WEDNESDAYNOVEMBER 25, 2015

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JOHNNY MANZIEL DEMOTEDBROWNS BENCH QUARTERBACK FOR PARTYING DURING BYE WEEK, 7A

BROWNSVILLE, Texas —Elizabeth Lopez swam acrossthe Rio Grande 19 years ago tocome to America, where shebegan cleaning houses andraising three daughters in thiscity of swaying palm trees atthe southern tip of Texas.

It did not matter to her thather life was confined to a nar-row sliver of the country — azone north of the Mexican bor-der but south of traffic check-points that the Border Patroloperates within Texas. Every-thing changed in 2010 when herfourth child, Angel, was bornwith Down syndrome and co-lon and heart problems. Livingin what some call “la jaula deoro” — the golden cage — sud-denly took on a whole newmeaning.

For decades, these interiorcheckpoints up to 100 milesnorth of the border have leftthousands of undocumentedimmigrants and their families

in the Rio Grande Valley insomething of a twilight zone.Their isolation has only inten-sified as border security hastightened. And though neitherside of the debate about immi-gration has focused on the is-sue so far, that may be chang-ing.

Those stuck here have littlechoice but to stay put. Theycannot go north for fear of ei-

ther being caught while tryingto cross the checkpoints by caror dying in the vast expanses ofbrush while trying to walkaround them. And they will notgo south for the same reasonsthey left Mexico in the firstplace.

The economic opportunitieshere are better for the immi-grants and their children,many of them American citi-

zens, and some fled threats ofviolence.

The inability to travel northcomplicates their lives in myr-iad ways. For Lopez and Angel,it hinders medical care. Immi-grants here have also missedrelatives’ funerals, refused toevacuate as hurricanes ap-proached, narrowed

BORDER PATROL CHECKPOINTS

‘La jaula de oro’

Angel Lopez, 5, with his mother, Elizabeth, are seen at their home in Brownsville. Lopez wants Angel to undergo surgery beyond Border Patrol checkpoints,but she cannot pass through because she is an undocumented immigrant. The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mexico, confin-ing undocumented immigrants to a small world.

Photo by Kirsten Luce | New York Times

Angel Lopez, 5, who was born with Down syndrome and colon and heart problems, is shown at his home in Browns-ville. Lopez’s mother wants him to undergo surgery beyond Border Patrol checkpoints, but she cannot pass throughbecause she is an undocumented immigrant. The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mex-ico, confining undocumented immigrants to a small world.

Photo by Kirsten Luce | The New York Times

Immigrantsconfined toa narrow

sliverBy MANNY FERNANDEZ

NEW YORK TIMES

See CHECKPOINTS PAGE 11A

The South Texas Food Bank distrib-uted almost 300,000 pounds of productduring the fiscal year that ended Sept.30 to the needy of Zapata County.

The total was 285,934 pounds, lessthan last year’s 360,471 pounds. Thefigures were released by the Laredo-based South Texas Food Bank, whichis celebrating its 26th anniversary ofserving the community. The wholesalevalue is $491,340.42.

Elia Solis, a native of San Ygnacioand Zapata High School graduate, isthe agency relations coordinator forthe food bank. The Zapata County foodis distributed via three agencies. Thelargest is Helping Hands, located on8th and Del Mar. The coordinator isBrian Martinez.

More than 325,000 pounds were dis-tributed by Helping Hands. The othersites are Shepherd’s Pantry, 305 HawkSt., where Mary Pulido is the contactperson, and Zapata Boys and GirlsClub, 302 West 6th Ave.. Ramiro Her-nandez is the coordinator.

Patrons must call to get the hours ofdistribution.

The South Texas Food Bank is locat-ed at 1907 Freight in Laredo. Thephone number is 956-726-3120, the web-site southtexasfoodbank.org. AlmaBoubel is the executive director.

The food bank’s mission statementis “to alleviate hunger in all the eightcounties the Food Bank serves by col-lecting and distributing food throughpartner agencies and programs whilecreating awareness and educating thecommunity on the realities of hunger.”

The other seven counties served areWebb (Laredo), Starr (Rio GrandeCity-Roma), Jim Hogg (Hebbronville),Dimmit (Carrizo Springs), Maverick(Eagle Pass), Val Verde (Del Rio) andKinney (Brackettville).

The South Texas Food Bank distrib-uted 9.91 million pounds in 2014.

“The figures are higher than fromone year ago, 9.464 million pounds, be-cause our economy is still not at whatit should be. The need continues togrow,” Boubel said. “The poverty ratein our area is at 30-plus percent, mean-ing food insecurity for our friends,family and neighbors.

“The South Texas Food Bank is thatsafety net for families trying to makeends meet.”

The food bank serves an average of27,000 families, 7,000-plus children,7,000-plus elderly and 500-plus veteransand their widows per month. Tax de-ductible donations can be mailed toSouth Texas Food Bank, PO Box 2007,Laredo, Texas, 78044.

FOOD BANK

‘Theneed

continuesto grow’

Zapata County residentsget a helping hand

ZAPATA TIMES

The Department ofHomeland Security con-firmed Sunday that anotherSyrian family had present-ed themselves at a Laredoport of entry.

It follows widely misin-formed reports in recentdays that two other Syrianfamilies, reported to havearrived in Laredo on Nov.18, had sought illegal entryinto the country.

Currently, state and na-tional lawmakers are em-

broiled in debate overwhether to close the coun-try’s door to refugees fromSyria, where four years ofan internationally backedcivil war have left up to 13million people homelessand more than 200,000 dead.

Gov. Greg Abbott wasamong more than 30 stategovernors who assertedthat Syrian refugees will be

barred from Texas.His office did not imme-

diately respond to queriesSunday morning over anypossible efforts to block themost recent arrivals fromentering the state.

The highly publicizedSyrian arrivals of the re-cent week are classified asasylum seekers, not refu-gees. It is typical for asylum

child will go to another.There they will face

months of interviews fromfederal officials to evaluatetheir case to stay in theUnited States.

People are granted asy-lum when they can demon-strate a legitimate fear ofimminent harm in theirhome country.

On Nov. 18, two Syrianfamilies — two men, twowomen and four children —presented themselves at theJuarez-Lincoln Interna-

checks revealed no deroga-tory information.”

The group, including twomen and a family — a man,woman and child — wereturned over to U.S. Immi-gration and Customs En-forcement for further pro-cessing, DHS said.

Per procedure, the menwill go to one detentioncenter and the woman and

seekers to present them-selves at ports of entry andask to have their caseheard.

In a statement, DHS said“the officers took the groupinto custody and as stan-dard procedure, checkedtheir identities against nu-merous law enforcementand national security relat-ed databases. Records

LAREDO PORT OF ENTRY

Syrians classified as asylum seekersBy DYLAN BADDOURHOUSTON CHRONICLE Currently, state and national lawmakers are embroiled in debate over

whether to close the country’s door to refugees from Syria.

See SYRIANS PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

Saturday, November 28Spiritual Wisdom on Con-

quering Fear. Free Bilingual Dis-cussion with booklet included.1:00-2:30 PM, room A at the La-redo Public Library, 1120 E. Cal-ton. Se habla español. For moreinfo please call : (210) 831-7113.Or go to www.Eckankar-Texas.org.Presented by the Texas SatsangSociety, Inc.

RGISC Mural Unveiling BlockParty from 2-5 p.m. at North Cen-tral Park. Five nature-themed mu-rals and yarn-bombings will be un-veiled as a part of the 21st annualDia del Rio celebration.

Monday, November 30Chess Club meets at the

LBV–Inner City Branch Libraryfrom 4–6 p.m. Free for all agesand skill levels. Basic instructionis offered. Call John at 795-2400x2521.

Parkinson’s Disease SupportGroup will meet at 6:30 p.m. atLaredo Medical Center, first floor,Tower B in the Community Center.Meetings are open to individualswho have been diagnosed withParkinson’s disease as well asfamily, friends and caregivers ofParkinson’s patients. For more in-formation, call Richard Renner at645-8649 or 237-0666.

Tuesday, December 1Take the challenge and climb

the Rock Wall. Free. All partici-pants must bring ID and sign re-lease form. 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. atLBV–Inner City Branch Library,202 W. Plum St. Call 795-2400,x2520.

Alzheimer’s Disease SupportGroup will meet at 7 p.m. at Lare-do Medical Center, first floor, Tow-er B in the Community Center.Meetings are open to individualswho have been diagnosed withAlzheimer’s disease as well asfamily, friends and caregivers ofAlzheimer’s patients. For more in-formation, call Melissa Guerra at724-7141 or Laredo Medical Centerat 796-3223.

Saturday, December 5One year anniversary of Op-

eration Feed the Homeless at Jar-vis Plaza from 4:30 p.m. to 6p.m. Food, music and a coatdrive. Please donate or volunteer.For additional information contactus on Facebook on the LaredoFree Thinkers page or call 744-5674.

Trail Clean-Up and OpenHouse. LCC’s Lamar Bruni VergaraEnvironmental Science Center willhost their trail day clean up from8 a.m.–12 p.m. at the Paso del In-dio Nature Trail. The center willbe open from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Ad-mission is $4 for adults and $2for students and senior citizens.Entrance is free for children 3 andunder, and LCC and TAMIU stu-dents, faculty and staff with a val-id ID.

Sunday, December 66th Annual Christmas Animal

Posada at St. Peter’s Plaza at 4p.m. All pets should be taken in aleash, harness, or cage. Everyoneis invited to participate wearing acostume of an animal or a maskof an animal. Christmas AnimalPosada and Gateway Gatos of La-redo T-shirts will be available witha donation. All donations receivedwill go toward projects to protectour community cats including atrap, neuter, and return programfor Laredo. For more details, callBirdie at 286-7866.

Tuesday, December 8South Texas Food Bank fund-

raiser for adopt-a-family programat Hal’s Landing, 6510 ArenaBlvd., from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. $10cover charge donation to hear mu-sic by Ross and Friends, La Au-tentica Sonora, Armamento Musi-cal, Kombo Del Sol, Inalcanzable,La Mision Vallenata. Purchase tick-ets at the door or call Salo Oteroat 956-324-2432.

Thursday, December 17Spanish Book Club. From

6-8. Laredo Public Library- Calton.For more info please contact Syl-via Reash 763-1810.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 25,the 329th day of 2015. Thereare 36 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Nov. 25, 1915, a new ver-sion of the Ku Klux Klan, tar-geting blacks, Jews, Catholicsand immigrants, was foundedby William Joseph Simmons,who proclaimed himself theImperial Wizard of the groupas he staged a cross-burningon Stone Mountain outside At-lanta.

On this date:In 1783, the British evacuat-

ed New York, their last mili-tary position in the UnitedStates during the Revolution-ary War.

In 1864, during the CivilWar, Confederate agents set aseries of arson fires in NewYork; the blazes were quicklyextinguished.

In 1940, the cartoon charac-ter Woody Woodpecker madehis debut in the animatedshort “Knock Knock” pro-duced by Walter Lantz.

In 1957, President Dwight D.Eisenhower suffered a slightstroke.

In 1963, the body of Presi-dent John F. Kennedy was laidto rest at Arlington NationalCemetery; his widow, Jacque-line, lighted an “eternalflame” at the gravesite.

In 1999, 5-year-old ElianGonzalez was rescued by apair of sport fishermen off thecoast of Florida, setting off aninternational custody battle.

Ten years ago: Palesti-nians took control of a borderfor the first time with the fes-tive opening of the Rafahcrossing between Gaza andEgypt, a milestone on theirrocky path to independence.Susanne Osthoff, a Germanaid worker and archaeologist,was kidnapped in Iraq; shewas released more than threeweeks later. Five years ago:South Korea’s defense minis-ter, Kim Tae-young, resignedamid intense criticism twodays after a North Korean ar-tillery attack killed four peo-ple on a small island near theKoreas’ disputed frontier.

One year ago: Attorneysfor Michael Brown’s familyvowed to push for federalcharges against the Ferguson,Missouri, police officer whokilled the unarmed 18-year-old, a day after a grand jurydeclined to indict Darren Wil-son, who insisted in an inter-view with ABC News that hecould not have done anythingdifferently in the confronta-tion with Brown. (The JusticeDepartment later declined toprosecute Wilson.)

Today’s Birthdays: Ac-tress Noel Neill is 95. Play-wright Murray Schisgal is 89.Pro Football Hall of Famecoach Joe Gibbs is 75. Author,actor and economist Ben Steinis 71. Actor John Larroquetteis 68. Actor Tracey Walter is68. Movie director JonathanKaplan is 68. Author Char-laine Harris is 64. RetiredMLB All-Star Bucky Dent is64. Singer Amy Grant is 55.Former NFL quarterback Ber-nie Kosar is 52. Rock singer-musician Tim Armstrong is50. Actor Steve Harris is 50.Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 49.Actress Christina Applegate is44.Former NFL quarterbackDonovan McNabb is 39. Ac-tress Jill Flint is 38. ActressValerie Azlynn is 35. ActressKatie Cassidy is 29.

Thought for Today:“There’s no one so intolerableor less tolerated in societythan someone who’s intoler-ant.” — Giacomo Leopardi,Italian author and poet (1798-1837).

TODAY IN HISTORY

DALLAS — An invasive plant that can clogboat motors, block sunlight from lakes andaffect aquatic life has turned up in anotherEast Texas waterway, the Texas Parks &Wildlife Department announced Tuesday.

Confirmation of giant salvinia at LakeFork Reservoir, 60 miles east of Dallas, hasprompted an aggressive effort to remove andkill the fast-growing plants, TPWD spokes-man Larry Hodge said. Chemicals are beingused on giant salvinia, a floating fern that’snative to Brazil and reproduces by budding.The leaves are about the size of a quarter,sometimes larger, the agency said.

Several boat ramps are closed, and a float-ing boom warns boaters to stay clear of theChaney Branch of the reservoir and a nearbycove, totaling about 3 acres.

“We’ve found in infestation like this on oth-er reservoirs in East Texas and have gone inand physically removed the plants, all thatwe can find,” Hodge said. “If you catch itearly sometimes you can get rid of it, at leasttemporarily.”

Giant salvinia, which can be transportedby boats and trailers, was found earlier onCaddo Lake, Toledo Bend Reservoir and SamRayburn Reservoir, Hodge said. Some Loui-siana lakes also have infestations of giant sal-vinia, which can form dense mats on waterand also hamper fishing.

“We do everything we can within the limitsof manpower and budget that we have towork with,” Hodge said. “The problem is thateverybody who has a boat is a potential vec-tor.”

Texas Parks & Wildlife officials do notknow the source of the infestation.

AROUND TEXAS

In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 20, 2015 and provided by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, an example of giant salvinia, isdisplayed at Lake Fork Reservoir in East Texas. Giant salvinia, an invasive plant that can clog boat motors, block sunlight fromlakes and affect aquatic life has turned up in another East Texas waterway, the TP&WD announced Tuesday.

Photo by Kevin Storey /Texas Parks & Wildlife Department | AP

Giant salvinia foundBy DIANA HEIDGERD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gov. Abbott to visit Cubawith business leadersAUSTIN — Texas Gov. Greg

Abbott is heading to Cuba in thewake of a relaxed U.S. trade em-bargo with the country.

The Republican said Tuesdaythat Texas can economically“capitalize” on a new relation-ship between the two nations. Heis scheduled to arrive in Havanaon Monday and stay for threedays.

Abbott is not the first U.S. gov-ernor to make the trip since theformer Cold War foes reopenedembassies in their respectivecountries in July. Republican Ar-kansas Gov. Asa Hutchinsonwent in September, joined by of-ficials from Tyson Foods andother private companies.

Democratic New York Gov.Andrew Cuomo also visited Cu-ba earlier this year.

Abbott will be joined by Texasbusiness and economic leaders.It will be his second internation-al trip after visiting Mexico inSeptember.

Four dead after helicoptercrash in Fort Hood

FORT HOOD — Four peoplewere killed when a helicoptercrashed during a training exer-cise at Fort Hood in Texas, U.S.Army officials said.

The Black Hawk went downabout 6 p.m. Monday in thenortheast portion of the sprawl-ing military post about 60 milesnorth of Austin.

Emergency crews conductedan extensive search of the areabefore finding the wreckage andthe crew members dead at thescene, according to a Fort Hoodstatement.

Post officials did not releasethe names of the victims, sayingTuesday that their identitieswould be made public 24 hoursafter the families have been noti-fied. Officials said the crew wasassigned to Division West, FirstArmy, and was on a routinetraining mission when the heli-copter crashed.

No further details were availa-ble.

Mother, boyfriendcharged for burning baby

HOUSTON — A Houstonmother and her boyfriend havebeen charged in the death of her19-month-old daughter who wasseverely burned in an oven whenleft home alone with her threesiblings.

Racqual Thompson and Cor-nell Malone were arrested Tues-day. Each has been charged withfour counts of endangering achild.

Court records don’t list attor-neys to speak on behalf of Malo-ne or Thompson.

KTRK-TV reported last weekthat according to court records,J’zyra Thompson’s two 3-year-oldsiblings told Child Protective Ser-vices that one of them put J’zyrainside the oven.

Thompson and Malone told au-thorities they left the four chil-dren alone in their apartment forabout two hours on Nov. 16 to getpizza and visit Malone’s brother.

— Compiled from AP reports

Gas prices low, but fear ofterrorism plague drivers

LOS ANGELES — That otherThanksgiving tradition — con-gested highways and jammedairports — is getting underwaywith gas prices low and terror-ism fears high.

An estimated 46.9 millionAmericans are expected to take acar, plane, bus or train at least 50miles from home over the longholiday weekend, according tothe motoring organization AAA.That would be an increase ofmore than 300,000 people overlast year, and the most travelerssince 2007.

Among the reasons given forthe increase: an improving econ-omy and the cheapest gasolinefor this time of year since 2008.

On Tuesday, some travelerswere gearing up for an early exit.

“There’s a little bit of a tie-uphere, but I’m sure once we getgoing, things will be great,”Mark Sullivan said as he waited

at New York’s Port Authority busterminal. He was traveling to seefamily in Springfield, Massachu-setts.

Anyone trekking to a majorairport should factor in 50 extraminutes on the road, accordingto the traffic date company IN-

RIX — and that’s just getting tothe airport, never mind gettingthrough security.

Though there have been nochanges to the nation’s terroralert status, the State Depart-ment to warn American travel-ers about the risks overseas.

AROUND THE NATION

A man and woman embrace on the departure level of Los Angeles InternationalAirport amid Thanksgiving holiday traffic, Tuesday.

Photo by Nick Ut | AP

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CONTACT US

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Del Alma Publications hosted a recentbook signing and poetry reading in Zapatafor the release of “Cantos del Alma y del Co-razón – Poesía Original,” an original Span-ish poetry book written by former Universi-ty of Texas – Pan American Starr Countycampus director Maria Alma Gonzalez Pe-rez.

The event was held Sunday. Over 50guests gathered and enjoyed hearing Perez

recite her favorite poetry vers-es from famed poets, such asSor Juana Inez de la Cruz, aswell as some of the poemsfrom her own book.

Perez said she was happy tosee the attendees not only sup-porting her, but rather sup-porting the development of lit-erature in the community, spe-

cifically Spanish poetry. She followed bysaying that whomever can write poetry, allthat is needed is to free your mind and uniteyour thoughts with your feelings becausewhenever a memory comes to mind thatcauses much emotion that makes one sigh,laugh, or cry, it’s very probable that a poemcan develop.

Perez provided some background regard-ing her poetry writing process as well as thesignificance and importance of “culturallyrelevant literature,” which is when one canfind something to relate to when reading lit-erature. She added that literature helps toform and develop young children and adoles-cents by giving them concepts and perspec-tives.

The presentation concluded by Perez pre-senting framed photos of some of the books’poems for persons who contributed to thebook and/or were related to the poem’s sto-ry.

“Cantos del Alma y del Corazón - PoesíaOriginal” is a collection of 50 poems thatprovides the reader with a sensitive perspec-tive of love, family and culture among othertopics and expresses feelings and emotionsderived from the experience of everyday life.

Each poem is complemented by a photo-graph depicting scenic areas of Zapata Coun-ty, which serves as backdrop to enhance itsmeaning. A teaching guide of classroom ac-tivities serves as supplementary material forthe instruction and discussion of poetry inthe classroom. “Cantos del Alma y del Cora-zón - Poesía Original” includes seven sec-tions, 51 pictures and a total of 104 pages.

Books are available for purchase throughthe website, delalmapublications.com, or bycalling 956-451-6964.

Poetryreading

eventSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PEREZ

Beginning January 2016,students and employees log-ging into PASPort, LaredoCommunity College’s onlineportal, will see a new and im-proved interface.

Over the college’s winterbreak, LCC Information Tech-nology staff will be workingon upgrading the system, andaccording to LCC’s Web Tech-nologies Manager MarleneGuevara, users can look for-ward to a highly improvedPASPort experience. PASPortis an acronym for Personneland Student Portal.

"This includes improve-ments in design, navigation,content organization, seamlessintegrations, and device andbrowser compatibility. By do-ing this upgrade, we’re alsopaving the path to enhancingother areas like providingmore functionality to our mo-bile app and other online re-sources we develop throughtime,” Guevara said.

Google-powered email isamong the improvements stu-dents and college employeescan look forward to when thenew system launches in timefor the Spring 2016 Semester.PASPort email will now look,feel and operate exactly likeGmail.

After the upgrade, userswill be able to sync their cal-endars and email to their mo-bile devices, allowing them in-stant access to all their infor-mation.

PASPort will truly be a one-stop shop for all student needs.By logging into PASPort, stu-dents will automatically belogged in to Canvas, wherethey can access their classes,grades and communicationwith their instructors. Stu-dents will no longer have tosign in separately to Canvas.

Newly organized tabs, chan-nels and content will make iteasier for users to navigatePASPort in order to quicklyand efficiently access the infothey need.

In addition to these up-grades, LCC will be providingupdates to the college’s MobileApp. The upgrade will allow

LCC Mobile to run on the lat-est version of mobile operatingsystems, including that of theApple Watch.

The upgrade also will allowIT to add in a mobile registra-tion feature that will debut lat-er in the spring.

LCC’s Information Technol-ogy Officer Luciano Ramoncredits the hard work of hisstaff in making the upgradepossible.

“Our IT staff has beenworking very hard on this pro-ject over the last year, andthey will be giving up part oftheir holiday season to up-grade and enhance PASPort in

order to provide students andstaff with a better portal expe-rience,” said Ramon.

The upgrade is scheduled tooccur over the winter break,from Dec. 17 through Jan. 4, inorder to minimize disruptionto students. During this peri-od, students will not be able toaccess their PASPort accountsto view their grades, and/orregister/pay their spring 2016classes.

To avoid potentially losingtheir spots in class, studentsare encouraged to register andpay their tuition and fees byTuesday, Dec. 15. Those whomiss the payment deadline

will risk losing their spot inclass and will need to reregis-ter when the college resumesregistration on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Grades will be available toview on PASPort throughWednesday, Dec. 16 until 6 p.m.

Students and employees al-so are encouraged to forwardtheir PASPort emails to anoth-er email account or to printthem before the break, asemails will be deleted duringthe upgrade.

For help with PASPortemails or questions about theupgrade, contact the Informa-tion Technology Departmentat 721-5312.

Laredo Community Collegeimproves online portal

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

In this file photo, LCC students look at class registration materials at the Fort McIntosh Campus. In honor ofThanksgiving, Laredo Community College will be closed beginning Wednesday, Nov. 25, but students will still beable to register for the Spring 2016 semester online via PASPort, LCC’s online student portal. Both the Fort McIn-tosh and South campuses will be closed through Sunday. Students who have already been advised can still regis-ter for the new semester via PASPort, available online at https://pasport.laredo.edu. The spring 2016 classschedule also is available on PASPort.

Photo by Laredo Morning Times

Senator Judith Zaffirini and Carlos Sr. and their son and daughter-in-law, Carlos Jr. and Audrey,wish all families the Lord’s blessing and a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

W.T. Purkiser’s poignant words about the power of gratitude asa force for good are appropriate as we reflect on our blessings this

Thanksgiving.Leading by example and helping others in need are among the best ways to

express our gratitude. It’s not what we say that counts, it’s what we do.My most precious blessings are my husband, Carlos Sr., and our son and

daughter-in-law, Carlos Jr. and Audrey. As your state senator, I also am blessedwith opportunities to champion educational opportunities for all and health andhuman services, especially for the very young, the very old, the very poor andpersons with disabilities. What I wish for my own family is what I champion forall families.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to focus on faith, family and friendship. Myprayer is that the Lord will bless us all not only in many ways for which we arethankful, but also with meaningful ways to use those blessings in demonstratingour gratitude.

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

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

AUSTIN — I’m a hugebargain hunter. Years as asingle mom on a journal-ist’s salary made me an ex-pert at chasing good deals.

And yet, Black Fridayhas never been my thing.Growing up in a roughneighborhood in Dallas,I’ve spent most of my lifeavoiding drama and tensesituations. The oversensa-tionalized media reports ofBlack Friday melees wereenough to keep the shop-ping frenzy atop my“avoid-at-all-costs” list.

Yes, the stories of angrymobs aren’t frequent, butthe tension and heightenedsense of consumer compe-tition that builds up dur-ing Black Friday sales areindeed common. For me,no deal — regardless ofhow good it may be — isworth putting myselfthrough that frenzy.

Yet, I did it. Once. Andnow I can say: Been there,done that. No need to re-peat.

My reasons for stayingaway from Black Fridaysales have little to do withmaking a political state-ment — though I don’tnecessarily disapprove ofthose out there — and ev-erything to do with expect-ing more of humanity andappreciating my family.

The unknowing instiga-tor of my sole Black Fri-day experience was mynow-ex sister-in-law, Feli-cia. For as long as I’veknown her, she’s been anavid Black Friday shopper.Before retail stores pushedup Black Friday toThanksgiving Thursday,Felicia would head out atthe crack of dawn with mybrother, friends or otherfamily members in searchof the best prices for shoesand cute outfits for mynieces.

She swore that everyonein her small shoppinggroup had experiencedsuch a good time in theirpursuit for the best dealsof the season and enjoyedone another’s companyamid the rushing crowds.Mostly, as any self-respect-ing bargain enthusiastwould, I loved hearing ofher great finds. One year,she came home with beau-tiful, small aluminumChristmas tree that hadserved as a store’s display.I was jealous.

Four years ago, twothings convinced me to fi-nally join the Black Fridayshoppers club: my goal tofind an excellent gift formy husband and a greatprice on a flat-screen tele-vision. My membershipwould be short-lived.

On that evening, Itrekked out early enoughto my local Target to beamong the first 40 shop-pers or so in line. Folksaround me were friendlyand chatty. An aura ofcamaraderie existed. Peo-ple even held one another’s

places in line for the sakeof food and bathroombreaks. I’d experiencedsomething very similar tothis during my stakeouttime at the annual Settle-ment Home Garage Sale, acharity event. There, wom-en claim a spot for them-selves and a few friendswho will join them later.Some even enjoy a picnicto help kill time.

That’s where the simi-larities end. Like BlackFriday shoppers, folks inthe Settlement Home lineare always eager to get in-side to spot the best buys.However, perhaps knowingthat all proceeds of the salego to a good cause is whatkeeps Settlement Homeshoppers’ spirits at a most-ly gracious level.

The same can’t be saidof many shoppers in lineon Black Friday.

On the night that I hadventured out, tension be-gan to fill the air as theline grew longer and timegot closer to the doorsopening. Forty-five min-utes before midnight, myonce-friendly fellow lines-man soon became suspi-cious of anyone new whoapproached the line. Fif-teen minutes before doorsopened, people in front andbehind me were shoutingat anyone who even cameto close to our spots. Theywarned them that cuttingline was forbidden. Bythen, I could no longermake eye contact withthose around me.

This was no longer acamp of newfound matesbut a field of soldiersawaiting battle.

When the doors openedat midnight, the crusadewas in full force. Peoplepushed and grabbed at saleitems as though reachingfor bread for their hun-gered bodies. But it wasn’t.It was a gaming system. Aslow cooker. A Lalaloopsydoll.

Originally, my list ofitems included a few kitch-en gadgets and a couple oftoys. After being pushedinside — and because thetelevision I wanted for myhusband was immediatelyto my left — it was the on-ly item I dared to get. Noviolence was reported atthat store that night, butthe scene was tense. Peoplebecame frenzied as soon asthe doors opened. We allwere focused on gettingthe products we had wait-ed in line that we lost sightof being good neighbors.

I would rather be an ex-ample for my childrenthan have the steal of thecentury. So, this and everyFriday after Thanksgiving,I choose to be nestled onthe couch with my family,counting every single oneof my blessings and leav-ing Black Friday shoppingto the pros.

(Gissela SantaCruzwrites for the Austin Amer-ican-Statesman. Email:gsantacruz(at)states-man.com.)

COLUMN

Lets bethankful forwhat we got

By GISSELA SANTACRUZCOX NEWSPAPERS

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

To be published, let-ters must include thewriter’s first and lastnames as well as aphone number to verifyidentity. The phonenumber IS NOT publish-ed; it is used solely toverify identity and toclarify content, if neces-sary. Identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

We want to assure

our readers that a letteris written by the personwho signs the letter. TheZapata Times does notallow the use of pseudo-nyms.

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-calling or gratuitousabuse is allowed.

Via e-mail, send let-ters to editorial@lmton-line.com or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Lare-do, TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

As an old great-grandfa-ther-wannabe, I was recent-ly reflecting on some first-child experiences.

Men are ill prepared forthe birth of their children,especially the first one.

As a result, these new fa-thers can offer some prettyhilarious sidebars to thebirth, which is a tremen-dous physical marathon formothers and not a dang bitfunny. And, new mamas arenaturally the focus of theentire birthing process.

New dads are a pitiful lotand make for hilarity intheir misunderstanding ofthe rigors for a woman inbringing a baby into theworld.

It’s no wonder thatscores of comedians havecreated extraordinary hu-mor with this whole pro-cess of childbirth, particu-larly with reference to theutter ignorance often dis-played by new dads.

My first-born-child expe-rience occurred a littlemore than 50 years ago andjust the waiting room go-ings-on are a stitch now…atleast the parts I can remem-ber.

Of course, times, meth-ods, science and maternityhealth care have changedimmensely in that half- cen-tury. So has the knowledgefinally, to a degree, shared

with expectant fathers.We’ve even reached a

point where dads are al-lowed to share somewhat inthe birth process, such asbeing in the labor and deliv-ery rooms. Not so in thatlong-ago eon.

A certain sophisticationhas come about for newdads in their being allowedto experience, as much aspossible, the experience oftheir child’s birthing.

With the birth of my firstchild, I was in the dark agreat deal of the time. Okay,no comments from the au-dience here. This is serial.

This took place in Hous-ton’s Methodist Hospital, afine institution.

We had that first child byappointment, i.e., labor wasinduced, so we presentedourselves at the set time.

While the mother-to-bewas ushered into the metic-ulous preparation and caresection, we about-to-be-dad-dies were shown to a spe-cial new-father waiting areajust outside the maternityward.

Yeah, I know, Stone Age. Almost to a man, this mi-

serable collection of clue-less new dads bore books,

magazines and smellingsalts — no champagne bot-tles and cork screws al-lowed — as they preparedto sit and wait for a nurseto stick her head out andannounced, “girl” or “boy”to the pathetic gathering.

Oh, in those days, therewas still quite a bit of mys-tery as to what the sex ofthe expected child would be.After all, it was more thanhalf a century ago. Sciencehas marched on.

I was no different thanmost of those expectant fa-thers, although I saw noneed for smelling salts. Ihad a couple of newspapers(what else) and they con-tained my lifelong-addic-tion…crossword puzzle-s…as if my mind couldwrap itself around thosepuzzles and produce an ex-pected plethora of answersand solutions (I still onlymanage one or two com-pleted crosswords aweek…grrrr!). As Popeyewould say, “That’s embar-rasking!”

That long ago time didproduce one humorous ex-perience.

Fifty-plus years ago, themini-skirt was making itsdaring debut, much to thedelight of husbands and tothe disdain of wives-moth-ers whose bodies had beenravaged by the rigors of

pregnancy and childbirth. In those slow, dragging,

waiting minutes, we dads— “deprived” of the maritalbed for weeks and weeks —were sitting there numb-minded when suddenly thenew phenomenon made itsdebut for this pathetic col-lection of expectant fathers.

This gorgeous, quiteshapely redheaded womanslowly swayed by all ussoon-to-be new daddies. Sheglided to the doorway to thelabor rooms, turned andtauntingly swiveled by uson her way back out. Everyman’s chin was on hischest.

But no one rose to checkout her availability. Nerveswon out.

Twelve hours afterchecking in, I was informedthat both mom and new ba-by were doing well. I didn’trecognize then the challeng-es and the enormity of thetask of raising a child.

As the oldest of four chil-dren, all boys, I alreadyknew how to perform allthe physical tasks involvedin taking care of a new ba-by. Shucks, I thought, noth-ing to it. Live and learn.

(Willis Webb is a retiredcommunity newspaper edi-tor-publisher with morethan 50 years experience. Hecan be reached by email atwwebb1937@att.net.)

COLUMN

Expectant dads often funny

We need to improve thecondition of workers thisThanksgiving weekend.

Black Friday and CyberMonday may mean greatdeals for shoppers but theycan be a terrible deal for themillions of retail and ware-house workers who areforced to work long, unpre-dictable hours. Recently,many stores have evenstayed open on Thanksgiv-

ing, preventing workersfrom spending the holidaywith their families andfriends.

But the worst part is thatso many of these workersare used to all this. That’sbecause employers aren’tjust giving workers unsta-ble, unpredictable shiftsduring the hectic holidayseason - they’re doing it allyear round. According to arecent study by Retail Ac-tion Project, nearly 40 per-cent of retail workers are

given irregular schedulesthat wreak havoc on theirlives.

That hourly employeewho just helped you find theperfect sweater for yourgrandmother might bescheduled for 10 hours oneweek and 30 the next. Shemight be scheduled formornings one week andevenings the next, with noset pattern, and only two orthree days’ advance notice.She might pay her babysit-ter and commute for an

hour, only to be sent homewithout pay because busi-ness is slow.

You can do your part, too.Make a difference for low-paid workers by heading tostores that have promised tostay closed on Thanksgiv-ing, such as Patagonia, Cost-co and Half Price Books.

We need to help business-es understand that whenthey do right by their em-ployees, they’re also helpingour families, communitiesand economy.

COLUMN

Bad holiday worker conditions By JENNY WITTNER

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

CHICAGO — A whiteChicago police officer whoshot a black teenager 16times was charged withfirst-degree murder Tues-day, a day before the dead-line a judge set for the cityto release a squad-car videoof the killing that officialsfear will spark unrest.

A judge denied OfficerJason Van Dyke bond at anoon hearing. About anhour later, Cook CountyState’s Attorney Anita Alva-rez held a news conferencewhere she defended theamount of time it took tocharge the officer in theOct. 20, 2014, killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

City officials and commu-nity leaders have been brac-ing for the release of thevideo, fearing an outbreakof unrest and demonstra-tions similar to those thatoccurred in cities includingBaltimore and Ferguson,Missouri, after young blackmen were slain by police ordied in police custody. Thejudge who ordered the dash-cam recording to be re-leased said it must be putout by Wednesday after cityofficials had argued formonths it couldn’t be madepublic until the conclusionof several investigations.

Alvarez said Tuesdaythat cases involving policeofficers present “highlycomplex” legal issues andshe would rather take the time to get it right than “rush to judgment.” She

said the impending releaseof the video prompted herto move up the announce-ment of the charge out ofconcern the footage wouldspark violence.

“It is graphic. It is vio-lent. It is chilling,” she saidof the video. “To watch a 17-year-old young man die insuch a violent manner isdeeply disturbing. I have ab-solutely no doubt that thisvideo will tear at the heartsof all Chicagoans.”

But she insisted that shemade a decision “weeksago” to charge the officerand the video’s ordered re-lease did not influence that.

Some community leaderssaid there was no doubtthat Alvarez only broughtcharges because of the or-

der to release the video. “This is a panicky reac-

tion to an institutional cri-sis within the criminal jus-tice system,” said the Rev.Jesse Jackson, who said hehoped to see “massive” butpeaceful demonstrations.

The city’s hurried at-tempts to defuse tensions al-so included a communitymeeting, official statementsof outrage at the officer’sconduct and an abrupt an-nouncement Monday nightthat another officer who’sbeen the subject of protestsfor months might now befired.

Activists have longpressed for the video’s re-lease only to be kept privateas the shooting was underinvestigation.

Chicago cop charged with murdering teenBy DON BABWIN AND JASON KEYSER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rev. Jesse Jackson, right, comforts Laquan McDonald’s aunt Tan-isha Hunter during a vigil for the 17-year-old on Tuesday in Chicago.

Photo by Paul Beaty | AP

MINNEAPOLIS — Policeon Tuesday arrested twomen suspected of shootingfive Black Lives Matterdemonstrators, while thefamily of a black manwhose death inspired theprotests called for an end todemonstrations that havegone on for days outside aMinneapolis police station.

No one suffered life-threatening wounds in Mon-day night’s shooting, whichtook place about a blockfrom the police depart-ment’s 4th Precinct, whereprotesters have been demon-strating since the Nov. 15death of 24-year-old JamarClark, who was shot by apolice officer.

It was not immediatelyclear who was behind theattack. By Tuesday after-noon, police had announcedtwo arrests: a 23-year-oldwhite man taken into custo-dy in suburban Blooming-ton and a 32-year-old His-panic man arrested in southMinneapolis. Authoritiessaid they were still seeking

additional suspects.“We are sparing no ef-

forts to bring any and all ofthose responsible to justice,”Mayor Betsy Hodges said ina written statement.

Henry Habu, who said hehas been providing securityfor protesters, said he andothers approached fourwhite people who werestanding under a “Jus-tice4Jamar” sign to askwhat they were doing there.The group was composed ofthree men and one woman,with three of them wearingmasks that left their eyesexposed.

“We’re here for Jamar,”one said, according to Habu.

Habu said they tried toescort the four from thescene and they took off run-ning. Habu said he did notsee the shooting that fol-lowed, but heard it.

Oluchi Omeoga wit-nessed the shooting andsaid a handful of protestersfollowed three men inmasks to a street corner,where the men pulled outweapons and began firing.

Two people were shot inthe leg, another in the armand a fourth in the stom-ach, said Mica Grimm, anorganizer with Black LivesMatter who said she arrivedon the scene soon after theshooting.

Police arrest 2 shooters

A protester speaks about his encounter with attackers who wereshooting at five protesters near the Minneapolis Police 4th Precinct.

Photo by Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune | AP

By DOUG GLASS AND STEVE KARNOWSKI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas — TexasPlanned Parenthood affil-iates sued the state in feder-al court Monday, aiming tostop health officials fromcutting off their Medicaidfunding.

Planned Parenthood and10 anonymous patients saythe state’s move violates fed-eral Medicaid law and their14th Amendment right toequal protection by blockingthem from choosing theirown medical provider“without adequate justifica-tion.”

In October, the inspectorgeneral of the state’s healthagency informed the threePlanned Parenthood affil-iates in Texas that his officewas moving to revoke theirability to provide healthcare through Medicaid, al-leging safety concerns andfraud.

The move targets about$3 million in Medicaid reim-bursements, most of it feder-al money, paid to clinicsthat provide birth control,breast and cervical cancerscreenings, and HIV/sexual-ly transmitted disease treat-ment and prevention topoor Texas women.

“This effort is meant tobe an attack on PlannedParenthood, but the victimsare going to be low-incomeTexan women,” said Dr. HalLawrence, chief executive ofthe American Congress ofObstetricians and Gynecolo-gists. “Women who needhelp, not to have doorsclosed in their faces.”

Officials at the stateHealth and Human ServicesCommission declined tocomment on the suit. Aidesto Gov. Greg Abbott, whohas praised the effortsagainst Planned Parent-hood, also declined to com-ment.

The Centers for Medicareand Medicaid Services toldTexas officials last monththat their move to excludePlanned Parenthood fromthe Medicaid program,which the federal and stategovernments jointly fund toprovide health coverage forthe poor, “may be in conflictwith federal law.”

“Longstanding Medicaidlaws prohibit states from re-stricting individuals whohave coverage through Med-icaid from receiving carefrom a qualified provider,”Marissa Padilla, a spokes-woman for the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and HumanServices, said in a writtenstatement last month. “Byrestricting which provider awoman could choose to re-ceive care from, womencould lose access to criticalpreventive care, such as

cancer screenings.”The state health commis-

sion’s inspector general,Stuart Bowen, cited safetyconcerns raised by an un-dercover video released byan anti-abortion group anda whistleblower’s accusationof Medicaid fraud.

Three days after hewarned that the group couldbe dropped from the pro-gram, the state requested amassive amount of docu-ments, including patient re-cords, doctors’ notes andtest results. Bowen said atthe time that his officewould review the docu-ments to determine the val-idity of the whistleblower’saccusations. The next step,he warned, could be to opena criminal investigation.

Planned Parenthood hasrepeatedly denied all allega-tions of fraud and called thedocument requests a “fish-ing expedition.”

Bowen gave Planned Par-enthood affiliates until mid-November to request a re-consideration, but the or-ganization decided insteadto sue, said Sarah Wheat, aspokeswoman for PlannedParenthood of Greater Tex-as.

The organization asked afederal court in Austin to is-sue an injunction haltingthe state’s efforts by earlyDecember, when Wheat saidit would probably take ef-fect. Courts in several otherstates have blocked similarefforts to cut off funding un-til suits could be heard.

Over the last three years,Texas has steadily cut offPlanned Parenthood frommost state funding sources,including a program thatprovides cancer screeningand diagnostic tests andhelps enroll women in theMedicaid program forbreast and cervical cancertreatment.

Texas’ Republican leadershave said that as an organi-zation affiliated with abor-tion clinics, Planned Parent-hood has no place in tax-payer-funded women’shealth services. In Texas,there are 35 Planned Parent-hood facilities, five of whichperform abortions. Theabortion facilities are fund-ed and operated separatelyfrom the health clinics, andno federal or state moneygoes to fund abortions.

Cecile Richards, presi-dent of the Planned Parent-hood Federation of America,said the state’s move waspart of a pattern of political-ly motivated attacks by poli-ticians across the country.

“Women in Texas havefewer rights than they didwhen I was growing up, andless access to health care,”Richards said. “It really isbad health policy.”

PlannedParenthood sues

over blockedMedicaid dollars

By BRITTNEY MARTINTHE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

HOUSTON — The oil in-dustry is mired in its latestbust, with thousands ofjobs evaporating like flaresflaming out over naturalgas wells. But in Texas,education officials are pre-paring more young peoplefor the oil patch, showingthe state’s unshakeablecommitment to the energysector despite the employ-ment uncertainties.

The Houston school dis-trict is planning to expandits Energy Institute HighSchool to around 1,000 stu-dents by 2017 and inaugu-rate a new 110,000 square-foot, $37 million facility.The three-year-old instituteis the nation’s only highschool fully specializing inoil and energy careers.

In the oil-rich PermianBasin, two Midland highschools have begun “petro-leum academies.” And stateofficials have approved vo-cational classes in oil pro-duction, authorizing allschools districts across Tex-as to teach them.

“We are in this down-turn, but as a society wehave a responsibility to notlet that affect our workforceand to keep ahead of thegame,” said Energy Insti-

tute principal Lori Lambro-poulos.

Other oil and gas states,including North Dakota,Louisiana and Wyoming,offer technical training forhigh school students inter-ested in the oil industry,but Texas’ program is moreextensive, despite questionsabout whether there will bejobs in the near future forits graduates.

Layoffs began last yearwhen crude prices plum-meted from over $100 a bar-rel to about $45 now. Ac-cording to the Bureau ofLabor Statistics, oil and gasextraction jobs fell from201,500 nationwide in Octo-ber 2014 to around 187,000

this past October. In Texasalone, the economic sectorincluding energy jobs con-tracted by an estimated28,000 through a year-longperiod ending in Septem-ber.

“Fourteen months ago itwas fracking forever,” saidRobert Gilmer, head of theUniversity of Houston’s In-stitute for Regional Fore-casting. “And now we’rehere.”

But the booms, like thelast six-year-long one, pro-vide rich paydays whenthey happen. And many inTexas insist things will re-bound, although no oneknows when. It took nearlytwo decades for oil prices to

fully recover from the bustin the 1980s.

Energy Institute HighSchool students choose be-tween focusing on geos-ciences, offshore technolo-gy or alternative energy,but can also tackle blue-col-lar areas like welding, vitalto the oilfield, or pilotingremotely operated under-water vehicles used in off-shore exploration.

Trista Litong, a 16-year-old sophomore, said she’snot sweating falling oilprices because she believesher training will be usefulregardless.

“The skills you learnhere, how to talk to people,how to present in front ofan audience and workingin groups, it really helpsyou in the future,” said Li-tong, who wakes up at 4:55a.m. and braves a 90-minutebus ride to reach EnergyInstitute’s temporary cam-pus in a scruffy section ofdowntown Houston.

A record 1,200 studentsapplied for about 250 Ener-gy Institute slots last fall.Oil industry donations havehelped supplement publicfunding for the school’scosts, which are high be-cause of the technology andteacher training required.

They also take tradition-al high school courses.

Despite oil bust, Texas preparesmore students for oil jobs

Biology teacher Amanda Alexander directs her students duringclass at Houston Energy Institute High School, Oct. 27.

Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP

By WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

IRVING, Texas - Threat-ening a lawsuit, AhmedMohamed’s lawyer saysthat not only did Irving of-ficials illegally interrogatethe boy for bringing ahomemade clock to highschool, but later coordinat-ed to "kneecap a kid in themedia" in an effort to coverup their mistakes.

The alleged smear effortmade Ahmed the target ofanti-Muslim threats, the fo-cus of conspiracy theoriesand caused his family toflee the country, the lawyerwrote in letters sent Mon-day to City Hall and theIrving Independent SchoolDistrict.

Ahmed’s family demand-ed that officials apologizeand pay them $15 million tostave off a civil rights suit.

"Mayor Beth Van Duynelied about Ahmed and hisfamily, and she did it to anaudience that is on the ab-solute fringe of Americanlife," attorney Kelly Hol-lingsworth wrote.

City and school officialsdid not comment on thecharges, though some inCity Hall have been expect-ing to be sued since Sep-tember, when the 14-year-old Sudanese immigrantwas arrested - accused of

building a hoax bomb in-stead of a clock - and trans-formed overnight into aglobal symbol of Islamopho-bia.

Monday’s letters weresent as anti-Muslim rheto-ric is sweeping the U.S.presidential race and seep-ing into local politics.Armed protesters stood out-side Irving’s largestmosque Saturday - con-vinced that it had hosted aShariah court, and that theQuran instructed Muslimsto kill nonbelievers.

The two letters add newdetails and accusations to astory that played out to mil-lions after Ahmed broughta clock assembled fromscrap electronics inside asmall pencil case to MacAr-thur High on Sept. 14.

"Ahmed was looking fora way to demonstrate histechnical abilities to someof his new teachers," the at-torney wrote to officials,adding that the boy hadtold his teachers days earli-er he planned to bring anelectronic creation toschool.

But after his Englishteacher confiscated theclock, the letter says, theprincipal and police illegal-ly questioned Ahmed with-out his parents present -even after the boy asked tosee them.

The letter says that Mac-Arthur Principal DanielCummings threatened toexpel Ahmed unless hesigned a confession sayinghis clock was a hoax bomb.By all accounts from thatday, Ahmed never claimedthe device was anythingbut a clock, and officialsnever treated it as a realbomb.

"City and school person-nel commented later to thepress that Ahmed was notforthcoming during the in-quisition," the boy’s lawyerwrote. "It seems not to havedawned on any of them thathe was scared to death."

After police dropped thecharges and news of the ar-rest went viral, city andschool officials devised aplan to "trash Ahmed" inthe media, the lawyer wroteto the city attorney.

"The Irving ISD and Cityof Irving launched a publicrelations campaign againstAhmed. They stoked theflames," reads one of the let-ters. "They tried to push re-sponsibility off on the vic-tim - Ahmed."

The lawyer said officialsfalsely claimed that Ahmedviolated school district pol-icy and "zero tolerance"laws, none of which actual-ly apply to his homemadeclock.

Van Duyne suggested

that Ahmed’s family wasn’ttelling reporters the wholestory about his arrest, andschool officials publiclyasked his parents to letthem release his private re-cords. (An investigation byThe Dallas Morning Newsof the boy’s past turned upreports of suspensions forfighting or horseplay inmiddle school, but nothingcriminal.)

"This, again, is tanta-mount to calling Ahmedand his family liars," the at-torney wrote.

Ahmed’s lawyer and rel-atives argue he’s not ashappy as he appeared incountless interviews afterbecoming a celebrity.

After withdrawing fromthe school district and re-ceiving scholarship offersfrom across the country,Ahmed and his immediatefamily abruptly moved toQatar last month.

At the time, the familysaid the move was best forAhmed’s education. A Qata-ri foundation had offered topay for his schoolingthrough college.

But now the family saysthe decision had as muchto do with a backlash in theUnited States. Ahmed’shome address was madepublic, and commenters onfringe websites threatenedhim with violence.

Family file suit for clock arrestBy AVI SELK

DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

BEREA, Ohio —Dropped from starter tothird-stringer — withoutplaying a game.

Johnny Manziel par-tied his way out of thelineup during Cleve-land’s bye week.

Browns coach MikePettine benched the pola-rizing quarterback onMonday for his off-fieldbehavior, a move thatcould signal Manziel’sdays with the team arenumbered.

Pettine said JoshMcCown will start Mon-day night’s game againstBaltimore in place ofManziel, who was re-cently handed the start-ing job but couldn’t keepit while the team had aweek off.

Manziel’s benchingcomes in the wake of avideo surfacing of himholding a bottle of cham-pagne and rapping pro-fane lyrics last weekendin an Austin, Texas,

nightclub. He had prom-ised not to bring any em-barrassment to the teamduring its week off, anddid just that and Pettine,who has been supportiveof Manziel in the past,has had enough.

“Everyone in this or-ganization wants what isbest for Johnny just likewe do for every player inour locker room. I’m es-pecially disappointed inhis actions and behaviorbecause he has beenworking very hard,” Pet-tine said.

“The improvementsfrom last year to thisyear have been tremen-dous but he still has toconsistently demonstratethat he has gained agood understanding ofwhat it takes to be suc-cessful at the quarter-back position on this lev-el,” he said. “It goes wellbeyond the field.”

Manziel will not onlymove back behindMcCown, but he’ll alsobe below Austin Davison the depth chart.

Pettine met with Man-ziel following practiceTuesday and informedhim of his choice tobench him for the fore-seeable future. Pettine,whose job could be injeopardy if the Browns(2-8) don’t demonstratesome progress the rest ofthis season, said ownerJimmy Haslam and gen-eral manager Ray Farm-er support his decision.

The 22-year-old Man-ziel has developed on thefield during his secondNFL season. However,despite saying he hadlearned from his pastmistakes, Manziel, whospent 70 days during theoffseason in a rehab fa-cility specializing in al-cohol and drug treat-ment, has not shown thematurity the Browns arelooking for from theirquarterback.

Before Tuesday’s prac-tice, Pettine expressedboth disappointment andfrustration with Manziel,who passed for a career-high 372 yards in a re-

cent loss to Pittsburgh.As he got ready to turnhis players loose lastweek, Pettine spoke toManziel about being re-sponsible and was givenassurances by the 2012Heisman Trophy winnerthat he would behave.

Manziel didn’t makehis plans known, butpledged that he wouldnot become a distraction.

“I don’t think they’regoing to have to worryabout me this week,” hetold reporters.

But it was hardlyshocking when the videoand photos appeared ofManziel, who enteredthe league with a reputa-tion for enjoying his freetime.

This time, though, theBrowns weren’t so will-ing to excuse Manziel’sconduct.

Pettine said much ofhis displeasure in Man-ziel stemmed in him notseeming to understandthat his behavior was areflection on the team.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: CLEVELAND BROWNS

Browns demote ManzielPartying costs quarterback starting spot

By TOM WITHERSASSOCIATED PRESS

The Browns dropped Johnny Manziel from the starting spot to third-string quarterback Tuesday because of his partying during the bye week.

Photo by Gene J. Puskar | AP

RECORRIDO DE CASASSe invita a recorrer

las decoraciones en casasubicadas en La Hacienda DeLas Flores, Torres Homes, Lo-zano Home y Treviño Ranchel domingo 13 de diciembre,de 1 p.m. a 5 p.m. La entra-da tiene costo de 7 dólares.Adquiera su boleto en el Mu-seo de Historia del Condadode Webb, 805 N. US Hwy83. También se le hará en-trega de un mapa. Informesen el (956) 765-8983.

ÁRBOL NAVIDEÑOEl Museo de Historia

del Condado de Zapata invitaa las diversas organizacioneslocales al concurso de deco-ración del árbol navideño. Lafecha límite de entrada es elviernes 4 de diciembre a las4 p.m. Los árboles serán co-locados del 8 al 11 de di-ciembre.

La comunidad elegirá, pormedio de voto, el árbol ga-nador. Costo de entrada paravotar es de 3 dólares, paraadultos, y 1 dólar para niños.

El museo se ubica en805 N. US Hwy 83. Informesen el (956) 765-8983.

CIUDAD DE ROMAA mediados de mes

se llevó a cabo la ceremoniade corte de listón del pro-yecto de drenaje sanitario ypavimentación de la avenidaEbony en Ciudad de Roma.El Congresista Henry Cuellar(D-Laredo) logró que se asig-naran 6.2 millones de dóla-res para realizar el proyecto.La obra permitirá evitar lasinundaciones en caso de llu-via, lo cual afecta a los resi-dentes de Ciudad de Roma.

El Centro de Aves enCiudad de Roma, en 610North Portscheller Street, in-vita a visitarlos de jueves adomingo en horario de 8a.m. a 4 p.m. El centro co-nocido como ‘Roma BluffsWorld Birding Center’ se ubi-ca en el Distrito Histórico deRoma, y es propiedad de laCiudad de Roma.

DESFILE POR NAVIDADLa Cámara de Comer-

cio del Condado del Condadode Zapata invita al Desfile deNavidad y Encendido del Ár-bol en la Plaza del Condado,el jueves 3 de diciembre. Seinvita a que se registren paraparticipar en el evento lla-mando para detalles al (956)765-5434. El día del desfilela alineación iniciará a las 5p.m. en Glenn St. y 17th Ave.(detrás de Our Lady of Lour-des Catholic Church). El des-file dará inicio a las 6 p.m. yproseguirá por 17th Ave. ha-cia el Sur sobre US Hwy 83tomando a la izquierda sobre6th Ave. para concluirlo. Pos-teriormente será el encendi-do anual del árbol de Navi-dad en la Plaza del Condado,seguido de entrega de rega-los por Santa.

TAMAULIPASEl sábado, agentes fe-

derales lograron detener aquien dijo ser el comandantede plaza de un grupo delin-cuencial que opera en Sotola Marina, México.

Roberto Alonso GómezMorales, de 35 años, fuearrestado por el delito de ex-torsión, de acuerdo con uncomunicado del Grupo deCoordinación Tamaulipas.

El sospechoso fue ubica-do en las cercanías del mer-cado Pedro Argüelles de Ciu-dad Victoria, México. GómezMorales tenía en su poder128.500 pesos en efectivo,dinero que le fue asegurado.

En sus declaraciones mi-nisteriales, Gómez Moralesmanifestó ser el comandantede plaza en CongregaciónEnramadas.

De acuerdo a las autori-dades se cree que el grupomantiene bajo extorsión a losagricultores por instruccionesdel grupo delincuencial queopera en esa región.

Agendaen Breve

MÉXICO — El Departamento delTesoro de los Estados Unidos ha de-signado a dos mexicanos en aplica-ción de la Ley Kingpin por sus acti-vidades criminales para el Cártelde Sinaloa que dirige Joaquín “ElChapo” Guzmán, fugitivo de la jus-ticia.

El Departamento dice que la de-signación de Guadalupe FernándezValencia y Jorge Mario ValenzuelaVerdugo impide que nadie en losEstados Unidos pueda hacer nego-cios con ellos y congela cualquierposesión que puedan tener en losEstados Unidos.

En un comunicado de prensa he-

cho público el martes se les acusade narcotráfico y lavado de dinero yse les designa como lugartenientescon un papel clave en la estructuraque maneja el hijo de Guzmán, Je-sús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar. Fer-nández maneja droga y dinero parael cártel, y Valenzuela gestiona ladistribución en los estados de Jalis-co y Sinaloa en México.

ExtradiciónPor otra parte se dio a conocer

que el hijo de un capo de la drogaen México será extraditado a los Es-tados Unidos para enfrentarse a uncargo federal por tráfico de drogas

y conspiración.Ismael Zambada Imperial, tam-

bién conocido como “El Gordo Ma-yito”, es el hijo de Ismael ZambadaGarcía, uno de los tres lideres delCártel del Sinaloa y es apodado “ElMayo”.

El periódico Excelsior reportó elsábado que la Secretaría de Relacio-nes Exteriores de México permitióla extradición de Imperial a los EU.

Imperial fue capturado cerca deCuliacán, capital de Sinaloa, en no-viembre de 2014, de acuerdo a Reu-ters.

Una corte federal en Californiahabía acusado a Imperial de conspi-ración y trafico de marihuana, me-tanfetamina y cocaína, reportó Ex-

celsior.El padre de Imperial se cree to-

mó el mando del Cártel de Sinaloadespués de la captura en 2014 de sulíder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Imperial no es el primero de sushermanos que enfrenta cargos enlos Estados Unidos. Vicente Zamba-da Niebla fue arrestado en 2009 porcargos de trafico de droga y fue ex-traditado a los EU.

“El Chapo” Guzmán escapó de laprisión de máxima seguridad delAltiplano en las afueras de la Ciu-dad de México el 11 julio a través deun túnel de más un kilómetro quesalía de su celda.

(Con información del San AntonioExpress-News)

JOAQUÍN ‘EL CHAPO’ GUZMÁN

LugartenientesASSOCIATED PRESS

PÁGINA 8A Zfrontera MIÉRCOLES 25 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2015

Durante el año fiscal que concluyó el30 de septiembre, el Banco de Alimentosdel Sur de Texas (STFB, por sus siglasen inglés) distribuyó casi 300.000 librasde comida a familias necesitadas en elCondado de Webb.

La cantidad exacta fue de 285.934 li-bras, se reveló en un co-municado de prensa. En2014 la cifra fue de 360.471libras.

Elia Solís, nacida enSan Ygnacio y egresadade Zapata High School, esla coordinadora de rela-ciones de agencia paraSTFB.

La comida en el Condado de Zapata esdistribuida a través de tres agencias. Laprimera es Helping Hands, en 8th andDel Mar; después Shepherd’s Pantry, 305Hawk St.; y, el Zapata Boys and GirlsClub, 302 West 6th Avenue.

Los coordinadores son Brian Martí-nez, Mary Pulido y Ramiro Hernández,respectivamente.

Los clientes deben llamar para cono-cer el horario de distribución.

“Para ayudar en la lucha contra elhambre en los ocho condados que elbanco de alimentos atiende, se recauda ydistribuye comida a través de agencias yprogramas, aunado a sensibilizar y edu-car a la comunidad acerca de la realidadde la falta de alimentos”, dijo Alma Bou-bel, directora ejecutiva del STFB.

El organismo ayuda también a loscondados de Webb (Laredo), Starr (RioGrande City-Roma), Jim Hogg (Hebbron-ville), Dimmit (Carrizo Springs), Mave-rick (Eagle Pass), Val Verde (Del Rio) yKinney (Brackettville).

Durante el 2014 el banco de alimentosdistribuyó 9.91 millones de libras, una ci-fra más alta de lo repartido en el 2013,cuando fueron 9.464 millones de libras.

“Nuestra economía sigue sin estar endonde debería y, por tanto, la necesidadsigue creciendo”, expuso Boubel.

La tasa de pobreza en el área es ma-yor al 30 por ciento.

Para informes llame al (956) 726-3120 ovisite southtexasfoodbank.org.

ZAPATA

Dan másapoyo

POR SALO OTEROESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

BOUBEL

El pasado tamaulipeco alojatambién leyendas. Estas histo-rias tienden a obtener la cate-goría de verdad incontroverti-ble.

El 1829 el brigadier IsidroBarradas llega al norte de Ve-racruz, bajo las órdenes deFernando VII. Sigue a Tamau-lipas y ocupa Tampico.

Le afecta la falta de caballos,escasez de provisiones, nulorespaldo popular y el pésimoclima de la costa. Tampococonserva naves para la retira-da en caso necesario. Pésimoestratega, termina sitiado,fragmentándose además lasmaltrechas tropas que coman-da.

El 11 de septiembre capitulaante los defensores mexicanos.Suscribe convenio y se dirige,por buques que permitan la sa-lida de los invasores, a NuevaOrleáns. En su ausencia, llegala Armada hispana, se imponede la capitulación y recoge loque resta del cuerpo expedicio-nario. Jamás regresa el briga-dier, sin conocerse entonces su

paradero a punto fijo.Esto último alienta intrinca-

das leyendas. “El capitulado […] para elu-

dir el juicio y escapar a la con-denación desertó […] y envol-vió […] en el misterio […] suresidencia” postrera, refiereFernando Iglesias Calderón en1906. “Corre […] la versión–consigna-- de que […] bajonombre supuesto, vivió y mu-rió en un pueblo” del “hoy es-tado de Hidalgo […] Debe cre-erse que [lo anterior] no pasade una conseja”.

Tomás Domínguez Illanesasevera: “Por el año de [18]34llegó a Jacala […] un españolque […] se hacía llamar donManuel Raigadas. […] Poco so-ciable”, matrimoniado conacaudalada mujer de Zacualti-pán, muere el 1 de abril de1870. Coterráneo suyo, el ha-cendado Mateo de la Tijerasuelta compungido: “He allí elcadáver del […] brigadier Isi-dro Barradas”, cierra Domín-guez Illanes.

Al susodicho, José FranciscoPedraza lo presenta como Da-río Bizarras, alias casi anagra-mático. “Murió después del im-perio de Maximiliano […] y fuesepultado en la capilla de unahacienda” cercana, asevera Pe-draza. “Una espada, magnífica

hoja de Toledo” –enfatiza--, fi-gura entre sus herencias.

Iglesias Calderón escribió“Si Barradas hubiera tenidoconciencia de que se había ba-tido con valor y capitulado conhonor […] habría regresado asu país para dar cuenta […] desu conducta”, con lo que conje-tura la huida del brigadier.

Un testimonio anónimo im-preso en 1838 indica “Barradas[…] de Nuevo Orleáns […] sedirigió a París”, resalta. Le im-puta empero “ser la causa deldesastre”, en menoscabo denuestros valientes soldados,acusándolo de huir “bien pro-visto su bolsillo de los restosde la Real Tesorería”.

Barradas pretende salir deEU y dirigirse a Madrid paradarle explicaciones a FernandoVII, pero termina refugiándoseen Francia, en medio de la mi-seria.

Jesús Ruiz de Gordejuela en2013 esclarece: “A Barradas leesperaba un futuro aciago […]esperando” ir “a la presenciade su rey” y “defender su ho-nor […] No pudo ser, y el 14 deagosto de 1835 falleció en […]Marsella cuando contaba 52años”.

(Con permiso del autor, segúnfuera publicado en La Razón,Tampico, Tamps.)

COLUMNA

Travesías originan leyendasEn una serie de artículos, el au-

tor analiza conocidas leyendas deTamaulipas.

POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

ACCIÓN DE GRACIAS

DAR Y RECIBIR

La semana pasada se llevó a cabo la Primera Cena Anual Comunitaria por el Día de Acción de Gracias, organizada por el Pediatric Practice Association de Dr. Stanley. El even-to se llevó a cabo en el Centro Comunitario del Condado de Zapata, y fue abierto a todos los residentes.

Foto de cortesía | Zapata Chamber of Commerce

COLORES PATRIOS

Foto de cortesía | Nueva Ciudad Guerrero

Personal e integrantes del Club del Adulto Mayor en Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, participaron en la fiesta para con-memorar el 105 aniversario de la Revolución Mexicana, el viernes. El desfile anual recorrió calles de la ciudad y culminóen el parque de béisbol.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 Zentertainment PAGE 9A

Frank Miller’s return tothe Dark Knight universeis not only an all-star col-laboration, but also therare comic-book "event"that lives up to its ownhype.

There’s a slightly differ-ent Dark Knight vibe in thefirst book of "DKIII: TheMaster Race" (availableWednesday), given the ab-sence of Miller’s art, andwith Brian Azzarello co-plotting on writing duties(with Miller approvinglypulling the strings on allplot details).

Miller said that Azzarel-lo was his top pick when itcame to a story collabora-tor.

"Brian is exactly who Iwould have chosen," Millertold The Washington Post."I can’t imagine anyonebetter suited than him (for’DKIII’). He was my own

personal choice."And creatively, Miller

has relished having suchwelcome company for hislatest Batman turn.

"We’ve worked out thestory to great length," Mill-er said. "(Brian) is workingwell within the parametersthat I set up in both DarkKnights. Beyond that it’sbeen a pleasure."

Andy Kubert is nostranger to drawing majorevents for the big two pub-lishers, having drawn theorigin tale for Wolverine inthe early Aughts for Marvel(Origin). Now, Kubert takeson the large task of not be-ing Miller on art duties fora Dark Knight tale. ButKubert’s art is a welcomesubstitute, as he proves upto the task on drawing oneof the year’s most anticipat-ed comics. He channelsMiller’s influence, from lay-ing out news broadcasts onthe page to how he drawsother members of DC Com-

ics’ top trinity.The traces of Klaus Jan-

son’s inks provide an old-school familiarity with a

tale that feels like present-day.

Janson himself said thatKubert’s efforts were admi-

rable."When I first saw the

pages coming in from An-dy, it was very identifiablyDark Knight. There’s nomistaking it," Janson said."It feels, and has the flavorof, DK1 and DK2. Therhythm and the pacing isvery similar. It’s basically:Hold on to the seat of yourpants, because it’s a rollercoaster ride. That kind ofmomentum and flavor con-tinues in ’DKIII,’ but it cer-tainly is different.

"The styles (betweenMiller and Kubert) are dif-ferent, but they both areextremely competent, effi-cient and brilliant storytell-ers."

Leaning on elements ofthe first two Dark Knighttales mixed with a modernurban feel that is standardAzzarello terrain, "DKIII"reads like a Dark Knightstory for a new generationof fans.

"One of the wonderful

things of having workedwith Frank on Dark Knightis the realization that thatbook keeps on reaching anew audience," Jansonsaid. "DK1 and DK2, andhopefully ’DKIII,’ will overthe years continue to reacha new audience. DK1 sellsjust as well as any othergraphic novel does, even tothis very day."

With the arrival nextMarch of the big screen’s"Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice," which isheavily influenced by Mill-er’s works, there will be anew set of young fans gaz-ing upon an older, grittierBatman - which will fur-ther drive new fans to Mill-er’s classic Bat-tales.

And what does Millerthink of this scenario?Does he welcome the nextgeneration to his legendaryDC Comics Batman books?

"Sure," Miller said wryly."Maybe they’ll pay me thistime."

Frank Miller’s ‘Dark Knight III’ lives up to hypeBy DAVID BETANCOURTTHE WASHINGTON POST

Artist and writer Frank Miller, creator of the "Dark Knight" series ofBatman comics, in his New York studio, Friday.

Photo by Benjamin Norman | New York Times

John Stamos has pleaded nocontest to a charge of driving un-der the influence of a drug thatwas filed after his arrest earlierthis year in Beverly Hills, Cali-fornia, and he has been sen-tenced to three years of proba-tion.

Los Angeles Superior CourtCommissioner Jane Godfrey or-

dered Stamos to attend 52 Alco-holics Anony-mous meetingsand a counselingsession.

Blair Berk, anattorney for the“Full House”star, entered theplea Tuesday onStamos’ behalf.

The 52-year-old actor was

briefly hospitalized in June afterBeverly Hills police arrestedhim on suspicion of driving un-der the influence. Police havenot identified the substance theysuspect Stamos had taken, and itwas not addressed in court.

The actor currently appearson the Fox television series“Grandfathered” and is workingon a reboot of “Full House” forNetflix.

John Stamos pleads nocontest to DUI

ASSOCIATED PRESS

STAMOS

LUFKIN, Texas — Splashingbright paint on car doors withgusto, Lufkin High School artstudents created unique piecesof artwork on old car doors.

Harlan Neal, LHS Fine ArtsDepartment head, said this is aproject he had wanted to do forseveral years.

“I casually mentioned thisproject to my painting class, andSuzanna (Del Toro) told me thather father would donate doorsfrom junk cars,” he said. “Iasked for three, and she gave mesix.”

The Lufkin Daily News re-ports the Del Toro family donat-ed the front and back doors of aLincoln Town Car and the backdoors of an Expedition.

Students were shown exam-ples of car art from famoussources such as BMW Art Cars,from which Neal developed hisoriginal idea. Famous artistshave been paid by BMW to paintcars as advertisements since1975. Sharpie also sponsors well-known artists to paint cars.

“This is a real-world activity,”Neal said.

The students had to act likecar designers and paint cars.They chose themes for the doorsincluding nature, organic, line-ar, mechanical, aboriginal, zen-tangles and more. Then theymade a full paper template ofthe door for sketching, drawingand painting their ideas.

“All of their plans wereworked out on this piece of pa-per beforehand,” Neal said. “Sothey not only had to developtheir problem-solving skills,they had to work together in agroup to make their ideas tangi-ble.”

Del Toro and her groupplanned a superhero theme withSpiderman, Batman, Flash,Green Lantern, Wolverine, Cap-tain America and Black Widowemblems.

They laid down white tapeover a layer of white gesso sothat it looked like a movie film-strip or comic strip, where thesuperheroes came from.

“We wanted to do superheroesbecause everyone loves them,”senior Geaniva White said. “It’sbeen a lot of fun. I like how cre-ative you can be with it and howmuch you learn. . We started touse Sharpies, but it ruined the

Sharpie, so we stuck to acrylicpaint.”

Another group painted a doorthat focused on linear art. Usingdeep hues of blue, purple, black,white and silver, they created ayin-yang symbol on the door anda galaxy on the window.

“The galaxy on the window isbecause it’s like you are lookingthrough the window of your carout into the night sky,” KeshiEdens said. “It’s amazing tothink I created this.”

Working with her were Shan-non Coyle and Katie Alexander.

“We just flew with the ideas,and it became this,” Coyle said.“I like art because it’s freedom. Istop thinking about everything.”

Alexander said she also en-joys art.

“It’s so therapeutic,” Alexan-der said. “I’ve had a lot of trou-ble in my life, and when I do art,I don’t think about any of that.In fact, I plan on becoming anart therapist.”

Neal said after the doors arefinished, the students will spraythem with a clear varnish togive a glossy finish.

The doors will be on displayin the LHS library starting theweek after Thanksgiving.

From left, Keshi Edens, Shannon Coyle and Katie Alexander work together to paint the car door at Lufkin High School in Luf-kin, Texas. Lufkin High School art students create unique pieces of artwork on old car doors. Harlan Neal, LHS Fine Arts De-partment head, said this is a project he had wanted to do for several years.

Photo by Andy Adams/The Lufkin News | AP

Lufkin art students getcreative painting car doors

By STEPHANIE STEVENSTHE LUFKIN DAILY NEWS

NEW YORK — A highly re-garded play about a fractiousfamily’s Thanksgiving get-to-gether has something to reallybe thankful for this holiday sea-son — it’s going to Broadway.

Stephen Karam said Tuesdayhis dark comedy “The Hu-mans” will jump from off-Broadway to Broadway’s HelenHayes Theatre, with perform-ances beginning Jan. 23. It willmark his Broadway debut.

“I’d say it feels like a dreamcome true but it’s actually adream I didn’t know I had. Iwas happy just trying to get thebest version of the play out off-Broadway,” Karam said byphone.

“To be totally honest, Ithought I would have a Broad-way debut in the distant, dis-tant future, maybe in my 60s or70s when somebody revived oneof my off-Broadway plays with astar.”

The cast, all of whom are inthe current off-Broadway pro-duction at the Roundabout’sLaura Pels Theatre, will makethe leap: Cassie Beck, Reed Bir-ney, Jayne Houdyshell, LaurenKlein, Arian Moayed and SarahSteele. Scott Rudin and BarryDiller are producing. Tickets goon sale Dec. 11 and openingnight is Feb. 18.

Up-and-coming writers earn-ing such a Broadway transferwere much more common indecades past, but that trajectoryis rare these days. “YoungAmerican playwrights tend tonot get a shot at the real estateof Broadway. So I’m thrilled forhim,” said Joe Mantello, the To-ny Award-winning director whohelms “The Humans.”

Karam was pleased simply tohave the show up and runningon a stage. “To see it come to-gether — as cheesy as it sounds— that’s really the reward. That

feels like the prize, when you’reable to make the thing thatyou’ve been dreaming of for thepast four or five years.”

Both Karam and Mantellocredited Rudin, who saw theplay during previews and madea commitment to take it toBroadway within 24 hours, notwaiting to hear what officialcritics said. Mantello said theplaywright is one to watch.

“It’s undeniable, in my opin-ion, that this is a unique, com-pelling, essential voice for theAmerican theater,” said Mantel-lo. “Stephen will go on to writemany other great plays and Ithink it’s time for people tojump onboard.”

The play will be part of aone-two stage punch from theplaywright in 2016: His adapta-tion of “The Cherry Orchard”by Anton Chekhov will startpreviews in September at theAmerican Airlines Theatre.

Karam, a 2012 Pulitzer Prizefinalist for his drama “Sons ofthe Prophet,” also wrote theplays “Speech and Debate” and“Dark Sisters.” A graduate ofBrown University, his screen-plays of Chekhov’s “The Sea-gull” and “Speech and Debate”are being made into films.

“I like creating the illusionthat suddenly I’ve just done fivethings at once,” he said, laugh-ing. “What’s funny is I’ve neverhad a film made before thisyear and two got green-lit andfilmed at the same time. I’m notjoking: The shoots overlappedfor two weeks in the summer.”

Ever humble, Karam, a prod-uct of the blue-collar Pennsylva-nia city of Scranton, said hewon’t be soaking in champagneto toast his success. “It’s so ve-ry hard for me to enjoy expen-sive champagne because I’mthinking how much it costs,”he said. “I think it will beawhile before I’m taking achampagne bath.”

This image released by Polk & Co. shows, Sarah Steele, clockwise from top,Cassie Beck, Arian Moayed, Jayne Houdyshell and Reed Birney, during a per-formance of “The Humans” in New York. Stephen Karam said Tuesday hisdark comedy "The Humans" will jump from off-Broadway to Broadway’s HelenHayes Theatre, with performances beginning Jan. 26.

Photo by Joan Marcus/Polk & Co. | AP

‘The Humans’adapted toBroadway

By MARK KENNEDYASSOCIATED PRESS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015

MOSCOW — Turkeyshot down a Russianwarplane on Tuesdaythat it said ignored re-peated warnings andcrossed into its airspacefrom Syria, killing atleast one of the two pi-lots in a long-feared es-calation in tensions be-tween Russia and NA-TO. Russian PresidentVladimir Putin de-nounced what he calleda “stab in the back” andwarned of “significantconsequences.”

The shoot down —the first time in half acentury that a NATOmember has downed aRussian plane —prompted an emergencymeeting of the alliance.The incident highlight-ed the chaotic complex-ity of Syria’s civil war,where multiple groupswith clashing alliancesare fighting on theground and the sky iscrowded with aircraftbombing various tar-gets.

“As we have repeated-ly made clear we standin solidarity with Tur-key and support the ter-ritorial integrity of ourNATO ally, Turkey,” NA-TO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg told anews conference afterthe meeting of the alli-ance’s decision-makingNorth Atlantic Council,called at Turkey’s re-quest.

The pilots of thedowned Su-24 ejected,but one was killed bySyrian rebel fire fromthe ground as he para-chuted to Earth, saidthe Russian generalstaff, insisting the Rus-sian jet had been in Syr-ian airspace at the time.One of two helicopterssent to the crash site tosearch for survivorswas also hit by rebelfire, killing one service-man and forcing thechopper to make anemergency landing, themilitary said.

Stoltenberg urged“calm and de-escala-tion” and renewed con-tacts between Moscowand Ankara. Russia haslong been at odds withNATO, which it accusesof encroaching on Rus-sia’s borders, as well aswith Turkey’s determi-nation to oust SyrianPresident Bashar As-sad, a longtime Moscowally.

In Washington, Presi-dent Barack Obamasaid Turkey “has aright to defend its terri-tory and its airspace.”

At a news conferencewith French PresidentFrancois Hollande, hesaid the incident under-scored the “ongoingproblem” with Russia’smilitary operations inSyria, where the Rus-sians have been target-ing groups near theTurkish border.

Turkeyshootsdown

Russianplane

By JIM HEINTZ AND SUZAN FRASERASSOCIATED PRESS

Tunisia’s president declared a30-day state of emergency acrossthe country and imposed an over-night curfew for the capital afteran explosion Tuesday struck a buscarrying members of the presiden-tial guard, killing at least 12 peopleand wounding 20 others.

The government described it asa terrorist attack. The blast on atree-lined avenue in the heart ofTunis is a new blow to a countrythat is seen as a model for the re-gion but has struggled against Is-lamic extremist violence. Radicalgunmen staged two attacks earlierthis year that killed 60 people, dev-astated the tourism industry andrattled this young democracy.

No one immediately claimed re-sponsibility for the attack againstthe presidential guard, an elite se-curity force that protects only thepresident.

President Beji Caid Essebsi, whowasn’t in the bus at the time, de-clared the state of emergency andcurfew on the Tunis region. Heconvened an emergency meeting ofhis security council for Wednesdaymorning.

Speaking on national television,he said Tunisia is at "war againstterrorism" and urged internationalcooperation against extremistswho have killed hundreds around

Europe and the Mideast in recentweeks, from Paris to Beirut to aRussian plane shot down overEgypt.

"I want to reassure the Tunisianpeople that we will vanquish ter-rorism," he said.

Police fanned out throughoutcentral Tunis after Tuesday’s ex-plosion, and ambulances rushed tothe scene, evacuating wounded anddead. Top government ministersvisited the scene of the attack afterit was cordoned off by police.

Interior Ministry spokesmanWalid Louguini told The Associat-ed Press that at least 12 were killedand 20 wounded in the attack.

Witness Bassem Trifi, a humanrights lawyer, said the explosionhit the driver’s side of the bus, de-scribing a "catastrophic" scene.

"I saw at least five corpses onthe ground," he told the AP. "Thiswas not an ordinary explosion."

The attack came days after au-thorities visibly increased the secu-rity level in the capital and de-ployed security forces in unusuallyhigh numbers.

Earlier this month, Tunisian au-thorities announced the disman-tling of a cell that it said hadplanned attacks at police stationsand hotels in the seaside city ofSousse, about 150 kilometers (95

miles) southeast of Tunis. Soussewas one of the targets of attacksearlier this year.

State Department spokesmanMark Toner, speaking in Washing-ton, said the U.S. government wasstill seeking details on what hap-pened in Tunis, but added, "Westrongly condemn the attack."

U.S. Secretary of State John Ker-ry, visiting Tunis earlier thismonth, pledged expanded econom-ic and security support for Tuni-sia, whose popular uprising un-leashed democracy movementsacross the region in 2011 known asthe Arab Spring.

Kerry said the U.S. and Tunisiawould soon begin negotiations on amajor loan guarantee and were dis-cussing expanded military cooper-ation, including intelligence shar-ing and the possible use of dronesto collect information about poten-tial threats. A U.S. military teamwas expected in Tunisia aroundlate November to begin those talks.

Tunisia is the only Arab Springcountry to have solidified a new de-mocracy, but it is facing serious ec-onomic and security challenges.

Tunisia’s tourism industry hasbeen hit especially hard this year.Shootings at a luxury beach hotelin Sousse last June killed 38 peo-ple, mostly tourists, while inMarch, an attack by Islamist extre-mists at Tunisia’s famed Bardomuseum near the capital killed 22people.

Tunisia declares state of emergency

A hooded police officer prevents media from approaching the scene of a bus explo-sion in the center of the capital, Tunis, Tunisia on Tuesday.

Photo by Hassene Dridi | AP

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA AND ANGELA CHARLTON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

searches for jobs — all becausethey feared venturing beyondthe checkpoints.

Lopez, who asked to be identi-fied by her middle name and lastname, wants Angel, now 5, to un-dergo surgery beyond the check-points, with specialists in Cor-pus Christi. Angel could easilypass through — he was born inBrownsville and is a U.S. citizen— but Lopez cannot because sheis an undocumented immigrantand has already been deportedonce. A single mother, she hasno relatives who could take An-gel for her.

“If it weren’t there,” Lopez, 41,said recently of the line of check-points, “he would be better al-ready.” Angel had stayed homefrom school that day because ofone of the bouts of diarrhea heendures every few weeks.

Border Patrol officials say thecheckpoints prevent immigrantsand smugglers who have crossedthe border illegally from enter-ing the interior of the UnitedStates.

In some ways, the immigrantshere are facing constraints theyshould have expected. Theycame to the country illegally andmust now try to live undetectedin a region with a heavy BorderPatrol presence. But their isola-tion is extraordinary comparedwith that of other immigrantswho violated the same laws.

Erasto Renteria’s parents willmiss his graduation in 2017 fromthe University of Texas at Aus-tin, although they live in San Be-nito, near the border and only afive-hour drive away. His parentsare undocumented, and theywould have to cross the check-points if they traveled north.

“As it gets closer and closer, itmakes me think whether I ac-tually want to graduate on time,

because it’s really hard for me tosay that I would graduate with-out my parents,” Renteria, 20,said.

Adela Menchaca’s world spansa mere two counties. Since enter-ing the United States illegally in1999, Menchaca, 44, who lives inEdinburg, has never traveledmore than about 25 miles north,20 miles west or 80 miles east.Her daughter Roxana moved toAustin after graduating from col-lege in May, but Menchaca hasnot visited. Her mother died inMexico in 2001, but she did notattend the funeral.

At first glance, there is noth-ing suffocating about Mencha-ca’s life in Edinburg. Roosterscrow beneath the papaya treesoutside the trailer her husbandconverted into a house. Theyraised four children — Mencha-ca cleaning houses and sellingtamales and Avon products, andher husband working in con-struction.

But she once tried to convinceher husband, who trekked onfoot around an interior check-point in the 1990s, that theyshould try to make that journeytogether. Her husband, who ranout of water in the South Texasbrush and drank from a water-ing hole used by cattle, said itwas not worth the risk.

“It’s such a helplessness thatyou can’t leave,” said her hus-band, who was part of a social-media campaign by United WeDream, a national network ofyoung immigrants. A picture ofMenchaca and her description ofbeing “trapped in the RioGrande Valley” was shared onFacebook and Twitter.

According to the MigrationPolicy Institute in Washington,about 130,000 undocumented im-migrants live in two of the Rio

Grande Valley’s four counties.And experts said they and thou-sands in the two other countieslimited their movements becauseof the checkpoints. Some suc-cessfully cross them, but othersfail, and still others never risk it.

The situation is not unique tothe Rio Grande Valley. The Bor-der Patrol operates more than 30permanent checkpoints in Texas,New Mexico, Arizona and Cali-fornia. Immigrant-rights advo-cates said undocumented immi-grants who live below the check-points in other states were oftensimilarly isolated.

“It’s pretty common along thewhole border area,” said Vicki B.Gaubeca, the director of theAmerican Civil Liberties Unionof New Mexico Regional Centerfor Border Rights in Las Cruces.

One of the checkpoints in theRio Grande Valley sector is 70miles north of the border, nearthe town of Falfurrias, and it ap-prehends the largest number ofpeople who have entered thecountry illegally — 14,243 fromOctober 2014 to August.

Officials with the agency makeno apologies for the hardshipsexperienced by undocumentedimmigrants living between theborder and the checkpoints, butthey say families with seriousmedical needs can use short-term visas or so-called humani-tarian parole to travel beyondthem. Officials said the agencymade sure people had access toemergency medical care.

“Without the checkpoints, thenyou have narcotics and peoplejust coming straight up the high-ways,” said Raul L. Ortiz, the

acting chief of the Border Pa-trol’s Rio Grande Valley sector.“I think we bend over backwardsas an organization to help peoplein need.”

In this part of South Texas,there are only two major high-ways leading north from the bor-der, and each has a checkpoint,in Falfurrias and in Sarita.Those checkpoints are surround-ed by ranches, detection sensorsand rough terrain. Officials inBrooks County, where the Falfur-rias checkpoint is, said the bod-ies of 459 people had been foundsince 2009. Advocates think allwere immigrants who died ofheat and exhaustion while try-ing to walk around the check-point.

George Rodriguez, a conserva-tive activist in San Antonio, dis-puted the notion that undocu-mented immigrants weretrapped. “The law says if you en-ter the country illegally, there’sconsequences,” he said. “Theway to resolve this issue is sim-ple. You come in legally, andthen you don’t face the complica-tions.”

Few in the Rio Grande Valleyare as limited by the checkpointsas Angel and other seriously illor disabled children who wereborn in Texas to undocumentedparents and have U.S. citizen-ship. The specialized pediatriccare they need is often availableonly north of the checkpoints,according to doctors and immi-gration lawyers.

Dr. Marsha Griffin, a Browns-ville pediatrician, said a childwho had died en route to CorpusChristi did not have his parents

by his side because they wereundocumented and feared cross-ing a checkpoint.

Dr. David A. Yngve, the chiefof pediatric orthopedics at theUniversity of Texas MedicalBranch at Galveston, regularlytravels to the Rio Grande Valley.He said there were children withcerebral palsy and other disabil-ities who “are not walking aswell as they could because theycan’t make it past the check-point.”

The pediatrician who treatsAngel, Dr. Carmen Rocco, said itwas unclear how much surgerywould help him. But she saidthat if Lopez had easy access to acity with a children’s medicalcenter, Angel would be in betterhealth.

Lopez said she had left the val-ley only once since 1996 becauseof the checkpoints — a harrow-ing trip five years ago. Angelwas 4 months old and neededemergency heart surgery. Lopezsaid that she had flown over thecheckpoints on a medical heli-copter with Angel to a San Anto-nio hospital, and that she hadbeen terrified not only that An-gel might die but also that shemight be deported again.

The helicopter landed in SanAntonio, and she saw a group ofpeople walk toward her, she said.They were wearing green uni-forms — the same color worn byBorder Patrol agents — and shethought she was caught.

But it was a kind of mirage,brought on by years of fearingthe checkpoints. The people werenot with the Border Patrol. Theywere uniformed paramedics.

CHECKPOINTS Continued from Page 1A

A portrait of Adela Menchaca’s daughter Roxana is seen in the family’s home inEdinburg. Roxana moved to Austin, beyond the Border Patrol checkpoints, in May.The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mexico, confin-ing undocumented immigrants to a small world.

Photo by Kirsten Luce | The New York Times

Adela Menchaca, who has not visited her daughter in Austin because of concerns about the checkpoints on the way, isshown in her home in Edinburg. The Border Patrol has traffic checkpoints up to 100 miles north of Mexico, confining un-documented immigrants to a small world.

Photo by Kirsten Luce | The New York Times

tional Bridge.The men were taken to a

U.S. Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement deten-tion center in Pearsall, and

them to Europe.For Syrians with means,

a lengthy trek to the U.S.border could provide anoth-er path to asylum.

last fiscal year, the U.S. ad-mitted 1,800 refugees, and189 of them settled in Texas.

(Laredo Morning Timescontributed to this report)

the 70,000 refugees fromaround the world that theU.S. accepts annually.

According to U.S. Con-gressman Henry Cuellar,

Between 2004 and 2013,1,449 Syrians were grantedasylum in the UnitedStates, most in 2012 and2013, and were not part of

the women and children toone in Dilley.

Hundreds of thousands ofpeople have fled Syria to es-cape the civil war, most of

SYRIANS Continued from Page 1A

AUSTIN — Questionsabout where Texas citiesand counties can ban gunsin government buildings re-main unresolved more thantwo months after a newstate law restricting munici-pal officials’ ability to pro-hibit the concealed carryingof weapons went into effect.

The law, which took ef-fect Sept. 1, restricts the au-thority of mayors, commis-sioners, sheriffs and otherlocal officials to ban theconcealed carry of hand-guns in government build-ings under their control,unless the building alreadyis included on a list of ap-proved gun-free zones instate law. Those zones in-clude courts, polling places,public school campuses, air-ports, racetracks and placeswhere public meetings takeplace, such as city councilchambers.

Those restrictions andexceptions also will apply toTexas’ new “open carry”law, which goes into effectJan. 1. The open carry stat-ute allows those with con-cealed handgun licenses tovisibly wear holstered gunsanywhere concealed weap-ons are allowed.

Local government offi-cials are interpreting theSeptember law differently,

especially those that oper-ate “multipurpose” build-ings and complexes that in-clude many rooms and of-fices - some explicitlysubject to the gun ban andsome not.

Hays and Tom Greencounties have asked Attor-ney General Ken Paxton forguidance on whether theycan ban concealed carry inthe entirety of a multipur-pose building if it includesa gun-free zone, or if theycan only do so in specificareas.

Paxton has not issued anopinion, but his predecessoralready has weighed in. In amemo dated Oct. 9 but thatonly came to light thisweek, Gov. Greg Abbott saidthe law allows local officialsto ban guns only in verylimited cases.

The new law “makes itunlawful - upon pain of civilpenalties - for a state agen-cy or political subdivisionto completely bar entry to agovernmental building” un-less the entire building is agun-free zone as designatedby state law, Abbott wrote.“When the ‘court’ is locatedinside a multi-purpose gov-ernment building, however,Texas law allows a stateagency or political subdivi-sion to ban handgun licens-ees from only the portion ofthe building that qualifiesas ‘premises’ of the ‘court.’”

Violations could result ina fine of not less than $1,000for a first offense, and$10,000 upon a second in-fraction.

Austin Mayor SteveAdler disagreed with Ab-bott’s interpretation. Be-cause its City Hall hostscourt proceedings andhouses the city councilchambers, Austin will con-tinue to prohibit the carry-ing of any guns - open orconcealed - into the entirebuilding, according toAdler’s CommunicationsDirector Jason Stanford.

“You don’t allow con-cealed guns in courthouses,and City Hall hosts a down-town community courtonce a month,” Stanfordsaid. “You can’t have gunshere unless you’re a cop.”

The city of San Antoniohas taken a different stance,however.

Before the new law, thecity banned guns in manyof its buildings, said Direc-tor of Government and Pub-lic Affairs Jeff Coyle. Now,the city has removed “nogun” signs at City Hall andelsewhere to avoid penal-ties.

“We think the law isclear enough. We’re able toprohibit concealed weaponswhen there is a publicmeeting, but in that roomonly, not the entire build-ing,” Coyle said. “The city

of San Antonio replacedsignage consistent with thechanges to state law (andwe) will continue to followstate law in regulating thecarrying of handguns by li-cense holders in city build-ings.”

Bexar County officialsstressed Abbott’s memo rep-resented his opinion, andwas not a statement of law.

“The District Attorney’sOffice is currently review-ing Governor Greg Abbot’smemo,” Bexar County Dis-trict Attorney Nico LaHoodsaid in a statement. “Thegovernor’s interpretation ofthe law is not binding onany prosecutor or court.”

Until Paxton issues anopinion, all guns will re-main banned from the mas-sive downtown governmentcomplex of buildings con-nected by underground tun-nels - the old courthouse,Cadena-Reeves Justice Cen-ter and Paul Elizondo Tow-er, Bexar County spokeswo-man Laura Jesse said. Oth-er county-owned buildingswill be considered on acase-by-case basis, she said.Concealed carry is notbanned at libraries and taxassessor’s offices, but willbe banned in and aroundrooms utilized by justices ofthe peace for court proceed-ings.

First Assistant CountyAttorney Robert Soard said

Harris County also is look-ing at each of its 150-plusbuildings individually, andwill prohibit concealed car-ry only in rooms wherecourt proceedings or publicmeetings are taking place.

“Certainly, there are oth-er counties and other citiesthat may have a differentopinion. It’s up to each enti-ty to decide what worksbest for them,” Soard said.“It comes down to a reason-able interpretation. If it’s anarea around the courtroom,we say that’s off-limits.”

The city of Houston al-ready is compliant with thenew law, the mayor’s chiefpolicy adviser Janice Evanssaid.

“Individuals carrying ahandgun are prohibitedfrom entering the premisesof the city’s municipalcourts, the secured areas ofthe city’s airports, thepremises of any city facilityused as a polling place onthe day of an election orwhile early voting is takingplace, and the nonpublic, se-cure portion of city law en-forcement facilities,” saidEvans. “Handgun licenseeswill also be prohibited fromopenly or concealed carry-ing in the room or roomswhere a meeting of a gov-ernmental entity subject tothe Open Meetings Act isbeing held.”

In addition to Abbott,

several other interested par-ties have submitted lettersto Paxton on how they be-lieve the new law should beinterpreted. The Texas Mu-nicipal League and CountyJudges and CommissionersAssociation have said theyread the law to allow gunsto be banned in the entiretyof buildings that housecourtrooms because statelaw allows local govern-ments to ban guns in “offic-es utilized by the court.”

“No civilian may carry ahandgun into a buildingthat houses a court or courtoffice without authorizationfrom the court. Period,”TML General Counsel ScottHouston wrote to Paxton onbehalf of his organizationand the Texas City Attor-neys Association.

James P. Allison from theCounty Judges and Com-missioners Associationsaid, “The counties mayprohibit the possession offirearms in the entire build-ing that contains a court-room or offices utilized bythe court, as well as thebuilding or portion of abuilding that contains offic-es utilized by the court.”

Paxton’s office has ac-knowledged it has receivedall of those memos, includ-ing Abbott’s, adding it wasnot unusual for the gover-nor to weigh in on opinionsrequests.

Gun control law remains unresolvedBy LAUREN MCGAUGHY

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015