SATURDAYOCTOBER 31, 2015

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BRYANT WANTS TO RETURNCOWBOYS WR SAYS GETTING BACK ON THE FIELD ISN’T HIS DECISION, 1B

CIUDAD VICTORIA,Mexico — Officials inTamaulipas say a U.S.toddler was shot in theback by Mexican armypersonnel when her fam-ily’s car apparently gotin between a military pa-trol and a vehicle carry-

ing suspects.Guadalupe Salinas,

the head of the federalprosecutors’ office in thestate, said Wednesdaythat another girl in thecar was grazed by a bul-let and a woman sufferedslight wounds from bul-

TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO

Toddler shotby army

personnelUS child injured by Mexican forces

across the border from Rio Grande CityASSOCIATED PRESS

See TODDLER PAGE 12A

A Zapata man landedbehind bars Wednesdayin Laredo after he andanother person did notreturn two backhoes theyhad rented, authoritiessaid.

Antonio Garcia, 62, ofLaredo, and Juan Anto-nio Garcia, 36, of Zapata,were each served withwarrants charging themwith theft of service afterthey turned themselvesin at police headquarters.

LAREDO

A. GARCIA J. GARCIA

Zapata manbehind bars

Two suspects fail to return backhoes,charged with theft of service

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See THEFT PAGE 12A

DALLAS — No oneknows just how manymore Steven Chaneysare sitting in Texas pris-ons — men and womenconvicted of crimesbased on outdated dentalanalysis that scientistsnow say is nonsense.

In some ways, Chaneywas one of the luckyones. He was releasedfrom prison two weeksago after a Dallas Coun-ty district judge agreedhis murder convictionand life sentence in a1987 double homicidewere based on unreliablescientific conclusionsabout his teeth. He got ashot at freedom becausedefense lawyers and theDallas County Convic-tion Integrity Unit iden-tified his case and setabout investigating thebite-mark evidence thathad secured his convic-tion.

The Dallas MorningNews reports trackingdown dozens — maybehundreds — of other po-tentially innocent vic-tims of junk sciencewon’t be nearly as easy.There is no central re-pository of cases inwhich bite-mark testimo-ny was key. There’s nodatabase of dentists whotestified about bitemarks. And the cases aremostly decades old, andexperts, defense lawyersand prosecutors havemoved on or died. AsChaney settles into lifeon the outside after justa couple weeks of free-dom — learning to use a

cellphone and the TV re-mote — lawyers andcriminal justice officialsstatewide are trying tofigure out howto find oth-ers likeCha-ney.The

Texas Forensic ScienceCommission, a tinyagency charged withoverseeing the use of sci-ence in courtrooms, isworking to ferret outthose cases while ensur-ing that wrongful convic-tions based on faultybite-mark interpreta-tions don’t continue.

But it’s a lofty task,and the commission,with four employees anda $500,000 annual budget,

TEXAS

CONVICTIONS BASEDON BITE MARKS EYED

By BRANDI GRISSOM ANDJENNIFER EMILY

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

A man with multipledeportations on his recordhas been indicted in a La-redo federal court forpicking up illegal immi-grants in Zapata County,an affidavit states.

On Tuesday, a grand ju-ry charged Miguel IsraelMartinez-Moreno withconspiracy to transportundocumented peoplewithin the United Statesand two counts of attempt

to transport undocument-ed people for financialgain.

Martinez-Moreno, whois a Mexican citizen, hasbeen previously deportedsix times, according to acriminal complaint filedOct. 1.

U.S. Border Patrolagents said they encoun-tered the suspect Sept. 29after receiving a tip of asmall maroon sport utilityvehicle picking up undoc-umented people in the Sal-ado Creek area, off U.S.

83.Agents then pulled over

the vehicle, a Dodge Nitro,and discovered five immi-grants who had enteredthe country illegally,states the complaint. Re-cords identified them ascitizens from Guatemalaand Mexico.

The driver, Martinez-Moreno, allegedly agreedto speak to agents regard-ing the smuggling at-tempt.

Records state a manidentified as “El Perico”

asked Martinez-Moreno ifhe wanted to make somemoney by picking up im-migrants near the rest ar-ea in San Ygnacio.

Martinez-Moreno ex-pected a payment of $100per person smuggled.

Martinez-Moreno, whois in federal detention,could serve up to 10 yearsin prison if he’s convicted.He has arraignment Nov.5.

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

ZAPATA COUNTY

Conspiracy chargeSuspect has been previously deported 6 times

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See BITE MARKS PAGE 12A

““People had made statementsabout the validity of bite marksthat were greatly exaggerated.” DR. ADAM FREEMAN, A FORENSIC ODONTOLOGIST

In this photo taken Oct. 23, Steven Chaney poses for a pho-tograph at Red Lobster in Mesquite, Texas. After nearly 30 yearsin prison, Chaney was released recently after a Dallas Countydistrict judge agreed his murder conviction and life sentence ina 1987 double homicide were based on unreliable scientific con-clusions about his teeth.

Photo by Rose Baca | AP

A grand jury chargeda man who claimed hewas threatened intoguiding a group of illegalimmigrants through theFalcon Lake area in Za-pata County, recordsstate.

An indictment filed

Tuesday charged JesusFrancisco Villanueva-Saldaña with one countof conspiracy to trans-port undocumented im-migrants within theUnited States and twocounts of attempt totransport undocumentedpeople for money.

FALCON LAKE AREA

Man indictedfor guidingimmigrants

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See FALCON PAGE 12A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31Operation Feed the Homeless,

hosted by the Laredo Free Thinkers, atJarvis Plaza from 1 to 3 p.m. Pleasevolunteer time and/or food, drinks,clothing, books, etc. For more informa-tion please visit/message the LaredoFree Thinkers page on Facebook. Oremail Yascee1@yahoo.com.

Pumpkin Patch, First UnitedMethodist Church, 1220 McClellandfrom 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Public invited;admission is free.

Books-A-Million 2nd Annual Zom-bie Walk inside Mall del Norte. From 2p.m.–4 p.m. We invite you to join usfor story time, crafts, games, and final-ly, the Zombie Walk. At 3:30 p.m., wewill gather all participants at the frontof the store, where we will begin thewalk, acting like zombies, with intervalsof music and dance. We will walk fromthe Sears store to Macy’s CenterCourt, returning back to Books-A-Mil-lion. For more information, please con-tact Jessie Hernandez at 324-8205.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2Chess 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 795-2400x2521 for more information.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3Take the challenge and climb the

Rock 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 support group is for familymembers and caregivers taking care ofsomeone who has Alzheimer’s. For in-formation, please call 956-693-9991.

The Les Amis Birthday Club willhave its monthly meeting at the Rama-da Plaza at 11:30 a.m. Hostesses areLily Garza, Aurora Miranda and Ma. Eu-genia Garcia. Honorees are MarthaRangel Bennett, Amparo Garcia andImelda Gonzalez.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5Rummage Sale, First United

Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1120McClelland from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pub-lic invited, and admission is free.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Plan-

etarium shows, 5201 University Blvd. 6p.m.: Earth, Moon and Sun; 7 p.m.:Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.General Admission is $4 for childrenand $5 for adults. Admission is $4 forTAMIU students, faculty and staff. Formore information call 956-326-DOME(3663).

Rummage Sale, First UnitedMethodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1120McClelland from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pub-lic invited, and admission is free.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7“Symphony in the Park: A Tribute

to our Veterans” from 6 p.m. to 8:30p.m. at Blas Castaneda Park onMcPherson Road. This concert is pre-sented by Laredo Philharmonic and theCity of Laredo Parks and Recreation Di-vision. It is free and open to the pub-lic, but donations are graciously ac-cepted. There will be performances bythe TAMIU Mariachi Internacional, theTAMIU Guitar ensemble, a dance exhi-bition from Bel’s Dance Studio andothers. The orchestra will take thestage at 7:30 p.m. Veterans are en-couraged to wear their forces pin, T-shirt, jacket etc.

TAMIU Lamar Bruni Vergara Plan-etarium shows, 5201 University Blvd. 2p.m.: The Little Star that Could; 3p.m.: Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens; 4p.m.: Back to the Moon; 5 p.m.: PinkFloyd’s The Wall. General Admission is$4 for children and $5 for adults. Ad-mission is $4 for TAMIU students, fac-ulty and staff. 2 p.m. show is $1 less.For more information call 956-326-DOME (3663).

Rummage Sale, First UnitedMethodist Church Fellowship Hall, 1120McClelland from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pub-lic invited, and admission is free.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9Chess 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, NOVEMBER 10Take the challenge and climb the

Rock Wall. Free.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Oct. 31,the 304th day of 2015. Thereare 61 days left in the year.This is Halloween. A remind-er: Daylight saving time endsSunday at 2 a.m. local time.Clocks go back one hour.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Oct. 31, 1517, MartinLuther posted his 95 Theseson the door of the WittenbergPalace church, marking thestart of the Protestant Refor-mation in Germany.

On this date:In 1795, English poet John

Keats was born in London.In 1864, Nevada became the

36th state as President Abra-ham Lincoln signed a procla-mation.

In 1887, Nationalist Chineseleader Chiang Kai-shek wasborn in Zhejiang Province.

In 1926, magician HarryHoudini died in Detroit of gan-grene and peritonitis resultingfrom a ruptured appendix.

In 1941, the Navy destroyerUSS Reuben James was torpe-doed by a German U-boat offIceland with the loss of some100 lives, even though theUnited States had not yet en-tered World War II. Work wascompleted on the Mount Rush-more National Memorial inSouth Dakota, begun in 1927.

In 1955, Britain’s PrincessMargaret ended weeks of spec-ulation by announcing shewould not marry Royal AirForce Group Captain PeterTownsend.

In 1961, the body of JosefStalin was removed from Le-nin’s Tomb as part of the Sovi-et Union’s “de-Stalinization”drive.

In 1968, President LyndonB. Johnson ordered a halt toall U.S. bombing of North Viet-nam, saying he hoped forfruitful peace negotiations.

In 1984, Indian Prime Minis-ter Indira Gandhi was assassi-nated by two Sikh (seek) secu-rity guards.

In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990,bound from New York to Cai-ro, crashed off the Massachu-setts coast, killing all 217 peo-ple aboard.

Ten years ago: PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominatedJudge Samuel Alito to the Su-preme Court. Civil rights iconRosa Parks was honored dur-ing a memorial service inWashington, D.C.

Five years ago: A formerteenage al-Qaida fighter, OmarKhadr, was sentenced by amilitary judge at Guantanamoto eight more years in custodyunder the terms of a pleaagreement.

One year ago: Commercialspace tourism suffered a hugesetback when a prototype pas-senger rocket, Virgin Galac-tic’s SpaceShipTwo, explodedduring a test flight, scatteringdebris over the Mojave Desertand killing one pilot while se-riously injuring the other.

Today’s Birthdays: Ac-tress Lee Grant is 90. Formerastronaut Michael Collins is85. Former CBS anchormanDan Rather is 84. Folk singerTom Paxton is 78. Olympicgold medal long-distance run-ner Frank Shorter is 68. Moviedirector Peter Jackson is 54.Actor Dermot Mulroney is 52.Actor Rob Schneider is 51.Country singer Darryl Worleyis 51. Rap performer VanillaIce (aka Rob Van Winkle) is 47.Actress Piper Perabo is 39. Ac-tress Vanessa Marano is 23.Actress-singer Willow Smith is15.

Thought for Today: “Suc-cess is a public affair. Failureis a private funeral.” — Rosa-lind Russell, American actress(1911-1976).

TODAY IN HISTORY

BUDA — Punishing storms and suspectedtornadoes Friday socked an already soddenswath of Texas that was still drying out fromthe remnants of Hurricane Patricia, forcingevacuations and shutting down a gridlocked10-mile stretch of interstate. At least one per-son died and another was missing, author-ities said.

More than 16 inches of rain soaked oneneighborhood and Austin Bergstrom Inter-national Airport suspended all flights after ahalf-foot of water flooded the air traffic con-trol tower. A lazy creek cutting through Tex-as wine country swelled into a rushing tor-rent, sending eight members of a vacation-ing church group scrambling to a secondfloor and awaiting rescue from the NationalGuard.

Powerful winds tossed a trailer from anRV park onto the roof of a three-story Holi-day Inn. Abandoned cars, many submergedin water, littered backroads that weary driv-ers risked after heavy downpours flooded In-terstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin,closing one of the busiest stretch of road-ways in the U.S.

The body of a driver who went missing infloodwaters was later found in a hard-hit ar-ea near the airport, the Travis County Emer-gency Management Office said. It was thefirst apparent casualty of torrential rainsthat have pummeled Central Texas in thespan of a week.

Another woman remained missing else-where.

Last weekend, storms from Patricia’s Cate-gory 5 aftermath dumped nearly a foot ofrain in parts of the same region.

AROUND TEXAS

Rescue workers bring out Lana Hauger, 4, right, and Selena Esensee and her son, Loki, 4, not seen, after waters rose aroundEsensee’s home leaving them unable to get out in the Bluff Springs neighborhood, Friday, in Austin, Texas. A fast-movingstorm packing heavy rain and destructive winds overwhelmed rivers and prompted evacuations Friday.

Photo by Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman | AP

1 dead after heavy stormsBy PAUL J. WEBER AND SETH ROBBINS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mexican guilty over $2Min meth in veggie loadMcALLEN — A Mexican

trucker faces up to life in a U.S.prison for smuggling nearly $2million worth of methampheta-mine into Texas in a rig haulingsquash and other vegetables.

Daniel Salvador Gomez-Reyesof Reynosa, Mexico, pleadedguilty Thursday to a charge re-lated to transporting a controlledsubstance.

Last person jailed in Wacoshooting to be releasedFORT WORTH — The last per-

son jailed in connection with adeadly shootout among bikersand police outside a Waco, Texas,restaurant is poised to be re-leased from jail. The move comesmore than five months after au-thorities rounded up 177 peoplefrom the crime scene. Nine peo-ple died and 20 were injured dur-ing the shooting. A Waco jail wasprocessing 38-year-old MarcusPilkington’s release Friday.

Suspect in custody after FBI agent shot

LUBBOCK — An FBI agent ishospitalized after he was shotwhile attempting an arrest on aWest Texas dirt back road.

The Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety says Mike Orndorff, aLubbock-based FBI agent, waspart of a multijurisdictionalgroup working to arrest a manabout 10 p.m. Thursday on a dirtroad.

Remains found at home;investigation opened

DALLAS — Dallas authoritiessay they have opened a homicideinvestigation after human re-mains were found in the yard ofan Oak Cliff home last month.

Dallas police said that theycould not confirm whether theremains found at the home onSept. 24 are those of the formerowner, who has not been seen orheard from since April.

The remains are now in thecustody of the medical examiner.

Kayakers rescued during heavy waves

FREEPORT — The CoastGuard says three kayakers hasbeen treated and released afterbeing caught in storms and highwaves in the Gulf of Mexico offFreeport.

Two kayakers were rescuedFriday morning about one-halfmile off the mouth of the BrazosRiver. The third man reachedshore on his own.

Boy found with detailedplan to attack school

DALLAS — A 12-year-old boyis accused of plotting to shootstudents and others at his Dallascharter school after he wasfound clutching a detailed dia-gram outlining the planned at-tack, a police commander said.

The plan was uncovered whenthe boy showed the handwrittendiagram to another student whothen alerted administrators atTrinity Basin Preparatory.

— Compiled from AP reports

Star Wars costume forson with cerebral palsySALT LAKE CITY — A Star

Wars-loving Utah family devisedan elaborate and awe-inspiringsolution to the challenge of find-ing a Halloween costume fortheir 5-year-old son with cerebralpalsy.

Chantelle and Patrick Baileybuilt a detailed replica of theMillennium Falcon that fitsaround Sebastian Bailey’s walk-er. It is made of corrugated plas-tic with a wood foundation. Itfeatures blue lights in the backand headlights in the front tomatch the famous spaceship.

Hit the snooze: Extra hour of sleep tonight

WASHINGTON — Most peoplein the United States are set tofall back into standard time andgain an extra hour of sleep thisweekend.

The annual change comes at 2

a.m. local time Sunday, but mostpeople usually set their clocksback before heading to bed Sat-urday night. The shift moves onehour of daylight to the morningfrom the evening.

Residents of Hawaii, most ofArizona and some U.S. territo-

ries don’t have to change becausethose places don’t observe day-light saving time.

Daylight saving time returnsat 2 a.m. local time the secondSunday in March — for 2016,that comes March 13.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

In this Oct. 27 photo, provided by Chantelle Bailey, Sebastian Bailey, 5, who hascerebral palsy, stands in his Halloween costume dressed as Han Solo aboard theMillennium Falcon from the original "Star Wars" movies in Sandy, Utah.

Photo courtesy of Chantelle Bailey | AP

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

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

ditch, I saw that the "darkfur" was actually a wom-an’s black pants. A neigh-bor had walked by andhad been chatting withthe man when the dogbroke free and attackedher. Her shoes and hathad been knocked off,and she was lying therein complete shock. Themuscles, tendons and fathad been ripped out ofher arm, and some pieceshad landed on her shirtand in the ditch next toher. It looked like a sceneout of "The WalkingDead."

Firefighters, police offi-cers and an ambulancewere soon on the scene.They treated the womanfor a while and then pre-pared her to be transport-ed to a trauma center. Itwas around that time thatthe shock wore off andshe began to feel thepain. I will never get theimage of her arm or thesound of her cries of painout of my head.

I don’t have any friendsor family nearby whoown pit bulls. Before this,I had never even interact-ed with them. So I didn’thave any perspectivewhenever I read aboutPETA’s stance on pitbulls. My experienceswith PETA’s fieldworkerschanged that.

The measures that PE-TA supports — mandato-ry spay/neuter laws forpit bulls and requiredminimum standards ofhumane care for them —would greatly help thosesweet, sad dogs I met onmy first day, who wereliving among garbage andtheir own waste. Theywould also help the pup-py I saw with a chainaround his neck thatweighed more than he didand the pit bull keptlocked inside a bedroomwho will now most likelybe euthanized becauseshe attacked someone. It’seasy to feel that you’reright in saying, "Don’tdiscriminate againstpits," when you don’t seethis sort of thing everyday as PETA’s fieldwork-ers do.

Breed-specific protec-tion for pit bulls would al-so help people like thehuman victim here, whowill probably never havefull use of her arm again— if her arm can besaved at all.

Alexandra Phillips is asocial media assistant forPeople for the EthicalTreatment of Animals, 501Front St., Norfolk, VA23510; www.PETA.org.

As a social media as-sistant for People for theEthical Treatment of Ani-mals, I spend most of mydays responding to peoplewho post comments orquestions on PETA’s Face-book and Twitter pages.But I recently visited PE-TA’s headquarters in Nor-folk, Va., the Sam SimonCenter, and volunteeredwith our fieldworkers fortwo days. This experiencemade it clear to me whyPETA supports breed-spe-cific protection measuresfor pit bulls — namelylaws mandating thatthese dogs be spayed orneutered and that ownersmeet minimum standardsof care, including nochaining.

Both days were spentin rural North Carolina,mostly checking up ondogs PETA’s fieldworkershave been working tohelp. On the first day, Imet so many sweet dogs,mostly pit bulls. It washeartbreaking to see a lit-tle pit-mix puppy so des-perate for love that he ig-nored dog treats in orderto keep having his tum-my rubbed. The puppy’smother had no shelter.PETA had previously pro-vided her with a dog-house, and it was still onthe property, but she iskept chained and couldn’treach it. It took us lessthan 10 minutes to movethe doghouse over towhere the dog was nowchained — a task thatseemed to perplex herowners. We left both dogswith full stomachs, freshwater, straw and shelter.At houses on either sideof this one, there weremore dogs in the exactsame situation.

My second day startedoff much differently. Ourfirst stop was a homewith four dogs, two insideand two kept chained out-side. The owner broughtout a pit bull he said hadbeen "rescued" from adogfighting ring. She keptlunging toward us, andthe owner kept saying,"She’s so mean. This iswhy we keep her lockedin a bedroom."

Next thing I knew, Iheard shouting andlooked over at what Ithought was the pit bullattacking another animal.I saw what looked like thedark fur of a lifeless ani-mal lying in a ditch. Theman pulled the pit bulloff and took her inside.When I ran over to the

COMMENTARY

What I learnedabout pit bulls

By ALEXANDRA PHILLIPSTRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

OTHER VIEWS

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

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

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

So after all the meshugason the right over the pastfew years, the Republicanscould wind up with twonew leaders going into thiselection, Marco Rubio andPaul Ryan. That’s a prettyexcellent outcome for a par-ty that has shown an amaz-ing tendency to inflict self-harm.

Ryan is the new Housespeaker and right now Ru-bio is the most likely presi-dential nominee. The shapeof the presidential cam-paign is coming into focus.It’s still wise to expect(pray) that the celebritycandidates will fade as theshopping phase ends andthe buying phase begins.

Voters don’t have toknow the details of theirnominee’s agenda, but theyhave to know that the can-didate is capable of havingan agenda. Donald Trumpand Ben Carson go invisi-ble when the subject of ac-tual governance comes up.

Jeb Bush’s problems aretemperamental and thusmost likely permanent. Hewould probably be a veryeffective president. And hewould have been a very ef-fective candidate — but in1956. These are harshertimes.

Ted Cruz looks likely toemerge as the candidate ofthe disaffected white work-ing class — the noncollege-educated voters who arenow registering their alien-ation and distrust withTrump. But there aren’tenough of those voters inthe primary electorate tobeat Rubio, and Cruz just

isn’t likable enough tobuild a national campaignaround. Rubio, meanwhile,has no natural enemiesanywhere in the party, hehas truly impressive natu-ral skills and his greatestweakness is his greateststrength: his youth.

While other candidatesare repeating the formulasof the 1980s and 1990s, Ru-bio is a child of this centu-ry. He understands that it’sno longer enough to cuttaxes and say bad thingsabout government to pro-duce widespread prosperity.In a series of major policyspeeches over the past twoyears (he’s one of the fewcandidates who actuallygives them), Rubio has em-phasized that new structur-al problems threaten theAmerican dream: technolo-gy displacing workers, glob-alization suppressing wag-es and the decline of mar-riage widening inequality.

His proposals reflect thisawareness. At this stage it’sprobably not sensible to gettoo worked up about the de-tails of any candidate’splans. They are all wildlyunaffordable. What mattersis how a candidate signalspriorities. Rubio talks spe-cifically about targetingpolicies to boost middle-and lower-middle-class liv-ing standards.

For example, Rubio’s tax

policy starts where all Re-publican plans start. Hewould simplify the taxcode, reduce rates andmove us toward a consump-tion-based system by reduc-ing taxes on investment.

But he understands thatoverall growth no longertranslates directly to betterwages. He adds a big $2,500child tax credit that is con-troversial among conserva-tive economists, but thatwould make life easier forworking families.

His anti-poverty pro-grams are the biggest de-parture from traditionalRepublicanism. America al-ready spends a fair bit ofmoney aiding the poor —enough to lift most familiesout of poverty if we simplywrote them checks. But themoney flows through ahodgepodge of programsand creates perverse incen-tives. People are often bet-ter off over all if they relyon government rather thangetting an entry-level job.As Oren Cass of the Man-hattan Institute has pointedout, there are two millionfewer Americans workingtoday than before the reces-sion and two million morereceiving disabilities bene-fits.

Influenced by Cass’work, Rubio has tried to of-fer people who aren’t work-ing some basic security,while also championingwage subsidies that wouldencourage people to get en-try-level jobs. The idea is toreward people who get onthe ladder of opportunity,and to compensate for the

decline in low-skill wages.Rubio would reform the

earned-income tax creditand extend it to cover child-less workers. He would alsoconvert most federal wel-fare spending into a “flexfund” that would gostraight to the states. Rulesfor these programs wouldno longer be written inWashington. The stateagencies that implementwelfare policies would havemore freedom to designthem. He’d maintain over-all welfare spending, adjust-ing it for inflation and pov-erty levels, but he’d allowmore room for experimen-tation.

Republican debates rare-ly touch on education forsome reason, but Rubio al-so has a slew of ideas to re-form it. He says the highereducation system is con-trolled by a cartel of well-established institutions thatblock low-cost competitorsfrom entering the market.He wants student loan coststo be based on an afforda-ble percentage of a person’sincome.

Of all the candidates, Ru-bio has done the most toharvest the work of ReformConservatism, which hasbeen sweeping through thethink tank world. In a yearin which many candidatesare all marketing, Rubio isa balance of marketing andproduct.

If Ryan and Rubio doemerge as the party’s twoleaders, it will be the won-kiest leadership team inour lifetime. That’s a goodthing.

COLUMN

The Ryan and Rubio moment“DAVID BROOKS

To the editor:Halloween is today,

and as usual, I’m prepar-ing my office and send-ing my deputies to be pa-trolling neighborhoodsand subdivisions to en-sure that everyone has ahappy and safe evening.

This is traditionallyan exciting time for chil-dren and can be enjoya-ble for all. Our kidsdress up in creative cos-tumes, go out into thecommunity at night andget free candy.

What could be betterthan that? Some will car-ry wonderful Halloweenmemories for the rest oftheir lives. Let’s keep itthat way!

The following aresome safety tips thatmay make your trick-or-treating more safe andenjoyable:

Always accompanychildren when trick-or-treating.

Chose brightly col-

ored costumes or add re-flective tape to costumesallowing better night-time visibility.

Glow sticks or flash-lights are a good way tobetter illuminate the ar-ea as kids trick or treat.

Only approachhomes with lit porchlights or ones clearly in-viting trick-or-treating.

Walk, don’t run, askids move from house tohouse. Walk in pairs, usethe buddy system.

Inspect all candy af-ter children return hometo assure it is safe.

Stay alert — havefun and wave at the dep-uties as you see themout patrolling.

Sheriff ’s Office: 956-765-9960, or ZapataCrime Stoppers: 956-765-8477

In case of emergency,dial 911.

Sincerely,Alonso M. LopezZapata County Sheriff

YOUR OPINIONA Halloween message and safety tips from

Zapata County Sheriff Alonso M. Lopez

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

SUSPENDEN CLASESEl lunes 2 de noviem-

bre no habrá clases en es-cuelas de Tamaulipas, peroautoridades dijeron que conel fin de dar cumplimiento alos 200 días escolares quemarca la Normalidad MínimaEscolar y evitar el ausentis-mo, habrá clases el día 17de diciembre.

“Decidimos intercambiareste día laboral para el 17 dediciembre”, indicó DiódoroGuerra Rodríguez, secretariode educación.

PREVENCIÓN DEL DELITOAgentes de la Policía

Federal en Tamaulipas asegu-raron 3.163 kilos de mari-huana durante una vigilanciaen el tramo Matamoros-en-tronque El Capote, a la altu-ra del kilómetro 024+000.

Oficiales marcaron el altoa un camión tipo caja yaque carecía de placa de cir-culación en la parte delante-ra. Cuando el chofer se de-tiene permite que se inspec-cione la unidad, de acuerdocon el reporte.

Al levantar la puerta tipocortina se descubrieron pa-cas de pastura de donde “sepercibía un olor característi-co a la marihuana”, agrega elreporte. La droga fue locali-zada en 311 paquetes con-feccionados en cinta canela.

El conductor, una personamás, el camión y paquetesfueron puestos a disposicióndel Agente del Ministerio Pú-blico Federal.

PRIVACIÓN DE LA LIBERTADJuan Paulo Reyes So-

telo, de 22 años, Roberto Ló-pez García, de 35, y RobertoLauro Guerra Marín, de 18,fueron detenidos como pro-bables responsables de losdelitos de privación ilegal dela libertad, violación, robo alugar cerrado, entre otros, elmartes en Río Bravo, México.

Agentes de la Policía Mi-nisterial de Tamaulipas dije-ron que una familia afectadapor los sospechosos presentóla denuncia lo que motivóabrir la averiguación previa827/2015.

De acuerdo al reporte, lostres aceptaron que “el día delos hechos, los tres llegaronal domicilio de los afectadosy pistola en mano (de jugue-te) los privaron de la liber-tad, abusaron sexualmentede dos mujeres y luego dedos horas se retiraron lleván-dose varios objetos del do-micilio”.

Autoridades les asegura-ron una pistola de juguetecolor negra, dos máscaras,ocho teléfonos celulares dediferentes marcas, una ta-blet, una laptop, varias bote-llas de licor y varios perfu-mes.

Yohan Alejandro MoraLópez, de 25 años de edad,apodado “El Yohan” o “ElChucho”, fue arrestado comopresunto integrante de ungrupo delincuencial que ope-ra en los municipios de Vic-toria, Hidalgo, Padilla, Güe-mez, San Carlos y El Barre-tal, México.

Oficiales de la Coordina-ción Estatal Antisecuestroslograron la detención el mar-tes en Ciudad Victoria, Méxi-co, por el delito de narco-menudeo.

De acuerdo con el repor-te, Mora López mencionóque recibe órdenes de Cris-tóbal García Estrada, apoda-do “El Moco”. García Estradafue detenido por el Grupo deCoordinación Tamaulipas enseptiembre, junto con trespersonas más.

La detención de “El Mo-co” motivó que autoridadesabrieran nuevas líneas de in-vestigación. Al momento desu arresto, Mora López teníaen su poder 20 dosis demarihuana. El reporte agregaque se encuentra vinculadopor lo menos a un secuestroocurrido este año en CiudadVictoria.

Ribereñaen Breve

Esta semana tres personas fue-ron acusadas en relación con activi-dades relacionadas a inmigrantesilegales en Estados Unidos.

AmenazasUn gran jurado acusó formal-

mente a Jesús Francisco Villanue-va-Saldaña con un cargo de conspi-ración para transportar inmigran-tes indocumentados dentro de losEU y dos cargos por intento paratransportar personas indocumenta-das a cambio de dinero.

Agentes de la Patrulla Fronterizalo arrestaron en las primeras horasdel 11 de octubre después de recibirreportes de varias personas cami-nando hacia Siesta Shores, unasubdivisión en Zapata. Oficiales en-contraron a 15 personas caminandopor la maleza. De acuerdo con unaquerella criminal presentada el 13de octubre, todo el grupo se encon-traba ilegalmente en el país.

Agentes especiales con Investiga-ciones de Seguridad Nacional res-

pondieron para investigar el contra-bando, y Villanueva-Saldaña su-puestamente optó por hablar conlos agentes acerca del incidente.

“(Él) declaró que no le estabanpagando, pero que ellos habíanamenazado a su familia si no cruza-ba al grupo”, indica la querella.

Villanueva-Saldaña, es originariode Mina, Nuevo León, México, y tie-ne programada la lectura de cargospara el 5 de noviembre. Actualmen-te permanece en custodia federal.

AcusaciónMiguel Israel Martínez-Moreno,

quien tiene en sus antecedentesseis deportaciones, fue acusado for-malmente el martes con conspira-ción para transportar personas in-documentadas dentro de los EU ydos cargos por intento de transpor-tar personas indocumentadas paraobtener ganancia económica.

La querella criminal presentadael 1 de octubre indica que agentesde la Patrulla Fronteriza de EU en-contraron al sospechoso el 29 deseptiembre tras recibir una llama-da que indicaba una camioneta pe-

queña, color marrón, estaba reco-giendo personas indocumentadasen el área de Salado Creek, por U.S.83, cerca del área de descanso enSan Ygnacio, en el Condado de Za-pata.

Martínez-Moreno, circulaba enuna Dodge Nitro, y tras ordenárseleque se detuviera, oficiales descu-brieron a cinco inmigrantes – deGuatemala y México – quienes ha-bían entrado al país de manera ile-gal, indica la querella.

Archivos indican que el acusado,un ciudadano mexicano identifica-do como “El Perico”, supuestamen-te dijo que iba a recibir un pago de100 dólares por persona.

Martínez-Moreno tiene progra-mada la lectura de cargos para el 5de noviembre. Actualmente perma-nece en custodia federal.

ConspiraciónAlejandro Leal-Hernández, fue

arrestado el 10 de octubre, y esta se-mana fue acusado con un cargo deconspiración para transportar per-sonas indocumentadas dentro delos EU y dos cargos de intento para

transportar personas indocumen-tadsa para obtener ganancia econó-mica.

Los hechos se desarrollaroncuando agentes de la Patrulla Fron-teriza de EU observaron una DodgeRam, color negra, por Texas 16, cer-ca de Zapata. Ahí observaron loque parecía ser la manga de unachamarra en la cajuela de la camio-neta, entre otras inconsistencias, deacuerdo con una querella criminalpresentada el 13 de octubre.

Cuando agentes intentaron dete-ner el vehículo, varias personas sa-lieron corriendo de la Dodge haciala maleza.

Leal-Hernández y nueve inmi-grantes fueron detenidos, de acuer-do a documentos de la corte. En uninterrogatorio posterior, supuesta-mente él dijo que iba a dejar al gru-po antes del Punto de Revisión dela Patrulla Fronteriza en Hebbron-ville.

Leal-Hernández tiene programa-da la lectura de cargos para el 5 denoviembre. Actualmente permane-ce en custodia federal.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguezen el 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonli-ne.com)

CORTE FEDERAL

ConspiraciónPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera SÁBADO 31 DE OCTUBRE DE 2015

CIUDAD VICTORIA, México— Unabebé estadounidense de un año recibióun disparo en la espalda por parte desoldados mexicanos cuando el vehículoen el que viajaba con su familia, cercade la frontera norte de México, al pare-cer quedó en medio de una patrulla mi-litar y un vehículo de presuntos delin-cuentes durante una persecución.

El delegado de la Procuraduría Gene-ral de la República en el estado de Ta-maulipas, Guadalupe Salinas, dijo queotra bebé de ocho meses que iba en elcarro resultó con rasguños por una ba-la, mientras que una mujer sufrió algu-nas heridas menores por esquirlas ofragmentos de vidrio.

El miércoles, Salinas dijo que las he-ridas de las bebés no ponen en riesgo suvida. La menor que recibió el disparo esatendida en San Antonio.

La mujer herida es la mamá de unade las bebés. Las tres, ciudadanas esta-dounidenses, al parecer visitaban a fa-miliares la semana pasada cuando re-sultaron heridas.

La persecución que derivó en el tiro-teo que las hirió ocurrió hace una sema-na cerca de la localidad de Camargo, enla frontera con Rio Grande City, perolos reportes no habían sido confirma-dos.

El área es dominada por el cartel delGolfo y ha sido escenario de batallas en-tre facciones rivales de esa organizacióny del grupo rival de Los Zetas.

“Iban siguiendo una camioneta losmilitares (y) se atravesó en ese momen-to (la familia)”, dijo Salinas.

Los soldados “creían que eran unosmalhechores y llegaron a su carro y sedieron cuenta que no, que eran mujeres,o sea, las niñas y las señoras”, añadió.

El funcionario dijo que autoridadesmexicanas han estado en contacto conla familia.

La embajada de Estados Unidos enMéxico señaló que sabía de reportes deque un ciudadano estadounidense habíaresultado herido, pero que no podía darmás información debido a políticas deprivacidad.

TAMAULIPAS

Soldadoshieren a tres;

dos bebésASSOCIATED PRESS

A mediados del SigloXVIII José de Escandón yHelguera, conde de SierraGorda, funda Nuevo San-tander, antecedente de Ta-maulipas. Vuelto goberna-dor por designios superio-res, mantiene buen

margen para desempeñar-se a su antojo. Tanto así,que como autoridades mu-nicipales en forma invaria-ble pone a militares subal-ternos, de probada confian-za.

Separado Escandón delcargo y sometido a juiciode residencia, en aquellosrumbos los vecinos esco-gen funcionarios ediliciospor vez primera. El proce-so respectivo se desahogahacia 1768, concediéndose-les “medios cabildos”, que

suman un síndico y dos re-gidores cada uno. Poco lesdura el gusto de la repre-sentatividad democrática,al restablecerse pronto elviejo sistema de corte auto-ritario.

Promulgada en 1812, lacarta magna de Cádiz in-troduce que diputados yconcejales de la monarquíahispana sean definidos“por elección en los pue-blos […] a pluralidad abso-luta de votos”. Con dichopropósito, la Nueva España

en distintas fechas verificalas actividades inherentes,extendidas a los territoriosdel noreste extremo. Decorta vigencia aquí – queademás interrumpe el pa-réntesis autoritario de Fer-nando VII –, ya previene elcódigo gaditano contra el“cohecho o soborno paraque la elección recaiga endeterminada persona”.

Continúa la saga plebis-citaria bajo el imperio queencabeza Agustín de Itur-bide. El “cura o su vicario

[…] certificarán la morali-dad y aptitud de los” candi-datos participantes, indicaun decreto imperial. De es-ta suerte, cuando en 1824surge la república federa-da, convirtiéndose los no-vosantanderinos en tamau-lipecos, bastante incipien-tes resultan las vivenciascomiciales, suponiéndolasexentas de graves defectos.

(Con permiso del autor,según fuera publicado enLa Razón, Tampico,Tamps., el 16 octubre 2015)

COLUMNA

Mercado de sufragios es vicio de antañoNota del Editor: Ésta es la

primera de dos partes acercade antecedentes el acarreo pa-ra compra del voto.

POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Para los creyentes de laVirgen de Guadalupe ySan Juan Diego, este finde semana es significati-

vo.La Carrera de la Antorcha

Guadalupana, acompañada porimágenes de ambos, recorrió lafrontera de Tamaulipas en sucamino hacia New York, dondeesperan arribe el 12 de diciem-bre.

La unión de dos naciones y lasolidaridad con los hermanosmigrantes es el motivo principalpara que miles de personas seden al encuentro de la Virgen deGuadalupe y la pongan en elcentro del acontecimiento de LaAntorcha Guadalupana.

Reafirmando el lema de“Mensajeros por la dignidad deun pueblo dividido por la fronte-ra”, este año el fuego de la an-torcha se encendió el 20 de sep-tiembre ante la presencia de re-

presentantes de todos losEstados que estarán acogiendola llama en sus tierras.

Previo a su arribo a NuevoLaredo, México, el jueves, la An-torcha Guadalupana recorrió lascalles de Miguel Alemán y Nue-va Ciudad Guerrero, México,por segundo año consecutivo.

En Miguel Alemán, el presi-dente municipal Ramiro CortezBarrera transportó la antorchaen un trayecto de cinco kilóme-tros. Junto a él corrieron inte-grantes del club de corredoresde Miguel Alemán. Creyentes dela Virgen de Guadalupe tambiénparticiparon en una Misa cele-brada en la Iglesia San PedroApóstol.

“El mensaje de la caravana vamás allá del sentimiento religio-so y confirma que la hermandadde dos pueblos que se unen porel amor a la madre de los mexi-canos”, expresó Cortez Barrera.

El Arzobispo Edward Egan(1932-2015) inició la tradición elaño 2002 al invitar a un grupo

de jóvenes mexicanos a realizarla primera carrera internacio-nal con salida desde la Ciudadde México y meta en la Catedralde San Patricio en NY.

Por su defensa a los inmi-grantes, Egan logró incrementarel número de feligreses en suDiócesis, e incluso fue quienpresidió la primera misa cele-brada con la llegada de La An-torcha Guadalupana.

De ser una carrera local acargo de Organización Tepeyac,es ahora una carrera internacio-nal.

En tanto, hoy sábado 31 de oc-tubre realizará un recorrido des-de la Iglesia Saint John Neu-mann en Laredo a partir de las5 a.m. para entregarla a Corre-dores con Causa de los Dos La-redos a las 6 a.m. en Loop 20 yCarretera 359. De ahí, la Antor-cha Guadalupana seguirá su ru-ta hacia New York. De no haberimprevistos, la Antorcha Guada-lupana habrá realizado un reco-rrido de 67 días.

FRONTERA

RECORRIDO

El presidente municipal de Miguel Alemán, México, segundo de izquierda a derecha, Ramiro Cortez Barrera, encabezó elrecorrido de la Antorcha Guadalupana por la ciudad. Con él, integrantes del club de corredores de Miguel Alemán.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Miguel Alemán, México

Celebran paso de antorcha guadalupanaPOR KARIME NEVÁREZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES Local & State SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

Two siblings from Lare-do were arrested whiletransporting illegal immi-grants in Zapata County,according to court docu-ments.

Homeland Security In-vestigations special agentssaid Nancy J. Mendoza,26, and her brother, Jona-than J. Mendoza, 19, at-tempted to transport siximmigrants suspected ofentering the country ille-gally.

Records state the sib-lings were arrested follow-ing a call from a con-

cerned citi-zen to U.S.Border Pa-trol agents.The case un-folded Oct.21.

Agentsmanning the

area of South U.S. 83 nearthe Webb and ZapataCounty line were told tobe on the lookout for ablue Ford Expedition sus-pected of being involvedin a human smuggling at-tempt, states the criminalcomplaint filed Oct. 23.

The tip indicated thatthe Expedition had loadedpeople on the side of U.S.

83 near the Dolores Creekarea, a well-known entrypoint for human smug-glers to bring immigrantsinto the United States, re-cords alleged.

Agents said they locat-ed the Expedition andpulled it over after theyobserved several occu-pants moving in the reararea, where the third rowseating was missing.

Authorities identifiedthe driver as Nancy J.Mendoza and Jonathan J.Mendoza as the passenger.Agents said they also dis-covered six people with-out legal documentationto be in the country.

Nancy J. Mendozaagreed talk to HomelandSecurity Investigation spe-cial agents in a post-arrestinterview. She said she ex-pected a $300 payment perimmigrant to transportthe group to Laredo.

Nancy J. Mendozastated she brought herbrother, Jonathan J. Men-doza, along for security.She was to split the earn-ings with him, recordsstate.

Jonathan J. Mendozainvoked his right to an at-torney.

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

Siblings busted for immigrantsBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

J. MENDOZA

A man was indictedTuesday in a Laredo fed-eral court for transport-ing nine illegal immi-grants, according to courtdocuments.

The suspect, AlejandroLeal-Hernandez, wascharged with one count ofconspiracy to transportundocumented peoplewithin the United Statesand two counts of attemptto transport undocument-ed people for financialgain.

Federal authorities ar-rested him Oct. 10.

The case unfolded whenU.S. Border Patrol agentsspotted a black DodgeRam along Texas 16 nearZapata.

Agents said they ob-served what appeared tobe a sleeve of a jacket orsome other clothing itemflapping in the bed of theDodge, according to acriminal complaint filedOct. 13.

Records alleged agentsalso noticed some incon-

sistencies with the DodgeRam — an aftermarketlift kit, lack of companylogos, among other fac-tors.

When agents attemptedto pull over the vehicle,the Dodge swerved in andout of the road. Then,several people ran awayfrom the vehicle towardthe brush.

Agents said they de-tained the driver, Leal-Hernandez, and nine im-migrants who had en-tered the country illegal-ly, according to courtdocuments.

In a post-arrest inter-view, Leal-Hernandez al-legedly said he intendedto drop off the group be-fore the HebbronvilleBorder Patrol Check-point.

Leal-Hernandez re-mains in federal deten-tion. He has arraignmentNov. 5. If convicted, hecould serve up to 10 yearsin prison.

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

FEDERAL COURT

Man indictedfor transporting9 immigrants

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

Everything is bigger inTexas. Its honky tonks. Itshighway system. Its windpower industry. Its oil in-dustry. And even, a newreport says, its carbondioxide emissions.

Texas emitted morecarbon dioxide fromburning energy in 2013than it did at any pointsince 2004. And, for atleast the 24th year in arow, the Lone Star Statetops the list of the na-tion’s biggest carbon pol-luters, according to U.S.Energy Information Ad-

ministration.Data released this week

by the administrationshows each state’s energy-related carbon dioxideemissions between 1990and 2013. Texas doesn’tjust top the list, its emis-sions — 641 million met-ric tons of carbon dioxide— are almost doublethose of California, thenation’s second largestcarbon emitter, whichspewed 353 million metrictons of carbon dioxide in-to the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide emis-sions from burning ener-gy — mainly coal, petro-

leum and natural gas —are the driving force be-hind climate change. Re-cent climate policies, suchas the Obama administra-tion’s Clean Power Plan,aim to force states to cuttheir emissions from elec-tric power plants runningon fossil fuels, the na-tion’s largest source ofcarbon emissions.

"The general trend isemissions are down andare stable," EIA analystPerry Lindstrom said.

Emissions fluctuatefrom year to year becauserecent warmer wintershave prevented many resi-

dents from heating theirhomes as intensely insome parts of the country,lowering the energy de-mand, he said.

Renewables, includingwind and solar, are alsoplaying a bigger role instabilizing carbon emis-sions, he said. And, natu-ral gas use for electricpower generation contin-ues to gain ground oncoal, displacing it threetimes so far in 2015 as theleading fuel used in elec-tric power plants. OverallU.S. carbon emissions aredown about 11 percentfrom their 2005 peak.

Texas leads in carbon emissionsASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — An ordi-nance that would estab-lish nondiscriminationprotections for gay andtransgender people inHouston, the nation’sfourth largest city, gotsupport this week fromheavy hitters includingthe White House and hightech giant Apple.

Houston residents willvote Tuesday on the con-tested Houston EqualRights Ordinance.

“While the Administra-tion generally does nottake a formal position onspecific proposals or ini-tiatives, the President andVice President have beenstrong supporters of stateand local efforts to protectAmericans from being dis-criminated against basedon who they are and whothey love,” White Housespokesman Jeff Tiller saidin a statement Thursday.

“We’re confident thatthe citizens of Houstonwill vote in favor of fair-ness and equality.”

Supporters of the ordi-nance say the measurewould not only offer in-creased protections for

gay and transgender peo-ple, but it would provide awealth of protectionsagainst discriminationbased on sex, race, age, re-ligion and other catego-ries.

Opponents, who con-tend the ordinance wouldinfringe on their religiousbeliefs against homosex-uality, have focused theircampaign on labeling itthe “bathroom ordi-nance,” alleging that itwould open the door forsexual predators to go in-to women’s restrooms.The “bathroom ordi-nance” strategy has beencalled highly misleadingby Houston Mayor AnniseParker, who is gay, andother supporters of the or-dinance.

Cupertino, California-based Apple said its“stores and our companyare open to everyone, re-gardless of where theycome from, what they looklike, how they worship orwho they love.”

“Apple supports Propo-sition 1 as it sends a clearmessage that Houston isfocused on a future of in-clusion, diversity and con-tinued prosperity,” thecompany added in its

statement.Apple CEO Tim Cook

came out last year as thefirst openly gay chief exec-utive of a Fortune 500company.

Houston’s ordinance al-so has received supportfrom Democratic presi-dential candidate HillaryRodham Clinton, who onThursday tweeted: “Noone should face discrimi-nation for who they are orwho they love—I supportefforts for equality inHouston & beyond.”

The high-profile sup-port comes as the outcomeof Tuesday’s vote is con-sidered uncertain, withone political expert believ-ing the measure is leaningtoward being defeated.

Robert Stein, a politicalscientist at Rice Universi-ty in Houston, said the or-dinance “could go to de-feat by a big margin” be-cause of possibly heavyRepublican voter turnout.

“That’s probably whyyou have the efforts in thelast days of the election(to show support from)the president, HillaryClinton,” he said.

Kevin Nix, a spokesmanfor Houston Unites, thecampaign backing the or-

dinance, said the high-pro-file support will “boostthe momentum as wehead into Tuesday.”

“I think it’s going to bea tight race but we’re feel-ing pretty good,” he said.

Houston Unites an-nounced Friday that othercompanies also have of-fered their support of theordinance, including Gen-eral Electric, Hewlett-Packard and BASF.

But Jared Woodfill, aspokesman for Campaignfor Houston, which isfighting the ordinance,called the big-name sup-port a sign of desperation.

“It’s a Hail Mary passat the last minute that isnot going to work,” hesaid.

Woodfill said opponentsof the ordinance have in-cluded a diverse group ofindividuals, including pas-tors from all denomina-tions and local and stateelected officials.

One of those officials,Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Pa-trick, on Thursday tweet-ed: “HOUSTON: Liberalsfrom Hollywood andWashington, D.C. are try-ing to impose their radi-cal agenda in Texas. VoteNO on Houston’s Prop 1!”

In this Oct. 22 file photo, Houston Mayor Annise Parker, left, greets a supporter at a fundraiser for the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance inHouston. The ordinance, which would establish nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston, got support thisweek from some heavy hitters, including the White House and high tech giant Apple.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP file

White House offers supportfor Houston equal rights

By JUAN A. LOZANOASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON —Nearly a year after theObama administrationlaunched a massive publicrelations campaign to dis-pel rumors of a free passfor immigrant familiescrossing the border ille-gally, internal intelligencefiles from the HomelandSecurity Department sug-gest that effort is failing.

Hundreds of immigrantfamilies caught illegallycrossing the Mexican bor-der between July and Sep-tember told U.S. immigra-tion agents they made thedangerous trip in part be-cause they believed theywould be permitted tostay in the United Statesand collect public bene-fits. The interviews withimmigrants by federalagents were intended tohelp the Obama adminis-tration understand whatmight be driving a puz-zling surge in the num-bers of border crossingsthat started over the sum-mer.

Administration effortsto stop the flow of immi-grant families, primarilyfrom Central America,have included public ser-vice campaigns in Hondu-ras, El Salvador and Gua-temala to highlight thedangers and consequenc-es of making the trek.

The Associated Pressobtained copies of the in-terview summaries,which were compiled inreports by the U.S. Cus-toms and Border Protec-tion’s Office of Intelli-gence. They said hun-dreds of people travelingas part of families consis-

tently cited opportunitiesto obtain permission tostay in the U.S., claim asy-lum and receive unspeci-fied benefits. Immigrantsspoke of “permisos,” or apass to come into theUnited States.

The report “is not in-tended to be a comprehen-sive analysis of the situa-tion,” said departmentspokeswoman Marsha Ca-tron, adding that troublesin the immigrants’ homecountries likely contribut-ed to their flight as well.

Although the Obamaadministration has ex-plained that immigrantswho cross the U.S. borderillegally can be deported,lengthy backlogs of morethan 456,000 cases meanthat immigrants can effec-tively remain in the U.S.for years before a judgedecides whether theyshould leave the country.Also, recent court rulingshave complicated the gov-ernment’s plans to holdfamilies in immigrationjails pending deportationproceedings. Immigrantsliving in the U.S. illegallygenerally are not eligiblefor public benefits, exceptthat children may receivefree or reduced meals inpublic schools.

Homeland Security Sec-retary Jeh Johnson saidthe rising number of bor-der crossings by familiesand children was due to“push factors” in CentralAmerica, such as crimeand violence. He said theObama administrationwants to invest $1 billionin Central America to ad-dress the underlying prob-lems that push familiesand children out of Cen-tral America.

Immigrantsbelieve they

can stay in USBy ALICIA A. CALDWELL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

Graciela "Grace" Hino-josa, age 77, of Sylvania,passed away unexpectedlyon Wednesday, Oct. 28,2015 at her home.

Grace was born July 23,1938 in Zapata, Texas toFabian and Sara (Gon-zales) Morales and was amember of Sylvania St.Joseph Church.

Grace met her husband,Roy, in Blissfield, Michi-gan in 1956 at a dance andwere married a year later.She loved to cook, playcards and bingo. She alsoloved her Mexican soapoperas and was famousfor making tamales andSpanish rice for familyand friends at Christmas.Grace enjoyed hearingabout her grandchildren’sdaily activities and en-joyed receiving cards,gifts, and hand paintingsfrom them. She was a ve-ry generous person andtook great pride in spend-ing time with her family.

Grace was preceded indeath by her parents. Sheis survived by her lovinghusband, Raul "Roy" Hino-josa; daughters, Cyndi(Mark) Wright and Anna

(Tim) Koelsch; grandchil-dren, William, Kelly(Tom), Sara, and Angel;brothers, Larry, Xavierand David Morales; andmany nieces and neph-ews.

The family will receiveguests Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. atNewcomer Funeral Home– NW Chapel, 4150 W. Las-key Rd., 419-473-0300, witha Rosary to be recited at 5p.m. Funeral Services willbegin Monday at 12 p.m.at the funeral home fol-lowed by a Committal Ser-vice at Ravine Cemetery.

GRACIELA ‘GRACE’ HINOJOSA

Died Oct. 28, 2015

Serapio Bautista, 80,passed away on Thursday,Oct. 29, 2015 at LaredoMedical Center in Laredo,Texas.

Mr. Bautista is precededin death by his son, Baby,Eliazar Bautista; parents,Serapio and ValentinaBautista; brothers, VictorBautista, Antonio Bautis-ta, Amador Bautista; andsisters, Francisca B. Gon-zalez, Santos B. Cerberaand Margarita B. Zamora.

Mr. Bautista is survivedby his wife, Amelia Bau-tista; sons, Roel (VeronicaTorres) Bautista, Ovidio(Luz) Bautista, Javier(San Juanita) Bautista,Ricky Garcia; daughters,Sonia Bautista, Sylvia(Humberto) Bautista; 18grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; sister, Ma-ria De Los Angeles Bautis-ta and by numerous otherfamily members andfriends.

Visitation hours will beheld on Sunday, Nov. 1,2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.with a rosary at 7 p.m. atRose Garden FuneralHome.

The funeral processionwill depart on Monday,Nov. 2, 2015, at 9:30 a.m.

for a 10 a.m. funeral Massat Our Lady of LourdesCatholic Church.

Committal services willfollow at Zapata CountyCemetery.

Funeral arrangementsare under the direction ofRose Garden FuneralHome Daniel A. Gonzalez,funeral director, 2102 N.U.S. Hwy 83 Zapata, Tex-as.

SERAPIO BAUTISTA

March 11, 1935 - Oct. 29, 2015

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart and Target, two ofthe biggest U.S. retailers,on Thursday rolled outplans to lure shoppers intostores during the holidayseason that includes dis-counts, stepped-up market-ing and spiffed up stores.

The moves illustratehow important the holidayshopping season is to re-tailers. It’s a roughly two-month period that ac-counts on average for 20percent of the retail indus-try’s annual sales.

Wal-Mart and Target, inparticular, have a lot toprove this holiday season.Both are heading into theholiday shopping seasonwith turnaround plansthey launched after beingbattered by the economyand their own mistakes.

Target’s turnaround isgaining more traction thanWal-Mart’s. In August, Tar-get raised its annual profitfor the year and reportedits fourth straight gain inrevenue at stores open atleast a year, a key industryfigure. The results are evi-dence that CEO Brian Cor-nell’s efforts to spruce upTarget’s fashions andhome decor are paying off.

Meanwhile, Wal-Martannounced earlier thismonth that revenue for thecurrent fiscal year wouldbe flat, down from its pre-vious forecast for salesgrowth of 1 percent to 2percent. And it now ex-pects profit to fall as muchas 12 percent for next fis-cal year as spending on e-commerce operations andhigher wages squeeze thebottom line.

This comes as Wal-Mart’s U.S. CEO Greg Fo-ran is spearheading a ma-jor overhaul of the storesthat includes basics likemaking sure stores arecleaner and well stocked.

Here’s what shopperscan expect from both re-tailers during this holidayseason:

DiscountsBoth Wal-Mart and Tar-

get said discounting willbe key. Wal-Mart says itwill be offering price cuts,or what it refers to as“rollbacks,” starting Nov.1, on thousands of holidayproducts that will last atleast 90 days. That’s thesame time as a year ago. Italso says it will offer fewer“weekend” only deals.

Target didn’t providespecifics on its discount-ing, but in late Septemberit said it would match itsonline prices with morethan two dozen onlinecompetitors.

Free shippingWal-Mart is sticking

with free shipping with a$50 minimum — the sameas last year. The retailer isencouraging online shop-pers whose orders fall be-low the minimum to pickthem up at the store.

Target is bringing backfree shipping for the holi-days — without any re-strictions. It will waive the$25 minimum thresholdstarting Nov. 1 and it willend Dec. 25. Last week,Best Buy, the nation’slargest consumer electron-ics chain, said that itwould drop its $35 mini-mum to qualify for freeshipping.

Changes in storesWal-Mart will have

workers demonstrate toys,and there’ll be more foodtastings. And they’ll becarols playing too. It’s partof its plan to add more the-ater to the stores.

Meanwhile, Target isfeaturing its mascot, a

white bulldog with thetrademark red bullseyepainted on him, through-out the store more promi-nently. And the retailer isoverhauling the front areaof the store that is stockedwith $1 to $5 items andbranding it under “Bull-seye’s Playground.” Forthe holiday season, shop-pers will find gift wrapand stocking stuffers there.

In time for the winterholidays, Target will haveexperts working the storeto make sure the productsare displayed correctly andthat mannequins have cur-rent fashions.

Other things they’redoing

Wal-Mart unveiled anew tool on its mobile appin time for the holiday sea-son. The app allows onlineshoppers to check in whenthey arrive at the store topick up their orders. Itsaid that it expects nearly75 percent of traffic to itswebsite to come from amobile device this holidayseason.

That’s up from 70 per-cent a year ago. Targetsaid starting next week,121 of its 1,800 stores willoffer curbside pickup, upfrom the current 21.

Target is unveiling anew holiday campaigncalled “The Holiday Odys-sey,” a season-long talethat involves three kids,Target’s mascot Bullseyeand their quest to light ahuge holiday tree. Thecampaign will be rolledout on TV and on its web-site and will include Legoand Ninja Turtle charac-ters.

Retailers plan for holidaysBy ANNE D’INNOCENZIO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this Nov. 28, 2014 file photo, Target customers shop shortly af-ter midnight on Black Friday, in South Portland, Maine.

Photo by Robert F. Bukaty | AP

DALLAS — Exxon Mo-bil Corp. posted its worstthird quarter in 12 yearsdue to low oil prices butstill earned $4.24 billion,beating Wall Street expec-tations.

Exxon’s earnings fromexploration and produc-tion continued to slide,especially in the UnitedStates. However, profitdoubled in the refiningend of its business onstronger margins, andthe chemicals segmentwas steady.

Exxon Mobil is dealingwith oil prices that havedropped by half sinceJune 2014 and have re-mained lower for longerthan most industry ex-perts expected. With pro-duction outstripped mod-est demand growth, it’sunclear when prices willstart rising.

CEO Rex Tillersonpledged a “relentless fo-cus” on controlling costs.The company slashedcapital and explorationspending by about one-fifth from a year ago, butit spent more on share-holder dividends.

The oil giant reportedFriday that third-quarter

profit slid 47 percentfrom the same period lastyear and was the smallestthird-quarter gain since2003, when oil priceswere around $30 a barrel.

The earnings workedout to $1.10 per share.That beat the average es-timates of analysts sur-veyed by Zacks Invest-

ment Research and Fact-Set, who predicted 89cents per share.

Revenue dropped 37percent to $67.34 billion.The FactSet analysts hadexpected $61.71 billion.

Exxon’s profit from ex-ploration and productiondropped from $6.5 billionto $1.4 billion, including aloss of $442 million in theU.S. Production rose dueto new projects in theU.S., Canada and else-where.

So-called downstreamearnings from refiningand selling petroleumproducts jumped from $1billion to $2 billion onhigher refining margins.

In morning trading,shares of the Irving, Tex-as-based company rose 28cents to $82.51. They end-ed Thursday down 11 per-cent this year while theStandard & Poor’s 500 in-dex had climbed 1.5 per-cent.

Exxon profit falls by nearly halfBy DAVID KOENIG

ASSOCIATED PRESS

This April 29, 2014, file photo shows an Exxon sign at a mini-martin Dormont, Pa. Exxon Mobil reported quarterly financial resultson Friday.

Photo by Gene J. Puskar | AP file

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES National SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

WASHINGTON — Con-gress sent President BarackObama a bipartisan budgetaccord Friday that staves offa destabilizing U.S. default,eases the threat of a federalshutdown and spotlights thepitfalls — and opportunities— posed by the currentbrand of divided govern-ment.

The Senate used a post-midnight, 64-35 vote to shipthe package to the WhiteHouse. The House approvedthe measure two days earli-er by a similarly comfort-able 266-167 margin, andObama plans to sign itMonday.

Yet those no-sweat votesmasked turmoil beneath thesurface. The Republicanswho run Congress opposedthe legislation by a 2-1 edgein each chamber, telegraph-ing challenges ahead forObama, Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnelland their new governingpartner, House SpeakerPaul Ryan.

Here’s the roadmap:

What’s in the budgetagreement?

There’s an extra $50 bil-lion this year and $30 bil-lion next year for spending,split between defense anddomestic programs. That’smoderately more than the$1.1 trillion annually thegovernment alreadyplanned to spend.

There’ll be no huge in-crease in Medicare premi-ums for doctor’s care thatwould have hit 15 millionpeople, or cuts in 11 milliondisabled workers’ Social Se-curity disability benefits.

Savings include trim-ming future Medicare reim-bursements to some health-care providers, selling oilfrom the Strategic Petro-leum Reserve and boostingsome employers’ costs forinsuring workers’ pensions.

Most importantly, the ex-tra dollars make it likelyCongress will fund the gov-ernment after Dec. 11, whenagencies otherwise wouldrun out of money andwould have to close. Andthe Treasury Departmentwas given authority to bor-row money until March2017 — avoiding a first-everfederal default next week,

which economists warncould badly wound the econ-omy.

Yet the deal underscoresthe boundaries on how farthe two parties can getthese days.

Its major achievementwas to avoid two awful sce-narios that most in Wash-ington were desperate toavoid. Its contents are mod-est, falling shy of the biggerspending boosts Democratswould love to win and lack-ing far larger savings Re-publicans would love towring from giant entitle-ment programs like SocialSecurity and Medicare.

But smooth sailingahead, right?

Please.Lawmakers still must ap-

prove additional legislationby Dec. 11 detailing howmuch money each agencywill get, and for which pro-grams.

Initial versions of thosebills contain GOP-writtenprovisions that Obama andDemocrats consider non-starters. That includes lan-guage to block federal fundsfor Planned Parenthood,curb enforcement of cleanair and water rules, hinderObama’s efforts to improvetrade with Cuba, undo con-trols over financial institu-tions enacted after the GreatRecession and underminethe president’s health careoverhaul.

In a statement Fridaypraising the budget pact,Obama signaled confronta-tions ahead, warning Re-publicans against “gettingsidetracked by ideologicalprovisions.”

Those rambunctiousRepublicans

This week’s votes showedthe juggling facing McCon-nell, R-Ky., and Ryan, R-Wis.,when it comes to winningGOP votes for bills Obamawould sign.

Not that getting his signa-ture is always a priority. Ap-proaching the 2016 electionyear, Republicans would behappy to push bills throughCongress highlighting GOPpriorities if they can, eventhough Obama wouldn’t letthem become law.

But when it comes to cut-ting deals with the presi-dent that GOP leaders thinkwill benefit their party —like avoiding a shutdown ordefault — plenty of Republi-cans have little motivationto cooperate, especiallywhen they know others willprovide the votes to get thebills through.

Hardcore conservatives,like the few dozen membersof the House Freedom Cau-cus, have deep ideologicaldifferences with Obama.Many, plus other GOP law-makers, represent areaswhose conservative voterscould oust them in a partyprimary if they’re too ac-commodating to the presi-dent. Republican Sens. Rich-ard Burr of North Carolina,Johnny Isakson of Georgia,Rob Portman of Ohio andCharles Grassley of Iowa,mainstream conservativeswith pragmatic streaks,would all like to avoid seri-ous primary challenges nextyear and all opposed thebudget deal.

Sens. Rand Paul of Ken-tucky, Marco Rubio of Flor-ida and Ted Cruz of Texasall opposed the budgetagreement.

Congress OKs budgetBy ALAN FRAM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, speaks asSenate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., left, listens as she talksto reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday.

Photo by Susan Walsh | AP

WASHINGTON — PaulRyan became the 54thspeaker of the U.S. Houseon Thursday in a day ofhigh political theater, ayoung new leader for afractured Congress,charged with healing Re-publican divides and quiet-ing the chaos of CapitolHill.

“Let’s prove ourselvesworthy,” Ryan urged fromthe House dais where hewas sworn into the job,second in line to the presi-dency, after an extraordin-ary month of unrest forCongress.

“We are not settlingscores,” he declared. “Weare wiping the slate clean.”

As Ryan spoke, senatorsacross the Capitol werepreparing to cast votes ona broad two-year budgetand debt deal that passedthe House on Wednesday,engineered largely by out-going Speaker JohnBoehner to allow Ryan afresh start with the tough-est issues resolved.

Ryan, 45, the Republi-cans’ 2012 vice presidentialnominee, was electedspeaker in a rare, live roll-call vote on the Housefloor, with each lawmakerstanding in turn to declarehis choice. The moodmixed solemnity with levi-ty, as Boehner, driven intoresignation by GOP strife,brandished a box of tissuesand repeatedly nearedtears, while some lawmak-ers shouted their votes al-most joyously.

“California cheese-headsfor Paul D. Ryan!” declaredone Western lawmaker,Doug LaMalfa, getting be-hind the Wisconsin con-gressman.

The final tally showed236 votes for Ryan, 184 forMinority Leader Nancy Pe-losi of California, the Dem-ocrats’ candidate, and ninefor Republican DanielWebster of Florida.

Webster had been thechoice of a group of hard-core conservatives whohave repeatedly made trou-

ble for GOP leaders. But inthe end most Republicansswung behind Ryan, un-derscoring the strong de-sire of nearly all membersfor a fresh start after yearsof conflict and GOP in-fighting.

With his wife and threekids from Janesville, Wis-consin, watching on fromthe gallery, along withpresidential running mateMitt Romney, Ryan accept-ed the gavel from Pelosiand pledged a new day forthe Congress. And withoutdirectly mentioning themor the troubles they’vecaused, he promised tobring the GOP’s rebelsback into the fold.

“We need to let everymember contribute — notonce they have earnedtheir stripes but rightnow,” Ryan said. “Open upthe process. Let people par-ticipate. And they mightchange their tune. A ne-glected minority will gumup the works. A respectedminority will work in goodfaith.”

Boehner, who startedlife as an Ohio bartender’sson with 11 siblings, deliv-ered an emotional farewelladdress marveling, “This,too, can really happen toyou.”

Boehner’s parting gift toRyan was the budget dealrevealed Monday night af-ter secretive negotiationsamong congressional lead-ers and the White House.After years of brinkman-ship over the budget and

the debt ceiling, the dealwill raise the government’sborrowing limit, averting amarket-shattering defaultjust days from now, as wellas set budget levels for twoyears, though it will be upto congressional spendingcommittees and SpeakerRyan to fill in the detailswith a package of detailedbills by early December.

Ryan’s swearing-in camealmost exactly a month af-ter Boehner shocked theHouse by revealing hisplans to resign from Con-gress at the end of October.He said he had no appetitefor a floor vote on hisspeakership threatened byconservatives, who con-tended he was yielding toPresident Barack Obamain a government shutdownfight over Planned Parent-hood.

Majority Leader KevinMcCarthy was Boehner’slikeliest successor, but wasquickly undone by a gaffesuggesting the House’s spe-cial Benghazi committeewas set up to drive downHillary Rodham Clinton’spoll numbers.

Party leaders turned toRyan, who had sworn off arun, preferring to continueas chairman of the power-ful tax-writing Ways andMeans Committee. Theyargued that no otherHouse Republican com-manded his national pro-file, ability to unite and tel-egenic knack for commu-nicating conservativeideas.

Ryan becomes speaker

Newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., gavels in theHouse Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday.

Photo by Andrew Harnik | AP

By ERICA WERNERASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Medi-care said Friday it will paydoctors to help patientsplan what kind of carethey want at the end of life— an idea more broadlyaccepted than six yearsago, when it touched off apolitical uproar about“death panels.”

The policy change wasurged by numerous physi-cian and health groups.Some doctors provide this“advance care planning” totheir patients without get-ting paid for the counsel-ing time, and some privateinsurers already reimburse

for it. But the Obama adminis-

tration’s policy changecould make the talks morecommon among about 55million Medicare benefici-aries.

The rule, proposed lastsummer and finalized Fri-day as part of broader doc-tor-payment regulations,takes effect Jan. 1. Thecounseling is entirely vol-untary, and could takeplace during seniors’ an-nual wellness visit, or dur-ing regular office visits.

“As a physician and ason, I personally knowhow important these dis-cussions are for patientsand families,” Dr. Patrick

Conway, Medicare’s chiefmedical officer, said in aninterview. “We believe pa-tients and families deservethe opportunity to discussthese issues with theirphysician and care team.”

Most Americans saythey’d prefer to die athome, with treatment tofree them from pain. Butthe landmark “Dying inAmerica” report from theprestigious Institute ofMedicine found the realitytoo often is unwanted inva-sive care and not enoughcomfort, in part becausetoo few people make theirwishes known to their doc-tors and loved ones.

The movement toward

what’s called advance careplanning also reflects thatthis isn’t just an issue forpeople who already are se-riously ill, but a processthat may prompt differentdecisions at differentstages of life. Involving adoctor in those decisionscan help people fully un-derstand their options. Rel-atively healthy peoplemight want all-out effortsto resuscitate them afteran accident, for example,but might make differentdecisions as advanced can-cer worsens.

Medicare decided not tolimit how often such coun-seling could take place,Conway said, in part be-

cause of feedback fromdoctors and the public thatpeople may need repeatcounseling as their healthneeds change.

“If you made a choiceand you become more ill,you might want to have thediscussion again,” Conwayexplained. “For some pa-tients, it may need to occurmultiple times in a year ifthey’re quite ill and theircircumstances maychange. For other patients,they may not need this ser-vice at all in a year.”

Medicare’s new policy“is a turning point in end-of-life care,” said OregonDemocratic Rep. Earl Blu-menauer, a longtime con-

gressional proponent ofcoverage for such counsel-ing. He said next steps in-clude helping ensure thatadvance directives for allpatients are easily accessi-ble and updated frequently,and that doctors aretrained to have these diffi-cult conversations.

“Ultimately, the care pro-vided must align with thepatient’s stated goals, val-ues and informed prefer-ences,” Blumenauer said.

About three-quarters ofthe people who die eachyear in the U.S. are 65 andolder, making Medicare thelargest insurer at the endof life, according to theKaiser Family Foundation.

Medicare to cover end-of-life counselingBy LAURAN NEERGAARD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 International THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

WARSAW, Poland — Po-land cannot extraditefilmmaker Roman Polan-ski to the U.S. on a chargethat he had sex with a mi-nor nearly four decadesago, a judge ruled Friday,a decision that could final-ly close the case in thecountry where the Oscar-winning director grew upand still makes movies.

“I can breathe now withrelief,” Polanski told re-porters in Krakow, wherethe case was heard. “Ipleaded guilty. I went toprison. I have done mypenalty. The case isclosed.”

The Polish prosecutorwho argued for extradi-tion on behalf of the Unit-ed States did not immedi-ately say whether therewould be an appeal. Thevictim in the case has re-peatedly called for theprosecution to be dropped.

Judge Dariusz Mazur,who ruled in Krakow,where Polanski has hisapartment, said the casewas very complicated butan extradition would vio-late Polanski’s humanrights because he could beheld in confinement whileit was happening.

“I find no rational an-swer to the question:What is the real point ofthe U.S. extradition re-quest?” said Mazur, whospent more than twohours explaining his rea-soning in the court.

Polanski’s attorneyshad argued that the U.S.request was legally flawedand contended he had al-ready served prison timeunder a plea-bargain dealwith a Los Angeles judge.

Polandcannot

extraditePolanski

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKAASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — TheUnited States escalated itsfight against the IslamicState in Syria on Friday,pledging the first open de-ployment of military bootson the ground, even asU.S., Russian and otherdiplomats pressed a newpeace effort that Americahopes will hasten the de-parture of Bashar Assad.

Up to 50 special oper-ations troops will be sentto assist Kurdish and Arabforces in northern Syria,American officials said.The move marks a signifi-cant departure for Presi-dent Barack Obama, whofor years has resisted put-ting ground forces in Syriaeven as he has graduallyintensified the U.S. mili-tary response to whatcounterterrorism officialsworry is a growing IslamicState threat in Syria andIraq.

The troop announce-ment came as diplomats inVienna representing 17countries and the Euro-pean Union agreed tolaunch a broad new peaceattempt to gradually endSyria’s long civil war — adeclaration that avoidedany determination onwhen President Assadmight leave. It is not clearhow many rebel groupswould agree to a plan thatdoesn’t result in Assad’simmediate departure.

Any cease-fire agree-ment that may come as aresult of the peace effortwould not include the Is-lamic State, which controlslarge parts of northern Sy-ria and has its capitalthere.

But the participation byRussia and Iran in the at-tempt could mark a newand promising phase inthe diplomacy since thosecountries have staunchlybacked Assad.

The White House haslong said that Assad’s oust-er is essential to its ulti-mate goal of defeating theIslamic State because the

Syrian president’s brutaltactics against Sunni re-bels have drawn Sunni rad-icals from all over theworld into the militantgroup’s ranks.

The Syrian civil war haskilled more than 250,000people and uprooted morethan 11 million, sparking arefugee crisis throughoutEurope.

Despite killing as manyas 12,000 militants, the U.S.bombing campaign has notsignificantly weakened theIslamic State’s capacity tohold territory, and thegroup’s ranks have beenreplenished by foreignfighters and others.

Military experts sayground troops are essentialfor the fight. A U.S. pro-gram to train Syrians wasabandoned as a failure,and the new deploymentessentially would replacethat program.

Speaking to reportersflying with him on anoverseas trip, Defense Sec-retary Ash Carter said thiswould probably not be thelast significant adjustmentto the anti-IS military cam-paign in Syria and Iraq.

“We are going to contin-ue to innovate, to build upwhat works,” he said.

Friday’s developmentscame as missiles slammedinto a crowded suburb ofthe Syrian capital. The at-tack killed at least 40 peo-ple, activists said. The Syr-

ian Observatory for Hu-man Rights and the LocalCoordination Committeesgroup said governmentforces fired more than 11missiles at a market in thesuburb of Douma.

In Washington, officialssaid the new U.S. forceswill work from headquar-ters locations and won’tmove to the front lines orbe used to call in air-strikes. However, the U.S.has conducted special op-erations raids into Syriabefore now and will contin-ue to do more unilateralraids. It helped Iraqi forcesrescue hostages last week,and Master Sgt. JoshuaWheeler was killed, thefirst U.S. combat death inthat country since 2011.

White House spokesmanJosh Earnest said the newtroops will not be on a“combat mission.”

“There’s no denying theserious risk they will befacing,” Earnest said, buttheir mission will “not beto lead the charge to takethe hill.”

Russia and Syria areconducting airstrikes inthe country, but Earnestsaid it was unlikely theU.S. troops would be atrisk because Russia hasnot bombed in the areawhere they will be.

On Capitol Hill, somelawmakers greeted thetroop announcement withdismay.

US pledges to send troopsBy BRADLEY KLAPPER AND

LOLITA C. BALDORASSOCIATED PRESS

From left, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, UN Special Envoyfor Syria Staffan de Mistura and Secretary of State John Kerry par-ticipate in a news conference in Vienna, Austria, Friday.

Photo by Brendan Smialowski | AP

LESBOS, Greece —Drowned babies and tod-dlers washed onto Greece’sfamed Aegean Sea beaches,and a grim-faced diverpulled a drowned motherand child from a half-sunkboat that was decrepit longbefore it sailed. On shore,bereaved women wailedand stunned-looking fatherscradled their children.

At least 27 people, morethan half of them children,died in waters off GreeceFriday trying to fulfill theirdream of a better life in Eu-rope. The tragedy came twodays after a boat crammedwith 300 people sank offLesbos in one of the worstaccidents of its kind, leav-ing 29 dead.

It won’t be the last.As autumn storms

threaten to make the cross-ing from Turkey even risk-ier and conditions in Mid-dle Eastern refugee campsdeteriorate, ever more refu-gees — mostly Syrians, Af-ghans and Iraqis — arejoining the rush to reachEurope.

More than 60 people, halfof them children, have diedin the past three daysalone, compared with justover a hundred a fewweeks earlier.

Highlighting politicalfriction in the 28-nation Eu-ropean Union, Greece’s left-wing prime minister, AlexisTsipras, cited the horror ofthe new drownings to ac-cuse the block of ineptitudeand hypocrisy in handlingthe crisis.

Hungary’s right-wing for-eign minister, Peter Szijjar-to, used the same word —hypocrisy — about criticsof his country’s fencing offits southern border to keepmigrants out.

Szijjarto described the in-flux as the biggest chal-lenge the EU has everfaced. While that may be anover-statement, the crisishas pitted countries likeGreece, with well over500,000 arrivals so far,against eastern Europeanswho are unwilling to takein refugees — or, like Hun-gary, insist that anyoneleaving a relatively safecountry, such as Turkey orGreece, for a wealthy onelike Germany is by defini-tion an economic migrant.

Speaking in Athens, Tsi-pras accused Europe of an“inability to defend its (hu-manitarian) values” by pro-viding a safe alternative tothe sea journeys.

“The waves of the Ae-gean are not just washingup dead refugees, dead chil-dren, but (also) the very civ-ilization of Europe,” he

said, dismissing Westernshock at the children’sdeaths as “crocodile tears.”

“What about the tens ofthousands of living chil-dren, who are crammingthe roads of migration?” hesaid. “I feel ashamed of Eu-rope’s inability to effective-ly address this human dra-ma, and of the level of de-bate ... where everyone triesto shift responsibility tosomeone else.”

Tsipras’ government hasappealed for more assist-ance from its EU partners.It argues that those tryingto reach Europe should beregistered in camps in Tur-key, then flown directly tohost countries under theEU’s relocation program, tospare them the sea voyage.But it has resisted calls todemolish its own borderfence with Turkey, whichwould also obviate the needto pay smugglers for a tripin a leaky boat.

“My opinion is that atthis stage — for purelypractical reasons — ... theopening of the border fenceis not possible,” Greek Mi-gration Minister YiannisMouzalas said.

“When talking about re-ceiving refugees, it’s not un-der our control — they arecoming,” he told state ERTTV. “So it’s a question ofhow we address this prob-lem. ... We will not put

them in jail or try to drownthem. They will have all therights that they are allowedunder (international) agree-ments and Greek law.”

Greece’s Merchant Ma-rine Ministry said 19 peopledied and 138 were rescuednear the eastern island ofKalymnos early Friday,when a battered woodenpleasure boat capsized.Eleven of the victims werechildren, including threebabies.

At least three more peo-ple — a woman, a child anda baby — died when anoth-er boat sank off the nearbyisland of Rhodes, while anadult drowned off Lesbos.

On the Turkish side, fourchildren drowned and twowere missing after two newaccidents Friday involvingboats en route to the Greekislands of Lesbos and Sa-mos, Turkey’s state-runnews agency said.

Nearly 600 people wererescued by the Greek coastguard in the past 24 hours,while thousands moremade it safely from Turkeyto Greece’s eastern islands.

Far to the west in Spain,rescuers found the bodies offour people and weresearching for 35 missingfrom a boat that ran intotrouble trying to reachSpain from Morocco.

Jean-Christophe Du-mont, head of the migration

division at the Paris-basedOrganization for EconomicCooperation and Develop-ment, said more than a mil-lion people are expected toreach Europe this year.

“For next year I think it’sclear the migration pres-sure will remain,” he said.“It’s not a tap that you canturn on and off. Even if theflow would stop, it wouldactually not stop, becauseyou will see family reunifi-cation — the aftermath ofthe flow of refugees.”

The influx has over-whelmed authorities in fi-nancially struggling Greece.The country is the mainpoint of entry for peoplefleeing war and poverty inthe Middle East and Africa,after an alternative searoute from Libya to Italybecame too dangerous.

Most go to Lesbos, a nor-mally quiet island knownas the olive-producingbirthplace of the ancient po-et Sappho. As residentsgrappled with Wednesday’slatest tragedy, thousands ofnew arrivals crowded intothe main town of Mytileneand makeshift camps near-by, crowding around stallsselling canned food, back-packs, blankets and otherbasics for their long trekacross Europe.

Many slept rough on thewaterfront lined withyachts and rescue vessels.

Migrant tragedy in the Aegean SeaBy DEREK GATOPOULOS AND

NICHOLAS PAPHITISASSOCIATED PRESS

BUCHAREST, Romania— An explosion and ensu-ing flames on a stage at aBucharest nightclub onFriday left 27 people deadand 180 hospitalized withinjuries, Romania’s interi-or minister said.

Interior Minister Ga-briel Oprea said the explo-sion occurred at Colectivclub in downtown Buchar-

est, a city of 3 million peo-ple.

Witnesses told Antena 3TV that there were be-tween 300 to 400 people atthe club when the metalband Goodbye to Gravitywas performing and a “py-rotechnical show” wentawry. The station reportedthat people panicked andrushed for the exit.

Digi 24 television stationcited witnesses who saidthe explosion came after a

spark on stage ignitedsome polystyrene decor.Victor Ionescu, who was atthe club with his girl-friend, told Antena 3 TVby telephone that therewere huge flames after theexplosion.

“People were fainting,they were fainting fromthe smoke. It was totalchaos, people were tram-pling on each other,” hesaid. “It was a tragedy thatcould have been avoided if

there had been more or-ganization from the emer-gency services.”

A young man filmed byAntena 3 said that flamesengulfed clubgoers, burn-ing their skin and hair.

According to the Bu-charest-based metal band’sFacebook page, lead singerAndrei Gault was the 2008winner of “Megastar,” aRomanian show similar to“American Idol.” The bandhas five members and has

released two albums sinceit formed in 2011.

The ministry says therewere 60 ambulances andfire engines sent to thescene and a mobile hospi-tal had been set up outside.Some 50 people were takento the Floreasca emergen-cy hospital, the ministrysaid.

Health Minister NicolaeBanicoiu called for peopleto donate blood to help theinjured.

27 dead in club explosionBy ALISON MUTLERASSOCIATED PRESS

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

can’t do it without help. “We rely on the commu-

nity’s willingness to stepforward and take an intro-spective look at theirwork,” said Lynn Robi-taille Garcia, the ForensicScience Commission’s ex-ecutive director.

Since the 1950s, prosecu-tors have invoked the tes-timony of dentists whocompared molds of sus-pects’ teeth to bite marksleft at a crime scene.

In Chaney’s case, Dr.Jim Hales told the jurythat there was a “one-to-a-million chance” that any-body but the Dallas con-struction worker hadmade a bite mark foundon the body of one of thevictims, John Sweek.(Chaney hasn’t been fullyexonerated, and his caseisn’t finally settled.)

In recent years, though,the nation’s foremost fo-rensic science bodies haveconcluded that no scientif-ic data exists to supportthe notion that such anexact match can be made.

In 2009, the National A-cademy of Sciences pub-lished a report that con-cluded there was insuffi-cient scientific basis toconclusively match bitemarks.

The Associated Press re-ported in 2013 that at least24 people had been exon-erated in cases in whichbite-mark evidence playeda central role in the con-viction.

And even the AmericanBoard of Forensic Odon-tologists, the body thatcertifies dentists who ana-lyze bite marks, has decid-ed the evidence can’t beused to draw strong con-clusions, such as in Cha-ney’s trial.

“People had made state-ments about the validityof bite marks that weregreatly exaggerated,” saidDr. Adam Freeman, a fo-rensic odontologist andthe incoming AmericanBoard of Forensic Odon-tologists president.

Hales, in an affidavit fil-ed with the court, ac-knowledged that the testi-mony he gave in Chaney’scase is inaccurate.

Chaney’s case is likelyto be just the first of manyreviewed.

Exoneration, execution In a set of bizarre Waco

cases, at least three menwere convicted of murder

in trials that hinged ontestimony from the samedentists involved in Cha-ney’s case. Two of themen were exonerated byDNA after spending a to-tal of nearly two decadesin prison.

The third man, DavidSpence, was sentenced todeath and executed in1997. His son, JasonSpence, wants prosecutorsand the commission to re-open the case.

“I want his name clear-ed,” said Spence, wholives in Alabama. “Theytook away my father oversomething he did not do.”

To find more bite-markcases, the Texas ForensicScience Commission willcomb through legal docu-ments available online.They’ll also ask prosecu-tors and defense lawyersto review old cases.

Dallas County DistrictAttorney Susan Hawk isthe first prosecutor in thenation to agree to an in-mate’s release from prisonbecause of faulty dentaltestimony. Other countieshave taken note of theChaney case, and someare reviewing old casesand mulling whether tocontinue using bite-markevidence in prosecutions.

In Tarrant County, pros-ecutors are working withthe medical examiner todetermine how many in-volved bite marks. “Wearen’t expecting it to be alarge number,” said Sa-mantha K. Jordan, aspokeswoman for DistrictAttorney Sharen Wilson.

In Harris County, prose-cutors will no longer goforward with cases inwhich a bite mark is thelone evidence.

Using bite evidence The Forensic Science

Commission has experi-ence with searches forcases involving outdatedscience. But in many ofthose instances the foren-sic work in question wasdone in labs that trackcases in a database.

Bite-mark cases areharder to identify, Robi-taille Garcia said, partlybecause the work wasusually conducted by indi-vidual dentists in their of-fices. No central bank ofrecords in those cases ex-ists. She hopes that the fo-rensic odontologistsboard, which certifiessome, but not all, suchdoctors, can also help.

Freeman, however, saidhis organization wants tohelp, but it did not track

cases in which dentiststestified.

“It’s terrifying to methat somebody could beconvicted wrongfully,”Freeman said. “I wouldlove to have a great solu-tion, and I don’t.”

As if the task of identi-fying potentially inno-cent inmates wasn’tdaunting enough, thecommission must alsoweigh in on whether den-tal analysis should beused in a more limitedscope or rejected alto-gether.

Freeman and the foren-sic odontologists boardargue that bite-mark evi-dence should be used forlimited purposes. Itshould only be used, hesaid, in cases where thesuspects are known andthe bite mark is identifia-ble.

“I wouldn’t say weshould throw it away,” hesaid. “It should be put inthe proper context.”

Lisa Tanner, an assist-ant attorney general whoprosecutes violent casesstatewide, said bitemarks shouldn’t be reliedon as the sole evidence inany case. But she andsome other local prosecu-tors said that in certain

instances the analysis canbe useful.

In 2010, she prosecutedBlaine Milam in the deathof his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter. Thechild had been beaten socatastrophically that themedical examiner couldnot determine which ofthe injuries killed her. Inwhat was described as aneffort to exorcise demonsfrom the baby, Milam andthe child’s mother leftmore than 20 bite markson her tiny body.

“It was the worst thingI’ve ever seen,” Tannersaid.

Evidence in the case, in-cluding DNA analysis,pointed to Milam and thebaby’s mother, JessecaBain Carson. The bite-mark evidence, Tannersaid, helped the jury un-derstand what role eachplayed in the murder.

A bite-mark analysttook molds of Milam’steeth and of Carson’steeth. His were jagged.Hers were straight. Thedentist showed the juryphotos of bruises on thebaby’s elbows, knees,shoulder and neck. Moreof the bite marks, the den-tist said, aligned with Mi-lam’s jagged teeth.

“What the hell kind ofhuman does that?” Tan-ner said. The jury decidedMilam was the kind of hu-man who deserved thedeath penalty. The baby’smother was sentenced tolife without parole.

Milam’s lawyer, ThomasSmith, did not returnphone calls seeking com-ment.

Chaney said he hopeshis case will serve as awarning to other prosecu-tors. He said the evidenceshouldn’t be used underany circumstances.

“It’s not like finger-prints or DNA,” Chaneysaid. “What you are get-ting is somebody’s opin-ion, and it’s not fact.”

Chris Fabricant, direc-tor of strategic litigationat the New York-based In-nocence Project, pointedto a study the forensicodontologists board con-ducted last year that con-cluded many of the den-tists in the group couldn’teven identify which inju-ries were bite marks.

“There is no basic orapplied research that sup-ports any claims that bite-mark experts routinelymake,” Fabricant said. “Ithas no business in crimi-nal court, period.”

BITE MARKS Continued from Page 1A

Villanueva-Saldaña,of Mina, Nuevo Leon,Mexico, has arraign-ment Nov. 5. If convict-ed, he faces up to 10years in prison.

Federal authoritiesarrested him during thewee hours of Oct. 11.U.S. Border Patrolagents said they re-sponded to reports ofseveral people seenwalking toward theSiesta Shores neighbor-hood in Zapata.

Responding agentssaid they encountered15 people in the brusharea. All were in thecountry illegally, ac-cording to a criminalcomplaint filed Oct. 13.

Special agents withHomeland Security In-

vestigations respondedto investigate the smug-gling attempt. Villanue-va-Saldaña allegedlyopted to speak to spe-cial agents regardingthe incident.

“Villanueva-Saldañastated that he was re-cruited on the Mexicanside to be the foot guidefor the group,” an affi-davit states. “Villanue-va-Saldaña stated thathe was not getting paid,but that they threat-ened his family if hedidn’t cross the group.”

Villanueva-Saldañaremains in federal cus-tody.

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

FALCON Continued from Page 1A

let or glass fragments.Salinas said the injuries

of the 1-year, 8-month-oldgirl aren’t life-threatening.She is being treated inSan Antonio.

The woman is the moth-er of one of the girls. TheU.S. citizens were appar-ently visiting relatives inTamaulipas last week.

The U.S. Embassy inMexico City said it wasaware of reports that aU.S. citizen had beenwounded, but could notgive any other informa-tion, including the girl’sname or hometown, be-cause of privacy consider-ations.

The shooting occurredone week ago near thetown of Camargo, acrossthe border from Rio

Grande City, but the re-ports had not been con-firmed until now.

The area is dominatedby the Gulf cartel, and hasbeen the scene of turf bat-tles both between factionsof the Gulf gang and therival Zetas cartel.

"The soldiers were fol-lowing an SUV, and at thatmoment they (the family)got in the middle ... theygot scared" and came un-der fire, Salinas said.

"They (soldiers) thoughtthey were the bad guys,"Salinas said. "They got tothe car and realized that,no, it was women andchildren."

He said Mexican gov-ernment agencies hadbeen in contact with thefamily.

TODDLER Continued from Page 1A

Laredo police reportsalleged that on Sept. 9,police responded to atheft call in the 1000block of Emerald ValleyDrive.

An operations managerof a business stated thaton July 12, Antonio Gar-cia rented a 2012 JohnDeere backhoe with aone-month contract.

On July 18, anotherbackhoe was rented un-der a one-month contract.After the contract ex-

pired, several attemptswere made to recover thebackhoes, reports state.

“Both units were en-tered as stolen with Lare-do police,” states the re-port.

An investigation identi-fied Antonio Garcia andJuan Antonio Garcia asthe suspects, according topolice.

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

THEFT Continued from Page 1A

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

IRVING — Dez Bryantsays he wants to besmart about his returnfrom a broken right foot,and knows that means

including Dallas teamdoctors, trainers andcoaches in the process.

“If the decision wasleft all up to me,” saysthe All-Pro receiver, “Iwould be playing.”

Bryant was listed as

questionable for theSeattle game Sunday,which will be sevenweeks since he was in-jured in the openeragainst the New York Gi-ants.

Cowboys owner Jerry

Jones has said the boneneeded six weeks to heal,and there hasn’t been adirect answer to thequestion of whether it isfully healed. Other re-

EAST RUTHERFORD,N.J. — Even as his handwas being shredded byfireworks, Jason Pierre-Paul says he wasn’t fright-ened. And he never doubt-ed his return to football.

“I wasn’t worried atall,” the Giants star defen-

sive end said. “I wasn’t inshock or nothing. I lookedat my hand, and myfiance was going crazy.But I kept calm.”

The July 4 fireworks ac-cident cost him his rightindex finger. In his firstcomments since the mis-hap, Pierre-Paul on Friday

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — For-mer Chicago Bears defensivelineman Jeremiah Ratliffthreatened team staff and saidhe “felt like killing everybodyin the building” the day beforehe was cut, according to a sub-urban Chicago police reportreleased Friday.

Ratliff also said, “’I am thedevil” and he wished staffmember’s children would die,the Lake Forest police report

dated Oct. 21 said. It says anofficer responded when some-one at Halas Hall called policethat day to report that Ratliffwas “very angry and irratio-nal.” He was seen that day hav-ing an animated discussionwith general manager RyanPace in the parking lot outsideof Halas Hall.

The Bears cut Ratliff on Oct.22, the day after the incident.Coach John Fox was asked Fri-day how much of a threat hefelt.

“As I commented early inthe week, we were concernedfor the building and that’s whythe police were called,” Foxsaid.

Fox said there had been noprevious incidents with Ratliffand that he didn’t know whythe player was so upset.

“You would have to askhim,” he said. “We don’t cutpeople because they get in-jured. I think at some point weFormer Chicago and Dallas defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff threatened the

Bears staff before he was cut from the team saying he "felt like killing everybo-dy in the building."

File photo by Charles Rex Arbogast | AP

Ratliff threatens BearsASSOCIATED PRESS

See RATLIFF PAGE 2B

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Looking to return

Dallas wide receiver Dez Bryant, left, said he would return Sunday if the decision was his call. The Cowboys’ All-Star has been outsince Week 1 after breaking his foot.

Photo by Brandon Wade | AP

Bryant ‘would be playing’ if return was his callBy SCHUYLER DIXON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New York defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is back with the Gi-ants for the first time since injuring his hand while blowing upfireworks during July 4th celebrations.

Photo by Julio Cortez | AP

JPP back afterfireworks

injuryGiants end back in New York,

missing his index fingerBy ERNIE PALLADINO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See GIANTS PAGE 2B

AMES, Iowa — CharlieStrong has Texas trendingupward.

Paul Rhoads is lookingto get Iowa State movingin a similar direction —and keep his job in theprocess.

The Longhorns (3-4, 2-2Big 12) have won twostraight, including a victo-ry over No. 14 Oklahoma,to vault back into conten-tion for a bowl bid aheadof Saturday’s visit to IowaState.

The Cyclones (2-5, 1-3)have dropped three in arow against teams current-ly ranked first, second andfifth in scoring offense.The losing streak has ledto big changes, as offensivecoordinator Mark Mangi-no parted ways withRhoads just hours beforesophomore Joel Lanningwas named the new start-ing quarterback.

Texas has turned thingsaround behind a defensethat has allowed just 26

NCAA FOOTBALL

Streaking Texastravels to Iowa State

Texas quarterback Jerrod Heard and the Longhorns will try for theirthird consecutive win when they face Iowa State Saturday.

Photo by Michael Thomas | AP

By LUKE MEREDITHASSOCIATED PRESS

See TEXAS PAGE 4B

COLLEGE STATION —Texas A&M could have anew quarterback on Sat-urday against South Car-olina after coach KevinSumlin opened up thecompetition followingconsecutive losses whereKyle Allen struggled andthe offense stalled.

Allen is competingwith freshman KylerMurray and junior col-lege transfer Jake Hube-nak to keep his job.

“All three ... guys haveplayed in games now,”Sumlin said. “Some havehad great moments, somebad moments, and a littlebit of both. Looking forconsistency across theboard at quarterback.Cutting down on turn-overs.”

The Aggies were 5-0 be-fore back-to-back blowoutlosses to Alabama andMississippi. Allen threw13 touchdown passeswith two interceptions inthe first five games but

A&M may make QBmove vs. Gamecocks

Texas A&M quarterback Kyle Allen is in danger of losing his start-ing job after two consecutive losses to Alabama and Mississippi.

Photo by Rogelio V. Solis | AP

By KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

See A&M PAGE 4B

See COWBOYS PAGE 2B

have to do what’s best forthe organization. As Isaid before, we cut himbecause we thought itwas better for our foot-ball team.”

Ratliff twice parkedoutside Bears propertyand walked past securityon Oct. 21, the reportsaid. The person whocalled police to reportRatliff said there was“concern for the safety ofstaff on the property”due to Ratliff ’s state-ments and said it was be-lieved that Ratliff “ownsmultiple firearms.”

Ratliff was suspendedfor the first three gamesof this season for violat-ing the NFL’s substanceabuse policy. He startedat nose tackle in each ofChicago’s last two gamesand had seven tackles.

According to the policereport, the person whoreported Ratliff asked fora police presence at theBears headquarters untilstaff left for the day Oct.21 and when staff beganto arrive Oct. 22. TheLake Forest Police De-partment provided a uni-formed officers to standby on the property dur-ing the requested times.

Ratliff ’s agent, MarkSlough, didn’t respond torequests for comment.

Ratliff, a four-time ProBowl selection in Dallas,had 6 1/2 sacks last sea-son for Chicago. Hesigned with the Bears af-ter he was cut by theCowboys in October 2013.The Bears replaced Rat-liff by reaching a dealwith free-agent defensivelineman Ziggy Hood, afirst-round pick by Pitts-burgh in the 2009 draftout of Missouri.

Fox said there hadbeen no previous indica-tion of a problem, al-though Ratliff did haveone prolonged incident intraining camp in whichhe was upset after ashoving match with cen-ter Will Montgomery.

“It’s a combative gameplayed by combative peo-ple,” Fox said. “I don’tknow that those are redflags in the game of foot-ball.”

Teammates expressedsupport for Ratliff.

“He was just a manlike everybody else,” line-backer Lamar Houstonsaid. “There was nothingto fear. He was a greatteammate. He was a great

friend. He was quiet. Inever really noticed himbeing upset with any-one.”

Told about the policereport saying Ratliff is-sued threats, Houston ex-pressed surprise.

“It’s interesting,” hesaid. “I hope they havetheir information correctbecause it doesn’t soundlike him.”

Tight end MartellusBennett talked with Rat-liff after he had been cut.The two were friends andhad been on the DallasCowboys together, aswell.

“It’s a personal thingbetween me and him, solike I said, we’re closefriends and I just hopethe best for him and hisfamily,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the entireincident can be a teach-ing point.

“There’s nothing trulyguaranteed in the NFL,”he said. “So for me it’sjust the revelation ofwhat this business is andyou’ve got to handle yourbusiness the right waywith what’s going onaround here and makesure you’re ton top ofyour (stuff).”

RATLIFF Continued from Page 1B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

ceivers who went throughthe same injury, includingAtlanta’s Julio Jones, havecautioned Bryant aboutcoming back too soon.

But the Cowboys (2-4)have lost four straightgames without Bryant andquarterback Tony Romo,who broke his left collar-bone a week after Bryantwent down. Romo willmiss at least three moregames, and Dallas needsto win at least two of themto have realistic hopes ofdefending the NFC East ti-tle.

If Bryant does play afterbeing listed as a limitedparticipant in practice allweek, he says he won’t bea limited participantagainst the Seahawks(3-4).

“If I play, I’m not think-ing about nothing,”Bryant said. “I’m playing.Dez is Dez. If I’m think-ing, I have myself a littlesituation.”

Brandon Weeden lost allthree of his starts in placeof Romo, and the down-field passing game was al-most nonexistent. MattCassel replaced Weeden

last week and threwdownfield plenty of times— with three intercep-tions.

So the question iswhether the presence ofBryant will restore thethreat of the outside re-ceivers in the Dallas of-fense, and cut the risk ofturnovers.

“He brings that leader-ship. He brings a pres-ence,” offensive coordina-tor Scott Linehan said.“He brings a guy that de-fenses are obviously goingto be keying in on, whichin my mind helps otherpositions, helps otherguys, helps the run game.The Dez effect I think isgoing to be what it wasfor us when he was outthere.”

Bryant returned to thepractice field during thebye two weeks ago, doingconditioning work on theside. That continued lastweek, and the question ofa return against the Gi-ants wasn’t settled untillate in the week.

The sixth-year receiverstill made the trip to NewYork even though he

didn’t travel with theteam. During the game,Bryant appeared to be try-ing to calm Greg Hardy af-ter the defensive end had

a shoving match with spe-cial teams coach Rich Bi-saccia following a kickoffreturn for a touchdownthat proved to be the deci-

sive play in a fourthstraight loss.

“That bothers me seeingmy teammates. BecauseI’m part of that,” Bryantsaid, referring to the los-ing streak. “We lose to-gether, and I’m going totry my best to get out onthe field and see whathappens.”

Walking off the field inNew York, Bryant de-clared to nobody in partic-ular that the Cowboyswere “still going to runthe East.”

“I meant what I said,”Bryant said Friday. “Wehave enough time. We’vejust got to continue tokeep on believing. We’re astrong team.”

That’s the type of thingthat linebacker Sean Leesaid the Cowboys misswithout Bryant. Not tomention the pass-catchingskills.

“You love playing withhim because of the pas-sion he brings to practice,the passion he brings tothe game,” Lee said. “He’sunbelievable, the way heplays, the way he runsroutes, the way he can go

up and catch a football.It’s fun seeing him backhealthy.”

Bryant’s five-game ab-sence is the longest of hiscareer, surpassing thefour games he missed atthe end of his rookie sea-son in 2010 with a brokenankle.

“Oh, man,” Bryant said.“It seems like a year.”

The year could be upSunday.

NOTES: RB Joseph Ran-dle remained away fromthe team dealing with un-specified personal issues,and Jones said on his ra-dio show that the NFLwas reviewing a domesticincident involving Randlein his hometown of Wich-ita, Kansas, in Februaryfor possible violations ofthe personal conduct poli-cy. He had already beenruled out against the Sea-hawks because of a backinjury. ... S Barry Church(ankle) practiced for thefirst time this week onlimited basis and is ques-tionable. CB Morris Clai-borne (illness) was a fullparticipant and is proba-ble.

COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B

Dallas wide receiver Dez Bryant returned to practice this week andis listed as questionable for the Cowboys matchup against Seattlethis week.

Photo by Brandon Wade | AP

left unanswered many ques-tions, but he recalled histime in a Florida hospitalwith a mangled hand andburns covering his arm. Hesaid he remained confidenteven as doctors decided toamputate, leaving him witha large gap between hismiddle finger and a thumbthat remains swollen andbent inward from multiplefractures and a partial am-putation.

“When I was in the hospi-tal, I saw a kid die,” Pierre-Paul said. “I feel very fortu-nate I’m alive. There wereprobably 12 people in thehospital, and my hand wasthe best one. What hap-pened to my hand was bad,but I’ve seen worse.”

Pierre-Paul was no nov-ice at fireworks. Still, helearned a lesson.

“They’re very danger-ous,” he said. “Youshouldn’t do it. This is sev-en years I did it, and itwent off. There’s a lot ofthings I can’t say right now.I’ve got pictures and every-thing. But when I want tolet it out, I will. This is notthe right time.”

Pierre-Paul signed an in-centive-driven, $8.7 millioncontract Tuesday and tookpart in contact work the

next day. He says he willnot attend Sunday’s gamein New Orleans because hedoes not want to distracthis teammates.

The elite pass rusher didnot set a timetable for hisreturn to games. But coachTom Coughlin left open thepossibility he could returnbefore the Week 11 bye, giv-en his unexpected progressof the past week. Initial esti-mates had him returningafter the bye.

“We’ll advance him nextweek and we’ll see wherewe are, and that’s all we cansay,” Coughlin said. “What-ever we’ve asked him to do,he’s done with flying colors.I do want to get him outthere soon. That’s the wholeidea. But I want him readywhen he goes out there. Iwant him for the rest of theyear.”

Once Pierre-Paul does getout there, he will play witha special glove, but with lit-tle other protection.

The 6-foot-5, 268-poundersays he expects to have notrouble learning new defen-sive coordinator Steve Spag-nuolo’s system, having stud-ied the playbook during hisnearly five months of inac-tivity. He expects to pick upright up from where he was

at the end of last year, whenhe made 9 1/2 of his team-high 12 1/2 sacks over thelast six games.

The Giants defense hasonly nine sacks throughseven games, and is a majorreason behind its No. 30league ranking against thepass.

NOTES: CB Prince Amu-kamara (pectoral), WR Vic-tor Cruz (calf), DE OwaOdighizuwa (hamstring)and LB J.T. Thomas (ankle)were declared out of Sun-day’s game in New Orleans.LB Jon Beason (ankle) didnot practice the entire weekbut was listed as questiona-ble. WR Odell Beckham(hamstring), G GeoffSchwartz (ankle), and LBUani ’Unga (neck) are prob-able. ... Coughlin said Beck-ham’s full week of practicewent well, and his commu-nication with quarterbackEli Manning should bemuch improved. “WhenOdell practices, he practic-es,” Coughlin said. “Hisspeed and maneuverabilitymakes the quarterbacksharper. Whenever peoplepractice at the right speed,they are preparing them-selves for the game, and Ithink that’s what happenedthis week.”

GIANTS Continued from Page 1B

LUBBOCK — OklahomaState will try to add to theprogram’s history when the12th-ranked Cowboys takeon Texas Tech on Saturday.

Only twice before hasOklahoma State started aseason with eight straightwins — 1945 and 2011.

They’ll try to add 2015 tothat list against the RedRaiders, who are coming offtwo less-than-stellar awayoutings — a closer-than-ex-pected 30-20 win to cellar-dweller Kansas and a 63-27blowout loss to No. 14 Okla-homa.

Texas Tech coach KliffKingsbury said there is aprescription to cure histeam’s recent ills. The RedRaiders can become bowleligible with a win.

“Just need to start fas-ter,” he said. “You know,there’s no recipe for that,just got to do it as a teamand work on it at practiceand try to get better at it.”

The Cowboys are ridinga three-game win streak bya combined victory marginof 95 points into Lubbock.OSU coach Mike Gundysaid being ahead early —his team led 21-0 in 2010and 2011, and 21-3 in 2013,all after the first quarter —is critical in Texas Tech’sinhospitable stadium.

“It’s a difficult place toplay,” he said. “If you canplay well in the first quar-ter, you can give yourself a

chance to be on some kindof a level playing field.”

The Cowboys are stillreeling from four people be-ing killed when a carcrashed into the homecom-ing parade last week. TexasTech plans a moment of si-lence before the game andhas asked fans to avoid us-ing “Wreck ’Em,” as a regu-lar hashtag for the footballteam.

Here are some things to

watch for when TexasTech hosts OklahomaState:

RUN FIRST?Texas Tech’s defense has

struggled against the runall season, giving up 281yards per game to rank No.125 nationally. Last weekthe Red Raiders gave up405 yards on the ground,seven rushing touchdownsand 24 first downs rushingat Oklahoma. Red Raiders

defensive coordinator DavidGibbs expects teams to run.“Why would you pass it?”he said. “I would just handit off every snap, but I’vesaid that all year, until weshow we can stop it.”

SACK ATTACKTexas Tech will be up

against the Big 12’s sack-leading Cowboys (27), and ifrecent contests are any in-dication, Patrick Mahomeswill be under plenty of pres-

sure Saturday. In their firstsix games, the Red Raiders’offensive line allowed justtwo sacks. The past twogames, Mahomes has beensacked nine times. OSU DEEmmanuel Ogbah leads theBig 12 and is fifth national-ly with eight sacks. “Theyknow what’s coming, sothey’ll have to play their Agame to try and slow thoseguys down,” Kingsburysaid. “They have a great

front.” DUEL QBs

Oklahoma State uses twoquarterbacks, Mason Ru-dolph and J.W. Walsh. Gun-dy says both are unselfishand put team first. “They’vebeen tremendous,” he said,adding that coaches havedone a good job of choosing.“We need both of them, andwe’re fortunate that they’veboth played pretty well upto this point.”

MAHOMES FACTORThough he had his low-

est passing yardage of theseason (233) last weekagainst Oklahoma, Ma-homes can light it up onthe ground and through theair. He’s thrown 21 TD pas-ses (sixth nationally) andrun for seven more (tied for36th nationally). The Cow-boys know he’s going to bedifficult to defend. “He cre-ates things,” Cowboys de-fensive coordinator GlennSpencer said. “He doesn’tget shaken up. They’ve gottalent spaced out all aroundthe field, so he’s got a lot ofchoices. I think he’s smartand a dangerous kind ofguy.”

RED ZONE OFFENSEDespite the offensive fire-

power of the Red Raiders,it’s the Cowboys who shinein the red zone. OSU hasscored 94 percent of thetime when inside the 20, 64percent of those as touch-downs. Texas Tech has got-ten points 86 percent of thetime, 59 percent of those asTDs.

Texas Tech hosts unbeaten CowboysBy BETSY BLANEYASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Red Raiders will try to hand No. 12 Oklahoma State its first loss as they square off Sat-urday in Lubbock.

Photo by Sue Ogrocki | AP

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Readers: APART-MENT OR CONDOHUNTING should takesome time to find theright spot to live. You maybe there awhile! Hints tohelp you:

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4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

has thrown only onetouchdown pass with fourinterceptions in the lasttwo. In the 41-23 loss toAlabama, all three of hisinterceptions were return-ed for scores.

“We’ve got to establish arhythm offensively in runand pass and really takeour shots when we havethem instead of just tryingto get the ball down field alot in the opening part ofthe game,” Sumlin said.“To establish that rhythmwe have to run the ballbetter.”

They’ll try to do it injust their second-evermeeting with South Car-olina. It is the Gamecocks’first trip to College Sta-tion and first trip to Texassince 1976. South Carolina

is coming off an openweek after interim coachShawn Elliott helped theteam snap a two-gameskid with a win over Van-derbilt in the first gameafter coach Steve Spur-rier’s abrupt resignation.

Elliott loves that histeam remains upbeat de-spite its 3-4 record.

“We’ve got ... a fun foot-ball team right now,” El-liott said. “I don’t know ifthat’s the right way to sayit, but there’s not a lot oflong faces, not a lot ofheads dragging. Everybo-dy’s working in the rightdirection, moving for-ward.”

Sumlin had to remindhis team to embrace a pos-itive mindset this weekand realize that despite

the last two weeks the Ag-gies are not a bad team.

“We’re not 2-5. We’re5-2,” Sumlin said. “Wehave opportunity to closethis season out with someopponents to get some bigwins and still have a greatseason and still be in thethick of this thing at theend.”

Some things to knowabout the South Caroli-na-Texas A&M game:

RESPECTLike many coaches

around the country, Sum-lin looked up to Spurrieras he was moving up thecoaching ranks.

“He’s kind of the guywho I always wanted tobe,” Sumlin said. “Cameinto SEC, won in thisleague, threw the football,

played defense, won na-tional championships anddid it his way. Had a hugeimpact on me from theoutside.”

When asked for histhoughts on Spurrier’s re-signation, Sumlin ravedabout his unique accom-plishments.

“It will be a long time,maybe never, that one guywill win a Heisman, coacha Heisman winner andwin a national champion-ship,” Sumlin said.“That’s why there are al-ready statues of him.”

SMALL FRYKicker Elliott Fry, from

Frisco, Texas, is the loneplayer from Texas on theGamecocks roster and isprepping to play against ateam he grew up loathing.

Fry said he rooted for theLonghorns in the A&M-Texas rivalry. He’s gotfamily backing the Aggies,including a stepbrotherwho’s a sophomore there.

“I always joke with mydad if it came down to agame-winner what he’dactually want to happen,”Fry said. “Hopefully, he’llwant me to do good.”

SLOWING DOWN GARRETTTexas A&M defensive

end Myles Garrett leadsthe SEC with 8 1/2 sacksand four forced fumbles.The sophomore also has13 1/2 tackles for losses, ablocked punt and an inter-ception this season.

“I don’t know if you stopa guy like that,” Elliottsaid. “But you certainlycan’t take seven-step

drops and get us in third-down situations and lethim rush the passer. Itjust doesn’t match up. Idon’t care what kind of of-fensive tackles you’vegot.”

QUARTERBACK SHUFFLEPay no attention to the

depth chart on the coach’sdesk. Elliott said theGamecocks will start for-mer walk-on Perry Orthon Saturday, then usewhoever they feel can helpwin the game at any time,whether that’s ConnorMitch or Lorenzo Nunez.

It’s about what we needto do to get the job done,”Elliott said. “Nunez couldbe in there second series,who knows. Don’t pay awhole of attention to thatdepth chart.”

A&M Continued from Page 1B

points in its last twogames.

Iowa State has let up 156points during its currentlosing streak — though itheld No. 2 Baylor to just 10points in the second halflast week.

The Cyclones are just 7-24 since the start of 2013,and athletic director JamiePollard indicated thisweek that Rhoads willneed to show significantprogress over the last fivegames to earn an eighthseason.

“Between Saturday andfive weeks from now, we’vegot to make some hay,”Pollard told Des Moines,Iowa radio station KXNOon Monday.

Here are some of thecrucial things to consid-er as Texas looks for itssixth straight win inAmes:

HAVE YOU HEARD? Texas freshman Jerrod

Heard has thrown for just200 yards over his lastthree games. But he’srushed for 187 yards dur-ing that span, spearhead-ing an offense that hasevolved into a run-first at-tack. The Longhorns alsouse backup TyroneSwoopes in a package ithas dubbed the “18 Wheel-er,” and he scored threerushing touchdowns inlast week’s 23-9 win overKansas State “You have tohave an identity. It’s run-ning the football. Have notlost confidence in Jerrodthrowing the ball at all,”Strong said.

LANNING SPOTIowa State turned to

Lanning last week after se-

nior Sam Richardsonstruggled yet again. Lan-ning responded with threeTD passes in a 45-27 loss toNo. 2 Baylor. Lanning hasthrown for four touch-downs in just 27 passesagainst Big 12 competition.“It’s awesome. It’s whatI’ve wanted since I’ve beenhere, to get a chance. NowI’ve got to go out there andprove I can play,” Lanningsaid.

ROAD WOESTexas has played two

true road games and wasoutscored 88-10 by NotreDame and TCU. “We haveto play better. We have tostart off right,” Strongsaid. Texas beat Iowa State31-30 in Ames two yearsago on a late TD that ap-peared to be a fumble butwas instead ruled a score.

MAGIC MIKEIowa State’s Mike War-

ren has rushed for at least120 yards in four of his lastfive games and leads allfreshmen nationally with797 yards — despite carry-ing the ball just nine timesin the Cyclones first twogames. Lanning is also agood runner, so expect in-terim offensive coordina-tor Todd Sturdy to go tothe ground early and of-ten.

AUSTIN THRILLERIowa State and Texas

will struggle to live up tothe excitement of lastyear’s game, when the Cy-clones and Longhornscombined for 17 points inthe final two minutes.Nick Rose kicked a 21-yardfield goal with three sec-onds left to give Texas a 48-45 win.

TEXAS Continued from Page 1B

FORT WORTH — If Tre-vone Boykin keeps playinglike this, the TCU quarter-back won’t need any hypeto win the Heisman Tro-phy.

“Everybody said youhave to have a campaign,”coach Gary Patterson said.“I think the campaign iswhat happens in those 60minutes for three and ahalf hours. They chose usto be on TV on Thursdaynight.”

And Boykin put on quitea show in the fifth-rankedHorned Frogs’ 40-10 victo-ry over West Virginia.

There was the somer-sault into the end zone fora 2-yard touchdown run,several nifty scramblesthat left defenders in hiswake and 388 yards pass-ing with three more touch-downs while become TCU’scareer leader in total of-fense.

“I just try to use myability that God blessed mewith. That’s all I can reallydo,” Boykin said. “I’m justone of the 11 guys outthere. It takes the guyswithout the ball to makeplays like that happen.”

Well, Boykin kept dart-ing, dipping and spinningto make the Mountaineersmiss him as TCU (8-0, 5-0)stretched its school-recordwinning streak to 16 gamesin a row.

When he was about to

get hit, Boykin threw aside-armed strike to JoshDoctson for a 9-yard touch-down before taking a shotfrom a charging defender.The quarterback poppedright back up to celebratethe score.

“The average guydoesn’t make those plays,”Patterson said. “I’m gladhe’s on my side.”

Later in the third quar-ter, after scrambling to hisright and eluding severaldefenders behind the line,Boykin gained 11 yards be-fore running out of boundsnear West Virginia coachDana Holgorsen, who hada smile on his face whenslapping hands with thequarterback.

“He was right there andI just saw him make everyone of our players miss.He’s a phenomenal player,”Holgorsen said. “He madeone of the best plays I’veseen in a while. ... Icould’ve started yelling atour guys but what good isthat going to do.”

Holgorsen has alreadychanged his mind aboutwho the best player in col-lege football is.

In their previous gameOct. 17, the Mountaineers(3-4, 0-4 Big 12) lost 62-38 atNo. 2 Baylor when CoreyColeman caught 10 passesfor 199 yards and threetouchdowns. After thegame, Holgorsen called theBears receiver “the bestplayer in college football. ...You can put me on the re-

cord for that.”After watching Boykin,

Holgorsen started his post-game comments saying,“With all due respect to Co-rey Coleman, Trevone Boy-kin is the best player incollege football.”

Boykin finished fourthin the Heisman voting lastseason, his first full seasonas the quarterback starterafter previously playinggames at receiver andquarterback.

“The good ones justkeep maturing, keep blos-soming,” Patterson said.“The one thing they allhave, they have an unbe-lievable competitive na-ture, an internal drive thattakes them past what any-body else expects them tobe.”

Boykin completed 32 of47 passes and ran 11 timesfor 84 yards with that acro-batic score to push his ca-reer total to 12,041 totalyards. That broke the pre-vious TCU record of 11,925held by Andy Dalton, theCincinnati Bengals quar-terback who led TCU to anundefeated season andRose Bowl victory duringthe 2010 season.

Said Doctson, whose 11catches for 183 yards andtwo touchdowns made himonly the second FBS playerin 20 seasons with six con-secutive games of 100 yardsreceiving and at least twoTD catches, “He’s just play-ing like a Heisman quar-terback.”

Boykin enteringHeisman race

By STEPHEN HAWKINSASSOCIATED PRESS

TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin (2), right, celebrates a touchdown with Josh Doctson (9) as theHorned Frogs won 40-10 against West Virginia Thursday night.

Photo by Tony Gutierrez | AP

IRVING — SouthernCalifornia athletic direc-tor Pat Haden is steppingdown from the CollegeFootball Playoff selectioncommittee after his doc-tors advised him to cutback on travel.

College Football PlayoffExecutive Director BillHancock announced Fri-day that Haden was leav-ing the committee andwould not be replaced.The committee will have12 members for the rest ofthe season.

The committee is sched-

uled to meet in North Tex-as this weekend to pro-duce its first rankings ofthe season. The playoffrankings will be releasedTuesday.

Haden said in a state-ment he was reluctant tostep down.

“With the weekly CFPmeetings about to startand the travel commit-ment involved, I had tomake this difficult deci-sion. I feel it is in the bestinterest of the CFP and al-so of USC, with our cur-rent football coachingchange and our upcomingColiseum renovation.”

Two weeks ago, Hadenhad to leave USC’s gameat Notre Dame because hewas feeling lightheaded.

This will be the secondyear in a row the commit-tee has lost took a mem-ber during the season. Ar-chie Manning withdrewfrom the committee latein last season for healthreasons before ultimatelystepping down for goodduring the offseason.

Manning was replacedby former Vanderbiltcoach Bobby Johnson. Al-so, former West Virginiaathletic director OliverLuck was replaced by Tex-

as Tech AD Kirby Hocuttwhen he left to take a jobwith the NCAA.

Haden was in the sec-ond year of a two-yearterm on the committeeand scheduled to be re-placed after this season.

“I fully support Pat’sdecision given his doctor’srecommendation and hiscampus priorities,” Pac-12Commissioner Larry Scottsaid. “I am confident inthe 12 remaining commit-tee members to representthe best in all of collegefootball and to select thebest teams for the play-off.”

Southern California athletic director Pat Haden stepped down from the College Football Playoff selection committee for health reasons Friday.

Photo by Richard Hartog | AP

Haden leaves CFP committeeASSOCIATED PRESS