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A federal grand jury inLaredo formally charged awoman last week for mov-ing illegal immigrants formoney, according to courtrecords obtained Monday.

U.S. Border Patrol de-tained Claudia Castillo,25, on July 23 as she at-tempted to go through afederal checkpoint in Za-pata with eight illegal im-migrants, according tocourt records.

An indictment filed

Aug. 19 against Castillocharged her with onecount of conspiracy totransport undocumentedpeople within the UnitedStatus and two counts oftransport and attempt totransport undocumentedpeople for financial gain.

Castillo is pending ar-raignment. She is facingup to 10 years in federalprison per count, accord-ing to the indictment.

On July 23, a 2009 Chev-rolet Traverse operated byCastillo approached theBorder Patrol checkpoint

on U.S. 83 near Zapata.Asked for citizenship, Cas-tillo and her front passen-ger both ascertained theywere U.S. citizens.

Agents then observedan additional eight pas-sengers inside the vehiclewho also tried to ascer-tain their citizenship. Alleight individuals kept si-lent and had a “confusestare” when asked wheretheir citizenship wasfrom, records show.

In secondary inspec-tion, all eight individualsstated they were Mexicans

with no legal right to bein the United States, thecriminal complaint states.

Homeland Security In-vestigations specialagents read Castillo herMiranda warnings, whichshe allegedly waived. Cas-tillo said a friend hadcalled her and asked if shewould transport illegalimmigrants. Castillo ex-pected a payment of $200per immigrant, accordingto court records.

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

FEDERAL GRAND JURY

Indictment filedWoman charged for moving illegal immigrants

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

MIDLAND, Texas — In-dicted Texas Gov. RickPerry said Tuesday thathe believes taxpayersshould have picked up hislegal tab but opted to usecampaign funds “to keepfrom having folks grouseabout it.”

The possible 2016 Re-publican presidential can-didate told reporters inMidland that he had con-sidered it appropriate forstate funds to pay his legalfees because a criminal in-vestigation dealt with hisofficial duties as governor.

Perry has pleaded notguilty to two felony charg-es of abuse of power. Atleast $80,000 in taxpayerdollars have been spent onhis defense so far. Perrysaid Tuesday that hehadn’t yet decided if thatmoney would also comefrom his campaign funds.

Following questionsover who would pay for anew team of high-poweredattorneys, Perry an-nounced last week thatcampaign funds wouldstart footing the bill.

In a 60-page motion fil-ed Monday, Perry’s high-powered defense team ar-gued that the law beingused to prosecute the long-est-serving governor inTexas history is unconsti-tutionally vague.

He is charged withabuse of official capacityand coercion of a publicservant, both felonies. Ifconvicted, Perry couldface up to 109 years inprison.

“It’s in the hands of thelawyers now and the pro-cess of the state of Texas,which I have great faithwill find that we actedproperly and correctly,”Perry told reporters aftera groundbreaking eventfor a new office for Occi-dental Petroleum.

Standing next to Perryat one point and scoffingat the idea that the gover-nor got carried away withpower was former Repub-

lican Texas House Speak-er Tom Craddick — whowas ousted from the pow-erful job in 2009 followinga dramatic, bipartisan mu-tiny in which Craddick re-fused to relinquish controlof the gavel in an hour-slong standoff on theHouse floor. At one pointduring the rebellion, Crad-dick’s parliamentariansabruptly resigned.

“I don’t know all thefacts of the thing, but Ijust think when you indicta governor over some-thing like this, it’s goingto interfere with futuregovernment,” Craddicksaid about Perry’s legalcase. “I think the indict-ment is ridiculous.”

Despite being indicted,Perry is seriously consid-ering a 2016 White Houserun. A call and text mess-age to spokeswoman LucyNashed about what com-plaints, if any, may havebeen made regarding tax-payers funding his defensewere not immediately re-turned.

During Tuesday’s event,Perry wore the sameglasses he’s worn forabout a year as part of hiseffort to rehabilitate hisimage following a disas-trous 2012 presidentialbid. Afterward, he showedthem to The AssociatedPress. The glasses, meantto soften his cowboy im-age for one that’s morehumble, are Inspiration bydesigner Jean Lafont. Hiswife picked them out. In-ternet searches indicatethat the frames alone re-tail for $516.

TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY

Perry: Statewon’t paylawyers

Facing felony charges, gov will usecampaign funds to cover legal tab

By BETSY BLANEYASSOCIATED PRESS

PERRY

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Mex-ican President Enrique PeñaNieto met Tuesday with law-makers and swapped praise withGov. Jerry Brown, but not alllegislators rolled out the wel-come mat at a luncheon held onthe final day of his visit to Cali-fornia.

About 150 people, many wav-ing American flags or holdingsigns, rallied across the streetfrom the historic Stanford Man-sion to call for the release of aMarine who is being detained inMexico.

At least three Republican law-makers rejected the lunch invi-tation from Brown as a way toprotest Mexico’s incarceration of

Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmoores-si, who has been held sinceApril after crossing the borderwith weapons.

A total of 19 Assembly Repub-licans who planned to attend thelunch signed a letter to PeñaNieto demanding the release ofthe Marine.

“It’s so nice to have teamworkfor a change,” said state Assem-blyman Tim Donnelly, a formergubernatorial candidate.

Donnelly was the only law-maker to join the protesters onthe street.

“The president is here and thegovernor could just say, ‘Couldyou do me a favor?’ But he refus-es to,” said protester EdwardDoolin of Vacaville.

While the demonstrators werekept across the street from themansion, their chants of “Freeour Marine” could be heard atthe outdoor wine-and-appetizersreception that was being heldfor Peña Nieto. The governor,president and lawmakers thendined under an outdoor tent onsmoked chicken, locally growntomatoes and squash, and wine

from Napa Valley vineyards. Brown and Peña Nieto gave

celebratory remarks to reportersand attendees before the lunchbut did not take questions.

They generally repeated com-ments they made the day beforein Los Angeles. Brown said Cali-fornia and Mexico hold thepromise of a “brighter future”while Peña Nieto praised theDemocratic governor for his pol-icies toward immigrants“whether or not they have legalstatus.”

Neither spoke about the pro-

testers or addressed the Tah-mooressi case.

Some Republican lawmakers,however, were critical of theircolleagues protesting the visit ofthe Mexican president.

State Assemblyman RockyChavez, a Republican fromOceanside and a former Marine,said it did not help the processof trying to get Tahmooressi, anAfghanistan war veteran, backto the U.S.

“This is simply not the timeto play politics when the well-be-ing of this veteran’s life hangs inthe balance,” Chavez said in astatement.

He said members of Congresswere working behind the scenesto resolve the matter.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Mexican President Peña Nieto faces protestBy FENIT NIRAPPILASSOCIATED PRESS About 150 people rallied to call for the release of a

Marine who is being detained in Mexico.

See PROTEST PAGE 12A

WASHINGTON — Glob-al warming is here, hu-man-caused and probablyalready dangerous — andit’s increasingly likelythat the heating trendcould be irreversible, adraft of a new internation-

al science report says.The United Nations’ In-

tergovernmental Panel onClimate Change on Mon-day sent governments a fi-nal draft of its synthesisreport, which combinesthree earlier, gigantic doc-uments by the NobelPrize-winning group.There is little in the re-

port that wasn’t in theother more-detailed ver-sions, but the language ismore stark and the reportattempts to connect thedifferent scientific disci-plines studying problemscaused by the burning offossil fuels, such as coal,oil and gas.

The 127-page draft, ob-

tained by The AssociatedPress, paints a harshwarning of what’s causingglobal warming and whatit will do to humans andthe environment. It alsodescribes what can bedone about it.

“Continued emission of

INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE

HEATING TREND

Texas State Park police officer Thomas Bigham walks across the cracked lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas, on Wednesday,Aug. 3, 2011. Global warming is here, human-caused and probably already dangerous, a draft of a new international science report says.

Photo by Tony Gutierrez | AP

Panel: Global warming human-causedBy SETH BORENSTEIN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See GLOBAL WARMING PAGE 12A

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014

Wednesday, Aug. 27Meeting for Behind the Camo,

all female veterans group. 6 p.m. Lare-do Community College, Memorial Hall.

Thursday, Aug. 28Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Los Amigos Duplicates BridgeClub meeting. 1:15 p.m. to 5 p.m. Lare-do Country Club. Contact Beverly Can-tu at 727-0589.

Spanish Book Club meeting. 6p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Laredo Public Li-brary, 1120 E. Calton Road. For infor-mation call Sylvia Reash at 763-1810.

Friday Aug. 29Martin High School 50th Anni-

versary Reunion meet and greet. 7p.m. to 12 p.m. L & F Distributors, LLC(Budweiser) 410 Crossroad St. Formore information, please call NormaMeijia Garcia at 723-1646.

Saturday, Aug. 30Martin High School 50th Anni-

versary Reunion dinner and dance. LaPosada, St. Austine ball room 7-12pm.$100.00 per couple for both events.For more information please NormaMeijia Garcia at 723-1646.

Discover how Past Lives,Dreams, and Soul Travel can help youfind God. From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. La-redo Public Library, 1120 E. Carlton.Contact Greg Pape / Aurora Gonzalesat greg2u4@sbcglobal.net or www.Eck-ankar-Texas.org or call (210) 831-7113.Free Bilingual Discussion with bookletincluded.

Tuesday, Sept. 2Alzheimer’s support group meet-

ing. 7 p.m. Meeting room 2, building Bof the Laredo Medical Center. The sup-port group is for family members andcaregivers taking care of someone whohas Alzheimer’s. For more informationcall 956-693-9991.

Thursday, Sept. 4Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Sisters of Mercy “Conversationswith the Sisters,” a series of discus-sions focusing on earth, nonviolence,women, racism and immigration. 6p.m. to 7 p.m. 1000 Mier St.

Friday, Sept. 5Women in Leadership. Positive

role models event. 12 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.Palenque Grill. Contact Abby Willett orSylvia Praesel for more information atwwconnection.org.

Wednesday, Sept. 1021st annual Logistics & Manu-

facturing Symposium. Texas A&M Inter-national University. For more informa-tion contact the Laredo DevelopmentFoundation at 800-820-0564, 722-0563 or ldfinfo@ldfonline.org.

Thursday, Sept. 11Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

Saturday, Sept. 1321st annual Logistics & Manu-

facturing Symposium. Texas A&M Inter-national University. For more informa-tion contact the Laredo DevelopmentFoundation at 800-820-0564, 722-0563 or ldfinfo@ldfonline.org.

South Texas Collectors Expo. 10a.m. to 5 p.m. Laredo Energy Arena.Celebrities, comic book artists, cos-players, vendors and more. Tickets onsale at LEA box office and Ticketmas-ter.com. Visit southtexascollectorsexpo-.com or email info@stcelaredo.com.

Thursday, Sept. 18Grief support group. Noon to

1:30 p.m. First United MethodistChurch, 1220 McClelland Ave. Free andopen to public. Contact Patricia Cisne-ros at 722-1674 or pcisneros@mhm.org.

(Submit calendar items at lmton-line.com/calendar/submit or by email-ing editorial@lmtonline.com with theevent’s name, date and time, locationand purpose and contact informationfor a representative. Items will run asspace is available.)

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, August27, the 239th day of 2014. Thereare 126 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights inHistory:

On August 27, 1964, Presi-dent Lyndon Baines Johnsonaccepted his party’s nomina-tion for a term in his ownright, telling the DemocraticNational Convention in Atlan-tic City, New Jersey, “Let usjoin together in giving everyAmerican the fullest lifewhich he can hope for.” TheWalt Disney movie musicalfantasy “Mary Poppins,” star-ring Julie Andrews and DickVan Dyke, premiered at Grau-man’s Chinese Theater in Hol-lywood. Comedian Gracie Al-len, the wife of George Burns,died in Los Angeles.

On this date:In 1776, the Battle of Long

Island began during the Revo-lutionary War as Britishtroops attacked Americanforces, who ended up beingforced to retreat two days later.

In 1883, the island volcanoKrakatoa erupted with a se-ries of cataclysmic explosions;the resulting tidal waves in In-donesia’s Sunda Strait claimedsome 36,000 lives in Java andSumatra.

In 1928, the Kellogg-BriandPact was signed in Paris, out-lawing war and providing forthe peaceful settlement of dis-putes.

In 1939, the first turbojet-powered aircraft, the HeinkelHe 178, went on its first full-fledged test flight over Germa-ny.

In 1957, the USS Swordfish,the second Skate Class nuclearsubmarine, was launchedfrom the Portsmouth NavalShipyard in Maine.

In 1962, the United Stateslaunched the Mariner 2 spaceprobe, which flew past Venusin December 1962.

In 1967, Brian Epstein, man-ager of The Beatles, was founddead in his London flat froman overdose of sleeping pills;he was 32.

In 2008, Barack Obama wasnominated for president bythe Democratic National Con-vention in Denver.

Ten years ago: PresidentGeorge W. Bush signed execu-tive orders designed tostrengthen the CIA director’spower over the nation’s intelli-gence agencies and create anational counterterrorismcenter.

Five years ago: Mournersfiled past the closed casket ofthe late Sen. Edward Kennedyat the John F. Kennedy Presi-dential Library and Museumin Boston.

One year ago: Maj. NidalHasan, the Army psychiatristwho’d fatally shot 13 people atFort Hood, Texas, in 2009, rest-ed his case without presentingany evidence during his trial’spenalty phase. (Hasan endedup being sentenced to death.)

Today’s Birthdays: AuthorDame Antonia Fraser is 82.Actor Tommy Sands is 77.Bluegrass singer-musician J.D.Crowe is 77. Musician DarylDragon is 72. Actress TuesdayWeld is 71. Actor G.W. Baileyis 70. Rock singer-musicianTim Bogert is 70. Actress Mar-ianne Sagebrecht is 69. Coun-try musician Jeff Cook is 65.Actor Paul Reubens is 62.Rock musician Alex Lifeson(Rush) is 61. Actor PeterStormare is 61. Actress DianaScarwid is 59. Rock musicianGlen Matlock (The Sex Pistols)is 58.

Thought for Today: “Real-ity can destroy the dream;why shouldn’t the dream de-stroy reality?” — G.E. Moore,British philosopher (1873-1958).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AMARILLO — The state’s historic bisonherd just got more room to roam in a WestTexas park.

About 100 bison descended from theSouthern Plains herd now have access to10,000 acres in Caprock Canyons State Park.Park staff last week opened the acres up tothe animals that are members of the OfficialTexas State Bison Herd.

The expansion is a big step in a programthat started widening the animals’ accessstarting in 2010.

The herd is now wandering on prairie itsancestors used before hunting nearly wipedthem out.

In 2003, media tycoon Ted Turner donatedthree bulls to help the herd, which had gonethrough more than a century of inbreeding

that threatened its survival. At the time, theherd had dwindled to 53.

The bison had to be coaxed onto their ex-panded range by feed trucks, park superin-tendent Donald Beard told the AmarilloGlobe-News (http://bit.ly/1nncTgR ).

“And when they saw the bison metal cut-outs, they took off running to them,” he saidof an art installation in the park. “Whenthey figured out they weren’t really bison,they moved on.”

The animals eventually settled into an ar-ea of about 200 acres.

“They’ve been there for three days,” Beardsaid. “I was told that’s what they’d do.”

The Texas herd was started in the 1870swith five bison calves captured by CharlesGoodnight, one of the most prosperous cat-tlemen in the American West.

AROUND TEXAS

Bison, that are the original descendants of a herd started by Charles Goodnight, the celebrated Panhandle rancher in thelate 1800s, are shown at the Caprock Canyons State Park, Texas, on Jan. 27, 2005. The park opened up 10,000 acres to theapproximately 100 members of the Official Texas State Bison Herd on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

Photo by Betsy Blaney/file | AP

Herd has more roomASSOCIATED PRESS

Bridges on $1.4B NorthTexas toll road need repair

FORT WORTH — Officials inNorth Texas will have to repairfaulty bridge beams on the new$1.4 billion Chisholm Trail Park-way after an inspection found de-sign flaws.

The beams were determinedto be too weak for the bridges,which had not yet been opened.

Fort Worth crew to flyEbola supplies to Liberia

FORT WORTH — A crew ofsix people is headed from FortWorth to Liberia to deliver med-ical supplies for workers fightingthe Ebola outbreak there.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegramreports that the crew plans toleave the city’s Alliance AirportTuesday and stop in New York topick up more supplies on its wayto Monrovia.

The plane will be carryingrubber gloves, goggles and othersupplies in critical demand.

1 dead in highway gunfirewith sheriff’s deputiesWACO — Authorities say one

person has died during an ex-change of gunfire with sheriff ’sdeputies north of Waco on U.S.Business 77.

McLennan County Chief Dep-uty Sheriff Matt Cawthon tellsthe Waco Herald-Tribune thatdeputies on Saturday were try-ing to pull over a vehicle for asuspected traffic violation.

When the driver did eventual-ly pull over, there was an ex-change of gunfire.

LBJ library to celebratehis birthday this weekAUSTIN — The Lyndon B.

Johnson Presidential Library inAustin will mark the late leader’sbirthday today with cake andcupcakes.

Today marks what would havebeen Johnson’s 106th birthday.Johnson, the 36th president ofthe United States, was born onAug. 27, 1908, in Central Texas.

Trooper: Weather causesTexas semitrailer wrecks

GOODNIGHT — Texas author-ities say strong winds in the Tex-as Panhandle have caused therollovers of two highway semi-trailers.

A Department of Public Safetyspokesman tells the AmarilloGlobe-News that two people wereinjured in a wreck Sunday after-noon near Goodnight. Anothersemitrailer crashed near Claude.

Sheriff: Man left ‘selfie’at site of pot farm

SUGAR LAND — Authoritiesare searching for a man who lefta selfie on a cell phone aban-doned at a marijuana farm.

The Houston Chronicle re-ports that Fort Bend Countysheriff ’s deputies are searchingfor Benigno Ramirez of Michoa-can, Mexico.

Authorities say they believeRamirez had a key role in thefarm.

— Compiled from AP reports

Police: Baby left in trashfighting for her life

KEARNS, Utah — A newbornbaby was in extremely criticalcondition Tuesday after her 24-year-old mother left her in aneighbor’s trash can in Utah, astate that allows mothers to dropoff newborns at hospitals with-out consequences, police andhealth officials said.

A woman heard what shethought was a kitten meowing inthe trash bin in the Salt LakeCity suburb of Kearns on Tues-day morning and found the baby,Unified Police Detective JaredRichardson said.

Richardson says the girl wasairlifted to a hospital in SaltLake City, where she’s now on aventilator and fighting for herlife.

Her mother, who was beingquestioned by police, later re-turned and told officers she hadleft the baby about an hour be-fore the child was found.

Salt Lake County Sheriff JimWinder, who oversees the UnifiedPolice Department, said author-ities believe the baby girl wasborn Sunday.

Winder said at a news confer-ence that investigators did nothave any information about

where the mother gave birth orwhy she may have left the babyin the trash can.

Police would decide whetherto arrest the mother after inter-viewing her, Winder said.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

A unidentified woman is escorted from a home by a police officer after a babywas found in a garbage can in Kearns, Utah on Tuesday. Police say the newborn isin extremely critical condition he was left in a trash can near his mother’s home.

Photo by Rick Bowmer | AP

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

AUSTIN — Democraticgubernatorial nomineeWendy Davis, lagging be-hind in both polling andcampaign finances, spentabout $4 million in Au-gust to attack Republicanopponent Greg Abbott ontelevision.

The San Antonio Ex-press News reportedMonday that it reviewedthe documents and inter-viewed industry expertsto compile the figure. Da-vis is at a roughly three-to-one cash disadvantageand is trailing anywherefrom eight to 16 points inthe polls, with a littlemore than two months togo before Texans select anew governor.

The expenditureamounts to more than 30percent of the campaign’stotal cash on hand as oflast month. It has aired aparticular attack ad atleast 5,000 times state-wide. The Davis cam-paign has been spending

at a pace ofabout $1million aweek on TVads betweenAug. 8 andLabor Day.

The ad-vertise-

ments range from attack-ing Abbot for not sidingwith a rape victim whileserving as a judge in the1990s to slamming himfor his role as a watchdogon a state cancer re-search fund.

Abbott’s campaignspent more than $2.1 mil-lion during a two-weekstretch in August formore than 2,200 spots.The advertisements fea-ture Abbott’s mother-in-law talking fondly abouthim.

Davis spokesman ZacPetkanas said the cam-paign is going negativeearly because Texanswant a governor who“will fight for them.”

“This is somethingthat is critical for voters

to understand as theymake their choice aboutwho should representthem in the Governor’sMansion next year,” Pet-kanas said.

The Abbott campaignhas denounced the televi-sion ads as a desperatetactic from a political op-ponent behind in thepolls.

“Indicative of a candi-date with no plan or vi-sion for Texas, Sen. Da-vis’ attacks have repeat-edly failed to reach theend zone, and her latestads continue to fumblethe facts,” said Abbottspokesman Matt Hirsch.

Brandon Rottinghaus,an associate professor ofpolitical science at theUniversity of Houstonwho specializes in mediaand public opinion, saidDavis is running out oftime.

“This shows energy,”he said. “They’re not go-ing to just allow the Re-publican machine in Tex-as to run them over.”

Cost of attack adsDemocratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis spends$4 million to attack Republican opponent on television

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAVISAUSTIN — The state

has closed an Austin char-ter school that workedwith students who droppedout of high school or wererisk for doing so.

A judge with the StateOffice of AdministrativeHearings on Friday upheldthe state’s decision to re-voke the charter of Amer-ican YouthWorks becauseit failed to meet standards,the Austin American-Statesman reported. Theschool will no longer be ac-credited nor receive statefunding.

The Texas EducationAgency took action againstAmerican YouthWorks latelast year under the state’snew “three strikes andyou’re out” rule. SenateBill 2, which went into ef-fect in September, requiresthe state to pull a school’scharter if it fails to meet fi-

nancial or academic stan-dards three years in a row.

American YouthWorksis the third school to loseits appeal with the statehearing office, the othersbeing Honors Academy inDallas and Azleway Char-ter School in Tyler.

American YouthWorksfailed to meet academicand financial standards in2010-11 and financial stan-dards in the two followingschool years. The schoolhas been faulted for nothaving its money in theright type of bank account,having poor academic per-formance for a year andsubmitting a paper copy ofa state-required audit twodays late, among other is-sues.

American YouthWorksofficials have pointed outthat all their strikes hap-pened before the lawpassed, and that this yearthe school met academic

and financial standards.Parc Smith, chief execu-

tive officer for AmericanYouthWorks, called the rul-ing “a travesty.” Attorneysfor American YouthWorkshave said that they will tryto have the case reheard inTravis County districtcourt.

State officials have saidthe law is clear and theyhad no choice but to closethe school.

Paul Keeper, a judgewith the state hearing of-fice, said in his ruling Fri-day that the educationagency was not unreasona-ble nor did it make a mis-take in revoking theschool’s charter.

The education agencysaid it was just followingthe law.

“We always hope eachnew charter school will besuccessful,” educationagency spokeswoman Deb-bie Ratcliffe said.

State shuts downAustin charter school

Judge upholds state’s decision to revoke charter ofAmerican YouthWorks because it failed to meet standards

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LUBBOCK — A 24-year-oldTexas man has been charged inthe shooting death of a small-town police chief, a sheriff ’sspokeswoman said Sunday.

Joshua Manuel Lopez faces acharge of capital murder of a po-lice officer in the killing of El-mendorf Police Chief Michael Pi-mentel, said Bexar County Sher-iff ’s Office spokeswomanRosanne Hughes.

Pimentel was shot in theshoulder and abdomen whilemaking a stop Saturday to servean active misdemeanor warrant

for graffiti. He wasflown to a hospital,where he was pro-nounced dead.

Investigators arelooking into Lo-pez’s background,Hughes said.

Bexar CountySheriff Susan Pamerleau saidSaturday that Lopez had “somekind of history” with the Elmen-dorf Police Department but shedidn’t know its nature.

“We’re still investigating thecircumstances to determinewhat was the individual’s stateof mind, what else was goingon,” she said. “Those kinds of

things certainly will come out inour investigation.”

Lopez, who was charged Sat-urday night, remained in theBexar County Adult DetentionCenter on a $1 million bond Sun-day. Information about whetherhe has an attorney was unavail-able, and attempts to reach rela-tives were unsuccessful.

Pamerleau said Pimentel hadcalled another officer to “comeprovide cover” before he ap-proached Lopez. But, she said,the shooting had occurred by thetime the officer arrived.

Lopez was taken into custodywithout incident, Pamerleausaid.

The 60-year-old Pimentel hadbeen chief of Elmendorf forabout 18 months, she said. Thetown has around 1,500 residentsand is about 25 miles southeastof San Antonio.

A neighbor told the San Anto-nio Express-News that Lopez is aquiet loner who often dressed inblack trench coats, even in thesummer.

“He’s so quiet that I was sur-prised to know it was him,” saidMaria Rios, who added that shebaby-sat Lopez when he was achild.

Elmendorf Mayor Evelyn Ly-kins said she thinks residentsare “going to have a hard week”

coping with the shooting.“Today it’s really sinking in,”

she said Sunday.Pimentel is the fifth law en-

forcement officer to die in Texasthis year, said Steve McCraw,head of the Texas Department ofPublic Safety. Three of the fivewere killed by gunfire. Last year,13 officers died in the line of du-ty in the state.

Pamerleau said Pimentel’sdeath “reinforces that the dan-gers that our law enforcement of-ficers face every day, here in aquiet, peaceful neighborhood of asmall town in South Texas, in aninstant could turn into tragedy,as it did.”

24 year old charged in police chief’s slayingBy BETSY BLANEYASSOCIATED PRESS

LOPEZ

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014

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

Night had just fallen inFerguson, Missouri, as Iwatched a standoff fromon the town’s main thor-oughfare. Approximately150 protestors stood onWest Florissant Avenue,their hands held up tosymbolize nonviolentcompliance. A hundredyards south, the six-laneavenue was blocked by aline of police vehicles, in-cluding armored SWATcarriers. The officersheld assault rifles, wield-ed riot gear, and — ab-surdly in a suburban set-ting — wore full camou-flage. The scene wassurreal and terrifying.

I had gone up to Fergu-son from my home near-by in St. Louis County towitness the clashes thathad erupted after a whitepolice officer killed anunarmed black teenagera week earlier. As a uni-versity researcher, I’vetraveled to study the bru-tality and violence inRussia’s North Caucasus,and I was stuck by theirony of driving along afamiliar road to observethe chaos only a fewmiles away.

In Ferguson on Aug.17, I didn’t see author-ities make efforts to re-store calm. Instead, theymade aggressive attemptsto intimidate and drawbattle lines. The twosides were unevenlymatched — one wasdressed for peace; theother was clearly pre-pared for war. Fergusonhas shown us how milita-rization of local law en-forcement does more tostir chaos than to bringorder.

Before the standoff, theprotesters had beenmarching peacefully. Alocal church group walk-ed behind them, singinghymns and handing outflyers that quoted the Bi-ble on justice and mercy.Near the burnt-out Quik-Trip, now an icon of theFerguson protests, adultsand children stood alongthe sidewalk watchingthe demonstration. Anold woman in a wheel-chair rolled slowly by.The march passed sever-al county police who paidlittle attention to the non-violent protest.

But soon, I saw dozensof people streaming backnorthward. Some werecrying. Several said po-lice were firing tear gasand rubber bullets fur-ther down the street. Twoprotesters passed aroundwhite fabric facial-filtra-tion masks.

I moved to the front-line of the protest, whichnow faced the array ofmilitary-styled police ve-hicles. Over a loudspeak-er, an officer ordered thecrowd to “leave the area.”The people near me be-gan backing away, but al-most immediately, policelaunched tear gas canis-ters towards us. A flash-bang grenade flew pastmy head and detonatedjust in front of me, inter-rupting my retreat. Theline of police vehicles be-gan rolling towards usand more gas was firedinto the retreating crowd.

Chaos ensued. I startedrunning to escape thesounds of shooting be-hind me. A protesterwith a loudspeaker toldus to move to a nearbypark, and several youngpeople wearing shirtsthat said “PEACEKEEP-ERS” ran across thestreet shouting unintelli-gible instructions. Lost inthe terrified crowd, theyseemed to go unnoticed.

As I retreated north-ward, back up FlorissantAvenue, I saw chaos and

looting in those blocksthat had been quiet andcalm only half an hourearlier. Struggling to stayahead of the police ad-vance, I was rescued by afamily with three chil-dren fleeing in their SUV.We were in the last carrolling through the teargas ahead of the police.When we reached themunicipal line whereFlorissant Avenue cross-es into the city of Dell-wood, the scene suddenlychanged. I saw four St.Louis County Policecruisers, several countyofficers (in ordinary uni-forms, instead of militaryfatigues), and dozens ofprotesters calmly stand-ing side by side, watchingthe chaos down the streetin Ferguson.

No one there under-stood why the police at-tacked. Before then, po-lice hadn’t discouragedprotesters from walkingdown Florissant Avenue.The midnight curfew washours away. Prior to thepolice attack, neither I,nor anyone with whom Ispoke, had seen any vio-lation of the law. The on-ly violence I witnessedresulted from a dispro-portionate and relentlessassault by an unnecessa-rily militarized policeforce.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, thefederal government hasspent billions of dollarson military equipmentfor state and local police.In addition to DefenseDepartment giveaways,the State Homeland Secu-rity Program — whichprovides funding to statesfor planning and trainingto respond to terrorismand other threats — hasbudgeted about $4 millionfor Missouri and a sepa-rate $3 million specifical-ly for the St. Louis area.The federal Urban AreasSecurity Initiative, whichprovides funding to met-ro areas for the samepurpose, distributed $81million to the St. Louisarea from 2003 to 2012.

And it’s not just Mis-souri. Since 1997, the De-fense Department hasgiven more than $4.3 bil-lion in military equip-ment to local law enforce-ment agencies — nearly ahalf-billion worth lastyear alone. Countiesacross America — fromMaricopa, Ariz. to Ri-chland, S.C. — now pos-sess tanks with 360-de-gree rotating machinegun turrets. Their .50-cal-iber bullets can penetratebuildings several cityblocks away. RichlandCounty’s sheriff dubbedhis tank “The Peacemak-er.”

On Saturday, PresidentBarack Obama rightly or-dered a review of the fed-eral programs that givelocal police departmentseasy access to this kindof military equipment.This is a good first step.Law enforcement officialsmay mistake their battle-field pose for communityprotection, but to Fergu-son residents, militaryhardware on neighbor-hood streets signaled asharp escalation of vio-lence. Peaceful residentsresented being treated in-discriminately as threatsin their own neighbor-hoods. Wielding weaponstypically used for occupa-tion and oppression —not protection — servedonly to inflame thecrowds.

As we rushed awayfrom the police line thatSunday night, a blackman succinctly explainedto me the problem thatAmerica faces:

“It’s not a racialthing,” he said, “It’s a po-lice thing. It’s Americaagainst the police.”

COMMENTARY

I was on thefront lines

By ROBERT BRUCE WARESPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

WEST PALM BEACH,Fla. — I’m trying to imag-ine the future of dronesflying over Disney World.

I didn’t say anythingmonths ago when Dis-ney’s Florida theme-parkguests were introduced to“MagicBands,” thosewristbands that serve as ahotel room key, park ad-mission ticket, FastPass,credit card, and homingdevice.

The idea of Disneyguests providing finger-prints and wearing radio-frequency-emitting wrist-bands that allow theirmovements and purchas-ing history at the parks tobe collected and trackeddidn’t seem so sinister atthe time.

It sounded mostly likeclever marketing, anotherway for Disney to gatherinformation on customerswho could then be con-tacted at the park for pur-chase suggestions or for avisit from one of the Dis-ney characters who magi-cally knows through yourinformation trail that to-day is your child’s birth-day.

A little more cool than

creepy.But now with the

drones, well, I’m leaningto creepy.

Disney has applied forthree patents involvingthe use of drones at itsFlorida parks, accordingto The Wall Street Jour-nal.

Disney’s plans envisionusing drones strictly foraerial entertainment.

In one plan, small un-manned aerial vehicleswould be used to make gi-gantic puppets, flyingcharacters of fabricmounted with rods, tosoar over the park.

Who knows? Maybeone day there will be acharacter parade above,not on, Main Street.

In another plan, thedrones would carry light-ing assemblies that wouldcreate a kind of floatingpixel screen in the skywhen combined with oth-

er drones.The Disney application

has also suggested thatdrone-based aerial enter-tainment might eventual-ly replace fireworks inthe park.

Once again, thissounds more cool thancreepy.

But when you havedrones at your command,wouldn’t the next step beto link them with theMagicBands for pinpointsurveillance and targetedpayload delivery?

I’ve got a hunch thatDisney is pioneering whatmay end up becoming theway business is routinelyconducted everywhere inthe near future.

When we think of BigBrother, it’s fears of anall-seeing, all-knowing biggovernment intruding onour lives. But the realthreat may actually befrom Big Commerce,

which has plenty to gainfrom keeping close tabson our purchasing histo-ry and movements.

Wearing wristbandswith radio transmittersmakes people not muchdifferent from the Floridapanthers we track in theEverglades.

And if drones can flylighted displays acrossthe sky, they can also hov-er a few feet overheadand remind me, “Youhaven’t eaten in fourhours, Frank. It’s time fora giant turkey leg!”

In a cashless world,where just a movement ofa wrist band toward asensor is all it takes for acompleted purchase, itwill never be easier to fallprey to the siren call ofconsumerism.

Frank Cerabino writesfor The Palm Beach Post.E-mail: frank(underscore)cerabino(at)pbpost.com.

COLUMN

Could Disney drones makeus spend more at parks?

Disney’s Florida theme-park guests were introduced to ‘Magic Bands,’wristbands that have multiple uses. Now guests might be introduced to drones.

By FRANK CERABINOCOX NEWSPAPERS

Disney has applied for three patents involving theuse of drones at its Florida parks, according to TheWall Street Journal. Disney’s plans envision usingdrones strictly for aerial entertainment.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES National WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014

FERGUSON, Mo. — The choirsang, the preachers shouted andthe casket stayed closed. Thebody was taken to the cemetery,and Michael Brown was laid torest.

Thus went the most recent en-actment of “the ritual” — thescript of death, outrage, spin andmourning that America followswhen an unarmed black male iskilled by police.

With a few variations, the ritu-al has followed its familiarcourse in the two weeks since the18-year-old Brown was shot bywhite police officer Darren Wil-son in this St. Louis suburb. Itcontinues as we await the judg-ment of a grand jury consideringwhether or not Wilson should becharged with a crime.

Will the ritual ever change,and is it even possible that Fergu-son could be part of that? Thistime, can recognition of the well-known patterns help heal the poi-sonous mistrust between policeand many black people? Is the rit-ual already helping, in smallgains buried beneath the predict-able explosions of anger andmedia attention?

“This tragedy, because theworld’s attention has been gal-vanized, this is one of thosethings that’s ripe for change,”said Martin Luther King III afterthe funeral Monday. “There areno guarantees, but what we cansay is we have to be committed todoing the work to bring aboutchange and justice.”

The ritual began to take shapein the 1960s, when instances ofpolice mistreatment of black peo-

ple led to organized resistance inmany places across America —and sometimes to violence. Asthe decades passed, a blueprintdeveloped for how black advo-cates confronted cases of allegedpolice brutality: protest marches,news conferences, demands forfederal intervention, public pres-sure by sympathetic elected offi-cials.

Sometimes this led to chargesor even convictions of police offi-cers. Sometimes there were riots:Miami in 1980 after police wereacquitted in the death of a blackmotorist; Los Angeles’ RodneyKing rebellion in 1992; Cincinnatiin 2001 when a 19-year-old was fa-tally shot by an officer; Oakland’s

uprising in 2009 after OscarGrant was shot in the back whileface-down on a train platform.

The 2012 killing of TrayvonMartin by a neighborhood watch-man in Florida added the trans-formative element of socialmedia. The public was now parti-cipating much more intimatelyin the ritual.

And still, the unarmed blackmales kept dying. The chants of“No Justice, No Peace” kept ris-ing.

So what happened after Brownwas shot on Aug. 9 was predict-able:

First, protests and outrage. Anarrative forms in favor of thedeceased: According to accounts

of several witnesses fromBrown’s neighborhood, he wasshot with his hands up. He was a“gentle giant” headed to college.Pictures of Brown circulate thatshow him smiling, baby-faced —reminiscent of the childlike pho-tos that first introduced us toTrayvon Martin.

The day after Brown’s shoot-ing, protesters are met with amilitarized police response. Vio-lence and looting erupt, and per-sist for days. Police respond withtear gas and rubber bullets,“scenes that have brought backvisions of the 1960s when civilrights activists were met withforce in the streets,” says thepresident of the W.K. Kellogg

Foundation, La June Montgom-ery Tabron.

Michael Brown’s death goes vi-ral. Ferguson trends on Twitter.A horde of media descends. AlSharpton and Jesse Jackson ar-rive.

“Events surrounding the kill-ing of unarmed teenager MichaelBrown look all too familiar. AsYogi Berra would put it, it’s ‘dejavu, all over again,”’ reads a col-umn by Bill Press in the DailyJournal of Marietta, Georgia.

A backlash builds against theprotesters. There are complaintsthat the liberal media skew thefacts to create a false narrativeabout racist white police. As withTrayvon Martin and OscarGrant, a narrative forms againstthe deceased: Based on a videoreleased by police, Brown is char-acterized as a weed-smoking thugwho robbed a store minutes be-fore his death.

Social media spreads facts, ru-mors and lies at Internet speed.There is a chain email with a fab-ricated arrest record saying,falsely, that Brown was chargedwith several felonies. A photo cir-culates of someone who is notBrown pointing a gun — like themenacing photo of a gangsta rap-per that some said was Martin.

“Every time a black persondoes something, they automati-cally become a thug worthy oftheir own death,” the actor JesseWilliams says in a TV appear-ance.

The media reports new ver-sions of the old stories: Whiteflight has created poor blackneighborhoods policed by whitecops. Black people don’t trust thepolice. Black males are stereo-typed as violent.

Can Ferguson change ‘ritual’ of black deaths?

A casket containing the body of Michael Brown is wheeled out of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis onMonday. People gathered to say goodbye to Brown, who was shot and killed by a Ferguson, Mo., police officer on Aug. 9.

Photo by Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post Dispatch/pool/file | AP

By JESSE WASHINGTONASSOCIATED PRESS

LONG BEACH, Calif. —Southern Californiacoastal areas filled sand-bags and built sandberms Tuesday to wardagainst possible floodingfrom big and potentiallydamaging surf spawnedby Hurricane Marie spin-ning off Mexico’s Pacificcoast.

A large southerly swellwas expected to producelarge waves, rip currentsand strong longshore cur-rents in Los Angeles andVentura counties throughThursday, according tothe National Weather Ser-vice.

“These areas will po-tentially see the largestsurf seen in recent years,with breakers of 10 to 15feet possible,” a WeatherService advisory said.

Swimmers and surferswere urged to be aware ofdangerous conditions,and minor coastal flood-ing and beach erosion ispossible, forecasters said.

In the city of LongBeach’s Peninsula neigh-borhood, residentswatched as bulldozersbuilt huge sand berms be-tween the ocean and theirhomes. Several took thewarning to heart andshoveled sand into bagsto place around their ga-rage doors and entry-ways.

Deborah Popek, who’slived in the area 20 years,

took a walk along theboardwalk with her cat,Sophie, to check the surfand see how neighborswere preparing. She’s hadflooding in the past, shesaid, especially in her ga-rage.

“It’s always at the lastminute that everybodypanics because, you know,we don’t expect things tohappen,” she said. “Butthey’re really takingthings seriously becausethe sandbar is as high asthey’ve ever built it rightnow. I’ve never seen itthis high.”

A few yards down theboardwalk, resident Co-rey Nelson shoveled sandinto 10 sandbags with afriend’s help. A firefight-er had been to his homeMonday with a warningand although the surfwas quiet so far Tuesday,

he chose to take it seri-ously.

“He said supposedlythe waves come over thebreakwater wall andthere will be flooding,” hesaid, adding that the fire-fighter had talked about10 to 15 foot waves at abreakwater that protectsthe Long Beach shoreline.

“We’ve had the watergo over the breakwaterright here and into ourplanter, and I mentionedthat to him and he said,‘Well expect that timesthree.”’

The high surf advisorywill be in place for sever-al counties north andsouth of Los Angeles, in-cluding Orange County.But Los Angeles and Ven-tura counties will likelysee the biggest stormsurge, according to theNWS advisory.

Preparing for a storm

Edwin Schakeroh, left, helps Gavin Greely fill sand bags in prepar-ing for an expected storm surge in Long Beach, Calif., on Tuesday.

Photo by Nick Ut | AP

By GILLIAN FLACCUSASSOCIATED PRESS

GASTON, Ore. — Diversrecovered the bodies of a40-year-old mother and hertwo children who apparent-ly drowned in a popularlake west of Portland onTuesday, a day after findinganother family member —a 3-year-old grandson —drowned in the lake.

The family — who livedtogether in nearby Hillsbo-ro — had gone to HenryHagg Lake on Monday fora picnic.

It is not clear what hap-pened there, but law offi-cials said they found nosigns of foul play.

“There is no suspicion of

any criminal activity. We’rejust considering this a trag-ic accident,” said Sgt. BobRay of the WashingtonCounty sheriff ’s office.

Sheriff ’s deputies identi-fied the three bodies foundTuesday as those of 40-year-old Jova Ixtacua-Castanoand her two children, 25-year-old Gabriela Garcia-Ix-tacua and 13-year-old Mi-chael Garcia-Ixtacua.

The sheriff ’s office saidGabriela was the mother ofthe 3-year-old found Mon-day night, Jeremy Scholl.

The three bodies werediscovered about 40 feet off-shore in 8 feet of water, andsome 50 yards from wherethe 3-year-old was found.

Authorities worried

there might be other vic-tims after the 3-year-oldwas found because the fam-ily’s car was still at thescene and there was nosign of them.

Also found at the siteMonday evening were abeach towel, a cooler, shoesand other personal items,as well as a small dog on aleash.

The lake is a busy recre-ation site, drawing 800,000visitors a year, 6,000 a dayon a busy summer week-end, officials said. It alsoprovides drinking water forPortland suburbs.

There are no lifeguardsbecause of the lake’s size,but the sheriff ’s office usesa vessel on weekends.

Rescue personnel search Henry Hagg Lake, a reservoir in Gaston, Ore., west of Portland, on Tuesdayfor family members of a child who apparently drowned Monday at the lake.

Photo by Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian | AP

3 bodies found in lakeBy GOSIA WOZNIACKA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO — Federal ap-peals judges bristled onTuesday at arguments de-fending gay marriage bansin Indiana and Wisconsin,with one Republican ap-pointee comparing them tonow-defunct laws that onceoutlawed weddings be-tween blacks and whites.

As the legal skirmish inthe United States oversame-sex marriage shiftedto the three-judge panel ofthe 7th U.S. Circuit Courtof Appeals in Chicago,more than 200 people linedup hours before to ensurethey got a seat at the much-anticipated hearing.

While judges often playdevil’s advocate during oralarguments, the panel’s of-ten-blistering questions forthe defenders of the same-

sex marriage bans could bea signal the laws may be introuble — at least at thisstep in the legal process.

Richard Posner, who wasappointed by President Ro-nald Reagan in 1981, hit thebackers of the ban thehardest. He balked whenWisconsin Assistant Attor-ney General Timothy Sa-muelson repeatedly pointedto “tradition” as the under-lying justification for bar-ring gay marriage.

“It was tradition to notallow blacks and whites tomarry — a tradition thatgot swept away,” the 75-year-old judge said. Prohib-ition of same sex marriage,Posner said, derives from“a tradition of hate ... andsavage discrimination” ofhomosexuals.

Attorneys general inboth states asked the appel-late court to permanently

restore the bans, whichwere ruled unconstitution-al in June. Its ruling couldaffect hundreds of coupleswho married after lowercourts tossed the bans andbefore those rulings werestayed pending the Chicagoappeal.

Gay marriage is legal in19 states as well as the Dis-trict of Columbia, and ad-vocates have won morethan 20 court victoriesaround the country sincethe U.S. Supreme Court or-dered the federal govern-ment to recognize state-sanctioned gay marriageslast year.

The Supreme Court hasyet to take up a case, butUtah and Oklahoma’s caseswere appealed to the highcourt and Virginia’s attor-ney general also has askedthe justices to weigh in.Appeals court rulings are

pending for Kentucky, Mi-chigan, Ohio and Tennes-see, while appellate courthearings are schedulednext month for Hawaii,Oregon, Idaho, Nevada andis expected soon in Texas.

Posner cut off IndianaSolicitor General ThomasFisher, just moments intohis presentation and fre-quently chided him to an-swer his questions.

At one point, Posner ranthrough a list of psycholog-ical strains the children ofunmarried same-sex cou-ples suffered, includinghaving to struggle to graspwhy their schoolmates’ par-ents were married andtheirs weren’t.

“What horrible stuff,”Posner said. What benefitto society in barring gaymarriage, he asked, out-weighs that kind of harmto children?”

Gay marriage bans blasted

George Sloan holds his son Sloan D’Souza as they attend a rally insupport of gay marriage at the federal plaza Monday in Chicago.

Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast | AP

By MICHAEL TARMASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 Veterans THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —His standing with veteransdamaged by scandal, Presi-dent Barack Obama onTuesday defended his ad-ministration’s response toVeterans Affairs lapses thatdelayed health care forthousands of former ser-vice members, but conced-ed more needed to be doneto regain their trust.

His appearance also haddeep political overtones ina state where the Demo-cratic senator, Kay Hagan,is facing a difficult re-elec-tion and has sought to dis-tance herself from Obama’spolicies, declaring as re-cently as Friday that hisadministration had not“done enough to earn thelasting trust of our veter-ans.”

But Hagan and thestate’s Republican Senator,Richard Burr, were at theNorth Carolina Air Nation-al Guard Base to greet Oba-ma. She welcomed himwarmly and he gave her apeck on the cheek.

Obama and Hagan wereboth addressing the Amer-ican Legion’s National con-vention, with the presi-dent’s address to the legion-naires the latestadministration response tothe health care uproar thatled to the resignation of

Veterans Affairs SecretaryEric Shinseki in May.

Obama declared that thenation owes veterans fortheir service and that thelengthy wait times and at-tempts to hide schedulingflaws were “outrageous andinexcusable.”

“We are very clear-eyedabout the problems that arestill there,” Obama said.“And those problems re-quire us to regain the trustof our veterans and live upto our vision of a VA thatis more effective and moreefficient and that truly putsveterans first. And I willnot be satisfied until thathappens.”

Obama promised “a newculture of accountability”under new Secretary BobMcDonald.

“Bob doesn’t play,” Oba-ma said.

He announced steps tostrengthen access to mentalhealth care by members ofthe military, to improve thetransition for those leavingthe military from care ad-ministered by the DefenseDepartment to that run byVeterans Affairs, and tofoster suicide preventionand better treatments forpost-traumatic stress syn-drome.

Earlier this month, Oba-ma signed a $16.3 billionlaw aimed at easing thelong waits that tens ofthousands of military vet-

erans had endured to getmedical care.

The law, a product ofrare bipartisanship in theHouse and Senate, followedreports of veterans dyingwhile awaiting appoint-ments to see VA doctorsand of a widespread prac-tice of employees coveringup months-long wait timesfor appointments. In somecases, employees receivedbonuses based on falsifiedrecords.

The VA says investiga-tors have found no proofthat delays in care causedany deaths at a VA hospitalin Phoenix.

Moving beyond the stepsincluded in the law, Obamaplanned to take executiveactions that:

Automatically enrollmilitary personnel who arereceiving care for mentalhealth conditions and areleaving the service in aprogram that transfersthem to a new care team inthe VA.

Undertake a study de-signed to detect whetherpeople show signs of beingvulnerable to suicide orpost-traumatic stress syn-drome.

Spends $34.4 million ina VA suicide preventionstudy and about $80 millionon a program to treat dis-eases, including post-trau-matic stress syndrome.

President Barack Obama speaks during the American Legion national convention in Charlotte, N.C.,Tuesday. President Barack Obama on Tuesday defended his administration’s response to VA lapses.

Photo by Chuck Burton | AP

Obama defends responseBy JIM KUHNHENNASSOCIATED PRESS

DURHAM, N.C. — Aftera decade of being fired orquitting jobs in his strug-gle to adjust to civilianlife, former Marine Corpssniper Matt Victorianostarted his own coffeeshop, vowing to employstruggling vets like him-self.

But even as he headedto Washington on Tuesdayto be honored at the WhiteHouse for his entrepreneu-rial drive, Victoriano waspreparing to close his 7-month-old business, a test-ament to the difficulty ofbeing a small businessowner.

“I’ll tell them the way itis. I’ll plan on telling thetruth,” he said. “It isn’t go-ing to go over too well inWashington.”

Victoriano is one of 10

veterans or their support-ers being honored as“Champions of Change”for “continuing to serveour country through theirsuccessful small business-es and nonprofits that cre-ate jobs, spur economicgrowth, and help theircommunities,” the WhiteHouse said in a news re-lease.

But the survival of In-trepid Life Coffee & Spir-its will put to the test themotto of “improvise,adapt, overcome” that Vic-toriano learned in the Ma-rines.

Victoriano said heopened the veteran-friend-ly coffee shop, which alsohosts bands and sells alco-hol, by borrowing a littlemoney from family andloading up debt on hiscredit cards. The venuesits in a newly renovated,street-level space with

high ceilings.It gained immediate

media attention both forits style and its mission.

But business strugglesset in. Victoriano said hedidn’t do enough market-ing and revenue crashedthis summer. His missionof employing as many vet-erans as possible, who “allhave their own issues,”made things worse.

Victoriano announcedtwo weeks ago that thebusiness was closing andhad to empty the space bySept. 7.

Then he issued an on-line appeal for $27,000 bySept. 6 so the businesscould catch up on overduerent and make improve-ments, the appeal said. ByTuesday, donations had hit25 percent of the goal. Vic-toriano said he’d takenone of it if the targetwasn’t reached.

Vet receives honorBy EMERY P. DALESIO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAREDO08/27— La Semana de

Bienvenida de Texas A&M In-ternational University, conti-núa con una exhibición ytrabajos de un artista urba-no de 10:30 a.m. a 2 p.m.en Dr. F.M. Canseco Hall yAnthony J. and Georgia A.Pellegrino Hall. Para más in-formación llame al (956)326-2280.

08/27— “Foreigner” enConcierto, a las 8 p.m. enLaredo Energy Arena. Costodel boleto varía de 75, 57,43, y 33 dólares.

08/28— Club del Libroen Español en la BibliotecaPública de Laredo, de 6 p.m.a 8 p.m. Para más informa-ción puede llamar a SylviaReash al (956) 763-1810.

08/28— Evento de ‘UnaCiudad, Un Libro’ con la lec-tura de ‘The River Runs Salt,Runs Sweet: A Memoir of Vi-segrad, Bosnia’ de JasminaDervisevic-Cesic, presentauna discusión de 6:15 p.m. a7:45 p.m. en la Sala de UsosMúltiples de la BibliotecaPública de Laredo, 1120 E.Calton Road. Informes conHilary Frazier al (956) 795-2400 extensión 2252.

08/28— La Semana deBienvenida de Texas A&M In-ternational University conti-núa con Una Noche de Hip-notismo: Eric Kano, a las 7p.m. en el Salón del Centrode Bellas Artes y Artes Escé-nicas.

08/29— Se celebraráuna sesión informativa conla Juez Rosie Cuellar de 10a.m. a 1 p.m. en la CorteMunicipal, en 4610 de aveni-da Maher.

08/29— ‘Juicy J’ se pre-senta en Laredo Energy Are-na, a las 8:30 p.m. Es unevento de entrada general.Costo de boleto en piso: 38dólares; costo del boleto enarena, 28 dólares.

08/29— La generaciónde 1984 de Martin HighSchool celebrará una reuniónpor el 30 aniversario deegreso, a las 8 p.m. en elrancho frente a LIFE Downs,sobre Carretera 59. Costopor persona es de 20 dóla-res. Para más informaciónpuede llamar a Martha LauraMedina al (956) 740-7044.

08/30— Texas SatsangSociety, Inc., presenta pláticaBilingüe Gratuita con Folletoincluido: ‘Vidas pasadas, lossueños, y el Viaje del AlmaDescubre como vidas pasa-das, los sueños, y el viajedel alma son claves paraayudarte a encontrar a Dios’de 1 p.m. a 2:30 p.m. en elSalón ‘A” de la BibliotecaPública de Laredo, 1120 E.Calton Road. Informes al(210) 831-7113.

08/30— Evento de ‘UnaCiudad, Un Libro’ con la lec-tura de ‘The River Runs Salt,Runs Sweet: A Memoir of Vi-segrad, Bosnia’ de JasminaDervisevic-Cesic, presentauna discusión de 2 p.m. a3:15 p.m. en la Sala de UsosMúltiples de la BibliotecaPública de Laredo, 1120 E.Calton Road. Informes conHilary Frazier al (956) 795-2400 extensión 2252.

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO08/27— Cine Club pre-

senta “Muerte a la MediaNoche” a las 6 p.m. en elAuditorio de Estación Pala-bra.

08/28— Jueves de Mu-seos presenta ‘Aves de Ta-maulipas’ Conferencia con elDr. Alfredo Ramírez Rubio,en el Salón de ServiciosEducativos del Museo ReyesMeza a las 6:30 p.m.

08/28— Jueves de Tea-tro presenta “Ponshow, unespectáculo clown” a las 7p.m. en el Teatro Lucio Blan-co de Casa de la cultura.Costo: 20 pesos.

08/29— El espectáculo“Leyendas” con el Ballet deCámara de Matamoros sepresenta a las 7 p.m. en laPlaza Hidalgo.

Agendaen Breve

Cuatro civiles armados que per-dieron la vida, el arresto de seissospechosos, y el decomiso de ar-mamento, cargadores, cartuchos,granadas, vehículos, y drogas, fueel resultado de 13 operativos reali-zados la semana pasada en variasciudades de Tamaulipas, México.

Personal de la Secretaría de laDefensa Nacional (SeDeNa) estuvoal frente de las diferentes accionesllevadas a cabo en Altamira, Rey-nosa, Tampico, Camargo, Matamo-ros, Nuevo Laredo, Güemez, Crui-llas, del 21 al 24 de agosto.

A continuación el recuento delos hechos, por ciudad, según sedio a conocer en comunicado deprensa del Gobierno de Tamauli-pas.

Altamira. El 21 de agosto, tres ci-viles armados agredieron a milita-res desde un vehículo en movi-miento. Al repeler la agresión, sol-dados dieron muerte a dos de lossospechosos, en tanto que el terce-ro fue arrestado. Tras el enfrenta-miento se decomisaron dos armas,

un cargador, cartuchos y un auto-móvil.

El 22 de agosto, se logró el deco-miso de 200 kilogramos y 300 do-sis de marihuana, siete armas lar-gas, 44 cargadores, 850 cartuchosde diferentes calibres, un coheteantitanque y una granada de frag-mentación en el poblado SantaAmalia.

Camargo. El 22 de agosto, perso-nal de SeDeNa aseguró un armalarga, 1.520 cartuchos, 54 cargado-res, un chaleco táctico, dos placasantibalas y una fornitura.

El 24 de agosto, personal militarlogró asegurar dos armas largas,10 cargadores, 290 cartuchos, cua-tro vehículos – uno de los cualesestaba blindado –, dos fornituras y300 gramos de marihuana.

Cruillas. El 24 de agosto, fuerondecomisadas dos armas largas,seis cargadores, 728 cartuchos,una fornitura, un estuche para ri-fle, una camioneta y 29 bolsitas deplástico conteniendo marihuana.

Güemez. El 23 de agosto, fuecumplida una orden de reaprehen-sión contra un sospechoso. Al

hombre detenido le fueron deco-misados un equipo de radio-comu-nicación, un teléfono celular, trescheques de 10.000 pesos (cada uno)y tarjetas bancarias.

Matamoros. El 22 de agosto, mili-tares aseguraron 23 cargadores,560 cartuchos y un vehículo.

El 23 de agosto, militares logra-ron detener a dos hombres y unmenor de edad que huían de ellos.Al ser registrado el vehículo en elque viajaban fueron encontradas22 bolsitas con marihuana, unadosis de cocaína, dos equipos deradio-comunicación y 27 poncha-llantas metálicas. Todos los artícu-los fueron asegurados.

El mismo 23 de agosto, personalmilitar inició la persecución yposterior arresto de varios sujetosque viajaban en dos camionetas, yquienes se habían dado a la fugaal ver a las autoridades. Soldadoslograron asegurar un arma larga,ocho cargadores, 180 cartuchos,los dos vehículos y un contenedor(con capacidad de 1.000 litros) con-teniendo residuos de combustible.

Nuevo Laredo. El 22 de agosto, en

la colonia El Progreso fue arresa-do un hombre en posesión de dosarmas largas, nueve cargadores,82 cartuchos, un vehículo y untracto-camión.

Reynosa. El 21 de agosto, solda-dos encontraron 70 cargadores,28.098 cartuchos de diferentes cali-bres y dos aditamentos para gra-nadas dentro de un vehículo apa-rentemente abandonado. SeDeNaconfiscó el material.

El 24 de agosto, soldados y per-sonal de la Policía Estatal Acredi-table fueron confrontados en la co-lonia Pedregal por varios civilesarmados. Al repeler la agresión,fallecieron dos civiles armados.Igualmente autoridades lograronel aseguramiento de tres armaslargas, 43 cargadores, 1.231 cartu-chos, una camioneta y 1.140 dóla-res.

Tampico. El 22 de agosto, milita-res aseguraron doce vehículos dediferentes marcas y modelos, asícomo 46 cristales blindados, loscuales se encontraban en el inte-rior de una bodega fuera de opera-ción.

TAMAULIPAS

Trece operativosTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 8A Zfrontera MIÉRCOLES 27 DE AGOSTO DE 2014

Una investigación federal logró emitir unaacusación formal y nombró a un segundo sos-pechoso en un intento de contrabando de me-tanfetaminas frustrado por un oficial del De-partamento de Policía de Freer, durante un al-to vial a finales de julio, de acuerdo conregistros de la corte obtenidos el lunes.

Un gran jurado acusó formalmente a Gil-berto Jorge Rodríguez, de 48 años, con cargospor conspiración para posesión con intento dedistribución de metanfetaminas y posesióncon intento de distribución de metanfetami-nas. La acusación fue presentada el 19 de agos-to. Rodríguez se encuentra a la espera de sulectura de cargos.

Una investigación más extensa por parte deagentes especiales de Investigaciones de Segu-ridad Nacional (HSI) llevó al arresto de An-drés Villarreal Paredes, de 27 años, por un car-go de conspiración para poseer con intenciónde distribuir metanfetaminas, de acuerdo conuna querella criminal presentada en su contrael 22 de agosto. Ambos hombres se encuentranen custodia federal.

Un oficial de policía de Freer ordenó dete-nerse al vehículo de Rodríguez tras una su-puesta violación vial. Supuestamente Rodrí-guez consintió que se realizara una inspeccióndel vehículo. El oficial de Freer descubrió“una llanta extra de trailer demasiado pesa-da” en la cajuela, de acuerdo con registros.

Registros de la corte señalan que la llantacontenía 18 paquetes de metanfetaminas conun peso aproximado de 46 libras. Eso es apro-ximadamente metanfetaminas con valor de 1millón de dólares.

En un interrogatorio posterior al arresto,Rodríguez dijo a los agentes especiales del HSIque había recogido el neumático de repuestode una casa en Bruni. Agentes federales dije-ron que posteriormente Rodríguez admitióque debía llevar la llanta llena de narcóticos auna persona anónima en Dallas, ése día mástarde, señala la querella.

Rodríguez esperaba un pago de 5.000 dóla-res por “actuar como transportista de los nar-cóticos”, de acuerdo con la querella en su con-tra. Agentes especiales continuaron con el ca-so e identificaron a Villarreal Paredes como lapersona que había reclutado a Rodríguez, deacuerdo con registros de la corte.

INVESTIGACIÓN

Caso drogaasegura

acusaciónPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

En la parte media del si-glo XIX Tamaulipas regis-tró intensa actividad plu-vial. Con este motivo, dis-tintas localidades de la

entidad sufren verdaderosdesastres. Entre ellas laciudad de Matamoros, Mé-xico. Una nota explica queal amanecer del lunes 4 deagosto de 1844 “el pararra-yos de la casa de Logero vo-ló hasta la […] de Girón”.“En las puertas de la vi-vienda” contigua pude verfragmentos de techos “cla-vados tan profunda y fir-memente que parece no ca-ber en lo posible que” reci-bieran “la velocidadindispensable para adqui-

rir la fuerza con que pene-traron”, describe el testigo.“Muchas casas vinieron alsuelo”, incluso “las de me-jor construcción han sufri-do averías”, lamenta.

Del lado sureste, “El Co-mercio de Santa Anna deTamaulipas” destaca elmiércoles 25 de julio de1855 que súbita avenidadesborda el río Pánuco. Ala orilla meridional de labocana, “el establecimientode prácticos […] se ha des-plomado” ante “la fuerza

de la corriente, que minósus cimientos”.

En Tampico, numerosasfamilias entretanto “se hanvisto precisadas a” buscar“la parte alta” del puerto.“Aquellos que no lo hacíanpor falta de recursos”, diz-que la prefectura “les haproporcionado habitacio-nes y medios de traslado,con lo que se ha remediadoen mucha parte sus desgra-cias”, afirma el tabloide.

Según recuerdos del edi-tor, “las fuertes y abundan-

tes lluvias que hubo el mesde junio próximo pasado yparte del presente [julio],han hecho crecer tanto elrío Pánuco que” nunca co-mo hoy “se había visto quesus aguas inundasen todala parte baja de esta ciu-dad, hasta el grado de tenerque navegarse por las ca-lles en canoas”, a semejan-za de Venecia, Italia.

(Con permiso del autor,según fuera publicado en LaRazón de Tampico, México,el 22 de agosto)

COLUMNA

Recuento de fuertes lluvias en TamaulipasEsta es la segunda parte

de dos, donde el autor nos ha-bla de un periodo donde Ta-maulipas registra intensa ac-tividad pluvial. Después deesta, les preceden siete añosde sequía.

By RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Educar a los ciudadanosacerca de las circunstanciasque llevaron al Genocidio deBosnia es el objetivo de la exhi-bición que estrenará el fin desemana la Comisión del Holo-causto y Genocidio de Texas(THGC, por sus siglas en In-glés), en Brownsville.

El viernes, la exposición“Prijedor: Vidas desde el Geno-cidio de Bosnia” abrirá suspuertas en el Historic MarketSquare de la Asociación Histó-rica de Brownsville (BHA, porsus siglas en inglés). La mismapermanecerá hasta el 10 de oc-tubre.

El THGC espera lograr suobjetivo a través de la exhibi-ción compuesta por 34 paneles.

“A nuestros niños se les debeenseñar a reconocer y comba-tir la intolerancia, para detenerel odio y los prejuicios, yaprender sobre la convivencia,aceptación de la diversidad”,declaró Chaja Verveer, comisio-nario de THGC y un sobrevi-viente del Holocausto.

“Prijedor: Vidas desde el Ge-nocidio de Bosnia” es una ex-

posición que relata la historiade un genocidio en la ciudadde Prijedor en Bosnia, entre1992 y 1995. La exposición hon-ra la memoria de las vidas per-didas en el genocidio y las ex-periencias de los sobrevivien-tes. Sus historias, indica uncomunicado de prensa, secuentan dentro de la serie de34 paneles.

“Los genocidios comienzancuando personas intolerantes yllenas de odio deshumanizan aotros en una sociedad al poner-los en clases separadas y desi-guales, y se les daña de maneradeliberada”, sostiene el comu-nicado de prensa del THGC.“Según la Organización de Ge-nocidios Watch, los genocidiosy homicidios en masa han pro-vocado la muerte de más de 170millones de personas, más quela suma de las muertes en to-das las guerras del siglo XX yXXI, combinadas”.

“Prijedor: Vidas desde el Ge-nocidio de Bosnia” se ha pre-sentado a través de Texas des-de la primavera de 2015.

Antes de llegar a Brownsvi-lle, la exposición estuvo en Ge-orgetown, Lubbock, Midland, y

Tyler. Después de Brownsville,la exposición será presentadaen la Biblioteca Pública de Abi-lene durante el mes de octubre.

La misión de BHA es preser-var, educar, y promover la his-toria, el patrimonio y las artesculturales de Brownsville y susalrededores a través de exposi-ciones, programas educativos,publicaciones, eventos cultura-les, y colecciones de archivo. Lavisión de BHA es mejorar lacalidad de vida de todos los re-sidentes de Brownsville y susalrededores, proporcionandoexperiencias de aprendizaje so-bre la historia, arte y cultura, yel patrimonio de la región, ypara seguir atrayendo el turis-mo en el corazón del centrohistórico de Brownsville, agre-ga el comunicado.

THGC incrementa la con-ciencia del genocidio y el Holo-causto a través de programaseducativos, recursos, asistenciay coordinación de grupos,eventos y voluntarios.

La exposición “Prijedor: Vi-das desde el Genocidio de Bos-nia” está abierta al público engeneral, especialmente estu-diantes y maestros.

CULTURA

PRIJEDOR, BOSNIA

El viernes será inaugurada la exhibición “Prijedor: Vidas desde el Genocidio de Bosnia”, en Historic Market Squarede la Asociación Histórica de Brownsville (BHA, por sus siglas en inglés). Concluirá el 10 de octubre.

Foto de cortesía | Rob Hodges/THGC

Exhibición tendrá historia de genocidioESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

he arrived on campus.English has added about40 pounds since and feelslike he’s able to hold hisground and push backwhen challenged.

English has a quickfirst-step and a wing spanof 7 feet that helps sweeppast offensive lineman, ac-cording to Adams.

“I can get in there andbang with those guys,”English said.

The good news forGamecocks’ fans is hewon’t be chasing Manziel.

The guy with the targeton his back will be Hill,who won the Texas A&Mquarterback competitionover five-star freshmanKyle Allen. The two com-peted after longtime back-up Matt Joeckel trans-ferred to TCU in April.

Hill, the son of longtime major leaguer KenHill Sr., showed more pol-ish and experience andwill start against theGamecocks, offensive coor-dinator Jake Spavital said.

“The experience of be-ing here and watchinghow we do (things) offen-sively and seeing Johnnyplay has helped him,” Tex-as A&M offensive coordi-nator Jake Spavital said.“He’s seen more than Kyle

COLUMBIA, S.C. —South Carolina and TexasA&M find out this weekwhat life’s like minus twoof college football’s mosttranscendent, attention-grabbing stars of recentyears.

There will no JadeveonClowney-Johnny Manzielmatchup in this one.

Had this game beenplayed last year fanswould’ve clear their sched-ules to watch the helmet-popping defensive endchase the reigning Heis-man Trophy winneraround Williams-Brice Sta-dium. With Clowney andManziel in the NFL, thoseviewing the SEC Net-work’s first football broad-cast might need rostersand slo-mo replays Thurs-day night to catch all thenew faces.

“They are probably a lit-tle bit like us that theyhaven’t had a bunch of su-perstars to talk about thispreseason,” said SteveSpurrier, the Gamecocks’10th-year coach. “Theirplayers are anxious toearn their way, just likeour guys.”

Sophomore Darius Eng-lish takes over Clowney’sstarting spot for No. 9South Carolina after back-up duty last season. KennyHill, also a sophomore, re-places Johnny Football inthe No. 21 Aggies’ huddle.Hill passed for 183 yardsand a TD in four gameslast fall.

The 6-foot-6 English gota chance to start againstKentucky when Clowney,also 6-6, pulled himselffrom the game shortly be-fore kickoff. English fin-ished the season with 19tackles and a forced fum-ble against North Caroli-na.

“Darius has had a reallygreat camp and a greatspring,” defensive linecoach Deke Adams said.“Hopefully, he’ll get achance to show it onThursday night.”

English was named aGeorgia state defensiveplayer of the year afternotching 21 sacks his se-nior season at McEachernHigh in Powder Springs,Georgiaa But he was alanky, easily pushedaround 205 pounds when

(Allen) has right now andthat was important. He’sour guy and we’re puttingall our eggs in that bas-ket.”

Hill passed for 183 yardsand a touchdown in fourgames last season.

Don’t expect the same,“Johnny Dollar” flashfrom the Aggies latestquarterback. Hill toldteam officials he wanted towait until after playingSouth Carolina before dis-cussing his starting status.

That focus on the fieldhas offensive coordinatorJake Spavital smiling.

NCAA FOOTBALL: TEXAS A&M AGGIES

Aggies to be tested early

Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin and the No. 21-ranked Aggies open the season on Thursday against No.9 South Carolina.

File photo by Butch Dill | AP

A&M opens at South CarolinaBy PETE IACOBELLIASSOCIATED PRESS

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014

MONROVIA, Liberia —Ebola still has the “upperhand” in the outbreakthat has killed more than1,400 people in West Afri-ca, but experts have themeans to stop it, a topAmerican health officialsaid during a visit to thehardest-hit countries.

Dr. Tom Frieden, direc-tor of the U.S. Centers forDisease Control and Pre-vention, was in Liberia onTuesday and later plannedto stop in Sierra Leoneand Guinea. Nigeria alsohas cases, but officialsthere have expressed opti-mism the virus can becontrolled.

“Lots of hard work ishappening. Lots of goodthings are happening,”Frieden said at a meetingattended by Liberian Pres-ident Ellen Johnson Sir-leaf on Monday. “But thevirus still has the upperhand.”

Even as Liberia has re-sorted to stringent mea-sures to try to halt Ebola’sspread, frustration mount-ed over the slow collectionof bodies from neighbor-hoods of Monrovia. Agroup of residents at-tached plastic ties to thewrists and ankles of onesuspected Ebola victimand dragged his corpse toa busy street.

Authorities have de-creed that all the deadmust be collected by gov-ernment health workersand cremated becausecontact with bodies cantransmit the virus.

There is no proventreatment for Ebola, sohealth workers primarilyfocus on isolating the sick.But a small number of pa-tients in this outbreakhave received an experi-mental drug called ZMapp.The London hospital treat-ing a British nurse infect-ed in Sierra Leone, Wil-liam Pooley, said he is

now receiving the drug.It was unclear where

the doses for Pooley camefrom. The California-based maker of ZMapphas said its supplies areexhausted.

Two Americans, a Spa-niard and three healthworkers in Liberia havereceived ZMapp. It is un-clear if the drug is effec-tive. The Americans havebeen released from thehospital, but the Spaniarddied, as did a Liberiandoctor.

In Nigeria, two moreEbola patients were de-clared to have recoveredand were released fromhospital, Health MinisterOnyebuchi Chukwu saidTuesday. Five people havedied of the disease in Ni-geria, while a total of sev-en have recovered. Oneperson remains in the hos-pital in an isolation ward,Chukwu said.

Meanwhile, the WorldHealth Organization an-nounced that it is pullingout its team from the east-ern Sierra Leonean city ofKailahun, where an epide-miologist working withthe organization was re-cently infected. DanielKertesz, the organization’srepresentative in thecountry, said that the teamwas exhausted and thatthe added stress of a col-league getting sick could

increase the risk of mis-takes.

The outbreak is thelargest on record. Doctorstook a long time to identi-fy it, it is happening in aregion where people arehighly mobile, it hasspread to densely populat-ed areas, and many peoplehave resisted or hid fromtreatment. The diseasehas overwhelmed the al-ready shaky health sys-tems in some of theworld’s poorest countries.

“Ebola doesn’t spreadby mysterious means. Weknow how it spreads,”Frieden said in remarkscarried on Liberian TV.“So we have the means tostop it from spreading, butit requires tremendous at-tention to every detail.”

Liberian officials havesealed off an entire slumneighborhood in the capi-tal. Sirleaf also has de-clared a state of emergen-cy and ordered all top gov-ernment officials toremain in the country orreturn from any trips.

Late Monday, her officesaid in a statement thatany officials who defiedthe order had been fired.The statement did not sayhow many or who hadbeen dismissed.

According to WHO, theEbola outbreak has killedover half of the more than2,600 people sickened.

Ebola has ‘upper hand’

Participants prepare for a training course on how to deal with theEbola virus in Brussels on Tuesday.

Photo by Olivier Matthys | AP

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEHASSOCIATED PRESS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip— Israel and Gaza’s rulingHamas agreed Tuesday toan open-ended cease-fire af-ter seven weeks of fighting— an uneasy deal thathalts the deadliest war thesides have fought in years,with more than 2,200 killed,but puts off the most diffi-cult issues.

In the end, both sidessettled for an ambiguousinterim agreement in ex-change for a period ofcalm. Hamas, though badlybattered, remains in con-trol of Gaza with part of itsmilitary arsenal intact. Is-rael and Egypt will contin-ue to control access toblockaded Gaza, despiteHamas’ long-running de-mand that the border clo-sures imposed in 2007 belifted.

Hamas declared victory,even though it had little toshow for a war that killed2,143 Palestinians, woundedmore than 11,000 and leftsome 100,000 homeless. Onthe Israeli side, 64 soldiersand six civilians werekilled, including two killedby Palestinian mortar fireshortly before the cease-firewas announced.

Large crowds gatheredin Gaza City after the trucetook effect at dusk, somewaving the green flags ofHamas, while celebratorygunfire and fireworkserupted across the territo-ry.

Mahmoud Zahar, a se-nior Hamas leader, prom-ised to rebuild homes de-stroyed in the war and saidHamas would rearm. “Wewill build and upgrade ourarsenal to be ready for thecoming battle, the battle offull liberation,” he de-clared, surrounded by Ha-mas gunmen.

The Israeli response wasmore subdued.

“This time we hope thecease-fire will stick,” saidIsraeli government spokes-man Mark Regev. He por-trayed the deal as one Ha-mas had rejected in previ-ous rounds of negotiations.

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu facedsome criticism from hard-

line critics and residents ofIsraeli communities nearGaza who said the dealfailed to defuse the threatfrom Gaza militants. SinceJuly 8, Hamas and its allieshave fired some 4,000 rock-ets and mortars at Israel,and tens of thousands of Is-raelis evacuated areas nearGaza in recent weeks.

Under the Egyptian-bro-kered deal, Israel is to easeimports to Gaza, includingaid and material for recon-struction. It also agreed toa largely symbolic gesture,expanding a fishing zonefor Gaza fishermen fromthree to six nautical milesinto the Mediterranean.

In a month, talks are tobegin on more complex is-sues, including Hamas’ de-mand to start building aseaport and airport in Ga-za. Israel has said it wouldonly agree if Hamas dis-arms, a demand the mili-tant group has rejected.

In Washington, State De-partment spokeswomanJen Psaki said Tuesdaythat the agreement offers“an opportunity, not a cer-tainty.”

“Today’s agreementcomes after many hoursand days of negotiationsand discussions. But cer-tainly there’s a long roadahead. ... We’re going intothis eyes wide open,” shesaid. Early on in the war,U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon andU.S. Secretary of State JohnKerry had tried in vain tobroker a truce.

The cease-fire went intoeffect at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT)Tuesday, and violence per-sisted until the last minute.

About an hour beforethe cease-fire, 12 mortarshells hit an Israeli com-munal farm near Gaza,

killing two Israelis andwounding seven other peo-ple, two of them critically,the Israeli military said.Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.,Gaza militants fired 83rockets, of which 13 wereintercepted.

In Gaza, an Israeli air-strike minutes before thestart of the cease-fire top-pled a five-story building inthe town of Beit Lahiya,witnesses said. Twelve Pal-estinians, including twochildren, were killed in sev-eral Israeli airstrikes be-fore the truce took hold,Gaza police said.

In Gaza City, a 20-year-old woman was killed andseveral dozen people werewounded by celebratorygunfire after the truce wasannounced.

Throughout the war, Is-rael launched some 5,000airstrikes against Gaza,saying it targeted sites link-ed to militants, includingrocket launchers and weap-ons depots. About three-fourths of those killed inthe strikes have been civil-ians, according to the U.N.and Palestinian officials.

In recent days, Israel hadstepped up its pressure onHamas, toppling five towerscontaining offices, apart-ments and shops since Sat-urday. Two of those build-ings were brought down inairstrikes early Tuesdaythat destroyed dozens ofapartments and shops.

Hamas has emergedfrom the war badly bat-tered. Just one-third of itsinitial rocket arsenal of10,000 remains, accordingto Israel and the Islamicgroup’s network of attacktunnels under the borderwith Israel has been mostlydestroyed.

Truce open-endedDeal made after

weeks of fightingBy KARIN LAUB AND MOHAMMED

DARAGHMEHASSOCIATED PRESS

A Palestinian boy sits next to the destroyed 15-story Basha Towerfollowing early morning Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on Tuesday.

Photo by Khalil Hamra | AP

KABUL, Afghanistan —The U.S. has begun surveil-lance flights over Syria af-ter President Barack Oba-ma gave the OK, U.S. offi-cials said, a move thatcould pave the way for air-strikes against IslamicState militant targets there.

While the White Housesays Obama has not ap-proved military action in-side Syria, additional intel-ligence on the militantswould likely be necessarybefore he could take thatstep. Pentagon officialshave been drafting poten-tial options for the presi-dent, including airstrikes.

One official said the ad-ministration has a need forreliable intelligence fromSyria and called the sur-veillance flights an impor-tant avenue for obtainingdata.

Two U.S. officials saidMonday that Obama hadapproved the flights, whileanother U.S. official saidearly Tuesday that theyhad begun. The officialswere not authorized to dis-cuss the matter by name,and spoke only on condi-tion of anonymity.

Army Gen. MartinDempsey, chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff, toldreporters in Kabul, Afghan-istan, on Tuesday that theU.S. wants more clarity onthe militants in Syria, butdeclined to comment on thesurveillance flights.

“Clearly the picture wehave of ISIS on the Iraqi

side is a more refined pic-ture,” said Dempsey, usingone of the acronyms for theIslamic State group. “Theexistence and activities ofISIS on the Syrian side, wehave ... some insights intothat but we certainly wantto have more insights intothat as we craft a way for-ward.”

The U.S. began launch-ing strikes against the Is-lamic State inside Iraq ear-lier this month, with Oba-ma citing the threat toAmerican personnel in thecountry and a humanitar-ian crisis in the north ashis rationale. Top Pentagonofficials have said the onlyway the threat from themilitants can be fully elim-inated is to go after thegroup inside neighboringSyria as well.

Obama has long resistedtaking military action inSyria, a step that wouldplunge the U.S. into a coun-try ravaged by an intracta-ble civil war. However, thepresident’s calculus ap-pears to have shifted sincethe Islamic State an-nounced last week that ithad murdered Americanjournalist James Foley,who was held hostage inSyria. The group is alsothreatening to kill otherU.S. citizens being held bythe extremists in Syria.

“Our message to anyonewho harms our people issimple: America does notforget our reach is long,”Obama said Tuesday. “Weare patient. Justice will bedone. We have proved timeand time again we will dowhat’s necessary to capture

those who harm Ameri-cans.”

Sen. Bob Corker of Ten-nessee, ranking Republicanon the Foreign RelationsCommittee, said the admin-istration “has not yetshared with us what theirplans are.” He said hehoped the White Housewould go to the Congresswith a request for an au-thorization to act.

“I think it’s our respon-sibility as elected officialsto let the American peopleknow where we stand withrespect to national securitymatters,” Corker toldMSNBC.

“For the American peo-ple’s sake, Congress shouldweigh in. Congress shouldbe a part of it.”

Dempsey, who was in Ka-bul for the U.S. military’schange of command cere-mony, has said he wouldrecommend the militarymove against the IslamicState militants if there is athreat to the homeland. Hedidn’t rule out strikes forany other critical reasons,but listed the homelandthreat as one key trigger.

Dempsey also said theU.S. has been meeting withallies in the region to helpdevelop a better under-standing of the IslamicState group’s threat.

He said he believes thosetalks are now beginning to“set the conditions forsome kind of coalition toform.”

He said they are “tryingto better understand thethreat that ISIS poses, notjust in Iraq and Syria butregionally.”

Surveillance on SyriaThe US has begun surveillance flights over Syria

By LOLITA C. BALDOR ANDJULIE PACE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

ZAPATA — Victoria N.Rodriguez, 85, passed awaySunday, Aug. 24, 2014, at La-redo Medical Center in La-redo, Texas.

Mrs. Rodriguez is pre-ceded in death by her hus-band, Zaragoza RodriguezJr.; parents, Anacleto andIsidra Nieto; step-mother,Maria De Jesus Nieto; in-laws, Zaragoza and RosaRodriguez; brothers, Gua-dalupe (Pascuala) Nieto,Benigno (Antonia) Nieto,Benjamin Nieto and a sis-ter, Arcadia (Francisco)Briseño.

Mrs. Rodriguez is sur-vived by her children, Zara-goza (Alicia F.) Rodriguez,Rosa Alicia Garcia, GloriaIrma Rodriguez, David(Martha) Rodriguez, Rebec-ca (Raymundo) Muñoz, Ge-rardo L. (Connie) Rodri-guez, Diana L. (Norberto)Garza, Fernando (Janie)Rodriguez; 26 grandchil-dren; 27 great-grandchil-dren; sister, Juanita N.(†Paul R.) George from Lit-tle Rock, Arkansas; broth-er-in-law, Francisco (Ra-quel) Rodriguez; sister-in-law, Ernestina V. (†Roberto)Rodriguez and by numer-ous cousins, nephews, niec-es, friends and other familymembers.

Visitation hours wereTuesday, Aug. 26, 2014, from

6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a ros-ary at 7 p.m. at Rose Gar-den Funeral Home.

The funeral processionwill depart Wednesday,Aug. 27, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.for a 10 a.m. funeral Massat Our Lady of LourdesCatholic Church. Commit-tal services will follow atZapata County Cemetery.

Condolences may be sentto the family at www.rose-gardenfuneralhome.com.

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

VICTORIA N. RODRIGUEZ

SEPT. 14, 1928 — AUG. 24, 2014

Families of passengers whowere on the Malaysia Airlinesplane shot down over Ukraineare starting to sort through thelong process of gaining compen-sation for their loss.

Officials in the Netherlands,where the majority of Flight 17victims lived, say that MalaysiaAirlines has been making $50,000payments to the families withoutadmitting any wrongdoing in thecrash.

Such payments may creategoodwill, lawyers say, but theyare not likely to discourage somefamilies from seeking more thanthe amount promised under aninternational treaty — about$174,000.

Since the early days of com-mercial aviation, internationalagreements have governed com-pensation for crash victims. It isa no-fault system — the airlinepays a standard compensationeven if is blameless. Under a trea-ty called the Montreal Conven-tion, families can sue for more ifthe airline or another party wasnegligent.

Aviation-accident lawyers sayit would be almost impossible tocollect damages from Russia orthe pro-Russian rebels accused ofshooting down the plane with afar-reaching surface-to-air mis-sile. Malaysia Airlines will be leftas the prime — maybe the only— defendant, and lawsuits arelikely to hinge on the plane’splanned route from Amsterdamto Kuala Lumpur on July 17.

Malaysian officials have saidthat the route over eastern Uk-raine was deemed safe by inter-national aviation authorities aslong as the plane flew higherthan 32,000 feet — below that, Uk-raine had closed the airspace,presumably because of the threatposed by pro-Russia rebels armedwith shoulder-held anti-aircraftguns, which have a limited range.While the U.S. Federal AviationAdministration had prohibitedflights over the Crimean Peninsu-la, the U.S. ban did not extend toeastern Ukraine until after the

shoot-down.And, Malaysian officials have

noted, other airlines continued tofly the same route, even on theday that Flight 17 was shot down.

But some aviation lawyers saythat the families could have astrong case by arguing that Ma-laysia Airlines should havestopped flying over eastern Uk-raine after the rebels shot downmilitary jets earlier in July.

“The idea that somebody elsewas equally as stupid as theywere is not that good of an argu-ment,” said Jonathan Reiter, a

New York personal-injury lawyerwho has handled many aviationcases.

Families of those on this year’smajor air crashes — Flight 17;Malaysia Airlines Flight 370,which disappeared as it flewfrom Kuala Lumpur to Beijing;the crash of TransAsia AirwaysFlight 222 in stormy weather inTaiwan; and the crash of Air Al-gerie Flight 5017 in Mali — couldbe waiting years for compensa-tion from the airlines and theirinsurers.

Under the Montreal treaty, law-

suits can be filed in the homecountry of the victim, the coun-try where the airline is based,where the ticket was bought orwhere the plane was headed.Americans and Europeans haveoften received higher awardsthan families in countries suchas Malaysia, where the courtsusually stick to the treaty limit,lawyers say.

“You could have two people sit-ting next to each other who mayhave the same income. (The fam-ily of) one gets multi millions,and the other one gets $75,000,”said Justin Green, an aviation at-torney whose firm representedfamilies of victims of Pan Am103, bombed over Scotland in1988.

For some relatives of those onFlight 17, the pain is still too rawto decide whether to go to court.

In the Netherlands, Kevin Fanis grappling with the job of run-ning two Rotterdam restaurantsthat were owned by his parents,who, along with his grandmother,died in the crash. Fan’s father,who went by Popo, was the chefat Asian Glories; his mother, Jen-ny, was the hostess.

On a recent day, several bunch-es of fresh-cut flowers had beenleft as a memorial outside thesmall restaurant. The 30-year-oldFan, an acclaimed young chef,was finishing a meeting with twoaccountants to go over the restau-rant’s books. He was about tostart his next shift in the kitchen.

“It is overwhelming. There isjust a lot to arrange,” he said.“My family is really stepping into help.”

Even if attacked, airline could be liable

Malaysian Army soldiers carry a coffin containing the body of Mohd Ghafar Abu Bakar, who was among the victims on boardFlight MH17, upon arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, on Sunday.

Photo by Lai Seng Sin | AP

By DAVID KOENIGASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI — The fight for the coffeeand breakfast crowd is heating up,both at home and abroad.

Burger King said Tuesday it willbuy Tim Hortons in an $11 billiondeal that would create the world’sthird largest fast-food chain. Thecompany is hoping to turn the cof-fee-and-doughnut chain into ahousehold name outside Canada,and give itself a stronger footholdin the booming morning business.

Alex Behring, Burger King’s ex-ecutive chairman, said the newcompany would be one of the fas-test-growing fast-food chains in theworld.

The international ambitions forTim Hortons echo the strategyBurger King’s owner, 3G Capital,has applied to Burger King sincebuying the hamburger chain in2010. Given Burger King’s strugglesin the U.S., the investment firm hasfocused on opening more locationsin countries including China andRussia by striking deals with localfranchisees.

Last year, for example, 3G accel-erated expansion and opened 670Burger King locations. Burger Kingnow has nearly 14,000 locationsglobally, but the company has notedthat’s still far less than the morethan 35,000 McDonald’s restaurantsaround the world.

In the U.S., Tim Hortons could al-so give Burger King another way totap into the attractive coffee and

breakfast markets, which have beendominated by players includingMcDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts andStarbucks. Marc Caira, the CEO ofTim Hortons, noted the Canadianchain’s recent efforts to make a big-ger push into the U.S., including up-dated store designs that featurecouches and fireplaces.

Caira said he felt Tim Hortonscould “win much quicker” in theU.S. with the help of Burger King.Most of Tim Hortons more than4,500 locations are in Canada; 866 ofthem are in the U.S. Last year, TimHortons’ U.S. sales rose 1.8 percentat established locations.

Winning over customers will nev-ertheless be a challenge for TimHortons, considering the chain’slack of name recognition in the U.S.Competition in the mornings hasalso been intensifying. Taco Bell,for instance, recently launched anational breakfast menu and Star-bucks revamped and expanded itsbreakfast offerings. McDonald’s hassaid it plans to put more marketingmuscle behind breakfast to defendits leadership position.

After the deal, which is expectedto close by early next year, BurgerKing and Tim Horton said theirnewly combined company wouldhave about $23 billion in sales andmore than 18,000 locations. The cor-porate headquarters will be in Can-ada, but Burger King will still beoperated out of Miami.

Executives said the two chainswill continue to be run independ-

ently. That means people shouldn’texpect to see Timbits — Tim Hor-tons’ miniature doughnuts — along-side Whoppers on Burger King me-nus.

“There’s no plans to mix theproducts or do co-branding,” saidDaniel Schwartz, CEO of BurgerKing and a principal of 3G Capital.

Burger King executives alsostressed the deal wasn’t being dri-ven by a desire for lower tax rates:Schwartz said the company doesn’texpect to achieve any “meaningfultax savings.”

3G Capital will own about 51 per-cent of the new company. Last year,the firm also teamed up with War-ren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway tobuy ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co.

Berkshire Hathaway is also help-ing finance the Tim Hortons dealwith $3 billion of preferred equityfinancing, but will not have a rolein managing operations.

Under the deal, Burger King willpay $65.50 Canadian ($59.74) in cashand 0.8025 common shares of thenew company for each Tim Hortonsshare. This represents total valueper Tim Hortons share of $94.05Canadian (US$85.79), based onBurger King’s Monday closingstock price. Alternatively, Tim Hor-tons shareholders may choose ei-ther all-cash or all stock in the newcompany.

Tim Hortons stock was up nearly9 percent at $81.25. Burger King’sshares were down 2 percent to$31.63.

Burger King plans expansionASSOCIATED PRESS

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014

Assemblyman Don Wagner ofIrvine criticized Donnelly direct-ly, saying a sidewalk protest by amember of the Legislature is notan effective strategy.

“We do not need to stand onthe street shouting the question

when we can attend the lunchand ask the question directly,”Wagner said in a statement.

Brown’s lunch invitation wassent to every state lawmaker, andit appeared that a majority fromthe Assembly and the Senate at-

tended. Reporters were barredfrom the lunch after the openingremarks, raising questions aboutwhether it violated California’sopen meetings law.

“This isn’t a policy meeting;it’s a lunch,” said Brown spokes-

man Evan Westrup, when askedwhy reporters could not attend.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggerheld a similar event in 2010 thatalso banned reporters.

Later Tuesday, Peña Nieto wasscheduled to address a joint-ses-

sion of the Legislature. His visitfollows a trip to Mexico byBrown earlier in the summer,during which the governor dis-cussed climate change and trade.

Mexico is California’s largestexport market.

PROTEST Continued from Page 1A

greenhouse gases willcause further warmingand long-lasting changesin all components of theclimate system, increasingthe likelihood of severe,pervasive and irreversibleimpacts for people andecosystems,” the reportsays. The final report willbe issued after govern-ments and scientists go

over the draft line by linein an October conferencein Copenhagen.

Depending on circum-stances and values, “cur-rently observed impactsmight already be consid-ered dangerous,” the re-port says. It mentions ex-treme weather and risingsea levels, such as heatwaves, flooding and

droughts. It even raises, asan earlier report did, theidea that climate changewill worsen violent con-flicts and refugee prob-lems and could hinder ef-forts to grow more food.And ocean acidification,which comes from theadded carbon absorbed byoceans, will harm marinelife, it says.

Without changes ingreenhouse gas emissions,“climate change risks arelikely to be high or veryhigh by the end of the 21stcentury,” the report says.

In 2009, countries acrossthe globe set a goal of lim-iting global warming toabout another 2 degreesFahrenheit above currentlevels. But the report says

that it is looking morelikely that the world willshoot past that point. Lim-iting warming to thatmuch is possible butwould require dramaticand immediate cuts incarbon dioxide pollution.

The report says if theworld continues to spewgreenhouse gases at its ac-celerating rate, it’s likely

that by mid-century tem-peratures will increase byabout another 3.6 degreesFahrenheit (2 degrees Cel-sius) compared to temper-atures from 1986 to 2005.And by the end of the cen-tury, that scenario willbring temperatures thatare about 6.7 degreeswarmer (3.7 degrees Celsi-us).

GLOBAL WARMING Continued from Page 1A

LONDON — About 1,400children were sexually ex-ploited in a northern Eng-land town, a report con-cluded Tuesday in a damn-ing account of “collectivefailures” by authorities toprevent victims as youngas 11 from being beaten,raped and trafficked over a16-year period.

Report author Alexis Jaycited appalling acts of vio-lence between 1997 and2013 in Rotherham, a townof some 250,000.

The independent reportcame after a series of con-victions of sexual predatorsin the region and ground-breaking reports in theTimes of London.

Reading descriptions ofthe abuse make it hard toimagine that nothing wasdone for so long. The re-port described rapes bymultiple perpetrators,mainly from Britain’s Pa-kistani community, andhow children were traf-ficked to other towns andcities in the north of Eng-

land, abducted, beaten, andintimidated.

“There were examples ofchildren who had beendoused in petrol and threat-ened with being set alight,threatened with guns,made to witness brutallyviolent rapes and threat-ened they would be next ifthey told anyone,” Jay said.“Girls as young as 11 wereraped by large numbers ofmale perpetrators.”

The report’s author tookgreat pains to make surethe identities of the chil-dren were not revealed, butoffered a general descrip-tion of the cases showingthe victims were between11 and 16 years old. Most,but not all, were girls, whoare preyed upon by unrelat-ed older men.

A sampling of case stud-ies showed the victims firstcame into contact with au-thorities for a variety ofreasons, including being re-ported missing from theirhomes, leaving school withunknown men or as vic-tims of stalking.

While most of the vic-tims in the older cases

were described as “whiteBritish children,” but thereport said that more re-cently a greater number ofcases were coming fromthe growing Pakistani,Kashmiri and Roma com-munities.

Attention first fell onRotherham in 2010 whenfive men received lengthyjail terms after convictionsof grooming teens for sex.A series of other high-pro-file cases featuring Pakista-ni rings also emerged inRochdale, Derby and Ox-ford— and communities be-gan to look more closely attheir child sex exploitationcases.

Rotherham decided toconduct a formal inquiryand Jay, a former chief so-cial work adviser to theScottish government, wasappointed to investigate.But she told the BBC thatshe was “very shocked” bywhat she found.

Police “regarded manychild victims with con-tempt,” Jay said, addingthat many of the childrenwere known to child pro-tection agencies.

Even though earlier re-ports described the situa-tion in Rotherham, the firstof these reports was “effec-tively suppressed” becausesenior officers did not be-lieve the data.

“The collective failuresof political and officer lead-ership were blatant,” Jaysaid. “From the beginning,there was growing evi-dence that child sexual ex-ploitation was a seriousproblem in Rotherham.”

Complicating the report-ing was the fact that vic-tims described the perpe-trators as “Asian” and yetthe council failed to engagewith the town’s Pakistanicommunity.

“Some councilorsseemed to think it was aone-off problem, whichthey hoped would go away”Jay said. “Several staff de-scribed their nervousnessabout identifying the eth-nic origins of perpetratorsfor fear of being thoughtracist; others rememberedclear direction from theirmanagers not to do so.”

Rotherham has had itsproblems even before Tues-

day’s report. It has seen theloss of traditional industri-es from the 19th and 20thcenturies and, though thelocal economy has grownrecently, it is also markedby deprivation and highunemployment. The reportsaid the take-up of “welfarebenefits is higher than theEnglish average, as are thelevels of free school mealsand limiting long-term ill-ness.”

But news of the sheerscale of the abuse and thelack of official concernabout the problem until itwas exposed shocked thecountry. Charities that dealwith abused children weretaken aback by the numberof victims and by the ap-parent reluctance of au-thorities to accuse mem-bers of one ethnic groupfor the violence.

This after all, is a coun-try which prides itself asbeing a tolerant and inte-grated society. But the ideathat a drive for politicalcorrectness might lead tochildren being raped satuncomfortably with thosewho champion the rights of

children and seek to pro-tect them from harm.

“Cultural sensitivitiesshould never stand in theway of protecting chil-dren,” said John Cameron,head of the helpline for theNational Society for thePrevention of Cruelty toChildren. “It is hard toimagine the damage causedto victims who were preyedupon with almost impunityover many years, becauseof a reluctance to compre-hend or address what waswidely happening.”

The local council leader,Roger Stone, resigned im-mediately.

Prime Minister DavidCameron’s Downing Streetoffice said that the lessonsof past failures must belearned and those who ex-ploited the childrenbrought to justice.

“This damning reportshows the full extent ofhow the children of Rother-ham were let down,” saidKeith Vaz, the chair of theHome Affairs Select Com-mittee.

“They will never gettheir childhoods back.”

Report: 1,400 children exploited in UK townBy DANICA KIRKAASSOCIATED PRESS