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HAWKS REBOUND IN DISTRICTZAPATA VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS RAYMONDVILLE, 1B

SAN DIEGO — TheU.S. Border Patrol pur-chased body cameras andwill begin testing them

this year at its trainingacademy, two peoplebriefed on the move saidlast week, as new leader-ship moves to blunt crit-icism about agents’ useof force.

R. Gil Kerlikowske,who has led the BorderPatrol’s parent agencysince March, announcedthe plans Tuesday to asmall group of activistswho have pressed for

cameras, according to aperson who attended thebriefing and spoke oncondition of anonymitybecause the discussion

was intended to be pri-vate. Testing will occurat the Border Patrol a-cademy in Artesia, NewMexico.

BORDER PATROL

Testing body camsAgency: Devices could protect agents from accusations

By ELLIOT SPAGATASSOCIATED PRESS

See BODY CAMERAS PAGE 14A

A man allegedly caughtsmuggling 15 illegal immi-grants in early August in Za-pata has been indicted in aLaredo Federal court, recordsshow.

Enrique Carrillo-Narvaezwas formally charged Sept. 3with conspiracy to transportundocumented migrantswithin the United States, andtransport and attempt totransport undocumented mi-grants for money, the indict-ment reads.

Carrillo-Narvaez pleadednot guilty at his arraignmenthearing Sept. 11. If convicted,he could face up to 10 yearsin federal prison. His allega-tions stemmed from Aug. 6when U.S. Border Patrolagents said they saw a FordF-350 parked in front of theFalcon motel in Zapata atabout 8:30 a.m.

Agents lost sight temporar-ily of the F-350 when it turnedon Las Palmas Road. A feder-al unmarked unit spotted theF-350. But this time the sus-pected vehicle had a tarp cov-ering the pickup’s bed, acriminal complaint states.

An agent said he saw a sil-houette of a person movingaround underneath the tarp.The pickup sped off anddrove through a property,causing damage, according tocourt documents.

Several people abandonedthe vehicle but were appre-hended shortly after. Author-ities identified the driver asCarrillo-Narvaez and de-tained 15 illegal immigrants.Homeland Security Investiga-tions special agents spoke toCarrillo-Narvaez after he al-legedly waived his rights.Carrillo-Narvaez told agentshe expected money for driv-ing the group to San Antonio,records state.

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

FEDERAL COURTS

Manfaces

federalcharges

Feds say man waswith 15 immigrants

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

AUSTIN — The Texasunemployment rate roseslightly last month, repre-senting the first increase in

the rate this year, state offi-cials said Friday.

The Texas WorkforceCommission announced thestate unemployment ratewas 5.3 percent, up from

the 5.1 percent recorded inJuly. The national unem-ployment rate stands is 6.1percent.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area in the Rio

Grande Valley had thehighest statewide unem-ployment at 9.8 percent, ac-cording to TWC figures.Nearby Brownsville andHarlingen had an 8.9 per-

cent rate.Major industries across

the board in Texas contin-ued to show growth, withthe workforce commissionsaying the state added

20,100 jobs last month.Commission spokeswomanLisa Givens said total jobgrowth and unemployment

TEXAS’ ECONOMY

See JOBS PAGE 14A

State’s jobless rate is up for first time this yearASSOCIATED PRESS

PEÑITAS — Near thebanks of the Rio Grande, U.S.Border Patrol agents moni-tor a tethered balloon thatcarries a camera that canzoom in on a license platemiles away.

On a ranch off Peñitas’South Main Street, the 55-foot-long surveillance bal-loon, called an aerostat, ar-rived as Army surplus fromAmerica’s conflicts in the

Middle East. It rises like ablimp from this tiny farmtown less than a mile fromthe U.S.-Mexico border.

“We’re primarily an eyein the sky for everyone,”Assistant Patrol Agent-in-Charge Lee Allbee told theValley Morning Star of Har-lingen, referring to the re-gion’s law enforcementagencies. “In the last fewyears we’ve made great ad-vances in bringing technol-ogy to the border.”

Since last November, the

Border Patrol has stationedfive surveillance sky cam-eras in the Rio Grande Val-ley area — one in Peñitas,two near Rio Grande Cityand two near Falfurrias,said agency spokesman JoeGutierrez Jr.

“It’s definitely been agame changer since it gotdeployed,” Gutierrez said.

Allbee, who helps overseethe aerostat program, saidthe agency stationed its lat-

BORDER SECURITY

EYES OVER THE BORDER

Assistant patrol agent in charge Lee Allbee, left, talks about the aerostat used by Border Patrol to look for smugglers and illegal crossings in the Rio Grande Valley onFriday, at Peñitas. Since last November, the Border Patrol has stationed five surveillance sky cameras in the Rio Grande Valley area.

Photo by Gabe Hernandez/The Monitor | AP

Border Patrol considers more balloons for the futureBy FERNANDO DEL VALLE

VALLEY MORNING STAR

A high-tech camera is used with an aerostat. Author-ities use it to look for smugglers and illegal crossings.

Photo by Gabe Hernandez/The Monitor | AP

See BALLOONS PAGE 14A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

SATURDAY, SEPT. 20The community is invited to cel-

ebrate Mercy Day with the Sisters ofMercy at a Mass. From 3 p.m. to 4p.m. Christ the King Church For moreinformation contact Rosanne Palaciosat rosanne.palacios@mercy.net.

Planetarium movies: At 2 p.m.The Little Star that Could, at 3 p.m.Force 5, at 4 p.m. Wonders of the Uni-verse, and 5 p.m Lamps Of Atlantis.$5 general admission. $4 children un-der age of 12 & Tamiu students withschool ID. At the Lamar Bruni VergaraPlanetarium, TAMIU. Contact ClaudiaHerrera for more information at clau-dia.herrera@tamiu.edu.

Ms. Melissa Escamilla with VAIL-Valley Association for Independent Liv-ing, Inc. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.VAIL,1419 Corpus Christi St., Laredo, TX.Contact Raquel Canizales at raquelu-cha56@yahoo.com.

15th Annual Asthma Screening& Education Program. 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Mall Del Norte near Dillard’s En-trance. A proclamation will be present-ed by Webb County Judge Danny Val-dez and City of Laredo Mayor Raul Sa-linas at 10 a.m. This event is providedat no cost to the public. For additionalinformation call Area Health EducationCenter at (956)712-0037.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23Planetarium movies. From 5 p.m.

to 8 p.m. At 6 p.m. Wonders Of TheUniverse, at 7 p.m. Lamps of Atlantis,$5 general admission, $4 children 12and under, Tamiu students with ID. Atthe Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium,TAMIU. Contact Claudia Herrera atclaudia.herrera@tamiu.edu. Or go tothe website, www.tamiu.edu/planetari-um, for more information.

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.

Planetarium movies. From 5p.m. to 8 p.m. At 6 p.m. Wonders ofthe Universe, at 7 p.m. Lamps of At-lantis, $5 general admissions, $4 chil-dren under age of 12 and Tamiu Stu-dents with ID. Lamar Bruni VergaraPlanetarium, TAMIU. Contact ClaudiaHerrera at claudia.herrera@tamiu.edufor more information. Or go to thewebsite Tamiu.edu/planetarium.

Los Amigos Duplicate BridgeClub. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the LaredoCountry Club. For more information,contact Beverly Cantu at 727-0589.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26Planetarium movies. From 6 p.m.

to 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. Stars of Pharoahs.$5 General Admission. $4 Children 12and under & Tamiu Students with IDAt the Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetari-um, TAMIU.Contact Claudia Herrera atclaudia.herrera@tamiu.edu. Or go thewebsite at www.tamiu.edu/planetarium.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 27Meeting of the new American

Legion Post 850. 6:30 p.m. Knights ofColumbus home, 1720 Houston St. Vet-erans interested in joining the groupshould attend the meeting and bring acopy of your DD214 and $30 for a full-year membership. For more informa-tion, call Javier Aranda at 722-3434 orFrancisco Perez at 220-7858

SUNDAY, SEPT. 28Semi-annual all-you-can-eat spa-

ghetti lunch. From 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.First United Methodist Church. ContactSue Webber at fumc_office@sbcglo-bal.net.

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.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Septem-ber 20, the 263rd day of 2014.There are 102 days left in theyear.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On September 20, 1519, Por-tuguese explorer FerdinandMagellan and his crew set outfrom Spain on five ships tofind a western passage to theSpice Islands. (Magellan waskilled enroute, but one of hisships eventually circled theworld.)

On this date:In 1870, Italian troops took

control of the Papal States,leading to the unification ofItaly.

In 1884, the National EqualRights Party was formed dur-ing a convention of suffragistsin San Francisco; the conven-tion nominated Belva AnnBennett Lockwood for presi-dent.

In 1954, the live TV drama"Twelve Angry Men" was pre-sented on CBS’ "WestinghouseStudio One" anthology series,with Robert Cummings play-ing the lone holdout juror lat-er portrayed by Henry Fondain the 1957 movie version.

In 1958, Martin Luther KingJr. was seriously woundedduring a book signing at aNew York City departmentstore when Izola Currystabbed him in the chest. (Cur-ry was later found mentallyincompetent.)

In 1962, James Meredith, ablack student, was blockedfrom enrolling at the Universi-ty of Mississippi by Democrat-ic Gov. Ross R. Barnett. (Mere-dith was later admitted.)

In 1964, The Beatles con-cluded their first full-fledgedU.S. tour by performing in acharity concert at the Para-mount Theater in New York.

In 1973, in their so-called"battle of the sexes," tennisstar Billie Jean King defeatedBobby Riggs in straight sets,6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston As-trodome.

In 1984, a suicide car bomb-er attacked the U.S. Embassyannex in north Beirut, killingat least 14 people, includingtwo Americans and 12 Leba-nese. The family sitcoms "TheCosby Show" and "Who’s theBoss?" premiered on NBC andABC, respectively.

In 1994, Broadway composerJule Styne died in New Yorkat age 88.

In 1999, Lawrence RussellBrewer became the secondwhite supremacist to be con-victed in the dragging death ofJames Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Tex-as. (Brewer was executed onSeptember 21, 2011.)

Today’s Birthdays: SingerGogi Grant is 90. Actress-co-median Anne Meara is 85. Ac-tress Sophia Loren is 80. ProFootball Hall of Famer JimTaylor is 79. Rock musicianChuck Panozzo is 67. Actor To-ny Denison is 65. Hockey Hallof Famer Guy LaFleur is 63.Actress Debbi Morgan is 63.Jazz musician Peter White is60. Actress Betsy Brantley is59. Actor Gary Cole is 58. TVnews correspondent DeborahRoberts is 54. Country-rockmusician Joseph Shreve(Flynnville Train) is 53. Rockmusician Randy Bradbury(Pennywise) is 50. ActressKristen Johnston is 47. Rocksingers Matthew Nelson andGunnar Nelson are 47. Rockmusician Ben Shepherd is 46.Actress-model Moon Blood-good is 39. Actor Jon Bernthalis 38. Singer The Dream is 37.

Thought for Today: "Nine-ty-nine percent of the failurescome from people who havethe habit of making excuses."George Washington Carver,American botanist (1864-1943).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — Divers found the body of a mis-sing Central Texas sheriff ’s deputy Friday, aday after her patrol car was found swampedby floodwaters minutes after she radioed forhelp while checking flooded low-water cross-ings.

Senior Deputy Jessica Hollis was founddead Friday afternoon in Lake Austin, anemotional Travis County Sheriff Greg Ha-milton announced Friday afternoon. Hamil-ton said he had been determined to “bringher home.”

Efforts to locate the deputy had been sus-pended before nightfall Thursday because ofthe storms, which were remnants of Hurri-cane Odile.

The National Weather Service forecastsmore heavy rain through Saturday over

much of West Texas, with flash flood watch-es issued through Friday night. Rain fell Fri-day in Southeast Texas and elsewhere in thestate, with high waters clogging roadwaysand impeding traffic in metro areas such asAustin and Houston.

Hollis, 35, a seven-year veteran of the de-partment, was checking low-water crossingsduring storms. She radioed shortly before 2a.m. CDT Thursday to say her patrol car wasbeing washed away in an Austin-area subdi-vision, Travis County sheriff ’s spokesmanRoger Wade said.

Hollis’ empty car was found a short timelater, but she could not be located.

“We believe she was swept into the low-water crossing by water going down thestreet,” Wade said. “We were searching allday and we will continue searching until wefind something.”

AROUND TEXAS

Members of the Sheriff’s department and other agencies involved in the search for Travis County Sheriff’s Deputy JessicaHollis form a procession to escort her body in Austin, on Friday. Officials said Hollis’ body was found Friday after she wasswept into Lake Austin when heavy rains flooded parts of Central Texas early Thursday.

Photo by Laura Skelding/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Deputy’s body foundASSOCIATED PRESS

Few fireworks in firstgovernor’s debate

EDINBURG — Democrat Wen-dy Davis went after RepublicanGreg Abbott over defending deepclassroom spending cuts and hisrecord on women in the gover-nor’s debate Friday.

Abbott on Friday night deliv-ered his best shot upon askingDavis whether she regretted vot-ing for President Barack Obama.She wouldn’t answer and insteaddigressed.

Nearly $200M in lossesfor Dallas pension fundDALLAS — Bad real estate in-

vestments, including a luxury re-sort and vineyard in California,have cost the retirement fund forDallas police officers and fire-fighters almost $200 million, ac-cording to a report.

The failed investments that be-gan in 2005 also include upscalehomes in Hawaii and large tractsof land in Arizona and Idaho.

More than 700 infantsexposed to TB at hospital

EL PASO — Public health offi-cials say more than 700 infants atan El Paso hospital have been ex-posed to tuberculosis by an em-ployee infected with the disease.

The city’s Department of Pub-lic Health says the infants alongwith about 40 employees at Prov-idence Memorial Hospital wereexposed.

State backs off alcoholsales at some gun shows

AUSTIN — After hundreds ofnegative responses, officials ap-pear to be backing off a plan toallow sales of alcohol at somegun shows, which would havecome with conditions such as aban on sales of live ammunition.

Staff at the Texas AlcoholicBeverage Commission has rec-ommended withdrawing the pro-posal at a meeting on Tuesday.

The initial plan caused an up-roar when it was introduced lastmonth.

Former West Texas prisonguards sentenced

ABILENE — Two formerguards at a federal prison havebeen sentenced on charges stem-ming from an investigation of aninmate suicide two years ago.

A U.S. district judge on Fridaysentenced 45-year-old FrederickHernandez, of Big Spring, to 10months in prison and 42-year-oldChristopher Moore, of Dallas, tothree years’ probation.

3 charged in El Pasomortuary scheme

EL PASO — Three people havebeen arrested on dozens ofcharges after authorities foundfive bodies in various stages ofdecomposition at a funeral home.

Investigators said Thursdaythe case began last month afterEl Paso County Clerk DeliaBriones found her unauthorizedsignature on a burial transit per-mit she received from a Port-land, Oregon, mortuary service.

— Compiled from AP reports

Jets intercept 8 Russianaircraft

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Authorities say two F-22 fight-er jets intercepted six Russianmilitary airplanes that nearedthe western coast of Alaska.

Lt. Col. Michael Jazdyk, aspokesman for the North Amer-ican Aerospace Defense Com-mand, or NORAD, says the jetsintercepted the planes about 55nautical miles from the Alaskancoast Wednesday.

The Russian planes were iden-tified as two IL-78 refueling tank-ers, two Mig-31 fighter jets andtwo Bear long-range bombers.

Expert says chokeholdcaused NYC man’s death

NEW YORK — An expert pa-thologist hired by the family of aNew York City man whose deathin a police chokehold this sum-mer was ruled a homicide hasagreed with the findings of the

city’s medical examiner.Dr. Michael Baden said Friday

there was hemorrhaging on EricGarner’s neck indicative of neckcompressions.

Baden is a former New YorkCity medical examiner. Lastmonth, he conducted an autopsy

of Michael Brown, the black 18-year-old fatally shot by a whitepolice officer in August in theMissouri town of Ferguson.

Garner died following a Julyconfrontation with police onStaten Island.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Smoke from a California wildfire rises behind Lake Tahoe as seen from the Neva-da side of the lake near Incline Village, Nev. Higher humidity Friday helped slowthe growth of the massive Northern California wildfire.

Photo by Steve Ellsworth | AP

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CONTACT US

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 Local & Area THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

A woman who allegedlysmuggled five illegal im-migrants in Zapata wasarrested in Webb County,according to court recordsreleased this week.

Brenda Eliza Flores isfacing human smugglingcharges, a criminal com-plaint filed against herMonday states. She re-mains in federal custody.

On Sept. 11, U.S. BorderPatrol agents said they ob-served what appeared tobe people walking throughDolores Creek in Zapata

County. Zapata agents con-tacted Laredo South sta-tion agents to relay themthe information. Author-ities set up surveillancealong U.S. 83 for upcomingtraffic.

Dispatch informedagents that a concerned ci-tizen called reporting peo-ple running out of thebrush to board a red FordF-150. An agent drove nextto the suspected vehicleand observed several peo-ple lying down in the bedof the pickup, the criminalcomplaint states. A vehiclestop was initiated.

An immigration inspec-

tion revealed six undocu-mented people and oneU.S. citizen identified asFlores, court documentsstate. Agents took all peo-ple to the Laredo Southstation. In a post-arrest in-terview, Flores allegedlysaid that Luis “Borrado”offered her $150 per immi-grant to transport thegroup to H-E-B on ZapataHighway in South Laredo.“Borrado” gave her direc-tions to go pick up the im-migrants, according tocourt documents.

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

Woman accused insmuggling incident

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

A Mexican nationalwho attempted to smugglesix Ecuadorian citizenswas formally charged in aLaredo federal court thisweek, records show.

A grand jury chargedMario Morales-Escalantewith conspiracy to trans-port undocumented mi-grants within the UnitedStates, and transport andattempt to transport mi-grants for money, readsthe indictment filed Tues-day. If convicted, Morales-Escalante could serve upto 10 years in prison.

U.S. Border Patrol saidthe alleged smuggling at-tempt dates to Aug. 27.

Agents assigned to the Za-pata station were trackingdown a group of suspect-ed illegal immigrants at8:45 a.m. in the Dye Fieldsproperty.

Agents said the groupcrossed U.S. 83 and contin-ued east. At about 11 a.m.,agents spotted seven peo-ple hiding in the brush.Six people told agentsthey were from Ecuadorwhile one man claimedMexican citizenship.

“Based on recent smug-gling trends and theagent’s experience, theMexican national was im-mediately separated fromthe rest of the group as apotential foot guide,” acriminal complaint states.

Agents said Morales-Es-

calante admitted to guid-ing the group to a pre-ar-ranged location, accord-ing to court documents.Morales-Escalante expect-ed a payment of $150 perimmigrant he allegedlytried to smuggle to SanAntonio.

Two immigrant womenheld as material witnessesstated to agents they hadpaid $14,000 each to besmuggled to New York.Morales-Escalante intimi-dated both women intoproviding a wrong de-scription for the guide, ac-cording to court docu-ments.

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

Man faces 10 yearsBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Texas education officialstook an initial step Thurs-day toward asking the stateto reconsider raising theminimum college GPAneeded for prospective edu-cators to enter certificationprograms.

“A little nod ... saying ’weknow you can do it, and wesupport you in this’ wouldbe a positive thing,” saidState Board of EducationChairwoman Barbara Car-gill, R-The Woodlands, whoadded that the changewould help restore “prideand value” to teaching.

Cargill made her remarksat a Thursday morninghearing of the SBOE’s Com-mittee on School Initiatives,which recommended in a3-2 vote to reject rules re-cently passed by StateBoard of Educator Certifica-tion, which oversees theteaching profession in thestate.

The three SBOE mem-bers, all Republicans, whobacked the veto said they

hoped it would persuade theboard of educator certifica-tion to reconsider an Augustdecision against raising therequired GPA — from 2.5 to2.75 —for admission to edu-cator preparation programs.The full SBOE will take up

the recommendation Friday. A 2013 law required the

state to review standards forteacher preparation, includ-ing the minimum GPA re-quirement, which primarilyaffects alternative certifica-tion programs intended to

provide a route into theclassroom for people whodecide to become educatorsafter they’ve pursued othercareers. Such programs,which can allow for a fasterway into the classroom thancollege and university de-

gree programs, now outpacetraditional training in pro-ducing certified teachers inthe state. For-profit provid-ers in particular dominatethe market — last year, theygraduated almost one out ofevery four new Texas teach-

ers. Various education groups

have pushed for strongerregulation of teacher prepa-ration programs in state,saying that would help im-prove the quality of educa-tors. But alternative certifi-cation advocates, along withsome school administrators,have argued that a higherGPA requirement wouldhurt school districts’ abilityto fill teacher shortages.

Both Democrats on thecommittee — Mavis Knightof Dallas and Ruben Cortezof Brownsville — opposedthe recommendation, sayingthey were not convincedthat raising the GPA re-quirement for would meanbetter teachers.

“I don’t think any of uswill disagree that we wantthe best-trained person inthe classroom with our kids… but I don’t think this isone step that’s going to getus there,” Cortez said. “Allwe are going to do, we aregoing to create more road-blocks for people who arelooking for that alternativecareer path.”

Teacher prep requirements face changesBy MORGAN SMITHTHE TEXAS TRIBUNE

State Board of Education board members, from left, Donna Bahorich, David Bradley, and Thomas Ratliff, raise their hands to ask questionsduring a public hearing for new textbooks up for adoption and use in classrooms statewide, on Tuesday, in Austin.

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

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

AUSTIN — Former lo-cal guy Jason Stanford is atalented political consult-ant and gifted writerwhose engaging takes on abroad variety of topics ap-pear in the Austin Ameri-can-Statesman on manyMondays.

So I was surprisedthere’s a topic on whichhe’s unwilling to share histhoughts. It’s a pretty sim-ple question: Mr. Stanford,what do you plan to do forsex when your wife movesout of town? Mars is con-sidered out of town, right?

Stanford is married toSonia Van Meter, who’samong 705 finalists in acontest run by Mars One,a Dutch bunch planning tocolonize Mars by 2025. VanMeter hopes to qualify forthe one-way trip and be-come a Martian by choice.The project is ambitious. Itcould happen. And some-day the Longhorns couldbeat Brigham Young.

Van Meter has gottenplenty of coverage for hereffort, including my col-league Andrea Ball’s storyin February. Now the at-tention is global, includinga recent interview on BBCWorld Service radio pro-gram “Outlook.” MatthewBannister chats up folkswith offbeat stories. Recent“Outlook” headlines in-clude: “I escaped (Congo)jail dressed as a woman.”“Pregnant woman whoswam to hospital.” “I waspsychiatrist to the Tali-ban.”

Bannister opened theVan Meter segment thusly:“For many people the ideaof flying into space is veryexciting, but how wouldyou feel about going on aspace trip from which youcan never return?”

It’s a good question thatleads to many others, sev-eral of which he posed toVan Meter.

“So you’re going toleave behind your husbandand your stepchildren for-ever. That’s a big thing todo, isn’t it? Did it give youany pause for thought?”

Of course, she replied,pivoting quickly to whyshe wants to do it. Bannis-ter asked about suchthings as food on Marsand other practical consid-erations. Van Meter’s an-swers were great, all deliv-ered with excitementabout the project.

Bannister asked Stan-ford about being left be-hind. He, too, had great an-swers, including specula-tion about how the worldmight have been differentif Mrs. Magellan or Mrs.

Columbus — if there weresuch people — had object-ed to their husbands’ trav-el plans.

Bannister then moved,figuratively, to the boudoir,asking Van Meter, “Whenyou go there and you’veleft Jason behind on Earthforever, will your vows offidelity still be strong?”

It’s important that youread Bannister’s quoteswith a British accent.

Van Meter got abouttwo syllables into an an-swer before her husbandinterrupted: “There’s a lotwe’re willing to talk aboutbut that’s not one ofthem.”

Crank up your Britishaccent here.

“Right,” Bannister said,unwilling to drop the sub-ject. “Because obviouslythat’s one of the issues thatarises. You’ve obviouslysaid you’ve made a com-mitment to Sonia, Jason,forever. If she leaves youforever, presumably you’refree to have another rela-tionship, aren’t you?”

Stanford: “I think thereare a lot of really interest-ing things to talk aboutwith this mission that’sshe’s taken on that have todo with a lot of us. I thinkwondering about my sexlife, that’s definitely some-place I’m not willing to gopublicly.”

Get British again.“OK, that’s fine. I under-

stand. No problem at all,”Bannister said, headingelsewhere. “Sonia, I’m surea lot of people are going toapplaud your courage, butthere will be other peoplelistening to this who thinkyou’re a bit nuts really ... .”

Footnote: Stanford, inan April essay in TexasMonthly, touched on thetopic that so interestedBannister, though Stanfordhandled kind of the otherside of it.

“Will she, you know,have to help populate theplanet?” he wrote. “For therecord, keeping adultsalive on Mars will beenough of a challenge. Hu-man reproduction is notpart of the mission.”

I think Bannister mighthave been thinking moreabout recreation than pro-creation.

A sort-of-related PS:Stanford just took a Wash-ington, D.C., job withPlanned Parenthood.

COLUMN

Some topicsare best

kept secret“KEN HERMAN

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

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

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

We want to assure our

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

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Most politicians, uponmaking a highly publicizedgaffe, would spend the nextfew hours — or days —with their mouths firmlyshut. Joe Biden is not mostpoliticians.

During a speech to theLegal Services Corporationon Tuesday, Biden referredto lenders preying on mem-bers of the military as“shylocks.” By Wednesday,he was apologizing for a“poor choice of words” af-ter the Anti-Defamation

League criticized him forusing a term that is a de-rogatory slur toward Jews.

Biden’s Wednesday wasjust starting to get bad,though. At a rally in DesMoines, Iowa — in caseyou forgot, Biden mightlike to run for president in2016 — the vice presidentrecounted meeting a mannamed Lee Kuan Yew,whom he called “the wisestman in the Orient.” As theimmortal Walter Sobchakmight say: Dude, that isnot the preferred nomen-clature.

But wait, there’s more!

After the rally in DesMoines, Biden stopped by alocal diner. He was askedby a reporter whether heagreed with Joint Chiefs ofStaff Chairman MartinDempsey’s refusal to ruleout American groundtroops in Iraq. Biden saidground troops aren’t neces-sary now, but he didn’tclose the door on the possi-bility — a position counterto President Barack Oba-ma’s insistence that troopswon’t be put on theground.

Then came the week-capper. At a women’s con-

ference on Friday, Bidenreminisced about good ol’days when Republicanslike Sen. Bob Packwood(Oregon) served. Pack-wood, you may remember,resigned in 1995 after 10women accused him of sex-ual harassment.

Joe Biden, for kickingyour gaffe machine into agear we didn’t know it had,you had the worst week inWashington. Congrats, orsomething.

Cillizza covers the WhiteHouse for The WashingtonPost and writes The Fix, itspolitics blog.

WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON

Biden had a rough weekBy CHRIS CILLIZZA

THE WASHINGTON POST

The nation wasstunned at the sight oflocal police officersarmed for a militarysiege in Ferguson, Mis-souri, when protesterstook to the streets lastmonth after the policeshooting of a black teen-ager. Armed with assaultrifles, laser scopes andtear gas grenades, thepolice appeared primedfor a domestic DesertStorm, not a crowd ofimpassioned citizens.

Police forces have be-come increasingly mili-tarized in the last 40years, many getting Pen-

tagon surplus material,supposedly to useagainst drug dealers andterrorists. It is the mili-tary gear and garb that“reinforces a war-fight-ing mentality among ci-vilian police,” one wit-ness at the Senate hear-ing noted. Congress firstapproved war-surplusmaterials for civilian po-lice in the 1970s. Thereare bipartisan proposalsto have Congress takethe lead in demilitariz-ing the police. Lawmak-ers should move swiftlyon these measures sothat police forces don’tbecome standing armies.

EDITORIAL

Lawmen arenot the military

NEW YORK TIMES

Confessions are amongthe most compelling andcritical pieces of evidencein a criminal trial. Evenwithout any physical evi-dence tying a defendant toa crime, a few simplewords can be enough for aconviction.

Words like, “Somethingjust took over me and Ijust choked him.” That iswhat Pedro Hernandeztold police investigators af-ter they arrested him in2012 in connection with the1979 disappearance andpresumed murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz.

This part of his confes-sion was videotaped; thetape was played in open

court for the first time thisweek. But nearly eighthours of interrogation thatcame before this confes-sion were not recorded.

Hernandez’s lawyer saysthe confession was false orcoerced, and wants itthrown out because, hesays, Hernandez’s historyof mental illness and intel-lectual disability madehim unable to understandhis right to remain silent.The confession includedmany precise details de-scribing the boy’s abduc-tion and murder, but sever-al statements contradictestablished facts in thecase.

This is the problem withunrecorded interrogations.Without a full record of the

interaction between Her-nandez and the police, howcan a judge or jury decidewhether he was coerced ornot?

In fact, false or coercedconfessions are disturbing-ly common. In almost 30percent of cases where con-victions were later over-turned because of DNAevidence, the defendantgave a false confession orother statement. Police andother law enforcement offi-cials have long resisted re-cording interrogations, butthat resistance is ebbing asthe benefits become clear.

For police, it is insur-ance against claims of co-ercion or mistreatment.For prosecutors, it savesresources by encouraging

plea deals. For innocentdefendants, it can preventwrongful convictions. And,of course, it protects thepublic by ensuring that theright people are chargedand convicted.

About 850 police agen-cies around the countrynow voluntarily recordmost or all interrogations,according to the InnocenceProject. Fourteen statesand the District of Colum-bia have passed legislationrequiring recording, andcourts in seven more haveeither required or encour-aged it. In May, the JusticeDepartment announcedthe FBI and other federallaw enforcement agencieswould begin recording in-terrogations in most cases.

EDITORIAL

Police should record talkingNEW YORK TIMES

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES Police SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS — Au-thorities in Minnesota fil-ed a petition Friday seek-ing a protective order forthe 4-year-old son of Vik-ings running back AdrianPeterson.

In the petition, Henne-pin County Human Servic-es asked a judge to blockPeterson from using corpo-ral punishment or physicaldiscipline on the boy. It al-

so would block unauthor-ized or unsupervised con-tact, and require Petersonto complete a parenting as-sessment.

Peterson faces a childabuse charge in Texas forusing a wooden switch tospank the boy in May. Hehas said he meant only todiscipline the boy and nothurt him. The order saysPeterson told investigatorsin Texas that he also useda belt to spank his son.

Peterson has beendropped from the Vikings’active roster while thecriminal case against himis pending in Texas, wherehe has an Oct. 8 arraign-ment.

Peterson’s attorney, Rus-ty Hardin, didn’t immedi-ately respond to an emailseeking comment.

According to the pet-ition:

The child visited Peter-son in Montgomery Coun-

ty, Texas, from about May6-22. His mother reportedpossible abuse to Henne-pin County Child Protec-tion services on May 22.Separate exams by a doc-tor May 22 and a nursepractitioner May 23 docu-mented injuries “clinicallydiagnostic of child physi-cal abuse.”

A follow-up exam May29 found the boy still hadtraces of the injuries “10days after the last known

time he was physicallyabused.”

“His injuries are signif-icant and may cause somescarring,” a summary ofthe exam said.

The petition also de-scribed Peterson’s inter-views with Texas childprotection investigators,including: “Respondent Pe-terson admitted that ChildNo. 1 received two spank-ings as a form of physicaldiscipline, one with a belt

and one with a switch.”Hennepin County juve-

nile court staff attorneyMaggie Skelton said prose-cutors have asked that theorder be suspended untilthe Texas case is resolved.County Attorney MikeFreeman said in a state-ment that the petition wasrequired by law once crim-inal charges were filed.

It was first reported bythe Minneapolis Star Tri-bune.

Minnesota authorities filed a petition seeking to keep Vikings running back Adrian Peterson from his son. Peterson was charged with child abuse in Texas and has an Oct. 8 arraignment.Photo by Ann Heisenfelt | AP

Petition filed to block Peterson from sonASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — In thehousing projects of east-ern Brooklyn, some youngmen no longer clasp handswhen greeting each other,they say, fearful that theirgrasp might be mistakenfor a drug deal and invitea search by the police.Friends heading to the bo-dega sometimes split up,worried that walking in agroup will attract policeattention.

They are subtle yet tell-ing changes, lasting effectsof years of police stops ofyoung men, mostly inblack and Latino neighbor-hoods. Often the stopswere without legal justifi-cation, a federal courtfound last year.

Today, “stop-and-frisk”as New York City knew itis over, undone by a tor-rent of public outrage andpolitical pressure, and bylegal challenges that cul-minated in the ruling thatthe Police Department’sdrastically increased useof the street stops of blackand Hispanic men over thepreceding decade was un-constitutional.

The police remain a vis-ible presence in the bor-ough’s Brownsville neigh-borhood, where the vastand violent expanse ofpublic housing had madethe neighborhood a prov-ing ground for the depart-ment’s use of the tactics asa way to curb gun vio-lence. As part of a newstrategy called Omnipres-ence, the officers nowstand on street cornerslike sentries, only rarelyconfronting young menand patting them down forweapons. But the residentsof Brownsville, condi-tioned by the years of thestop-and-frisk tactics, stillview these officers warily.

In dozens of interviewsover the summer, people inBrownsville described howstop-and-frisk’s legacy wasstill felt in the alteredrhythms of daily life, likethe walk to the bodega.

Some people head in-doors earlier, they say, be-cause darkness brings notonly the increased threatof violence but also a low-er threshold for beingstopped by the police.Some people are hesitantto visit friends or relativesin neighboring projects,where they risk beingstopped on suspicion of

trespass.And instead of enthusi-

astic handshakes, a bumpof the fists or the elbows isa more common greetingamong the young men.Elsewhere that might haveseemed the influence ofprofessional athletes; inBrownsville, it took holdas an adaptation to a con-suming police presence.

“No open palm any-more; we just do elbows,”Pharaoh Pearson, a 38-year-old club promoter,said recently as he andtwo friends sat in thecourtyard of the TildenHouses in Brownsville.

“That’s an automaticsearch because they saywe were doing hand-to-hand transactions,” saidone of Pearson’s friends,Ernest Payne, a construc-tion worker and milk de-liveryman.

Under Mayor Michael R.Bloomberg, the number ofstreet stops soared as theybecame a cornerstone ofhis administration’s anti-gun efforts, each encoun-ter documented by an offi-cer on a form known as a250. The stops rarely turn-ed up evidence of crimi-nality but became a fact oflife for young black andHispanic men in high-crime neighborhoods, andpublic housing projects inparticular.

By the time Bill de Bla-sio took office as mayorthis year, less than five

months after a federaljudge, Shira A. Scheindlin,ruled against the city’s useof stop-and-frisk tactics,the practice was decliningprecipitously. De Blasioheralded the change as animportant step toward im-proving police-communityrelations after years of in-creasingly aggressive pol-icing under Bloombergand his police commis-sioner, Raymond W. Kelly.

But there are limits tohow quickly campaignpledges and court rulingscan change how peoplefeel about the police, par-ticularly in neighborhoodswhere high levels of crimemake the police a perpetu-al and often aggressivepresence.

While Brownsville issafer than it was in theearly 1990s, when the localpolice precinct, the 73rd,recorded more than 70homicides in some years,it is still a dangerousplace. This year, as of Sept.7, the 73rd Precinct had re-corded 13 homicides, in-cluding at least four in theprojects, and more than400 shootings, stabbingsand other felony assaults.

So even as the confron-tational, often intrusivestop-and-frisk encountershave significantly de-clined, police officers to-day remain ever-present inthe projects of Browns-ville. The new strategy forpolicing the projects is

taking shape night bynight.

Officers stand at posts,often along the perimeterof the towers of the TildenHouses or at the edge oflow-rise brick buildings ofthe neighboring Browns-ville Houses. For the mostpart, they seem to hangback. To add to their visi-bility, officers park theircars on the sidewalk andturn on the flashing rooflights. At night, the bluebeams illuminate thebrick of the projects forhours on end, projectingboth a sense of emergencyand control.

Residents of the projectsstudy the officers with amix of wariness and curi-osity, as they and the po-lice both try to discern therules of engagement in apost-stop-and-frisk era.

“They’ll be here allnight,” said a 20-year-oldman who watched the offi-cer pacing near the flash-ing blue lights. The man,who declined to give hisname, acknowledged,“They don’t stop people asmuch as they used to, afew months ago.”

But if the number of po-lice stops has declined,stops and summonses formatters like congregatingoutside a building en-trance remain a core partof policing the projects.Enforcement of minor of-fenses has been a hall-mark of de Blasio’s police

commissioner, William J.Bratton, going since hisdays as chief of the transitpolice and his first tour,under Mayor Rudolph W.Giuliani, as police com-missioner.

And it is a strategy hehas shown little sign ofabandoning, even after Er-ic Garner died in July af-ter a struggle with policeofficers on Staten Islandwho were trying to arresthim for selling loose, un-taxed cigarettes.

In Brownsville, the frus-tration flowing from suchenforcement is not hard tofind.

Dan Richardson, 48,said that on a swelteringmorning this summer, hestopped into a restaurantfor a cup of ice water andcontinued down busyRockaway Avenue. A po-lice car pulled alongsidehim. An officer askedwhat was in the cup, evi-dently suspecting liquor.

“When I told them itwas water, he got out ofthe car and reached hishand out for the cup andput it up to his nose,” re-called Richardson, wholives in neighboring EastNew York but grew up inBrownsville and is backoften. The officer, realizingit was water, tried to giveback the cup, but Richard-son replied, “I don’t wantthe water after you doneput your nose in it andsniffed it.” So the officer

threw the cup on theground, Richardson said

Car stops and searches,which are not reflected inthe Police Department’sstop-and-frisk totals, arealso a source of friction,some people in the neigh-borhood say.

“They pull up on youand knock on your win-dow, pull you over, andthey ask to search yourcar,” said Lamel Battle, a28-year-old constructionworker.

He said he was most re-cently pulled over twomonths earlier in an en-counter in which officerssearched the trunk of hiscar, finding nothing.

“They ask you how yourday is going — one guywill try to talk to you for aminute, try to calm youdown, while they’researching your car,” saidBattle, who won a $50,000settlement from the cityafter a lawsuit stemmingfrom a 2007 disorderly-con-duct arrest. “It’s regular.”

Today, teenagers andyoung men in Brownsvillelive in the shadow of yearsof police encounters — asthey were heading to thestore, or sitting on court-yard benches, or walkingto church — that accus-tomed them to having toprove their innocence topolice again and again.

“Sometimes I’ll let themcheck me so they don’tthink I have anything tohide,” Tijay Lewis, 15, saidof what happens when offi-cers stop him for a frisk.“I tell them I don’t haveany guns on me. They say,’That’s for me to findout.’”

Tijay said he had beenstopped 10 times sinceturning 13.

“I’m black so I getstopped a lot of times,” hesaid as he stood with hisfather, David, 36, and his 4-year-old brother, Harlem,in the courtyard of the Til-den Houses.

But Tijay observed thatit had been months sincehe was last stopped.

“It feels a little bit dif-ferent,” he said of the at-mosphere of the TildenHouses.

When Tijay is outside,his father tries to keep aclose watch. If he loses Ti-jay in the crowd of teenag-ers, Lewis will make himchange the color of hisshirt. He wants his soneasier to spot should trou-ble break out.

Frisk tactics fewer but still affect NYC livesBy JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN

NEW YORK TIMES

Students walk across the University of Georgia campus among police officers after a threat was posted on social media causing officials toevacuate the area on Friday, in Athens, Georgia.

Photo by Richard Hamm/The Banner-Herald | AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 Business THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

CALGARY, Alberta — An applaudingcrowd of more than 2,000 shoppers tookNordstrom’s first Canadian store bystorm on its opening day in this oil-richcity Friday, an auspicious start for theSeattle retailer’s international debut.

Hundreds milled about at a pre-open-ing “Beauty Bash,” where shoppers werehanded bags with samples while theywaited for the store to open.

“We are very excited. I woke up my ba-by to come here this morning,” said Car-olyn Cheetham, pointing to her four-month-old daughter.

Cheetham, who like many in this cityworks in the oil and gas industry, saidshe has visited Nordstrom in Seattle andChicago, and hopes that Nordstrombrings here the “same products theyhave in the States.”

Many Canadian shoppers were disap-pointed with recent forays into theircountry by U.S. retailer Target, whichdid not replicate the pricing or the varie-ty of its U.S. stores.

For Nordstorm, which began expand-ing outside of its Pacific Northwest homein the 1970s, the Calgary opening repre-sents a big milestone — and an opportu-nity to keep growing its full-line storeseven as many consumers in the U.S. flockonline.

The Canada debut means “the compa-ny has matured to the point where it canundertake the complexities of interna-tional operations,” said Erik Nordstrom,a fourth-generation member of the found-ing family and the executive who headsonline operations and until recentlyheaded full-line stores.

For a “company that started as a shoestore in Seattle, it’s a big milestone,” hesaid in an interview.

Almost all members of the Nordstromclan — from president Blake Nordstromto patriarch Bruce Nordstrom — werepresent at the store.

“This is the highest priority for ourcompany right now,” Erik Nordstromsaid.

The company is entering a battle roy-ale for the Canadian luxury market. TheHudson Bay Co., a big nationwide depart-ment store chain, recently bought SaksFifth Ave. and plans to bring it to Cana-da.

Holt Renfrew, a Montreal-based high-end retailer, this month announced theexpansion of its Calgary store, amongothers.

Nordstrom seeks to position itself mid-way between Hudson Bay and Holt by of-fering an array of high-end and mid-

priced items, company executives say.Canada has many allures: A strong

economy buoyed by rich energy re-sources, it is relatively underserved byluxury retailers but offers a wealth ofshoppers familiar with Nordstrom andother U.S. brands. Canada is the top des-tination for Nordstrom.com internation-al shipments, the company says.

Nordstrom plans to open five addition-al stores over the next two years, includ-ing one in Vancouver, B.C.

The company says it could somedayhave as many as 10 full-line stores and upto 20 Nordstrom Racks in Canada, al-though it hasn’t yet determined when theRack will first migrate north. Eventuallythe company will also open up its own e-commerce website for Canada.

It’s a good opportunity to grow, saidDan Geiman, an analyst with McAdamsWright Ragen. He likened the move toother investments by the company, suchas the Rack and the recent acquisition ofThe Trunk Club, that seek to compensatefor limited expansion opportunities inthe U.S. for full-line stores.

But the great northern neighbor hasalso proved challenging for other U.S. re-tailers such as Sears, which is vacatingsome of the store spaces Nordstrom ispulling into. Target, which launched itsCanadian operations last year with bigfanfare, lost nearly $1 billion on the pro-ject.

Calgary, which became Nordstrom’sfirst location because it was the first for-

mer Sears space that became available,has its own set of opportunities and chal-lenges.

It’s the nation’s energy capital, with asizzling economy and one of the lowestlevels of unemployment in the country.Another Seattle-area based retailer hasmet success there: Calgary boasts CostcoWholesale’s third-busiest warehouse.

This prairie city is relatively small,with a population of 1.2 million. But themedian family income in 2012 was$98,300 in Canadian dollars, the highestamong Canadian metropolitan areas, ver-sus $71,140 in Vancouver, according togovernment data. Personal disposable in-come exceeded $45,000 a year in Calgary— nearly 70 percent more than the Cana-dian average, according to a presentationby the City of Calgary.

Moreover, there are relatively few plac-es to spend all these petrodollars, be-cause the luxury market is relatively un-derdeveloped in Canada, said DavidFinch, a professor of marketing at theMount Royal University in Calgary. “Re-tailers that have moved here have founda very affluent population,” he said.

But that also means that there’s not adeep retail talent pool to draw from. InCanada, retail has always been consid-ered a “transient” job and not a careerprofession, so “it’s going to be difficultfor them to find experienced, profession-al, luxury-oriented staff,” he said.

The fact that Calgary’s oil-fueled jobmarket is sizzling hot doesn’t help Nord-

strom either: Average wages for hourlyemployees in Alberta are $28.09 an hour,15 percent higher than in Vancouver.

People switch jobs easily and manyare drawn to oil-related activities withhigher pay, Finch said, adding that a res-taurant two blocks away from his Cal-gary home doesn’t open up for dinneranymore “because they can’t find anystaff.”

Scott Crockatt, director of marketingand communications at the CalgaryChamber of Commerce, agreed.

“The No.1 problem that companies inand around Calgary have is finding andkeeping quality staff. I anticipate thatNordstrom, along with many others, isgoing to be challenged to recruit the hun-dreds of staff they’re expected to,” hesaid.

Nordstrom executives say they heardall the warnings, but found that theywere able to fill 531 spots.

“We were very encouraged by thenumber of applicants and the quality,”said Karen McKibbin, president of Nord-strom Canada, in an interview. She saidthe pay structure is the same as in theU.S., and labor costs are similar to thosein some U.S. markets, such as the SanFrancisco Bay Area.

The Calgary store manager is from theU.S., and so are a few other departmentmanagers, but most managers are Nord-strom first-timers hired locally — thefirst time Nordstrom has done that. Can-adian department managers were flownin to the Seattle area for nine weeks,where they mainly worked as assistantmanagers at the Bellevue store to com-plete “their indoctrination,” Erik Nord-strom said.

The company is committed to provid-ing as much quality, variety and custom-er service in Canada as it does in theU.S., he said.

“We don’t want to bring NordstromLight,” he said.

The company is accommodating the lo-cal flavor, however. In Calgary, the heartof a big cattle province, “we have morecowboy boots than we have in Seattle,”he said.

Alberta’s shoppers will be a discern-ing bunch, judging by Lori Edmunds andher daughter, who drove one hour and ahalf from Red Deer, a small town north ofCalgary, to see the new store. She saidshe found some good deals, but “it’s veryexpensive too.”

Her 19-year old daughter Kristen saidshe was pleasantly surprised with thewide selection of high-end cowboy bootsthat she usually finds only in Westernwear stores. “I’m a cowboy boot lover,”she said.

Nordstrom opens first store in CanadaBy ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZTHE SEATTLE TIMES

Shoppers visit a Nordstrom department store in Chicago, on Dec. 26, 2013. A crowd of more than2,000 shoppers took Nordstrom’s first Canadian store by storm on its opening day Friday.

Photo by Nam Y. Huh | AP

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES International SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

LONDON — The saga of Scottish inde-pendence is over, but a new journey of po-litical upheaval is only beginning for theUnited Kingdom.

Prime Minister David Cameron respond-ed Friday to the passion of the failed Scot-tish breakaway by promising sweeping newpowers to the U.K.’s regions. Scotland’s re-bellious spirit and England’s own move-ment for more autonomy mean that to keepan uneasy marriage intact, each of Bri-tain’s four nations soon may need to livemostly under separate roofs.

Cameron vowed to follow through oncampaign promises to spin off key decision-making powers from London to the Scottishcapital of Edinburgh, particularly over taxrates and welfare benefits, to keep separa-tist sentiments at bay. As importantly, hecalled for a similarly robust reform of therelationship between Parliament in Londonand Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland andmost significantly its home of England,where 85 percent of the U.K.’s populationlives.

“I have long believed that a crucial partmissing from this national discussion isEngland. We have heard the voice of Scot-land, and now the millions of voices of Eng-land must also be heard. The question ofEnglish votes for English laws ... requires adecisive answer,” Cameron said outside No.10 Downing Street.

The push to reshape the political map ofthe United Kingdom comes ahead of twokey tests of opinion that, depending on howthe cards fall, could end in Britain’s exitfrom the European Union in a promised2017 referendum. First, U.K. voters must de-cide by May 2015 whether Cameron and hisEuro-skeptic, England-centric ConservativeParty remain in power or give way to thecenter-left Labour Party, the perennial pref-erence of Scottish and Welsh voters.

All the while, nationalist forces in North-ern Ireland, Wales and even England arefeeling empowered by Thursday’s strong 45percent support for Scottish independence.The pro-independence vote fell short of poll-sters’ predictions but still means that morethan 1.6 million Scots opted to leave GreatBritain.

Cameron appointed one of Scotland’sbusiness grandees, Lord Smith of Kelvin, tolead a Scotland Devolution Commissionthat would report recommendations by No-vember on what responsibilities and pow-ers should be transferred to Scotland. Cam-eron set a rapid timetable calling for legisla-tion to be published by January and passedbefore he calls elections. Typically, the Com-mons and upper House of Lords don’t workthat quickly.

He said similar diplomatic initiativeswould begin with the regional governmentsin Northern Ireland and Wales, but offeredno deadlines or specifics. Like Scotland,those two also received their own legisla-tures in the late 1990s as Tony Blair’s La-bour government delivered on his cam-paign pledge to bring a measure of self-gov-ernment to nations that long havecomplained of English domination of deci-sion-making.

That move let the genie of nationalismout of the U.K. bottle.

Before Blair’s devolution push, the Brit-ish central government was dominant,while town and regional councils coveredchiefly the mundane realities of daily life,like garbage collection and parking meters.The regional governments of Edinburgh,Belfast and Cardiff still have a long way togo to wield the kind of autonomy enjoyedby U.S. or Australian states or Canadianprovinces. While they have their own effec-tive governors, “first ministers,” the de-volved administrations cannot impose orcollect taxes.

As part of Cameron’s campaign appealsto the Scots, the Edinburgh parliamentwould receive new powers to set its ownsales tax policies, change income-tax bandsto make the rich pay more, and potentiallycollect and receive other tax revenues moredirectly. Currently, sales and income taxesgo to a U.K.-wide authority, and Scotland,Northern Ireland and Wales receive blockgrants that are subsidized by English tax-payers.

But Cameron faces challenges on severalfronts.

Right-wingers in his own party oppose

the promises he has just given to Scotland,and instead want to focus on freezing Scot-tish lawmakers out of voting on parliamen-tary bills that apply only for England andWales, a longstanding grievance and oddityof the U.K.’s multi-layered political system.

Cameron said he expected Parliament topass bills to transfer more powers to Wales’Assembly and to create new restrictions onScottish and Northern Irish lawmakers inthe House of Commons, so that they couldno longer vote on issues pertaining only toEngland and Wales.

Wales has been in union with Englandthe longest, shares jurisdiction on law-and-order and many other matters, and has re-ceived fewer devolved powers than Scotlandand Northern Ireland. But the Labour lead-er of its regional government in Cardiff saidthe Welsh wanted whatever the Scots weregetting, too.

“The old union is dead. We need to forgea new union,” said Welsh First MinisterCarwyn Jones, who argued for more fundsfrom the central government. “It’s perfectlyreasonable that we might expect a fairshare of the pot.”

Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative lawmak-er, said he expected England to create a itsown fully devolved political structures — sothat while the United Kingdom still wouldhave an overarching prime minister, Eng-land would join Scotland, Wales and North-ern Ireland in having a first minister over-seeing internal affairs, too.

Cameron’s move to emphasize new Eng-land-only political structures looks like acanny response to his narrow escape inScotland. Should he succeed in shifting thepowers of lawmakers in the House of Com-

mons, a future British government wouldnot be able to marshal support from Walesand Scotland to win key parliamentaryvotes. That would favor the Conservatives,who are profoundly unpopular outside Eng-land.

Northern Ireland, as always, poses differ-ent and more physically dangerous prob-lems.

There a delicate Catholic-Protestant coali-tion of former enemies has spent months indeadlock over trying to impose U.K. welfarereforms. Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalistparty, is refusing to impose the cuts, North-ern Ireland is suffering mounting financialpenalties as a result, and the province’s Pro-testant leader is warning that their power-sharing needs fundamentally new rules tosurvive. Failure there could mean a resur-gence of the kind of street warfare thatclaimed 3,700 lives over the past four dec-ades.

Thursday’s Scotland vote also offers tan-talizing promise for Sinn Fein, which wantsa referendum on Northern Ireland’s future.The province’s 1998 peace accord containsprovisions for a vote on whether NorthernIreland should stay in the United Kingdom,as its Protestant majority favors, or be ab-sorbed into the Republic of Ireland, whichwon independence from the U.K. in 1922 af-ter a two-year war.

“It is time for the people who share thisisland to have a respectful and informed de-bate with regard to Irish unity or continuedpartition,” Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adamstold reporters outside Dail Eireann, theIrish parliament, in Dublin. “The peoplehere, like our Scottish cousins, should beprovided the opportunity in a border poll todetermine the constitutional position. Thatis the democratic way forward.”

Waiting in the wings for any stumble isLabour leader Ed Miliband, who hopes tooust Cameron from power in London andentice voters in Scotland back from theScottish National Party, the pro-independ-ence force that swept to power in Scotland’sParliament in 2011.

“This was a vote for change,” Milibanddeclared to the victory rally of the anti-inde-pendence Better Together campaign in Scot-land. “Change doesn’t end today. Change be-gins today, because we know this countryneeds to change in the way it’s governed.”

The future direction of the United King-dom appears destined to face many internaltugs-of-war: between parties and capitals,and between each voter’s soul and sensibil-ity.

That conflict perhaps was best illustratedon the ballot papers of 691 of the more than3.6 million Scots who cast their ballotsThursday.

When asked whether Scotland should bean independent country, those voterschecked both “yes” and “no.”

Britain plans upheaval after Scot voteBy SHAWN POGATCHNIK AND

ROBERT BARRASSOCIATED PRESS

Police officers on horseback try to separate “No” supporters from “Yes” supporters after No supportersgathered with British Union flags to celebrate the referendum result in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday.

Photo by Matt Dunham | AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 Fashion THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

MILAN — Hey girlfriend,baggy boyfriend jeans areall the rage on the Milanrunway this season.

At Emporio Armani,they fit Giorgio Armani’spassion for blue — an inter-national color that the de-signer says satisfies any ap-petite for ethnic looks. TheEmporio collection, present-ed Thursday on the secondday of Milan Fashion Week,included wide-legged denimwith a shiny, cropped cuff,dressed up with short tai-lored jackets.

Karl Lagerfeld says wom-en are increasingly askingfor denim, and he obligedwith jodhpur-styled jeansfor Fendi. And Gucci cameout with mariner-frontstyles cropped at the calf.

Prada, however, stuck todemure-length hemlinesand dresses with no pantsand no denim.

Some highlights fromThursday’s shows:

PRADA’S PURPLEFANTASY

Miuccia Prada tries todisguise the art and crafts-manship in her collectionswith raw seams and frayedhemlines.

For next summer’s looks,Prada used brocade — arich, textured fabric oftenembossed with gold or sil-ver thread — which she de-signed from archive sam-ples. Jazzing up the colorswith flashes of green, or-ange and yellow, she com-missioned the brocade fromtextile mills north of Milan.

Models paraded the looksaround dunes of purplesand, casting simple sil-houettes of well-fitted shiftdresses, puffy skirts, tai-lored trenches and over-sized overcoats with three-quarter sleeves. Hemlinesfinished demurely at theknees and there were notrousers.

“All the effort was not todo something that was dec-adent, but keep it meaning-ful,” Prada said. “I didn’twant it to be too beautiful.”

ODE TO THE ORCHIDGeorgia May Jagger,

Mick’s daughter, took a

turn on the Fendi runway,sporting a dark blue mini-dress in an orchid printwith a built-in asymmetri-cal cape that wrappedaround one shoulder. Thedress nicely encapsulateddesigner Karl Lagerfeld’s ar-chitectural inspiration forthe collection.

Large orchid motifs,evoking lightness and beau-ty, graced many of the Fendipieces, appliqued onto leath-er jackets, embroidered intodresses, decorating hand-bags or tying back hair.

The looks, catering to theyoung with short-shortskirts or long ankle-lengthhems, were finished withthick braided bracelets andaccompanied by a new ba-guette bag.

BLUE MOODThe Emporio Armani

color for next season isblue, more specifically corn-flower blue that runs fromsoothing to electrifying. ForGiorgio Armani, bluetrumps black in terms ofversatility, grabbing thelight and flattering thewearer.

“Blue has a different soft-ness, it is less dictating,”Armani said. “It’s thin-ning.”

Blue played against whiteand gray in bold stripedpantsuits, cocktail dressesand blazers. But it turnedpositively electric for bodic-es on cocktail dresses, onshorts and in chunky jewel-ry made out of PVC materi-als.

Armani’s credo is to

make clothes for real wom-en “not just those who fitthe extreme trends.”

Armani created widetrousers — acknowledgingand not negating the femalehip like some fellow design-ers — as well as close-fittingpants, cuffed above the an-kle.

Dresses either huggedthe curves with a neat wraparound the waist or fellloosely around the hips.Skirts had lots of leg room,allowing for easy strides.

WISPY LOOKS FORWILLOWY WOMEN

Amy Adams sat frontand center for Max Mara’scollection featuring light-weight fabrics that offeringfull summertime cover forfair-skinned redheads likethe five-time Oscar-nominat-ed actress.

There was an urban safa-ri quality to the collection.The long Georgette dressescame in simplified floralpatterns that appear to bean animal prints — andwhich matched the knee-high boots. Safari jacketsfeatured double elasticwaistbands. And the lookswere finished with floppyhats, good for sun or rain,and big sunglasses.

The color palate rangedfrom neutral taupe andsand to eye-popping pink,sea-foam green and yellow.

FASHION ICON BAR-BIE

Barbie just got the fash-ion makeover she alwaysdreamed of, courtesy ofMoschino — a label thathas no problem poking funat the fashion world.

Jeremy Scott’s collectionhad an over-the-top feel —which included a literaltranslation of over-the-topwith a bikini sewn on top ofa skirt suit. Predictably,there was a Barbie in allher incarnations: travelBarbie in a pink vinyl dressand a Moschino-emblazonedtrolley, workout Barbie witha velour workout outfit withmini-dumbbells and a 1950shousewife Barbie in a quilt-ed jump suit.

Fashion Barbie closedthe show in a froth of pinkand with a wiggle of herhips.

Jeans a hit in MilanBy COLLEEN BARRYASSOCIATED PRESS

Shown is Philipp Plein women’sSpring Summer 2015 collection.

Photo by Antonio Calanni | AP

ROMA09/23— El Departamento

de Educación Especial de Ro-ma ISD realizará una juntacon el tema “Servicios a laComunidad”, a las 9 a.m. enla Oficina del Departamentode Educación Especial. Másinformación llamando al 849-1616.

LAREDO09/20— Se realizará la

Segunda Carrera Anual deCross Country por parte deElementary y Middle SchoolsDr. Sara Carrasco, a partir delas 8 a.m. en Shirley FieldSports Complex, ubicado en2400 de avenida San Bernar-do.

09/20— El ConsuladoGeneral de México en Laredoinvita a las Jornadas Sabati-nas 2014 en sus oficinas de1612 Farragut St., en horariode 8 a.m. a 2 p.m. Se reali-zan trámites de pasaportes,matrículas consulares, y sebrinda asistencia consular enel ámbito de protección.

09/20— Se realizará unevento de Inspección deAsientos para Menores de 9a.m. a 12:30 p.m. en las Ofi-cinas del Departamento deTransportes de Texas del Dis-trito de Laredo, ubicadas en1817 de Bob Bullock Loop.

09/20— 15o ProgramaAnual de Educación y Examendel Asma, de 10 a.m. a 1p.m. en Mall Del Norte, cercade la entrada de Dillard’s.Evento gratuito.

09/20— El Planetario La-mar Bruni Vergara proyectará“The Little Star that Could”, alas 2 p.m.; “Force 5”, a las 3p.m.; “Wonders of the Univer-se”, a las 4 p.m.; “Lamps OfAtlantis”, a las 5 p.m. Costode entrada general 5 dólaresy 4 dólares para niños meno-res de 12 años y estudiantesde TAMIU con credencial.

09/20— La Asociaciónde Padres de niños con Sín-drome de Down se reunirá alas 2 p.m. en VAIL, ubicadoen 1419 de calle CorpusChristi.

09/20— Las Hermanasde la Misericordia celebraránel Día de la Misericordia conuna misa en Christ the KingChurch, en 901 de calle Gua-dalupe. Tras la ceremonia serealizará una merienda en elCentro Educativo Lamar BruniVergara, en 1000 de Mier, de3 p.m. a 4 p.m.

09/20— El Circo AlzafarShrine 2014 se presenta enLaredo Energy Arena a las 2p.m. y 8 p.m. Costo del bole-to es de 18 dólares y 28 dó-lares.

09/21— El Circo AlzafarShrine 2014 se presenta enLaredo Energy Arena a la 1:30p.m. y 7 p.m. Costo del bole-to es de 18 dólares y 28 dó-lares.

09/23— El Planetario La-mar Bruni Vergara proyectará“Wonders Of The Universe”, alas 6 p.m.; “Lamps of Atlan-tis” a las 7 p.m. Costo de en-trada es de 5 dólares y 4 dó-lares para niños menores de12 años y estudiantes de TA-MIU con credencial.

09/23— El equipo de vo-leibol de TAMIU se enfrentaráa Texas A&M – Kingsville alas 7 p.m. en Kinesiology andConvocation Building de TA-MIU.

NUEVO LAREDO09/20— Estación Palabra

presenta “Bazar de Arte”, alas 10 a.m.; “Festival Infantil”,a las 2 p.m. Eventos gratuitos.

09/20— Semana CulturalOtoño 2014 presenta: BalletMagia Folklórica de CiudadMier a las 2 p.m. en el TeatroAdolfo López Mateos.

09/20— Feria Expomex2014 presenta a Nene Maloen el Teatro del Pueblo. Cha-rreada en el Lienzo Charro yPeleas de Gallos en el Palen-que. Evento tiene costo.

09/21— Feria Expomex2014 presenta a la Orquestade Pérez Prado el Teatro delPueblo. Evento tiene costo.

Agendaen Breve

Un ciudadano mexicano que in-tentó el contrabando de seis ciuda-danos ecuatorianos fue acusado for-malmente en una corte federal deLaredo esta semana, muestran re-gistros.

Un gran jurado acusó a MarioMorales-Escalante con cargos porconspiración para transportar in-migrantes indocumentados a Esta-dos Unidos, y transportar e intentarel transporte de inmigrantes a cam-bio de dinero, se lee en la acusación

formal presentada el jueves. En ca-so de ser encontrado culpable, Mo-rales-Escalante podría servir hasta10 años en prisión.

Patrulla Fronteriza dijo que elsupuesto intento de contrabando seremonta al 27 de agosto. Agentesasignados a la estación de Zapataestuvieron rastreando a un grupode supuestos inmigrantes indocu-mentados a las 8:45 a.m. en la pro-piedad Dye Fields.

Agentes dijeron que el grupocruzó U.S. 83 y continuó hacia el es-te. A alrededor de las 11 a.m., agen-tes detuvieron a siete personas es-

condidas en la maleza. Seis perso-nas dijeron a los agentes que erande Ecuador, mientras que un hom-bre sostuvo ser de nacionalidad me-xicana.

“Con base en las tendencias re-cientes de contrabando y en la ex-periencia del agente, el ciudadanomexicano fue separado inmediata-mente del resto del grupo, como unpotencial guía”, señala una querellacriminal.

Los agentes dijeron que Morales-Escalante intentó guiar al grupo auna ubicación predispuesta, deacuerdo con documentos de la cor-

te. Morales-Escalante esperaba unpago de 150 dólares por inmigrante,que supuestamente trataba de con-trabandear a San Antonio.

Dos mujeres inmigrantes, quefueron retenidas como testigos ma-teriales, señalaron a los agentes quehabían pagado 14.000 dólares cadauna para ser traficadas a NuevaYork. Morales-Escalante intimidó aambas mujeres para que proporcio-naran una descripción errónea delguía, de acuerdo con documentosde la corte.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguez en728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)

INMIGRACIÓN ILEGAL

Acusación formalPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 10A Zfrontera SÁBADO 20 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2014

Una mujer que intentó elcontrabando de cinco inmi-grantes indocumentados enZapata, fue arrestada en elCondado de Webb, de acuer-do con documentos de la cor-te liberados esta semana.

Brenda Eliza Flores se en-cuentra enfrentando cargospor contrabando de perso-nas, señala una querella cri-minal presentada en su con-tra el lunes. Continúa encustodia federal.

El 11 de septiembre, agen-tes de Patrulla Fronteriza di-jeron observar lo que pare-cían ser personas caminan-do a través de Dolores Creeken el Condado de Zapata.Los agentes de Zapata con-tactaron a agentes de la esta-ción del Sur de Laredo paratransmitirles la informa-ción. Las autoridades esta-blecieron una vigilancia a lolargo de U.S. 83, para tráficoprocedente.

Operadoras informaron alos agentes que un ciudada-no preocupado llamó parareportar a personas corrien-do entre la maleza paraabordar un vehículo FordF-150, color rojo. Un agentecondujo al lado del vehículosospechoso y observó a va-rias personas recostadas enla caja del vehículo, señalala querella criminal. Elagente detuvo al vehículo.

Una inspección de inmi-gración reveló a seis perso-nas indocumentadas y a unciudadano de EU, Flores, se-ñalan documentos de la cor-te. Los agentes llevaron a to-das las personas a la esta-ción del Sur de Laredo. Enun interrogatorio posterioral arresto, Flores supuesta-mente dijo que Luis “Borra-do” le ofreció 150 dólares porinmigrante para transportaral grupo a H-E-B sobre Zapa-ta Highway, al Sur de Lare-do. “Borrado”, le dio la di-rección para recoger a losinmigrantes, de acuerdo condocumentos de la corte.

(Localice a César G. Ro-driguez en 728-2568 o en ce-sar@lmtonline.com)

BP

Aleganmujerintentótráfico

POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

WASHINGTON — Lainiciativa de ley presu-puestal del Congreso no to-ma en cuenta la solicituddel gobierno del presiden-te Barack Obama de acele-rar el gasto de las cortesde inmigración para quepuedan manejar el torren-te de menores de edad quecruzan la frontera solos,

aunque sí aumenta la fle-xibilidad en el gasto paraagentes de la PatrullaFronteriza y centros de de-tención.

Defensores de los inmi-grantes se quejaron de quelegisladores republicanosde la Cámara de Represen-tantes se enfocaron en de-tener a menores de edad yfamilias de Centroamérica,sin tomar en cuenta la ne-cesidad de que haya más

jueces de inmigración, asícomo abogados para repre-sentar a los jóvenes.

Mientras tanto, los de-mócratas en el Senado ape-nas lograron bloquear quelos republicanos impidie-ran que Obama cumplierauna promesa de emitiruna orden ejecutiva antesde fin de año que posible-mente podría proteger dela deportación a millonesde inmigrantes que radi-

can en el país sin autoriza-ción.

Los senadores Jeff Ses-sions de Alabama y TedCruz de Texas habían bus-cado enmendar el juevesun proyecto de ley de gas-tos con el fin de incluir es-pecificaciones que blo-quearían la acción ejecuti-va de Obama para reducirmás las deportaciones.Fracasaron en una vota-ción que concluyó 50-50La

Casa Blanca también criti-có la omisión en el proyec-to de ley del gasto acelera-do para las cortes de inmi-gración.

El proyecto de gastos pa-ra mantener operando algobierno hasta diciembrey armar a los rebeldes si-rios que combaten a extre-mistas islámicos fue apro-bado el miércoles en la Cá-mara de Representantes yen el Senado el jueves.

NACIONAL

Presupuesto deja fuera a cortes migratorias POR ERICA WERNERASSOCIATED PRESS

Zapata, donde un tercio de lapoblación se encuentra sinseguro de salud, es uno devarios condados que reci-

ben dinero para los navegadoresde la reforma de cuidado de salud.

Recientemente, el Congresistade EU Henry Cuellar anunció queel Concilio para el Desarrollo delSur de Texas recibió más de233.000 dólares en subsidios de na-vegador federal de parte del De-partamento de Servicios de Saludy Humanos para atender a losCondados de Zapata, La Salle yWebb, y otras áreas.

Navegadores proveen asistenciaen persona para Tejanos con elMercado del Acta de Cuidado Ac-cesible, incluyendo cuando com-pran y se registran en planes en elMercado de Seguro de Salud.

El Concilio para el Desarrollodel Sur de Texas recibió los fondosfederales para ayudar a residentesen Zapata, La Salle y Webb inscri-birse en el seguro de salud accesi-ble. La organización busca a fami-

lias con niños, in-migranteslegales, personascon ineficienciaen inglés, las per-sonas con capaci-dades diferentesy adultos jóvenes.

El United Waydel Condado Me-tropolitan Tarrant

recibió 4.6 millones de dólares delHHS para el programa navegadory distribuyó 233.550 dólares en elConcilio para el Desarrollo del Surde Texas.

“Cuando familias tienen accesoal cuidado de salud, pequeños as-pectos de salud pueden ser trata-dos económicamente antes de quese conviertan en crisis médicas ydólares de contribuyentes localesson ahorrados”, dijo Cuellar. “Encondados que tienen una ampliacantidad de personas sin seguropara el cuidado de salud, como losque represento, los costos han sidohistóricamente altos.

“El acceso a cuidados de la sa-lud de calidad y asequibles conti-

núa siendo una de mis prioridadesy estoy complacido de que el Con-cilio para el Desarrollo del Sur deTexas haya recibido este reconoci-miento para ayudar a los residen-tes de los condados de Webb, Zapa-ta y La Salle, a obtener los segurosmédicos que necesitan”.

Robert Mendiola, director ejecu-tivo del Concilio para el Desarrollodel Sur de Texas añadió: “Este esnuestro segundo año en que admi-nistrando el programa, ciertamen-te reconocemos los grandes desa-fíos a los que nos enfrentamos alproporcionar este servicio tan ne-cesario para 13 condados de la re-gión. Nuestra misión es educar anuestros ciudadanos al tener co-bertura para cuidados de la saluddisponibles a través del Acta deCuidado Accesible”.

Durante el periodo de inscrip-ción en 2013 y 2014, el CongresistaCuellar organizó talleres a travésdel Distrito 28 de Texas para ayu-dar a que se continúe aprendiendomás acerca de sus opciones bajo elnuevo mercado de seguros de sa-lud.

REFORMA DE CUIDADO DE SALUD

ANUNCIAN SUBSIDIO

Imagen de archivo durante una sesión para registro en el Acta de Cuidado Accesible, organizado en parte por la Oficina del Congre-sista Henry Cuellar, en marzo. Cuellar alabó un bono otorgado para beneficiar a navegadores del ACA en el Condado de Zapata.

Foto de archivo por Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

Zapata, entre otros condados, será auxiliadoTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CUELLAR

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 Politics THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

WASHINGTON — It’stime for flu vaccine againand while it’s importantfor the whole family, thisyear health officials havesome different advice fordifferent ages: Certainkids should opt for theouchless nasal spray. Se-niors, expect to get a newkind of pneumonia shotalong with that flu jab.

And too many youngand middle-age adults areskipping the vaccine alto-gether, says the Centers forDisease Control and Pre-vention — even thoughthere are more optionsthan ever.

“The best way to protectyourself against the flu isto get a flu vaccination,”said CDC Director Dr. TomFrieden on Thursday, be-fore rolling up his sleeve toget his own flu shot.

Some things to knowabout flu vaccinations:

WHO SHOULD BEVACCINATED

The government recom-mends a yearly flu vaccinefor nearly everyone start-ing at 6 months of age. Yetonly about half of Ameri-cans get one, a numberFrieden called unfortu-nate. On average, the CDCestimates, flu kills about24,000 Americans a year.

HOW MANY ARE Vaccination rates last

year were highest for chil-dren under 5 — 70 percent— and for seniors — 65percent, the CDC said. Butjust a third of healthyadults ages 18 to 64 gotvaccinated and, surpris-ingly, last year hospitaliza-tions were highest amongthat age group.

About 55 percent ofschool-age children werevaccinated. Parents needto realize that flu vaccineis crucial even for other-wise healthy children, saidDr. Paul Offit of the Chil-dren’s Hospital of Philadel-phia. At least 100 U.S. chil-dren died of flu last year,only half of whom hadlung conditions or otherillnesses that put them athigh risk and most ofwhom weren’t vaccinated.

About half of pregnantwomen get vaccinated.The shot can be given dur-ing any trimester, and also

protects the baby duringthe first few months of life,said obstetrician Dr. LauraRiley of MassachusettsGeneral Hospital.

THE VACCINE SUP-PLY

About 150 million dosesare being shipped thisyear, with no signs ofshortages or delays, Frie-den said. About half willprotect against four strainsof influenza instead of theusual three, he said, as U.S.manufacturers move to-ward vaccines with thatextra bit of protection.CDC doesn’t recommendone over the other.

WHICH KIND TOCHOOSE

For the first time thisyear, the CDC says theouchless FluMist nasalspray version is the pre-ferred vaccine for healthychildren ages 2 to 8, afterresearch showed it works alittle better for them. Butdon’t wait if your doctorhas only the shot — justget them vaccinated, saidDr. William Schaffner ofVanderbilt University andthe National Foundationfor Infectious Diseases.

FluMist also can beused by healthy people ag-es 2 through 49 who aren’tpregnant.

If a squirt up the noseisn’t for you, there are lotsof other options: the regu-lar shot; an egg-free shotfor those allergic to eggs; ahigh-dose shot just forthose 65 and older whoseimmune systems mayneed an extra boost; and atiny-needle shot that justpenetrates the skin. TheFood and Drug Adminis-tration also recently ap-proved a needle-free injec-tor to deliver flu vaccine,although it’s not clear howsoon it will be widely

available.NEW ADVICE FOR

SENIORSThis year, the CDC is

urging people 65 and olderto get a new kind of pneu-monia vaccine along withtheir flu shot.

Children already receivePfizer’s Prevnar-13 to pre-vent a kind of bacteria,called pneumococcus, thatcan cause pneumonia,meningitis and other infec-tions. Now seniors need aone-time dose, too, Friedensaid.

That’s in addition to aone-time dose of anotherlong-used pneumonia vac-cine, called a polysaccha-ride vaccine. The caveat:The two pneumonia shotshave to be given at leastsix months apart. If you’vehad neither so far, get thenew kind first — alongwith this year’s flu shot —and come back later forthe second pneumonia vac-cine, advised Schaffner. To-gether, the two pneumoniashots are expected to cutseniors’ risk of pneumo-coccal infection by 45 per-cent, and the chance of se-vere disease by 75 percent,he said.

WHEN TO GET VAC-CINATED

“Now’s the time,” Frie-den said. It’s impossible topredict when flu will startspreading and it takesabout two weeks for pro-tection to kick in. Flu sea-son typically peaks in Jan-uary or February.

WHAT’S THE COSTThe vaccine is covered

by insurance and Medi-care, usually without a co-pay. For the uninsured, itcan cost about $30, al-though Schaffner advisedchecking public healthclinics for free or reduced-cost shots.

Flu shot optionsBy LAURAN NEERGAARD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sharon Bonadies gives Dr. Thomas Frieden a flu shot at the Na-tional Press Club in Washington, on Thursday.

Photo by J. David Ake | AP

Congress’s bipartisanpassage of President Ba-rack Obama’s plan to armand train Syrian rebelssets up a broader debateover the use of U.S. mili-tary force when lawmak-ers return after the Nov. 4election.

Thursday’s 78-22 Senatevote came a day after theHouse passed the mea-sure, which now goes toObama for his signature.

Opponents of the bill inthe Senate — 10 Demo-crats and 12 Republicans— included potential 2016presidential contenders.Democrats Elizabeth War-ren of Massachusetts andKirsten Gillibrand of NewYork voted against theproposal, as did BernieSanders of Vermont, anindependent that caucuseswith Democrats.

On the Republican side,possible presidential aspi-rants Ted Cruz of Texasand Rand Paul of Ken-tucky opposed the bill,while Marco Rubio ofFlorida supported it,though he said he was dis-appointed there hadn’tbeen an opportunity formore extensive debate.

“I wish that we had hada separate debate on thisissue,” Rubio said on theSenate floor before thevote.

When lawmakers re-turn in mid-November fora post-election session,they plan a broader — andlikely far messier — de-bate over the use of mili-tary force to combat Is-lamic State extremists.Senators in both partiessaid before yesterdaysvote that the promise tohold that debate persuad-ed them to support themore narrow authoritynow.

“It calmed some con-cerns,” said Senator Rich-ard Durbin of Illinois, thechambers second-rankingDemocrat. “I want us tohave a lot more specificityand I want us to be an ac-tive part of the conversa-tion.”

Durbin is among thenine Senate Democratsstill in office who opposeda 2002 resolution that au-thorized the George W.Bush administrations in-vasion of Iraq the follow-ing year. Durbin said hewas uncomfortable withObama relying on that au-thorization to combat Is-lamic State.

The notion that thispresident, any presidentcould use that forever andever, amen, is troubling,Durbin said.

The Syrian authoriza-tion is part of a packagethat funds the governmentthrough Dec. 11, extendsthe Export-Import Bankscharter through June 30,and provides $88 millionto help fight the spread ofthe Ebola virus in WestAfrica.

Obama requested theSyria aid in a Sept. 10 tele-vised address and madepersonal phone calls toseek lawmakers support.The president contendsthe U.S. needs to help Syr-ian rebels combating theSunni extremist group Is-lamic State, which hasswept from Syria deep in-to Iraq with a campaign of

terror that included thebeheading of two U.S.journalists and a Britishaid worker.

The strong bipartisansupport in Congress forthis new training effortshows the world thatAmericans are united inconfronting the threatfrom Islamic State, Obamasaid at the White Houseafter the Senate vote. AsAmericans, we do not givein to fear.

National Security Ad-viser Susan Rice said to-day that it will takemonths to begin trainingSyrian rebels who the U.S.will count on to open asecond front against Is-lamic State.

“The training siteshaven’t been built and po-tential trainees must bevetted before the rebelforce can be bolstered,”she said.

“We will move out asrapidly as can be done inpartnership with thecountries that will hostthe training facilities,”Rice said at a WhiteHouse briefing. “This willbe a process that is goingto take months.”

The U.S. House addedthe Syria authorizationmeasure to legislationfunding the governmentstarting Oct. 1, whichavoids a repeat of lastyear’s 16-day partial gov-ernment shutdown. Houselawmakers on Sept. 17adopted the Syria measure273-156, and then passedthe spending package on a319-108 bipartisan vote.

The legislation, H.J.Res.124, also would extend un-til Dec. 11 the Internet TaxFreedom Act, a law initial-ly passed by Congress in1998 that prohibits taxingaccess to the Internet.

While Democrats in-cluding Durbin and Virgi-na Senator Tim Kainehave expressed worriesabout a broader conflict,some Republicans supporta broad authorization towage war similar to theone passed before the 2003Iraq invasion.

“We don’t think thepresident has the author-ity to do what’s necessaryto be successful in combat-ing Islamic State,” TexasSenator John Cornyn, thechambers second-rankingRepublican, told reportersThursday. “We should behaving this debate rightnow, not in December, andI think there are senatorson both sides of the aislewho agree with me.”

House Speaker JohnBoehner, an Ohio Republi-can, said on Sept. 16 thatthis week’s bill “does notpreclude us from revisit-ing the issue of a broaderuse of military force.”

He said its importantfor Congress to speak onthis issue.

When Congress returnsto Washington on Nov. 12,lawmakers to-do list willinclude longer-term gov-ernment funding and leg-islation setting DefenseDepartment policy. Law-makers may consider re-newing tax breaks thatlapsed at the end of 2013.

The outcome of the con-gressional elections willhelp determine the con-tours of the debate laterthis year over the use ofmilitary force. Republi-cans are slated to retain

control of the U.S. Houseand need a net gain of sixseats to win a Senate ma-jority from the Democrats.

Among those whoraised concerns about theSyria plan are Democraticsenators in competitive re-election races includingMark Begich of Alaska.

“We don’t know wherethese weapons will end up,in which rebels hands,”said Begich, who votedagainst the legislation.

Other Senate Democratsin tough re-election battles— including Kay Hagan ofNorth Carolina, MaryLandrieu of Louisiana andMark Pryor of Arkansas— supported the bill.

Senator Joe Manchin ofWest Virginia, a Democratwho isn’t up for re-elec-tion this year, said Thurs-day he opposed equippingand training the Syrianrebels because we wouldbe involving ourselves ina ground conflict that wecould not resolve.

Obama reaffirmedThursday that he won’tsend U.S. troops into com-bat in Iraq. Joint Chiefs ofStaff Chairman MartinDempsey said earlier thisweek that he would recom-mend that U.S. advisersaccompany Iraqi troops inbattle to combat IslamicState if necessary.

The Syria measurestates that it doesn’t au-thorize the introduction ofUnited States armedforces into hostilities, alimit sought by lawmakersof both parties.

Paul on Thursdaysought a separate vote onthe Syria measure. Demo-crats blocked his effort.

“Intervention whenboth choices are bad is amistake,” Paul said on theSenate floor. “Interventionwhen both sides are evil isa mistake. Interventionthat destabilizes the re-gion is a mistake. And yethere we are again, wadinginto another civil war inSyria.”

Democrats also stoppeda proposal by Cruz to stripU.S. citizenship fromAmericans who fight onthe side of Islamic State.He said the proposal re-flects the threat posed bynon- nation terroristgroups.

Cruz has criticized Oba-ma’s focus on training andequipping Syrian rebelsand opposes the short-term funding measure be-cause it would lapse be-fore the new Congresstakes office in January.

The plan to aid the Syr-ian rebels would requirethe Defense and State de-partments to report toCongress 15 days beforeputting the proposal intoeffect and demonstratehow it would work.

Every 90 days after-ward, the Defense Depart-ment would have to pro-vide information on vet-ting of Syrian rebels whoreceive help, in an effortto ensure that U.S. equip-ment doesn’t fall into ter-rorists hands.

The authority to equipand train Syrian rebelswould continue until thegovernment spending billexpires. Funds for equip-ping and training the Syr-ian rebels would comefrom Defense Departmentmoney contained in themeasure.

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, waits to speak tomembers of the U.N. Security Council on Friday at the United Nations headquarters. The SecurityCouncil met to discuss the situation of the Islamic State group in Iraq.

Photo by Julie Jacobson | AP

Solons to mull aidBy KATHLEEN HUNTER

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Exxon Mobil Corp. andOAO Rosneft halted drill-ing on an offshore oil wellintended as the first stepin unlocking billions ofbarrels of crude in Russia’remote Arctic, accordingto people familiar with theproject.

Work stopped just a fewdays after the U.S. and Eu-ropean Union barred com-panies from helping Rus-sia exploit Arctic, deep-water or shale-oil fields,said three people withknowledge of the rigs oper-ations who asked not to benamed since they weren’tauthorized to speak aboutthe project.

The U.S. sanctions,meant to punish Russia forescalating tensions in Uk-raine, gave American com-panies until Sept. 26 tostop all restricted drillingand testing services.

“Exxon, Rosneft andSeadrill Ltd’s North Atlan-tic Drilling unit are underthe gun to finish or tempo-rarily seal the $700 millionwell off Russia’s northerncoast before the sanctionsdeadline,” said Chris Ket-tenmann, chief energystrategist at Prime Execu-tions Inc., a brokeragefirm in New York. “Withjust eight days left beforesanctions require Exxon tostop all Arctic work withits Russian partner Ros-neft, the project probablyis on hold until next yearat the earliest.”

“This has been one ofthe most-watched wells inthe industry, so this is ahuge deal,” said Ketten-mann, who has a sell rat-ing on Exxon’s shares.“There’s a hard stop here.”

Rosneft fell as much as

1.5 percent in Moscow,trading 0.8 percent lowerat 236.9 rubles a share asof 11:26 a.m. local time.Seadrill dropped as muchas 1.5 percent in Oslo, be-fore paring its loss to 1.1percent. Exxon closed 0.5percent lower Friday at$96.6 a share.

Since the Soviet Unionbroke up a quarter-centuryago, U.S. and Europeancompanies have helpedbuild Russia’s energy in-dustry in the hope of cap-turing some of its 75 bil-lion barrels of reserves.The drilling halt of theUniversitetskaya-1 well isthe first tangible evidencethat sanctions are nowslowing that investment.

The well was the open-ing shot at tapping an esti-mated 9 billion barrels ofcrude deep under the floorof the Kara Sea, worthabout $885 billion at cur-rent prices. Its key both toRussia’s quest to find newoil fields to replace its de-clining Soviet-era wellsand to Exxon’s efforts tohalt falling production.

“We are still assessingthe sanctions, but willcomply with all laws andregulations,” Dick Keil, anExxon spokesman, said ina telephone interview. Keildeclined to comment fur-ther. Rosnefts press servicedeclined to comment.

The U.S. and Europehave imposed a series ofescalating sanctionsagainst Russia since its an-nexation of Crimea inMarch and because of sup-port for separatists in east-ern Ukraine.

“The restrictions havepushed Russia’s economyto the verge of a recession,and the impact could lasttwo to three years,” formerFinance Minister AlexeiKudrin said this week.

Putin has been un-

moved. On Aug. 9, justdays after the U.S. and EUannounced that theywould restrict the exportof technology needed forArctic, shale and deep-seaexploration, Putin —speaking via satellite —personally ordered thestart of drilling on thewell, Russia’s first in theArctic Ocean. Exxon’schief of Russia operationsattended the event.

Expanded sanctions lastweek added a ban on ser-vices provided to such pro-jects, effectively putting anend to Exxon’s continuedwork on the well.

No official decision hasyet been made on whetherto try to restart drillingthis year or wait until nextyear, two of the peoplewith knowledge of the sit-uation said.

Regardless, “Exxon andRosneft have probably runout of time to get anythingmore done in 2014,” saidSigbjoern Sangesland, pro-fessor in the PetroleumEngineering and AppliedGeophysics department atthe Norwegian Universityof Science and Technology.“Exxon must leave itselfenough time to safely shutthe well before abandoningit.”

“I would think that theywould stop where they arenow,” said Sangesland. “Ifthey have a week left, theyneed that time to set plugsin the well and pull out theblowout preventer and an-chor.”

Rosneft has already feltthe sting of sanctions,which have affected its fi-nancing and ability to ac-quire technology. Chief Ex-ecutive Officer and long-time Putin ally Igor Se-chin, 54, has also beenpersonally sanctioned,banned from travel to theU.S. in April.

Firm halts well workBy ALAN KATZ, JOE CARROLL,MIKAEL HOLTER AND STEPHEN

BIERMANBLOOMBERG NEWS

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES State SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

CLARENDON — Theyare dogs, but these two aremore than pets. Sophie andAbbie are Yorkshire ter-riers, running at their feet,sleeping in the bed of Jimand Sue Whitlock for thelast 11 years.

It’s hard to explain, butthose two fill a void morethan most dogs. Maybe it’sbecause Jim has been alifelong dog lover, even adog trainer for a while.Maybe it’s also becausetheir only child, daughterJoni, 16, was killed by adrunken driver on the edgeof Canyon in 1980.

Both dogs are now 15,but when the Whitlocksbought them from a ladywhen they were 4 yearsold, she cried and then thenew owners cried. Laterthat night the dogs cried,but the next day, it was onebig happy furry family andhas been ever since.

Abbie sort of gravitatedto Sue. Sophie saw herselfas some rugged outdoordog, jumping into the truckwith Jim at any chance.She didn’t act her age orher 14-pound size. A littlemore than a month ago,they were on Jim’s 260acres, 8 miles southwest ofClarendon near the JARanch.

The two were near anold windmill. Jim spreadmaize for quail and dove,and corn for deer. Sophiewent poking around asusual. Just before noon,Jim was ready to leave. Hehollered for Sophie. NoSophie. He hollered somemore. Nothing.

He called his wife inAmarillo. Sue said if hedidn’t find Sophie in anhour, call her and shewould drive the 65 miles.An hour passed and stillnothing. Sue arrived with afriend. They looked allover, and Sue said surelythe dog couldn’t havestrayed too far. They lookedfor three hours, focusingaround the windmill area.

“I then saw this hole,and I thought, ‘Surelynot,”’ Whitlock told theAmarillo Globe-News(http://bit.ly/1r6Xs1H). “Iyelled, ‘Sophie!’ and that’swhen I heard this faintwhining and barking.”

It was an old irrigationtest hole, one that had beenclosed, accidentally reo-pened and had yet to beclosed again. It was 10inches in diameter at theopening, and 14 feet downbelow was a scared dog.

Thus began the saving ofSophie.

Friends began to arrive,some from Amarillo, a fewfarm and ranch neighborsfrom Groom and Claren-don, even Clarendon veter-inarian Matt Halsey. Howin the world to get a dogout of a narrow, deep hole?

For most of the day andinto the evening, they werewilling to try anything,

most of it homemade con-coctions including a rope, asnare, a noose. At the most,they could get her up a fewfeet, but that noose couldslip from her back to neckand choke her.

John Morrow of MorrowDrilling in Clarendon soonarrived. He had the idea topipe in some gravel, think-ing maybe if enough werein there Sophie couldclimb out. But the holewidened at the bottom, andthere was a good chanceSophie would back downwhere it widened and getburied.

Morrow ran a camera tothe bottom, and they couldsee Sophie, shaking andscared.

“I thought that was it,that we could not get her,”Whitlock said. “I’m anemotional guy. I used to bepretty tough, but I lost itwhen I could see her shak-

ing down there.”At one point, there were

as many as 20 people there.Whitlock led a groupprayer. Finally, he calledthe rescue off at 2:30 a.m.,saying all were tired. Theywould try again the nextday. They covered the holewith some tree branches.

“I could hardly sleep. AllI could think of was BabyJessica,” said Morrow, re-ferring to the famous 1987rescue of Jessica McClure,who had fallen down a sim-ilar hole near Midland.

Rescuers dug a holethrough solid rock parallelto the hole the baby was into eventually save her. Thiswas nothing but clay andsoil.

“I called Jim about 6 inthe morning, and of coursehe was awake,” Morrowsaid. “I got an idea. Forgetthe snares. If we can keepher alive, I know we can

get her out.”Morrow brought in a

backhoe. He dug next tothe test hole as deep as hecould, 81/2 feet. He then en-listed Chris Schollenbargerof Clarendon, who owns anunderground fiber opticsbusiness.

Schollenbarger’s excava-tor, or trackhoe, was ableto go to 12 feet. They wereable to add another 2 feetwith a hydrovac pressurehose, and then tunnelacross to Sophie.

Kelly Hill, a Clarendonhighway patrolman, wasone of 20 who had beenaround to help. With thenew adjacent opening, hehad a bar with a hook onthe end to corral Sophie.Finally, it bumped her inthe back and she jumpedright to him. In a few mo-ments, she was back inWhitlock’s welcomingarms, with only a few eye

scratches from debris.“You would not believe

the whooping and holler-ing when we got her out ofthere,” Morrow said.

It had been 27 hours, butfailure was not an option.

“My gosh, those peoplein Donley County are firstclass,” Whitlock said. “Itried to pay them, andnone would take a dime. Itjust made your heart singthat many people wantedto rescue our dog.”

Morrow, who has Sparky,a Yorkshire terrier of hisown, would say it was al-most like one of his kidswas down there. He didn’twant money, of course, butdid have one request.

“I couldn’t wait to gether and hold her in myarms,” Morrow said. “Itold Jim that I’d like tohold her. He said, ‘Sure,’and handed her to me. Itfelt like a miracle.”

Panhandle county unites for rescue tryBy JON MARK BEILUE

AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS

Jim Whitlock was part of a rescue mission to save his dog Sophie from an old irrigation test hole on his land southwest of Clarendon.Photo by Jon Mark Beilue/The Amarillo Globe News | AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 13A

The Obama walkback hasbecome a familiar dance stepin Washington these last sixyears.

First, President BarackObama makes a promise or athreat. Close GuantanamoBay in a year, retaliateagainst Syrian chemical at-tacks on civilians, take exec-utive action to legalize mil-lions of undocumented work-ers by the end of this month.

Then, when criticism andreality set in, he changescourse.

That emboldens politicaladversaries, infuriates alliesand leads both to questionwhether his latest promise —that U.S. combat troops won’tbe used to fight Islamic State— can be kept.

Many Democrats say theyfear he or his successor won’tbe able to hold the line. Gen-eral Martin Dempsey, chair-man of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff, inflamed those worriesthis week by saying he mightrecommend U.S. militaryground forces if the currentplan fails.

“I’ve always had those con-cerns,” Representative Barba-ra Lee, a California Demo-crat, said. “It troubles me tre-mendously that theseconcerns are now beingplayed out.”

Democrats point to issueson which he has delivered onpromises, including the 2010health-care and financial-reg-ulation laws and the repeal ofthe don’t ask, don’t tell policypreventing gay members ofthe U.S. military from serv-ing openly.

Obama’s request for au-thorization to support thetraining of Syrian rebels wascleared by the Senate Thurs-day. White House spokesmanEric Schultz declined to com-ment for this story.

The U.S. is set to haveabout 1,600 military person-nel to advise and assist Iraq’sarmy and protect Americanassets and people.

White House spokesmanJosh Earnest said Friday thepresident does not envisionanything even approachingthe kind of on-the-groundmilitary presence mobilizedin Iraq 11 years ago to toppleSaddam Hussein. Earnest

said, though, the situationcan change.

Lee, the only member ofthe House of Representativesto vote against the 2001 reso-lution authorizing the U.S. in-vasion of Afghanistan, saidher reservations aren’t specif-ic to a president.

Just last year, Obama saidhe wanted to repeal that 2001resolution. Now, he’s using itto justify the use of Americanforce in Iraq and Syria. Still,Lee said, she considers thepresident to be thoughtfuland deliberative.

Many Republicans saythey wish Obama hadn’truled out the deployment ofground troops — whether ornot he intends to use themagainst Islamic fighters.

“You ought to use everytool you have to eliminatethem, not tell them whatyou’re not going to do,” Rep-resentative Steve Scalise,House majority whip, said.

Scalise helped round upvotes for an amendmentadopted on a bipartisan votethat authorizes the U.S. gov-ernment to train and equipSyrian opposition forces.

His colleague, RepublicanRepresentative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, echoedScalises view that Obamashouldn’t preclude the possi-bility of a deeper engagementinvolving U.S. ground troops.

She said the president’shandling of immigration —announcing he would issuean executive order, whichwas expected to legalize mil-lions of undocumented peoplein the country, before backingoff in a bow to the concernsof politically vulnerable Dem-ocratic senators — follows asimilar pattern.

“It’s a schizophrenic poli-cy,” she said. “You don’t knowwho is calling the shots.”

One member of the Con-gressional Black Caucus, abastion of support for Oba-ma, said the president hasbeen forced to backpedal onpolicy pronouncements be-cause he’s trying to please toomany people.

The lawmaker, who spokeon condition of anonymity totalk candidly about the reac-tion of the president’s friendsto his policy-making process,said Obama has weakenedhis alliances on a variety ofissues by shifting positions.

President Barack Obama signs a bill to train and arm moderate Syrianrebels in the fight against the Islamic State group, on Friday.

Photo by Evan Vucci | AP

Backtracking istroublesome

By JONATHAN ALLENBLOOMBERG NEWS

HOUSTON — The pastseveral months have givenXavier Watt the opportuni-ty to ferry his 10-year-olddaughter to and fromschool, take her to visither grandparents and goout for ice cream. He doesthe grocery shopping andkeeps the house clean forhis wife and little girl. Hehas time left over to playvideo games.

It’s not the kind of free-dom he wants. For Watt,31, also enjoys his job in-stalling and calibratingtemperature-control sys-tems and heating elementsas an instrument and elec-trical technician for SunE-dison in Pasadena. Hewishes he were still clock-ing in each day.

But like hundreds ofthousands of soldiers backfrom the war in Iraq, Watthas been diagnosed withpost-traumatic stress disor-der and is finding thatcomplicates things in theworkplace. He takes medi-cation to control his darkmoods, he’s had extensivecounseling to help himcope with conflict and heleans on his supportivefamily as he wrestles withscarring memories earneda decade ago far away.

He says he is OK to re-turn to work and that he’sgot medical reports toprove it. So far, SunEdisonwon’t let him back.

The U.S. Equal Employ-ment Opportunity Com-mission estimates 400,000veterans who served inIraq and Afghanistan havesome form of PTSD.

The agency has seen aspike in the number ofPTSD-related complaintsby workers. Many allegetheir companies failed tomake accommodations forthem in the workplace. Be-fore 2002, the agency didn’ttrack these types of com-plaints; in 2011, it receivednearly 600 nationwide.

Joe Bontke, of the localEEOC office, said thatwhen behavioral issuesarise with war veterans,many employers’ firstquestion is, “What if hecomes back with a gun?”

“They think of theworst-case scenario in-stead of, ‘What do youneed?”’ Bontke, EEOC out-reach manager in Hous-ton, told the HoustonChronicle.

Bontke is not familiarwith Watt’s story, which isrooted in the earliest daysof the Iraq War.

Watt was among thefirst U.S. soldiers deployedto Iraq in April 2003,though he avoided the at-tendant media fanfare.

“I had tears in myeyes,” he said. “I didn’twant to leave my mom andmy brother.”

At Aldine’s Nimitz HighSchool, he had made goodgrades and served as swimteam captain and track

team co-captain. He as-pired to study chemical en-gineering in college, butthat dream always seemedfinancially out of reach.

Until 10th grade, helived with his mother andbrother in a one-bedroomapartment that, he recallswith a certain fondness,was so small only one ofthem could move aroundat a time. His motherworked hard to move thefamily into a house andheld down two jobs to holdonto the semblance of amiddle-class life.

“She worked really, real-ly hard to get us out ofthat apartment,” Watt said.

Watt pitched in, puttinghis earnings from an after-school job toward mort-gage and other householdexpenses. The summer af-ter he finished high school,a recruiter for the U.S. Ar-my Reserves offered him a$7,000 bonus if he’d signup. Though he’d never con-sidered a military career,he took the money andgave it to his mother. Thenhe shipped out for basictraining.

“I was terrified,” hesaid.

Watt started communitycollege classes but droppedout after receiving noticehe would likely be calledup for overseas deploy-ment. He needed to get his“affairs in order.”

“When other 19-year-olds are focused on finalexams, I was writing a willand getting my power ofattorney written,” he said.

Watt spent more than ayear in Iraq, working as aspecialist in chemical oper-ations, supporting thesearch for weapons ofmass destruction. Much ofwhat he did is classifiedand he can’t talk about it.

He doesn’t want to talkin detail about picking upthe bodies of dead soldiersand bringing their re-mains back to camp, aboutseeing people get shot,about nearly losing hisown life to a roadsidebomb. His normally strongvoice reduces to a quiver-ing whisper when askedabout those trials.

“The toughest thingmentally,” he said, “wasnot knowing if when Iclose my eyes at night itwill be my last night.”

On March 11, backwhen he was still on thejob, Watt was overtired. Hehad been up late the nightbefore driving another vet-eran to San Antonio andback for medical help andhe knew that fatigue couldquickly boil over into frus-tration. Painful memorieslinger, and Watt has had tolearn to control the feel-ings that can trigger frus-tration and anxiety.

So Watt arrived at theSunEdison plant early tomake sure he could snagone of the golf carts usedto tote the heavy tools andsupplies for the day. Hisback still hurts from inju-

ries he sustained in Iraqfalling off a truck whilewearing a 70-pound ruck-sack.

A co-worker, however,asked if he could use it in-stead because he’s an “old,out-of-shape guy.” On mostdays, it wouldn’t have beena big deal. But on that dayWatt did what he learnedthrough his therapy ses-sions when he felt risingfrustration: He backed offand got an OK from hisboss to take the rest of theday off as vacation.

“I was really rattled,”Watt recalled of the quar-ter-mile walk to the guardshack en route to the park-ing lot. Instead of headingstraight to his truck, hedropped by the nurse’s of-fice to regain his compo-sure. He had a good rela-tionship with the plantnurse, he said, and feltcomfortable talking withher. This time, he says, sherefused to let him drivehome, telling him “it wasmy PTSD acting up.”

“Maybe because I hadtears in my eyes or showedfrustration,” Watt said.

The nurse did not re-turn calls for comment. ASunEdison official de-clined to discuss the cir-cumstances.

Waiting for his wife topick him up, Watt wishedhe would have just keptwalking instead of stop-ping at the guard shack. Ifhe had done that, he be-lieves, he would have beenback to work the next day.

Instead, Watt wasbarred from returning un-til he received clearancefrom a psychiatrist that hewas not a danger to him-self or others.

He got a note from hisdoctor, but SunEdison,which makes componentsfor solar panels and com-puter chips, refused to ac-cept it on grounds the psy-chiatrist couldn’t make anassessment based on justone visit, emails and otherdocuments show.

Then SunEdison hiredits own psychiatrist. Wattsaid that while he hasn’tread the written report,the company’s psychiatristdid not clear him to returnto work.

United Steel WorkersLocal 6000 President Deb-bie McDonald questionedcompany officials aboutwhy they would accept itsown psychiatrist’s assess-ment because it, too, was aone-time visit.

Jim Lefton, staff repre-sentative for District 13 ofthe United Steelworkers In-ternational Union, calledthe situation “disgusting.”

“He didn’t do anythingwrong and now you havehim sitting at home,” Left-on said.

Gordon Handelsman, di-rector for brand and corpo-rate communications forSunEdison in Belmont,Calif., said the companywants “to get employeesback to work as soon as

possible.” He added thereis a clear path to return towork in accordance withthe Family and MedicalLeave Act.

When asked whetherWatt could return to hisjob, Handelsman cited cor-porate policy that preventshim from discussing themedical condition of anyemployee.

Watt, who spent 13 yearsas an Army reservist, saidhe never had so much as adisagreement during hisnearly two-year stint at Su-nEdison. Nor does he haveany disciplinary history.

But like other veteranswho have been diagnosedwith what is commonlyknown as PTSD and whohave tried to ease theirway back to civilian life,Watt finds himself havingto prove he’s not a threatto his co-workers or hiscompany. Advocates say itis not unusual for veteransto face one hurdle after an-other.

“I keep hearing: ‘We justwant everyone to besafe,’?“ said McDonald,who has been trying to getWatt back to work.

Jeff Hargrave, directorof operations for Pros 4Vets, which provides freelegal representation forveterans having legal is-sues in Oklahoma, saidcompanies often preventemployees being treatedfor PTSD to return to workeven when there have beenno workplace-related inci-dents.

“I think a lot of peopleare scared,” said Hargrave.“They don’t know enoughabout it.”

Bontke, of the EEOC,said the disability can beeasily accommodated by,for example, allowing em-ployees “breather time” towalk away from tense sit-uations, providing writteninstructions to countershort-term memory lossand lack of concentration,reducing distractions andproviding a workspacewith natural light.

One of the best things acompany can do when hir-ing returning veterans isto have those who havefaced similar challenges al-ready on board in humanresources, organizationaldevelopment and other keyparts of the company, saidBob Cartwright, who hasbecome an advocate for re-turning veterans lookingfor jobs. He founded Oper-ation Job Match after hesaw how hard it was forone of his relatives, a for-mer Navy SEAL, to find ci-vilian work.

Several companies do agood job hiring returningveterans, he said, butmany still express con-cerns.

“The PTSD questionkeeps coming up,” Cart-wright said.

Since coming homefrom Iraq, Watt has built asolidly middle-class life.

Veteran of Iraq strugglesBy L.M. SIXEL

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

14A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

est balloon near Rio Grande Cityin late July.

“We place them strategically inlocations where there’s the mosttraffic,” Gutierrez said. “Wherev-er the risk is greater, we focus re-sources and technology.”

Gutierrez said officials may sta-tion more aerostats from the warsin Iraq and Afghanistan in theValley to try to crack down ondrug and human smuggling amidan influx of immigrants fromCentral America.

“It’s too early to tell,” Gutierrezsaid. “If traffic patterns change,we can bring more in for assist-ance. Our technology is mobile.We want things we can breakdown and shift to traffic patternsto make the most impact.”

In Peñitas, Police Chief RoelBermea said the aerostat hashelped reduce crime.

“It slowed down the traffic of il-legal immigrants. We haven’t seenany significant (drug) seizuressince it went up,” Bermea said.“We haven’t had any negative re-action. Residents seem to like thatit’s out there.”

Mauro Reyna said the surge ofimmigrants entering the countryillegally has led him to allow theBorder Patrol to station the aero-stat on his ranch at no cost for ayear.

“I wouldn’t like to use the word

overrun but there was a signifi-cant amount of illegal traffic. Icould see 10, 15, 20 people runningacross at one time,” said Reyna,an attorney who runs his lawpractice down the road from theaerostat station. “So when (feder-al officials) approached me, I saidit would be good and it’s workedout.”

Now he’s negotiating a leaseagreement that would allow theBorder Patrol to operate the aero-stat from his ranch for five years,said Reyna, who declined to dis-close any details.

“All the parties are happy withthe results,” Reyna said. “I knowmy neighbors are very apprecia-tive and feel comfortable.”

On Reyna’s ranch, a secondcamera tops a 107-foot tower thatstands near the aerostat. Nearby,agents can monitor the aerostat’scamera from metal storage shedsthat stand at the site, Allbee said.

Officials said agents can alsomonitor cameras from Border Pa-trol stations.

The aerostats’ cameras helpagents track drug and humansmugglers, Gutierrez said.

“They have been extremely suc-cessful,” Gutierrez said. “It’sopened our eyes to the amount oftraffic. As soon as the aerostatwent up, we saw more apprehen-sions.”

Gutierrez could not immediate-ly provide any figures, but saidthat one can’t measure success inapprehensions alone.

“It deters traffic coming in,” hesaid. “(Smugglers) won’t try tocross narcotics and immigrantsbecause of the presence.”

The agency’s aerostats can riseas high as 1,000 to 4,000 feet abovethe ground, but officials declinedto disclose the cameras’ ranges sosmugglers would not learn of anylimitations.

“We can see out several miles,”Allbee said. “At a certain distancewe can see license plates.”

Gutierrez said cameras zoom inon smugglers who drop off“mules” carrying drugs to areassouth of the Border Patrol’s Fal-furrias checkpoint on U.S. 281.

“With the aerostat, you’re ableto identify whether it’s groups ofimmigrants or (smugglers) carry-ing narcotics,” Gutierrez said.“We’re able to see mules put nar-cotics in their backpacks. We’reable to see the routes. We can vis-ibly see the mules circumvent thecheckpoint.”

Gutierrez did not respond to lat-er requests for the operating costsof the aerostat program.

Officials declined to disclose thematerial from which the aero-stat’s shell is made from, but Al-bee noted that they are rugged

survivors of war zones.“These were made for Iraq and

Afghanistan,” Allbee said, point-ing to patches on the aerostat sta-tioned on Reyna’s ranch. “I can’ttell you the exact number of bul-lets it would take to bring onedown, but one would not affectit.”

Although touted as successful,the program has its critics.

Tom Hargis, spokesman for theAmerican Civil Liberties Unionin Houston, said the aerial sur-veillance cameras pose a threat tofreedom and privacy.

“For border residents, moremass surveillance gadgets in thesky simply add to the sense of be-ing under siege,” Hargis said.

“The extraordinary authoritythat government possesses on thisborder continues to spill over thelives of regular Americans. In-stead of a targeted effort to stopcrime, what we’ve been seeing isan approach such as dragnet sur-veillance that turns us all intosuspects,” he said.

Border Patrol spokeswomanShevannah Wray strongly deniedthat the agency operates its aero-stats in manners that violate pub-lic privacy.

“The specific purpose is not toinfringe on people’s privacy,”Wray said. “We use it to securethe border.”

BALLOONS Continued from Page 1A

rates are surveyed sepa-rately and sometimesshow different results.

Professional and busi-ness services jobs grewby 8,700, with smallernumbers added in educa-tion and health serviceindustries, as well asmanufacturing, miningand logging.

Unemployment re-mains the lowest in partsof West Texas where oilproduction is booming.

The Midland area hadthe lowest unemploy-ment rate in Texas lastmonth at 2.8 percent. Thejobless rate for neighbor-ing Odessa was 3.4 per-cent.

The Dallas-Fort Worthmetropolitan area posteda 5.5 percent unemploy-ment rate, slightly higherthan the 5.4 percent post-ed in Houston-SugarLand.

“I commend Texas em-ployers for continuing togrow their investmentsin the Lone Star State,”workforce commissionerHope Andrade said in astatement.

JOBSContinued from Page 1A

The Customs and Bor-der Protection commis-sioner didn’t tell activistshow many cameras werebought or discuss when orwhether they would be in-troduced to any of theroughly 21,000 agents inthe field, the person said.The meeting in Detroitwas the latest discussionthat Kerlikowske has heldwith some of his most vo-cal critics of the BorderPatrol’s use of force.

Another person briefedon the plans said testingwill occur from Octoberand December and that itwas unclear if or whenthey would be introducedin the field.

Kerlikowske scheduleda news conference Thurs-day in Washington to dis-cuss what his office saidwere “developments to-ward CBP’s commitmentto increase transparencyand accountability.” Mi-chael Friel, a Customs

and Border Protectionspokesman, declined tocomment on body cam-eras or the nature ofThursday’s announce-ment.

The measure is a firststep toward satisfying ac-tivists who have long de-manded cameras as a wayto keep a check on poten-tial abuses. It is likely tomeet opposition from theNational Border PatrolCouncil, the union repre-senting more than 17,000agents, which has saidcameras would be expen-sive and may cause agentsto hesitate when theirlives are threatened.

Shawn Moran, a spokes-man for the agents’ union,said the developmentcame as no surprise afterthe White House said thisweek that requiring policeofficers to wear body cam-eras was a potential solu-tion for bridging mistrustbetween law enforcement

and the public.“We want to make sure

these are used to back upagents, not to persecutethem,” Moran said. "Ifthey’re used correctly bythe agency, they will offeran independent accountin use-of-force incidentsor any type of incident.We do have concerns man-agement would use themto look for administrativeviolations.”

The camera proposalgained traction under Ker-likowske, a former Seattlepolice chief who hasmoved more aggressivelythan his predecessors toaddress complaints thatCustoms and Border Pro-tection is slow to investi-gate incidents of deadlyforce and alleged abusesby agents and inspectorsand lacking in transparen-cy.

In May, Kerlikowske or-dered the release of ahighly critical Customs

and Border Protection-commissioned report thatraised questions about thedeadly force. The agency’sinternal affairs head wasreplaced in June with alongtime FBI official whosaid last week that an ini-tial review of cases involv-ing use of force and al-leged misconduct byagents and inspectorssince 2009 found 155 thatmerit further investiga-tion.

Kerlikowske told activ-ists Tuesday that he want-ed to change how author-ities investigate possiblecriminal misconduct byCustoms and Border Pro-tection employees, a per-son who attended thebriefing said. Under alongstanding arrangementwithin the Department ofHomeland Security, Immi-gration and Customs En-forcement investigates be-fore Customs and BorderProtection gets a turn.

BODY CAMERAS Continued from Page 1A

Nigeria’s oil unionscalled off a four-daystrike, averting a threat toexports from a nationwhose shipments equateto about 2 percent of glob-al demand.

The Pengassan unionthat represents managersand blue-collar Nupeng oilunion suspended industri-al action after talks withPetroleum Minister Dieza-ni Alison-Madueke andstate-owned Nigeria Na-tional Petroleum Corp.

“The strike action em-barked upon by Nupengand Pengassan is herebysuspended,” according toa joint e-mailed statementFriday by the minister, la-bor leaders and NNPC.

The strike started Tues-day in a dispute over pen-sions and unions repre-senting workers at NNPC.Nigeria is the continent’slargest oil producer andrelies on the commodityfor more than 70 percentof government revenueand 95 percent of foreign-exchange income. TheWest African nationpumped 2.3 million bar-rels a day of oil in August,the most since 2006, ac-cording to data compiledby Bloomberg.

“The strike didn’t yethave an impact on Nige-ria’s oil exports,” ManjiCheto, vice president forWest Africa at consultantsTeneo Intelligence, said byphone from London be-fore the strike was calledoff.

Oil unions calloff their strike

By ELISHA BALA-GBOGBO BLOOMBERG NEWS

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

NEW YORK — Commissioner Roger Goodellsays the NFL wants to implement new personalconduct policies by the Super Bowl.

Goodell was short on specifics at a news con-ference Friday, his first public statements inmore than a week about the rash of NFL play-ers involved in domestic violence. More defiantthan contrite as he was hammered with ques-tions, Goodell said he has not considered re-signing.

“Unfortunately, over the past several weeks,we have seen all too much of the NFL doingwrong,” he said in his opening statement.“That starts with me.”

The league has faced increasing criticismthat it has not acted quickly or emphaticallyenough. The commissioner reiterated that hebotched the handling of the Ray Rice case.

“The same mistakes can never be repeated,”he said.

See NFL PAGE 2B

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the NFL mademistakes that “can never be repeated” in a press con-ference on Friday afternoon.

Photo by Julio Cortez | AP

Goodell:NFL mademistakes

By BARRY WILNERASSOCIATED PRESS

The Zapata volleyball team didn’tstart off the district season on theright note, dropping their districtopener on the road to Port Isabel.Still, the Lady Hawks were able re-

bound Tuesday night in grand fash-ion.

Zapata didn’t allow Raymondvilleto obtain any momentum as it con-trolled all three sets to sweep the La-dy Kats 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-19) fortheir first District 16-4 victory.

"I think that the loss against PI

was an eye opener for us," Zapatahead coach Rosie Villarreal said. "Theteam realized that they have to workharder to win another title."

The Lady Hawks (1-1) featured awell-balanced offense that found three

HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS: ZAPATA HAWKS

Hawks rebound

Following a loss in their district opener to Port Isabel, Zapata picked up a straight-set victory over Raymondville on Tuesday.

File photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata sweeps Raymondville in district playBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See ZAPATA PAGE 2B

IRVING — The Dallas Cow-boys will likely be withoutmiddle linebacker and leadingtackler Rolando McClain forSunday’s game at St. Louis.

McClain hasn’t practiced

since coming out of lastweek’s game at Tennesseewith a groin injury. He waslisted as doubtful for the Ramswhen Dallas (1-1) released itspractice report Fri-

NFL: DALLAS COWBOYS

See MCCLAIN PAGE 2B

Dallas linebacker Rolando McClain is doubtful to play in the Cowboys game inSt. Louis on Sunday.

File photo by Matt Strasen | AP

McClain doubtfulfor Rams matchup

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS — Coach KevinSumlin likes the timing forsixth-ranked Texas A&M’s con-secutive games in the Dallas ar-ea.

The Aggies (3-0) start theirNorth Texas stretch Saturday atformer Southwest Conferencerival SMU (0-2), whose homeopener is its first game sincecoach June Jones’ unexpectedresignation. Texas A&M thenhas a neutral-site SEC game inthe NFL stadium where everycollege team would like to be inJanuary. Both games have thesame mid-afternoon kickofftime, despite being on differentnational TV networks.

“We talked about the prepara-tion this week should duplicatenext week,” Sumlin said. “Whatwe’re looking for is the sametype of preparation, approachMonday through Saturday, andthe same type of performanceand effort these next two weeks.Because very rarely in collegefootball, if you’re winning, doyou get to duplicate the samesituation from a travel andgame-time standpoint. So Ithink we caught a break there.”

Texas A&M, going for its first4-0 start since 2006, is a nearlyfive-touchdown favorite againstthe Mustangs. SMU was out-scored 88-6 its first two gamesbefore Jones left, with the onlytouchdown a 33-yard pass onthe final play at North Texas intheir last game.

“I don’t know if we’re good

enough for them to come inhere and us to beat them,” saidSMU interim coach Tom Mason,also the defensive coordinator.“We can’t get any lower than wewere out of that North Texasgame. Let’s just get better, and Iwant to see us improve. I wantto see us compete, I want to seethe football team that I think wecan become start to emerge.”

SMU had an open date andmade plenty of changes since itslast game, from the coach to anew starting quarterback, butSumlin said his team can’t bedistracted by all that.

“There’s a lot of things hap-pening there. ... We worry aboutus,” Sumlin said. “If you trulylook within and try to fix theproblems you had a week agoand the things that are going onright now, focus on the thingsyou have to do every week to be

successful regardless of oppo-nent, then you have a chance towin. Our guys, over the courseof time, understand that.”

Here are few things toknow when Texas A&M playsat SMU, before taking on Ar-kansas the following week inthe Dallas Cowboys’ homestadium where the nationalchampionship game will beplayed.

THRILLING STARTKenny Hill, the son of a for-

mer major league pitcher, is thefirst Texas A&M quarterback tothrow for 1,000 yards in the firstthree games of a season, andthe sophomore has thrown 139career passes (117 this year)without an interception. TheAggies are only 37 points shy of200 by the fourth game of the

NCAA FOOTBALL: NO. 6 TEXAS A&M AGGIES

A&M faces SMU minus Jones

Texas A&M QB Kenny Hill and the sixth-ranked Aggies face off against SMU Sat-urday in their first home game since Mustangs coach June Jones resigned.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

By STEPHEN HAWKINSASSOCIATED PRESS

See A&M PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

players putting the balldown consistently for Za-pata.

Alexis Alvarez, CassyGarcia and Tere Villar-real filled out the statsheet combining for 37kills on the night to leadthe attack on the net forthe Lady Hawks. Alvarezpaced the team with 14kills while Garcia andVillarreal each picked up12.

Briana Gonzalezworked hard on bothends of the court as theteam’s setter as sheracked up 30 assists. Theoffensive trio benefitedimmensely as she setthem up while also pick-ing up 20 digs on de-fense.

Zapata returns to thecourt this morning asthe Lady Hawks attemptto pick up two consecu-tive victories in a row asthey take on Rio GrandeCity La Grulla.

"They need to comeout together like theydid with Raymondville,"Villarreal said. "Play to-gether as a team andplay to win. They needto execute the skills withconfidence."

Cross CountryThe Hawks are idle

this week from competi-tion but will utilize theirbye week to prepare fortheir most importantstretch of season. Withthe district meet sixweeks away, the Hawksare reaching mid-seasonform.

"The Hawks are com-ing along, we are gettingbetter," Zapata headcoach Roel Ibanez said."I have a good number ofkids interested in run-ning with 28 runners notbad for a small school.My only senior teamcaptain Danny Hinojosahas been great his beenworking on keeping theteam united and workingtogether.

"The rest of the teamare juniors sophomoresand freshmen. Varsityteam members junior Al-varo Rodriguez, juniorJesus Rubio, sophomoresIsauro Sanchez and LuisRodriguez and freshmenMike Trevino."

Clara Sandoval canbe reached at Sand-oval.Cla-ra@Gmail.com.

ZAPATA Continued from Page 1B

Goodell said he wouldmeet with NFL Players As-sociation chief DeMauriceSmith next week, and theywould work with outside ex-perts to evaluate theleague’s policies.

Among the areas that willbe examined is Goodell’srole in discipline. The com-missioner now oversees allpersonal conduct cases, de-ciding guilt and penalties.

“Nothing is off the table,”he said.

Goodell said he believeshe has the support of theNFL’s owners, his bosses.

“That has been clear tome,” he said.

The commissioner andsome NFL teams have beenheavily criticized for lenientor delayed punishment ofRice, Adrian Peterson andother players involved in re-cent domestic violencecases. Less than three weeksinto the season, five suchcases have made headlines.

Vikings star running backPeterson and Carolina de-fensive end Greg Hardy areon a special commissioner’sexemption list and are beingpaid while they go throughthe legal process. Arizonarunning back JonathanDwyer was placed on the re-

serve/non-football illnesslist, meaning he can’t playfor the team again this sea-son. Ray McDonald, a defen-sive end for San Francisco,continues to practice andplay while being investigat-ed on suspicion of domesticviolence.

As these cases have cometo light, such groups as theNational Organization ofWomen and league partnersand sponsors have comedown hard on the NFL to bemore responsive in dealingwith them. Congress also iswatching to see how theNFL reacts.

Rice was initially sus-pended for two games. Afterdefending the punishment atfirst, Goodell admitted morethan a month later that he“didn’t get it right” and an-nounced tougher penaltiesfor future domestic violentincidents.

Then when a videoemerged of the assault onhis then-fiancee, the Balti-more Ravens cut the starrunning back and the leaguebanned him indefinitely.

Goodell reiterated Fridaythat he didn’t believe any-body at the NFL had seenthe video before it was pub-lished by TMZ. The Associ-

ated Press reported lastweek that a law enforcementofficial says he sent the vid-eo to a league executive fivemonths ago.

Citing Rice’s appeal of hisindefinite suspension, Good-ell declined to specify Fridayhow the player’s descriptionof what happened was “in-consistent” with what thevideo showed — the com-missioner’s reason forchanging his punishment.

The NFL asked formerFBI director Robert Muellerto conduct an investigationinto the league’s handling ofthe Rice case. The law firmwhere Mueller is now apartner, WilmerHale, hasconnections to the NFL.Goodell insisted Friday thatit wasn’t a conflict of inter-est because Mueller himselfhas not previously workedwith the league.

Goodell acknowledged hehas learned that interview-ing Rice and his now-wifetogether is an inappropriateway to handle a domestic vi-olence case.

The commissioner de-clined to address whetherany women were involved inthe decision to suspend Ricefor two games, but concededthat’s “exactly what we’re

concerned about.”“We didn’t have the right

voices at the table,” he add-ed.

The NFL has since addeddomestic violence experts asconsultants. It also an-nounced it is partneringwith a domestic violencehotline and a sexual vio-lence resource center.

Goodell said Friday thathe will establish a conductcommittee. One of the keyquestions is how to balancethe league’s desire to take astance against violent actswith the due process of thelegal system.

In a memo to the clubslate Thursday, Goodell saidthat within the next 30 days,all NFL and team personnelwill participate in educationsessions on domestic vio-lence and sexual assault.The memo said the leaguewill work with the union inproviding the “informationand tools to understand andrecognize domestic violenceand sexual assault.”

The league will provide fi-nancial, operational andpromotional support to theNational Domestic ViolenceHotline and the NationalSexual Violence ResourceCenter.

NFL Continued from Page 1B

season for the first timesince 1917.

CASSEL’S CHANCERedshirt freshman Kol-

ney Cassel takes over asSMU’s starting quarter-back after Neal Bur-cham’s season-endingright elbow injury. Casselcompleted 14 of 29 passesfor 154 yards with atouchdown and no inter-ceptions while playing inboth games so far.

BEEN SUCH A LONG TIMESMU hasn’t won in the

series against TexasA&M since 1984. The Ag-gies are 12-0-1 since then,including four gamesthat Texas A&M has wonby an average margin of41 points since the SWCdisbanded and they wereno longer conference ri-vals.

MYLES BEYOND HIS AGETrue freshman defen-

sive end Myles Garretthas played only three

games for the Aggies,and already matched thefreshman season sacksrecord with 5 1/2. “If youweren’t at practice, you’dprobably be surprised. Ifyou watched him prac-tice, we’ve got two prettygood tackles ... Our lineis pretty good,” Sumlinsaid. “He’s had his mo-ments with every guy onthat offensive line. That’swhen you start gettingrespect from your team-mates and people startwhispering.”

SPEED BUMPTexas A&M freshman

receiver Speedy Noil,who has 12 catches for197 yards already and istheir top punt returner,is not expected to playSaturday. He had his firstcareer touchdown catchearly last week’s winover Rice before limpingoff the field in the thirdquarter.

A&M Continued from Page 1B

day. Cowboys owner Jerry

Jones said on a weekly ra-dio appearance Fridaythat McClain, who has 22tackles, wants to play andthinks he might play. ButJones also called the line-backer “doubtful.”

When talking to report-ers Friday, even McClainsounded unsure of his sta-tus.

“I don’t know. I’ve beenable to do what they’veasked me to do,” McClainsaid. “I’m getting better.I’ll do whatever they askme to do.”

Linebacker Justin Du-rant will miss his secondgame in a row with agroin injury.

Receiver Dez Bryantwas listed as questionableafter limited participationin practice for the secondday in a row. He hurt hisshoulder against the Ti-tans last week.

Coach Jason Garrettsaid he believes in playersbeing at practice in someway to determine if theycan play in the game.

At the same time, thecoach left open at least aslight possibility ofMcClain being able toplay Sunday.

“We don’t have thesehard and fast rules. He’sin the meetings and he’sparticipating in the meet-ings. So mentally andemotionally he’s gettinghimself ready to play,”Garrett said. “We’ll seewhat he’s physically ableto do.”

If McClain doesn’t play,his most likely replace-ment would be AnthonyHitchens, the fourth-round draft pick whowould slide over fromweakside linebacker.Hitchens started againstthe Titans last week, butwas in for only eight de-

fensive plays. Sean Lee would have

been the starting middlelinebacker this season,but he suffered a knee in-jury during the first off-season workout. Lee is oninjured reserve alongwith Devonte Holloman,who the Cowboys said intraining camp has a ca-reer-ending neck injuryrelated to a spinal prob-lem that kept him out al-most half of his rookieseason a year ago.

Hitchens said he didn’tknow how much he wouldplay Sunday.

“The more you know,the more comfortable youplay, so I’m just trying tolearn as much as I canright now,” Hitchens said.“(McClain) is a good foot-ball player. Everyoneknows that. The next guyin better step up and car-ry the load.”

Keith Smith, a lineback-

er on the practice squad,took part in practice Fri-day, and Garrett said itcould be necessary to acti-vate him for Sunday’sgame.

“We’ve been workingsome different combina-tions as the week hasgone on,” Garrett said.

Notes: CB OrlandoScandrick will play atleast in nickel formations,according to defensive co-ordinator Rod Marinelli.Scandrick was reinstatedthis week after two gamesof a four-game suspensionbecause of approvedchanges in the NFL’s col-lective bargaining agree-ment on the drug policy.... RB Joseph Randle (con-cussion) returned to prac-tice. ... DE Anthony Spen-cer (knee surgery) had aplanned day off after lim-ited participation Wednes-day and Thursday, and isout again Sunday.

MCCLAIN Continued from Page 1B

BEREA, Ohio — JoshGordon’s tangled ordeal, fullof legal twists and turns,has finally been straight-ened out.

He can run a route backto the Browns this season.

Cleveland’s star wide re-ceiver was reinstated intothe NFL and had his one-year suspension reduced to10 games Friday after theleague announced changesto its drug policy. The deci-sion ends months of person-al torment for the Pro Bow-ler, who had been bannedfor repeated drug violations.

Gordon will be eligible toplay in Cleveland’s final sixgames after the league andNFL Players Associationagreed on revisions to thesubstance abuse programtwo days after announcingchanges on performance en-hancing drugs.

“I’m happy that theNFLPA and NFL workedhard to agree on a new sub-stances of abuse policy,”Gordon said in a statement.“I’m very thankful to myunion for fighting for a sig-nificant reduction in mysuspension. I’m glad I cango to the facility during mysuspension. I look forwardto going to meetings, work-ing out individually, andlearning from my coachesand teammates. I can’t waituntil game 11 to get back onthe field!”

Because he has alreadyserved two games of the sus-pension, Gordon will be eli-gible to play Nov. 23 whenthe Browns visit Atlanta.Gordon’s 10-game suspen-sion will cost him morethan $800,000. He’ll be paid

over $300,000 if he plays inthose last six games.

Gordon’s complicated sa-ga has hung over theBrowns for months. Hespent training camp withthe team and played insome exhibition games ashis case remained in limbowhile he and the Brownswaited for the league torule. Gordon didn’t speak toreporters for months, andonly recently disclosed in aninterview that he was de-pressed.

Now, there’s some closureand it may have saved Gor-don’s career.

The Browns had no im-mediate comment on Gor-don’s reduced suspension.

Along with Gordon, freeagent LaVon Brazill alsohad his suspension lessenedto 10 games.

Gordon was suspendedby the league earlier thisyear for one season for an-other failed marijuana test.Gordon appealed the ban,his lawyers arguing he test-ed positive for secondhandsmoke. The appeal was de-nied on Aug. 22 by an arbi-trator and it appeared Gor-don would not be able toplay until 2015. And eventhat wasn’t for certain.

But thanks to the revisedpolicy, Gordon is comingback, assuming he’ll stayclean during the suspen-sion.

Under the new provi-sions, Gordon will be al-lowed to work out and at-tend team meetings at theBrowns’ facility. Before thechanges, Gordon was onlypermitted to meet with hisclinician at team’s head-quarters.

During his suspension,Gordon has been workingfor a local car dealership.But his locker remainedfilled with his personal be-longings.

On Tuesday, Gordonpleaded guilty to a DWIcharge in Raleigh, NorthCarolina, allowing him toavoid an additional two-game suspension under thenew policies.

The NFL’s new policy onsubstance abuse includestwo additional disciplinarystages for marijuana posi-tives. A first violation willresult in referral to the sub-stance abuse program,which has always been thecase.

Subsequent violationswill result in a two-gamefine, a four-game fine, afour-game suspension, a 10-game suspension, and one-year banishment.

In addition, the thresholdfor a positive marijuana testwill be raised from 15 nano-grams to 35 nanograms, re-flecting recent actions takenby other testing organiza-tions.

Once Gordon returns,Browns coach Mike Pettinesaid he and general manag-er Ray Farmer plan to meetwith the talented 23-year-old.

“We’ll sit down with himand just kind of lay the planout for him,” Pettine said.

Despite being suspendedfor two games — he blameda prescription codeinecough syrup — last season,Gordon led the league with1,646 yards receiving andscored nine touchdowns. Hebecame the first player inleague history to have con-secutive 200-yard receivinggames.

While the Browns couldhave him back for the homestretch, his teammates weremore excited about havingGordon the person around.

“That’s great for him,”safety Donte Whitner said.“That’s great for anybodythat’s suspended and can’tbe around their second fam-ily, and you can’t go to yoursecond home. He’ll be ableto lift here. He’ll be able toeat here. He’ll be able towatch film, so that whenhe’s ready to step back onthe field, he doesn’t miss astep.”

NOTES: Browns backupQB Johnny Manziel wasglad to make his regular-season debut last Sunday,even if it was for only threeplays. “It was good to shakea little rust off and just getout and run around,” hesaid. Manziel handed offtwice and threw an incom-pletion against the Saints.Manziel was happy for start-er Brian Hoyer, who drovethe Browns 85 yards to setup the winning field goal “I’m ... proud of him,” Man-ziel said. “It was really emo-tional for us.”

Josh Gordon’s suspension reducedBy TOM WITHERS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cleveland’s star wide-out Josh Gordon saw his season-long suspension reduced to 10 games under the NFL’s new drug policy.

File photo by Evan Vucci | AP

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Heloise: I have aSPA TUB in the home wejust moved into. I knowhow to clean the surfaceof it, but I recall youprinting how to clean the"insides." Help? –– AnneP., Austin, Texas

How lucky for you! Ihave one and just love it,especially after a long tripwhere I have been sittingon too many airplanes!It’s easy, and you shouldhave the items on hand.Use just hot water and fillthe tub 3 to 4 inches abovethe jets. Next, add in 1 to 2cups of household bleach.Sprinkle in 1/2 to 3/4 cupof powdered dishwasherdetergent as the cleaningagent. Turn on and letrun 20 minutes or so.Turn off to let the watersit in the pipes for abouthalf an hour. Pull the plugand empty, then fill withcold water and let ’er ripfor a few minutes. That’sall you need to do! –– He-loise

P.S.: Be sure to turn onthe exhaust fan, and keepthe kiddos away.

BE SAFE

Dear Heloise: I readyour column about thedangers of tying dogs to apost. May I add my story?We lost our dog Mollywhen her leash was inad-vertently left on after awalk one day. She gotcaught on something out-side and sadly did not sur-vive. Even if the dog is leftunattended for only a mo-ment, you never knowwhat can happen. –– Jill inGainesville, Texas

Thank you for writing;hopefully, it will keep an-other dog safe. –– Hugs, He-loise

MEMORY LISTDear Heloise: Because I

put things away in a "safeplace" and forget wherethat is, I have made up areminder sheet. In one col-umn is the item, and in theadjoining column the place.–– Stella R., Conroe, Texas

How many times havewe all put something awayfor "safekeeping," thencan’t find it? Start a list,folks, but don’t forgetwhere you put the list! ––Heloise

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014