorthwestern town of RamHamdan in the Syrian prov-ince of Idlib, one of itsstrongholds. A statementfrom the group said theblast killed Aboud, alsoknown by the nom deguerre Abu Abdullah al-Hamwi, along with 11 othertop leaders.

“They were martyred ...in an explosion inside theirmeeting headquarters,” saida statement on the Twitterfeed of the Islamic Front,the rebel coalition to whichit belonged.

An activist collectivecalled the Edlib News Net-work, the Britain-based Syr-ian Observatory for HumanRights and Syrian statemedia also reportedAboud’s death. The activistreports said the men died ina suicide bombing.

The Edlib News Networksaid over 40 people werekilled in the blast. The Ob-servatory, which relies on a

network of activists in Syriafor its reports, said “tens” ofpeople were killed.

Ahrar al-Sham was partof the Islamic Front, an alli-ance of seven powerful con-servative and ultraconserv-ative rebel groups thatmerged in late November.The Islamic Front wants tobring rule by Shariah law inSyria and rejects the West-ern-backed Syrian NationalCoalition, but cooperateswith some of their fighterson the ground.

While Ahrar al-Sham wasan ultra-conservative group,its leadership, includingAboud, sought to balance“the group’s fundamentalistplatform with a relativelypragmatic political strate-gy,” said Noah Bonsey, a Sy-ria analyst for the Interna-tional Crisis Group.

Bombing kills leadersBy DIAA HADID AND ALBERT AJI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAKAR, Senegal — Asurge in Ebola infectionsin Liberia is driving a spi-raling outbreak in WestAfrica that is increasinglyputting health workers atrisk as they struggle totreat an overwhelmingnumber of patients.

A higher proportion ofhealth workers has beeninfected in this outbreakthan in any previous one.The latest infection was ofa doctor with the WorldHealth Organization treat-ing patients in Sierra Le-one. The organizationgave no details, but anAmerican who became in-fected while working inWest Africa landed in theU.S. Tuesday to get treat-ment at Emory UniversityHospital.

This is the secondWHO staffer to be infectedin Sierra Leone, and theU.N. health agency saidTuesday that after an in-vestigation of the firstcase, staffers battling Ebo-la there now have betterworking conditions — in-

cluding larger, more pri-vate quarters.

The outbreak sweepingWest Africa is thought tohave killed more than2,200 people, and publichealth experts agree thatit is out of control. Morethan 4,200 people have be-lieved to have been sick-ened in Guinea, Liberia,Sierra Leone, Nigeria andSenegal.

The disease is spread-ing particularly quickly inLiberia, where WHO fig-ures published Tuesdayshowed that more than 500new cases were recordedin a week. The organiza-tion warned Monday thatit expects thousands ofnew cases in the countryin the coming weeks.

Sierra Leone said it isalso expecting to uncoverpotentially hundreds ofnew cases during a three-day nationwide lockdownlater this month. Whilepeople are confined totheir homes, thousands ofvolunteers will go houseto house to search forthose infected, Sidie YahyaTunis, a Health Ministryspokesman said Tuesday.

Ebola casetoll 4,200-plusBy SARAH DILORENZO AND MARIA

CHENGASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

FALCON, Texas — Ru-ben E. Guerra, 86, passedaway Saturday, Sept. 6,2014, at Rio Grande Re-gional Hospital in McAl-len, Texas.

Mr. Guerra is precededin death by his parents,Remigio and FranciscaGuerra; brothers, Raul (Li-lia) Guerra, Abel (SanJuanita) Guerra, CarlosGuerra; sisters, Amelia G.(Tomas) Ramirez, Enrique-ta G. (Remigio) Gonzalez,Estela G. (Flavio) Ramirez,Emma G. (Leonel) Rami-rez, Dora G. (Antonio) Ra-mos and Elsa Dila G. (Fe-lix) Ramos.

Mr. Guerra is survivedby his wife, Monica Guer-ra; sons, Ruben E. Jr. (El-da) Guerra, Oscar I. Her-nandez, Jorge Luis Guer-ra, Carlos A. Guerra;daughters, Maria ElenaGuerra, Rosa Linda Guer-ra (Alfredo) Gonzalez;grandchildren, Ruben M.(Amber) Guerra, TeresaLynda Guerra, Ruben Mar-cos Guerra, Alfredo Gon-zalez, III, Cristian MarioGonzalez; great-grandchil-dren, Audry Guerra, Au-brey Guerra, Ruben M.Guerra, Jr.; and by numer-ous nephews, nieces, otherfamily members andfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld Monday, Sept. 8, 2014,

from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. witha rosary at 7 p.m. at RoseGarden Funeral Home.

The funeral processiondeparted Tuesday, Sept. 9,2014, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10a.m. funeral Mass at SantaAna Mission in Falcon,Texas.

Committal services fol-lowed at Falcon Cemetery,including full MilitaryHonors by the AmericanLegion Post 486 ColorGuard.

Funeral arrangementswere under the directionof Rose Garden FuneralHome, Daniel A. Gonzalez,funeral director, 2102 N.U.S. Hwy 83, Zapata, Texas.

RUBEN E. GUERRA

JUNE 18, 1928 — SEPT. 6, 2014

WASHINGTON — Thenumber of U.S. job open-ings remained near thehighest level in 13 years inJuly, and companies alsostepped up hiring thatmonth to the fastest pacein nearly seven years, twosigns the job market isslowly healing.

The tally of availablejobs ticked down 2,000 to4.67 million in July, theLabor Department saidTuesday. The drop was ledby a decline in govern-ment job postings. Busi-nesses actually advertisedslightly more jobs.

Total hiring, mean-while, jumped 81,000 to4.87 million, the highestlevel since December 2007,when the Great Recessionbegan. That indicatescompanies are more likelyto fill their open jobs. Still,that is below the pre-re-cession average of justover 5 million hires amonth.

The figures suggest thejob market is still makingprogress, despite lastweek’s mildly disappoint-ing employment report.That report showed thatemployers added a net to-tal of just 142,000 jobs inAugust, the fewest sinceDecember. The unemploy-ment rate fell to 6.1 per-cent from 6.2 percent, butonly because some ofthose out of work gave uplooking. The governmentdoesn’t count people asunemployed unless theyare actively searching.

Research by economistsat JPMorgan Chase has

shown that a rise in open-ings is typically followed1-2 months later by great-er net job gains.

“With the number ofjobs available still near a13-year high, the slow-down in net hiring exhib-ited in the August payrollsreport is likely to beshort-lived,” John Silvia,an economist at Wells Far-go, said in a research note.

Job openings fell inmanufacturing and con-struction, while they rosein retail and hotels andrestaurants.

Tuesday’s figures comefrom the Job Openingsand Labor Turnover sur-vey, or JOLTS, which pro-vides a more detailed lookat the job market than theemployment report. It re-ports figures for overallhiring, as well as the num-

ber of quits and layoffs.The monthly jobs figuresare a net total of job gainsor losses.

Federal Reserve ChairJanet Yellen is closely fol-lowing the JOLTS data asshe considers when theFed should begin raisinginterest rates.

Job openings havesoared 22 percent in thepast 12 months, evidencethat employers are confi-dent enough in the econo-my to boost staffing. Netjob gains have also in-creased strongly: Employ-ers added more than200,000 jobs a month forsix straight monthsthrough July, the bestsuch stretch in eightyears.

But overall hiring, asmeasured by the JOLTSreport, hasn’t increased as

fast as openings. Hiring isup just 8 percent in thepast 12 months.

The gap suggests thatsome employers are hav-ing trouble finding work-ers with the skills theyneed. Or they may not beoffering sufficient pay toattract the necessary ap-plicants.

The number of Ameri-cans who quit their jobslast month was littlechanged, at 2.5 million,the JOLTS report showed.More people quit theirjobs in a healthy economybecause they are morelikely to find new, typical-ly higher-paying, jobs.Quits fell sharply in therecession but have sincerecovered. Yet they arestill below the 2.8 millionthat is typical in a healthyeconomy.

US job openings at high levelBy CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Employment seekers and recruiters meet during a job fair in Philadelphia on Monday, June 23. Thenumber of U.S. job openings remained near the highest level in 13 years in July.

Photo by Matt Rourke | AP

CUPERTINO, Calif. —For the first time in years,Apple’s iPhones weren’t thestar of the show. Apple un-veiled a smartwatch onTuesday, a wearable devicethat marks the company’sfirst major entry in a newproduct category since theiPad’s debut in 2010.

The move is significantbecause of recent questionsabout whether Apple stillhas a knack for innovatingfollowing the 2011 death ofco-founder Steve Jobs.

The device’s introductionupstaged the company’s twonew, larger iPhones, whichwon’t just have biggerscreens; they’ll have a new,horizontal viewing mode totake advantage of the largerdisplay.

The iPhone 6 will have ascreen measuring 4.7 inch-es, while the iPhone 6 Pluswill be 5.5 inches. In bothcases, app developers will beable to design apps that canbe viewed differently whenthe phone is held horizon-tally.

Apple also introduced asystem for using the phoneto make credit card pay-ments at retail stores.

Apple is turning to thepast as it lays out its future.The company is holding theevent at the Flint Center forthe Performing Arts, thesame venue where Jobs un-veiled the industry-shiftingMac computer 25 years ago.The Cupertino, California,venue is near Apple’s head-quarters.

As for the iPhones, whichstill represent the mainsource of Apple’s profits,larger models should helpthe company compete withAndroid devices.

Here’s what unfolded atTuesday’s event:

Larger iPhonesThe iPhone 6 will have a

4.7-inch screen, while theiPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5inches. The screen resolu-tion on the Plus version willbe sharper than previousiPhones, at 401 pixels perinch rather than 326.

With the larger screencomes a new horizontalview of the home screen.Usually, icons are stackedvertically, even when thephone is turned horizontal-ly. App developers will alsohave new tools to rearrangetheir content to take advan-

tage of that larger screen.The new phones aren’t as

big as Samsung’s latest flag-ship phones — 5.1 inches forthe Galaxy S5 and 5.7 inchesfor the Note 4 — but theywill be large enough to neu-tralize a key advantageSamsung and other Androidmanufacturers have had.

Notably, Samsung’s Notephone isn’t getting biggerthis year. Last year’s Note 3was 5.7 inches. Instead,Samsung is emphasizingother hardware features,such as a sharper screen.It’s also releasing a modelwith a curved edge to dis-play weather, time and otherinformation on the side ofthe phone.

Apple says the newphones will be faster andhave better battery life thanprevious versions. Thephones will also have a newsensor, the barometer, to es-timate how much you’veclimbed stairs, not just howfar you’ve walked or run.

Of course, some peoplestill use their phones to ac-tually make calls. Whenthere’s poor cellular recep-tion, people will be able tomake regular calls over Wi-Fi. The handoff between thetwo networks will be seam-less. In the U.S., this featurewill initially be available

through T-Mobile.The resolution on the

camera is staying at 8 mega-pixels, while rival Androidand Windows phones havebeen boosting that. The S5,for instance, is at 16 mega-pixels. However, the mega-pixel count is only one fac-tor in what makes a goodphoto. Apple says it is put-ting in new sensors for bet-ter shots.

Apple is also improving aslow-motion video featureby allowing even slowershots. The camera will beable to take 240 frames persecond, double what’s in lastyear’s iPhone 5s. Normally,video is at 60 frames per sec-ond.

The new phones willstart shipping in the U.S. onSept. 19, with advance or-ders to begin this Friday.Starting prices will be com-parable to those in the past— $199 with a two-year con-tract for the iPhone 6 with16 gigabytes of storage.

However, the step-upmodels will have double thememory than before — $299for 64 gigabytes and $399 for128 gigabytes. The iPhone 6Plus phones will cost $100more at each configuration.

Mobile payments

Apple is calling its newpayment system Apple Pay.

You’ll be able to use yourphone’s camera to capturea photo of your card. Applewill verify it behind thescenes and add it to yourphone’s Passbook accountso you can make paymentsat a retailer. Apple an-nounced several merchantsthat will accept this sys-tem, including Macy’s,Whole Foods, Walgreensand Disney stores — and ofcourse, Apple stores.

Many companies havetried to push mobile pay-ment services, but none hascaught on widely. Cook saysthat’s because the businessmodels have been centeredaround companies’ self-in-terest instead of the userexperience. The latter, Cooksays, is “exactly what Appledoes best.”

For security, the cardnumber is stored only onthe device. Each time youpay, a one-time card num-ber is created to make thetransaction.

A smartwatchThe audience erupted

with cheers as Cook pro-claimed that he had, “onemore thing.” It was howJobs used to close his key-note addresses.

That one more thing was

Apple’s upcoming smart-watch. It’s called the AppleWatch, rather than theiWatch that many peoplehad been speculating.

Consumer electronicscompanies have yet to dem-onstrate a compelling needfor smartwatches, whilebracelets have largely beenniche products aimed attracking fitness activities.Apple’s device looks tochange that.

Consider the company’strack record: Music players,smartphones and tabletcomputers existed long be-fore Apple made its ownversions. But they weren’tmainstream or popular un-til the iPod, iPhone and iPadcame along. Under Jobs, Ap-ple made those productseasy and fun to use.

Cook says Apple had toinvent a new interface forthe watch because simplyshrinking a phone wouldn’twork.

Much of the interactionwould be through the dialon the watch, which Applecalls the digital crown. Youuse that to zoom in and outof a map, for instance, soyou’re not blocking thescreen, which would haveoccurred if you were pinch-ing in and out to zoom.

Apple also worked with

app developers to createnew functionality. You’ll beable to unlock room doors atStarwood hotels or remindyourself where you parkedyour car with a BMW app.

The new watch will comein a variety of styles andstraps, with a choice of twosizes. Watches from compet-ing vendors have been crit-icized for being too big forsmaller arms.

The watch will requireone of the new iPhones oran iPhone 5, 5s or 5c. It willbe available early next yearat a starting price of $349.

New softwareThough much of the at-

tention has been on newgadgets, the software power-ing those gadgets is gettingits annual refresh. Appleconsiders iOS 8 to be its big-gest update since the intro-duction of the app store in2008.

Existing iPhone and iPadusers will be eligible for thefree upgrade, too. Appletakes pride in pushing exist-ing customers to the latestsoftware, allowing app de-velopers to incorporate newfeatures without worryingabout abandoning existingusers.

Apple reveals larger iPhones, smartwatchBy MICHAEL LIEDTKE AND ANICK

JESDANUNASSOCIATED PRESS

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, discusses the costs of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus on Tuesday in Cupertino, Calif.

Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

first partnership between aservice dog organizationand a health care system inthe U.S., says Corey Hudson,CEO of Canine Compan-ions.

It costs $50,000 to traineach service dog. CanineCompanions, based in SantaRosa, Calif., typically pro-vides the service free ofcharge. In the new partner-ship, Baylor Scott andWhite Health finds patientswho could benefit from hav-ing a service dog, covers thecost of training the dogsand their owners, and sup-ports them once they arehome.

There’s a need for servicedogs among their patients,says Joel Allison, CEO of

Baylor Scott and WhiteHealth. “It ties in to ourmission,” he told The DallasMorning News. “We thinkof it as part of our commit-ment to serve and meet theneeds of all the patients thatwe serve.”

More than 25,000 Ameri-cans use service dogs, ac-cording to Assistance DogsInternational, a coalition ofassistance dog organiza-tions. The animals aretrained to help children andadults living with physicaland mental disabilities.

Some service dogs areable to sense oncoming sei-zures and protect their own-ers from falls. Others helpthe visually impaired. Dogsraised by Canine Compan-

ions are trained to pullwheelchairs, pick keys offthe floor and tug off clothes.

The Baylor-Canine Com-panions partnership beganrecently by training four cli-ents. The group plans to ex-pand to 60 clients next sum-mer when a specially builtfacility with six rooms and24 kennels will open in Irv-ing.

Boone is thrilled at hisprescription for a dog. Low-er back pain makes it diffi-cult for him to pick thingsup, and he hopes Brindlewill save him “lots of wearand tear” on his back.

This week, Boone wasone of four Texans beingmatched with a service dog.He was joined by Stacey

Odom, 45, a special educa-tion teacher; MelanieKnecht, 24, a music therapyintern; and MackenzieDunckelman, 13.

They were selected fromhundreds of applicants be-cause their physical needsmatched the help that Ca-nine Companion servicedogs can offer.

The Texas location savesBoone and his classmates atrip to Canine Companions’Southwest region campus inOceanside, Calif., for theweeklong training. “Whenthey told me that prettymuch everything was hereright now that just was evenmore amazing,” Boone says.

He says he heard aboutCanine Companions

through a friend at the Cen-ter for the Intrepid atBrooke Army Medical Cen-ter in San Antonio, a pro-gram for soldiers who havesuffered burns or amputa-tions.

“That friend has the sameinjury as me,” he says. “He’sa below-the-knee amputee,and I saw how well-behavedand helpful his dog was.”

Boone was an explosivesordnance disposal officerwhen he was injured in2011. “It’s like the Armybomb squad,” he says. “Wetook care of improvised ex-plosive devices.”

It was an IED that severedhis left leg and damagednerves in both of his shoul-ders.

Boone was unable to usehis right arm for a year.Months of rehabilitationand physical therapy helpedhim regain some strength,but he hopes that workingwith Brindle will make himeven stronger.

Canine Companions re-ceives more than 100 appli-cations a month, says SimiBalter, program manager atthe organization’s South-west regional office.

“We get to witness smallmiracles,” says Balter.

Boone isn’t asking for amiracle. But he says it’s notjust physical tasks thatBrindle will help him with— it’s the mental task ofhealing. “Dogs are verysoothing,” he says.

BEST FRIEND Continued from Page 1A

journalists James Foley andSteven Sotloff.

New York Police Commis-sioner William Bratton saidthe department is prepared.

“We will, as always, rampup intelligence gatheringand visibility,” Bratton said.That means thousands of of-ficers in specialized teams,bomb-sniffing dogs who candetect not only the scent of abomb but the vapors of amoving target, undercoverofficers and teams of policeusing radioactive detection

devices and other high-techtools.

Intelligence officersaround the globe will be re-porting in regularly andmonitoring events aroundthe world. If something hap-pens in Gaza, it’s instantlyfelt in New York because ofthe large Jewish and Palesti-nian populations.

“Things ricochet realquick here,” said intelli-gence chief Thomas Galati.

The private anniversaryceremony will be held on

the National September 11Memorial & Museum plazaon Thursday morning. Thetribute has centered onreading the names of thenearly 3,000 people killed inNew York, at the Pentagonand near Shanksville, Penn-sylvania, in the 2001 attacks,as well as recognizing thesix people killed in the 1993trade center bombing.

But for the first time, thememorial plaza will be opento the public this year from6 p.m. to midnight.

Sandy Kowalchik, 49, ofSan Jose, California, saidshe was aware of the securi-ty concerns but it didn’tchange her plan to visitNew York this week.

“It seems like authoritiesin the U.S. and the city aremuch more aware of any-thing going on,” she said,standing near the reflectingpools at the 9/11 memorial.“Heightened awarenessmakes people nervous, but itmakes you more cognizantof what’s around you.”

THREAT Continued from Page 1A

and then I tried andthen they’re no more,”she told the 911 oper-ator.

Attorneys for Ak-hter, who was original-ly charged with capitalmurder, said she be-longed in a mental hos-pital and not prison.

“What happened tothose children is trag-ic. We can’t change it.We can’t take it back,”defense attorney Rob-bie McClung said.

“This is a situationwhere this personneeds to be in a hospi-tal.”

McClung said Ak-hter and her familywill be safer if she re-mains hospitalized.Akhter will likely needto receive treatmentand medication for sev-eral years before it’sdetermined she’s nolonger dangerous, ac-cording to witness tes-timony.

MOM Continued from Page 1A

resents Texas’ 21st district.Rep. Roger Williams, R-

Weatherford, said he’s spo-ken with business peopleand Border Patrol agents atthe border who tell himthey want to see increasedenforcement and changesto the 2008 immigration

law that slows deportationproceedings for unaccom-panied minors.

“It is a tragic situationdown there,” said Williams,who serves Texas’ 25th dis-trict. “Sen. Reid and Presi-dent Obama should go toTexas and see what we’ve

seen.”Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar

Land, agreed with his Tex-as colleagues, calling thesituation a humanitariancrisis and suggesting Oba-ma visit to understand thefear of those living by theborder.

“That is the reality onthe border,” Olson said, an-grily. “Mr. President, seethat border, pass the billnow, end this crisis imme-diately.”

Cruz said he would sup-port including this mea-sure in a continuing resolu-

tion, a bill that would con-tinue to fund governmentagencies and departmentsafter Sept. 30 and avoid an-other government shut-down.

He remained mum onwhether he would opposethe continuing resolution if

an immigration componentwas not included.

“I think it would be ap-propriate to include in theCR, but I think we shoulduse every tool at our dis-posal,” Cruz said. “Let’swait and see what’s in theCR.”

IMMIGRATION Continued from Page 1A