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TIME FOR TAKEOFFLADY HAWKS AIM TO DEFEND DISTRICT TITLE, 1B

A 2010 capital murdercase in Zapata Countycould go to trial as soon asSeptember.

The indictment allegesthat in March 2010, Gabriel

Alvarez Briones, 36, struck6-month-old Carlos Eduar-do Gonzalez in the head,

which lead to the child’sdeath.

According to reports, Al-varez Briones was babysit-ting Gonzalez at the time ofthe incident.

Zapata County Fire De-partment paramedics re-sponded to the 911 call, and

Gonzalez was airlifted toMethodist Children’s Hos-pital in San Antonio,where he was later pro-nounced dead.

During a status hearingWednesday afternoon in

49TH DISTRICT COURT

Ready for trialJudge looking at late Sept., early Oct. to start

By STEPHANIE IBARRA THE ZAPATA TIMES

See TRIAL PAGE 8A

GABRIEL ALVAREZBRIONES: On trialin death of 6-month old child.

A man accused of livestock theft was in the 49th Dis-trict Court Wednesday afternoon.

Francisco Rodriguez III is charged with stealing cattlevalued at less than $100,000 from Jose Luis Gonzalez inJune.

In court for a brief motions setting, defense attorneyOscar Peña stated he had spoken with the district attor-ney’s office about going over a list of more than 40 differ-ent discovery items prior to another motions hearing.

Although the defense is not ready to go to trial, there isroom for negotiation, said Peña during open court.

A motions hearing was scheduled for April 2 at 9 a.m.by presiding Judge Joe Lopez.

49TH DISTRICT COURT

Rodriguezgets hearingin cattle case

THE ZAPATA TIMES

Commissioners Courtwill weigh options Mondayas it looks to address de-linquency issues in thewaterworks department.

Among the options onthe table is hiring an out-side firm to collect fromdelinquent water users,which may include bothresidential and commer-cial users, County JudgeJoe Rathmell said.

The commissionerscould also decide to put de-linquent water users onspecial payment plans.

“Sometimes it works,and sometimes it doesn’t,”Rathmell said, in referenceto the payment plans. “Thecommissioners mightwant to take a different op-tion.”

During Monday’s meet-ing at 9 a.m., county offi-cials could take the nextstep in providing sewerservice to residents in theLas Palmas subdivision.

The community is locat-ed two miles north of Za-pata at the site of a former

Air Force base. Rathmellsaid 30 to 40 homes existin the “isolated subdivi-sion.”

The project has been inthe works for severalyears, he said, and will in-volve a loan-grant combi-nation in which the UnitedStates Department of Agri-culture will provide thefunds. The county willmatch those funds to makethe project viable, he said.

The neighborhood cur-rently uses septic systemsfor wastewater disposal.

Also on Monday’s agen-da are the following items:

Consider demolishingan abandoned water plantand repairs to a raw watergenerator.

Consider reschedul-ing the election primaryemployee holiday for May29.

A resolution to sub-mit a grant application forSKILS, a delinquency pre-vention program, to theOffice of the Governor’scriminal justice division.

(JJ Velasquez may bereached at 728-2567 or jjve-lasquez@lmtonline.com)

COMMISSIONERS

Water billingto get a review

By JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

Thursday kicked offthe 40th edition of the Za-pata County Fair. Today,organizers expect the

fair’s largest crowd ever.Today’s lineup starts

with the parade in themorning, then the live-stock auction in the after-noon, and a jalapeño eat-ing contest in the eve-

ning. Finally, localNorteño heroes Grupo In-tocable take the stage at11:30 p.m.

Zapata County FairPresident Carmen Pa-redes said it has been

more than 10 years sincethe homegrown grouphas performed at thecounty fair. She expectsan attendance from 12,000

LOCAL TRADITIONS

See COUNTY FAIR PAGE 7A

BRING ON THE FUN!

Zapata County Fair’s first runner-up Alyssa Jo Gutierrez, 2012 Zapata County Fair Queen Sofia Regalado and second runner-up RebeccaR. Quintanilla visited the Laredo Morning Times/The Zapata Times offices on Feb. 29 to promote the fair’s 40th anniversary.

Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times

Annual County Fair to feature music, moreBy JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

WASHINGTON — Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said Wednesday he feels vindicatedthat a compromise congressional redistrict-ing map includes new Latino districts inSan Antonio-Austin and Dallas.

“For the first time in the history of Texaspolitics, we created two Hispanic seats,”Cuellar said during an office interview fol-lowing weeks of acrimony and grumblingfrom some Democrats who accused Cuellarof working too closely with Republicans.

Cuellar’s role in the redistricting processwas criticized by the head of a Democratic

advocacy group, while members of the Con-gressional Black Caucus complained thattheir lawyers were left out of some negotia-tions with Texas Attorney General GregAbbott.

But Cuellar notes that he worked on themap with Latino groups, Abbott and Repub-lican lawmakers, notably Rep. Francisco

Canseco, of San Antonio.Matt Angle with the Lone Star Project, a

Democratic advocacy group, said in a state-ment that Cuellar “has a long history of be-traying Latino voters and his constituentsto appease high-level Republicans.”

POLITICS

Cuellar defends role in creation of new voting mapsBy GARY MARTIN

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

See CUELLAR PAGE 7A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

SATURDAY, MARCH 10Today is the last day of the Za-

pata County Fair. The parade lines upat 7 a.m. on Third Avenue. The paradestarts at 9 a.m. The awards ceremonyfor parade contestatns will be at 1:30p.m. Southern Scared will play at thestreet dance from 10-11:30 P.M. GrupoIntocable play from 11:30 p.m.-1 a.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 12The Area Health Education Cen-

ter will offer a Health Careers Campfor high school students from 9 a.m.to 2 p.m. today and Tuesday at the UTHealth Science Center Laredo Regionalcampus, 1937 E. Bustamante St. Thegoal of the camp is to expose studentsinterested in health careers to careerchoices in the medical field and pro-vide an opportunity for interaction withpracticing health care professionals. Forregistration and additional information,call 712-0037 or email mrgbahec-coord@stx.rr.com.

The Laredo Public Library, 1120E. Calton Road, presents Spring BreakFamily Fun, a weeklong series of freeactivities. Today’s events are Story &Crafts, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,and Arts & Crafts, from 2:30 p.m. to3:30 p.m. Parents must stay with theirchildren. No drop-offs. For more infor-mation, call the Laredo Public Libraryat 795-2400, extension 2247.

TUESDAY, MARCH 13AARP local chapter 965 meets

every second Tuesday of the month at2 p.m. at the Laredo Public Library.The meeting is open to all people old-er than 50. Discussions center onhealth, Social Security issues and gen-eral well-being. For more information,call chapter President Jorge Castillo at956-722-5307.

The Area Health Education Cen-ter’s Health Careers Camp ends today,with hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. atthe UT Health Science Center LaredoRegional campus, 1937 E. BustamanteSt. The goal of the camp is to exposestudents interested in health careers tocareer choices in the medical field andprovide an opportunity for interactionwith practicing health care profession-als. For registration and additional in-formation, call 712-0037 or emailmrgbaheccoord@stx.rr.com.

The University of Notre DameGlee Club has been singing for 95years. More than 2,000 young menhave sung with the club. The club willhold a free concert from 7 p.m. to 9p.m. in the Bill Johnson Student Activ-ity Complex Auditorium, 5208 SantaClaudia Lane, as part of its SpringTour. For more information, contact Mi-chael Gonzalez at 206-9060 or mi-chael.e.gonzalez@me.com.

The Laredo Public Library, 1120E. Calton Road, presents Spring BreakFamily Fun, a weeklong series of freeactivities. Today’s events are StoryTime, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.,and Creative Kids, from 4 p.m. to 5p.m. Parents must stay with their chil-dren. No drop-offs. For more informa-tion, call the Laredo Public Library at795-2400, extension 2247.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14The American Cancer Society

and Doctors Hospital will offer I CanCope, a series of educational classesfor people with cancer, along with theirfamilies and friends. I Can Cope helpspatients meet the challenges of cancerby clarifying cancer facts and myths.The classes are offered from 6 p.m. to8 p.m. the second Wednesday of everymonth at Doctors Hospital in the Wom-en’s Center Conference Room. Classesare free and open to the public. ToRSVP or for more information, call Dia-na Juarez at 723-9682. This month’sspeaker, Dr. Gary W. Unzeitig, will pre-sent “Understanding Cancer Treat-ments.”

The Laredo Public Library, 1120E. Calton Road, presents Spring BreakFamily Fun, a weeklong series of freeactivities. Today’s events are Story &Crafts, to be held from 10:30 a.m. to11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Par-ents must stay with their children. Nodrop-offs. For more information, callthe Laredo Public Library at 795-2400,extension 2247.

THURSDAY, MARCH 15The fourth annual Spring Break

Kite Festival is from noon to 7 p.m. to-day at North Central Park, 10202 Inter-national Blvd. Attendance and registra-tion are free. Refreshments and kiteswill be given away while supplies last;attendees are welcome to bring a pic-nic or buy snacks on site. The eventwill include games. Homemade KiteContest judging is at 4 p.m. For moreinformation, call 791-7461.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, March10, the 70th day of 2012. Thereare 296 days left in the year.Daylight-saving time beginsSunday at 2 a.m. local time.Clocks go forward one hour.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On March 10, 1876, the firstsuccessful voice transmissionover Alexander Graham Bell’stelephone took place in Bostonas his assistant heard Bell say,“Mr. Watson — come here — Iwant to see you.”

On this date:In 1496, Christopher Colum-

bus concluded his second visitto the Western Hemisphere ashe left Hispaniola for Spain.

In 1785, Thomas Jeffersonwas appointed America’s min-ister to France, succeedingBenjamin Franklin.

In 1848, the Senate ratifiedthe Treaty of Guadalupe Hi-dalgo, which ended the Mexi-can-American War.

In 1880, the Salvation Armyarrived in the United Statesfrom England.

In 1906, about 1,100 minersin northern France werekilled by a coal-dust explosion.

In 1933, a magnitude 6.4earthquake centered off LongBeach, Calif., resulted in 120deaths.

In 1948, the body of the anti-Communist foreign ministerof Czechoslovakia, Jan Ma-saryk, was found in the gar-den of Czernin Palace inPrague.

In 1949, Nazi wartimebroadcaster Mildred E. Gil-lars, also known as “Axis Sal-ly,” was convicted in Washing-ton, D.C., of treason. (Sheserved 12 years in prison.)

In 1969, James Earl Raypleaded guilty in Memphis,Tenn., to assassinating civilrights leader Martin LutherKing Jr.

In 1972, the three-day Na-tional Black Political Conven-tion convened in Gary, Ind.

In 1980, “Scarsdale Diet” au-thor Dr. Herman Tarnowerwas shot to death at his homein Purchase, N.Y. (Tarnower’sformer lover, Jean Harris, wasconvicted of his murder; sheserved nearly 12 years in pris-on before being released inJan. 1993.)

In 1985, Konstantin U. Cher-nenko, who was the SovietUnion’s leader for just 13months, died at age 73.

Ten years ago: Israeli hel-icopters destroyed Palestinianleader Yasser Arafat’s office inGaza City, hours after 11 Israe-lis were killed in a suicidebombing in a cafe across thestreet from Prime MinisterAriel Sharon’s residence in Je-rusalem. Russell Crowe wonbest actor honors at theScreen Actors Guild awardsfor “A Beautiful Mind” whileHalle Berry won best actressfor “Monster’s Ball.” ActressIrene (eye-REE’-nee) Worthdied in New York at age 85.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorChuck Norris is 72. Dean Tor-rence (Jan and Dean) is 72. Ac-tress Shannon Tweed is 55.Actress Sharon Stone is 54.Actress Jasmine Guy is 50.Rock musician Jeff Ament(Pearl Jam) is 49. Britain’sPrince Edward is 48. Olympicgold-medal gymnast ShannonMiller is 35. Country singerCarrie Underwood is 29. Ac-tress Emily Osment is 20.

Thought for Today: “Hewho knows, does not speak.He who speaks, does notknow.” — Lao Tzu, Chinesephilosopher.

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — The Texas primary electionstook a big step toward finally happening Fri-day as politicians and their challengers filedcandidacy paperwork to meet the eveningdeadline.

Legal challenges to the state’s new politi-cal maps delayed the elections from March 6to May 29, and left some candidates unsureabout what districts they could run in orwho they might be running against. Nowthat court-ordered maps are in place, candi-dates have until 6 p.m. to file the proper pa-perwork with their respective parties.

The redistricting battle did not affect thebiggest race in the state to replace retiringU.S. Rep. Kay Bailey Hutchison. The candi-dates for that seat include several Republi-cans, with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, former

Mayor Tom Leppert, former Texas SolicitorGeneral Ted Cruz and former football ana-lyst Craig James leading the race. On theDemocratic side, veteran lawmaker Paul Sa-dler faces newcomer Sean Hubbard.

Because of Texas’ fast-growing populationover the last decade, the state has four addi-tional congressional seats this election. Mi-norities make up the majority of voters intwo of those new districts, and Democratsare expected to win both seats.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the new33rd District stretches across inner-city Dal-las to Fort Worth, where the majority of theconstituents live. Tarrant County State Rep.Marc Veasey, Fort Worth City CouncilwomanKathleen Hicks, Manuel Valdez and KenSanders have filed paperwork for the Demo-cratic primary. Three Republicans have filedfor that race.

AROUND TEXAS

This illustration shows the court-ordered interim House redistricting plan for Texas. A federal court in San Antonio issuednew Texas congressional and state House maps on Tuesday, Feb. 28, just in time for the state to finally hold its twice-delayed primary on May 29.

Photo by Texas Legislative Council | AP

Primary is May 29By CHRIS TOMLINSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fort Worth museum hostsexhibit on impressionism

FORT WORTH — An exhibitof French impressionist master-pieces including works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monetand Edgar Degas is making itsonly U.S. stop at a Fort Worthmuseum.

The 72 works in the exhibitopening Sunday at the KimbellArt Museum come from the Ster-ling and Francine Clark Art In-stitute in Williamstown, Mass.

Texas jobless rate down to7.3 percent in JanuaryAUSTIN — Texas’ unemploy-

ment rate fell to 7.3 percent inJanuary on the strength of a bigjump in the number of nonfarmjobs, according to data releasedFriday by the state employmentagency.

The jobless rate is down from7.4 percent in December, belowthe national figure of 8.3 percent,and has fallen in four consecu-tive months.

Vandals in San Antoniocause sewage spill

SAN ANTONIO — Vandals inSan Antonio are believed to havecaused a sewage spill that sentmore than 84,000 gallons spillinginto a part of the north side.

KSAT-TV reports that workcrews were called to the scenelate Thursday night. They foundthat someone had wedged aboard into a manhole, leading toa blockage that pushed sewerwater into a green belt.

Officials expect no lastingharm from the spill.

President visits Houstonfor campaign fundraising

HOUSTON — President Ba-rack Obama jets to Houston onFriday for a pair of campaignfundraising events.

The president is scheduled toarrive at Minute Maid Parkaround the dinner hour for afundraising banquet. About 600people are expected to attend the$500-a-ticket event.

State has $2 billion moreto spend on roads

AUSTIN — The Texas Depart-ment of Transportation says it’sfound it has $2 billion more tospend on road projects than pre-viously thought.

TxDOT finance chief JamesBass tells the Austin American-Statesman says he credits a moreoptimistic assessment of availa-ble federal funds, combined withextra borrowing and lower-than-expected construction costs forongoing projects.

Man arrested after alcoholfound in baby

WACO — A man is in custodyafter an infant in his care wasfound to have swallowed a severeamount of alcohol.

The Waco Tribune-Herald re-ports that the mother of the in-fant returned from work to findher child not responding normal-ly. William Webb told the motherthe baby was just tired.

— Compiled from AP reports

Facebook ‘friend’ offerexposes man’s other wife

SEATTLE — Facebook’s ef-forts to connect users through“friends” they may know recent-ly led two Washington women tofind out they were married tothe same man.

That led to corrections officerAlan L. O’Neill, being slappedwith bigamy charges.

According to documents filedThursday, O’Neill married awoman in 2001, moved out in2009, changed his name and re-married without divorcing her.The first wife first noticedO’Neill had moved on to anotherwoman when Facebook suggest-ed the friendship connection towife No. 2 under the “People YouMay Know” feature.

“Wife No. 1 went to wife No.2’s page and saw a picture of herand her husband with a weddingcake,” Pierce County ProsecutorMark Lindquist told The Associ-ated Press.

Wife No. 1 then called the de-fendant’s mother.

Stocks rise modestly onFebruary jobs report

Stocks closed modestly higher

Friday after the government’smonthly report on employmentbolstered hopes that the recoveryis on track. The gains were tem-pered by news that a big debtwrite-down by Greece couldcause big losses for some banks.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATIONThe Erie Zoo’slowland gorillaSamantha, left,shares her spacewith Panda, aDutch rabbit, atthe zoo in Erie,Pa. on Thursday.

Photo by Greg Wohlford/Erie Times-News | AP

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SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

A federal jury in Laredofound a 25-year-old Zapataman guilty for possession of476 pounds of marijuanawith intent to distribute af-ter four and a half hours ofdeliberation. The trial tookplace this week.

Previously out on bond,Lenny Salinas was takeninto custody after the re-turn of the verdict. Sentenc-ing is expected before Se-nior District Judge GeorgeP. Kazen at a date to be de-termined.

Salinas faces up to 40years in prison and up to a$5 million fine. Further-more, he’ll have a mini-mum of four years of super-vised release following com-pletion of his prison term.

According to a criminalcomplaint dated Sept. 21,Immigration and CustomsEnforcement-Homeland Se-curity Investigations agentsreceived information abouta white Ford F150 loadedwith narcotics parked atAlamo and Brazos. Agentswere allowed access to thevehicle. They quickly de-tected the odor of marijua-na emanating from thetruck, court records state.

A U.S. Border Patroldrug-sniffing dog alertedagents to the possible pres-ence of narcotics in the sus-pected truck and a horsetrailer parked several feetaway, a criminal complaintstates.

According to a U.S. At-torney’s Office news re-lease, testimony revealedthat while agents were

awaiting the arrival of thesearch warrants that day,Salinas rode up on horse-back and stated he was theowner of the truck and hehad recently purchased itfrom the registered owner.

During the execution ofthe warrants, agents discov-ered 12 bundles of marijua-na weighing 172 pounds.Agents also discovered 67bundles of marijuanaweighing 304 pounds, thecriminal complaint states.

“(Salinas) claimed heowned both the truck andhorse trailer and that therewas marijuana in the truck.He further stated that what-ever was in the horse trail-er was his as well,” thenews release states.

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

40 years possible afterguilty verdict in pot case

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

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

After their triple-whammy disaster oneyear ago, many Japanesecycled through emotionsfamiliar to Americans af-ter Hurricane Katrina:disbelief at the failure toanticipate such a crisis,anger at official obfusca-tion as it unfolded, frus-tration at the slow paceof reconstruction eversince. The scale of the ca-tastrophe provoked an-other sentiment Ameri-cans will recall: thesense that, after this,nothing will ever be thesame.

Two disastersBut there were also

differences between thetwo countries’ reactions.The stark class and ra-cial disparities exposedby Katrina had no echoesin Japan after it was hitby an earthquake, a tsu-nami and the collapse ofa nuclear plant, with theloss of some 20,000 lives(10 times the death tollfrom Katrina), one yearago Sunday.

And the disaster of 3/11 triggered a profoundquestioning of the foun-dations of Japan’s pros-perity of a kind Katrinadid not evoke.

QuestionsAt a forum sponsored

this week by the GermanMarshall Fund, the cele-brated poet Madoka May-azumi said that the crisishas forced Japan to con-front “some basic ques-tions” such as what hasbeen achieved through“the constant pursuit ofmore.”

“It seems to me that bypursuing this obsessionwith economic growthand efficiency, the wholeworld has driven itselfinto a corner,” she said.“An aesthetic of reduc-tion can be one way toreframe our lifestyle.”

Money, not the artsA Tokyo patron of the

arts (and an old friend ofmine), Kazuko Aso, ex-pressed similar thoughtsafter organizing an exhi-bition of young artists’works in response to thecrisis. (The art is on dis-play at the Edison PlaceGallery in Washingtonthrough March 24.)

“This disaster put anend to the era of the post-war prosperity; the timefor chasing economicsuccess and materialisticprosperity is over,” Asowrote in an introductionto the exhibition cata-logue. “The disaster hasreminded us . . . we cannever conquer nature;we must live with it.”

One explanation forthis difference in reac-tions is that Japan’s di-saster implicated farmore complex technolo-gy than the levees thatfailed in New Orleans:the atomic energy thathelped power the phe-nomenal rise of resource-poor Japan.

Another is that Japanwas already in some-thing of an identity crisiswhen the earthquakestruck.

In a declineJust a quarter-century

ago, Japanese believedthey were about to over-

take America as theworld’s leading economy.That never came to pass,and last year Japan wasknocked from its No. 2perch by China, with aprospect of further rela-tive decline.

In politics, too, the na-tion was adrift. An up-start left-of-center partyhad unseated the conser-vatives who had ruled Ja-pan for more than half acentury, but by the timeof the disaster — one anda half years into its ad-ministration — the Dem-ocratic Party of Japanhad yet to find its foot-ing.

Fewer peopleMost of all, there was

the dawning realizationthat, because of Japan’spathologically low birthrate and its allergy to im-migration, its populationwould both dramaticallyage and dramatically de-crease in coming dec-ades.

After the initial shockcame hope that the disas-ter would jump-start Ja-pan out of its malaise —that the country wouldrebound as it had afterWorld War II or the 1973oil crisis.

But jump which way?For some, the disasterpoints toward acceptinga reduced position for Ja-pan in the world insteadof resisting it.

“Our status as an eco-nomic power will comedown, but look at Franceor Germany or GreatBritain,” Hideki Kato,president of the TokyoFoundation, said at theforum this week. “Theeconomic scale in Japanis much bigger, but Idon’t think the level ofhappiness is much big-ger.”

More growthOthers hope Japan’s

growth will resume butin a new direction. Justas the Japan of the 1980sproved the possibility ofeconomic power withoutmilitary might, so in anera of climate changeand diminishing re-sources Japan wouldblaze a more sustainablepath.

And then there arethose, like Japan’s savvyambassador to the Unit-ed States, Ichiro Fujisa-ki, who argue that with127 million people livingon narrow, rocky islands,“we have to depend onscience and technology.”

“We will seek safe andsustainable technology,”he told me, “but I don’tthink it will change oursociety or makes us lessopen to innovation.”

Split legeIn the past year, a new

prime minister has pro-vided steadier leader-ship, but he, like leadersin Washington, has tocope with a divided legis-lature. Tax-free develop-ment zones have beencreated in the disasterarea, but they must over-come exaggerated fearsof radiation.

Maybe nothing will ev-er be the same, in otherwords, but neither is ev-erything transformed.Hard problems are stillhard, and democraticpolitics are still slow-moving.

(Fred Hiatt is TheWashington Post’s edito-rial page editor.)

A year later,Japanese

look inwardBy FRED HIATT

THE WASHINGTON POST

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

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

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

We want to assure our

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

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

ing or gratuitous abuse isallowed.

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

AUSTIN — Generally, Itry to steer clear of tellingother people how to raisetheir kids. Want to homeschool them? Knock your-self out (and call me ifyou’ve dabbled in homemedical schooling). Wantto let them get tattoos ofU.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett ofAustin on their foreheads?Ink up.

Want to let them blastoff into space in a flyingmachine some guy madein his garage from oldwashing machine parts?Start the countdown.

I bring up that lastpoint because that’s sortof what Robert and CherylCook, whom I know to beotherwise reasonable peo-ple, want to do. And theyneed your help to make ithappen. Who are we toquestion this? In fact, it isour duty to help make ithappen.

ContestThe Cooks’ daughter Sa-

ra, a young lady of highaccomplishment, is count-ing on you to help stuffthe ballot box in SpaceRace 2012.

What we’re talkingabout here is a contest inconjunction with the up-coming 50th anniversaryof Seattle’s Space Needle, afamiliar landmark. Backin August, the Space Nee-

dle folks announced a con-test to send somebody ona short space trip. It willbe a half-hour voyage,with about six minutes ofzero gravity, in a pilotlesscraft that can take twopeople 62 miles aboveEarth. (Sounds like thefirst time one of my kidsdrove me to the grocerystore.)

High classAnd, despite what some

wise guy wrote above, thevehicle to be used will notbe something made insome guy’s garage fromold washing machineparts. It will be a qualityspacecraft made by theprivate space travel indus-try. It’s all part of SpaceRace 2012, and organizerssay the grand prize is a”space flight presented bySpace Adventures and in-cludes suborbital spaceflight training, medicalconsultations and screen-ing.” Space Adventures isa Virginia-based companythat, to my knowledge,does not even have oldwashing machine parts.

Video submissionsAbout 50,000 people en-

tered, and 1,000 were ran-domly picked to submittwo-minute videos aboutwhy they want to go tospace. Twenty entrantswere chosen to be among

five in the finals. SaraCook is among the 20. Thetop five, as selected byvotes through Facebook,will go to Seattle for acompetition that will in-clude tests for mental andphysical fitness. The win-ner blasts off.

Let me tell you a bitabout our hometown con-testant before I show youhow to help stuff the bal-lot box in her favor. Cook,who turns 24 next week,already has an impressiveresume and a cool job.She’s a McCallum HighSchool graduate and anaccomplished synchro-nized swimmer, a talentshe utilized in her video.

VersatileShe majored in interna-

tional affairs at GeorgeWashington University inWashington, interned forDoggett (last time I sawCook she did not have aDoggett tattoo on her fore-head) and has studied inParis and Tokyo. She isfluent in French and Japa-nese (last time I saw Cookher English also was pret-ty good).

She now works in D.C.,as a congressional liaisonfor the Japanese Embassy.And what were you doingwhen you were 23?

”It has always been herdream to go into space,”her mom told me, ”and asterrified as I am, I want tohelp her achieve her

goal.”What could be more fun

than simultaneously help-ing a young lady achieveher dream and terrifyinga mom?

OK, here’s how we dothis. Go to https://apps.facebook.com/space-racecompetition/entries tosee Cook’s video and votefor her. Here’s my favoritepart: This isn’t one ofthose one-person, one-votedeals. You can vote once aday, every day, throughMarch 18. Let’s all do that.

(FYI, you can also seethe contest rules at thatwebsite. It’s a breezy11,728-word read. One ofthose words is ”death.”Don’t worry, Mom. I’msure that’s just somethingthe lawyers made themput in.)

Last time I checked,Cook was in fifth place,the final place that wouldget her to Seattle for thefinals. Let’s make sure shedoes not slip below that.Vote now, vote often.

And do not be misledby the name of one of thefolks ahead of Cook at thispoint. I am not related toJohn Herman of Newmar-ket, N.H. Do not vote forhim. In fact, in general,never vote for anyonewith that last name.

Vote for Cook today, to-morrow and every day un-til the deadline. Maybeshe’ll bring us T-shirtsfrom space.

(E-mail: kher-man@statesman.com.)

COLUMN

Let’s help send Sara to spaceBy KEN HERMAN

COX NEWSPAPERS

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

ASSAULTDeputies arrested Alvaro Angeles-Lobaton,

26, and charged him with assault family violenceafter authorities received a call at 11:45 p.m.March 1 from the Medina Addition. The man is outon bail from the Zapata Regional Jail.

DWIJose Roberto Garza, 61, and Lucio Guzman,

50, were both arrested after a traffic stop atabout 8 p.m. at Seventh Street and Ramireño Ave-nue in the Medina Addition. Guzman was chargedwith driving while intoxicated and taken to the Za-pata Regional Jail. He is out on bail. Deputiescharged Garza with public intoxication. He was re-leased for time already served.

POSSESSIONBlas Edgardo Turi, 22, was arrested and

charged with possession of drug paraphernalia atabout 3 p.m. March 3 at 10th Street and Villa Ave-nue. He was taken to the Zapata Regional Jail andlater released for court appearance.

PUBLIC INTOXICATION

Deputies arrested Derly Torres Jr., 22, andcharged him with public intoxication at about 1:45a.m. March 1 in the 400 block of Zapata Avenue inthe Medina Addition. An incident report states a depu-ty made contact with a man riding a bicycle and ar-rested him for being intoxicated. The man was trans-ported to the Zapata Regional Jail, where he remainedbehind bars as of Friday afternoon.

Alfredo Hernandez Jr., 39, was arrested andcharged with public intoxication at about 1:45 a.m.March 3 near Nora Drive. The man was taken to theZapata Regional Jail. He was later released for courtappearance.

Deputies arrested Cecilia Veronica Dominguez,52, and charged her with public intoxication at about3 a.m. March 3 in the 100 block of Diaz Avenue inthe Medina Addition. She was taken to the ZapataCounty Jail. She was later released for court appear-ance.

UNSAFE STARTJose Alejandro Juarez, 19, was arrested and

charged with unsafe start after deputies went to a re-ported drag racing incident at about 4 p.m. March 4at Seventh Street and Laredo Avenue. He was takento the Zapata Regional Jail, where he was later re-leased for court appearance.

THE BLOTTER

Zapata County sheriff ’sinvestigators are lookinginto a case in which thesuspects allegedly stolewith jewelry worth thou-sands of dollars.

On March 3, deputieswent out to a burglary of a

habitation call at 9:40 p.m.in the 1000 block of HidalgoBoulevard. The ownerswere out of town for sever-al hours and noticed thattheir residence had beenbroken into when they re-turned.

Several pieces of jewelryvalued at approximately

$11,000 were reported mis-sing from their bedroom.

People with informationon the case are asked tocall the sheriff ’s office at765-9960 or Crime Stoppersat 765-TIPS (8477). Callersmay remain anonymous.Information leading to anarrest may be rewarded.

Deputies follow up ontheft of $11K of jewelry

THE ZAPATA TIMES

BROWNSVILLE — Thenephew of the former bossof Mexico’s Gulf cartel isscheduled to return tocourt Monday on drug andimmigration charges.

Court records show U.S.District Judge Andrew Ha-

nen scheduled Rafael Car-denas Vela’s re-arraign-ment on Friday.

He was arrested in Octo-ber following a traffic stopin Port Isabel and chargedwith conspiracy to possessand distribute drugs, mon-ey laundering and using afraudulent passport. De-

fendants typically pleadguilty to some charges atre-arraignment. His attor-ney did not return a callfrom The Associated Press.

Cardenas Vela is the ne-phew of Osiel CardenasGuillen, who was sen-tenced to 25 years in prisonlast year.

Cartel man faces chargesASSOCIATED PRESS

ZAPATA03/10 — Último día de

la Feria del Condado de Za-pata. A las 9:30 a.m. iniciael Desfile de la Asociaciónde la Feria del Condado deZapata en 3rd Avenue; apartir de las 10:30 a.m. acti-vidades como venta de ma-nualidades y las ceremoniasde premiación; a las 4 p.m.será la subasta de ganado; alas 7:30 p.m. el Concursopara comer jalapeño; y a las11:30 p.m. será la presenta-ción de Grupo Intocable.

NUEVO LAREDO03/10 — Estación Pala-

bra presenta: “Bazar de Ar-te” a las 12 p.m.; “Cuentosde niñas y para niñas” a las2 p.m.; “Homenaje a GabrielGarcía Márquez” a las 3p.m.; y “Taller de CreaciónLiteraria con Jacobo Mina” ala 3 p.m. Eventos gratuitos.

03/10 — Museo para ni-ños presenta “Colorimetría”a las 4 p.m. en la Sala deServicios Educativos del Cen-tro Cultural. Evento gratuito.

03/11 — Museo de Tea-tro presenta “El Dilema delPrisionero” con el Grupo deTeatro Expresión a las 7 p.m.en el Teatro Lucio Blanco deCasa de la Cultura. Entradagratuita.

LAREDO03/11 — Los Bucks de

Laredo presentan “Noche deHarmony Science Academy”en partido a las 4 p.m. LosBucks reciben a Arizona SunDogs. Costo: 10 dólares.Contacte a D.J. Garry al(956) 523-6572 para másinformación.

03/12 — Semana deEducación Financiera, del 12al 16 de marzo, de 10 a.m. alas 12 p.m. en la sala de es-pera del Consulado Generalde México, 1612 calle Farra-gut, en Laredo, donde fun-cionarios de los bancos Ba-namex USA, Laredo FederalCredit Union y Wells Fargo,dialogarán acerca de lasventajas del sistema finan-ciero estadounidense. Másinformación al (956) 723-0990.

03/12 — La BibliotecaPública de Laredo invita al“Spring Break Family Fun”. Eldía de hoy: “Pintura conAcuarela” de 10:30 a.m. a11:30 a.m.; y, Elaboración deBrazalete de 2:30 p.m. a3:30 p.m.

03/13 — La BibliotecaPública de Laredo invita al“Spring Break Family Fun”. Eldía de hoy: “Cuento: ElSombrero de San Patricio”de 10:30 a.m. a 11:30 a.m.;y, Día de Película de 4 p.m.a 5 p.m.

03/13 — Bajo la direc-ción de Daniel C. Stowe, elClub Glee de la Universidadde Notre Dame ofrecerá unconcierto en el Auditorio delBill Johnson Student ActivityCenter, a las 7 p.m. Eventogratuito.

03/14 — La BibliotecaPública de Laredo invita al“Spring Break Family Fun”. Eldía de hoy: “Actividad conPasta” de 10:30 a.m. a 11:30a.m.; y, “Hora del Cuento yElaboración de una campanade viento” de 4 p.m. a 5p.m.

03/15 — La BibliotecaPública de Laredo invita al“Spring Break Family Fun”. Eldía de hoy: “Hora del Cuen-to para Preescolares” de10:30 a.m. a 11:30 a.m.; y,Día de San Patricio en la Bi-blioteca de 4:30 p.m. a 5:30p.m.

03/15 — Cuarto FestivalAnual del Papalote por elDescanso de Primavera enNorth Central Park, 10202International Blvd. de 12p.m. a 7 p.m. Evento gratui-to.

03/16 — Advance AutoParts Monster Jam es hoy alas 7:30 p.m. en LaredoEnergy Arena.

— Tiempo de Zapata

Agendaen Breve

La semana pasada elPartido RevolucionarioInstitucional (PRI) enca-bezó el inicio de las Jor-nadas de Lectura “Prime-ro Leo” en Nuevo Laredo,México.

Las jornadas se realiza-ron de manera simultáneaen los comités municipa-les de Ciudad Victoria,Tampico, Madero, Altami-ra, San Fernando, Mata-moros, Soto la Marina,Reynosa, Tula y NuevoLaredo.

“Primero Leo” es unaactividad organizada porla Secretaría de Participa-ción Ciudadana del PRI, acargo de Viviano Vázquez

Macías.“Se dará lectura a cuen-

tos de escritor Jorge Ibar-güengoitia y luego losasistentes participarán enuna rifa de libros de va-rios escritores”, dijo Váz-quez.

En la lectura de los es-critos participaron el niñoRoberto Viviano Vázquezy los adultos FranciscoMartínez Citalán y JuanJosé Ruvalcaba.

Luego de la sesión delecturas, se rifaron librosentre los asistentes, resul-tando ganadores JoséLuis Castillo, Abigail Ri-co, Griselda Hernández,Ruth Rico, Antonia Bena-vides, Juana Patlán, JuliaQuintanilla, Isabel Casti-llo y Gumersindo Moreno.

En la Jornada de Lectura “Primero Leo” organizada por el Comi-té Municipal del PRI en Nuevo Laredo, México, participó el niñoRoberto Viviano Vázquez, el 2 de marzo.

Foto de cortesía | PRI

Jornada delectura acercaa ciudadanosPOR JUAN JOSÉ RUVALCABA

ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Conforme nuestro país regresa al Hora-rio de Verano a partir del domingo, en elcual los relojes se adelantarán una hora, elDepartamento de Bomberos de Laredo(LFD) y la Administración de Incendios deEU (USFA, por sus siglas en inglés) conmi-na a aprovechar la ocasión como una ma-nera de probar sus sistema de alarmascontra incendios y reemplazando las bate-rías si es necesario.

El Horario de Verano iniciará este se-gundo domingo de marzo, y concluirá elprimer domingo de noviembre, el día 4.

Así, se recomienda que esta noche, an-tes de dormir, adelante sus relojes una ho-ra, ya que el cambio de hora ocurre a las 2a.m. del 11 de marzo, para colocar la horaa las 3 a.m. del horario de verano.

Será hasta noviembre cuando los relojesde nueva cuenta se regresen una hora.

Muchas personas acostumbran la frasede “primavera hacia adelante, otoño haciaatrás”, para recordar qué es lo que se debehacer con el llamado Horario de Verano.

Con el Horario de Verano las personaspodrán disfrutar de más horas con sol du-rante las tardes.

Según artículo en la Associated Press,históricamente a Ben Franklin se le acre-dita por la idea, pero no fue sino hasta laPrimera Guerra Mundial que la idea fueadoptada en Europa.

Verifique alarmasEl cambio al Horario de Verano es tam-

bién primordial para los departamentos debomberos quienes sugieren a los residen-tes cambiar las baterías de sus detectoresde humo y de monóxido de carbono, indi-ca la AP.

Así, el LFD y la USFA insisten en unacampaña para evitar que sigan ocurriendoincendios innecesarios con resultados fata-les.

“Alarmas contra incendios trabajandoapropiadamente incrementa significativa-mente su oportunidad de sobrevivir a unincendio fatal”, explicó en un comunicadode prensa el vocero de LFD, Eloy Vega.“Una alarma contra incendios instaladaapropiadamente y con el mantenimiento

adecuado es la única cosa en su residenciaque puede alertarle sobre un incendio, acualquier hora del día”.

El comunicado agrega que sea que lapersona esté dormida o despierta, unaalarma anti incendios está escaneandoconstantemente el aire para detectar fuegoy humo.

Además de cambiar sus baterías en eldetector de humo este fin de semana, serecomiendan los siguientes pasos a mane-ra de protección:

Utilice una aspiradora o sacuda losdetectores de humo cuando cambie las ba-terías.

Pruebe las alarmas una vez al mesutilizando el botón de prueba.

Reemplace toda la alarma si es ma-yor de 10 años o si no trabaja de formaapropiada cuando la pruebe.

Instale alarmas detectores de humoen cada piso de su residencial, incluyendoel ático, así como dentro y fuera de las áre-as para dormir.

Para mayor protección, equipe su vi-vienda con una combinación de alarmasdetectores de humo ionizados y fotoeléctri-cos o alarmas con doble sensor.

Interconecte todas las alarmas detec-tores de humo en su casa para que cuandouna suene, todas empiecen a sonar. Inter-conectores para alarmas están disponiblesen casi todas las tiendas donde se vendenalarmas.

Asegúrese que todos en casa entien-dan la advertencia de una alarma detectorde humo y que sepan como responder.

También es bueno que prepare y practi-que un plan de escape para que Usted ysus seres amados salgan de casa de mane-ra segura en caso de incendio. Programenreunirse en un lugar a una distancia segu-ra del incendio y donde bomberos puedanencontrarlos fácilmente.

En cuanto al horario de verano, la APindica que el primer cambio de hora ofi-cial ocurrió en EU en 1966, cuando los re-lojes fueron adelantados el último domin-go en abril y vueltos una hora el últimodomingo de octubre.

“En 1987, el inicio del Horario de Vera-no cambió al primer domingo en abril, yen 2007, se cambió al segundo domingo enmarzo y concluirá el primer domingo denoviembre”, concluye el artículo.

Cambio dehorarioTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera SÁBADO 10 DE MARZO DE 2012

Aunque solamente son tresdías, la Feria del Condado de Za-pata involucra a toda su comuni-dad y están listos para hoy cele-brar el cierre de las actividades.

La Feria del Condado de Zapatacelebra este año su 40 Aniversa-rio, por lo que el día de hoy serála gran fiesta.

Es en Zapata donde se vive ple-namente la cultura de la región ycon tradiciones fortalecidas.

Desde el jueves, cuando arran-có la feria, y hasta hoy, cuandoconcluye, se programaron una se-rie de actividades que envuelven aresidentes locales y de la región.

La Feria del Condado tiene sureina, Sofía Regalado, e invita adisfrutar el desfile a partir de las9:30 a.m., la competencia de gana-do, y juegos mecánicos para losniños, así como la cocina.

Una de las atracciones que hizocambios emocionales fue el “ma-no a mano” de las bandas musi-cales.

En esta competencia se disfru-tan los ritmos ejecutados por losexpertos para hacer vibrar de re-

cuerdos y emociones.Además el banquete musical ha

motivado la presentación de Intoc-able esta noche a partir de las11:30 p.m.

También se apartó un espaciopara rendir tributo a las ricastradiciones de Texas, como es la

cabalgata, al vaquero o vaquerasobresaliente del evento.

Otro atractivo es la Subasta deganado en la Sala de ExposicionesRamírez a las 4 p.m.; la presenta-ción del ganador de las Batalla delas Bandas a las 7:30 p.m. y el Con-curso de Jalapeños a las 7:30 p.m.

La Feria del Condado de Zapatatiene algo para todos porque sedan los tiempos para las re-uniones familiares.Visite hoy Za-pata y disfrute su feria anual.

(Localice a Miguel Timoshenkoven el (956) 728-2583 o en mrami-rez@lmtonline.com)

¡DÍA DE FERIA EN ZAPATA!

La Realeza de la Feria del Condado de Zapata son, de izquierda a derecha, la Princesa, Alyssa Jo Gutiérrez; la Reina, Sofía Regalado; y,la Duquesa, Rebecca R. Quintanilla. La Feria del Condado de Zapata concluye hoy con un concierto a cargo del Grupo Intocable.

Foto de cortesía | Feria del Condado de Zapata

Invitan a desfile,actividades y concierto

POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOVTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

RÍO ÁLAMO EN CIUDAD MIER

Foto de cortesía/archivo | La del Miernes

El río de Ciudad Mier, el Río Álamo, en una toma desde elpuente del Paso del Cántaro. Una foto tomada en octubre del2008.

WASHINGTON — Milesde líderes latinos comunita-rios y de negocios inter-cambiaron sus ideas confuncionarios del gobiernodel presidente Barack Oba-ma en el 2011, de acuerdocon un informe oficial.

Unos 3.000 líderes hispa-nos y 70 funcionarios na-

cionales dialogaron sobretemas relacionados con ser-vicios y salvaguardas feder-ales en el marco de un ciclode cumbres de acción co-munitarias realizadas portodo el país, dijo el juevesla Casa Blanca.

Los encuentros continua-rán en 2012 y las próximasse realizarán en marzo enTexas, Carolina del Norte,

Wisconsin y California.En los últimos 10 años se

registró un aumento demás de 15 millones de his-panos en el país. De acuer-do con el censo del 2010, enEstados Unidos viven alre-dedor de 50 millones de la-tinos, y su aumento repre-senta más de la mitad delincremento de la poblacióntotal del país.

Gobierno informa deencuentros con hispanos

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

Cuellar once served asTexas secretary of state un-der Republican Gov. RickPerry and endorsed Repub-lican Gov. George W. Bushover Vice President AlGore, a Democrat, in the2000 presidential election.

Angle said during the2001 and 2003 Texas redis-tricting battles, Cuellaraligned himself with for-mer House Speaker TomDeLay, R-Sugar Land.

Cuellar, meanwhile, dis-missed criticism by Angle,who had backed efforts inthe Dallas area to create aminority coalition districtover one for Latinos.

Cuellar said he foughtfor a Latino district in Dal-las and said “1.3 millionHispanics in Dallas would

have been screwed if I(had) kept my mouthshut.”

Democrats, meanwhile,are not completely pleasedwith the congressional re-districting map becauseminorities accounted for 90percent of the state’s pop-ulation gain in the last dec-ade, according to the 2010Census.

The compromise mapcreates two new Republi-can districts and two Lati-no districts, one in Dallasand one in San Antonio-Austin.

The map has been ac-cepted by a San Antoniofederal court.

Cuellar disputes chargesthat he benefited from thecompromise.

The Laredo Democratsought to rid his 28th con-gressional district of Gua-dalupe County, a growingRepublican strongholdwhere local officials passeda resolution asking to beremoved from Cuellar’sdistrict.

Seguin and GuadalupeCounty are now in the RioGrande Valley-based dis-trict represented by Rep.Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mer-cedes.

“I don’t know how thathappened, but he got it,”Cuellar said.

Negotiations with Abbottand some Latino groupswere initially met with dis-approval by Rep. EddieBernice Johnson, D-Dallas,and Rep. Sheila Jackson

Lee, D-Houston, who saidlawyers with the NationalAssociation for the Ad-vancement of Colored Peo-ple were left out of thetalks.

Cuellar said some of theDemocratic sniping wasfrustration that made himout as a scapegoat forthose who didn’t get whatthey wanted in the com-promise map.

He said his motivationin the redistricting casewas to fight for Hispanicsfollowing decades of disad-vantage under Republicanand Democratic politicalleaders in Austin.

“I was the only one tostand up for Hispanics, andI got attacked for it,” Cuel-lar said.

CUELLAR Continued from Page 1A

Juan R. Gonzalez, 79,passed away Sunday,March 4, 2012, at his resi-dence in Zapata, Texas.

Mr. Gonzalez is preced-ed in death by his wife,Maria Elena Gonzalez;daughter-in-law, Mari Gon-zalez; and a sister Fela.

Mr. Gonzalez is survivedby his sons: Juan Luis(Guadalupe) Gonzalez,Hector (Rosa) Gonzalez,Arnoldo Gonzalez, Rusbel(Sylvia) Gonzalez and Ge-rardo Gonzalez; daughters:Dora Alicia Gonzalez, Lup-ita (Roberto) Ramirez, Ro-salva Gonzalez and Yolan-da (Ramon) Cervantes;brothers: Horacio Gonza-lez, Enrique Gonzalez, Er-nesto Gonzalez, Israel Gon-zalez, Jesus Gonzalez, Be-nito Gonzalez and HoracioGonzalez Jr.; sisters ChelaAlcala, Sara Arroyo, Ra-quel Guzman and Lila;and by numerous nieces,nephews and manyfriends.

Visitation hours wereheld Tuesday, March 6,2012, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.with a rosary at 7 p.m. atRose Garden FuneralHome.

The funeral processiondeparted Wednesday,March 7, 2012, at 9:45 a.m.for a 10 a.m. funeral Massat Our Lady of LourdesCatholic Church.

Committal services fol-lowed at Zapata CountyCemetery.

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

JUAN R. GONZALEZ

Oscar “El Turipanto”Thatcher passed away Fri-day, March 2, 2012, at Doc-tor’s Hospital in Laredo,Texas.

Mr. Thatcher is preced-ed in death by his sonJohn Anthony Thatcher;father, Juan Thatcher; anda sister Omedi Thatcher.

Mr. Thatcher is sur-vived by his wife, ZulemaGutierrez; son OscarJames Thatcher; daughter,Consuelo T. (Johnny) Jas-so; grandchildren: BrianaContreras, Rey Jasso andRene Jasso; mother, PaulaM. Thatcher; brothers:Juan Jr. (Petrita) Thatcher,Corando (Gloria) Thatcher,Derly (Arlina) Thatcherand Rudy (Elisa) Thatcher;sisters Maria Elena(†Adrian III) Ramirez; Vio-la (Sergio) Garcia and Yo-landa (Joel Pacheco)Thatcher; and by numer-ous nieces, nephews andmany friends.

Visitation hours wereheld Tuesday, March 6,2012, from 1 p.m. to 2:15p.m. at Rose Garden Fu-neral Home.

The funeral procession

departed Tuesday, March6, 2012, at 2:15 p.m. for a2:30 p.m. funeral Mass atOur Lady of Lourdes Cath-olic Church.

Committal services fol-lowed at Zapata CountyCemetery.

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

OSCAR ‘EL TURIPANTO’THATCHER

HOUSTON — The feder-al government will stopfunding a Texas health pro-gram that serves 130,000low-income women becauseof a state law that barsabortion-affiliated clinicsfrom getting public money,a top U.S. health officialsaid Friday.

The federal money,which covers 90 percent ofthe state’s $40 million pro-gram, will be phased outbetween May and Septem-ber because the law vio-lates federal regulations re-quiring that women have achoice in care, Health andHuman Services SecretaryKathleen Sebelius said dur-ing a trip to Houston. Thatmeans the Women’s HealthProgram will join a longlist of programs nation-wide on the chopping blockbecause of their affiliationswith Planned Parenthoodor other groups that offerabortions.

The announcement camea day after Texas Gov. RickPerry pledged to find statemoney to keep the programafloat, though details re-main scarce about wherethe money would comefrom. Texas suffered mas-sive spending cuts last yeardue to a $15 billion deficit,though a state health ser-vices official said Fridaythat Texas would prefer toincrease its deficit thancompletely eliminate theprogram.

Perry blasted Sebelius’announcement, insistingMedicaid rules give statesthe right to determinewhich clinics are qualifiedto provide women’s healthcare.

“The fact that the Oba-ma administration wouldannounce its decision todeny care for more than100,000 low-income womenduring a press event beforegiving official notice to thestate is a clear demonstra-tion of the political motiva-tion behind this decision,”he said in a statement, add-ing that Texas officials arestill waiting for officialword on the decision.

As is the case with otherprograms now in the na-tional spotlight, the Wom-en’s Health Program pro-vides cancer screenings,family planning and otherwomen’s health services.About 44 percent of womenin the Texas program go toPlanned Parenthood clin-ics, although none that ac-cept funding from the pro-gram may perform abor-tions, and no federal funds

are used to terminate preg-nancies.

The problem in Texas isbeing caused by lawmak-ers’ desire to prevent statefunds from going toPlanned Parenthood. Thestate is implementing a lawthat bars public funds fromgoing to any programs, or-ganizations or groups thatare affiliated with abor-tions, even if they don’tperform them.

After touring a hospitalin Houston, Sebelius saidthe state law violates feder-al Medicaid regulationsthat require women be al-lowed to choose where theygo for health care.

The money will bephased out so women havetime to find alternativecare, she said.

The state was warnedthat implementing the lawwould jeopardize federalfunding, and Texas chosenot to immediately enforceit when it was passed, Se-belius added.

“They knew ... they arenot allowed to deny womenthe right to choose,” Sebeli-us said. “Women would belosing their doctor, theirmedical home, theirchoice.”

Stephanie Goodman,spokeswoman for the TexasDepartment of Health andHuman Services, said mon-ey to pay for the programwould be diverted from oth-ers that are under budget— though she didn’t offerspecifics. If that doesn’tcover the costs, she said,the state would increase itsdeficit to pay for the servic-es because officials believethat if low-income womendon’t have access to birthcontrol, the birth ratewould rise and cost thestate another $57 million inmaternity bills.

Last year, Texas lawmak-ers slashed state fundingfor women’s health andfamily planning programsby $73.6 million — cuttingservices to 160,000 women.They also took $10 millionfrom a separate familyplanning budget line andshifted those responsibili-ties to organizations thatadminister Medicaid inTexas.

Now, with the expectedcut in federal funds,“there’s a huge gap in fam-ily planning” in Texas, Se-belius said.

State Rep. Sheila Jack-son-Lee, D-Houston, saidshe and members of Con-gress are negotiating withSebelius and federal offi-cials to find a way to en-sure that the funds don’tstop flowing.

Feds nix fundsfor women’s

health programBy RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

to 15,000 for the event “people goall out for,” she said.

“(The county fair) brings ourcommunity together,” she said.“It’s a big thing for Zapata.”

County Judge Joe Rathmellhopes the storm systems approach-ing the area hold off until Sundayand make way for “the highlight ofthis year’s event,” Intocable.

Even though the musicians arefrom Zapata, their performanceshere have been few and far be-tween here because of the interna-tional renown they have achieved,Rathmell said.

“It’s hard to get them down herebecause they’ve gotten so big,” hesaid.

In anticipation of possibly re-cord-setting attendance numbers,

county fair organizers have pre-pared accordingly.

Extra traffic control will be em-ployed, and the County Fair Com-mittee made arrangements with anorganization in Laredo offering se-curity services.

Here is a breakdown of today’sevents:

A dignitaries’ breakfast willbe held at 8 a.m. in the Court Pla-za.

The Zapata County Fair Asso-ciation Parade begins at 9:30 a.m.from 3rd Avenue.

Hometown band Intocable willhost a roping contest starting at10:30 a.m.

A sale of junior and senior di-vision arts, crafts, baking and pho-tography begins at noon.

The folklorico dance team per-forms at 1 p.m.

At 1:30 p.m., there will be anaward ceremony for parade con-testants.

The buyer’s social and danceteam performance happens con-currently at 2 p.m.

The livestock auction beginsat 4 p.m. in the Ramirez ExhibitHall.

Competitors will face off in ajalapeño eating contest at 7:30 p.m.

The cry of the mariachi willbe in full force during the gritocontest that starts at 9:30 p.m.

Intocable performs from 11:30p.m. to 1 a.m.

(JJ Velasquez may be reached at728-2567 or jjvelasquez@lmton-line.com)

COUNTY FAIR Continued from Page 1A

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

the 49th District Court atthe Zapata County Court-house, presiding Judge JoeLopez advised attorneys toprepare to go to trial in lateSeptember or early October.

The trial is expected tolast two weeks. It is still inthe discovery phase, and thedefense attorneys in thecase, Eduardo Peña and Os-car Peña, have requestedthe victim’s medical re-cords.

They said they had

learned the child had suf-fered from a congenital de-fect that may have contrib-uted to his death.

The prosecutor, PedroGarza Jr., did not object tothe request.

The videoThe defense also dis-

cussed its motion to sup-press a video recordingpending its transcription.

The video allegedly con-tains one hour of the de-fendant denying being in-volved in the crime, fol-lowed by a time gap, andthen approximately 20 min-utes of a confession.

Lopez gave the defense 60

days to get the video tran-scribed and set a hearing onthe motion to suppress for 2p.m. May 3 at the ZapataCounty Courthouse.

(Stephanie Ibarra may bereached at 728-2547 or sibar-ra@lmtonline.com)

TRIAL Continued from Page 1A

THE WONDERS OF A SCALY SNAKE

Photo by Albert Cesare/Odessa American | AP

Fifth-graders Megan Kirkland, left, and Laekin Rivera watch as Miranda Stutts touches a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake held by MikeGlass during the 54th Annual “World’s Largest Rattlesnake Roundup,” held by the Sweetwater Jaycees, on Friday at the Nolan County Col-iseum in Sweetwater.

AUSTIN — Texas’ un-employment rate fell to7.3 percent in January,reaching its lowest markin three years on thestrength of a big jump inthe number of nonfarmjobs, according to data re-leased Friday by the stateemployment agency.

The jobless rate isdown from 7.4 percent inDecember, below the na-tional figure of 8.3 per-cent, and has fallen infour consecutive months,according to the TexasWorkforce Commission.The state’s unemploy-ment rate was 8.5 percentas recently as September.

“We’re seeing substan-tial economic growthhere in Texas,” said com-mission Chairman Tom

Pauken.Texas added 67,200

nonfarm jobs in January,and nine of the 11 majorindustries added jobs inJanuary, led by profes-sional and business ser-vices at 18,100 jobs, ac-cording to agency fig-ures.

Leisure and hospitalitywas close behind at 17,100jobs added, followed bytrade, transportation andutilities at 15,700.

Private employers add-ed 73,800 jobs over themonth.

“When the majority ofindustries add jobs overthe year, that’s a positivesign,” said commissionerLonny Congleton.

Unemployment ratesare adjusted for seasonaltrends in hiring and fir-ing.

State’s joblessrate declines

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The Middle School District31-3A tennis tournament washeld at the Zapata High SchoolTennis Courts this past Saturday.

The district is comprised ofschools from Roma (Roma MiddleSchool and Ramiro Barrera Mid-dle School), Rio Grande City (Vet-erans Middle School, RinggoldMiddle School, La Grulla MiddleSchool) and Zapata (Zapata Mid-dle School).

A total of 108 middle schoolathletes hit the courts at the dis-trict tournament to try their luckin the singles, doubles and mixeddoubles division.

To determine a team cham-pion, points are awarded in eachevent with the first place finishearning 15 points, second place 10points, third place five points andfourth place 2.5 points.

In the doubles division, pointsare awarded as follows: 20 pointsfor first, 15 points for second, 10points for third and five pointsfor fouth.

The seventh and eighth gradegirls captured the team titles andleft the competition in the rearview mirror.

The seventh Grade girls rackedup 50 points to easily win the dis-trict title while the eighth gradegirls won the title by accumulat-ing 35 points.

The seventh and eighth grade

boys both captured third place tobring some hardware to Zapata.

“I am very proud of our middleschool tennis players,” Zapatamiddle school tennis coachAmanda Perez said. “We don’t getto go to as many tournaments asthe other schools or practice aslong, as they are almost year-round programs, but our kidshung in there and competed. Ourgirls teams’ winning the districttitles was great. Our middleschool program will really helpus at the high school level. I amalready seeing the results rightnow as our sophomores were thefirst middle school team and theyare doing great.”

Tennis Team Results8th Grade Girls

In girls singles, Alexa Alvarezplaced second while Kaitlyn Ra-mirez came in fourth.

The dynamic duo of MoniqueHurtado and Alynna Benavidesplaced third and Tatiana Lopezand Abby Perez placed fourth ingirls doubles.

The mixed doubles team of Aa-ron Fuentes and Sandra Moralescame in second place. The pointsfor mixed doubles are split be-tween the boys and girls teams.

7th Grade GirlsIn the singles division, Clarissa

MIDDLE SCHOOL TENNIS

The Zapata Middle School seventh grade tennis team is coming of a powerful out-ing at the District 31-3A tennis tournament held at the Zapata High School lastSaturday.

Courtesy Photo

Zapata teamsexcel at

tournamentBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See TENNIS PAGE 2B

The time has come toput all that softballeducation to use as theLady Hawks are set to

start the District 31-3A season

on Tuesday against a formida-ble opponent as Zapata beginsa quest to defend their title.

Zapata travels to Port Isabel,who is expected to be one ofthe top three teams in the dis-trict.

Zapata, the defending Dis-

trict 31-3A champions, havetheir core players back fromlast year’s historic season, andwill be vying to start the dis-trict season on the right footwhen they meet the Lady Tar-

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

On the defensive

Sophomore outfielder Clarissa Villarreal looks to lead the Lady Hawks in their defense of the District 31-3A title. Za-pata begins district play on Tuesday at Port Isabel.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata looks to defend district titleBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See SOFTBALL PAGE 2B

AVENTURA, Fla. — If PeytonManning wants to talk aboutplaying quarterback for the Mia-mi Dolphins, Dan Marino wouldbe thrilled to take his call.

And just in case, Marino hashis sales pitch ready.

“There’s great tradition there.We’ve had a couple off years butbelieve me, they’ll be back,” saidMarino, the Hall of Famer whothrew for 420 touchdowns andmore than 61,000 yards in hisDolphins career. “It’s a greatfranchise and they’ll get it turn-ed around.”

Manning would almost cer-tainly help in that quest, whichlargely started when Marino re-tired more than a decade ago.

From the moment the four-time MVP parted with the Indi-anapolis Colts on Wednesday,buzz about Manning has beengrowing in Miami — much of itfueled by the quarterback’s ar-rival in South Florida shortly af-ter becoming an NFL free agentfor the first time. Manning in-sists he doesn’t know what hisnext move will be, and Marinobelieves him.

“I think he fits with anybody,”Marino said Thursday at a char-

ity golf tournament. “He’s one ofthe best to ever play the game atthat position. So wherever heends up playing, if he’s healthy,which is going to be importantto Peyton, I’m sure he wants to

go out there and play at a highlevel. Wherever he plays, he’ll bea huge impact for that team.”

The Dolphins are believed to

NFL

Miami targets ManningBy TIM REYNOLDSASSOCIATED PRESS

Peyton Man-ning was rea-leased by theIndianapolisColts onWednesday,ending his 14-year stint asthe Colts’leader. Man-ning led Indi-anapolis overthe ChicagoBears in SuperBowl XLI in2006.

Photo by Amy Sancetta | AP

See MANNING PAGE 2B

The momentum for theColts and Peyton Man-ning to part came tolight on Wednesday. For

months rumors swirled that theColts were going to let go ofManning instead of paying the$28 million bonus he was due.

Mix in the fact Manningmissed the entire year becauseof neck surgery and the Coltslooked like the team beforeManning arrived 14 years ago.

To say that the Colts were badthis year is an understatementas they finished 2-14.

With such a dismal record theColts secured the No. 1 overallpick in the NFL draft this April.

Stanford’s Andrew Luck andBaylor’s Robert Griffin III arethe most sought after quarter-backs in the draft and one willsurely end up in Indianapolis.

Colt fans are upset and haveeven sent a few death threats tothe front office, but they failedto realize the NFL is a businessand this was a business move.

Yes, Peyton was loved and hebrought the city a Super Bowltitle and even four league MVPawards.

Peyton has done a lot for thecity and I guess that the Coltshave forgotten the days whenJeff George was the can’t missquarterback, and all those yearsthat they suffered under hisguidance at quarterback.

Great players get traded allthe time and when their run isover they get discarded. Justlook at Joe Montana in SanFrancisco, the superstar quar-terback who was traded awayafter bringing a few SuperBowls to the Bay Area.

The great Michael Jordan de-parted Chicago and he is con-sidered one of, if not the great-est, basketball players in histo-ry.

The NFL is a business and itis all about the Benjamins, withManning as the latest victim.

Manning releaseshould benefit

Colts in long run

“CLARA SANDOVALOVAL

See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

be one of the teams interested inadding Manning; Miami plays agame at Indianapolis next season.Washington, Arizona, Seattle, Den-ver and Kansas City also are like-ly to talk to him, along with theJets — the team that shares a sta-dium with the Giants and Man-ning’s two-time, Super Bowl-win-ning brother Eli. ESPN reportedThursday that Manning will makea decision within the next weekand wants to stay in the AFC.

“I know he likes the weatherhere in Miami, but I have no ideawhere he’s going to go,” said widereceiver Pierre Garcon, whocaught 10 touchdown passes fromManning in 2009 and 2010. “I couldnot tell you anything.”

Added Reggie Wayne, who has

been working out with Manning:“I don’t know. Ask Peyton.”

Manning’s arrival in Miamidoesn’t necessarily mean the Dol-phins are front-runners to gethim. He owns a condo in MiamiBeach, where television crewswere staked out Thursday.

“He does like his privacy — andhe’s not going to have much of ituntil everyone finds out wherehe’s going to go,” Garcon said.

Why keep playing?“He’s a competitor. He loves the

game. He loves winning,” Garconsaid. “You can never have enoughSuper Bowl rings. He wants towin and he wants to keep playing.... When you walk in a stadiumwith Peyton, you have at least afighting chance to win a game.”

After the Colts decided not topick up Manning’s $28 million bo-nus, team owner Jim Irsay endedmonths of speculation by releas-ing the 14-year veteran and long-time face of the franchise. Indiana-polis likely will find Manning’s re-placement in April’s draft,presumably Stanford’s AndrewLuck. The Colts have the firstoverall pick.

Manning missed the entire 2011season because of a damagednerve that caused weakness in hisright arm. He had the most recentof his multiple neck surgeries onSept. 8.

Once the fusion has healed, thebone is as strong as any other inhis neck, if not stronger, severaldoctors said.

“Did it heal? Is the rest of hisneck in pretty good shape? If thosetwo answers are yes, then it getsdown to ‘OK, get out on the fieldand show me you can perform,’because it will only get betterfrom here with time,” said Dr.Robert S. Bray Jr., a spine special-ist who has treated NHL star Sid-ney Crosby and Olympic hurdlerLolo Jones.

For the time being, the Man-ning watch is consuming Miami.

Dwyane Wade reached out toManning on Twitter, and LeBronJames took time in a postgametelevision interview after the Heatbeat Atlanta on Wednesday nightto briefly sell Manning on themerits of South Florida.

Will Marino call him?

“I probably wouldn’t do that un-less he asks for some advice,” Ma-rino said. “And he has plenty ofpeople that he’s working with tohelp him make the right deci-sions.”

Dolphins kicker Dan Carpentersaid if Manning says he’s healthyenough to play, then that’s goodenough for him.

“He’s a great football player,”Carpenter said. “I definitely thinkhaving Peyton Manning won’thurt your chances. ... Obviously, Idon’t know how hard we’re pursu-ing him. It’s hard to say what Pey-ton Manning’s thinking. I’m surehe’s going to talk to his family,think about himself and thinkabout where he wants to be andmake that decision.”

MANNING Continued from Page 1B

The Colts were not sureif the 36-year-old Man-ning was going to hold upfor a couple of moreyears. When they couldget a hold of a youngerAndrew Luck or RobertGriffen III, who ran anexceptionally fast 40-yarddash at the NFL Com-bine, they are going to

jump at the opportunity.Do you blame the Colts

for going after a muchyounger and more dy-namic quarterback? May-be Manning could havegiven the Colts a fewmore years but would youtrade three or four yearsfor maybe ten years?

That is the predicament

that the Colts were in andthey took it.

After getting over theinitial shock of getting re-leased, Manning is goingto get angry and he is go-ing to choose a team thatis going to take him tothe top to show the Coltsthat he was not washedup.

Manning will be backand the Colts will regrettheir decision, but in thelong haul it will be theColts who are going tocome out smelling likeroses because somethinglike this can be erased bywinning, and Luck andGriffin are proven win-ners.

SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1BGonzalez took second place while Jenicia Guevara placedfourth.

Zapata dominated in the doubles division with StacySalinas and Victoria Araiza taking gold, Taylor Moffetand Gabriella Gonzalez silver, Keyiris Baitista and Jaz-myn Tejada bronze and Bethany Ruiz and Sara Gomesfourth place.

8th Grade BoysIn singles, Jose Ramirez took third and Juan Ramirez

fourth, while in doubles Lucio Melo and Raul Ortiz tookthird.

7th Grade BoysIn singles, Gabriel Bautista came in third and Jerry

Martinez fourth, and in the doubles division Jose Gon-zalez and Chris Cruz took third.

Zapata Middle School’s eighth grade tennis team posted strongperformances at the District 31-3A tennis tournament held at theZapata High School last Saturday.

Courtesy Photo

TENNIS Continued from Page 1B

pons.Taking the mound for

the first time this season issenior pitcher Estella Moli-na who is returning fromminor surgery that kepther out all of the pre-sea-son.

“I feel very positive mygirls have been hitting theball well and Estella isback after surgery,” Zapatacoach Jaime Garcia said.

Molina has been steadyfor the Lady Hawks on themound since her sopho-more year and Zapata isexpecting big things fromher with two years under

her belt.Last year Molina was

sensational on the moundand Zapata was able tohoist their first league titlein school history.

Now she is making herreturn to the moundagainst a Port Isabel teamwho wants to be the firstone to knock the LadyHawks off their pedestal.

Zapata boasts an offensethat can turn a game intobatting practice with acore of hitters that have aneye for the ball.

Senior catcher MichelleArce, last year’s Offensive

Most Valuable Player, hasnot skipped a beat andcontinues to lead the LadyHawks at the plate.

Arce also gets an abun-dance of help at the platefrom Jackie Salinas, GabyChapa and Liana Flores

“They have been hittingthe ball extremely well andhave been our offensiveforce,” Garcia said.

Salinas and Flores wereAll-Tournament at the Za-pata Annual Softball Tour-nament this past weekend.

At the tournament,Flores had seven hits withfour RBI’s, and Salinas had

six hits with 3 RBI’s. San Diego won 4-3 over

Rowe in the Gold Divisionchampionship and Harlin-gen South won the third-place game 11-3 over Zapa-ta. Crystal City won theSilver Division over Fal-furrias.

Now Zapata must put allthat offensive firepoweragainst Port Isabel.

“The most importantthing is to start the seasonon the right note and weare very capable of hittingthe ball,” Garcia said. “Weneed to do that againstPI.”

SOFTBALL Continued from Page 1B

Peyton Manning is afree man. Drew Brees isnot.

A week after a record 21players were given fran-chise tags — only Saintsstar quarterback Brees gotan exclusive tag and can’teven talk to other teams —the NFL’s free agency free-for-all begins. And it willbe crazy.

For teams willing to partwith two first-round draftpicks, such game-changersas Ray Rice, Wes Welkerand Matt Forte are availa-ble. For those looking justto spend money to acquirenew talent, Saints startersMarques Colston and All-Pro guard Carl Nicks areon the market. So is highlytouted quarterback MattFlynn, who doesn’t seem tohave much future in GreenBay behind Aaron Rodgers.

And for teams ready togamble, there is four-timeMVP Manning.

This could be the wil-dest free agency period inyears. Coming off the 2010season that had no salarycap and different freeagent rules, then the lock-out and a condensed bid-ding war, the marketplaceis crowded. Many of thoseavailable figure to be back-ups: quarterbacks ChadHenne and Rex Grossman,running back RonnieBrown, defensive back Pac-man Jones, for example.

But there are qualityplayers with starting po-tential, even Super Bowlcredentials — such as Gi-ants receiver Mario Man-ningham and Colts wide-out Reggie Wayne — whocould wind up whereverManning goes.

“I want to be here,”Manningham said of re-maining with the Giantsafter his star turn in theSuper Bowl. But he wouldbe the No. 3 receiver in theMeadowlands behind Ha-keem Nicks and VictorCruz. “I feel like we can doa lot of damage in these

next four, five years. That’sjust how I feel, becausewe’re all young. ... It’s notup to me, I want to stay. It’sa business, too. You’ve gotto look at it like that, too.You got to look out foryour family, that’s how itis.”

If your secondary isleaky, cornerbacks Bran-don Carr of the Chiefs andCarlos Rogers of the Lionscan help patch it.

Perhaps the most intri-guing free agents, asidefrom Manning, also arecoming off injuries. MarioWilliams, the outstandingdefensive end in Houstonwho was making a strongtransition to linebacker ina 3-4 alignment, missed thefinal 11 games with a tornchest muscle. Center DanKoppen, the glue for NewEngland’s offensive line for

several years, was out forall but the opening game,but is better than morethan half the incumbentsaround the league.

Looking for veteranleadership from likely Hallof Famers nearing the endof the NFL road? There’sLaDainian Tomlinson,Brian Dawkins and HinesWard.

Looking for headachesfrom likely Hall of Famersnearing the end of the NFLroad? There’s Randy Mossand Terrell Owens.

Plenty of offensive line-men become less anony-mous during free agencyas they are coveted to so-lidify blocking units. Cen-ters Scott Wells of GreenBay and Chris Myers ofHouston, guard BenGrubbs of Baltimore andthe Saints’ Nicks figure to

make out best. And there are potential

bargains, players whowon’t command top dollarand will be dependablecontributors: Jets nosetackle Sione Pouha, Titanscornerback Cortland Fin-negan and linebacker Bar-rett Ruud, Colts receiverPierre Garcon and tightend Jacob Tamme, Patriotsrunning back BenJarvusGreen-Ellis, Chiefs RBJackie Battle, and Pantherslinebacker Dan Connor.

Quite a few free agentssimply need a chance ofscenery, including runningbacks Cedric Benson ofCincinnati, Michael Bushof Oakland and PeytonHillis of Cleveland.

As always, quarterbackscommand most of the at-tention. San Francisco stillis haggling over contractnumbers for Alex Smith,whose superb 2011 seasonand rapport with NFLCoach of the Year Jim Har-baugh makes it logical hewill re-sign with the 49ers.

Kyle Orton has been adecent, sometimes impres-sive stopgap in severalplaces and is availableagain. Jason Campbell hadthe Raiders in contentionbefore a broken collarbonesidelined him for twomonths.

Then there is Flynn,who has been superb in hisinfrequent stints when Aa-ron Rodgers was eitherhurt or rested. Severalteams hungry for a newstarter must figure out ifFlynn has shown enoughto command big bucks —and a starting role.

New Orleans used theexclusive franchise tag onthe 2011 NFL OffensivePlayer of the Year, meaninghe can only negotiate withthe Saints. The sides aremillions of dollars apartand Brees has the option tosit out offseason workoutsif a deal isn’t reached.

Meanwhile, he canwatch hundreds of con-tracts finalized.

Let the feeding frenzybegin.

Free agent class opens upBy BARRY WILNERASSOCIATED PRESS

New York Giants wide receiver Mario Manningham (82) is a leaderin the superstar heavy free agent class this offseason.

Photo by David Duprey | AP

MIAMI — It happensfairly regularly at gamesin Miami, a moment whenLeBron James gets sere-naded by chants of “M-V-P” from the Heat crowd.

Dwyane Wade thinksthose fans are only gettingit half right.

James is a leading can-didate to be the league’sMVP this season, anaward that would be hisfor the third time in fouryears. He’s on pace to be-come one of the top 50scorers in NBA history byearly April, and is the onlyplayer in the leagueranked among the top 25in points, steals, reboundsand assists per game thisseason.

But Wade thinks Jamesshouldn’t just be in theMVP conversation — he’sadvocating him for defen-sive player of the year aswell.

“The guy guards anyposition and does it everynight,” Wade said ofJames, who plays insideand on the perimeter atthe offensive end. “I thinkhe should be in the discus-sion for that.”

Even among friends,James doesn’t want to saymuch.

“He won’t talk about it,”Wade said. “I bring it upand he says, ‘I don’t reallycare.’ But I want him toget it. I’ve never playedwith someone who’s wonMVP before. I want him toget it. I want to be at thepress conference. I want tobe there.”

His wish might cometrue.

James and the Heat are30-9 this season, and he en-tered Thursday ranked

third in the NBA in scor-ing (27.7), ninth in steals(1.8) and 14th in assists(6.7). Using the formulaknown as PAR — points,assists and rebounds —James is having the beststatistical season of any-one in the league, hisnightly average of 42.8 bet-ter than Kevin Love (41.2),Kobe Bryant (39.3) and Ke-vin Durant (39.3).

James has been doingthings the league hasn’tseen in decades — or may-be ever.

There have been twogames this season inwhich a player has postedat least 35 points, 10 re-bounds, six assists and noturnovers. James has both— on consecutive nightsearlier this month, no less.According to STATS LLC,there have only been 11other such games in thelast 25 seasons. And whenadding in his five steals toa 38-point, 11-rebound, six-assist, no-turnover night atPortland on March 1,that’s a game that hadn’tbeen duplicated since indi-vidual turnovers began be-ing charted in 1977.

Still, James said he stillfinds it “humbling” tohear about where his statlines rank in history.

LeBronpoised foraccolades

By TIM REYNOLDSASSOCIATED PRESS

Miami Heat’s LeBron James,left, reacts after rebounding aMiami ball in what is surely aMVP and Defensive Player ofthe Year-caliber season.

Photo by J Pat Carter | AP

DENNISTHE MENACE

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES | HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT:

JUDGE PARKER

REXMORGAN M.D.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

HINTS | BY HELOISE

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

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To remove stubbornstains from fixtures andcountertops, make a pastewith 3 parts baking sodaand 1 part water. Apply toa stain, let stand, thenscrub gently and rinseclean.

Sprinkle some bakingsoda in garbage cans andclothes hampers to pre-vent odors.

To remove greasestains from clothing, use abaking-soda paste as a pre-treatment.

For baked- or burned-on food, sprinkle pots andpans with baking soda,then add hot water. Soakseveral hours or over-night, and the baked-onmess should lift off moreeasily.

Use a paste of bakingsoda as a foot scrub. Formore money-saving hints,order my Baking Sodapamphlet by sending $5and a long, self-addressed,stamped (65 cents) enve-lope to: Heloise/BakingSoda, P.O. Box 795001, SanAntonio, TX 78279-5001.Here are some hints youmay not have known: Youcan substitute baking sodafor baking powder by add-ing 1/2 teaspoon cream oftartar to 1/4 teaspoon bak-ing soda. Or make home-made toothpaste by sprin-kling some baking soda onyour toothbrush. You’ll al-so learn how to use bak-ing soda as a fire extin-guisher, drain freshenerand stuffed-toy cleaner.

— HeloisePET PAL

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“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

LONDON — With lessthan five months until thegames begin, England’smood is about as gray andgloomy as a rainy day alongthe River Thames.

Instead of enthusiasm,euphoria and ebullience, theOlympic countdown is gen-erating a drumbeat of skep-ticism, scare stories anddoom.

There are persistent com-plaints about the ticketing,worries over cost overruns,predictions of traffic grid-lock and transportationchaos, threats of bloodshortages, disease andstrikes — even talk ofdrought.

British oddsmakers areeven taking bets on every-thing that could go wrong.

The Olympic flame willfail to arrive on time for theJuly 27 opening? That’s 66-1at Ladbrokes.

An athlete will miss thestart of competition and citetransport problems as thereason? That’s 2-1.

A power cut at the open-ing ceremony? That’s 25-1.

Britons have a reputationas natural-born grumblerswho love nothing more thanto complain, and the Olym-pics have proved to be a per-fect outlet for naysayers andkilljoys.

Many Londoners plan toleave town to avoid thewhole thing, especiallywhen they can cash in byrenting out their homes orapartments for the Olym-pics.

Also feeling in a sourmood and planning to leavetown during the Olympicsis Andrew Doughty, 41, wholives with his wife and twoyoung children in the northLondon borough of Isling-ton — a short train ridefrom the Olympic Park. Heapplied for tickets for hisfamily and came up empty-handed.

Certainly, every host citygoes through ups anddowns during the seven-year buildup to the Olym-

pics — the euphoria afterwinning the bid, the realitycheck of the massive task athand, the doubts and wor-ries in the final stretch andthe burst of enthusiasmonce the Olympic flame ar-rives for the torch relay. Butwith Britain, that doubt-and-worry phase seems tobe lasting and is more pro-nounced.

Once the games get un-der way, and assuming thereare no serious problems,Britain is sure to get caughtup in the party atmosphere.

London has its share ofserious challenges, particu-larly over transportationand security. Can the city’salready-stretched Tube andrail network handle theOlympic crush? Will thegames be safe from terror-ism or other disruption?

Those have been themain concerns since Lon-don was awarded the Olym-pics in 2005. Lately, the flash-point has been tickets, orthe perceived lack of clarityand fairness in the salesprocess.

Demand for the 6.6 mil-lion tickets has been huge.Early rounds of sales weremarred by computer prob-lems and confusion overwhy some people got ticketsand others didn’t. Themedia and the public havebeen sharply critical of howit’s been handled.

At the heart of the ma-laise is a lingering concern

about the cost of the gamesduring a time of economicausterity. The public sectorbudget stands at 9.3 billionpounds ($14.6 billion), muchof which has gone to build-ing the Olympic Park ineast London.

Recent stories of forebod-ing during the Olympicshave included:

— Patients will be strand-ed in ambulances in trafficjams while dignitaries andsponsors flash by in limosin special lanes. Delivery ofblood supplies will be im-peded by traffic restrictions.

Supplies of anthrax andsmallpox vaccines are run-ning short and need to bestockpiled to guard againsta biological attack.

London faces a poten-tial public health emergencybecause of diseases broughtin by thousands of visitorsand athletes. (This took anew twist when Britain’sOlympic team doctor ad-vised athletes not to shakehands to avoid picking upgerms — a suggestion thatofficials later said would bedisregarded.)

Water supplies could beat risk after southeast Eng-land was officially declareda drought zone — a contrastfrom the traditional worrythat the games will besoaked by rain.

Some of London’s WestEnd theaters could be shutdown because of a lack ofticket bookings.

Gloom dooms Olympics

Swimmers compete in the men’s 1500 meter freestyle during theselection trials and Olympic test event at the London 2012 OlympicAquatics Centre at the Olympic Park in London, Friday.

Photo by Sang Tan | AP

By STEPHEN WILSONASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS — Between preparingthe car and turning practice laps forthis weekend’s Nationwide race, Dani-ca Patrick didn’t have a lot of time tothink about the last time she was atLas Vegas Motor Speedway.

But as she made her way from thegarage to the media center, Patrick’sthoughts caught up with her.

Seeing the setup of the garage, herpit stall from last year, the neon signabove garage, it all took her back to thefinal race of her IndyCar career — theday Dan Wheldon died.

“When you have time to think aboutmultiple things, that’s when it hitsyou,” a somber Patrick said Friday.

Major racing returns to Las VegasMotor Speedway this weekend for thefirst time since Wheldon was killed ina fiery crash last fall.

Speedway officials don’t plan anymemorials or tributes to the two-timeIndy 500 champion and neither doesNASCAR.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driversJamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Mon-toya will have decals on their cars —Wheldon drove three years for ChipGanassi Racing — and some fans areplanning to tweet Wheldon’s No. 77 onthe 77th lap of the Sprint Cup and Na-tionwide races, but that’s about it fortributes.

Still, Wheldon’s death likely willloom over everything that happens thisweekend, from the time the drivers gothrough the tunnel just below whereWheldon died to the time the haulerstake the cars to the next race.

On her way to NASCAR full-time, Pa-trick went into Las Vegas last fall hop-ing to do something special in her finalrace as a full-time IndyCar driver.

The series was hoping to make asplash, too, that a season finale in LasVegas would be a showcase for thesport. The series put up its own moneyto promote the event, renting the trackfrom owner Bruton Smith, and tookover a section of The Strip so its carscould do a few hot laps under the neonlights.

There also was the added specter ofWheldon taking home a $5 millionprize as part of a promotion if he couldwin the Oct. 16 race.

Instead, it ended in disaster.

Twelve laps into the race, Wheldoncame roaring up to a 15-car pileup inprogress and had nowhere to go. Whel-don’s car became entangled in the ca-reening cars and went airborne, sailinginto a catch fence around turn 2. Thereigning Indy 500 champion died fromhead injuries after his car hit a post onthe fence cockpit-first.

IndyCar halted the race and the re-maining drivers did a five-lap tribute toWheldon, many with tears streamingdown their faces.

Patrick was among them, leaving In-dyCar not in triumph, but devastationafter watching a friend die in a crashthat unfolded right in front of her.

Returning five months later, even ina different kind of car, has been aheart-wrenching experience. Patricksaid she made it through Friday’s prac-tice session without thinking too muchabout Wheldon, but it was hard to com-pletely shake his memory, even at 175mph.

“Obviously, the last time we werehere, it was a big weekend, a sad week-end and thoughts are still with Susie(Dan’s wife) and the kids,” Patrick said.“There won’t be a time when I come toLas Vegas and won’t think about Danand think about the family.”

Danica raceswith heavy heart

Danica Patrick, left, will certainly race for morethis weekend at Las Vegas, where IndyCar driverDan Wheldon died last year.

Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack | AP

By JOHN MARSHALLASSOCIATED PRESS