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An invasive plant growing along the banks ofthe Rio Grande, Carrizo cane is the bane of bor-der law enforcement, providing natural cover forsmugglers and drug mules. There have been ef-forts to wipe it out since at least 2008, when theU.S. Border Patrol tried a pilot program in south-ern Webb County that was suspended after envi-ronmental groups objected to the herbicides be-ing used.

And despite a bill passed last session requir-ing its eradication, it doesn’t appear Texas willraze cane anytime soon.

Senate Bill 1734 by state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, mandated that the Texas State Soiland Water Conservation Board establish a planto eradicate Carrizo cane.

The project was included on Gov. Greg Ab-bott’s list of border security priorities, and hisproposed budget included $9.8 million for it. Buteven though Uresti’s bill went into effect whenAbbott signed it in June, the state conservationagency hasn’t moved beyond preliminary plan-ning stages.

When lawmakers allocated a record $800 mil-lion for border security, it seems, they left out themoney needed to fund the eradication program.

“We’re doing whatever we can do without anyfunding,” said John Foster, the conservationagency’s statewide programs officer. “The thingthat changed with the bill is it added ‘border se-curity’ to our sweep of responsibilities.”

Asked about the lack of funding, Abbott’s of-fice said only that it would continue to monitorthe eradication effort.

"Securing the border is inherently a federal re-sponsibility and we will continue to work withour federal and local partners to address this is-sue," spokesperson John Wittman said.

According to a review of emails obtained byThe Texas Tribune, Abbott’s office concludedthat state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, thechair of the Senate Finance Committee, decidedagainst funding the program. (Nelson and stateSen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, were the twovotes against SB 1734, according to the Senatejournal.)

Asked about the bill, Nelson said “this issuesimply didn’t have the support to be funded."

Foster said he isn’t surprised the programwasn’t funded given the somewhat haphazardprocess required to get the legislation passed. Hewas approached late in the session, he said, andthe costs associated with the project were neverfully explored.

“We were going basically just on some roughnumbers that had been around for a few yearssince this first started being talked about since’07 or ’08,” he said. “That ($9.8 million) numberwas based on something like $200 an acre for oneparticular method and then the length of the riv-er, essentially. Obviously there’s not Carrizo caneeverywhere on the river. There was never a for-mal request by the agency. We obviously wouldtake anything we could to get the program start-ed.”

In a statement, Uresti said he expected theagency to move forward if funds for the programare identified. Until then, he said, it’s up to localsto get the job done.

“Next session, I will once again work with mycolleagues on Senate Finance to see that this pro-gram is funded,” he said. “For now, the eradica-tion responsibilities are being borne by landown-ers and local authorities, but the scope of theproblem makes state assistance important."

Foster said there has been some progressmade despite the lack of funding. He met earlierthis month with the Texas Department of PublicSafety, which identified “priority” areas wherecane is the most problematic. He said he wouldmeet again soon with Abbott’s office to discusspossible sources.

BORDER

Carrizo billpassed, butlacks funds

By JULIÁN AGUILARTEXAS TRIBUNE

The Zapata County Sher-iff ’s Office said this week ithad a great turnout in col-lecting unwanted medicationduring the Drug Enforce-ment Administration Nation-al Take Back Initiative.

The collection took placeSaturday at the Zapata Coun-ty Pavilion.

“We had citizens bring intheir unwanted and, or ex-pired medication. Today wecollected 71.3 pounds of it inthree bags. The medicationsare now being transportedby the DEA’s office to beproperly disposed of,” ac-cording to a Sheriff ’s Officepost on its Facebook page.

In total, DEA collected2,004 pounds of unwantedmedication from 12 collec-tion points throughout Lare-do, La Salle County and Za-pata, said DEA AssistantSpecial Agent in ChargeJames Reed.

Local law enforcementfrom each city, school dis-tricts and Serving Childrenand Adults in Need assistedin the collection.

“We thank our partnersfor assisting us in this effort… We also thank the commu-nity. If the community didn’tsupport this type of pro-gram, we would’ve not got-ten the results we did,” Reedsaid, adding he’s looking for-ward for next year.

Reed said authorities didnot want expired or unwant-ed medication out there.

Not only is there a serious

problem with abuse of pre-scribed medication, it alsoleads to heroin use sincesome prescription drugs areopiates in nature, he said.

“It’s a vicious cycle whenyou go from the prescriptiondrugs to the heroin,” Reed

said.The DEA wanted the un-

wanted and expired medica-tion out of the medicine cabi-nets at home.

“We don’t want kids inthere and getting theirhands on them. It’s for the

overall safety of the commu-nity, plus it’s an environmen-tal issue,” Reed said, addingthe DEA properly disposes ofthe medication.

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

DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL TAKE BACK INITIATIVE

71 pounds tossedEffort nets unwanted, expired prescription drugs

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

The Zapata County Sheriff’s Office said deputies collected 71.3 pounds of expired or unwanted medicationduring the Drug Enforcement Administration National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday.

Courtesy photo

In total, DEA collected 2,004 pounds of unwantedmedication from 12 collection points throughout Laredo,La Salle County and Zapata.

AUSTIN — An El Pasoclinic shuttered by Texas’tough 2013 abortion law reo-pened Tuesday, the first inthe state to do so since theU.S. Supreme Court tempo-rarily blocked enforcement ofsome key restrictions threemonths ago.

The Reproductive Servicesclinic, so close to the Texas-Mexico border that its win-dows offer views of CiudadJuarez across the RioGrande, is taking appoint-ments and expects to beginperforming abortions nextweek.

The reopening brings to 20

the number of abortion clin-ics licensed in America’s sec-ond most-populous state, ac-cording to a list provided byhealth officials — though one

of those facilities says it hasstopped performing the pro-cedure. That’s down from 41such clinics in 2012 — andthe Reproductive Services fa-cility could close again soon.

A June 29 Supreme Courtorder created only a tempora-

ry block that will hold untilthe high court decides wheth-er to hear an appeal of a low-er court ruling refusing tosuspend the Texas restric-

tions. It’s not clear when thatdecision will come, but if theSupreme Court hears the fullappeal it could be the biggestabortion case in decades.

“We’re so excited about thereopening, but the discourag-ing part is we could be closed

down at any time,” said Ma-rilyn Eldridge, president ofNova Health Systems, whichoperates Reproductive Servic-es. She and her late husband,a Christian minister, firstopened the clinic in 1977.

“This is more difficultthan it has ever been,” El-dridge added in a phone in-terview. “I think it’s becausethere is so much discussionabout something that shouldbe a very personal matter.”

Texas in 2013 approvedsome of the nation’s tightestabortion rules, promptingthousands of demonstratorson both sides of the issue topack the state Capitol in Aus-

2013 ABORTION LAW

Ruling permits operationsEl Paso abortion clinic reopens amid Texas court battles

By WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

See CLINIC PAGE 11A

The clinic hopes to see up to 2,000patients annually, and provide otherservices such as contraception.

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

Wednesday, September 30Laredo A&M Mothers’ Club

monthly meeting will be held at 6:30p.m. at Los Patios, 4653 Casa BlancaRd. Mothers who have children at Tex-as A&M in College Station are invitedto attend.

High school students are invitedto attend a free youth conference ondomestic violence on at 5:30 p.m. atUT Health Science Center RegionalCampus Laredo, 1937 E. BustamanteSt. Space is limited. Call 956-712-0037to register. Sponsored by the WebbCounty Domestic Violence Coalition.

Thursday, October 119th annual Domestic Violence

Conference from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at Tex-as A&M International University, Stu-dent Center Ballroom. Registration isrequired. Continuing education creditsavailable for law enforcement person-nel, attorneys, social workers, counsel-ors and nurses. Space is limited. Call956-712-0037 to register. Sponsored bythe Webb County Domestic ViolenceCoalition.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Plan-etarium shows. 6 p.m.: Cosmic Adven-tures; 7 p.m.: Led Zeppelin. GeneralAdmission is $4 for children and $5for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIUstudents, faculty and staff. For moreinformation call 956-326DOME (3663).

Saturday, October 3TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Plan-

etarium shows. 2 p.m.: Accidental As-tronaut; 3 p.m.: Secret of the Card-board Rocket; 4 p.m.: Star Signs; 5p.m.: Black Holes. General Admission is$4 for children and $5 for adults. Ad-mission is $4 for TAMIU students, fac-ulty and staff. Matinee Shows are $1less. Call 956-326-DOME (3663).

The Laredo Northside Market As-sociation will hold a market day from9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the parking lot ofNorth Central Park on InternationalBoulevard. Free games/activities forchildren and free reusable bags foradults.

Sunday, October 46th Annual “Blessing of All Ani-

mals” from 4 to 5 p.m. at St. Peter’sPlaza. Animals should be on a leash,harness or in a cage. St. Francis of As-sisi medals and T-shirts will be availa-ble for a donation. Donations will gotoward projects to protect communitycats including a Trap, Neuter, and Re-turn Program for Laredo. Call Birdie at286-7866.

America the Beautiful concert atTAMIU Recital Hall, 501 InternationalBlvd., from 3–5 p.m. This will be theprofessional premier of “1945” by localcomposer Donald Hale, a United HighSchool graduate now studying compo-sition at the University of Texas. Thisconcert opens with Hales’ short workabout the end of WWII, is followed bythe Trumpet Concerto of Americancomposer Lowell Liebermann perform-ed by Mary Elizabeth Bowden, and fin-ishes with the “New World Symphony”by the Czech composer Antonin Dvo-rak.

Monday, October 5Chess Club meets at the LBV–In-

ner City Branch Library from 4–6 p.m.Free for all ages and skill levels. Basicinstruction is offered. Call John at 795-2400, x2521.

Tuesday, October 6Community conversation on teen

and young adult mental health from6–8 p.m. at the UT Health ScienceCenter auditorium, 1937 E. BustamanteSt. Learn how to recognize the warningsigns of mental health issues, what ac-tions to take, and what resources areavailable. Registration is free and opento all. Presented by Area Health Educa-tion Center, Border Region BehavioralHealth Center, Texas Department ofState Services Office of Border Health.

Take the challenge and climb theRock Wall. Free. All participants mustbring ID and sign release form. 4 p.m.to 5:30 p.m. at LBV–Inner City BranchLibrary, 202 W. Plum St. Call 795-2400, x2520.

The Alzheimer’s support groupwill meet at 7 p.m. in meeting room 2,building B of the Laredo Medical Cen-ter. The group is for family membersand caregivers taking care of someonewho has Alzheimer’s. Call 956-693-9991.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Plan-etarium shows. 6 p.m.: Cosmic Adven-tures; 7 p.m.: Led Zeppelin. GeneralAdmission is $4 for children and $5for adults. Admission is $4 for TAMIUstudents, faculty and staff. For moreinformation call 956-326DOME (3663).

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Sep-tember 30, the 273rd day of2015. There are 92 days left inthe year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On September 30, 1955, ac-tor James Dean, 24, was killedin a two-car collision nearCholame, California.

On this date:In 1399, England’s King

Richard II was deposed by Par-liament; he was succeeded byhis cousin, Henry of Boling-broke, who was crowned asKing Henry IV.

In 1777, the ContinentalCongress — forced to flee inthe face of advancing Britishforces — moved to York, Penn-sylvania.

In 1846, Boston dentist Wil-liam Morton used ether as ananesthetic for the first time ashe extracted an ulceratedtooth from merchant EbenFrost.

In 1915, the D.H. Lawrencenovel “The Rainbow” was pub-lished in London by Methuen& Co.

In 1938, after co-signing theMunich Agreement allowingNazi annexation of Czechoslo-vakia’s Sudetenland, BritishPrime Minister Neville Cham-berlain said, “I believe it ispeace for our time.”

In 1939, the first college foot-ball game to be televised wasshown on experimental sta-tion W2XBS in New York asFordham University defeatedWaynesburg College, 34-7.

In 1949, the Berlin Airliftcame to an end.

In 1954, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USSNautilus, was commissionedby the U.S. Navy.

In 1962, James Meredith, ablack student, was escorted byfederal marshals to the cam-pus of the University of Mis-sissippi, where he enrolled forclasses the next day; Mere-dith’s presence sparked riotingthat claimed two lives. The Na-tional Farm Workers Associ-ation, founded by Cesar Cha-vez and a forerunner of theUnited Farm Workers, held itsfirst meeting in Fresno, Cali-fornia.

In 1997, France’s RomanCatholic Church apologizedfor its silence during the sys-tematic persecution and de-portation of Jews by the pro-Nazi Vichy regime.

Today’s Birthdays: NobelPeace Laureate Elie Wiesel is87. Actress Angie Dickinson is84. Singer Cissy Houston is 82.Singer Johnny Mathis is 80.Actor Len Cariou is 76. SingerMarilyn McCoo is 72. FormerIsraeli Prime Minister EhudOlmert is 70. Pop singer SylviaPeterson (The Chiffons) is 69.Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall is 65.Actress Victoria Tennant is 65.Actor John Finn is 63. Rockmusician John Lombardo is63. Singer Deborah Allen is 62.Actor Calvin Levels is 61. Ac-tor Barry Williams is 61. Sing-er Patrice Rushen is 61. Ac-tress Fran Drescher is 58.Country singer Marty Stuartis 57. Actress Debrah Farenti-no is 56. Rock musician BillRieflin (R.E.M.) is 55. FormerSen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.,is 55. Actress Crystal Bernardis 54. Actor Eric Stoltz is 54.Rapper-producer Marley Marlis 53. Country singer EddieMontgomery (Montgomery-Gentry) is 52. Rock singerTrey Anastasio is 51. ActressMonica Bellucci is 51. Rockmusician Robby Takac (GooGoo Dolls) is 51. Actress LisaThornhill is 49.

Thought for Today: “Theidea is to die young as late aspossible.” — Ashley Montagu,Anglo-American anthropolo-gist (1905-1999).

TODAY IN HISTORY

WASHINGTON — Fresh off the campaigntrail in Iowa, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz returned tothe U.S. Capitol Monday to escalate his at-tacks against his party’s leadership for notfighting hard enough against President Oba-ma.

In an hour-long speech on a nearly emptySenate floor that ended when he could notgain permission to continue, the state’s ju-nior senator and presidential hopeful ex-panded his usual criticisms of Senate Major-ity Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to in-clude outgoing House Speaker John Boehner.Cruz also lambasted fellow Texas U.S. Sen.John Cornyn, spoke of the recent lunareclipse and boasted of a puzzling personalrole in law enforcement.

“Speaker Boehner faced a conundrum,”

Cruz said of Boehner’s abrupt decision tostep down. “If he does what he and McCon-nell promised, which is funding all of BarackObama’s priorities, he would have lost hisjob.”

“And so what did he do?” Cruz asked. “Heannounced he’s resigning as speaker and re-signing as a member of Congress.”

He also took aim at his colleague fromTexas, Majority Whip Cornyn. Dozens oftimes, he questioned the integrity of “Repub-lican leadership,” a reference that includesCornyn in his capacity as the second-rank-ing Senate Republican.

He specifically called out Cornyn, alongwith a handful of other senior Republicansenators, for voting down a Cruz amendmenttargeting funding for Planned Parenthoodand the Iran nuclear weapons deal via voicevote.

AROUND TEXAS

Sen. Ted Cruz returned to the U.S. Capitol Monday to escalate his attacks against his party’s leadership for not fighting hardenough against President Obama.

Associated Press

Cruz blasts colleaguesBy ABBY LIVINGSTON

TEXAS TRIBUNE

State wins conditional ’NoChild Left Behind’ reprieve

AUSTIN — The U.S. Depart-ment of Education has grantedTexas a conditional waiver toavoid academic accountabilitystandards under the No ChildLeft Behind law.

The Texas Education Agencyannounced Tuesday that securi-ng waivers beyond the currentschool year will require state-wide use of teacher and principalevaluations used to make person-nel decisions

Police chief defends ’InGod We Trust’ decals

DALLAS — A police chief hassent a terse letter telling a watch-dog group to “go fly a kite” afterthe group sent a letter of com-plaint when the chief placed “InGod We Trust” decals on patrolvehicles.

Childress police Chief AdrianGarcia says he sent the letter lastweek to the Freedom From Reli-gion Foundation.

Psychiatrist faces up to10 years for fraud

AMARILLO— A West Texaspsychiatrist faces up to 10 yearsin federal prison for health carefraud related to medical servicesnever provided.

Dr. Robert Hadley Gross ofSan Angelo could also be re-quired to repay more than $1.8million.

Prosecutors in Amarillo onTuesday announced Gross plead-ed guilty to health care fraud.

Police: nobody elsesought in woman’s death

LA MARQUE — Police believea 14-year-old Houston-area boyaccused in the death of his preg-nant mother acted alone.

La Marque police Chief KirkJackson said Tuesday there’s noindication that anyone else wasinvolved in the death. The boywas being held on a juvenilemurder charge.

The teen was located Sundayin Houston.

Skydiving school pilotkilled in crash

LEXINGTON — Investigatorsare trying to determine whatcaused a skydiving school planeto stall and crash in Central Tex-as, killing the pilot.

The Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety on Tuesday identifiedthe victim as 32-year-old Chris-topher Colly Lyons, of Lexington.

DPS says the accident hap-pened Sunday night near an air-field in Lexington, about 45 mileseast of Austin.

Red tide algae bloom atSouth Padre Island beach

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND —Experts say the algae bloomknown as red tide has showed upin high concentrations on thebeach at South Padre Island.

The Texas Parks & WildlifeDepartment says water samplesshow lesser concentrations nearthe South Padre Island conven-tion center.

— Compiled from AP reports

Road off Strip renamedSammy Davis Jr. DriveLAS VEGAS — Frank, Sam-

my and Dean are together again.Officials have renamed a

street near the Las Vegas Stripfor Sammy Davis Jr.

Naturally, a dedication cere-mony Tuesday was held at thethree-way intersection whereSammy Davis Jr. Drive, Frank Si-natra Drive and Dean MartinDrive meet.

Davis family members includ-ing his son, Manny Davis, joinedClark County commission mem-bers and local entertainers forthe event on what used to becalled Industrial Road, just westof the Strip.

2 constables convicted inwoman’s arrest

PITTSBURGH — A judge hasruled two Pittsburgh constables“abused their power” when theyhandcuffed a woman and

dragged her by her legs out ofher home over an unpaid park-ing ticket.

Allegheny County Judge BethLazzara on Tuesday convictedChristian Constantini and Mi-chael Lowman of simple assault,reckless endangerment, official

oppression and conspiracy. Bothremain free on bond pendingtheir December sentencing.

The judge cited inconsisten-cies between Constantini’s testi-mony and a report he wrote onthe night of the October incident.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

The Test of Faith exhibit is shown during a tour of the Mormon Church HistoryMuseum, Tuesday, in Salt Lake City. The church’s renovated museum features asmall display about a part of the faith’s history: polygamy.

Photo by Rick Bowmer | AP

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 Local & State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Texas public schools will get awaiver from federal No Child LeftBehind requirements — as long asthe state can ensure its schools areusing teacher and principal evalua-tion systems that meet federal stan-dards by January.

After two years of negotiations,the U.S. Department of Education no-tified the Texas Education AgencyTuesday that it had granted condi-tional approval of the state’s waiverrequest Tuesday. But it remains un-clear whether the ongoing standoffbetween the state and the federalgovernment over educator evalua-tions has come to an end.

As the education agency an-nounced the decision, CommissionerMichael Williams said the state wasnot changing its position on allowinglocal school districts to make deci-sions on using evaluation systems oftheir choosing.

“Throughout the waiver applica-tion process, I have made it clear tofederal officials that I do not have,nor will I ever seek, the authority tocompel local school districts to useone uniform teacher and principalevaluation system statewide,” Wil-liams said in a statement. “Our statebelieves strongly in local control ofour schools. As a result, we will con-tinue discussing this specific pointwith the U.S. Department of Educa-tion, but they should not expect any

shift in Texas’ position.”Without the federal waiver, nearly

all of the state’s school districts couldbe subject to sanctions, includingforced restructuring, for failing tomeet the law’s requirement that 100percent of students pass reading andmath exams. The state could alsorisk losing billions in federal fundingfor low-income students.

In late January, federal educationofficials rejected a new educatorevaluation system currently beingpiloted by the state in part because itdid not require all school districts touse student achievement on standar-dized tests to measure teacher per-formance. Williams noted Wednes-day that while most Texas school dis-tricts — 86 percent — use thestatewide evaluation system, they doso voluntarily.

In remarks earlier this year, Wil-liams suggested Texas might “go theway of California” when it came tothe waiver. California is among thehandful of states that have lost orbeen denied waivers because they’vedeclined to make changes demandedby the federal government.

A new evaluation system consis-tent with federal guidelines was acondition that federal officials set inplace in September 2013 when itgranted Texas its initial waiver fromthe law.

Congress is currently in the pro-cess of rewriting the 2001 law, and itis unclear how the final version willhandle teacher evaluations.

Commissioner Michael Williams said the state was not changing its position on allowing local school districts to make decisions on using evaluation systems of their choosing.

The Texas Tribune

Federal waiver forschools gets nod

By MORGAN SMITHTEXAS TRIBUNE

FORT WORTH — A whitesuburban Dallas police officerwho resigned after videoshowed him forcing a bikini-clad black 15-year-old girl tothe ground in June was disci-plined three previous timesduring his 10-year career withthe department, police recordsprovided to The AssociatedPress show.

The June 5 incident involv-ing McKinney police OfficerEric Casebolt, who also pulleda gun on other black teens out-side a pool party, sparked crit-icism, protests and eventuallyCasebolt’s resignation.

Casebolt’s attorney, JaneBishkin, said Tuesday that shehad not seen Casebolt’s per-sonnel file, which was releasedto AP late Friday, but called

his disciplinary record a “non-issue.”

“If he were that bad, hewould have been fired a longtime ago,” she said.

The file shows Casebolt wassuspended without pay for oneday in June 2010 after going inhis police car and in uniformto bail out his girlfriend fromjail.

He received a written repri-mand in 2014 for boasting onFacebook about his responseto a suicidal teenager.

“Guess who just checkedthe box for ‘commandeer agolf cart and tased a suicidalknife wielding maniac off-handed and still rolling with-out spilling the golfer’s millerlite’?!” Casebolt wrote on Face-book.

He was also reprimandedfor conduct in a May 2011 in-cident involving an ex-girl-

friend and her ex-husband. The woman’s former hus-

band had called police to com-plain that Casebolt was cir-cling the woman’s apartment,according to police records.The man also accused Case-bolt of leaving a loaded gununsecured around children atthe woman’s apartment.

He was suspended withoutpay for three days.

The personnel file alsoshows Casebolt was praised attimes — for being orderly, hav-ing a good working relation-ship with others, dependabili-ty, making good decisions andfor his ability to adapt tostressful situations and controlhis emotions. He was namedofficer of the year in 2008.

The Collin County districtattorney’s office has said itwill present Casebolt’s case toa grand jury.

Disciplinary recordOfficer who pinned teenager had been disciplined three times

By EMILY SCHMALLASSOCIATED PRESS

Border Patrol agents as-signed to the Zapata BorderPatrol Station seized 696pounds of marijuana duringa drug-smuggling attemptSept. 18, at about 9:20 p.m.

Agents observed a suspi-cious vehicle near Highway83 make an abrupt exit.They encountered the vehi-

cle abandoned as they drovecloser.

A search of the area wasconducted and agents reco-vered 30 bundles of contra-band inside the vehicle. Thetotal weight of the 30 bun-dles was 696.03 pounds ofmarijuana with an estimat-ed street value of $566,800.

The Laredo Border PatrolSector is part of the Joint

Task Force-West South Tex-as Corridor, which uses fed-eral, state and local re-sources to combat transna-tional criminalorganizations.

To report suspicious activ-ity such as drug and/oralien smuggling, contact theLaredo Sector Border Patroltoll free telephone numberat 1-800-343-1994.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Zapata Border Patrol Station seized 696 pounds of marijuana Sept. 18.

Courtesy photo

Agents seized marijuanaSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

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

If the price of your morning Starbucks fixjumped from $3.45 to $142, you’d probablytake your business to Dunkin’ Donuts orswear off caffeine altogether.

But patients who rely on a drug calledDaraprim don’t have the option of discontin-uing their meds or switching to anotherbrand. And last month, the price of Dara-prim jumped from $13.50 a pill to $750.That’s an increase of more than 5,000 per-cent.

There’s nothing new-and-improved aboutDaraprim, which has been on the marketfor 62 years. What’s changed is the companythat owns the marketing rights to the drug.

Daraprim is the standard treatment fortoxoplasmosis, a potentially life-threateningparasitic infection. The drug’s patent ex-pired long ago, but there’s no generic ver-sion in the U.S. because the market isn’t bigenough to support a competitor. Only about2,000 U.S. patients were treated with Dara-prim last year.

When Turing Pharmaceuticals boughtthe rights to Daraprim in August, it essen-tially had its hands on a monopoly. So itjacked up the price as high as it dared.

Doctors, patient advocacy groups and pol-iticians howled. In a letter to Turing, the In-fectious Diseases Society of America saidtreating a patient with Daraprim would costhundreds of thousands of dollars a year — aprice it called “unjustifiable” and “unsus-tainable for the health care system.”

Biotech stocks had a very bad week as in-vestors worried about rumbles of govern-ment interference in drug pricing.

Turing CEO Martin Shkreli eventuallysaid the company would roll back the price,but he hasn’t said how far.

Why is that $750 pill so hard to swallow?The high cost of many prescription drugs isa reflection of the lengthy, expensive andrisky process of bringing a new medicine tomarket. That’s not the case with Daraprim.

The business model adopted by Turingand others is to identify drugs that are “un-dervalued,” buy them and raise the prices.Often they are older or generic drugs thatcan command a higher price because con-sumers have few or no alternatives.

As recently as 2010, Daraprim was pricedat $1 a pill. That was three owners ago.

In a story about the trend in April, TheWall Street Journal reported that ValeantPharmaceuticals International had pur-chased two lifesaving heart drugs andraised the prices by 212 percent and 525 per-cent the same day.

Last month, another company bought thetuberculosis-fighting drug cycloserine andraised the price of 30 capsules from $500 to$10,800 — to the dismay of the previous own-er, a nonprofit research foundation affiliatedwith Purdue University. When the nonprofitobjected, Rodelis Therapeutics agreed to re-turn the rights.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont in-dependent running for president, and U.S.Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent a letterlast week to Turing, calling its deal “the lat-est in a long list of skyrocketing price in-creases for certain critical medications.”

Democratic presidential hopeful HillaryClinton capitalized on the controversy byhawking her plan to lower prescriptiondrug costs. It includes capping costs for pa-tients, requiring drug companies to investmore of their profits in research and devel-opment instead of marketing, and reducingthe time during which companies can pro-duce their new drugs exclusively. If youwant to stifle medical innovation, that’s theway to do it.

But hiking the price of a drug by 5,000percent just because you can invites thatsort of government meddling, which is whythe pharmaceutical industry isn’t happywith Turing. The Pharmaceutical Researchand Manufacturers of America, a tradegroup, made that clear on Twitter: “Turing-Pharma does not represent the values ofPhRMA member companies.”

How can such opportunistic pricing becurbed? Instead of over-regulating the drugcompanies, the government could promotecompetition by allowing Americans to buyprescription drugs from other countries ifthey’re manufactured in an environmentthat meets U.S. standards. Generic versionsof Daraprim are available in Europe for aslittle as $1 a pill.

Public pressure (and Internet shaming)proved effective against Turing. After twodays of pushing back hard against the crit-icism — including calling the editor of abiotech newsletter a “moron” on Twitter —Shkreli said the company would lower itsprice “in response to the anger that was feltby people.”

Before he backed down, he’d insisted thehike would net the company “a reasonableprofit, not excessive at all,” and said thecompany planned to use those earnings todevelop better treatments for toxoplasmosis.

The medical community replied that Da-raprim works just fine, thank you. Patientsalready have an effective treatment. Whatthey need is one they can afford.

EDITORIAL

Hikes area hard pillto swallow

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

OTHER VIEWS

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

My hometown of Teaguewas a railroad town for morethan a century. Many familiesI knew, including some rela-tives, derived their livelihoodfrom the Fort Worth & Den-ver-Burlington Rock IslandRailroad. It’s since been ab-sorbed by a conglomerate.

One of my summers, be-tween my college freshmanand sophomore years, wasspent as a grateful employeeof the FWD-BRI at a whop-ping $1.875 per hour.

I wish I could tell you itwas one of those “romantic”jobs involving moving thetrains up and down the tracksfrom city to city, because Ijust knew the wimmin-folkloved that. But it wasn’t. Itwas a down-and-dirty (andless financially rewarding)construction job on the FWD-BRI bridge gang. But, ithelped me finance a year ofcollege. The moving-the-trainjobs went to guys who were

likely to make a career of therailroad.

From my limited perspec-tive at a small-town rail “turn-about,” the only more difficultrailroad work than the bridgegang was laboring in the railyards.

The “yards” were builtback in the early part of the1900s and involved a series ofrail spurs, off the main line,to a collection of repair shops.There was also a turnabout, ahuge section of track set up tohold one of the big steam loco-motives and its fuel car (woodin the early years, coal in lat-er times). Unlike the currentdiesel-engine locomotives, theold steamers couldn’t go twodirections, so they were dri-ven onto the turntable,“spun” around and headedthe opposite direction.

FWD-BRI’s turnabout wasalso used to maneuver the en-gines into position for mainte-nance and repair. There’snothing “light” about a trainlocomotive, today’s diesel oryesterday’s steam-driven.

Naturally, some of the re-pair involved dismantling ofparts. If you’ve never seen aturnabout up close, there’s a

series of wheels that holds thelocomotive on the track and,driven by the steam-poweredengine, rolls it along thetracks. The largest set ofwheels is the back pair (oneon each side) right under theengineer-fireman cab. Thesewere made of steel and report-edly weighed 600 pounds each.

I was never in the shops, soI can’t tell you how they wereequipped, but one wouldthink they’d have a devicethat could lift and move thosewheels. Perhaps they did, butonce I saw them moved in an-other manner.

Working in the shops was agiant of a man, an African-American known as BigJesse. It was said he was six-feet, six-inches tall andweighed more than 400pounds. I believe it because Isaw him up close more thanonce and this little 5-11, 145-pound, spider-reared boy wasAWED and just a little intimi-dated.

I saw Big Jesse pick up oneof the biggest locomotivewheels and move it. Hewould’ve been a hit and unri-valed as a strong man in a cir-cus or carnival.

Growing up rural Texas,with parents whose rootswere solidly farming andranching, country music anda healthy dose of SouthernGospel were the dominantsounds. I was, and still am, afan of each.

Railroads and country mu-sic just seem to be made foreach other. And, some rail-road ballads were among myfavorites in the C&W genre.My top railroad song picks, inascending order: 5. NightTrain to Memphis by RoyAcuff 4. Orange Blossom Spe-cial by Johnny Cash; 3. City ofNew Orleans by my mainman Willie Nelson; 2. LongBlack Train by Josh Turner;and, ta-da, #1. Folsom PrisonBlues by Johnny Cash.

Since I spent considerabletime around the railroad andactually worked on it onesummer, you think my routeto fame and fortune might beto write a railroad song? May-be Willie will still be aroundto record it.

Willis Webb is a retired com-munity newspaper editor-pub-lisher of more than 50 years ex-perience. He can be reached byemail at wwebb1937@att.net.

COLUMN

Railroads, music are a good mix

Here’s a shocker: Criminalsget their guns from friends,family or fellow gang mem-bers, not traditional legalchannels like licensed dealers,according to a new survey ofcriminals incarcerated at Chi-cago’s Cook County Jail con-

ducted by researchers fromthe University of Chicago andDuke University.

The survey consisted of in-terviews with 99 inmates, cur-rent or former gang members,who had illegally possessed afirearm within six monthsprior to their arrests.

While the source of theirfirearms was unclear in about

one-third of the cases, 49 per-cent of respondents acknowl-edged receiving guns from afamily member, gang memberor someone else they knewpersonally. An additional 16percent got them from a mu-tual acquaintance or fromsomeone they did not know onthe black market. Just 1.5 per-cent said they had stolen their

guns.The research provides fur-

ther evidence that calls for“universal backgroundchecks” and laws to close gunshow “loopholes” will not leadto improvements in publicsafety, but don’t expect suchfacts to deter gun-grabbersfrom their crusade to disarmhonest citizens.

EDITORIAL

Gun laws miss the mark with someTHE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

DALLAS — The NCAAbanned the SMU men’s basket-ball team from postseason playTuesday and suspended veterancoach Larry Brown for ninegames after concluding that helied to its investigators and sim-ply turned his back on a case ofacademic fraud involving one ofhis players.

In a scathing report, theNCAA noted that Brown, whopreviously coached at Kansasand UCLA, made “choicesagainst his better judgmentwhen it came to compliance is-sues” at SMU.

“These choices included notreporting possible violations inhis program, initially lying tothe enforcement staff during theinvestigation and providing nospecific guidance to his staff onrules compliance,” the NCAAsaid in punishing SMU for its na-tion-leading 10th major infrac-tions case.

The school said it was study-ing the report and would decidewithin the next two weekswhether to appeal.

“Our compliance program isamong the best in the nation, butwe acknowledge that even thestrongest compliance programscan fall short when individualsact in an unethical manner,”

SMU President Gerald Turnersaid in a statement issued beforea news conference.

The basketball team will losenine scholarships over the nextthree seasons and could havesome if not all of its 2013-14 sea-son vacated, a season in which itwent 27-10 and lost in the NITchampionship game. The 75-year-old Brown, the only coach to winboth NCAA and NBA titles, is al-so subject to a show-cause orderover the next two years.

“I am saddened and disap-pointed that the Committee onInfractions believes that I did notfully fulfill my duties and I willconsider my options to challengethat assertion in the comingdays,” said Brown, who is 69-34in three seasons at SMU. “Still,there was a violation in our pro-gram and I take responsibilityfor that and offer my sincereapologies to the university com-munity.”

The NCAA said Brown ac-knowledged “his failed judg-ment” during a hearing on thecase.

“But I realize, you know, inhindsight that was a terriblemistake on my part,” Brownsaid, according to the NCAA re-port. “I wish I could havechanged all that. But we had thatinterview with the NCAA, I don’tknow why I lied. You know, deal-ing with people that I really care

about, and I used terrible judg-ment, and I tried to acknowledgethat as quickly as I could, but itdoesn’t seem to make a differ-ence. I realize that.”

SMU is still the only school ev-er given the NCAA’s so-calleddeath penalty in football for mul-tiple violations and the programwas shut down for two seasons,1987 and 1988. The latest case in-cluded violations in the compli-ance office, men’s golf and the re-vived Mustangs basketball pro-gram run by Brown.

Brown led Kansas to the 1988national championship withDanny Manning leading the waybefore returning to the NBA asSan Antonio’s coach. But theJayhawks were banned frompostseason play the next seasonand placed on probation forrecruiting violations duringBrown’s tenure. UCLA was 42-17in Brown’s two seasons, but theBruins’ runner-up finish in the1980 NCAA Tournament was lat-er vacated by the NCAA aftertwo players were determined tobe ineligible.

Michael Adams, the Pepper-dine chancellor who was thechief hearing officer, said SMU’spast transgressions were takeninto account this time. He saidBrown’s past, and leaving Kan-sas and UCLA before sanctionshit those programs, were not fac-tors.

NCAA BASKETBALL: SMU MUSTANGS

NCAA punishes Brown, SMU

SMU head coach Larry Brown will be suspended nine games as the Mustangsbasketball program has been banned from the postseason and could see much ofits run to second place in the NIT championship in 2014 vacated following an aca-demic fraud punishment by the NCAA.

Photo by Fred Beckham | AP

Mustangs banned from postseason playBy STEPHEN HAWKINS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES National WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

WASHINGTON —Stunned and divided, HouseRepublicans sought a wayforward Tuesday as Majori-ty Leader Kevin McCarthypledged to bring them to-gether after Speaker JohnBoehner’s sudden resigna-tion.

The five-term CaliforniaRepublican moved aggres-sively to lock up support tomove into Congress’ top job,second in line to the presi-dency. He faced little seriouscompetition, though thesame hardline conservativeswho forced Boehner outcommand enough votes tocomplicate McCarthy’s as-cent, even without fielding acandidate of their own.

“I know what’s going onacross the country, and I’mconcerned about what wehear,” McCarthy told report-ers. “We want to make surethat we’re closer to the peo-ple, that they feel this istheir government, they’re incharge and we serve them.

“Now, that’s not easy, andit won’t change overnight.But that’s our mission.”

McCarthy spoke as thecontest to replace him asmajority leader turned vola-tile, with some Republicansannouncing they wanted todraft Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of thespecial panel investigatingthe 2012 Benghazi, Libya, at-tacks, and Hillary Clinton.

Gowdy took himself outof the running late in theday, stressing that he doesn’twant to give up his respon-sibility as Benghazi commit-tee chairman. “I’ve neverrun for any leadership job,”he said.

House Majority WhipSteve Scalise of Louisianaand Budget CommitteeChairman Tom Price ofGeorgia already are compet-ing fiercely for the No. 2 job.

Amid the jockeying,House Republicans met be-hind closed doors Tuesdayevening for an unusualmembers-only meeting.Lawmakers said it was awide-ranging discussion onhow they move forwardfrom Boehner’s stunningannouncement Friday thathe will step down at the endof October, rather than facea tea party-driven floor voteto depose him.

Lawmakers aired frustra-tion at their inability to sat-isfy fed-up voters who wantaggressive action againstPresident Barack Obamaand the Democrats, and whoblame GOP leaders whenSenate Democrats and thepresident himself foil GOPplans. Many are embitteredafter years where Congress

has lurched from crisis tocrisis, often driven by asmall group of tea partylawmakers, shutting downthe government in a failedattempt to end Obama’shealth law and repeatedlygetting the bare minimumdone at the last possibleminute.

The GOP enjoys the big-gest House majority in dec-ades and control of the Sen-ate, yet lawmakers feel theyhave little to point to. Andthere’s no unanimity on asolution — if a solution ex-ists — though the GOP’sWhite House hopes may de-pend on one. More chancesfor gridlock and shutdownsloom later this year.

“There needs to be a ma-jor therapy session and a lotof dialogue and a lot of put-ting down our knives andjust having a really greatheart-to-heart and comingto grips with some very, ve-ry, tough things,” said Rep.Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., one ofthe rebels. Like other law-makers, he complained offeeling excluded and unableto represent the voters whoelected him.

Other, establishment-aligned lawmakers com-plained Republicans havefed voter frustration bymaking unrealistic prom-ises about what can be ac-complished under dividedgovernment, even with Sen-ate control. They called fora more honest dialogue withvoters.

“Are we going to keep ly-ing? Are we going to tell theAmerican people, or try tofool them, into believingthat we can unilaterally re-peal Obamacare, defundPlanned Parenthood, bringdown the president’s execu-tive orders?” asked Rep. Car-los Curbelo, R-Fla. “Or arewe going to be serious, arewe going to lead, are we go-ing to be honest? This is thequestion here.”

McCarthy and the candi-dates for lower-rung jobshave been addressing suchquestions head-on in a lead-

ership race that’s featuredunusually public soul-searching about the state ofHouse Republicans.

In a statement seekinghis colleagues’ support asmajority leader, Scalisewrote: “It’s time to unite be-hind a strategy that lets usmake the case for our con-servative governing visionand empowers you to drivethe public-policy narrativein your own district.”

Price, Scalise’s leadingopponent, released a lettersaying: “The hurdles thatinevitably lay ahead will re-quire effective and capableleaders. It will require newthinking and a change fromthe status quo. And it mustadvance the cause of asmaller, more limited, moreaccountable government byallowing everyone’s voice tobe included.”

Some hardline conserva-tives questioned whetherMcCarthy, who’s been en-dorsed by Boehner, wouldoffer real change. Askedhow he would be different,McCarthy joked Tuesdaythat “I won’t be as tanned”as the famously orange-hued Boehner. But he alsomoved to ingratiate himselfto conservatives, declaringon CNN that Sen. Ted Cruzis “healthy for this party.”Boehner has called Cruz a“jackass.” Texas’ Cruz is apresidential candidate andtea party favorite.

Boehner’s decision to stepdown averted immediatecrisis, as stopgap legislationto keep the government run-ning is expected to clearCongress ahead of theWednesday midnight dead-line. Despite conservatives’demands, the bill will notcut off money for PlannedParenthood following the re-lease of videos focused onthe group’s practice of pro-viding fetal tissues for re-search.

The bill merely extendsthe government fundingdeadline until Dec. 11, whenanother shutdown show-down will loom.

McCarthy tries to lockup Boehner’s old job

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. gestures toward out-going House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio during a new conferenceon Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday.

Photo by Carolyn Kaster | AP

By ERICA WERNERASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Hav-ing dodged the immediatethreat of a governmentshutdown, congressionalRepublican leaders arelooking ahead to talkswith President BarackObama on a long-termbudget pact.

Senate Majority Lead-er Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that heand House Speaker JohnBoehner spoke with Oba-ma recently and that heexpects talks to get un-derway soon.

McConnell spoke asthe Senate wraps up a de-bate he engineered on atemporary spending billthat would keep the gov-ernment open while thenegotiations stretchthrough the fall. Themeasure, expected toclear the House and Sen-ate just hours before amidnight Wednesdaydeadline, would keep thegovernment runningthrough Dec. 11.

“The president andSpeaker Boehner and Ispoke about getting start-ed on the discussions lastweek, and I would expectthem to start very soon,”McConnell told reporters.

At issue are efforts toincrease the operatingbudgets for both the Pen-tagon and domestic agen-cies still under automaticspending curbs thatwould effectively freezetheir budgets at currentlevels. Republicans areleading the drive to boostdefense while Obama isdemanding equal relieffor domestic programs.

The conversation be-tween McConnell, Boehn-er and Obama took placeearlier this month — be-fore Boehner announcedhe was stepping down un-der pressure from tea

party conservatives.Many of those same law-makers want to preservestringent “caps” on thespending bills Congresspasses every year, andSenate Republicans aregenerally more eager torevisit the 2011 budgetdeal that put them inplace.

Boehner’s surprise re-signation announcementon Friday followed unrestby arch conservatives inhis conference who want-ed to use the pendingstopgap spending bill totry to force Democratsand Obama to take feder-al funding away fromPlanned Parenthood.

Instead, Boehner andMcConnell opted for a bi-partisan measure thatsteers clear of the furorover Planned Parenthoodand avoids the risk of apartial government shut-down — over the opposi-tion of the most hardlineconservative Republicans.

Wednesday’s scheduledvote comes after a 77-19tally on Monday easilybeat a token filibusterthreat. The House also isexpected to approve thebill — stripped of a teaparty-backed measure totake taxpayer fundingaway from Planned Par-enthood — beforeWednesday’s midnightdeadline.

McConnell is underfire from tea party con-servatives who demandthat he fight harderagainst Planned Parent-hood, even at the risk of agovernment shutdown.But McConnell is focusedon protecting his 2016 re-election class.

One of the Republi-cans’ presidential aspi-rants, Sen. Rand Paul ofKentucky, on Tuesday en-dorsed a shutdown as away to gain leverage overObama.

“Why don’t we startout with the negotiatingposition that we defundeverything that’s objec-tionable, all the wastefulspending, all the duplica-tive spending, let’s defundit all and if there has tobe negotiation, let’s startfrom defunding it all andsee where we get,” Paulsaid in a Senate speech.

“But it would takecourage, because youhave to let spending ex-pire,” he said. “If you’renot willing to let thespending expire and startanew, you have no lever-age.”

Last week, Democratsled a filibuster of a Sen-ate stopgap measure thatwould have blocked mon-ey to Planned Parent-hood. Eight Republicansdid not support that mea-sure, leaving it short of asimple majority, muchless the 60 votes requiredto overcome the filibuster.

“This bill hardly repre-sents my preferred meth-od for funding the gov-ernment, but it’s now themost viable way forwardafter Democrats’ extremeactions forced our coun-try into this situation,”McConnell said Tuesdayof the stopgap.

Republicans have tar-geted Planned Parent-hood for years, but secret-ly recorded videos thatraised questions aboutthe organization’s hand-ling of fetal tissue provid-ed to scientific research-ers have outraged anti-abortion Republicans andput them on the offensiveagainst the group. Thegroup says it is doingnothing wrong.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas,who hopes to be his par-ty’s presidential nominee,took to the Senate floorafter the vote Monday todenounce the Republicanleadership.

Rep. Mark Meadow (R-N.C.) speaks during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Re-form Committee in Washington, on Tuesday.

Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times | AP

Budget talks pendingPresident, Republican lawmakers eye possible shutdown

By ANDREW TAYLORASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — House and Sen-ate negotiators have agreed on a $612billion defense policy bill that restrictstransferring terror suspects out of themilitary prison at Guantanamo Bayand challenges the administration onthe budget, drawing a veto threat fromPresident Barack Obama.

The bill gives Obama the increasein funding he requested, but he’s un-happy with the way lawmakers did it.The legislation authorizes an increasein defense spending by padding a war-fighting account with an extra $38.3billion — money that’s not subject tolimits Congress has imposed on mili-tary and domestic spending.

The measure would retain and, insome cases, increase current restric-tions on transferring detainees out ofthe U.S. military prison at Guantana-mo Bay, Cuba. It continues to ban thetransfer of detainees to the UnitedStates or construction to house themon U.S. soil. It also calls on the WhiteHouse to send Congress a plan on howit plans to close the facility and handlefuture detainees.

Moreover, it bans detainees from be-ing transferred to Yemen, Libya, So-malia or Syria, although congression-al staff members said it didn’t appearthe administration had any intentionof transferring any to these volatilenations. Closing the prison is one ofObama’s top goals, yet he has not yetsent Congress a plan on how to shut itdown.

“There is still no plan on what to doand how to do it with the detainees atGuantanamo Bay,” said Sen. JohnMcCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Sen-ate Armed Services Committee. “If theadministration complains about theprovisions concerning Guantanamo,then it’s their fault because they nevercame forward with a plan.”

Among other things, the massivebill:

provides a 1.3 percent pay in-crease to service members

calls for government matchingfunds to new 401(k)-type plans, replac-ing a system that doesn’t leave retiringtroops with anything unless theyserve 20 years.

authorizes lethal assistance toUkraine forces fighting Russian-backed rebels.

continues support for Afghani-stan’s security forces and requires thepresident to report on the risks associ-ated with his plan to drawdown U.S.troops there. Obama announced inMarch that he would slow the troopwithdrawal and maintain 9,800through the end of this year in Af-ghanistan where the Taliban thisweek captured a strategic northerncity.

increases from 4,000 to 7,000 thenumber of special immigrant visas forAfghans who assisted U.S. personnelin Afghanistan and now are facingthreats.

authorizes the president’s re-quest of $715 million to help Iraqiforces fight Islamic State militants. Itrequires the Pentagon to report on

whether the Iraqi government be-comes inclusive of the country’s ethnicgroups and states that based on thatreport, the president can decide to di-rectly arm Sunnis or Kurds.

authorizes $600 million for thebeleaguered U.S.-led program to trainand equip moderate elements of theSyrian opposition force, but requiresthe defense secretary to get congres-sional approval each time he wants touse money for the program.

restores funding for the A-10close air support plane and prohibitsits retirement.

directs the defense secretary toissue a policy to empower individualpost commanders to decide whethermembers of the armed forces can car-ry government-issued or personal firearms at military installations, reservecenters and recruiting centers. Thisprovision follows shootings in LittleRock, Arkansas; Chattanooga, Tennes-see, and Fort Hood, Texas.

extends the ban on torture to theCIA, a provision that pleased McCain,a prisoner of war during the VietnamWar.

“I’m glad the United States of Amer-ica will never again to be able to dothings that they did before, which wassuch a terrible stain on our nationalhonor,” McCain said.

McCain and Rep. Mac Thornberry,R-Texas, chairman of the HouseArmed Services Committee, acknowl-edged the legislation does not solvethe spending problems. But McCaininsisted is a budget fight that shouldnot be fought on his legislation.

Negotiators agree on policy billHouse, Senate agree on $612 billion pact that challenges administration

By DEB RIECHMANNASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 National THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — RoyalDutch Shell’s decision to end itsquest for oil in the Arctic watersoff Alaska sparked jubilationamong environmental activists,who said Tuesday that they willseize the opportunity to seek anend to all drilling to in the region.

But while Shell’s move is a defi-nite setback for oil companies, itdoes not mean offshore drilling isdead or that the Arctic Ocean hasany greater protection now than ithad last week.

Shell’s decision gives advocateson both sides a chance to pauseand consider whether Arctic drill-ing should continue, said Mike Le-Vine of the ocean-advocacy groupin Juneau known as Oceana.

“Meaningful action to addressclimate change is almost certainlygoing to mean we can’t keep look-ing for oil in remote and expen-sive places,” LeVine said. “Ratherthan investing in programs likethis, we need to figure out how totransition away from fossil fuelsand toward sustainable energy.”

Shell announced Monday that itwould abandon exploration in U.S.Arctic waters “for the foreseeablefuture” after a well drilled thissummer in the Chukchi Sea offthe Alaskan coast failed to findnatural gas and oil in sufficientquantities.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC spentmore than $7 billion on Arctic off-shore development in the Chukchiand Beaufort seas and was doggedat every regulatory level by envi-ronmental groups, which fearedthat a spill in the harsh climatewould be difficult to clean up and

devastating to polar bears, walrus-es, seals and other wildlife.

The next step for many envi-ronmental advocates is to estab-lish “some sort of binding policyso that these decisions are not upto oil companies,” said CassadySharp, spokeswoman for Green-peace USA in Washington, D.C.

Over the summer, Greenpeaceprotested drilling by boarding aShell vessel as it crossed the Pacif-ic. The group helped organize on-the-water demonstrations in Seat-tle by “kayaktivists” in kayaks.Protesters with climbing gearhung suspended from a bridge inPortland, Oregon, to briefly delaya Shell support vessel from de-

parting for the Chukchi Sea.“I think the activism played a

huge role and probably a biggerone than Shell is going to admit,”Sharp said.

Greenpeace remains opposed toArctic offshore oil developmentand will turn its attention to otherAlaska leases and potential drill-ing in other countries, she said.

“We don’t want to get too confi-dent and assume no company isgoing to move forward,” she said.

The U.S. Geological Survey esti-mates that American Arctic wa-ters hold 26 billion barrels of con-ventionally recoverable oil. That’sconsiderably more than the 17 bil-lion barrels of crude that moved

through the trans-Alaska pipelinefrom 1977 through 2014.

Miyoko Sakashita, oceans direc-tor for the Center for BiologicalDiversity, said Shell’s experienceand public pressure may serve asa warning message to other com-panies. However, Arctic offshoredrilling is by no means over.

The Department of Interiorcontinues to evaluate Arctic-spe-cific exploratory drilling regula-tions. The leases that allow oilcompanies to explore for cruderun through 2017 in the BeaufortSea and through 2020 in the Chuk-chi Sea, and corporations havesought extensions.

Arctic waters continue to be

part of President Barack Obama’s“all-of-the-above” energy strategy,which embraces a wide range ofsources, from oil and natural gasto renewables such as wind andsolar power.

Depending on interest by petro-leum companies, the Interior De-partment could hold lease sales inArctic waters in 2016 and 2017.

Both the Chukchi and theBeaufort seas could be included inthe federal government’s next five-year plan for offshore leases,which covers leasing through 2022.

Environmental groups are alsolining up to oppose a proposedBeaufort Sea project 19 miles eastof Prudhoe Bay. HilCorp AlaskaLLC has applied to build a 9-acreartificial island in 20 feet of waterabout 6 miles off shore to tap into150 million barrels of crude oil.

Shell’s decision ended hope thatwithin a decade or so Arctic off-shore oil could help replenish thetrans-Alaska pipeline. Alaska Gov.Bill Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, said the state mustfind ways to address Alaska’s mul-ti-billion dollar budget gap be-tween income and spending.

“If it’s not going to come off-shore, let’s safely develop it fromonshore,” he said.

He will lobby Obama to not on-ly extend offshore leases but toopen reserves on land now closed,such as the Arctic National Wild-life Refuge, he said. Congress inthe 1990s voted to open part of therefuge. President Bill Clinton ve-toed the measure.

“So I’m going to start with theperson with the veto authorityand start with that,” Walker said.“I’m going to work from the topdown.”

Groups seek end to all Arctic Ocean drilling

Royal Dutch Shell PLC icebreaker Fennica heads up the Willamette River under protesters hanging from the St. Johns Bridgein Portland, Ore., on July 30. Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will cease exploration in Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast.

Photo by Don Ryan/file | AP

By DAN JOLINGASSOCIATED PRESS

LINCOLN, Neb. — Thedeveloper of the KeystoneXL pipeline is shiftingcourse in Nebraska andwill withdraw lawsuitsseeking to gain access tothe property of landownerswho oppose the project, thecompany announced Tues-day.

TransCanada Inc. said itwill abandon its current ef-forts to invoke eminent do-main through the courts,and will reapply for stateapproval despite having re-ceived the go-ahead fromformer Republican Gov.Dave Heineman in 2013.

Heineman approved theproject under a now-con-tested pipeline-siting lawthat granted him the finalsay over the project’s routethrough Nebraska. Tran-sCanada spokesman MarkCooper said the companywill instead seek a reviewfrom the Nebraska PublicService Commission — asmall, elected group thatregulates most pipeline pro-jects — as many opponentshave wanted.

Cooper said the companyintends to seek approval forthe same route that was ap-proved by the governor, butreapplying through statePublic Service Commissionprovides “the clearest pathto achieving route certain-ty,” given the lawsuits that

sought to overturn Nebras-ka’s 3-year-old pipeline-sit-ing law.

“It ultimately saves time,reduces conflict with thosewho oppose the project andsets clear rules for approvalof the route,” Cooper said.

Opponents argued incourt that the law was in-valid because it allowedTransCanada to circumventthe commission and receiveapproval from Heineman,who supported the pipeline.Under Nebraska’s constitu-tion, the commission hasthe authority to regulate“common carriers” such aspipelines and railroads.

The company and itssupporters argued that thelaw is valid, and noted thatthe project was reviewedonce by the Nebraska De-partment of EnvironmentalQuality and five times bythe U.S. State Department.

Pipeline opponents cele-brated the announcementas a major victory, but stillcalled on President BarackObama to reject a presiden-tial permit for the project.Federal approval is re-quired because the projectcrosses the U.S.-Canadianborder.

“TransCanada is a des-perate company in an ever-losing situation in Nebras-ka,” said Jane Kleeb, exec-utive director of the groupBold Nebraska. “Farmersand ranchers continue tostand up this reckless for-

eign corporation and wecontinue to win.”

The pipeline would travelfrom Canada through Mon-tana and South Dakota toNebraska, where it wouldconnect with existing pipe-lines to carry more than800,000 barrels of crude oila day to refineries along theTexas Gulf Coast.

In January, the NebraskaSupreme Court allowed thepipeline-siting law to standby default. Four judges onthe seven-member courtruled in favor of landown-ers who challenged the law,but a super-majority of fivewas needed.

The remaining threejudges refused to rule onthe law, arguing that theycouldn’t because the plain-tiffs in the lawsuit didn’thave legal standing. Oppo-nents responded by filing anearly identical lawsuitwith landowners who weredirectly affected.

Cooper said 91 percent ofNebraska landowners alongthe pipeline route haveagreed to easements so thecompany can build thepipeline.

Cooper said TransCana-da could apply to the PublicService Commission asearly as Friday. Reviews bythe commission generallytake seven months to a yearto complete, and its deci-sions can be appealed inthe state’s district court sys-tem.

Landowner suits outKeystone XL developer drops landowner lawsuits in Neb.

By GRANT SCHULTEASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Medi-care paid more than $50million in potentially im-proper bills from ambu-lance companies for ridesfor older Americans, gov-ernment investigators saidTuesday.

The payments included$30 million worth of ambu-lance rides over a six-month period despite an ab-sence of evidence, based onMedicare records, that thepatients received any carewhere they were taken, ac-cording to a report by theinspector general for theHealth and Human Servic-es department. The reportalso identified another $24million in payments forrides to and from doctors’offices and other destina-tions for which Medicaredoes not cover ambulanceservices.

Together, investigatorsfound, those and other sus-pect reimbursements ac-counted for one in five ofthe nearly 16,000 ambulanceservices nationwide thattransported Medicare pa-tients during the first halfof 2012.

Questions of wastefuland fraudulent spendinghave long dogged the feder-al entitlement program,which insures about 50 mil-lion elderly and disabled

Americans. Republicans of-ten cite Medicare as part oftheir drumbeat of criticismof improper federal expen-ditures. And in recentyears, spending on ambu-lance bills has appeared tobe a problem spot.

Previously, governmentinvestigators found thatMedicare’s spending on am-bulance services doubled to$5.8 billion between 2003and 2012. The new findingsare based on an analysis ofMedicare’s billing recordsfor 7.3 million ambulancerides in 2012. The findingssuggest that “inappropriateand questionable billing forambulance transports con-tinues to pose vulnerabili-ties” to Medicare’s financialintegrity, the report con-cludes.

Under Medicare’s Part Brules, which cover outpa-tient care, ambulance ridesare allowed when otherkinds of transportationwould endanger a patient’shealth and when a patientis traveling to or from ahospital, nursing home orseveral other kinds of med-ical facilities.

The inspector general’sinquiry found that bad bill-ing by ambulance compa-nies remains concentratedin certain parts of the coun-try, with slightly more thanhalf of the questionablebills coming from Philadel-phia, Los Angeles, New

York and Houston.And for companies with

an especially large share ofproblematic bills, the aver-age distance billed for am-bulance transport in urbanareas was 34 miles - morethan three times the aver-age trip for Medicare pa-tients in urban areas.

In the case of rides forwhich Medicare had no ac-companying bills for medi-cal services, the report con-cludes that “the transportsmay not have occurred” orthat patients received ser-vices that the program doesnot cover - and that there-fore did not justify an am-bulance transport paid forby the program.

The Centers for Medi-care and Medicaid Services,an agency within HHS, “ispursuing a comprehensivestrategy comprising of sev-eral initiatives to combatambulance transport fraudand abuse,” said spokes-man Aaron Albright. In thepast two years in Houstonand Philadelphia, he said,the agency has blocked newambulance services fromparticipating in Medicare.And under an experimentto try to control fraud, theagency now requires ad-vance permission in Penn-sylvania, New Jersey andSouth Carolina for repeti-tive ambulance rides incases that are not emergen-cies.

Feds pay more than$50M for non-ridesBy AMY GOLDSTEIN

THE WASHINGTON POST

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

LUXOR, Egypt — Thesearch for ancient Egypt’sQueen Nefertiti in an al-leged hidden chamber inKing Tut’s tomb gainednew momentum as Egypt’sAntiquities Minister saidTuesday he is now moreconvinced a queen’s tombmay lay hidden behindKing Tutankhamun’s finalresting place.

While touring the burialsites of Tutankhamun andother pharaohs in Luxor’sfamed Valley of the Kingswith British EgyptologistNicholas Reeves, MinisterMamdouh el-Damaty saidhe now thinks King Tut’s3,300 year-old pharaonicmausoleum probably con-tains at least one hiddenchamber.

Reeves theorized thatTutankhamun, popularlyknown as King Tut, whodied at the age of 19, mayhave been rushed into anouter chamber of whatwas originally Nefertiti’stomb.

“I agree with him thatthere’s probably somethingbehind the walls,” el-Da-maty said. But he said ifanyone is buried there it islikely Kia, believed bysome Egyptologists to beKing Tut’s mother.

High-resolution imagesof King Tut’s tomb “re-vealed several very inter-esting features which looknot at all natural, featureslike very, very straightlines which are 90 degreesto the ground, positionedso as to correspond withother features within thetomb,” Reeves said duringthe visit.

These features wouldhave been difficult to cap-ture with the naked eye,he said.

Reeves said the wallscould conceal two unex-plored doorways, one of

which perhaps leads to Ne-fertiti’s tomb. He also ar-gues that the design of thetomb suggests it was builtfor a queen, rather than aking.

El-Damaty said he willseek final approval for aradar inspection of thetomb.

Nefertiti, famed for herbeauty and who was thesubject of a famous 3,300-year-old bust, was the pri-mary wife of the PharaohAkhenaten, who tried andfailed to switch Egypt toan early form of monothe-ism. Akhenaten was suc-ceeded by a pharaoh re-ferred to as Smenkhareand then Tut, who is wide-ly believed to have beenAkhenaten’s son.

Reeves believes thatSmenkhare is actually Ne-fertiti.

“Nefertiti disappears ...according to the latest in-scriptions just beingfound,” said Reeves. “Ithink that Nefertiti didn’tdisappear, she simplychanged her name.”

After Nefertiti died, Tutburied her, and then whenhe died someone decidedto extend the tomb, Reevessuggested. “Since Nefertitihad been buried a decadebefore, they rememberedthat tomb was there andthey thought, well, perhapswe can extend it,” he said.

The 1922 discovery ofTutankhamun’s tomb filledwith artifacts, includingthe famed golden funeralmask, made him knownthe world over, and boostedinterest in that era, calledthe Amarna period.

While inscriptions intombs provide some infor-mation, they are not al-ways helpful in clarifyinga pharaoh’s lineage.

“In the case of royaltombs they’re not dealingwith mortal life. They’redealing with the beyond,”said Reeves, adding thatwriting things such as thefamily tree “is just irrele-vant.”

Instead, these inscrip-tions include things suchas “spells to enable the de-ceased to reach the landsof the gods,” said Reeves.This means Egyptologistsuse a number of factors todevelop theories, leading todivisions among expertsabout the period.

“Every Egyptologist hasgot a different view on theAmarna period, becausewe have a lot of evidenceto discuss but not justquite enough to make a fi-nal decision,” said Reeves.

“If we find somethingextra, even one small newinscription would be agreat bonus, it couldchange everything,” saidReeves.

Nefertiti’s tomb

A policeman takes a selfie at the Amenhotep II tomb in the Valleyof the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, on Tuesday. Egypt’s antiquities minis-ter says King Tut’s tomb may contain hidden chambers, lendingsupport to a British Egyptologist’s theory that a queen may beburied in the walls of the 3,300 year-old pharaonic mausoleum.

Photo by Nariman El-Mofty | AP

Search forEgyptian queen

gains momentumBy MARAM MAZENASSOCIATED PRESS

UNITED NATIONS —President Barack Obamaon Tuesday pledged all pos-sible tools — military, intel-ligence and economic — todefeat the Islamic Stategroup, but acknowledgedthe extremist group hastaken root in Syria andIraq, is resilient and con-tinues to expand.

Obama hosted a U.N.gathering of world leadersworking to expand the bat-tle against terrorism, a dayafter he and the leaders ofRussia, China and Iran ad-dressed the General As-sembly during its 70th an-niversary. The fight againstterrorism, particularly inSyria, has seized the atten-tion of top officials, butthere has been no overallagreement on how to endthe conflict there.

“I have repeatedly saidthat our approach will taketime. This is not an easytask,” Obama cautioned,while adding that he was“ultimately optimistic” thebrutal organization wouldbe defeated because it hasnothing to offer but suffer-ing and death.

“This is a long-termcampaign — not onlyagainst this particular net-work, but against its ideol-ogy,” he said.

The meeting also heardfrom the Iraqi leader, whosought more help againstIS in his country, andlearned from Obama thatthree more countries — Ni-geria, Tunisia and Malay-sia — were added to thecoalition fighting thegroup.

In other events at the an-nual gathering of worldleaders:

Obama held talkswith Cuban President RaulCastro, the second time theleaders of the once-es-tranged nations have metthis year.

The European Union’stop diplomat emerged froma high-level meeting on Sy-

ria’s humanitarian crisis totell reporters that she seespossible “political space fornew initiatives in the com-ing weeks,” with no details.

Ukraine’s presidentcondemned Russia’s ag-gression against his coun-try, and urged the interna-tional community to re-strain Moscow’s veto powerin the Security Council.

Guyana’s president,David Granger, accused Ve-nezuela of being a bully asthe two countries broughttheir long-running borderdispute to the world body.

Japan said it is pro-viding $1.5 billion for as-sistance of refugees andstabilization of communi-ties facing upheaval in theMiddle East and Africa.

U.N. Secretary-Gener-al Ban Ki-moon scoldedSouth Sudan’s president,

warning “not betray anddisappoint us” in imple-menting a new peace deal.

The fight against terror-ism has been complicatedby a Russian militarybuildup in Syria in supportof President Bashar Assad.Russian President Vladi-mir Putin suggested Mon-day that Russia couldlaunch airstrikes againstthe militants in Syria, ifsanctioned by the UnitedNations or requested byDamascus.

Obama and Putin are atodds over Russian involve-ment because Washingtonhas said Assad must be re-moved from power. Obamaand Putin laid out compet-ing visions for Syria dur-ing speeches Monday.

Reflecting the divide, anofficial with the Russiandelegation said Moscowwas taking part in the Oba-ma-led event with a lower-level official, deputy am-bassador Evgeny Zagaynov.

Russia on Wednesdaywill chair its own meetingon countering extremismas this month’s U.N. Securi-ty Council president.

One by one, speakers atTuesday’s meeting spoke ofthe need to confront the ex-tremism which Jordan’sKing Abdullah II describedas the “greatest collectivethreat of our time.”

Obama says ISIS fightwill take some time

By ZEINA KARAMASSOCIATED PRESS

KI-MOON

FIT 2015NUEVO GUERRERO

— “Baúl Teatro” se presentael 1 de octubre a las 7 p.m.en Plaza Ruíz Cortinez; “Co-lectivo Trueque” se presentael 2 de octubre a la 1 p.m.en Secundaria # 61; “JuanRogelio y Familia Ruiz” sepresentan el 4 de octubre alas 7 p.m. en Teatro delPueblo. Eventos gratuitos.

CAMARGO — “BaúlTeatro” se presenta el 2 deoctubre a las 11 a.m. en Es-cuela Antonia López OchoaZona Centro. Eventos gratui-tos.

CIUDAD MIER —“Artefactum Caravana Cultu-ral” se presenta el 1 de oc-tubre a las 8 p.m. en PlazaJuárez; “Ran Rataplán Tea-tro” se presenta el 4 de oc-tubre a las 8 p.m. en PlazaJuárez. Eventos gratuitos.

MIGUEL ALEMÁN —“Manuel Alaffita” se presen-ta el 2 de octubre a las 5p.m. en Plaza Principal; y,“En Blanco y Negro” se pre-senta el 3 de octubre a las5 p.m. en Plaza Principal.

ARRESTOPADILLA — José Gua-

dalupe Rodríguez Berrones,de 23 años, y José Luis Her-nández Moreno, de 25, fue-ron acusados de pertenecera un grupo delincuencial quesecuestró y privó de su li-bertad a dos pescadores.

Ambos fueron detenidosel sábado cuando se presen-taron a reclamar dos vehícu-los que exigieron como res-cate por las víctimas, indicaun reporte del Grupo de Co-ordinación Tamaulipas. Ade-más tenían en su poder unapistola automática calibre 9milímetros.

Durante un interrogatorio,Rodríguez Berrones y Her-nández Moreno confesaronhaber dado muerte a losdos pescadores, siguiendoórdenes de sus jefes inme-diatos, de acuerdo con el in-forme de las autoridades.

Los dos quedaron deteni-dos por los delitos de se-cuestro, asociación delictiva,homicidio calificado y porta-ción de arma de uso exclusi-vo de las Fuerzas Armadas.

FESTIVAL DE BANDASLAREDO — El Distrito

Escolar de United ISD seráel anfitrión del Festival Anualde Bandas de Marchas, elsábado 3 de octubre en elStudent Activity ComplexStadium, 5208 Santa Clau-dia Lane. Participarán, de 4p.m. a 7:15 p.m., represen-tantes de las escuelas pre-paratorias La Joya HighSchool, Donna High School,Cigarroa High School, MartinHigh School, Lyndon B. Joh-nson High School, AlexanderHigh School, United SouthHigh School, y United HighSchool.

El costo de entrada es de7 dólares por persona. Niñosde 5 años de edad y meno-res entran gratis. Los bole-tos pueden ser adquiridos eldía del evento, en la puertade entrada. La ceremonia depremiación está programadapara las 7:30 p.m.

CIERRE CONSULADOSEl viernes 9 de octu-

bre, debido a una actualiza-ción de los sistemas consu-lares, las operaciones consu-lares de la embajada de EUen la Ciudad de México y losnueve consulados en toda laRepública Mexicana, perma-necerán cerrados al público.Ciudadanos estadounidensesdeben llamar al 867-714-0512 extensión 3128 de 8a.m. a 5 p.m.

ACTIVIDADES EN PUERTOISABEL

5a Pachanga Anual enel Parque se realizará el sá-bado 3 de octubre, de 5p.m. a 1 p.m., en Washin-gton Park, 156 W. MadisonSt.

Agendaen Breve

Agentes de la PatrullaFronteriza asignados a laEstación Zapata, decomisa-ron casi 700 libras de mari-huana durante un intentode contrabando de drogas,de acuerdo a un comunica-do de prensa.

El 18 de septiembre, alre-dedor de las 9:20 p.m., ofi-ciales observaron a un ve-hículo sospechoso realizan-do una salida abruptacerca de la Carretera 83.

Conforme los agentes seacercaron, descubrieronque el vehículo había sidoabandonado, de acuerdo alreporte.

Al buscar en el área,

agentes descubrieron 30 pa-quetes de contrabando den-tro de la unidad, con un pe-so de 696.03 libras de mari-huana, la cual tiene unvalor estimado en la callede 566.800 dólares, agregael comunicado.

La acción que detuvo elcontrabando de droga fueuna colaboración dentrodel Joint Task Force -WestSouth Texas Corridor, me-diante el cual se destinanrecursos federales, estatalesy locales para combatir aorganizaciones criminales.

Si desea reportar activi-dad sospechosa, sea relacio-nada al contrabando dedrogas o seres humanos,llame al 1-800-343-1994.

ESTACIÓN DE ZAPATA

Confiscan narcóticosPatrulla fronteriza localizó treinta paquetes que contenían casi 700 libras de marihuana

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La imagen muestra los paquetes localizados dentro de un vehículo por parte de agentes de la PatrullaFronteriza, en la estación Zapata, el 18 de septiembre por la noche.

Foto de cortesía

Zfrontera PÁGINA 9AMIÉRCOLES 30 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2015

Tres personas, entre ellas dos aboga-dos, resultaron involucradas en un ca-so por prácticas engañosas y fraudu-lentas, al realizar malas representacio-nes de inmigración, sostuvo la Oficinadel Procurador General de Texas.

El martes fue anunciada la acciónlegal en contra del abogado de inmi-gración, Paul A. Esquivel, las agenciasPaul A. Esquivel, PLLC; Paul Esquivel,PC; JCP Law Firm and AssociatesPLLC; JCP Law Office, PC, su propieta-ria Olvia Martínez, y el abogado JuanCarlos Peñaflor.

Los demandados enfrentan cargospor violar la Ley de Texas Contra Prác-ticas Empresariales Engañosas (DTPA)y el Código de Organizaciones Empre-sariales de Texas, establece el escritolegal del Estado presentado ante laCorte de Distrito del Condado Bexar, el21 de septiembre.

Recientemente, Esquivel quedó inha-bilitado para practicar abogacía en Te-xas.

De acuerdo con la acusación, Esqui-vel y sus empleados engañaron a susclientes para hacerles creer que esta-ban calificados para solicitar asilo, re-cibiendo de ellos miles de dólares. Enrealidad, los consumidores no califica-ban bajo las leyes de asilo de EU.

El abogado no explicó ni divulgó losriesgos asociados con la solicitud deasilo, causando perjuicios irreparablesa los casos de inmigración de los con-sumidores; y, sin el conocimiento delos consumidores, Esquivel presentósolicitudes de inmigración ante el go-bierno de EU que contenían informa-ción falsa, señalan documentos deacuerdo con la oficina del procurador.

En una instancia, un hombre casadocon una ciudadana de EU contrató aEsquivel para tramitar su estancia le-gal en base al estado de su esposa, sinembargo, lo hizo pensar que su únicaopción era solicitar el asilo, añaden do-cumentos.

La presentación de información fal-sa en una solicitud de asilo puede cau-sar sanciones civiles y penales. Mien-tras que presentar una solicitud inco-rrecta dejará al solicitantepermanentemente inelegible para laciudadanía.

De acuerdo con la investigación, Es-quivel vendió sus bufetes de abogado asu administradora Olivia Martínez,quien no es abogada. Ella, por su partecambió los nombres de las firmas aJCP Law Firm and Associates, PLLC yJCP Law Office, PC.

Pero, bajo el Código de Organizacio-nes Empresariales de Texas, se prohíbea una persona sin licencia profesionalser propietaria de un organismo con li-cencia profesional.

Peñaflor, quien supuestamente tra-bajó para Esquivel antes de la venta delas agencias, afirmó ser el propietariode las nuevas agencias. Peñaflor fueacusado de representación inadecuadaa consumidores, lo que está en viola-ción a las leyes estatales de protecciónal consumidor.

La acción legal de la ProcuraduríaGeneral busca obtener una orden judi-cial temporal y permanente en contrade los demandados, además de sancio-nes civiles por hasta 20.000 dólares porcada violación de la ley.

PROCURADURÍA

Investigana tres porprácticas

engañosas TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

MÉXICO— Autoridades me-xicanas rescataron a 150 mi-grantes de distintas nacionali-dades que llevaban 14 horas enel contenedor de un camión, ha-cinados y sin agua suficiente.

Según indicó el lunes el Ins-tituto Nacional de Migraciónen un comunicado, los migran-tes eran transportados por cua-tro presuntos traficantes queles habían cobrado entre 30.000y 50.000 pesos (entre 1.750 y3.000 dólares) para llevarloshasta la frontera con Estados

Unidos.El camión había salido de

Puebla, en el centro-sur delpaís, con destino Monterrey, enel norte, y fue localizado por lasautoridades en una revisión enel estado de Zacatecas.

En el camión había 110 gua-temaltecos, 27 salvadoreños, 10hondureños, dos dominicanos yun ecuatoriano, muchos de loscuales tenían síntomas de des-hidratación por las condicionesen las que viajaban. Entre elloshabía 25 menores, todos acom-pañados de un adulto.

Los extranjeros dijeron que

nunca se le proporcionó ningúnalimento ni tampoco agua yque algunos de ellos estaban apunto de perder el conocimien-to.

Los presuntos traficantesquedaron detenidos.

Los migrantes, en su mayo-ría centroamericanos, tuvieronque encontrar nuevas rutas pa-ra llegar a Estados Unidos des-pués de que agentes mexicanoscomenzaran a hacer redadas enlos trenes de carga a los que an-tes se subían, conocidos como“La Bestia”, para alcanzar lafrontera.

MÉXICO

Rescatan a 150 inmigrantesASSOCIATED PRESS

El tema de la reconstruc-ción de la Carretera Na-cional Nuevo Laredo –

Monterrey ha sido tomado poroficiales electos de Nuevo Lare-do, México.

Usuarios de la ruta aseguranque se tratan de alrededor 50 ki-lómetros, previos a la frontera,cuyo mal estado ha provocadoinnumerable cantidad de acci-dentes viales.

El lunes, en gira de trabajopor organismos en Nuevo Lare-do, México, la Diputada Federalpor el Distrito I de Tamaulipas,Yahleel Abdala Carmona y el co-ordinador de la Fracción Tamau-

lipeca Priísta en la Cámara deDiputados, Edgar Melhem Sali-nas, visitaron el Consejo de Ins-tituciones, la Central de Servi-cios de Carga de Nuevo Laredo yla Asociación de Agentes Adua-nales.

Las reuniones tuvieron comofin tener lluvia de idea por partede los especialistas en caminosque permita el enriquecimientodel proyecto que lleve a la mejo-ra de la carretera nacional, ex-puso Abdala a través de su cuen-ta en Facebook.

“Poco a poco vamos a sacartodos los proyectos adelante”, es-cribió ella. “Vamos a trabajarmuy duro para que se haga rea-lidad lo más pronto posible”.

Por su parte, el PresidenteMunicipal de Nuevo Laredo, Mé-xico, Carlos Canturosas Villarre-al, recientemente expuso que laautoridad federal y estatal debenenviar los recursos necesariospara mejorar la ruta.

“Somos la aduana que más re-cauda, la ciudad más importanteen materia de comercio exterioren el país y en ese aspecto debeser prioridad para todos”, dijoCanturosas en conferencia deprensa.

En la tragedia más recientereportada sobre la carretera na-cional, tres personas perdieronla vida al volcar la camioneta enla que viajaban. Los tres eran re-sidentes en Texas.

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO

CARRETERANACIONAL

Oficiales electos de Tamaulipas trabajan para reconstruir alrededor de 50 kilómetros de la Carretera Nacional, entre Nue-vo Laredo y Monterrey, que se encuentran en mal estado.

Foto de cortesía/archivo

Oficiales solicitan se atienda tramo vialTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES Entertainment WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

NEW YORK — ChristinaAguilera has visited Haiti,Rwanda and Guatemala onrelief effort trips, but lastweek in Ecuador she notonly offered support tostruggling and hungry chil-dren — she also connectedwith her roots.

Aguilera’s father is fromEcuador. The trip markedthe first time the 34-year-old singer, who was born inNew York, had visited thecountry.

“This particular trip wassort of extra-special for mebecause it is my blood andheritage. My father wasborn in Ecuador and mygrandfather was born inQuito, which is the city Istayed in. And we woulddrive out in the fieldswhich were hours away bycar and into the farmlandand sort of refugee areaswhere people are strug-gling,” Aguilera said in aninterview with The Associ-ated Press on Monday.

“This was a really inter-esting and raw way to goabout it. It wasn’t like I va-cationed there in one of themore beautiful spots suchas Galapagos Islands orthings like that. I went intothe fields and got to meetthe women and childrenthere who are really tryingto survive,” she said.

Aguilera has been a vol-unteer global spokespersonfor Yum! Brands’ WorldHunger Relief since 2009.She has visited Rwanda,Haiti and Guatemala.

She chose to visit Ecua-dor this year from a listprovided to her, Aguilerasaid.

“I definitely had alwayswanted to go visit wheremy dad comes from, theculture, you know, not hav-ing sort of a consistent re-lationship at all in my lifewith him and not reallyknowing him as I’ve gottenolder through the years aswell. You know, there’s ahistory there. But, youknow, it is a part of myblood and a part of my her-itage and a part of my peo-ple,” she said. “And I wouldlook at the faces and Iwould sort of ... sometimesfeel like I saw a resem-blance. I think it’s impor-tant and I think it’s good toknow where you come

from and sort of get toknow your roots.”

Aguilera said “it felt thatmuch better to me that Iwas in a place that I felt soconnected to and was ableto give back to.”

She’s filmed a public ser-vice announcement to raisehunger awareness that willbe released next month.Yum! Brands Inc., the par-ent company of Pizza Hut,Taco Bell and KFC, said itseight-year-old World Hun-ger Relief initiative hasraised $600 million in cashand food for the United Na-tions’ World Food Pro-gramme and other organi-zations.

Her trip included visit-ing schools and providinglunch for children whohave to travel far to get toschool. “It takes these kids45 minutes walking bythemselves, alone, up ahill,” she said.

“It’s really hard for thesekids and I couldn’t wait tocome back and tell my ownkids these stories to ... bet-ter appreciate what theyhave,” the mother of twosaid. “These kids, they justwere the most well-man-nered, sweet-natured, littlekids.”

Christina Aguilera was on a humanitarian trip in Ecuador last weekfilming a new PSA for Yum! Brands World Hunger Relief effort thatraises awareness, volunteerism and funds for WFP.

Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision | AP/file

Aguilera goesback to roots

By MESFIN FEKADUASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — The fall’smost ambitious literary re-lease took 17 years to com-plete, runs more than 3000pages, draws upon the tal-ents of more than a dozentranslators and has a listprice of $100.

It also features an intro-duction from Nobel lau-reate Toni Morrison.

“The Complete Works ofPrimo Levi” is a 3-volumeset of writings by the lateItalian author and Ausch-witz survivor whose mem-oir “If This is a Man” re-mains a standard work ofHolocaust literature. Theanthology was conceived in1998 by W.W. Norton &Company executive editorRobert Weil, who had hadsurprising success with atwo-volume compilation ofRussian author Isaac Babeland thought Levi a worthyfollow-up.

“But if the publisher hadknown back in 1998 howlong this would take Iwould never have gotten itapproved,” Weil said dur-ing a recent interview.

Levi was world famousat the time of his death(widely believed a suicide),in 1987, but his work in theU.S. suffered from the ran-dom treatment given to somany foreign-language au-thors. At least seven pub-lishers had rights to vari-ous editions and the quali-ty of translations waserratic enough that newtranslations were commis-sioned for virtually all ofthe books. Many storiesand poems had never beencollected in English before.

Literary works in gener-al depend on critics’ sup-port and strong reviews areespecially vital for “TheComplete Works of PrimoLevi,” which like a 4-hourmovie needs to be regardedas something extraordinary,as an event. So far, review-ers have duly applauded.The Washington Post’s Mi-

chael Dirda praised it as“old-school publishing on agrand scale,” while JamesWood of The New Yorkercalled it a “monumentaland noble endeavor.”

Estimating that he hasdevoted more than 6,000emails to the Levi project,Weil brought in a widerange of collaborators. Tooversee the new transla-tions and work on some ofthe books, he recruitedNew Yorker editor AnnGoldstein, already knownto many readers for herEnglish-language editionsof the novels of Elena Fer-rante. Other contributorsinclude authors SimonRich and Jenny McPhee,and, for Levi’s poetry, Jona-than Galassi, the presidentand publisher of Farrar,Straus & Giroux and aleading translator of Italianverse.

Morrison’s participationwasn’t planned when Weilthought of the Levi anthol-ogy and came aboutthrough a conversation inearly 2014 with Harold Au-genbraum, executive direc-tor of the National BookFoundation, which presentsthe National Book Awards.

Augenbraum recommendedthat Weil contact the au-thor of “Beloved” and “TheBluest Eye” and other nov-els, citing her singular giftfor capturing “the humancost of holocaust,” he toldThe Associated Press in arecent email.

According to Weil, Mor-rison initially turned himdown because she had oth-er writing commitments.Weil responded by sendingMorrison a package of Levibooks, plus an essay he hadwritten about him. Withinthree weeks, Morrisonchanged her mind.

“She was hugely en-thused about his writings,”Weil said.

Levi, born in 1919, was apromising young chemistand member of an anti-Fas-cist organization when ar-rested late in 1943 and thefollowing February stuffedby the Nazis with hundredsof others on a train toAuschwitz. “At Auschwitz Ibecame a Jew,” he wouldrecall. “The consciousnessof feeling different wasforced upon me.”

Russian troops liberatedAuschwitz early in 1945 andafter months in a Soviet

transit camp Levi returnedto Turin, where he soon be-gan writing “If This is aMan.” The book was pub-lished in Italy in 1947, buttook more than a decade tofind an international audi-ence, only reaching theUnited States in 1959.

Over the last quartercentury of his life, Levi wasacclaimed for the force andclarity of his prose, for thewelding of lyricism, wis-dom, imagination and log-ic. He proved gifted not justat nonfiction, but poetry,short fiction and with suchnovels as “The Wrench”and “If Not Now, When?” In“The Periodic Table,” hetold the story of his lifethrough chapters dedicatedto gold, silver and other ele-ments.

In her introduction tothe complete works, Morri-son notes that “The tri-umph of human identityand worth over the patholo-gy of human destructionglows virtually everywherein Levi’s writing.”

“Primo Levi understandsevil as not only banal butunworthy of our insight —even of our intelligence, forit reveals nothing interest-ing or compelling about it-self,” Morrison writes. “Ithas merely size to solicitour attention and an alienstench to repel or impressus. For this articulate sur-vivor, individual identity issupreme; efforts to drownidentity inevitably becomefutile.”

Collection has Morrison introPrimo Levi’s anthology runs some 3,000 pages and costs about $100

By HILLEL ITALIEASSOCIATED PRESS

“The Complete Works of Primo Levi” is a 3-volume set of writingsby the late Italian author and Auschwitz survivor whose memoir“If This is a Man” remains a standard work of Holocaust literature.

Associated Press

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

tin. Then-Democratic state Sen.Wendy Davis temporary blockedthe law with a 12-plus-hour fil-ibuster, but the GOP-controlledLegislature approved it easily ina subsequent special session.

The law mandates that clinicsmeet hospital-like surgical stan-dards and that doctors who per-form abortions have admittingprivileges at a nearby hospital.Opponents sued, arguing the reg-ulations would force nearly allTexas abortion clinics to close.

Eldridge’s clinic doesn’t meet

surgical standards or have a doc-tor with hospital admitting privi-leges. Its reopening during thecourt-ordered stay makes it thesecond facility of its kind to do soin El Paso. Hill Top Women’s Re-productive Clinic closed briefly,but opened anew in November, amonth after a separate U.S. Su-preme Court ruling blocked keyrestrictions.

Joe Pojman, executive directorof Texas Alliance for Life, saidit’s “a terrible injustice to womenseeking abortions because they

should not be subjected to thoselower safety standards” offeredby Eldridge’s clinic.

The border city has been aflashpoint for abortion lawsuits.Advocacy groups say closing clin-ics there would force women totravel about 550 miles to San An-tonio, even though abortions areperformed at much closer facili-ties in New Mexico.

Eldridge’s clinic began lookingto reopen last October, but had tofind a new location and apply fora new license. State authorities,

however, didn’t issue the new li-cense while they awaited courtguidance. The license was issuedafter U.S. District Judge Lee Yea-kel in August ordered Texas notto delay licensing the clinic.

Texas Department of StateHealth Services spokeswomanCarrie Williams said no other re-quests for new licenses are pend-ing. Pojman, with Texas Alliancefor Life, said he’s not worriedother abortion clinics will followthe lead of Eldridge’s facility.

“We believe this is an isolated

case,” he said. Eldridge said the clinic will

have about six staffers, some ofwhom helped pull furniture outof storage. The clinic hopes to seeup to 2,000 patients annually, andprovide other services such ascontraception and health exams.

She said with the ongoing law-suits, some would-be patientsmight not realize her clinic hasreopened right away.

“We feel like it will take a littlewhile,” Eldridge said, “but peoplewill find us.”

CLINIC Continued from Page 1A

DETROIT — Volkswagenfaces daunting challenges infixing software that enablescheating on diesel engineemissions tests, a task that’sbecoming more urgent be-cause of growing anger fromcustomers.

The company has set aside$7.3 billion to pay for thescandal. But experts say it’slikely to cost much more asVW tries to comply with U.S.clean air regulations whileappeasing diesel owners whopaid extra for the cars, think-ing they could help the envi-ronment without sacrificingperformance.

“We understand that own-ers of the cars affected by theemissions compliance issuesare upset,” VW said on aconsumer website launchedSunday. The company askedfor patience and said itwould address the issue asfast as it can. A spokeswo-man wouldn’t comment fur-ther.

But experts said VW willhave to strike a careful bal-ance to appease governmentregulators, make customershappy and avoid emptyingthe company cash box. Acheap remedy of software fix-es likely would hurt perform-ance and gas mileage, fur-ther antagonizing customers.A more expensive fix thatadds a treatment systemwouldn’t hurt performance,but it would cost thousandsper car and by one analyst’sestimate, could total more

than $20 billion including ve-hicles in the U.S. and Europe.

That’s in addition to a po-tential $18 billion fine in theU.S. and the cost of numer-ous class-action lawsuits al-leging that VW’s cheating re-duced the value of its cus-tomers’ cars.

The scandal broke onSept. 18, when the U.S. Envi-ronmental Protection Agencyand the California Air Re-sources Board accused VWof installing secret softwareon 2-liter four-cylinder dieselengines that turned on pollu-tion controls for lab tests andshut them off during real-world driving. As a result,482,000 Jettas, Beetles, Golfsand Passats from the 2009 to2015 model years belched out10 to 40 times as much ozone-causing nitrogen oxide asU.S. law allows.

A few days later, VW ad-mitted the same “defeat de-vice” that switched the pollu-tion controls on and off wason 11 million cars worldwide.Germany says 2.8 millioncars there are affected.

Software in the main en-gine control computer fig-ured out when the cars werebeing tested on a treadmill-like device called a dyna-mometer that the EPA usedfor verification and turnedthe controls on.

With the pollution controlson, the cars are less efficientand won’t accelerate as fast,the two main reasons whypeople bought the VW die-sels, said Matt DeLorenzo,managing editor and a dieselexpert for Kelley Blue Book.

VW could change the soft-ware and leave the controlson to satisfy the EPA andCalifornia regulators. Butthat would anger customersand likely would force VW tocompensate them for the re-duced mileage, just as Hyun-dai did when it got caughtwith inflated fuel economyestimates, DeLorenzo said.

“If it’s really sluggish anddoesn’t get out of its ownway, that’s a bigger issue (tocustomers) than fuel econo-my,” DeLorenzo said. “Peoplenotice that big of a change inperformance.”

The other option is to adda diesel exhaust treatmentsystem that’s used by othermanufacturers and even byVW on larger diesel engines.The treatment involves add-ing a tank of a chemicalcalled urea, which enablesthe cars to separate nitrogenoxide into harmless nitrogenand oxygen. That would cost$2,000 or more per car, DeLo-renzo said.

Engineers would have tofind room for a tank to storethe blue urea fluid, whichhas to be refilled about every7,500 miles, DeLorenzo said.And VW probably wouldhave to compensate custom-ers for years of urea cost,about $13 for 2.5 gallons.

VW probably tried toavoid urea systems in the be-ginning because their costwould have driven Jetta andGolf prices above competi-tors, especially gas-electrichybrids, DeLorenzo said.Now, adding it after the factwill cost even more, he said.

Zandy Hartig poses for a picture in her 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen diesel in Studio City, Calif. Follow-ing disclosures that Volkswagen developed software for its 2-liter diesel engine that could better control pol-lutants during testing, there there’s a lot up in the air for owners of some VWs and Audi vehicles.

Photo by Chris Carlson | AP

VW faces challengesBy TOM KRISHER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — A rebound in thehealth care sector helped steady stockson Tuesday, pushing the Standard &Poor’s 500 index to its first gain in sixdays.

Drugmakers including Edwards Life-sciences and Medtronic were amongthe biggest gainers as the industrygroup rebounded from a sharp slumpthe day before.

The gains for the overall marketwere small. Stocks flitted between mod-est gains and losses for most of the daybefore closing slightly higher.

The market remains close to its lowsfor the year and is set to close out Sep-tember with its worst quarterly per-formance in four years.

Concerns that China’s economy isslowing more rapidly than previouslythought have hurt the market. Inves-tors are also preoccupied with the out-look for U.S. interest rates. Federal Re-serve policymakers have said they willlikely raise interest rates before the endof the year.

Some investors see a rate increase asa vote of confidence in the U.S. econo-my. Others think it would be a mistaketo raise borrowing costs just as theglobal economy is showing signs offlagging.

“The Fed is still, as it has been forover a year now, the number one thingthat’s overriding the market,” said JJKinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameri-trade. “There’s just so much skittish-ness, people just don’t have confidence.”

The S&P 500 rose 2.32 points, or 0.1percent, to 1,884.09. The index slumped50 points the day before and is down 8.7percent for the third quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial averageclimbed 47.24 points, or 0.6 percent, to16,049.13 The Nasdaq compositedropped 26.65 points, or 0.6 percent, to4,517.32.

Biotechnology stocks have been aweak spot for the stock market recently.The sector has slumped on concernthat lawmakers will seek to implementnew regulations to curb price hikes inthe industry.

On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Biotechnol-ogy Index edged down 0.6 percent, itseighth straight day of losses. The indexhas slumped 27 percent from its peakin July, putting it in a bear market,Wall Street terminology for a drop of 20percent or more.

Brad Sorensen, a director at theSchwab Center for Financial Research,said he wasn’t surprised by the sell-offin biotech stocks given how sharplyvaluations have climbed in recentyears.

“The biotech industry was concern-ing to us,” Sorensen said. “It clearlyhad bubble-like characteristics with alot of speculative money moving into itand a lot of IPOs.”

Yahoo was among the strongerstocks on Tuesday.

The stock rose 66 cents, or 2.4 per-cent, to $28.26 after the company saidthat it still planned to spin off its stakein China’s Alibaba Group. Yahoo ismoving ahead with the plan eventhough the IRS has yet to rule on thetax payments that the company couldface from the gains on its initial invest-ment.

Investors also got some good newson the economy from a report showingthat American consumers were feelingmore confident this month. The Confer-ence Board, a business research group,said Tuesday that its consumer confi-dence index rose to 103 in Septemberafter surging in August to 101.3. TheSeptember reading was the highestsince January.

The price of oil rose on expectationsthat the Energy Department will reporta slowdown in U.S. crude productionwhen it releases its monthly petroleumsupply report Wednesday. U.S. cruderose 80 cents to close at $45.23 a barrelin New York. Brent Crude, a bench-mark for international oils used bymany U.S. refineries, rose 89 cents toclose at $48.23 a barrel in London.

Bond prices rose slightly. The yieldon the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.05percent from 2.09 percent a day earlier.The euro edged up to $1.1250 and thedollar slipped to 119.72 yen.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX edgeddown 0.3 percent and the CAC-40 inFrance was down by the same amount.The FTSE 100 index of leading Britishshares lost 0.8 percent.

Gold fell $4.90 to $1,126.80 an ounce.Silver dropped 3.5 cents to $14.57 anounce and copper was unchanged at$2.25 per pound

In other futures trading on the NY-MEX:

Wholesale gasoline rose 1.4 centsto close at $1.363 a gallon.

Heating oil rose 2 cents to close at$1.498 a gallon.

Natural gas fell 8.4 cents to closeat $2.586 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Health care stocksS&P gets boost, its first

gain in six daysBy SEAN ROTHWELLASSOCIATED PRESS

A man looks at an electronic stock board of asecurities firm in Tokyo, on Tuesday. Asianstock markets tumbled Tuesday.

Photo by Eugene Hoshiko | AP

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015