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NEIGHBORWORKS

Zapata County Treasurer and South Texas Food Bank board member Romeo Salinas plants one of the vege-tables planted Thursday morning at a community garden at the NeighborWorks Laredo property. Neigh-borWorks Laredo joined forces with the South Texas Food Bank and Keep Laredo Beautiful for the project.

Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

A regional commander forLos Zetas in northern partsof Mexico and Zapata Countyhas been ordered detainedpending further court pro-ceedings, according to court

documents released Wednes-day.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ma-ry Milloy ordered Jose Manu-el Saldivar-Farias, alsoknown as “Z-31” or “Borra-do,” detained pending trialfollowing a preliminary ex-amination and detention

hearing held March 31 inHouston, records show.

“I find that the credibletestimony and informationsubmitted at the hearing es-tablishes by a preponderanceof the evidence that no condi-tion or combination of condi-tions will reasonably assure

the appearance of the defend-ant as required,” Milloywrote in the court order.“Should new informationcome to light that would ma-terially affect this court’s rul-ing, the defendant may move

ZETAS DRUG CARTEL

‘Z-31’ detainedCommander worked Zapata County area

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See Z-31 PAGE 11A

A man accused ofsmuggling immigrantsin Zapata County wasindicted this week in aLaredo federal court,

according to court doc-uments.

On Tuesday, a grandjury rendered an in-dictment charging En-rique Flores Jr. with

LAREDO FEDERAL COURT

Man indictedon 3 countsFlores allegedly smuggled

immigrants in Zapata CountyBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See INDICTED PAGE 11A

MEXICO CITY —Three workers aremissing following thehuge blaze on an oilplatform in the Gulf ofMexico that killedfour workers andburned for hours,Mexico’s state oil com-pany said Thursday.

Petroleos Mexica-nos, or Pemex, said itbecame aware of themissing workers whenit recounted personnelafter Wednesday’s fireon the Abkatun-A Per-

manente shallow-wa-ter platform in theCampeche Sound.

One of the missingworkers was from Pe-mex and the other twowere employed bycontractor Cotemar, acompany statementsaid.

Investigators werestill trying to deter-mine the cause of theblaze, which injured16 people, two serious-ly, and forced theevacuation of 300workers.

Pemex said it man-aged to avert any sig-

nificant oil spill. Offi-cials said environmen-tal damage wasavoided because thefire happened on aprocessing platformwhere the feeder linescould be turned off,rather than at an ac-tive oil well with avirtually unlimitedamount of fuel flowingup from the seabed.

Pemex DirectorGeneral Emilio Lo-zoya said the accident“would have a mini-mal impact on produc-

PETROLEOS MEXICANOS

In this Thursday photo provided by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), emergency boatsworks to put out a fire at the Abkatun-A Permanente shallow-water oil platform.

Photo courtesy of Pemex | AP

Three workers stillmissing after fire

By MARK STEVENSONASSOCIATED PRESS

See FIRE PAGE 11A

A state appeals court has sid-ed with farmers, ranchers andother longstanding water rightsholders in a Brazos River casewith widespread implicationsfor future water battles indrought-prone Texas.

Upholding a lower court’s rul-ing, the 13th Court of Appeals inCorpus Christi on Thursdayruled that Texas cannot give spe-cial treatment to cities or powergenerators over more “senior”water rights holders on parchedrivers — even if the state de-clares it necessary to protect the“public health, safety and wel-

fare.”As it stands, the decision

would require some cities, powergenerators or others with more“junior” river rights to pay upor go thirsty when severedrought strikes.

The Texas Farm Bureau,

13TH COURT OF APPEALS IN CORPUS CHRISTI

Water ruling cuts state’s powerBy JIM MALEWITZ

TEXAS TRIBUNE

This photoshows the Dowchemical plantalong the BrazosRiver in Free-port.

Photo by Michael Stravato | Texas TribuneSee WATER PAGE 11A

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

SATURDAY, APRIL 4Used book and magazine sale

at First United Methodist Church.Widener Book Room. 8:30 a.m. to 1p.m. Public invited; no admission fee.

Laredo Northside Market from9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at North CentralPark. There will be an Easter egghunt at 11 a.m. for children 5 yearsand under with parents and childrenages 6 – 12.

MONDAY, APRIL 6Volunteers needed for clean-up

at Lake Casa Blanca. Registration isat 8 a.m. and clean-up is from 8:30a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring comfortableclothes and shoes, sunscreen and areusable water bootle. Communityservice hours are available, and lunchwill be provided, courtesy of Council-man Roque Vela Jr. Call RGISC at718-1063 to pre-register. Lake CasaBlanca International State Park 5102Bob Bullock Loop.

TUESDAY, APRIL 7The Alzheimer’s support group.

Meeting room 2, building B of the La-redo Medical Center. The supportgroup is for family members andcaregivers taking care of someonewho has Alzheimer’s. For information,please call 693-9991.

Les Amies Birthday Club’smonthly meeting at 11:30 a.m. at theRamada Plaza, honoring Leonor“Noni” Daves.

A Community Conversation onTeen and Young Adult Mental Healthis being offered by the Area HealthEducation Center (AHEC) Border Re-gion Behavioral Health Center andTexas Department of State ServicesOffice of Border Health from 6 p.m.to 8 p.m. at UT Health Science Cen-ter Regional Campus Laredo, 1937 E.Bustamante St., Laredo. Registrationis free and open to all communitymembers. For additional information,call 956-712-0037 or email hmedel-lin@mrgbahec.org.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8Used book sale. First United

Methodist Church. 10 a.m. to noon. Come join us at the Laredo

Human Resource Management Associ-ation Meeting. Embassy Suites atnoon. Mr. Rodney Klein the Educationand Training Manager for the U.S.Equal Employment Opportunity Com-mission will be presenting on: Harass-ment and Bullying in the workplace.Please register online at LAHRM.org.

SATURDAY, APRIL 11Larry Hernandez Memorial 7th

Annual Crime Stoppers 5-K Run/WalkAgainst Crime at the entrance ofLake Casa Blanca State Park. Regis-tration 7 a.m. Race at 8 a.m. Pre-reg-istration fee $15 through April 10.Day of the event n April 11, $20.Kids’ run for ages 10 years and un-der. Proceeds benefit Laredo CrimeStoppers. The first 100 entries re-ceive T-shirt and goody bag. Registra-tion forms at Laredo Crime Stoppersoffice, 1200 Washington St., 9 a.m.to 6 p.m., or at Laredo Ciclo Maniaat 611 Shiloh, Ste. #2 from 11 a.m. to6:30 p.m. Call 956-724-1876 for infor-mation; applications at www.laredo-crimestoppers.org.

TUESDAY, APRIL 14The Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabilita-

tion Center orthopedic clinic. Patientsmust register at the Center beforethe day of the clinic. BY APPOINT-MENT ONLY. $5 fee. For more infor-mation please contact Norma Rangelat 722-2431.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15Used Book Sale, 10 a.m. to

noon. Widener Book Room, First Unit-ed Methodist Church. Public invited;no admission fee.

“Opportunities and Challengesfor Mexico Today” from 7:30 to 9p.m. at TAMIU Student Center Ball-room 5201 University Blvd. Dr. Negro-ponte will examine the high expecta-tions for modernization of the Mexi-can economy under President EnriquePeña Nieto and the 11 structural re-forms that he succeeded in passingthrough Congress. She will discussquestions such as how implementa-tion of the principal reforms, energyand telecommunications progressed.She will also explore the question ofhow Peña Nieto’s administration hasmet serious security and politicalchallenges following the reforms’ pas-sages and what lies ahead in 2015.For more information, contact AmyPalacios at cswht@tamiu.edu or 956-326-2820.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, April 4,the 94th day of 2015. There are271 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On April 4, 1865, PresidentAbraham Lincoln, accompa-nied by his son Tad, visitedthe vanquished Confederatecapital of Richmond, Virginia,where he was greeted by acrowd that included formerslaves.

On this date:In 1818, Congress decided

the flag of the United Stateswould consist of 13 red andwhite stripes and 20 stars,with a new star to be addedfor every new state of theUnion.

In 1841, President WilliamHenry Harrison succumbed topneumonia one month afterhis inaugural, becoming thefirst U.S. chief executive to diein office.

In 1850, the city of Los An-geles was incorporated.

In 1933, the Navy airshipUSS Akron crashed in severeweather off the New Jerseycoast with the loss of 73 lives.

In 1945, during World WarII, U.S. forces liberated the Na-zi concentration camp Ohr-druf in Germany. Hungarywas liberated as Soviet forcescleared out remaining Ger-man troops.

In 1968, civil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr., 39,was shot and killed whilestanding on a balcony of theLorraine Motel in Memphis,Tennessee.

In 1975, more than 130 peo-ple, most of them children,were killed when a U.S. AirForce transport plane evacuat-ing Vietnamese orphanscrash-landed shortly aftertakeoff from Saigon. Microsoftwas founded by Bill Gates andPaul Allen in Albuquerque,New Mexico.

In 1995, Francisco MartinDuran, who had raked theWhite House with semiauto-matic rifle fire in Oct. 1994,was convicted in Washingtonof trying to assassinate Presi-dent Bill Clinton (Duran waslater sentenced to 40 years inprison).

Ten years ago: Tens ofthousands of pilgrims paidtheir final respects to PopeJohn Paul II after his bodywas carried on a crimson plat-form to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Five years ago: At least 42people were killed as suicideattackers detonated car bombsnear embassies in Baghdad.

One year ago: An Afghanpolice officer opened fire ontwo Associated Press journal-ists inside a security forcesbase in eastern Afghanistan,killing prize-winning photog-rapher Anja Niedringhaus(AHN’-yuh NEE’-dring-hows)and wounding veteran corre-spondent Kathy Gannon.

Today’s Birthdays: Ac-tress Elizabeth Wilson is 94.Recording executive Clive Da-vis is 83. Actor Craig T. Nelsonis 71. Actress Mary-MargaretHumes is 61. Writer-producerDavid E. Kelley is 59. Rockmusician Craig Adams (TheCult) is 53. Talk show host/comic Graham Norton is 52.Actor Robert Downey Jr. is 50.Country singer Clay Davidsonis 44. Magician David Blaine is42. Singer Kelly Price is 42.Actress Natasha Lyonne is 36.Actor Eric Andre is 32. Ac-tress Jamie Lynn Spears is 24.Actress Daniela Bobadilla is22. Pop singer Austin Mahoneis 19.

Thought for Today: “Youcan kill a man but you can’tkill an idea.” — Medgar Evers,American civil rights activist(1926-1963).

TODAY IN HISTORY

GALVESTON — Experts say Galvestonshould experience fewer problems with sea-weed this summer compared to last year,when the city found itself nearly buried inthe stuff.

The Galveston County Daily News reportsthat much of the seaweed, which traditional-ly arrives at the island in April, has beencaught in a current that is steering it awayfrom the Texas Gulf Coast. Large amounts ofthe sargassum seaweed have floated towardthe Caribbean islands and Mexico’s Yucatánarea instead.

Capt. Robert Webster, a researcher at Tex-as A&M University-Galveston relayed hisseaweed prediction and studies Thursday atan annual symposium that is devoted to theseaweed.

“We’ll see sargassum this year, sorryguys,” Webster said. “But it won’t be as badas last year.”

So much seaweed landed in Galveston lastyear that officials were unable remove itfrom some beaches.

This year, a new web application called theSargassum Early Advisory System will aidgroups who maintain the beached in theircleanup preparation. The system uses imag-es taken by two NASA satellites that passover the Gulf every eight days to predictwhere mats of seaweed will land. The appli-cation is part of Texas A&M University-Gal-veston’s partnership with NASA. NASA offi-cials say they were skeptical of the predic-tion system’s necessity when it was firstproposed, but went ahead with the project af-ter seeing the heavy amount of seaweed thathit Galveston last year.

AROUND TEXAS

In this Tuesday, May 10, 2011 photo, a park board employee cleans the the sargassum seaweed from the beach with a bull-dozer, between 24th and 21st Streets in Galveston. Experts believe Galveston will have fewer seaweed problems in summer2015.

Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News | AP

Fewer seaweed problemsASSOCIATED PRESS

Round Rock police helpround up loose buffaloROUND ROCK — A buffalo

that roamed away from homehas been recaptured after beingcornered by Central Texas policein a videotaped chase through aresidential area. Round Rock po-lice were dispatched Fridaymorning when the owner report-ed the buffalo jumped some fenc-es and fled in a rural area.

Patrol car video shows officerswith flashing lights chasing thebuffalo as it gallops along side-walks, on grass and into streets.

Toddler survives fall from4th floor of apartmentFRISCO — Rescuers say a 2-

year-old girl has survived fallingfrom a window on the fourthfloor of an apartment complex.Emergency personnel received acall shortly before 9 a.m. Friday.It appears the window was open,the toddler pushed the screenand then fell four stories to agrassy area below.

1 hurt when crane armfalls on roof of museumDALLAS — One person has

been hurt when part of a truck-mounted crane toppled onto theroof of the Dallas Museum ofArt. The crane was mounted ona truck that was upended duringthe accident on the museumgrounds.

The crane’s upper extendedarm came to rest on the edge ofthe museum roof, near a grassypart of the complex. The cranetipped near a towering outdoorred steel sculpture called “Ave.”

Father, son plead guiltyover marijuana farm

BROWNSVILLE — A fatherand son from Mexico have plead-ed guilty to running a marijuanafarm where officers found about9,000 plants. Investigators say 52-year-old Miguel Echevarria Zuni-ga and 22-year-old Miguel Eche-varria Guizar could be sentencedto life in prison and fined up to$10 million.

Love Field gets church’sstained-glass window

DALLAS — One of fourstained-glass windows salvagedfrom an old church undergoingdemolition will be hung in theticketing hall at Dallas LoveField. The window is one of fourwindows salvaged from the Trin-ity Lutheran Church in Old EastDallas when it was demolishedin 2013. The blue and turquoisepanels have been restored by Mi-chael Van Enter and are beingsuspended in four sections infront of ticketing hall windows.

Irving has another quake, 3.3 magnitude

IRVING — Another minorearthquake has been detected inNorth Texas.

The U.S. Geological Survey re-ports a 3.3 magnitude quake hap-pened at 5:36 p.m. CDT Thursday.The quake was centered in theLas Colinas section of northeast-ern Irving near Texas 114.

— Compiled from AP reports

Kenya mourns 148 dead in university attack

GARISSA, Kenya — The 20-year-old student called homefrom the university besieged byIslamic militants and franticallytold her father, “There are gun-shots everywhere! Tell Mum topray for me — I don’t know if Iwill survive.”

The call by Elizabeth Nama-rome Musinai at dawn Thursdaywas one of several her family re-ceived as the attack and hostagedrama unfolded at Garissa Uni-versity College, where gunmenfrom the al-Shabab militantgroup killed 148 people.

The gunmen singled outChristians at the university, kill-ing them on the spot. But Mus-lims also were among the dead.

French government eyesmeasure against models

PARIS — In one of the mostimage-conscious cities on earth,

France’s Parliament has movedto make it a crime to use anorex-ic models or encourage anorexia,as authorities try to crack downon the glorification of dangerous-ly thin women.

Other countries including Is-rael and Spain have taken simi-

lar action. The French measures would

only apply within France, butcould have symbolic impact be-yond, because of its outsized in-fluence in setting style trendsaround the world.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE WORLD

Kenya Red Cross staff assist a woman after she viewed the body of a relativekilled in Thursday’s attack on a university, at Chiromo funeral home, Nairobi, Ken-ya, Friday. Al-Shabab gunmen rampaged through a Kenyan university Thursday.

AP photo

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The Zapata Times is free.The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning

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CONTACT US

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

Two Laredo men sus-pected of smuggling ille-gal immigrants in ZapataCounty have pleaded notguilty in federal court, ac-cording to documents ob-tained this week.

Court records identifiedthe defendants as Roy Ra-mirez and Adolfo de laCruz Jr., both from Lare-

do. On Tuesday, a grandjury charged the menwith conspiracy to trans-port undocumented peo-ple within the UnitedStates, and transport andattempt to transport un-documented people for fi-nancial gain, according tothe indictment.

De la Cruz and Ramirezsubmitted a written notguilty plea Thursday andFriday, respectively, and

waived their arraignmentset for April 9.

Both face up to 10 yearsin prison if they’re foundguilty, records show. De laCruz and Ramirez and outon bond.

A criminal complaintfiled March 16 alleges thatboth men were arrestedfollowing a traffic stop re-ported March 12 in the in-tersection of U.S. 83 andMesa Salinas Road, south

of Zapata.Prior to the arrest, a

Texas Department of Pub-lic Safety trooper cited Ra-mirez for allegedly driv-ing in the left lane whennot passing and for nothaving a driver’s license.The trooper then request-ed assistance from U.S.Border Patrol after he sus-pected that some occu-pants were in the countryillegally.

Border Patrol deter-mined that five people didnot have legal status to bein the country, states thecomplaint. Everyone wastaken to the Zapata Bor-der Patrol Station for pro-cessing. There, Ramirezinvoked his right to an at-torney.

Records allege de laCruz agreed to speak withauthorities in a post-ar-rest interview. He agents

that Ramirez asked him totravel with him to Zapatato pick up a group of im-migrants. Ramirez alleg-edly needed de la Cruz’scar. The men would’vebeen paid $200 per personsmuggled. They were go-ing to split the earnings,according to court docu-ments.

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

Men plead not guitly in smuggling caseBy CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

THE ZAPATA TIMES

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won’tbe speaking at Texas A&MInternational’s graduationthis spring, the universityannounced Friday.

In a brief statement, theschool said it was notifiedthat Cruz, a Republicanpresidential candidate, is"regrettably unable to joinus" at the May event. Noreason was given, but theschool said it "looks forwardto a future opportunity towelcome Sen. Cruz to TA-MIU."

That announcementcomes a day after the schoolconfirmed that Cruz hadreached out and offered toappear at the May 22 com-

mencement. Plans werenever finalized, but studentsat the Laredo school weretold that the ceremonyschedule may be changed.

TAMIU has about 7,000students. Usually, gradua-tion is broken into threeseparate ceremonies, butthose would have been com-bined into one event to ac-commodate the presidentialcandidate.

The trip to Laredo wouldhave given Cruz another op-portunity to visit Texas’border with Mexico. Cruzhas been criticized for onlytaking three trips to the re-gion since being elected in2012. Sen. John Cornyn, thesenior Texas Republican inthe Senate, has visited 13times in that same span.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz speaks to supporters with his father Rafael, hiswife Heidi and their children in Houston on Tuesday.

Photo by Michael Stravato | Texas Tribune

Sen. Cruz won’tspeak at TAMIU

By MATTHEW WATKINSTEXAS TRIBUNE

The Texas Departmentof Transportation-PharrDistrict received topawards for a U.S. 83 pro-ject in Zapata Countyfrom the The TxDOT /TXAPA Quality AsphaltPavement Awards Pro-gram.

The project consisted ofthe reconstruction of anexisting roadway, which

widened pavement ofroadway and structuresand added 2-mile passinglanes at three locationsfrom the Zapata/StarrCounty Line to about 6.5miles north of FM 2687.This achievement was ac-complished with the part-nering efforts of the Tex-as Department of Trans-portation and the primecontractor, Anderson Co-lumbia Company, Inc.

The awards programwas developed to recog-nize Quality Asphalt Pav-ing Projects. The programrecognizes quality meth-ods and practices andpeople dedicated to quali-ty.

In September of 2014,The Texas Asphalt Pave-ment Association an-nounced the 2014 QualityAsphalt Pavement Awardfor a U.S. 83 Project in Za-

pata County and in lateJanuary of 2015, the Na-tional Asphalt PavementAssociation announcedthat this same projectwas the recipient of the2014 Quality in Construc-tion Award. The sameproject is now being con-sidered of the prestigiousSheldon G. Hayes Awardfrom the National As-phalt Pavement Associ-ation.

Pictured from left to right, back row to front row: Harold Smith, Pedro Alvarez, Beethoven Garcia, Eduardo Gracia, Berry O’Bryan, Ray-mond Quigg, Ramon Rodriguez, Miguel Treviño and Jorge Collazo; Jorge Rendon, Jesus Gonzalez, Hector Gonzalez, Leticia Perez, MaryHernandez, Marisa Ramirez, Juan Reyna, Daniel Garcia and Arturo Estevis.

Courtesy photo

TxDOT awarded for US 83 workSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

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

WASHINGTON — Ex-cited protests against In-diana’s recently passed re-ligious freedom law havehighlighted both Ameri-ca’s growing support forsame-sex marriage andour apparent incapacityto entertain more thanone idea at a time.

The law in question isa version of the 1993 fed-eral Religious Freedomand Restoration Act(RFRA) signed by then-President Clinton. Nine-teen states have versionsof the law and another 11have interpreted theirstate constitutions as al-ready providing these pro-tections. Without divinginto the weeds, RFRAaims to protect religiousfreedom against govern-ment action that abridgesdeeply held convictions.

Indiana’s law isn’t ex-actly the same as the fed-eral version — or of someother state laws — and itisn’t clear whether thesedistinctions constitute adifference justifying thecurrent level of outrage.They include extendingprotection to corporationsas well as individuals; ex-panding protectionsagainst government ac-tions that are “likely” tobe substantially burden-some; and, perhaps mostproblematic, allowingclaims of religious-free-dom infringement even ifthe government isn’t in-volved.

Nevertheless, after adifficult week of criticismand protests aimed at In-diana, Gov. Mike Penceannounced Tuesday thathe would push his state’sAssembly to pass legisla-tion stating that the newlaw does not give busi-nesses a right to deny ser-vices to anyone.

This may be exactly so,but it wouldn’t necessar-ily preclude individualsor corporations from de-nying services to same-sex couples and then de-fending themselves on re-ligious principle.

Based on what Pencesaid, it would merelymake clear that the statedoesn’t authorize or con-done such refusal of ser-vices or any other dis-criminatory action.

But discrimination re-mains a personal choice,which can be defended inindividual cases underRFRA. Does anyone reallyobject to this option? Isn’tit fair to allow religiouspeople a framework forseeking recourse throughthe courts?

Refusing services be-cause of a religious beliefdoesn’t lend solace tothose seeking completeequality without excep-tion.

As Clinton said at thetime of the federal law’spassage, freedom of reli-gion is “perhaps the mostprecious of all Americanliberties.” Though theFirst Amendment was in-tended to protect citizensfrom religious persecu-tion and the imposition ofa state religion, inferen-tially, it also has protectedreligious believers from

being forced by govern-ment fiat to renouncetheir belief in attendanceto some government ac-tion.

The most familiar re-cent case involved a bakerwho didn’t want to makea wedding cake for a gaycouple. The question iswhether he has the right,owing to his religious be-liefs, to refuse to bake thecake. If you think this issilly, consider that RFRAfirst came about to pro-tect the rights of NativeAmericans to consumepeyote in religious cere-monies.

The theoretical abuseson both sides can be end-lessly entertaining.Should we also allow theslaughter of pets as sacri-fices to someone’s God?Even Abraham believedthat God required he slayhis own son. Abraham al-most did, too, before Godintervened, satisfied thatAbraham sufficientlyfeared him.

But we’re not talkingabout silly or extreme ex-ceptions.

If even a few Chris-tians, Jews or Muslimsunderstand marriage tobe the sacred union ofman and woman in theeyes of God, activistsseeking a fresh definitionshouldn’t expect an imme-diate surrender. Thisdoesn’t justify the refusalof a wedding cake, thebaking of which hardlyqualifies as an endorse-ment, but nor does it jus-tify charges of bigotry, asis often said of religiouspeople struggling withprofound social restruc-turing.

This isn’t an excuse forwhat is, in fact, discrimi-nation by any other name.It is an attempt at com-passion sorely missingfrom most discussions ofthis and other laws thattry to carve out a tinyspace for people whose re-ligious beliefs are beingput asunder.

As gay activist and con-servative author AndrewSullivan wrote last year,“we should give them [re-ligious believers] space.”

Such as by, say, going toanother bakery?

The market ultimatelymay settle these mattersbefore the courts do.Pence’s latest move wasprompted by corporatepressure as well as a fewstate boycotts on state-funded travel to the Hoo-sier state.

As Indiana moves toclarify its intent, the per-ception of discriminationwill persist until RFRAlaws are eliminated. Thisis the goal of many activ-ists. But discrimination isa two-way street and tol-erance should applyequally to sexual orienta-tion as well as to religiousbelief.

There’s plenty of caketo go around.

COMMENTARY

Freedom is atwo-way street

“KATHLEEN PARKER

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 CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

We have two Latinos inthe 2016 presidential field sofar. And that presents justthe first irony.

Those two Latinos —Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas andMarco Rubio of Florida —are Republicans. The Demo-cratic Party is allegedly thefavorite of minorities and ithas nary a Latino in sightvying for its nomination.

In 2008, former New Mex-ico Gov. Bill Richardsongave it a feeble try. But afterthat I’m hard-pressed to re-member a credible Latinocandidate in the DemocraticParty, though photos of JFKjockeyed for wall space onmany a Latino wall when Iwas growing up. Compet-ing, of course, with the Vir-gin Mary and the pope.

As I calculate, the firstLatino to run as a majorparty candidate wasn’tRichardson and wasn’t aDemocrat. It was Ben Fer-nandez, who ran for the Re-publican nomination twicein the 1980s. He had thiscompelling personal story— son of Mexican immi-grants and self-made mil-lionaire. Alas, though Fer-nandez was presciently lec-turing his party about thegrowing Latino population,Republicans preferred a

chap by the name of Rea-gan.

A woman, Hillary Clin-ton, the favorite to top theDemocratic ticket in 2016, isnothing to sneeze at ingauging how far nationalpolitics has come. A firstblack president followed byour first female president?It boggles the mind, thoughthis happening is far fromassured.

Irony No. 2. The ground-breaking Latinos in theGOP are likely to scareaway more Latino votersthan attract. Their presencemakes history but not howfolks might have envi-sioned.

It depends which Rubioshows up. Will it be the guywho shepherded bipartisanimmigration reformthrough the Senate, a billthat both parties said theycould live with and waschampioned by immigrantadvocates? Or is it the guywho quickly distanced him-self from his own hand-iwork once his party’s teaparty wing started thinkingof him as an amnesty-givingRINO?

Immigration isn’t the on-ly issue for Latino voters,though an important one.But Rubio tacks right on alot of those other issues andwill likely have to stay thatcourse for the GOP primary,

perhaps taking an evenmore rightward tilt forcedby the likes of Cruz, run-ning as an evangelicalChristian and unyieldingtea party warrior.

Which brings us to Cruz.Let’s dispense with some-thing. There is no Latino lit-mus test. No one can claimto be more Latino than any-one else. If anyone has a bigtent, it’s Latinos, able to ac-commodate anti-communi-st, Castro-hating Cubans(the Cruz and Rubio wings),Puerto Ricans for or againstisland statehood or inde-pendence, Mexican-Ameri-cans who can trace theirfamily presence here backbefore nationhood — orback to folks they call Ma-ma and Papi — and CentralAmericans with more re-cent immigration history.

But if you’re thinkingthat a Spanish surnamewill bring Latinos along au-tomatically, you haven’tbeen paying attention. InCruz, we’ve pretty much gota guy who wants to closethe border — he calls it ”se-curing the border” — andwhose idea for teeny, tinygovernment, when he isn’tshutting it down, runscounter to what Latinosneed in education, healthcare, job training and hous-ing. All those things thatmake economic opportunity

possible.Most everything that

Cruz will cite in his attemptto wrest the GOP nomina-tion from the party estab-lishment will alienate awhole lot of Latino voters.Funny, a Ben Fernandezrunning today on the samesort of platform he used in1980 and 1984 — opportuni-ty — would likely get morevotes.

And in that sense,though the GOP has two La-tino candidates, it has ac-tually regressed. Thankyou, tea party. And Demo-crats? Destined apparentlyto have Latino VP candi-dates perpetually waiting inthe wings, what Richardsonhad the best shot for in his2008 run.

Understand, a Latino VPcandidate would make his-tory — Julian Castro, any-one? But if ever there ac-tually was a real decade ofthe Hispanic — trotted outas a slogan in some formevery decade since I startedvoting in the 1970s — itseems to have escaped no-tice, presidentially speak-ing.

And the GOP’s Latinocandidates? Viva Fernan-dez! He had his problems asa candidate, but he’s look-ing pretty good about now.

(o.ricardo.pimentel@ex-press-news.net)

COLUMN

Latinos will not change GOPBy O. RICARDO PIMENTEL

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

WASHINGTON — Grou-cho Marx once said hedidn’t want to belong toany club that would accepthim as a member.

Somewhere, Sen. BobMenendez is nodding hishead. That’s because thispast week the New JerseyDemocrat joined a club nopolitician wants to be in:He became one of only 12

U.S. senators to be chargedwith a crime.

At issue is Menendez’srelationship with SalomonMelgen, a wealthy Floridaeye doctor. The Justice De-partment alleges — in a 14-count indictment that camedown Wednesday — thatthe lawmaker intervenedrepeatedly on Melgen’s be-half in exchange for hun-dreds of thousands of dol-lars in campaign contribu-tions to Menendez and

other interests tied to him. That intervention includ-

ed wading into a port dis-pute in the Dominican Re-public and helping to ob-tain visas for three ofMelgen’s girlfriends.

Menendez insists thatthere was absolutely noquid pro quo at work in hisrelationship with Melgen.

The case against him isdaunting — a 68-pagecharging document pro-vides granular detail on

just what the senator alleg-edly received from Salo-mon. It says the gifts in-cluded 19 free rides on pri-vate jets for Menendez andguests, long weekends tovisit Melgen in Florida andthe Dominican Republic,and, oh yeah, a $600,000 su-per PAC donation.

Bob Menendez, for yournew membership in theSenate’s least-distinguishedclub, you had the worstweek in Washington.

WORST WEEK IN WASHINGTON

Charges are nothing to sneeze atBy CHRIS CILLIZZA

THE WASHINGTON POST

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Aman who spent nearly 30years on Alabama’s deathrow walked free Fridayhours after prosecutors ac-knowledged that the onlyevidence they had againsthim couldn’t prove he com-mitted the crime.

Ray Hinton was 29 whenhe was arrested for two 1985killings. Freed at age 58,with grey hair and a beard,he was embraced by hissobbing sisters, who said“thank you Jesus,” as theywrapped their arms aroundhim outside the JeffersonCounty Jail.

Hinton had won a newtrial last year after the U.S.Supreme Court ruled thathis trial counsel was inade-quate. Prosecutors onWednesday moved to dropthe case after new ballisticstests contradicted thosedone three decades ago. Ex-perts couldn’t match crimescene bullets to a gun foundin Hinton’s home.

“I shouldn’t have sat ondeath row for 30 years. Allthey had to do was test thegun,” Hinton said.

The state of Alabama of-fered no immediate apology.

“When you think you arehigh and mighty and youare above the law, you don’thave to answer to nobody.But I got news for them, ev-erybody who played a partin sending me to death row,you will answer to God,”Hinton said. “They justdidn’t take me from myfamily and friends. Theyhad every intention of exe-cuting me for something Ididn’t do,” Hinton said.

Hinton was arrested in1985 for the murders of twoBirmingham fast-food res-taurant managers after thesurvivor of a third restau-rant robbery identified Hin-ton as the gunman. Prosecu-tion experts said at the trialthat bullets recovered at allthree crime scenes matchedHinton’s mother’s .38 caliberSmith & Wesson revolver.He was convicted despite an

alibi: He had been at workinside a locked warehouse15 minutes away during thethird shooting.

“The only thing we’ve ev-er had to connect him to thetwo crimes here in Bir-mingham was the bulletsmatching the gun that wasrecovered from his home,”Chief Deputy District Attor-ney John R. Bowers, Jr. toldThe Associated Press onThursday.

The U.S. Supreme Courtruled last year that Hintonhad “constitutionally defi-cient” representation attrial because his defenselawyer wrongly thought hehad only $1,000 to hire a bal-listics expert to rebut thestate’s case. The only expertwilling to take the job atthat price struggled somuch under cross-examin-ation that jurors chuckledat his responses.

Attorney Bryan Steven-son, who directs Alabama’s

Equal Justice Initiative,called it “a case study” inwhat is wrong with the judi-cial system. He said thetrial was tainted by racialbias and that Hinton, an im-poverished African-Ameri-can man, did not have ac-

cess to a better defense.“We have a system that

doesn’t do the right thingwhen the right thing is ap-parent. Prosecutors shouldhave done these tests yearsago,” Stevenson said.

The independent expertsStevenson hired to re-exam-ine this evidence after tak-ing on Hinton’s case in 1999“were quite unequivocalthat this gun was not con-nected to these crimes,” hesaid. “That’s the real shameto me. What happened thisweek to get Mr. Hinton re-leased could have happenedat least 15 years ago.”

Stevenson then tried invain for years to persuadethe state of Alabama to re-examine the evidence. Thebullets only got a new lookas prosecutors and defenselawyers tangled over a pos-sible retrial following theSupreme Court ruling.

The result: Three foren-sics experts could not posi-

tively conclude whether thebullets were fired from Hin-ton’s revolver, or whetherthey came from the samegun at all, according to thestate’s request to dismissthe case against Hinton.

Asked how the state’sconclusions could be so dif-ferent this time, Bowerssaid they put the same ques-tion to the experts, who saidtest standards have becomemore “conservative.”

“Some things back thenthat experts would be will-ing to attest to, they wouldnot be willing to attest tonow,” Bowers said.

The science of bulletmatching remains the sameas it was 30 years ago, eventhough microscopes haveimproved since then: A gunis test-fired and the bullet iscompared with a slug fromthe crime scene. Problemscan result mainly throughhuman error, or when ana-lysts aren’t qualified, said

Pete Gagliardi, a formerATF special agent in chargeand vice president of Foren-sic Technology Inc.

Hinton was one of thelongest-serving inmates onAlabama’s death row, and isone of the longest-servinginmates to be released inthe United States. But Ste-venson said there are manyothers behind bars whowere convicted “based onbad science.”

Hinton left the jail for acemetery, planning to putflowers on the grave of hismother, who died in 2002.

After that comes the ad-justment after spendingnearly half of his life in sol-itary confinement.

“The world is a very dif-ferent place than in what 30years ago. There was no in-ternet. There was no email.I gave him an iPhone thismorning. He’s completelymystified by that,” Steven-son said.

No evidence frees man after 30 years in prisonBy KIM CHANDLERASSOCIATED PRESS

Inmate Anthony Ray Hinton,who spent nearly 30 years ondeath row, went free Friday afterprosecutors told a court thatthere is not enough evidence tolink him to the 1985 murders hewas convicted of committing.

Photo by Alabama Dept. of Corrections | AP

CARRERA CONTRA AUTISMOEl 4 de abril tendrá

lugar la Primera Carrera pa-ra Concientizar sobre el Au-tismo del Condado de Za-pata. La carrera comenzaráa las 8 a.m. en el Palaciode Justicia del Condado deZapata. La preinscripcióntiene un costo de 10 dóla-res en active.com o en laCámara de Comercio delCondado de Zapata en 800de North Hwy 83 Zapata. Elcosto de inscripción el díadel evento será de 20 dóla-res.

Las categorías para lacarrera de 5K son: 14 añosy menores; de 15 años a 19años; de 20 a 29 años; de30 a 39 años; de 40 a 49años; de 50 a 59 años; yde 60 en adelante.

BRAVO FESTMIGUEL ALEMÁN—

Se estará realizando el“Bravo Fest”, evento quetendrá lugar el 3, 4 y 5 deabril, en el Parque del RíoBravo, debajo del PuenteInternacional.

El evento, que tiene co-mo objetivo llegar a todaslas familias de la región,contará con música en vivopor parte de artistas loca-les, música de DJ, compe-tencias de baile, competen-cias de voleibol playero ycampo de gotcha. Asimis-mo habrá puestos de comi-da y bebidas.

El festival es gratuito yabierto al público.

CAMPAÑAMÉDICO-ASISTENCIAL

MIGUEL ALEMAN —Se implementará la primercampaña médico asistencialpropuesta por miembros delos ministerios nacionales“Betel” el 11 de junio, de 8a.m. a 5 p.m.

El grupo de 15 personas,entre médicos y enferme-ros, estarán representadospor la misionera DeanaGatlin. Además traerán con-sigo ropa, medicamentos ydespensas.

El Presidente Municipal,Ramiro Cortez, informó quelos misioneros evangélicosviajarán a las comunidadesrurales del sur de MiguelAlemán el 13 de junio.

CONVOCATORIAEl Gobierno de Ta-

maulipas, a través del Insti-tuto Tamaulipeco para laCultura y las Artes (ITCA),en coordinación con el Con-sejo Nacional para la Cultu-ra y las Artes (CONACULTA)invita a intelectuales, artis-tas e intérpretes a partici-par en la convocatoria paraobtener apoyo económicopara cursar Residencias Ar-tísticas y Capacitación delPrograma de Estímulo a laCreación y al Desarrollo Ar-tístico (PECDA) 2015.

Los requisitos son, enparticipación individual: sercreadores tamaulipecos ocon residencia continua mí-nima comprobable de 3años en el Estado de Ta-maulipas, mayores de 18años, con trayectoria acre-ditada en disciplinas artísti-cas.

Las fechas para la capa-citación deberán estar com-prendidas en el periodo ju-lio-noviembre de 2015. Parael registro, los interesadosdeberán de entrar al sitiodel PECDA (www.pecdaenli-nea.conaculta.gob.mx), lle-nar la solicitud de partici-pación en línea. Y subir alsitio del PECDA los docu-mentos y anexos obligato-rios. Las bases completasse pueden revisar en la pá-gina oficial del instituto enwww.itca.gob.mx/convocato-rias.

Esta convocatoria per-manecerá abierta hasta el25 de abril. Para informa-ción, los aspirantes llamaral teléfono 01 (834)1534312 ext. 111, 131 y 132.

Ribereñaen Breve

A un comandante regional deLos Zetas en áreas del norte deMéxico y el Condado de Zapata sele ordenó permanecer detenido ala espera de futuros procesos judi-ciales, de acuerdo con documentosde la corte emitidos el miércoles.

La Juez Magistrada de EU,Mary Milloy, ordenó a José Ma-nuel Saldivar-Farías, también co-nocido como “Z-31” o “Borrado”,permanecer detenido a la esperade un juicio después de un recono-cimiento preliminar y audienciade detención celebrada el 31 demarzo en Houston, muestran re-gistros.

“Me parece un testimonio creí-ble y la información presentadaen la audiencia establecida poruna preponderancia de la eviden-cia de que ninguna condición o

combinación de condiciones ase-gurará razonablemente la compa-recencia del acusado como es re-querido”, escribió Milloy en unaorden judicial. “En caso de quenueva información surja y que és-ta pudiera afectar materialmenteel fallo de este tribunal, el acusadopuede reabrir la audiencia de de-tención”.

Autoridades estatales y federa-les arrestaron a Saldivar-Farías,de 27 años, a mediados de marzo.Él renunció a su audiencia preli-minar y de detención en Laredo,el 20 de marzo. Además solicitó alJuez Magistrado de EU, GuillermoR. García, trasladar su caso aHouston, donde la querella origi-nal fue presentada.

Una querella criminal presenta-da el 16 de marzo, acusa a Saldi-var-Farias y a su coacusado OsielHernández-Martínez, de 26 años,con cargos por conspiración para

posesión de más de 1.000 kilogra-mos de marihuana. Además, Saldi-var-Farías fue acusado de haceruna declaración falsa a agentesgubernamentales. Registros de lacorte alegan que supervisó el con-trabando de múltiples toneladasde marihuana desde México a Es-tados Unidos. Además, Saldivar-Farias supuestamente suministra-ba cargamentos de marihuanaque serían cruzados por el LagoFalcon alrededor de Zapata.

Saldivar-Farias, habría comen-zado a trabajar para los Zetas bajolas órdenes del Comandante Tor-tugon, quien estaba a cargo de laplaza de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero,a principios del 2000. Él y su her-mano Juan Pedro Saldivar-Faríaseran “cocineros”, a cargo de ejecu-tar homicidios, disponiendo y des-membrando cuerpos en grandesbarriles de químicos, utilizandoun método llamado “guiso” o esto-

fado, de acuerdo con una querella.Saldivar-Farias obtuvo el puesto

de comandante regional del nortede México de Los Zetas y el áreadel Lago Falcón en Zapata, des-pués de que elementos de la mari-na mexicana capturara a su her-mano el 12 de octubre de 2013.

Autoridades de EU, arrestaron aSaldivar-Farías alrededor de las9:30 p.m. del 12 de marzo, despuésde elementos del Departamento deSeguridad Pública de Texas (DPS,por sus siglas en inglés) notaranun bote a alta velocidad con direc-ción al norte, rumbo a EstadosUnidos. Sospechando que se trata-ba de inmigrantes indocumenta-dos, DPS interceptó el bote. Saldi-var-Farias, supuestamente mintiósobre su identidad diciendo queera Carlos Cruz-Jiménez. Perouna investigación reveló que erael comandante de Los Zetas, mues-tran registros.

CASO SALDIVAR-FARÍAS

Estará en custodiaPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera SÁBADO 4 DE ABRIL DE 2015

Dos hombres de Laredo, sospechososdel tráfico de inmigrantes indocumen-tados en el Condado de Zapata se decla-raron no culpables en una corte fede-ral, de acuerdo con documentos obteni-dos esta semana.

Los documentos de la corte identifi-can a los acusados como Roy Ramírezy Adolfo de la Cruz Jr., ambos de Lare-do.

El martes, un gran jurado acusó alos hombres de conspiración paratransportar personas indocumentadasa Estados Unidos, y transportar e in-tento para transportar personas indo-cumentadas con fines de lucro, deacuerdo con la acusación.

De la Cruz y Ramírez presentaronuna declaración de no culpabilidad,por escrito, el jueves y viernes, respec-tivamente, y renunciaron a su compa-recencia para la lectura de cargos, pro-gramada para el 9 de abril.

Ambos enfrentan a hasta 10 años enprisión, en caso de ser declarados cul-pables, muestran documentos. De laCruz y Ramírez salieron libres bajofianza.

Una querella criminal presentada el16 de marzo alega que ambos hombresfueron detenidos tras una parada detráfico reportada el 12 de marzo en laintersección de U.S. 83 y Mesa SalinasRoad, al sur de Zapata.

Antes de la detención, un policía delDepartamento de Seguridad Pública deTexas (DPS, por sus siglas en inglés) ci-tó a Ramírez por presuntamente con-ducir sobre el carril izquierdo, sin pa-so y por no tener licencia para condu-cir. Entonces el oficial, solicitó laayuda de Patrulla Fronteriza, tras sos-pechar que algunos de los ocupantesestaban en el país de manera ilegal.

Patrulla Fronteriza determinó quecinco personas no tienen estatus legalpara estar en el país, señala la quere-lla. Todos fueron transportados a la es-tación de Patrulla Fronteriza de Zapatapara ser procesados. Ahí, Ramírez in-vocó su derecho a un abogado.

TRÁFICO DE PERSONAS

Dos sedeclaran

noculpables

POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Sin mucho tiempo en eje-cución, México suprime lapena de muerte en 2005. Laconstitución la contemplabapara delitos extremos. Entretanto Tamaulipas sigue supropia ruta, que reúne as-

pectos interesantes:Tras intentos por estable-

cerla y erradicarla el temavuelve en 1889 en el legisla-tivo tamaulipeco y deroga lapena capital. En vez de ella,“se impondrá la de prisiónpor 20 años no habiendo lu-gar al indulto”, determina.Y complementa: “Excítese a[…] los demás estados” y “alcongreso de la Unión paraque secunden esta iniciati-va”. Se concede asimismo 6meses con la finalidad deque el poder ejecutivo “for-mule el proyecto de código

penitenciario”.El gobernador Alejandro

Prieto Quintero veta la reso-lución parlamentaria. Alegaque “eran irrealizables susdisposiciones, para que seconstruyera una penitencia-ría dentro del plazo de seismeses”. No obstante, evitadecir cuánto tardaría la pre-textada obra. Dizque simpa-tizante de la “idea progresis-ta de ver […] implantada[…] tan trascendental mejo-ra moral”, Prieto Quinteroninguna propuesta sobre elparticular formaliza jamás,

pese a las facultades atinen-tes y reelegirse después.

TratadosLa pena capital, por ende,

continúa aplicándose ensuelo tamaulipeco. Los ar-chivos judiciales de la enti-dad preservan antiquísimosexpedientes ilustrativos. Elacervo contiene la causa se-guida en las postrimerías elsiglo XIX a cierto homicidadel municipio de Xicotén-catl, cuya sentencia confir-

ma la instancia competente.Válido de subterfugios le-

galoides, el gobernador Emi-lio Portes Gil redacta y poneen vigor el código penal de1926 para Tamaulipas. Con-tra las corrientes moderni-zadoras, el ordenamiento re-lanza la pena de muerte. Es-ta última rige hasta 1934, enque es abolida por Rafael Vi-llarreal, sucedáneo y enemi-go de Portes Gil.

(Publicado con permisodel autor, conforme apareceen La Razón, Tampico, Méxi-co)

COLUMNA

Tras altibajos se suprime pena de muerteNota del editor: Esta es la

segunda parte de dos dondeel autor narra como Tamau-lipas ha implementado yerradicado la pena de muer-te, a través de su historia.

POR RAÚL SINENCIOESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PREPARAN FESTIVAL

La Ciudad de Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, está realizando el “Bravo Fest”, durante este fin de semana, en el Parque delRío Bravo, debajo del Puente Internacional. El evento contará con música en vivo, música de DJ, competencias de baile,competencias de voleibol playero y campo de gotcha.

Foto de cortesía

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, MÉXICO

Un hombre acusado de tráfi-co de inmigrantes en el Conda-do de Webb, fue acusado formal-mente esta semana en una cortefederal de Laredo, de acuerdocon documentos de la corte.

El martes, un gran juradodictó un auto de procesamientoacusando a Enrique Flores Jr.,con un cargo por conspiraciónpara transportar inmigrantesindocumentados a Estados Uni-dos, y dos cargos por transpor-tar e intentar el transporte depersonas indocumentadas acambio de un pago.

En caso de ser encontradoculpable, Flores podría ser sen-tenciado a hasta 10 años tras lasrejas. Flores tiene una lecturade cargos programada para el 9de abril en la sala 2B, ante laJuez Magistrado Diana SongQuiroga. Continúa en custodiafederal con una fianza por75.000 dólares,

Flores y su hija, RoxannaFlores, fueron arrestados al surde Zapata, el 5 de marzo, por su-puestamente transportar a sietepersonas que entraron al paísde manera ilegal. Ese día, la Of-icina del Alguacil del Condadode Zapata, solicitó la asistenciade Patrulla Fronteriza, duranteun reporte en el vecindarioSiesta Shores.

Registros alegan que la GMCSierra, modelo 2007, operadapor Flores llevó a las autori-dades a una persecución, des-pués de que elementos del or-den intentaran detener el vehí-culo por varias violaciones detráfico. Tras el caso, varios ocu-pantes fueron expulsados delGMC en Weslaco y Vicki Lines.Mientras tanto, un oficial asis-tente detuvo un vehículo,Chrysler 300, color verde, mod-elo 2005, conducido por Roxan-na Flores sobre Mesa SalinasRoad.

Los oficiales la tomaron encustodia por supuestamente ac-

tuar como señuelo o explorado-ra, y ayudar a su padre en laevasión del arresto. Los agentesdijeron que los siete ocupantesdel GMC no tenían estatus legalpara estar en el país. Los inmi-grantes que fueron retenidos co-mo testigos materiales identifi-caron a Enrique Flores como elconductor de la GMC.

“Flores admitió que sabíaque fue detenido porque estabacontrabandeando (inmigrantes)indocumentados. Continuó di-ciendo que él sabía que las per-sonas que recogió eran indocu-mentados porque estaba ahí pa-ra recoger a su esposa, CarolinaTrejo González, quien es una(inmigrante) indocumentada”,señala la querella criminal, pre-sentada el 9 de marzo.

Roxanna Flores fue dejada enlibertad porque no cumplía conlas directrices de la fiscalía, se-gún documentos de la corte.

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

CORTE

Sujeto recibe cargos formalesPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 Nation THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

PORTSMOUTH, Va. —Adrift on the ocean, themast of his 35-foot sailboattorn away, Louis Jordancaught rainwater in abucket, scooped up fishthat were attracted to thelaundry he hung over theside, and fervently prayedto God for help.

After 66 days missing atsea, he was finally rescuedby a passing Germanfreighter and broughtashore by the Coast Guardin good condition.

Early Friday, just hourslater, the bearded 37-year-old man walked out of theNorfolk hospital where hewas reluctantly taken,showing no obvious ill ef-fects.

“We were expectingworse, with blisters and se-vere sunburn and dehydra-tion,” said Coast GuardPetty Officer 3rd ClassKyle McCollum, a memberof the helicopter crew whobrought Jordan to shore.

Jordan hadn’t beenheard from since Jan. 23,when he set out on a fish-ing expedition aboard thesingle-masted 1950s-erasailboat that had been hishome for months at a ma-rina in South Carolina.

It was unclear how longafter leaving port that theboat was damaged, theCoast Guard said.

Jordan was pluckedfrom the Atlantic about 200miles off the North Caroli-na coast on Thursday af-ternoon after furiouslywaving down the containership.

His boat was upright,

but the mast had brokenoff in heavy weather, andthe vessel appeared to haveflipped over repeatedly,said Thomas Grenz, cap-tain of the German con-tainer ship.

Jordan asked his CoastGuard rescuers to drophim off without seekingmedical care, but he wastaken to a hospital anywayas a precaution.

He demonstrated a firmhandshake and weary-look-ing blue eyes before declin-ing an interview with TheAssociated Press on Friday.

In interviews with othernews organizations, he de-scribed making pancakesout of flour fried in oil, col-lecting rainwater with abucket, and using a net tocatch fish that would swimin and out of his clotheswhen he put them over theside to rinse them.

He told WAVY-TV inPortsmouth, Virginia, thathe rationed his water toabout a pint a day.

“Every day I was like,‘Please God, send me some

rain, send me some wa-ter,”’ he said.

Jordan had been livingon his boat in Conway,South Carolina, near Myr-tle Beach. He told his fam-ily he was going into openwater to sail and fish, saidhis mother, Norma Davis.

Grenz, the German cap-tain, said Jordan told himhe had set out with about amonth’s worth of provi-sions.

On Jan. 29, the CoastGuard in Miami was noti-fied by the sailor’s fatherthat he hadn’t seen or

heard from his son in aweek.

Alerts were issued fromNew Jersey to Miami, andthe Coast Guard began asearch Feb. 8 but aban-doned it 10 days later afterfailing to confirm anysightings, officials said.

Jeff Weeks, who manag-es the marina where Jor-dan docked his boat, saidhe is highly capable offending for himself.

“He is somewhat of aperson who stays to him-self,” Weeks said. “I con-sider him a gentle giantwith a good personality.But he likes to be self-suffi-cient. Here at the marina,he liked to catch most allof the food that he’d eat.He would eat a lot of riceand fish. And he wouldknow what berries andwhat mushrooms to pick.He was really knowledge-able on some survivalskills.”

Grenz said he made acopy of Jordan’s U.S. pass-port describing the Ameri-can as weighing 290pounds. Jordan is nowprobably only about 200pounds, and he looked lit-tle like the man in thepassport photo, Grenz said.

“It was a bit like themovie of Tom Hanks onthat movie, you know, ‘CastAway,”’ Grenz said.

Missing sailor found in good healthBy ALAN SUDERMAN AND EMERY P.

DALESIOASSOCIATED PRESS

Louis Jordan, second from left, walks from the Coast Guard helicopter to the Sentara Norfolk GeneralHospital in Norfolk, Va., after being found off the North Carolina coast, on Thursday.

Photo by Steve Earley/The Virginian-Pilot | AP

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Amother and child remainedmissing Friday, hours afterthey were swept into aflooded creek in easternKentucky, as torrentialrains swamped portions ofthe state and forced emer-gency crews to make morethan 160 rescues fartherwest in Louisville.

Kentucky State PoliceTrooper Robert Purdy saidthe two were stranded intheir vehicle in high wateraround 9:30 a.m. on a ruralhighway in Lee County,near the Estill County line.

Local authorities couldsee them in the vehicle andattempted a water rescue,Purdy said. But around11:30 a.m., the rushing wa-ter swept them away andrescue workers lost sight ofthem. A search was contin-uing late in the day.

As rain pushed throughparts of the South and Mid-west, severe thunderstormswere also blamed for thedeath of a woman who wascamping with her family atNatural Bridge State ResortPark in eastern Kentucky.

Meanwhile, thousands ofpeople in south centralKansas lost power amidwinds that reached nearly90 mph, downed trees anddamaged buildings over-night and early Friday, anda possible tornado was be-ing investigated in Oklaho-ma.

In Louisville, SimoneWester awoke Friday to thesight of boats carting awayher neighbors.

“It looked like a hurri-cane struck,” said Wester,whose apartment complexwas surrounded by flood-waters, waist-deep in someplaces. “I didn’t know whatto do.”

Wester, 20, and her 7-month-old son, Jeremiah,were rescued by a manwho removed his socks andwaded through the floodwa-ters toward her. The man,Kevin Mansfield, charted anavigable path and ushered

her out of the flooding.Louisville Mayor Greg

Fischer said more than 160water rescues had beenmade.

In Powell County, Ken-tucky, Catherine Carlson,45, was killed and her hus-band was injured when alarge tree limb fell on theirtent, said Coroner HondoHearne. Their three chil-dren didn’t appear to be in-jured, he said.

The campground wherethe family was staying wasevacuated due to flashflooding, said Gil Lawson, aspokesman for the stateTourism, Arts and Heri-tage Cabinet.

In Kansas, no deathswere reported but six peo-ple were injured in a severethunderstorm, emergencymanagement officials said.Several buildings weredamaged in Newton andthe Jabara Airport inWichita was closed Fridaymorning because of stormdebris on the airfield.

In Oklahoma, the Na-tional Weather Serviceplanned to send a surveyteam to Ottawa County toinvestigate reports of a tor-nado touchdown.

The possible tornadonear Afton was part of astorm system that movedthrough northeastern Okla-homa and northwesternArkansas late Thursdayand early Friday.

Elsewhere, heavy rainsthat drenched parts ofsouthern Indiana with

nearly four inches of rainsparked flooding thattrapped two truck driversand a motorist in their ve-hicles Friday before emer-gency crews ferried themto dry ground.

In Kentucky, PowellCounty received 4 inches ofrain, and other eastern ar-eas of the state had 3-4inches, said NationalWeather Service meteorolo-gist Tony Edwards.

More than 6 inches ofrain fell in Louisville, andLexington had receivedmore than 5 inches, hesaid.

A northern Kentuckyschool bus with 16 studentsaboard was stranded forabout three hours by flood-waters that covered roadsto schools. Numerous roadsin northeastern Kentuckywere under water.

Some cars were sub-merged by high water onroads next to the Universi-ty of Louisville’s main cam-pus, said school spokesmanMark Hebert. A few cam-pus buildings had water inthe basements, he said.Early classes were canceledFriday, but classes resumedby midmorning, he said.

Bill Mattingly, assistantchief of the Okolona FireProtection District, saidfloodwaters started pouringinto first-floor apartmentsovernight.

Jefferson County PublicSchools in Louisville can-celed classes Friday.

Storms hit the SouthBy CLAIRE GALOFARO AND BRUCE

SCHREINERASSOCIATED PRESS

Kevin Mansfield, right, helps Simone Wester and her 7-month oldson Jeremiah from her flooded apartment building in Louisville, Ky.

Photo by Timothy D. Easley | AP

NEW YORK — Conser-vative faith leaders havemade religious liberty arallying cry as gay mar-riage has spread through-out the states. And thoughstunned by Indiana’s re-treat from a religious free-dom law after an uproarover same-sex marriage,they vow not to give up.

Evangelical and RomanCatholic leaders say theywill continue their pushfor conscience protectionsfrom laws they considerimmoral — a drive thatgained momentum severalyears ago when they sawtheir beliefs on marriage,abortion and other issuesincreasingly in the minor-ity.

Archbishop William Lo-ri of Baltimore, who leadsthe religious liberty com-mittee of the U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops,said the bishops’ goalshave not changed follow-ing the uproar this weekin Indiana and to a lesserdegree Arkansas.

“Individual or family-owned businesses as wellas religious institutionsshould have the freedomto serve others consistentwith their faith,” Lorisaid in a statement.

Similarly, the Rev. Rus-sell Moore, who leads thepublic policy arm of theSouthern Baptist Conven-tion, said, “We have tocontinue to press for reli-gious liberty for everybo-dy regardless of how un-popular that conceptmight be.”

Still, Tim Schultz, pres-ident of the 1st Amend-ment Partnership, whichworks with religiousgroups and state lawmak-ers on religious liberty,said after this week’s con-troversy over religiousfreedom, “the brand hasdefinitely been tar-nished.”

The governors of Indi-ana and Arkansas signedbills Thursday hoping to

quiet the national outcryover whether the laws of-fered a legal defense fordiscrimination againstgays. In Arkansas, thechanges more closelyaligned the bill with the1993 federal ReligiousFreedom Restoration Act.The Indiana law wasamended to bar a reli-gious liberty defense byfor-profit businesses ac-cused of discriminationfor refusing to serve some-one based on sexual orien-tation, but left in placeprotections for faith-basednonprofits.

Religious liberty wasonce an issue that consis-tently united groupsacross the political andtheological spectrum. Butreligious conservativescame to adopt religiousfreedom as a call to arms,as they found themselvesmore and more on the los-ing side of the culture

wars.A decade ago, the Beck-

et Fund for Religious Lib-erty, a public interest lawfirm in Washington, con-vened legal scholars fromacross the ideological di-vide on gay marriage toexamine potential areaswhere religious freedomand gay rights mightclash.

First Amendment pro-tections for worship aresecure. But complicationsarise when faith-affiliatedorganizations, such ascharities, hospitals andschools, try to maintaintheir religious identityeven as large employers ofpeople from all faiths andproviders of services tothe public.

The 2005 Becket meet-ing generated a book,“Same-Sex Marriage andReligious Liberty: Emerg-ing Conflicts,” and a sub-sequent policy paper that

became influential amongchurch-state experts andreligious leaders closelywatching the issue.

Four years later, a coali-tion of evangelical, RomanCatholic and OrthodoxChristian leaders, citingthe Rev. Martin LutherKing Jr.’s “Letter from aBirmingham Jail,” un-veiled the “ManhattanDeclaration: The Call ofChristian Conscience.” Itpledged civil disobedienceto government laws theysaid would compel themto violate their views.

By 2011, the Catholicbishops’ conference hadformed its own religiousliberty committee andstarted organizing ralliesand prayer servicesaround the issue. Thesame year, the 1st Amend-ment Partnership wasformed to work with statelawmakers.

“I think it’s fair to say

the faith groups sawstorm clouds on the hori-zon,” said the partner-ship’s Schultz.

The movement had itsgreatest victory to datelast year, when the U.S.Supreme Court ruled theHobby Lobby arts andcrafts chain and otherclosely held businesseswith religious objectionscould opt out of providingthe contraceptive cover-age required by the Affor-dable Care Act.

But that win prompteda liberal backlash, andpublic opinion against re-ligious exemptions hard-ened, especially when itcame to legalizing gaymarriage.

Conflicts over protec-tions for religious objec-tors had been a part of ev-ery statehouse debate overlegalizing gay marriage.In New York, same-sexmarriage became law in

2011 only after Gov. An-drew Cuomo and thestate’s top two legislatorsstruck an 11th-hour com-promise on protections forreligious objectors.

But when gay marriageincreasingly became rec-ognized by courts insteadof legislatures, religiousconservatives needed an-other means to seek con-science protections. Law-makers in several statesturned to the laws knownas Religious Freedom Res-toration Acts, whichstates had been adoptingone-by-one since 1997,when the U.S. SupremeCourt ruled that the feder-al version of the law didnot apply to states.

But many church-stateexperts say the laws havebeen badly misrepresent-ed amid this week’s tur-moil. Legal scholars saythe law would not provideblanket protection for reli-gious objectors to gaymarriage, as some advo-cates claimed. ReligiousFreedom Restoration Actsgive people a chance tobring a religious libertyclaim before a judge, whothen decides on the mer-its.

“Those folks who want-ed to clutch onto theselaws as a way to hold ontothe past or stave off gayrights misunderstoodwhat these laws woulddo,” said Robin FretwellWilson, a family law spe-cialist at the University ofIllinois Law School.

Wilson advised legisla-tors in Utah and else-where on a compromiseenacted last month thatcombined religious ex-emptions with civil rightsprotections for gays.

“That’s the way for-ward,” she said.

But many religious con-servatives and gay rightsadvocates rejected that ap-proach, each saying itgave too much away to theother side, which meansmore clashes like the onesin Indiana and Arkansasare ahead.

Religious freedom fight will persistBy RACHEL ZOLL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signs a reworked religious freedom bill into law after it passed in the House at the Arkansas state Capitol inLittle Rock, Ark., Thursday. Lawmakers in Arkansas and Indiana passed legislation Thursday that they hoped would quiet the uproar.

Photo by Brian Chilson | AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 International THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

BENJINA, Indonesia —At first the men filtered inby twos and threes, hear-ing whispers of a possiblerescue.

Then, as the news rip-pled around the island,hundreds of weatheredformer and current slaveswith long, greasy hair andtattoos streamed fromtheir trawlers, down thehills, even out of the jun-gle, running toward whatthey had only dreamed offor years: Freedom.

“I will go see my par-ents. They haven’t heardfrom me, and I haven’theard from them since Ileft,” said Win Win Ko, 42,beaming, his smile show-ing missing teeth. Thecaptain on his fishingboat had kicked out fourteeth with his militaryboots, he said, becauseWin was not moving fishfast enough from the deckto the hold below.

The Burmese men wereamong hundreds of mi-grant workers revealed inan Associated Press inves-tigation to have beenlured or tricked into leav-ing their countries andforced into catching fishfor consumers around theworld, including the Unit-ed States. In response tothe AP’s findings, Indone-sian government officialsvisited the island villageof Benjina on Friday andfound brutal conditions,down to an “enforcer”paid to beat men up. Theyoffered immediate evacua-tion.

The officials first gavethe invitation for protec-tion just to a small groupof men who talked openlyabout their abuse. Butthen Asep Burhanuddin,director general of Indo-nesia’s Marine Resourcesand Fisheries Surveil-lance, said everybody waswelcome, including thosehiding in the forest be-cause they were tooscared to come out.

“They can all come,” hesaid. “We don’t want toleave a single person be-hind.”

About 320 men took upthe offer. Even as a down-pour started, some dashedthrough the rain. Theysprinted back to theirboats, jumped over therails and threw them-selves through windows.

They stuffed their meagerbelongings into plasticbags, small suitcases andday packs, and rushedback to the dock, notwanting to be left behind.

A small boat going fromtrawler to trawler to pickup men was soon loadeddown.

Throughout the day anduntil darkness fell, theykept coming, more andmore men, hugging,laughing, spilling onto theseven trawlers that weretheir ride out. Even justbefore the trawlers pushedoff Benjina on the 24-hourtrip to neighboring Tualisland, fishermen werestill running to the shoreand clambering onto thevessels. Some were so sickand emaciated, they stum-bled or had to be carriedup the gang plank.

While excitement andrelief flooded throughmany of the fishermen onthe dock, others lookedscared and unsure of whatto expect next. Many com-plained they had no mon-ey to start over.

“I’m really happy, butI’m confused,” said NayHla Win, 32. “I don’t knowwhat my future is inMyanmar.”

Indonesian officialssaid security in Benjina islimited, with only two Na-vy officials stationed

there to protect them. Themen will be housed at agovernment compoundwhile immigration is sort-ed out. Officials fromMyanmar are set to visitthe islands next week andwill assist with locatingother men and getting theones freed from Benjinahome.

The dramatic rescuecame after a round of in-terviews Indonesian offi-cials held with the fisher-men, where they con-firmed the abuse reportedin the AP story, which in-cluded video of eight menlocked in a cage and aslave graveyard. The men,mostly from Myanmar,talked of how they werebeaten and shocked withTaser-like devices at sea,forced to work almost non-stop without clean wateror proper food, paid littleor nothing at all and pre-vented from going home.

There was essentiallyno way out: The island isso remote, there was nophone service until a celltower was installed lastmonth, and it is a difficultplace to reach in the bestof circumstances.

The abuse went evenfurther at the hands of theman known as “the en-forcer.” This man, deeplyfeared and hated by theworkers, was hired by

their boat captains to pun-ish them for misbehavior,they said.

Saw Eail Htoo and MyoNaing were among thosehe tormented. After threemonths at sea workingwith only two to fourhours of sleep a night, thetwo Burmese slaves justwanted to rest. They fellasleep on the deck.

Their Thai captain de-cided to make an exampleof them, they said. So thetwo were driven by motor-bike to a hill above theport. They were hand-cuffed together and placedin front of an Indonesianflag. Then they werepunched in the face andkicked until they col-lapsed into the dirt, theysaid, blood oozing fromtheir ripped faces.

Even then, the enforcerwould not stop.

“He kept kicking me,”said Naing, rail-thin witha military-style haircut. “Ikept thinking, if I was athome, this wouldn’t behappening.”

The findings document-ed by Indonesian officialsand the AP came in starkcontrast to what a Thaidelegation reported theysaw during a visit to Ben-jina earlier this week-.Their trip was focusedonly on finding Thai na-tionals who had been traf-

ficked. They denied mis-treatment on the boatsand said the crews wereall Thai, even though theAP found many migrantworkers from other coun-tries are issued fake docu-ments with Thai namesand addresses.

“We examined the boatsand the crews, and the re-sult is most of the crewsare happy and a few ofthem are sick and willingto go home,” said Thai po-lice Lt. Gen. SaritchaiAnekwiang, who was lead-ing the delegation. “Gen-erally, the boat conditionsare good.”

Thailand, the world’sthird-largest seafood ex-porter, has been underfurther pressure to cleanup its industry since theAP’s investigation, whichused satellites to trackfish caught by slaves on alarge refrigerated cargoship from Benjina to Thai-land. The investigationlinked the seafood to sup-ply chains of some ofAmerica’s largest super-markets and retailers.

The report promptedthe U.S. government andmajor seafood industryleaders to urge Thailandto end slavery at sea andto punish those responsib-le. Thailand’s biggest sea-food company, Thai UnionFrozen Products, an-

nounced it was cuttingties with a supplier afterdetermining it might beinvolved with forced laborand other abuses.

Last week, the Interna-tional Organization forMigration said therecould be as many as 4,000foreign men, many traf-ficked or enslaved, whoare stranded on islandssurrounding Benjina fol-lowing a fishing moratori-um called by the Indone-sian Fisheries Ministry tocrack down on poaching.Indonesia has some of theworld’s richest fishinggrounds, and the govern-ment estimates billions ofdollars in seafood are sto-len from its waters by for-eign crews every year.

Three-quarters of themore than 320 migrantworkers who left the is-land on Friday were Bur-mese, but about 50 fromthe country refused to go,saying they had not re-ceived their salaries anddid not want leave with-out money.

Some were also fromCambodia and Laos. A fewThais were allowed toboard the boats, but theIndonesians said Thai na-tionals could stay on Ben-jina more safely, sinceThai captains were lesslikely to abuse them.

“I expected to evacuateall of them, but I did notexpect it this soon,” saidIda Kusuma, one of theleaders of the FisheriesMinistry delegation. “ButI think it’s good.”

Police are investigatingin Benjina and will decidewhether to prosecutethose involved in abuse,said Kedo Arya, head ofMaluku province prosecu-tor’s office. The Indone-sian officials were told“the enforcer” was beingdetained.

For those like Naing,who recalled beingtortured, beaten andlocked in a room for amonth and 17 days forsimply falling asleep, thethought of finally leavingthe island was impossibleto believe.

“Is it real that we aregoing home?” he asked.

A firework soon shot offfrom one of the boats, sig-naling it was indeed timeto go. The same trawlerswhere the fishermen hadsuffered years of abusewere heading back to sea.This time crowded withfree men full of hope.

Investigation prompts rescue of slaves

Burmese fishermen raise their hands as they are asked who among them want to go home, at the compound of Pusaka Benjina Resourcesfishing company in Benjina, Aru Islands, Indonesia, on Friday.

Photo by Dita Alangkara | AP

By ROBIN MCDOWELL AND MARGIE MASON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FIFA, Jordan — At a sprawl-ing Bronze Age cemetery insouthern Jordan, archaeologistshave developed a unique way ofpeering into the murky world ofantiquities looting: With aerialphotographs taken by a home-made drone, researchers aremapping exactly where — androughly when — these ancienttombs were robbed.

Based on such images andconversations with some looterswhose confidence they gained,archaeologists try to follow thetrail of stolen pots and other ar-tifacts to traders and buyers.They hope to get a better under-standing of the black marketand perhaps stop future plun-der.

It’s sophisticated detectivework that stretches from thesite, not far from the famedDead Sea in Jordan, to collec-tors and buyers the world over.

The aerial photography de-tects spots where new lootinghas taken place at the 5,000-year-old Fifa graveyard, whichcan then sometimes be linked toBronze Age pots turning up inshops of dealers, said MoragKersel, an archaeologist at De-Paul University in Chicago. Ker-sel, who heads the “Follow ThePots” project, also shares thedata with Jordan’s Departmentof Antiquities, to combat loot-ing.

On a recent morning, teammembers walked across ravagedgraves, their boots crunchingancient bones, as a tiny, six-bladed flying robot buzzed over-head. In recent years, drone usein archaeology has become in-creasingly common, replacingblimps, kites and balloons insurveying hard-to-access digsites, experts said.

Chad Hill, an archaeologist at

the University of Connecticutwho built the drone, piloted itover a part of the graveyardthat had not been mapped yet.The drone snapped photographsthat allowed Hill to see in greatdetail how looting altered thelandscape.

“We can see the changethrough time, not just of ‘ahuge pit has been dug’ butwhere different stones havemoved,” Hill said. “It’s a level ofresolution of spatial data collec-tion that’s never really beenpossible until the last couple ofyears.”

As the drone’s batteries ranlow, Hill overrode the automaticpilot and guided the landingwith a remote control. Flipping

the drone on its back, hechecked the camera, noddingapprovingly at the afternoon’swork.

The cemetery in Jordan’sDead Sea plain contains about10,000 graves, part of the vastarchaeological heritage of theregion.

It looks like a moonscape as aresult of looting, with about3,700 craters stretching to thehorizon and strewn with shardsof skeletons and broken ceram-ics. Looters typically leave hu-man remains and take only wellpreserved artifacts.

“I spend my days stepping ondead people,” said Kersel, pick-ing up a broken shell bracelet,presumably from ancient Egypt.

An underlying cause for loot-ing is high unemployment, saidMuhammed al-Zahran, directorof the nearby Dead Sea Mu-seum. “Looting happens allacross the region,” he said.

In Jordan, unemployment is12 percent, and it’s twice ashigh among the young.

Yet stolen antiquities rarelyenrich local looters, said NeilBrodie, a researcher at the Uni-versity of Glasgow’s ScottishCentre for Crime and JusticeResearch.

Rather, the profits end up inEurope or America, Brodiesaid, describing high markupsas the artifacts move from loo-ter to middleman, dealer andthen customer.

Brodie studied looting at an-other site in Jordan, the ruinsof the early Bronze Age commu-nity of Bab adh-Dhra, thoughwithout the help of drones.

He estimated that diggerswere paid about $10,500 for28,084 pots that were subse-quently sold in London for over$5 million, sometimes marketedas “Old Testament” artifacts.

An artifact that later sold for$275,000 was initially traded fora pig, Brodie’s research showed.And he also found that a danc-ing Hindu deity bought forabout $18 sold eventually for$372,000.

Some of the artifacts stolenfrom Jordan’s sites, includingtombstones, end up in neighbor-ing Israel, said Eitan Klein, adeputy at the Israeli AntiquitiesAuthority’s robbery unit.

Kersel, from the “Follow thePots” project, said looters toldher they sell their goods to mid-dlemen from the Jordanian cap-ital of Amman or the southerntown of Karak. She said thetrail stops with the shadowymiddlemen, but that she cansometimes pick it up on the oth-er end, by comparing the loot-ing timeline with what eventu-ally ends up on the market allacross the world.

In addition to monitoring thecemetery, Kersel also teaches lo-cal workshops on profiting fromantiquities legally, including bymaking and selling replicas, todiscourage robbing graves.

Yet, looting will be difficultto stop as long as demand re-mains high, she said.

“People don’t ask the stickyquestions about where artifactscome from,” said Kersel, stand-ing inside a robbed grave in Fi-fa. “They just want to own thepiece regardless of what kind ofbackground the artifact has,and that is what causes peopleon the ground to loot.”

Drone offers glimpse of antiquities lootingBy SAM MCNEIL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this photo taken March 19, Chad Hill, an archaeologist at the University of Connecticut, operates a drone he built to sur-vey looting at a 5,000-year-old cemetery known as Fifa in southern Jordan.

Photo by Sam McNeil | AP

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES International SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

SANAA, Yemen — ASaudi-led coalition trying tohalt the advance of Yemen’sShiite rebels airdroppedweapons to beleagueredfighters in a southern portcity on Friday, while al-Qai-da militants overran a keymilitary base in eastern Ye-men, further expandingtheir gains in this violence-wracked country.

The developments under-score the magnitude of Ye-men’s turmoil and the swiftunraveling of the country’smilitary and other forcesstill loyal to embattled Presi-dent Abed Rabbo MansourHadi, who fled Yemen toSaudi Arabia last week.

On one side, there is theferocious fighting betweenShiite rebels known asHouthis and southern mili-tias loyal to Hadi. On theother, Yemen’s al-Qaidabranch has been wideningits area of influence in thecountry and gobbling upmore territory.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian

Peninsula, as the branch isnamed, has benefited fromYemen’s political crisis eversince the Houthis firstsurged from their northernstrongholds last year to takeover the capital, Sanaa, andmuch of the north. The re-bels are backed in theirpush by military and policeforces loyal to Hadi’s prede-cessor, ousted autocrat AliAbdullah Saleh.

On Thursday, al-Qaidamilitants overrun Mukalla,a major port city in south-ern Yemen and the provin-cial capital of the country’slargest province, Hadra-mawt, seizing governmentbuildings and freeing in-mates from a prison, includ-ing a top Saudi-born leader.

The militants consolidat-ed their hold of Mukalla onFriday, capturing its portand a major army base inthe city, facing little resist-ance, said military officials.

Hadramawt, which hadbeen mostly peaceful as thecrisis in Sanaa and Adenwas building up, has a longstretch of the border withSaudi Arabia on one side

and lies on the Arabian Seaon the other, making it stra-tegically significant. It alsohouses key oil companiesand close to the Mukallaport are fuel tanks that feedthree major provinces.

Hadramawt’s governor,Adel Ba-hamed, describedthe fall of Mukalla as part ofa “scenario aimed at drag-ging the province and itsresidents” into the chaosacross Yemen.

“The changes are terrify-

ing,” said activist Mo-hammed al-Sharafi, addinghe worries al-Qaida’s pres-ence will bring the Houthisto fight the militants, whichin turn could invite Saudi-led airstrikes.

To the west of Mukalla,

coalition airstrikes contin-ued to target Shiite rebelsadvancing on the southernport city of Aden, Yemen’smajor hub and the embat-tled Hadi’s last seat of pow-er before he fled to SaudiArabia.

Coalition planes air-dropped weapons to fightersbattling the Houthis inAden early Friday, the firstsuch airdrop since thestrikes began nine days ago.

Saudi Brig. Gen. AhmedAsiri, the coalition spokes-man, told reporters in Ri-yadh that the fighters inAden have managed to“change the situation on theground.” He said the coali-tion was giving them “logis-tical support.”

Street battles intensifiedin several Aden districtsFriday, including the vicini-ty of a major weapons de-pot, according to the mili-

tary officials. They said thatweapons were droppedabove the city’s port.

Local pro-Hadi fighters,who are poorly armed, havebeen trying to keep theHouthis from overrunningAden and the surroundingprovince and have oftencomplained of lack of weap-ons and leadership. Ali Hus-sein, one of the fighters, toldThe Associated Press overthe phone that there is“near absence of leadershipand coordination.”

Overnight airstrikes fo-cused on Aden’s rebel-heldairport, and at least 30 re-bels and Saleh’s forces werekilled in the strikes, accord-ing to medical officials.

In the town of al-Mualla,also in Aden province, pro-Hadi fighters fought withthe rebels on Friday, leavingat least eight dead on bothsides.

Saudi-led group drops arms to Yemeni troopsBy AHMED AL-HAJASSOCIATED PRESS

People welcome family members evacuated from Yemen as they ar-rive at the airport in Karachi, Pakistan, on Friday.

Photo by Shakil Adil | AP

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

Lina F. Garcia, 66, passedaway on Tuesday, March 31,2015 at Methodist Hospitalin San Antonio.

Mrs. Garcia is precededin death by her parents, Le-onardo G. and Ofelia G.Flores.

Mrs. Garcia is survivedby her husband, Hector L.Garcia; sons, Gerardo H.(Eliza) Garcia, Jaime J.(Melissa) Garcia, Hector L.Jr. (Lucia) Garcia; daugh-ter, Daniela S. (Roberto, Jr.)Garcia; grandchildren, Ge-rardo R. Garcia, Michelle Y.Garcia, Maritza Y. (Justin)Bell, Carlos J. Garcia,Jaime J. Garcia, Jr., ArizaA. Garcia, Briza B. Garcia,Emily I. Garcia, Hector L.Garcia, III, Roberto Garcia,III, Dalina A. Garcia, Ru-ben R. Garcia; brothers,Hildegardo (Olga) Flores,Leonardo G. (Maria De LosAngeles) Flores; sisters,Aminta (+Ruben) Gutier-rez, Viola (+Mauro) Rami-rez; and by numerous ne-phews, nieces, other familymembers and friends.

Visitation hours wereheld on Wednesday, April 1,2015, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.with a rosary at 7 p.m. at

Rose Garden FuneralHome.

A prayer service washeld on Thursday, April 2,2015, at 10 a.m. at Rose Gar-den Funeral Home.

Committal services fol-lowed at Zapata CountyCemetery.

Funeral arrangementswere under the direction ofRose Garden FuneralHome Daniel A. Gonzalez,funeral director, 2102 N.U.S. Hwy 83 Zapata, Texas.

LINA F. GARCIA

ALICE, TEXAS — LeoParchman, age 74, died onMonday, March 30, 2015 ina San Antonio hospital fol-lowing an extended illness.

Leo was formally a longtime resident of Zapata,Texas.

Graveside Funeral Ser-vices are scheduled for

Saturday, April 4, 2015 at10 a.m. in the Sandia CityCemetery in Sandia, Tex-as.

Services entrusted toRoberson Funeral Home ofAlice, Texas.

Online condolences maybe left at www.roberson-funeralhome.net

LEO PARCHMAN

which challenged a TexasCommission on Environ-mental Quality policy giv-ing cities preferentialtreatment in certain wa-ter squabbles, applaudedthe ruling.

“It’s a clear win for pri-vate property rights,” saidRegan Beck, assistantgeneral counsel for thegroup. “The rules thatTCEQ is trying to promul-gate would really do awaywith the priority systemas we know it.”

The TCEQ said it was"disappointed" in the deci-sion and planned to ap-peal it to the Texas Su-preme Court.

Prioritizing access forcities and power plants is"essential for publichealth, safety and welfarethroughout the state, espe-cially during these timesof record drought," TerryClawson, its spokesman,said in a statement.

The case — set in mo-tion after Dow Chemicalasserted its rights to Bra-zos River water — centerson whether Texas regula-tors may grant exceptionsto the state’s longstanding‘first-in-line, first-in-time’surface water rights re-gime.

The giant chemicalmanufacturer is by far thelargest water user on theBrazos, which also suppli-es farmers and ranchers,cities and other industries

along its 900-mile stretchfrom northwest Texas tothe Gulf Coast. It alsoholds the oldest waterrights, giving the compa-ny priority over all oth-ers.

Dow first set up shop inFreeport in 1940 to extractmagnesium from seawa-ter. Since then, its GulfCoast operations havegrown rapidly, and theBrazos supplies the com-pany with the 100,000 gal-lons of freshwater perminute it needs to oper-ate.

But years of droughtand rapid growth alongthe river have strainedthe river’s supplies.

In mid-2009, the Brazoswas flowing at just 50 cu-bic feet per second, lessthan half the speed re-quired for Dow’s smallestpump to pull the waterthe company needed outof the river — an unprece-dented condition.

Dow issued a series ofpriority calls beginning in2009 asserting its “senior”right to divert water fromthe Brazos River — andforce “junior” waterrights holders to curtailtheir use. It was the firsttime the TCEQ had re-ceived such a request, andit took the agency weeksto respond.

Dow had the right. Butby the time the TCEQ de-termined it several weeks

later, the company said itwas too late. Junior waterrights were suspendedthat summer, cutting offmostly farmers andranchers from usingabout 46 billion gallons ofwater, but no additionalwater flowed down toDow’s pumps.

Dow argued that by law,the TCEQ should have cutoff even more water usersthan it did; in the interestof public health and safe-ty, the agency elected notto force junior users likemunicipalities and powerplants to cut back. In 2012,the agency formallyadopted new droughtrules giving priority tothose junior users.

The Farm Bureauagreed with Dow andsued the state. A TravisCounty district judgeruled in its favor in Juneof 2013.

In its appeal, TCEQ ar-gued that the judge misin-terpreted the law that au-thorized the agency rules,and said the agency hasthe authority to policepublic health and safety.

The Corpus Christicourt disagreed.

“None of the statutes orthe constitutional provi-sion cited by TCEQ givethe agency the general au-thority to suspend waterrights after they havebeen issued,” Thursday’sruling said. “While we

recognize TCEQ’s author-ity to manage and regu-late the state’s scarce wa-ter resources, such au-thority must not exceedits express legislativemandate.”

Brad Castleberry, a wa-ter rights attorney withLloyd Gosselink LawFirm, said the decisionputs the state’s rules influx and may be anotherstep towards a market-based approach to manag-ing water amid drought.

But he noted that thereare other methods of deal-ing with water disputes,and priority calls are alast-ditch option.

For instance, the staterecently appointed a wa-ter master to the lowerBrazos basin – someone tointeract daily with riverusers like farmers andmanufacturers and re-quire them to report theirwater use in real time.But even that move washotly contested.

“Hopefully, the watermaster can balance the in-terest of the water rights,so we don’t have to dealwith priority calls,” Cas-tleberry said.

If that doesn’t work, anda local government withjunior rights is left dry?

Beck said the answer issimple.

“If it’s something that’sfor the public,” he said,"the public can pay for it.”

WATER Continued from Page 1A

to reopen the detentionhearing.”

State and federal author-ities arrested Saldivar-Fa-rias, 27, in mid-March. Hewaived his preliminary anddetention hearings in Lare-do on March 20. He furtherrequested U.S. MagistrateJudge Guillermo R. Garciato move his case to Hous-ton, where the original com-plaint was issued.

A criminal complaint fil-ed March 16 charges Saldi-var-Farias and co-defendantOsiel Hernandez-Martinez,26, with conspiracy to pos-sess more than 1,000 kilo-grams of marijuana. In ad-dition, Saldivar-Farias wascharged with giving falsestatements to governmentagents.

Court records allege heoversaw the smuggling ofmulti-ton quantities of mari-juana from Mexico to theUnited States. Further, Sal-divar-Farias supplied mari-juana loads that would becrossed via Falcon Lakeacross from Zapata.

Saldivar-Farias got hisstart with Los Zetas work-ing under Comandante Tor-tugon, who was in charge ofthe Nueva Ciudad Guerreroplaza in early 2000. He and

his brother Juan Pedro Sal-divar-Farias were “cooks”tasked with killing, dispos-ing and disintegrating bod-ies in large barrels of chem-icals using a method called“guiso” or stew, accordingto the complaint.

Saldivar-Farias gained therank of Zeta regional com-mander of northern Mexico— which included Coahuila,Nuevo Leon and Tamauli-pas — and for the FalconLake area in Zapata afterMexican marines capturedhis brother on Oct. 12, 2013.

U.S. authorities arrestedSaldivar-Farias at approxi-mately 9:30 p.m. March 12after the Texas Departmentof Public Safety noticed aspeeding boat headingnorth toward the UnitedStates.

Suspecting it could be ille-gal immigrants, DPS inter-cepted the boat. Six individ-uals were on board. One ofthem was Saldivar-Fariaswho initially lied about hisidentity saying he was Car-los Cruz-Jimenez. But an in-vestigation revealed he wasthe Zeta commander, re-cords show.

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

Z-31 Continued from Page 1A

tion, because this was aprocessing platform,” nota producing well.

On Wednesday, helicop-ters flew workers withbandaged hands andfaces and burn marks ontheir overalls to the near-by city of Ciudad del Car-men, where crowds of rel-atives of oil workersthronged outside hospi-tals.

Survivors said theblaze engulfed the plat-form, forcing people toleap into the sea or flee inevacuation boats.

FIRE Continued from Page 1A

This frame grab of a video from the news station Noticias Ciudad del Carmen shows a fire burning atan oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico along the Mexican coast before sunrise on Wednesday.

Photo courtesy of Noticias Ciudad del Carmen | AP

one count of conspiracy totransport undocumentedpeople within the UnitedStates, and two counts oftransport and attempt totransport undocumentedpeople for financial gain.

If convicted, Florescould spend up to 10 yearsbehind bars. Flores hasarraignment April 9 incourtroom 2B before U.S.Magistrate Judge DianaSong Quiroga. He re-mains in federal custodyon a $75,000 bond.

Flores and his daughter,Roxanna Flores, were ar-rested south of Zapata onMarch 5 for allegedly

transporting seven peoplewho had entered thecountry illegally. Earlierthat day, the Zapata Coun-ty Sheriff ’s Office re-quested the assistance ofU.S. Border Patrol duringa bailout reported in theSiesta Shores neighbor-hood.

Records allege that a2007 GMC Sierra operatedby Flores led deputies ina pursuit after lawmen at-tempted to pull the vehi-cle over for several trafficviolations. Following thechase, several occupantsbailed out of the GMC atWeslaco and Vicki lanes.

Meanwhile, an assistingdeputy spotted a green2005 Chrysler 300 drivenby Roxanna Flores on Me-sa Salinas Road.

Deputies took her intocustody for allegedly act-ing as a decoy or scout,and assisting her fatherin evading arrest. Agentssaid that the seven occu-pants of the GMC did nothave legal status to be inthe country. Immigrantsheld as material witness-es identified Flores as thedriver of the GMC.

“Flores admitted thathe knew that he was ar-rested because he was

smuggling illegal (immi-grants). He continued bystating that he knew thepeople he was picking upwere illegal because hewas there to pick up hiswife, Carolina Trejo-Gon-zalez, who is an illegal(immigrant),” states thecriminal complaint filedMarch 9.

Roxanna Flores was re-leased because she did notmeet prosecution guide-lines, according to courtdocuments.

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

INDICTED Continued from Page 1A

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES Entertainment SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

NEW YORK — Howtime flies in this very madworld! It seems like onlyyesterday that the 1960swere dawning for DonDraper, his family and hiscomrades at the SterlingCooper advertising agency.Now, as if in the blink ofan eye, the ’60s are waningas “Mad Men” nears theend of its glorious run.

When the series beginsits final stretch Sunday at 9p.m. Zapata time on AMC,the passage of time will bepalpable for all concerned— the series’ characters,its audience and, oh, by theway, “Mad Men” master-mind Matthew Weiner.

“I’m out of work,”cracks Weiner, who wrap-ped shooting last July, fin-ished postproduction lastOctober and, in December,vacated his office of sevenyears.

He is excited about whatthe last lap will bring, but,during this recent conver-sation, was customarilytight-lipped.

“We deal with the conse-

quences of material suc-cess,” he says, only hintingat what lies ahead for theagency’s newly well-to-dopartners. “The incrediblewindfall they got at theend of last season wasn’tjust a plot device. It is pro-pelling them into these lastseven episodes: Once allyour material needs aremet, what else is on yourmind?”

In an interview a fewweeks before “Mad Men”premiered in July 2007,Weiner explained why hehad placed his ambitiousnew drama in the 1960s.

“By talking about thatera,” he said, “I can talkabout everything right nowthat I care about.” Thingslike civil rights. Sex. Gen-der roles. The nature ofadulthood.

And that he has done,season after season, with adrama of modern societyas viewed through theprism of modernity as itwas a half-century ago.

Weiner centered the ac-tion on Draper, whose giftfor image-making, seduc-tion and strategic chican-ery was perfectly suited tothe advertising game

‘Mad Men’ nears endBy FRAZIER MOOREASSOCIATED PRESS

In this image released by AMC, Don Draper portrays Jon Hamm in ascene from season five of “Mad Men.”

Photo by Michael Yarish/AMC | AP

NEW YORK — The fateof a Lifetime TV movie fea-turing Will Ferrell and Kris-ten Wiig remained unclearon Friday after the project’splanned secrecy wasspoiled.

The former “SaturdayNight Live” stars made theominously titled “A DeadlyAdoption,” playing a couplewho befriend a pregnantwoman in hopes of adoptingher child. Lifetime’s movies,frequently melodramasabout life and love that ap-peal to the network’s pri-marily female audience, area genre onto themselves andoften ripe for parody.

“We are disappointed

that our secret project withWill and Kristen was leakedand the network is deter-mining the fate of the mov-ie,” said Michael Feeney,spokesman for Lifetime’scorporate parent, A&E Net-works, on Friday.

A spokesman for the ac-tors’ talent agency had noimmediate comment onLifetime’s plans.

After word of the projectgot out, Ferrell issued astatement that he and Wiighad decided it was “in thebest interest for everyone toforego the project entirely.”Lifetime had said the moviewas due to air this summer.

Ferrell’s statement maybe an empty threat: Starsgenerally don’t have theability to kill an already-

filmed project, except in theunusual circumstancewhere they fully financedthe production, said Jona-than Handel, an entertain-ment attorney for the Holly-wood firm TroyGould. Eventhen, they could face abreach of contract lawsuit ifthe film had already beenleased to a television net-work.

In most cases, televisionmovies are financed jointlyby a production companyand the network itself,Handel said.

It’s not known how longLifetime and the starsplanned to keep the secret.Ferrell and Wiig appearedtogether in the big-screenmovie “Anchorman 2: TheLegend Continues.”

Liftetime movie spoiledBy DAVID BAUDERASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

AUSTIN, Texas — Sha-ka Smart has been a hotcoaching commodity sinceleading Virginia Common-wealth to the Final Fourin 2011. He had reportedlyshunned several big-timeoffers, but the lure of Tex-

as was finally too much toturn down.

Texas officials formallyannounced the hiring ofSmart as the Longhorns’new basketball coach Fri-day and expect to intro-duce him at a news con-ference on campus. Theannouncement from Tex-as came a day after Smart

met with athletic directorSteve Patterson in Rich-mond, Virginia, to strike adeal.

Smart met with VCUplayers Thursday eveningat the Siegel Center, theteam’s home arena, and atleast one player was seencrying when he left.

Smart, who has won at

least 26 games in each ofhis six seasons at VCU, isbolting for a Texas pro-gram that hasn’t beenable to unseat Kansas atopthe Big 12. But the Long-horns also boast thewealthiest athletic depart-ment in the country and

NCAA BASKETBALL: TEXAS LONGHORNS

Texas hires Smart

Former VCU head coach Shaka Smart is leaving Virginia Commonwealth to become the next head coach of the Texas Longhorns, replacingRick Barnes.

File photo by Zach Gibson | AP

Shaka Smart introduced as Texas coachBy HANK KURZ JR. AND JIM VERTUNO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See SMART PAGE 2B

INDIANAPOLIS —John Calipari has beendealing with detractors foryears.

They call him the em-bodiment of everythingthat’s wrong in the one-and-done world of collegebasketball. He’s a crookwho landed two programson probation, a snake-oilsalesman who only won anational title because hewas able to sell Kentuckyto some top prospects.

Perhaps that perceptionhas finally started tochange.

After molding a rosterfull of McDonald’s All-Americans into a 38-0 jug-gernaut that’s two winsshy of another champion-

ship, Calipari was votedAP coach of the year onFriday.

He received 40 first-place votes from the 65-member national mediapanel. Tony Bennett ofVirginia was runner-upwith nine votes and NotreDame’s Mike Brey got five.

Meanwhile, Wisconsinforward Frank Kaminskywas honored as the APplayer of the year.

“I know this, I’m thesame guy I’ve alwaysbeen,” Calipari said, whenasked whether opinions ofhim — particularly thosein the media — have soft-ened over the years.

“Well, not really. A lotof things change as youget older. My heart’s the

NCAA BASKETBALL AP AWARDS

Kentucky head coach John Calipari was named AP Coach of theYear after leading the still undefeated Wildcats to a Final Four.

Photo by Michael Conroy | AP

Yearly APawards

announced

See AWARDS PAGE 2B

Calipari, Kaminsky take top honorsfrom The Associated Press

By DAVE SKRETTAASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — Anyother year, this wouldprobably be the premiermatchup of the Final Four.

On one bench sits top-seeded Duke and its re-cord-setting coach, MikeKrzyzewski. On the otheris upstart Michigan Stateand Tom Izzo, one of thefinest coaches in the game

come March.But with overall No. 1

seed Kentucky chasingperfection against thoseloveable goofballs fromWisconsin, the openinggame of Saturday night’snational semifinals hastaken on an undercardfeel — two of the game’smost tradition-rich pro-grams kicking things offat Lucas Oil Stadium be-fore a massive crowd and

potentially record-settingTV audience.

“We’ve been that wayall year: overlooked,doubted the whole time,”said the Spartans’ TravisTrice, who Krzyzewskilauded as the biggestbreakout star of thisyear’s NCAA Tourna-ment.

“But we don’t really

NCAA BASKETBALL: DUKE VS. MICHIGAN STATE

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, right, is very familiar with the Final Four, and is one of the finestcoaches in basketball when March rolls around.

Photo Michael Conroy | AP

Blue Devils, Spartanstake on undercard feel

By DAVE SKRETTAASSOCIATED PRESS

See DUKE PAGE 2B

INDIANAPOLIS — Nextin the way of Kentucky’sperfect season: Frank theTank and his fun-lovingband of Wisconsin team-mates.

Player of the Year FrankKaminsky and the Badg-ers were so loose theywere giggling on the podi-um during their inter-

views Friday, answeringquestions about what theyeat (Kaminsky likes om-elets with syrup on top),how they slept (Sam Dekk-er got eight solid hours)and what their word of theday is for the poor NCAAstenographers they discov-ered earlier at the tourna-ment (Nigel Hayes wentwith “prestidigitation”).

The team they face Sat-urday, 38-0 Kentucky, is al-

so trying to keep thingspressure-free, and theircoach, John Calipari, triedworking some magic of hisown with the numbers.

“Everybody is 0-0,” Cali-pari said. “Whether you’reDuke, Michigan State, Wis-consin or us, everybody’srecord is the same. We’reall feeling the same thing.We all want to win a na-

NCAA BASKETBALL: KENTUCKY VS. WISCONSIN

Wisconsin lost to Kentucky in the Final Four a season ago, but can exact some revenge and handthe Wildcats their first loss of the season Saturday evening in Indianapolis.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

Kentucky trying tokeep things perfect

By EDDIE PELLSASSOCIATED PRESS

See KENTUCKY PAGE 2B

look like it like that,”Trice added, moments lat-er. “If we win, people aregoing to be talking aboutus. We win a nationalchampionship, everybodywill be talking.”

The seventh-seededSpartans (27-11) have cer-tainly come a long waysince November, whenthey were routed by theBlue Devils (33-4) justdown the street at Bank-ers Life Fieldhouse.

Freshman guard TumTum Nairn has replacedBryn Forbes in the start-ing lineup, giving Michi-gan State a much-neededshot of speed. Trice andfellow senior BrandenDawson have learned toshoulder the leadershiprole. And just about ev-eryone else has foundtheir niche for a teamthat missed out on the Fi-nal Four a year ago, wheneveryone expected it tocontend for the title.

“That was a devastatingloss last year,” Izzo re-called Friday. “That’swhat the beauty and theterror of the tournamentis, you’ve got to play wellsix straight games towin.”

They’ve already donethat four times, beatingGeorgia and then knock-ing off in succession sec-ond-seeded Virginia,third-seeded Oklahomaand fourth-seeded Louis-ville.

Now, they a chance totopple a No. 1 seed.

Relying on stingy de-fense, the Blue Devilshave run roughshodthrough the opening twoweeks of the tournament.Even when shots weren’tfalling and All-Americanforward Jahlil Okaforwas held in check byUtah and Gonzaga, CoachK’s bunch of bluebloodshave been just fine.

That doesn’t meanthere haven’t been pot-holes on the road to Indi-anapolis.

The Blue Devils wentthrough a lull in January,losing to North CarolinaState and getting poundedby Miami. Junior guardRasheed Sulaimon wasbooted from the team, thefirst player to be dis-missed by Krzyzewski in35 seasons. And therewere times when the trioof Okafor, Tyus Jones andJustise Winslow lookedlike wide-eyed freshmenrather than superstar

prospects.All those growing

pains? They turned Dukeinto a monster by March.

“It’s just special. Youcan just feel it in the airnow, how important it is,what it means to behere,” Jones said. “Justlook out and see howmany seats are out there.On Saturday night, thoseseats are all going to befilled. It’s a special feel-ing.”

There is no shortage ofstory lines as two of col-lege basketball’s premierprograms try to move onestep closer to another na-tional title. Here are someto watch:

OKAFOR AND JONES: Izzoshould be quite familiarwith Duke’s star fresh-men — he recruited bothof them heavily. The closefriends even visited theMichigan State campus inEast Lansing before com-mitting to the Blue Dev-ils. “They were one of thefirst schools to recruitme,” Okafor said. “I loveTom Izzo and their coach-ing staff. They have agreat relationship withmy family.”

TURNOVER TROUBLE: Whenthe teams met Nov. 18, theBlue Devils forced 13turnovers that they turn-ed into 24 points. Izzo hasbeen harping on ball se-curity ever since. “That’sdefinitely been the keysince that game,” Tricesaid. “We feel like we beatourselves.”

DAWSON VS. WINSLOW:Sure, there are otherstars in the spotlight, butthis could be one of thepivotal matchups. Dawsonis arguably MichiganState’s toughest defender,and Winslow has beenone of the Blue Devils’hottest players, averaging14 points in the NCAATournament.

THE COACHING MATCHUP:Krzyzewski and Izzo havemet nine times, andCoach K has won eight ofthem. That includes a 2-1mark in the NCAA Tour-nament. But there may beno coach more dangerousas an underdog than Izzo,who has a record 13 tour-nament wins as the lower-seeded team.

“You know, stats are un-believable, man,” Krzy-zewski said. “That doesn’tmake a difference at all.They’re going to be ready.You know what? Theydon’t lack talent.”

DUKE Continued from Page 1B

Branden Dawson missed an opportunity to reach this stage lastyear when the Spartans were eliminated in the Elite Eight.

Photo by David J. Phillip | AP

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

easy access to some of thenation’s most fertilerecruiting grounds in Dal-las and Houston.

Smart replaces RickBarnes, who was fired lastweekend after 17 seasons.

Terms of Smart’s con-tract were not immediate-ly released and VCU saida statement would be re-leased Friday. Barnesmade $2.62 million lastseason, while Smart made$1.8 million with theRams.

Patterson had zeroed inon bringing Smart to Tex-as immediately after fir-ing Barnes.

Smart did not speak tothe media gathered Thurs-day and VCU players wereescorted from the building

by university public rela-tions without offeringcomments.

That Barnes waspushed out shows Patter-son, a former NBA execu-tive, expects big thingsfrom basketball. Barneswon three Big 12 titlesand recruited elite talentto Austin. Former Long-horns T.J. Ford (2003) andKevin Durant (2007) wonnational player of the yearhonors.

But the program hadplateaued and the early-round exits in the NCAATournament started tomount, despite rosters fullof future NBA talent.

At VCU, Smart tookover a program that hadhad great success under

Jeff Capel, and then An-thony Grant. He hopes toavoid the pitfalls at Texasthat his predecessors en-countered when they leftto take over programs atuniversities considered“football schools.”

Capel lasted five yearsat Oklahoma before beingfired, and Grant spent sixat Alabama before he wasdismissed.

By leaving before May 1,Smart owes VCU a$500,000 buyout. His con-tract also contains a pro-vision that if he became ahead coach at another in-stitution, that schoolwould have to play VCU ina home-and-home series,or pay VCU $250,000.

Barnes led Texas to 16

NCAA Tournaments in 17seasons but his teamshaven’t made it out of thefirst weekend since 2008.

His best years camefrom 2003-2008, when Tex-as made its first FinalFour in more than 50years and twice morereached the tournament’sfinal eight. Texas alsoearned the program’s firstNo. 1 ranking in the 2009-2010 season.

Smart had some successright away at VCU whenthe Rams won the CBIpostseason tournament inhis first year.

But it was VCU’s monu-mental run in the NCAATournament the followingyear that really got Smartnoticed. The Rams went

from being a questionableselection, barely getting abid and playing in theFirst Four in Dayton,Ohio, to beating five ma-jor-conference schools toreach the Final Four.

The Rams have beenback in the NCAA Tour-nament each of the pastfour seasons, but wereeliminated in the round of32 in 2012 and 2013 andlost their first game inovertime each of the pasttwo seasons.

Beyond the Final Fourrun, this year might havebeen Smart’s best coach-ing job at VCU.

The Rams lost BrianteWeber, the leader of their“havoc” defensive style,on Jan. 31 to a knee inju-

ry, and played the lastmonth and a half withscoring leader TreveonGraham bothered by ahigh left ankle sprain,sometimes even sidelined.

VCU (26-10) lost six of 10late in the season, endur-ing its first three-gameslide in Smart’s six sea-sons, before winning fivestraight, including four infour days, to win the At-lantic 10 title.

Smart’s 26 wins in sixconsecutive seasons is afeat matched only byDuke. With the interest hehas generated in basket-ball, a $25 million basket-ball practice facility is un-der construction andscheduled to be ready foruse in the fall.

SMART Continued from Page 1B

tional title.”If the Wildcats do, they’ll be the

first program since the 1975-76 In-diana Hoosiers to finish a seasonas undefeated champions — anaccomplishment that hovers overeverything this week at what isshaping up as a monumental Fi-nal Four because of the historyinvolved.

“If we do complete that goal, Icouldn’t even put it into words,”said Andrew Harrison, whose twofree throws were the difference inthe 68-66 win over Notre Dame inthe Midwest Regional final.

But undefeated doesn’t neces-sarily mean perfect, and Wiscon-sin is hardly in awe.

This is a rematch of last year’ssemifinal. In that game, the Badg-ers (35-3) were leading Kentuckyby two when Harrison’s twinbrother, Aaron, spotted up frombehind the upper-left part of thearc with 5.7 seconds left andmade his second straight game-winning 3-pointer.

“He has that clutch gene,”Dekker said after that one.

One notable stat from that 74-73thriller: Kaminsky finished withonly eight points and five re-bounds.

The 7-foot center, who averages18 points and almost nine re-bounds this season and will likelygo in the first round of the NBA

draft, said he would have return-ed for his senior season eitherway. Still, the loss — and the wayit went down — left a mark.

“It’s obviously motivating be-cause you want to come back tothis stage,” Kaminsky said. “Thisis what seasons are rememberedfor. You remember the nationalchampion at the end of the sea-son.”

Win or lose, these Kentuckyplayers will be remembered —and watched some more. Fresh-man Karl-Anthony Towns — like-

ly to become one of Calipari’smuch-discussed “one-and-dones”— is a probable lottery pick, as isjunior Willie Cauley-Stein. TheHarrison brothers and four orfive more are also expected towind up in the NBA, too.

Wisconsin has a few future pros— Kaminsky, Dekker and Hayes.But it’s no big secret that theBadgers won’t win on raw talent.

“Do you think I have to tell myplayers that this is a big game orthat Kentucky’s pretty good?”Badgers coach Bo Ryan said.

“They are. I think our guys areastute enough to figure that partout.”

THE POSTMEN: The big man isback — at least at this Final Four.This game will feature three ofbest: Kaminsky for Wisconsinand 6-11 Towns and 7-foot Cauley-Stein for Kentucky. The Wildcatsalso have Trey Lyles at 6-10 andMarcus Lee at 6-9. To practice forKentucky’s height, Ryan tinkeredwith the idea of using tennisrackets to swat down shots atpractice. “But with these guys,

they might have started whackingeach other with them,” he said.“We can’t simulate what theyhave.”

ANALYTICS: When asked whatstats he pays most attention to,Ryan focused in on one: Pointsper possession. It’s pretty clearwhy. The Badgers lead the nationin that stat at 1.22. Kentucky’s notfar behind, ranked ninth at 1.156.

BALANCE: Part of Calipari’scoaching brilliance this seasonhas been figuring out how tospread the minutes and the touch-es, while keeping everyone happy.Nobody on Kentucky averagesmore than 26 minutes a game,and Andrew Harrison leads theteam in scoring with a modest 11points a game. The Badgers,whose roster isn’t as deep, havethree players who score more —Kaminsky (18.7), Dekker (13.9)and Hayes (12.4).

ENDS AND ODDS: The Wildcats arefive-point favorites, matching thelowest number they have been fa-vored by all season. Also, forthose thinking this Kentuckyteam will go down as the best incollege basketball history if itruns the table, think again. The2014-15 Wildcats would be a 31/2-point underdog against the 2011-12 title team, according to R.J.Bell, a betting analyst who runsthe Pregame.com website.

KENTUCKY Continued from Page 1B

Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky was named AP Player of the Year, and will lead Wisconsin against Kentucky in the Final Four.

Photo by Michael Conroy | AP

same,” Calipari added.“Hopefully I’ve maturedand grown up a little bit.That’s questionable also, Ihear.”

Speaking of growing up,Kaminsky has certainlydone that the past couple ofyears. After averaging 10minutes a game as a sopho-more, then having a break-out junior campaign, Ka-minsky took another stepforward in guiding theBadgers back to the FinalFour.

The senior was rewardedwith 58 first-place votes.Duke freshman Jahlil Oka-for received five, and WillieCauley-Stein of Kentuckyand Jerian Grant of NotreDame each received one.

“I thought about it a littlebit,” Kaminsky said of win-ning the award. “Obviously,wasn’t one of my main pri-orities. Getting back to theFinal Four was it. But be-ing here and being honoredby the AP is awesome. I’mgrateful a lot of guys thinkof me in that manner.”

It’s hardly surprising thatKaminsky was such anoverwhelming pick.

Besides being a dominantinside-outside threat, thefuzzy 7-footer also haswicked sense of humor. He’sbecome one of the ringlead-ers on the fun-loving Badg-ers, his effervescent person-ality endearing himself tocoaches, players and fansalike.

“I saw him out in thehallway,” said Calipari,whose team plays Wiscon-sin in the Final Four onSaturday night. “I said,’Look, I’m so tired of look-ing at your tape right now.”’

Probably about as tiredas many folks are of seeingCalipari this time of year.

He began making a habitof the NCAA Tournamentwith UMass in the late1980s and early ’90s, leadingthe Minutemen to the FinalFour. After a failed stint inthe NBA, Calipari returnedto the college game — andwinning — with Memphis

in 2000.But like his first Final

Four appearance, anothertrip with the Tigers in 2008was later vacated by theNCAA. Calipari’s reputa-tion was sullied, eventhough both transgressionswere not entirely his fault:UMass star Marcus Cambywas ruled ineligible for con-tact with an agent, and alle-gations of academic fraudunrelated to the universitybrought down Memphis.

“I always say this, thereason I’m not worriedabout now and how I’mevaluated, legacy — itdoesn’t matter,” said Calipa-ri, who joins Eddie Suttonand Tubby Smith as Ken-tucky coaches to win theAP coach of the year awardsince its inception in

“Fifty years from nowwhen we’re all gone,” Cali-pari said, “people will lookback without emotion andsay, ’What has he done?What did he do for people?What did he do for the uni-versities?’ Not just me, butall coaches. Your legacy is,’How did he benefit thesepeople?”’

At least this season, bygetting what could havebeen a mess of egos to playas a team.

Players accustomed to be-ing the stars accepted fewerminutes and bit roles. Theydecided that in basketball-mad Kentucky, they wouldeschew any individual spot-light so the Wildcats couldchase something greater:The first perfect seasonsince Indiana’s in 1976.

In that respect, this mayhave been Calipari’s tough-est coaching job yet.

His most masterful job,too.

“I’m not focused onchanging people’s mindswho don’t know me,” hesaid. “I’m doing my job forthese kids. If you like that,I’m happy. If you don’t likethat or don’t like that kid,that’s your problem, notmine. I’m not doing this toplease everybody.”

AWARDS Continued from Page 1B

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Heloise: Thereneeds to be a law thatwould require, at the timeof purchase of a CELL-PHONE, the purchaser tobe supplied with a hand-book on cellphone etiquette.The requirements shouldinclude:

* When speaking on yourphone in a public area,move away from others.Use a modulated tone ofvoice; there is no need toshout!

* Never bring yourphone to church. If you areexpecting a call, stay home,or if you carry the phonefor fear of an emergency,keep it on "VIBRATE"!

* It is never acceptable tolaugh hysterically whilespeaking on your cellphonein a public area.

There is enough irrita-tion surrounding us; wedon’t need people causingnoise pollution by flauntingtheir cellphones. Observebasic good manners andconsideration of others. – AReader in San Antonio

Dear Reader: Many ofyour suggestions are (orshould be) common courte-

sy.Not sure about "never ac-

ceptable to laugh hysterical-ly while speaking on yourcellphone in a public area."If it’s funny and you laugh,that’s pretty normal. No,not in a church, synagogue,hospital or other similarplace. Yes, put the phone on"vibrate" for those occa-sions. Also, it’s very, veryrarely an EMERGENCY!The world will not stop ifyou don’t answer the cell-phone right away! – Heloise

MOUSE OUT OF THEHOUSE

Dear Heloise: I heard anoise just above the waterheater. I listened to it anddecided to try somethingnew. I took a portable radiointo the attic, turned it onHIGH – without music, juststatic – and left it there forthree days. The varmintsmoved out! – Irene R., Rock-lin, Calif.

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015