The Zapata Times 1/28/2012

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No evidence of foul playwas found on the body of aman found floating in Fal-con Lake on Tuesday af-ternoon, Zapata CountySheriff Sigifredo GonzalezJr. said.

Pending notification ofnext of kin, investigatorshave not released hisname. Pct. 2 Justice of thePeace Juana Maria Gutier-rez and Mexican consulate

officials could not bereached for comment as ofpress time.

Gonzalez said the 41-year-old man is believed tobe from Mexico becauseauthorities found on himan identification card fromNuevo Laredo.

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, thesheriff ’s office received acall reporting a body float-ing about four miles upriv-er of the Beacon Lodge.Game wardens went out tothe location to recover the

body, since state officialsare equipped with boats.

By 4:45 p.m., game war-dens had the body and hadturned it over to sheriff ’sofficials. Gutierrez pro-nounced the man dead at4:50 p.m. and requested anautopsy, which will gothrough Webb CountyMedical Examiner Co-rinne Stern. An investiga-tion is ongoing.

In December, a profes-sional fisherman postedon his Facebook account

that he’d encountered hu-man remains on the Mex-ican side of Falcon Lake,north of San Ygnacio.

That led many to be-lieve the body of DavidHartley, a jet skier alleged-ly shot and killed by cartelmembers while sightsee-ing in Guerrero Viejo, hadbeen recovered. Later,Mexican authorities saidthe remains were not his.

(César G. Rodriguezmay be reached at 728-2568or [email protected])

FALCON LAKE

Mystery bodyNo ID yet but sheriff says he’s from Mexico

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

Carol Case Nelson ischarmed by the term“winter Texan.”

She said it recalls birdsin migration, departingfrom the bitter cold andsettling for a time in thefair-weather confines ofsmall Texas towns.

But Case Nelson is per-haps a bird of a different

feather. The 66-year-oldhas had ties to Zapatasince 1982, when her fa-ther was first drawn to thefishing available in the ar-ea.

Since 2009, however, shehas lived in Zapata on amore regular basis thanyour typical winter Texan.She said she spends about80 percent of her time

ECONOMY

Communitydraws ‘winterTexans’ here

By JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See COMMUNITY PAGE 11A

HOUSTON — Bucketsof rain and powerfulwinds that apparentlyspawned several tor-

nadoes swept across Texas onWednesday, forcing drivers toabandon cars on flooded roadsbut not dropping enough waterto make up for a historic dryspell.

The squall of storms sweptfrom north to south, first pound-ing Dallas and Fort Worth over-night. At dawn, rescue workerswere able to peek into car win-dows to make sure peopleweren’t stuck in cars strandedin windshield-high water.

As the storms inched southand settled over Central Texasand Austin, record amounts ofrain — more than 5 inches insome areas of the capital —drenched areas that just a fewmonths ago battled the mostdevastating wildfires the state

has ever seen.At least one tornado touched

down in northeast Austin, da-maging an industrial park and afew homes, but causing no inju-ries, said Chris Morris, a meteo-rologist with the NationalWeather Service in New Braun-fels. Another touched down innorthwest San Antonio, damag-ing roofs and hurling a carportinto a house. In total, the Na-tional Weather Service was in-vestigating at least half a dozentornadoes statewide.

By midday in Houston, someroads and freeways were flood-ed, and the Houston Independ-ent School District cancelled allafterschool activities. The Na-tional Weather Service also con-firmed that a weak tornado torethe roof from a bicycle shop inPearland, about 18 miles southof Houston.

Despite the damage, thedownpour was seen as a bless-

TEXAS

RAIN FALLS, BUT NOT ENOUGH

Terri Bennett surveys the damage to her house and yard north of U.S. 290 on Wednesday, in Austin. Buckets of rain andpowerful winds that apparently spawned several tornadoes swept across Texas on Wednesday, forcing drivers to aban-don cars on flooded roads but not dropping enough water to make up for a historic dry spell.

Photo by Kelly West/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Mid-week weather leavesflooding, much damage

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTIASSOCIATED PRESS

See WEATHER PAGE 11A

Jurors in the federal trial ofGerardo Castillo Chavez onWednesday convicted him onfive charges that he was a Zetahit man sent by the cartel to theU.S. to take out rivals here.

Jurors deliberated for six

hours before convicting CastilloChavez, 25, of Miguel Alemán,Mexico, on a drug conspiracycharge, two firearms chargesand two racketeering charges.

He faces up to life in prisonon the conspiracy charge andweapons charges and up to 20years for the racketeering charg-es when he goes before a federal

judge for sentencing on April 30.Castillo Chavez’s attorneys

said they intend to appeal thejury’s decision after sentencing.

His conviction came after

nearly five days of testimonythat went far beyond the allega-tions against him. Witnesses, in-cluding a federal informant andformer Zeta operatives, offered adramatic and sometimes grue-some peek into the inner work-ings of the cartel’s drug-smug-gling operations in Mexico andthe U.S.

Among the most grisly testi-mony: New cartel recruits weretrained to kill at a camp nearthe small Mexican town of SanFernando, where the remains of200 bodies were unearthed lastyear. The informant testifiedthat would-be hit men were or-

FEDERAL COURT

Man convicted on conspiracy, racketeering chargesBy JASON BUCH

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS GERARDO CASTILLOCHAVEZ: Federal juryconvicts him on fivecharges.

See ZETA PAGE 11A

A Zin brief SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

SATURDAY, JAN. 28The Rio Grande International

Study Center will sponsor a river con-ference today. The theme is “RioGrande/Rio Bravo: River of Life, Riverin Peril.” The conference will be held atthe UT Health Science Center Laredocampus, 1937 E. Bustamante St. Regis-tration begins at 8 a.m.; conferencestarts at 9 a.m. Breakfast and lunchare included. Admission is free andopen to the public. Seating is limitedto 150 people, so RSVP. Translationservices will be available. For more in-formation, contact the center at 718-1063 or [email protected].

The Laredo Public Library willhost Super VITA Saturdays today, Feb.4 and Feb. 11 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. atthe main branch, 1120 E. Calton Road.For more information, call 795-2400.

The Imaginarium of South Texas,5300 San Dario, Suite. 505, is hostinga puppet show at 3 p.m. today. Theshow is being put on by The SWATPuppet Team. Admission is $4 per per-son. For more information, contact theImaginarium at 728-0404 or [email protected].

TUESDAY, JAN. 31The Texas A&M International Uni-

versity Small Business DevelopmentCenter is sponsoring a workshop from9 a.m. to noon today. The workshop,“Managing Cash — the Small BusinessOwner’s Guide to Financial Control,”will be held in TAMIU’s Western Hemis-pheric Trade Center, Room 126. The$20 fee includes a workbook. For moreinformation, call 326-2827 or [email protected] or register online at http://sbdc.tamiu.edu.

THURSDAY, FEB. 2The Texas AgriLife Extension Ser-

vice will hold free Type 2 diabetes edu-cation and control classes from 6 p.m.to 8 p.m. Thursdays from todaythrough March 15 in Laredo MedicalCenter’s Community Center ConferenceRoom 2. The classes will be conductedprimarily in Spanish, but English mate-rials and assistance will be available.For more information, call the serviceat 721-2626.

The Laredo Theatre Guild Inter-national, in cooperation with TexasA&M International University, will pre-sent William Shakespeare’s play “Mac-beth” at TAMIU’s Center for the Fineand Performing Arts Theatre at 8 p.m.today through Saturday and 3 p.m.Sunday. Tickets are available for ad-vance purchase at Foster’s, 1202 DelMar Blvd., Suite 101; Blue Top, 101 Hill-side Road, No. 11; the TAMIU Book-store; and at the box office beforeeach show. Tickets are $15 general ad-mission and $10 for students with val-id ID and for senior citizens. For moreinformation, call 956-319-8610.

FRIDAY, FEB. 3Today is a staff development

day at Zapata County ISD and a stu-dent holiday.

TUESDAY, FEB. 7The Zapata Chamber of Com-

merce board of directors will meet atnoon at a restaurant to be announced.Board meeting date subject to change.For more information, call 956-765-4871.

MONDAY, FEB. 13The Zapata County Commission-

ers Court will meet in regular sessionat 9 a.m.

THURSDAY, FEB. 16Today is Winter Texan and Se-

nior Appreciation Day. For more infor-mation, call 956-765-4871.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8Spring Break begins for Zapata

ISD students.The Zapata County Fair begins

today. For more information, call 956-765-4871,

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

pata County Fair.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16This is the last day of Spring

Break for Zapata ISD students.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6Easter holiday begins today for

Zapata ISD students.To submit an item for the calendar,

send the name of the event, the date,time, location and contact phone num-ber to [email protected].

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, Jan. 28,the 28th day of 2012. There are338 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Jan. 28, 1986, the spaceshuttle Challenger exploded 73seconds after liftoff from CapeCanaveral, killing all sevencrew members, includingschoolteacher Christa McAu-liffe.

On this date:In 1547, England’s King

Henry VIII died; he was suc-ceeded by his 9-year-old son,Edward VI.

In 1813, the novel “Prideand Prejudice” by Jane Austenwas first published in London,anonymously.

In 1853, Cuban revolution-ary Jose Marti was born inHavana.

In 1909, the United Stateswithdrew its forces from Cubaas Jose Miguel Gomez becamepresident.

In 1912, abstract painterJackson Pollock was born inCody, Wyo.

In 1915, the United StatesCoast Guard was created asPresident Woodrow Wilsonsigned a bill merging the Life-Saving Service and RevenueCutter Service.

In 1916, Louis D. Brandeiswas nominated by PresidentWoodrow Wilson to the Su-preme Court; Brandeis be-came the court’s first Jewishmember.

In 1945, during World WarII, Allied supplies beganreaching China over the newlyreopened Burma Road.

In 1962, the last of Washing-ton, D.C.’s streetcars made itsfinal run.

In 1973, a cease-fire official-ly went into effect in the Viet-nam War.

In 1980, six U.S. diplomatswho had avoided being takenhostage at their embassy inTehran flew out of Iran withthe help of Canadian diplo-mats.

In 1982, Italian anti-terror-ism forces rescued U.S. Briga-dier General James L. Dozier,42 days after he had been kid-napped by the Red Brigades.

Ten years ago: Hamid Kar-zai, the first Afghan leader tovisit Washington in 39 years,met with President George W.Bush, who promised a “lastingpartnership” with Afghani-stan. Afghan troops backed byU.S. Special Forces stormed ahospital ward in Kandahar,killing six al-Qaida gunmenwho had repeatedly refused tosurrender. An EcuadoreanBoeing 727 jetliner crashed in-to the side of a volcano, killingall 94 aboard. “Pippi Long-stocking” creator Astrid Lind-gren died in Stockholm, Swe-den, at age 94.

Today’s Birthdays: Musi-cian-composer Acker Bilk is83. Actor Nicholas Pryor is 77.Actor Alan Alda is 76. Sen.Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is 65.Actress-singer Barbi Benton is62. French President NicolasSarkozy is 57. Actress HarleyJane Kozak is 55. Movie direc-tor Frank Darabont is 53. Rockmusician Dave Sharp is 53.Rock singer Sam Phillips is 50.Rock musician Dan Spitz is 49.Singer Sarah McLachlan is 44.Actress Rosamund Pike is 33.Actor Elijah Wood is 31.

Thought for Today: “It isdifficult to say what is impos-sible, for the dream of yester-day is the hope of today andthe reality of tomorrow.” —Robert H. Goddard, Americanrocket engineer (1882-1945).

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — The state’s bill for providingsecurity for Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presi-dential bid is nearly $800,000 and growing.

A Texas Department of Public Safety re-port released Thursday showed the cost ofthe security detail for Perry and his wife,Anita, was $798,031 from Septemberthrough part of November.

Most of that bill was for out-of-statetrips, and the security tab for Perry’s trav-el outside Texas was more than $1.1 mil-lion from his November 2010 re-election tothis November. Security costs from Novem-ber until Perry dropped out of the Repub-lican presidential campaign last week willbe in future DPS reports.

For security reasons, DPS does not re-veal how many state troopers accompany

the governor or how far in advance theyarrive at Perry’s destination. The reportlists only broad expenses for airfare, food,lodging, fuel and other expenses.

Expenses for Perry’s security detail arepaid mainly through the state highwayfund, which includes the state gasoline taxand vehicle registration fees.

Perry traveled to 48 out-of-state destina-tions, most of them to the early primarystates of Iowa, New Hampshire and SouthCarolina. Security for a September trip toSouth Carolina, Iowa and back to SouthCarolina cost $45,122.

The trips also included travel to promotehis book “Fed Up!” and carry out dutiesrelated to his then-chairmanship of the Re-publican Governor’s Association.

Perry has said he promotes Texas wher-ever he goes.

AROUND TEXAS

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, waves to reporters as he arrives in Austin on Thursday. Bills for his out-of-state security duringhis presidential race keep mounting.

Photo by Lisa Krantz/The San Antonio Express-News | AP

Security bills mountASSOCIATED PRESS

Shooting suspect seeks todelay March trial

FORT HOOD — Defense attor-neys for the Army psychiatristcharged in the Fort Hood shoot-ing rampage want to delay hisMarch murder trial.

A military judge set a hearingnext week to consider Maj. NidalHasan’s request to delay thetrial.

It’s unclear why defense attor-neys want more time or ifthey’re proposing a new date.

State of Texas acceptsPaul Quinn accreditation

DALLAS — Higher educationofficials in Texas have approvednew accreditation for the onlyhistorically black college in Dal-las.

Paul Quinn College was grant-ed full membership last year bythe Transnational Association ofChristian Colleges. The TexasHigher Education CoordinatingBoard voted unanimously Thurs-day to accept the accreditation.

Thieves steal 274 gunsfrom Houston-area stores

HOUSTON — Thieves havestolen 274 guns, including riflesand handguns, in an organizedcrime spree that targets gunstores and pawn shops in theHouston area, authorities said.

The culprits strike at nightwhen businesses are closed, au-thorities said Thursday at aCrime Stoppers news conference.

Dallas, company at oddsafter pig’s blood spill

DALLAS — A Dallas meatpacking company says a cloggedsewage line spilled pig’s blood in-to a creek behind its slaughter-house and polluted the TrinityRiver with animal flesh and hair.

The Columbia Packing Co.said in a statement Thursday thepollution was an accident andclaimed the city knew about thesewage problem for 41 days be-fore contacting the company.

Investigators raided the Co-lumbia facility Jan. 19.

Penalty rescinded for boywho peed in bottle

KLEIN — School officials haverevoked the punishment for a 12-year-old boy for urinating in awater bottle during class.

Bill Hawkins, the boy’s attor-ney, said the boy won’t have tospend a month at an alternativecampus after all. Klein school of-ficials instead said he must servethree days in after-school deten-tion for having a water bottle inclass and drinking from it.

The boy said a teacher on Jan.13 repeatedly denied permissionfor a restroom break.

Former child center’sdirector guilty of theftLUBBOCK — A West Texas

woman who formerly ran a chil-dren’s advocacy center has plead-ed guilty to a theft count aftershe was accused of embezzlingfederal funds from the center.

Debra Rucker Brown enteredher plea Thursday in Lubbock.

— Compiled from AP reports

Dow slips to first losingweek of 2012

NEW YORK — The stock mar-ket closed mostly lower Friday,capping its first losing week of2012, after the government re-ported that economic growthwas slower at the end of last yearthan economists expectedTheDow Jones industrial averagespent the whole day in the red. Itended down 74 points, or 0.6 per-cent, at 12,660.46.

California passes newauto emission rules

SAN FRANCISCO — Seekingto influence other states andWashington, California air regu-lators passed sweeping autoemission standards Friday thatinclude a mandate to have 1.4million electric and hybrid vehi-cles on state roads by 2025.

The California Air ResourcesBoard unanimously approved thenew rules.

Joe’s son: ‘Dad, you won.You can go home now’STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Jay

Paterno leaned over his dying fa-ther, gave him a kiss, and whis-

pered in his ear.“Dad, you won,” he said. “You

did all you could do. You’ve doneenough. We all love you. We won.You can go home now.”

Joe Paterno died Sunday oflung cancer at age 85.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Hull House employees Joyce Arrington back, and May Roberison comfort eachother before leaving Hull House in Chicago on Friday. The organization foundedmore than 120 years ago by Jane Addams closed Friday.

Photo by Paul Beaty | AP

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The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the LaredoMorning Times and for those who buy the Laredo MorningTimes at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted.

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

Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129,Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500.

The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Ave-nue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mailthezapatatimes.net

CONTACT US

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

The Mexican military recently an-nounced the seizure of more than 6,700pounds of marijuana and radio communi-cation equipment used by organizedcrime.

The drugs were seized Tuesday near thetown of Guardados De Abajo, near MiguelAlemán, where soldiers on patrol foundthe drugs hidden inside a buried watertank. Inside, the soldiers found 462 bundlesof marijuana, weighing more than 3 tons.

That day, in rural Puertecitos, near Ca-margo, soldiers found and seized a radiocommunication station with three repea-ters, the frequency boxes and the powersources used by organized crime to coor-dinate their movements.

Militarygrabs pot,equipment

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The South Texas Food Bank distributedjust over one-half million pounds of productin 2011 to the needy of Zapata County. Thetotal was 503,543 pounds, according to fig-ures released by the Laredo-based SouthTexas Food Bank.

Elia Solis, a native of San Ygnacio and aZapata High School graduate, is the agencyrelations coordinator for the STFB. ZapataCounty food is distributed via four agen-cies. The largest is Helping Hands, locatedat 8th and Del Mar. The phone number is956-765-9327 and the coordinator is NormaMendoza. More than 454,000 pounds weredistributed by Helping Hands.

The other three sites, their contact per-sons, phone numbers and addresses are:

Shepherd’s Pantry, Mary Pulido 956-765-0123, 305 Hawk Street.

Concilio El Buen Pastor, Maria Her-nandez, 956-765-1300, Hawk Street and Fal-con Meza.

Boys and Girls Club, Viola Torres, 956-765-3892, Sixth and Lincoln.

“Our figures are down from one yearago,” Executive Director Alfonso Casso Jr.said. “We didn’t get as much product from(the United States Department of Agricul-ture) because the drought and other weath-er conditions hurt U.S. farmers.”

The other seven counties served areWebb, Starr, Jim Hogg, Dimmit, Maverick,Val Verde and Kinney.

Tax deductible donations can be mailedto South Texas Food Texas, PO Box 2007,Laredo, TX 78044.

Romeo Salinas of Zapata is a member ofthe South Texas Food Bank board, whichmeets monthly on the second Wednesday atnoon at the IBC Commerce Bank communi-ty suite on Mann Road and San Dario inLaredo.

The South Texas Food Bank is at 1907Freight, Laredo, 78041. The phone numberis 956-726-3120, the website is at www.south-texasfoodbank.org and it is on Twitter andFacebook.

Food bank: Half-millionpounds of food for 2011

By SALO OTEROSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Attorney, philanthropist and Zapatanative Jimmy González recently donated$15,000 to the Zapata County Museum ofHistory.

During the presentation Gonzalez cit-ed a strong desire to improve the qualityof life for the residents of Zapatathrough the cultural experiences themuseum provides.

González also said he has an interestin the enrichment opportunities the mu-seum can give to students.

“Students are fortunate to have accessto a high-quality institution rarely seenin small communities like Zapata. I willcontinue to support the museum in itsenrichment efforts,” González said.

Since its grand opening on July 9, themuseum has received more than 1,000visitors. Although many local residentshave come to learn about their history,most of the visitors have come from La-redo, the Valley, other parts of Texas andfrom throughout the country.

Students have begun to visit througha special agreement with the localschool district. Before the holidays, the

museum hosted the middle school giftedand talented students in grades six, sev-en and eight, who seemed impressedwith the museum’s Butterfly Gardenand the migrating Monarch butterflieswhich were in the garden.

Notable visitorsAmong other visitors and new con-

tributing members of the museum dur-ing the Christmas holidays were Dr. El-sa R. Flores, scientist and faculty schol-ar at M.D. Anderson, and Dr. Kenneth

Tsai, dermatologist specialist at M.D.Anderson. They expressed pleasure atthe displays of local and regional histo-ry.

Also, the visiting Vidaurri family wasgiven a special tour to examine the ex-hibit mounted to honor their father, Pfc.Manuel Vidaurri Jr., a survivor of theBataan Death March, and the account ofhis ordeal as a prisoner of war of the Ja-panese Army for three-and-a-half years.

The museum depends on the generos-ity of its patrons and friends for dona-tions to enhance its collection and tobring new projects for display.

Museum gets $15K donationSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

“Students are fortunate to have access to ahigh-quality institution rarely seen in smallcommunities like Zapata. I will continue to supportthe museum in its enrichment efforts.”ZAPATA NATIVE JIMMY GONZÁLEZ

A Zopinion SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO [email protected]

HOUSTON — Thisweek I traveled to Wash-ington, D.C., to attendthe State of the Union ad-dress. While there I hadtwo experiences, one thathad a positive impact onme and another that didnot.

Before the State of theUnion, I decided to dropby the Smithsonian Insti-tution. I was walkingthrough the Museum ofAmerican History andstopped at an exhibitabout the American flagthat was hoisted overFort McHenry on themorning of Sept. 14, 1814,that signaled the fort hadwithstood a furious Brit-ish bombardment thenight before.

Several days beforethe battle, a young law-yer named Francis ScottKey had been taken pris-oner by the British andwas confined to one oftheir ships lying just off-shore. Key watched thebattle rage through thenight and without mod-ern communications,had no idea of the out-come until he saw a hugeAmerican flag still wav-ing above the fort in thedawn’s early light. Hispride in his country’s tri-umph inspired him towrite ”The Star SpangledBanner.”

Full of prideSeeing this enormous

flag (30 feet by 42 feet)only a few feet awayfrom me and thinkingabout its history gave megoose bumps. While Iwas looking at the flag,several dozen of mycountrymen filedthrough the viewing ar-ea. All seemed to beequally moved in itspresence. There were noDemocrats or Republi-cans, no blacks orwhites, no Christian orMuslim, just Americans,swelling with pride overthe storied history ofthis flag.

What I witnessed atthe State of Union ad-dress that night couldnot have been more dif-ferent. I am not necessar-ily referring to thespeech itself but ratherthe circus on the floorduring the speech. Aboutevery two or three min-utes, all of the Democratsin the room would leapto their feet to cheer oneof President Obama’slines while the Republi-cans would sit scowlingwith their arms crossed.The more partisan thepresident’s line, the moreenthusiastic the Demo-cratic response and themore dour the Republi-can response.

In the last couple ofyears there have been at-tempts to get Democratic

and Republican membersof Congress to sit togeth-er, but the efforts havebeen largely unsuccess-ful. With some notableexceptions, such as Rep.Jeff Flake, a Republicanfrom Arizona, sittingwith Rep. Gabby Gif-fords, the now-resignedDemocrat from Arizona,the two parties’ seatingwas mostly segregated.

As a result, membersin about half of the roomkept jumping to theirfeet while the membersin the other half sat ontheir hands. The wholespectacle could not havebeen more sophomoric.

Giffords unitesThere were a few mo-

ments that united theroom. The longest andloudest applause from ev-ery corner of the roomcame when Giffords en-tered the chamber. Theparties also rose in ap-plause together when thepresident praised ourtroops. But those mo-ments were exceptions.

Near the end of thepresident’s speech, hesaid, ”When we act to-gether, there is nothingthe United States ofAmerica can’t achieve.”It was one of the fewlines of the speech thatbrought the entire cham-ber to its feet. But afteran hour of watching thepartisan reactions, thewords, while grand,seemed hollow.

During my visitsaround the Capitol be-fore and after the ad-dress, I repeatedly heardhow we should not ex-pect much until after theelection on the major is-sues facing the country.On issue after issue, Iheard that the partiesare just too deeply divid-ed to find much consen-sus. Both parties appar-ently believe that in theelection to come, Ameri-cans will give them somekind of a mandate topush their agendas.

But what if they donot? What if Americansrefuse to endorse eitherof the views that dom-inate the parties? What ifvoters once again decideto return divided govern-ment to Washington be-cause the thought of ei-ther party being totallyin control scares them todeath? Do we then haveto wait until 2014 to tack-le the problems facingour country? And if notthen, 2016? 2018? 2020?

In the same day I sawa symbol of America’spast, one of unity of pur-pose and vision, and oneof America today, a stateof disunion. The ques-tion is which will repre-sent America’s future.

(King is a columnistfor the Houston Chroni-cle. Email: [email protected])

DC visit:unity anddivision

By BILL KINGHOUSTON CHRONICLE

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

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

We want to assure

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

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

Via e-mail, send let-ters to [email protected] or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Lare-do, TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICYDOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

AUSTIN — It’s the kindof focus you admire ashigh school athletes workto turn individual talentinto team success. It’s atimeout, and the playersare locked in on theircoach’s every word.

”I want ball pressure,”Renee Brown tells her LBJHigh School Jaguars girlsbasketball team. ”We’vegot to be pressing the ballon top.”

There’s 4:49 to go in thefourth quarter, the crunchtime in which so manygames are decided. This,however, is not one ofthose games. LBJ, up 50-0at halftime, leads EastsideMemorial 95-5.

I, along with a handfulof fans in the Eastside Me-morial gym Tuesday eve-ning, was watching a re-peat rout. LBJ, breezingthrough district play, re-cently had clinched its12th straight district title.

Eastside Memorial’s La-dy Panthers have wononce this year, defeating asmall charter school’s ju-nior varsity. The losseshave been lopsided, includ-ing Tuesday’s 106-5 defeatby LBJ, which won theteams’ earlier meeting105-4.

LBJ kept defensive pres-sure on throughout thegame, though it used afull-court press only in thefirst quarter. On offense,

the Jaguars never stoppedrunning, sending playersracing up the court assoon as they got the ball.

”Layups after layups,”is how Brown later charac-terized it.

Recently, I wrote aboutEastside Memorial’s diffi-cult year and how im-pressed I am with the sixplayers’ camaraderie andcompetitiveness and com-posure in the face of suchgrinding adversity. I saw itagain Tuesday, layup afterlayup, as LBJ poured it on.(It’s important to note theLBJ players remained re-spectful throughout thegame, never openly cele-brating the mismatch.Good for them.)

There are two ways tolook at such games. Onone hand, why shouldn’tLBJ keep the foot on thepedal and work on whatcould make it a betterteam?

On the other hand, whatabout sportsmanship? Andwhen does doing things atwill against an over-matched opponent producediminishing, if any, re-turns?

”Basically, my maingoal when we came in to-night’s game was to workon our offense and de-fense, basically things wemight be using in the play-offs, so, you know, we gotlayups after layups,”Brown told me after thegame.

I asked if she ever con-

siders slowing down theoffense in an effort to holddown the score againstmuch weaker foes.

”Yeah, I do, but I look atit like in the real-game sit-uation that we might havein the playoffs: If I tellthem that now, what will Iget later?” she said. ”So Ikind of look at it kind ofboth ways.”

I asked Brown if shefeels for the Eastside Me-morial girls as she main-tains full-game pressureon them.

”Yes, I do, because I wasin a situation like themsome years ago when Ifirst came to LBJ, and Ipretty much know what itfeels like,” she said. ”And,basically, that’s why withteams like that we don’trun a full-court press thewhole time.”

With 7:50 to go in thegame, up 80-5, Brownyelled ”Go! Push it!” asshe exhorted her team toquickly move the ball upthe floor. I guess that couldjust be a coach’s instinc-tive reaction as she worksto get her team to the peakof its potential. It alsocould be someone who haslost perspective on highschool sports.

At McNeil High School,girls basketball coachAmanda Aguilar has beenconcerned about routs forseveral years. She said shewas ”sick” when she sawthe LBJ-Eastside Memo-rial score this week. Agui-

lar said she backs offwhen her team has a 30-point lead.

”I don’t see that work-ing on layups is going tomake you a better team inthe playoffs,” she said.”I’ve never been to thestate tournament, so may-be I’m wrong.”

Aguilar said she spokewith Brown two years agoto express her dismay atLBJ’s lopsided wins.

“Her response was, ’Youdon’t know what you’retalking about. You weren’tthere. We could have beat-en them by more.”’

Aguilar also said shehas had no success in get-ting coaches organizationsto see if anything could, orshould, be done aboutthese one-sided contests.

After the Tuesday game,Eastside Memorial coachRhonda Barton declined topass judgment on her op-posite’s tactics.

“That’s for the othercoach to decide,” she toldme.

As a sports fan, I get thenotion of using every min-ute on the court, regard-less of the opponent or sit-uation, to work on improv-ing your game.

But as a human, I wasdismayed by what I sawTuesday in the EastsideMemorial gym.

(Ken Herman is a col-umnist for the AustinAmerican-Statesman. E-mail: [email protected].)

COLUMN

Why press in a 106-5 route?By KEN HERMAN

COX NEWSPAPERS

Ever wondered what theopposite of an endorsementis? It’s this letter from BobDole on Thursday, blastingNewt Gingrich five days be-fore the Florida primary.

Dole calls Gingrich a“one-man band who rarelytook advice,” who “had anew idea every minute and

most of them were off thewall.” He writes that “if wewant to avoid an Obamalandslide in November, Re-publicans should nominateGovernor Romney as ourstandard bearer.”

First Newt’s landing onthe moon. Then he’s wan-dering around to BobDole’s campaign headquar-ters with symbolic emptyice buckets.

I have no idea what thismeans. I suspect Bob Doledoes not either.

The trouble with Newt isthat you can say this andeveryone who reads it willnod understandingly.

This is a man who want-ed to put mirrors in spaceto light the streets. Anempty ice bucket? A sym-bol? Of what? Why? Whoon earth knows!

“I never did know whathe was doing or why hewas doing it.”

It is a sentence that onlyBob Dole could have ut-tered, but it captures theGingrich problem well.

Some people find thisquality in Gingrich impres-sive. Most — Dole included— find it troubling.

Let’s see what Floridathinks.

Dole’s negative take on GingrichBy ALEXANDRA PETRI

THE WASHINGTON POST

Mexican federal officials announcedthis week they have launched an investi-gation into the seizure of nearly 2,000pounds of marijuana. The seizure oc-curred at a border town across the RioGrande from Starr County.

Officials with Procuraduría Generalde la República, Mexico’s attorney gener-al’s office, state in a report that soldierswere patrolling a rural road that leads toMarte R. Gómez dam in Guardados deArriba, within the municipality of Mi-guel Alemán.

Troops noticed the dirt and brush hadbeen removed. Soldiers inspected thescene and found 90 bundles of marijua-na, adding up to 1,995 pounds.

The troops turned over the contra-band to federal prosecutors to investi-gate.

(César G. Rodriguez may be reached at728-2568 or [email protected])

Army findston of pot

By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

State prosecutors Wednesday indicted 13people, including one from Pleasanton, ac-cused of involvement in kidnappings andkillings for the Zetas.

Prosecutors charged six of them withcapital murder in two slayings that hap-pened in Laredo in 2010 but said theywouldn’t seek the death penalty. If convict-ed, they’ll face life in prison without pa-role.

Laredo police announced last year thatthey’d arrested members of the cartel cellthey said was headed by Nicolas ReyesSanchez, 49, who’s charged in Wednesday’sindictments. A police detective testified incourt last year that the Zetas operativeswould track targets and hire local prisongang members to be triggermen.

One of those charged is Rogelio Tijeri-na, 24, who has lived in both Pleasantonand Laredo and who’s serving a 10-yearprison sentence from a felony cocaine pos-session charge in Atascosa County.

“We believe that Rogelio Tijerina is thetriggerman,” said Webb County District

Attorney Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz. “He wouldhave been working under or with NicolasReyes Sanchez.”

Prosecutors indicted seven more peoplein an attempted kidnapping in September2010, including Eduardo “Aldo” TreviñoTreviño, 50, who Alaniz said is a nephewof the Zetas’ second-in-command, Miguel“El 40” Treviño Morales.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago indictedTreviño Treviño last year, alleging that heran an operation to smuggle drug proceedsinto Mexico. He remains a fugitive.

It’s unclear why the victims were target-ed, Alaniz said.

“Usually it amounts to money ordrugs,” he said.

The allegations against Treviño Trevi-

ño, Sanchez and the others are remarkablysimilar to a case that played out in federalcourt in Laredo this week and last.

In 2006, Laredo police investigating acrew of Zetas hit men were aided by feder-al agents using electronic surveillance tobreak up attempted hits and gather evi-dence about murders.

In this case, a federal wiretap tipped po-lice to the kidnapping attempt, which au-thorities foiled, and helped them gather in-formation about the homicides.

“Realistically, we realize in law enforce-ment that you can shut down one cell andanother pops up,” Alaniz said. “But wewant these people to know there’s conse-quences for this kind of action on this sideof the border.”

State court indicts 13 TexansBy JASON BUCH

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS “Realistically, we realize in law enforcement that youcan shut down one cell and another pops up.”WEBB COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY ISIDRO “CHILO” ALANIZ

SAN ANTONIO — Alengthy and contentiousfight over Texas redistrict-ing plans took a new twistFriday when the state anda minority group opposingthe redrawn maps startednegotiating over the disput-ed districts in hopes of pre-serving its April 3 primary.

The state attorney gener-al’s office told a three-judgepanel in San Antonio thatthe goal should be to drawa temporary map to keepthe primary, but minoritygroups signaled the discus-sions may have greater sig-nificance.

While hashing out a tem-porary map just for the2012 elections would avoidTexas delaying its primaryfor a second time, it wouldleave unresolved a largerclash over minority repre-sentation. That separate

battle has escalated all theway to the U.S. SupremeCourt.

Texas is one of ninestates with a history of ra-cial discrimination thatmust ask the Washingtonfederal court or the U.S. De-partment of Justice to pre-approve any changes tostate election laws.

After a hearing Fridayin San Antonio, a three-judge panel said that if thesides can’t reach an agree-ment by Feb. 6, the pri-mary will be pushed back.

That hearing came a dayafter testimony ended inWashington over whetherparts of the new Republi-can-drawn map violate theVoting Rights Act. Closingarguments are set for Tues-day and judges have givenno indication about whenthey might rule.

Negotiations betweenthe state and minoritygroups were under way

even before the court madeits ruling late Friday. Dem-ocratic state Rep. TreyMartinez-Fischer, chair-man of the Mexican Amer-ican Legislative Caucus,said Texas Attorney Gener-al Gregg Abbott had ap-proached his group tomake a serious attempt toreach a compromise thatwould keep the state’sApril primary.

With that trial windingdown, Martinez-Fischersaid the strong case madeby minority groups to theWashington court could bedriving the state’s readi-ness to talk about reachinga compromise on the mapsthat will be used in the up-coming election while thetwo cases are resolved.

“What’s significant isthat there’s never been anydiscussions. There arenow,” Martinez-Fischersaid. “Something’s motiva-ting that.”

Sides talk redistricting By PAUL J. WEBERASSOCIATED PRESS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO01/28 — Estación Pala-

bra Gabriel García Márquezinvita a: Bazar de Arte a las12 p.m.; Lecturas antes deabordar “Lecturas sobre sue-ños” a la 1 p.m.; Festival In-fantil “Las Pesadillas” (Cuen-tos: “El Monstruo Pesadillo”y “Desastres de Julián”) alas 2 p.m. Entrada gratuita.

01/29 — Batucada Wee-kend presenta el ensayo ge-neral de los participantes enlos talleres de percusionesde 10 a.m. a 12 p.m.; expo-sición de manualidades de12 p.m. a 1:30 p.m.; la im-perial banda de marcha Co-bat se presenta de 1:30 p.m.a 2 p.m.; y, la fiesta carna-val es de 2 p.m. a 4 p.m.Evento a desarrollarse en elCentro Cultural Nuevo Lare-do.

01/29 — Partidos deSemifinal de la Liga de Ba-loncesto: Toros de Nuevo La-redo recibe a Fuerza Regiaen Gimnasio de la NuevaCiudad Deportiva.

RICHARDSON02/02 — “The Phantom

of the Opera” se presenta alas 7 p.m. en el JJ PearceTheater, 1600 North Coit.Costo: de 5 a 16 dólares.Adquiéra su boleto en:www.pearcetheater.com. Otrapresentación el 3 de febreroa las 7:30 p.m.

LAREDO01/28 — El museo Ima-

ginarium of South Texas,5300 San Dario, Suite. 505,presenta un espectáculo detíteres a las 3 p.m. a cargodel SWAT Puppet Team. Cos-to: 4 dólares.

01/28 — Pase la tardeen el Planetario Lamar BruniVergara de TAMIU y disfrute:“The Little Star That Could”a las 4 p.m., “Violent Univer-se: Catastrophes of the Cos-mos” a las 5 p.m., “SevenWonders” a las 6 p.m. yPink Floyd’s “Wall” a las 7p.m. Costo: 5 dólares.

01/28 — UETA Jamboo-zie es hoy en el Centro deLaredo a partir de las 4 p.m.Costo: 8 dólares en preventay 10 dólares después de las6 p.m. (por persona). Entra-da gratis antes de las 6p.m. Niños de 12 años y me-nores entran gratis.

01/28 — PBR: Professio-nal Bull Riders se presentanhoy a las 7:30 p.m. en Lare-do Energy Arena. Costos de10 a 40 dólares.

01/29 — La OrquestaFilarmónica de Laredo ofre-cerá su concierto “MovieMagic” a las 3 p.m. en elCenter for the Fine and Per-forming Arts de TAMIU. Cos-to: 15 dólares (adultos) y 12dólares para personas de 62años y mayores. Estudiantescon ID entran gratis.

02/01 — Hockey: Lare-do Bucks recibe a TexasBrahmas a las 7 p.m. en La-redo Energy Arena.

02/02 — Laredo Thea-tre Guild International y TA-MIU presentan “Macbeth” deWilliam Shakespeare en elteatro del Center for the Fi-ne and Performing Arts deTAMIU a las 8 p.m. Costo:15 dólares general y 10 dóla-res para estudiantes.

02/03 — El equipo debéisbol Dustdevil de TAMIUrecibe a University of Texas-Permian Basin a las 12 p.m.y 3 p.m. en el diamente deTAMIU. Costo: 5 dólares ge-neral, 3 dólares estudiantesy gratis para quienes llevenID de TAMIU.

02/03 — Hockey: Lare-do Bucks recibe a TexasBrahmas a las 7:30 p.m. enLaredo Energy Arena.

02/03 — Laredo Thea-tre Guild International y TA-MIU presentan “Macbeth” deWilliam Shakespeare en elteatro del Center for the Fi-ne and Performing Arts deTAMIU a las 8 p.m. Costo:15 dólares general y 10 dóla-res para estudiantes.

Agendaen Breve

No se encontró que hu-biera un acto criminalacerca del cuerpo de unhombre encontrado flotan-do en el Lago Falcón, elmartes por la tarde, dijo elAlguacil del Condado deZapata, Sigifredo Gonza-lez Jr.

Investigadores siguenpendiente notificar a fa-miliares para dar a cono-cer su nombre. Por ahora,Gonzalez dijo que se creeel hombre de 41 años deedad era de México. Auto-ridades le encontraronuna tarjeta de identifica-ción de Nuevo Laredo,México.

Alrededor de las 4 p.m.,la oficina del alguacil reci-bió una llamada reportan-do un cuerpo flotando aunas 4 millas río arribadel Beacon Lodge. ElCapt. Game Warden, Fer-nando Cervantes, del De-partamento de Parques yVida Salvaje de Texas, di-jo que oficiales acudieronal lugar para recueprar elcuerpo, ya que oficialesestatales están equipadoscon lanchas.

Para las 4:45 p.m., ofi-ciales recuperaron elcuerpo y lo entregaron aoficiales del alguacil. LaJuez de Paz del Precinto 2,Juana María Gutiérrezdeclaró muerto al hombrealrededor de las 4:50 p.m.y solicitó una autopsia, lacual estará a cargo de laMédico Forense del Con-dado de Webb, Dr. CorinneStern. La investigacióncontinúa.

En diciembre pasado,un pescador profesionalescribió en su cuenta so-cial de Facebook que ha-bía encontrado los restosde un hombre en aguasmexicanas del Lago Fal-cón, al norte de San Ygna-cio. Eso llevó a que mu-cha gente creyera que erael cuerpo de David Har-tley, un norteamericanoquien supuestamente reci-bió disparos de miembrosdel cartel, y fue asesinado,mientras miraba las rui-nas de Guerrero Viejo.Posteriormente, las auto-ridades mexicanas revela-ron que los restos no per-tenecían a Hartley.

(Localice a César G. Ro-driguez en el 728-2568 o [email protected])

Recuperancuerpo del

Lago FalcónPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CD. VICTORIA, México — Dentro dela estrategia para reducir el índice delic-tivo en los estados fronterizos, el Gobier-no de Estados Unidos anunció esta se-mana que destinará 4 millones de dóla-res del programa “Iniciativa Mérida”para Tamaulipas.

El Gobernador de Tamaulipas, EgidioTorre Cantú anunció que los fondos sedestinarán en gran parte para equipo ycapacitación de las fuerzas de seguridadpública estatales.

El Comisario Rafael Lomelí Martínez,Secretario de Seguridad Pública del Es-tado (SSPE), explicó que el gobierno es-tadounidense coadyuva en la capacita-ción y adiestramiento de los policías enMéxico y apoya en la implementación decursos y aulas especializadas para elcumplimiento de dicho objetivo.

Con el recurso de los 4 millones de dó-lares se profesionalizarán las fuerzas po-liciales de Tamaulipas y se reforzará elcombate al delito en todas sus modalida-des, agregó Lomelí.

“El objetivo es que los tamaulipecostengan una policía más confiable”, sostu-

vo.Según comunicado de prensa del Go-

bierno de Tamaulipas es la primera vezque el gobierno de Estados Unidos apoyedirectamente con recursos económicos aTamaulipas, como parte de la “IniciativaMérida” y como reconocimiento a los es-fuerzos que se hacen en la entidad enmateria de seguridad.

Además de los 4 millones de dólaresque aportará para la adquisición deequipo, el gobierno estadounidense do-nará cursos de capacitación a los ele-mentos policiales tamaulipecos.

A través de la “Iniciativa Mérida”,aprobada por el Congreso norteamerica-no, el gobierno estadounidense apoyacon recursos económicos y en equipo aMéxico, los que se canalizaron directa-mente al gobierno federal, quien a suvez los aterrizaba directamente a diver-sas dependencias policiales.

Ahora, por primera vez, los fondos dela “Iniciativa Mérida se van a dirigir es-pecíficamente a Tamaulipas, quedandopendientes los términos y fechas para ladonación de equipo y capacitación a queserán sometidos los elementos policialesde la entidad.

Refuerzointernacional

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Un hombre originariode Miguel Alemán, Méxi-co, quien tuvo su juiciofederal por una semana ymedia en Laredo, el miér-coles fue encontrado cul-pable por jurados en cin-co cargos de que él eraun sicario de Los Zetasenviado por el cartel a losEU para deshacerse de ri-vales.

La deliberación se pro-longó por seis horas an-tes de encontrar culpablea Gerardo Castillo Chá-vez, de 25 años de edad,en cargos por conspira-ción con drogas, dos car-gos por armas de fuego, ydos cargos por chantaje.

Él enfrentará cadenaperpetua por el cargo deconspiración y por loscargos de armas, y hasta20 años de cárcel por loscargos de chantaje, cuan-do acuda ante el juez fe-deral para saber su sen-tencia el 30 de abril.

Los abogados de Casti-llo Chávez dicen queellos pretenden apelar ladecisión del jurado des-pués de la sentencia.

El veredicto resultótras casi cinco días detestimonios que fueronmás allá de las acusacio-nes en su contra. Testi-gos, incluyendo un infor-mante federal y ex opera-tivo Zeta, ofreció undramático y algunas ve-ces un terrible vistazohacia los trabajos inter-nos de las operacionespara el contrabando dedrogas del cartel en Mé-xico y los EU.

Entre los testimoniosmás macabros: nuevos re-clutas del cartel eran en-trenados para matar enun campamento cerca delpequeño pueblo Mexica-no de San Fernando, don-de los restos de 200 cuer-pos fueron desenterradosel año pasado. El infor-mante testificó que sica-rios recibían órdenes dematar a personas — algu-nas veces con machetes omazos — como una for-ma de medir su temple.

“Definitivamente esta-mos contentos con el ve-redicto y hace que otrosicario en el grupo sal-ga”, dijo el miércoles, elFiscal Asistente de EU,José Ángel Moreno, trasescuchar el veredicto del

jurado. “Ahora nos pode-mos concentrar en traba-jar con México y arrestaral resto de los fugitivos ytraerlos a enfrentar a lajusticia en este crimen”.

Fiscales han sostenidoque como parte de los ne-gocios de drogas de LosZetas, Castillo Chávez ha-bía estado en un grupode sicarios, quienes en2006 fueron enviados alos EU para eliminar aun traficante del área deLaredo, quien pertenece-ría a un cartel rival.

Jesús María “Chuy”Reséndez se había unidoal Cartel de Sinaloa con-tra Los Zetas y sus otro-ras maestros — el Carteldel Golfo — y estaba arri-ba de su lista de objeti-vos, dijeron fiscales.

Ellos dicen que Casti-llo Chávez y otros sica-rios dispararon y lesiona-ron de gravedad a uno delos sobrinos de Reséndezel 18 de marzo del 2006.El 31 de marzo del 2006,dijeron fiscales, CastilloChávez y sus compañerossicarios dispararon alhermano mayor de Re-séndez en el pie.

Y finalmente, el 2 deabril del 2006, ellos y otrogrupo de sicarios Zeta,guiados por un miembrode una pandilla en la pri-sión local, agarraron aReséndez y su sobrino de15 años cuando su camio-neta se detuvo en un cru-cero lleno de gente.

Ocho sicarios contrata-dos se apilaron junto a lacamioneta y armados conpistolas y AK-47s rocia-ron casi 100 municionessobre la camioneta de Re-séndez, el ya convicto si-cario Zeta Raúl “Ri-chard” Lasso Jr., de 29años de edad, testificó encorte la semana pasada.

Abogados de la defensaargumentaron que los fe-derales tenían al hombreequivocado.

Castillo Chávez es unade las 34 personas acusa-das en la amplia acusa-ción por conspiración fe-deral que tiene por objeti-vo al No. 2 de Los Zetas,Miguel “El 40” TreviñoMorales, y su sistema enambos lados de la fronte-ra.

Concluye juicio aCastillo Chávez

POR JASON BUCHSAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

GERARDO CASTILLOCHÁVEZ: Es origi-nario de MiguelAlemán, México.

Militares asegu-raron más detres toneladasde marihuana

y equipos de radio comuni-cación que pertenecían ala delincuencia organizadade la región ribereña, endos incidentes por separa-do.

En el caso de la mari-huana, se encontraba ocul-ta en un camino de terra-cería en el poblado deGuardados de Abajo, Mu-nicipio de Miguel Alemán;los radios de comunicaciónfueron ubicados en el ejidoPuertecitos del municipiode Camargo, México.

Durante el reconoci-miento terrestre en las in-mediaciones de MiguelAlemán se observó tierraremovida y militares pu-dieron encontrar que ha-bía una puerta de acceso aun estanque, que estaba ta-pada con tierra y una lona.

Se trataba de una cister-na de plástico enterrada, laque contenía 462 paquetesde marihuana que dieronun peso de tres toneladas50 kilogramos, indica uncomunicado de prensa dela Comandancia de la IVRegión Militar.

En el segundo caso, per-sonal de la zona arribarona Puertecitos y aseguraronun equipo de radiocomuni-cación integrado por tresrepetidoras, tres sistemasde radiofrecuencia dúplexy tres fuentes de alimenta-ción.

El Ejército Mexicano ex-

plicó en los equipos sonutilizados por miembros dela delincuencia organizadapara establecer comunica-ción entre ellos, sin que se-an captados por las autori-dades.

Recientemente militaresde la zona ocho desmante-laron la más grande red decomunicación que mante-nía control en varios esta-dos de la republica, lo quepermitía a la delincuenciaorganizada mantener es-tricta vigilancia de sus sec-tores.

En ninguno de los casoshubo arrestos.

Dentro de una cisterna cerca del Municipio de Miguel Alemán, México, elementos del Ejército Mexicanoencontraron tres toneladas de marihuana.

Foto de cortesía | Sedena

GOLPE A LADELINCUENCIA

Cerca de Camargo, México, elementos del Ejército Mexicano encon-traron un equipo de radiocomunicación integrado por tres repeti-doras, tres sistemas de radiofrecuencia dúplex y tres fuentes de ali-mentación.

Foto de cortesía | Sedena

Militaresubican droga y equipos de

comunicaciónTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 28 DE ENERO DE 2012


AUSTIN — The federalgovernment on Friday re-jected a request by Texas tobe excluded from a newlaw that limits how muchhealth insurance compa-nies can spend on over-head.

The law is part of the Af-fordable Care Act, changesmade in federal health carelaw in 2010 that Texas offi-cials say is unconstitution-al. Part of the bill requireshealth insurers to spend atleast 80 percent of their rev-enue on providing healthcare or health improve-ment programs. Those thatspend more than 20 percenton overhead and executivesalaries will be required togive rebates to customersstarting this year.

Federal officials at theDepartment of Health andHuman Services said Texasdid not prove that thestate’s insurance marketwould be destabilized bythe new law. As a result,Texas health insurers willlikely pay out $476 millionin rebates over the nextthree years, said Gary Co-hen, acting director of over-sight at the agency.

“We have determinedthat no adjustment to the80-20 rule in Texas is war-ranted,” Cohen said. “Thismeans that consumers willget the full benefit of theAffordable Care Act.”

The Texas Departmentof Insurance issued a state-ment rejecting the federalagency’s conclusions, say-ing it did not give insur-ance companies time to ad-just their business models.

Fedsnix

wavierpleaBy CHRIS TOMLINSON

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROY, Utah — The twoteens had a detailed plot,blueprints of the schooland security systems, butno explosives. They hadhours of flight simulatortraining on a home com-puter and a plan to flee thecountry, but no plane.

Still, the police chief inthis small Utah town said,the plot was real.

“It wasn’t like they werehanging out playing videogames,” Roy Police ChiefGregory Whinham saidFriday. “They put a lot ofeffort into it.”

Dallin Morgan, 18, anda 16-year-old friend werearrested Wednesday at thehigh school, about 30 milesnorth of Salt Lake City, af-ter a fellow student report-ed that she received omi-nous text messages fromone of the suspects.

“If I tell you one day notto go to school, makedamn sure you and yourbrother are not there,” onemessage read, according tocourt records. “We ain’tgonna crash it, we’re justgonna kill and fly our wayto a country that won’tsend us back to the U.S.,”read another message.

While police don’t havea motive, one text messagenoted they sought “re-venge on the world.”

The suspects say theywere inspired by the dead-ly 1999 Columbine HighSchool shootings in Little-ton, Colo., and the youngersuspect even visited theschool last month to inter-view the principal aboutthe shootings and securitymeasures.

However, one suspect

told authorities it was of-fensive to be compared tothe Columbine shootersbecause “those killers onlycompleted one percent oftheir plan,” according to aprobable cause statement.

The teens had so stud-ied their own school’s se-curity system that theyknew how to avoid beingseen on the facility’s sur-veillance cameras, author-ities said.

Whinham said the “ve-ry smart kids” had spentat least hundreds of dol-lars on flight simulatorprograms, books andmanuals, studying them inanticipation of carryingout their plan to bomb anassembly at the 1,500-stu-dent high school.

While authorities saidthe suspects believed theycould pull it off, expertssaid, it would have been along shot.

Royal Eccles, managerat the Ogden-Hinckley Air-port, about a mile from theschool, said it would havebeen nearly impossible forthe students to steal aplane or get the knowledgeto fly one using flight sim-ulator programs.

“It’s highly improba-ble,” Eccles said. “That’show naive these kids are.”

Whinham said author-ities searched two homesand two cars and found noexplosives, but added thatpolice continue to searchother locations. The chiefsaid it appeared that “akey component of theirplan was not developed.”

“I wouldn’t want to saythat they don’t have it orthat they weren’t ready forit,” he said. “I’m just say-ing that we haven’t foundanything that says theywere ready for it yet.”

Whinham said it ap-

peared the suspects, whohave no criminal history,had prepared alternate at-tack plans, but he declinedto elaborate. He also de-clined to say whether anyfirearms were found dur-ing their searches.

“Most houses have fire-arms in them,” he said.“This is the state of Utah.”

While authorities havesaid they have not foundany explosives, theycharged Morgan on Fridaywith possession of a weap-on of mass destruction.

The basis for the chargewasn’t immediately clear,though one of the elementsof that offense is conspir-acy to use a weapon, notnecessarily possessing one.Prosecutors say they areconsidering additionalcharges.

Morgan has been re-leased on bond, pendingarraignment Wednesday.

Two charged in bomb plotBy PAUL FOY AND JENNIFER DOBNER

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Students leave Roy High School at the end of the school day in Roy, Utah, on Friday. Authorities onFriday charged an 18-year-old man with possession of a weapon of mass destruction after they sayhe and another teenager planned to bomb the high school.

Photo by Jim Urquhart | AP

PLANO — A Texas hos-pital said Friday it has re-educated staff on patientidentification proceduresafter two newborns wereaccidentally switched forabout three hours follow-ing circumcisions.

Kevin and Susan Duna-gan said they noticedwhen their son was return-ed from the procedure thathis lips looked fuller, butthey didn’t realize whathad happened till a workerat Texas Health Presbyter-ian Hospital of Plano dis-covered the mix-up.

The Dallas MorningNews reported the infantshad been circumcised atabout the same time lastmonth and their code num-bers — 27988 and 27980 —were similar. They wereplaced in the wrong cribsin the nursery when theycame back from surgeries.

A volunteer thenbrought the baby in theDunagan crib to Susan Du-nagan, checking theirbracelets, but the mix-upwasn’t discovered till ahospital worker came in toperform a hearing test andtyped in the baby’s brace-let code.

The Dunagans’ son wasquickly found with the oth-er baby’s family, who alsothought they had the cor-rect newborn.

“You don’t think some-thing like this is really pos-

sible today,” Kevin Duna-gan said. “You think it’ssomething in a movie or 30years ago or something.”

Since Susan Dunaganbreastfed the infant shehad cared for, his familyasked that she be tested forcommunicable diseases,which the Dunagans saidthey understood.

Administrators apol-ogized for the switch andmet several times with thecouple.

Hospital spokeswomanJennifer Erickson told TheAssociated Press on Fridaythat “human error causedour safety checks to notwork as planned. However,redundancies built intoour processes caught theerror shortly after it oc-curred with no harm to ei-ther mother or infant.”

She said in addition tothe re-education of staff,volunteers are no longertransporting newbornsback to the room.

Kevin Dunagan wrote toThe Dallas Morning Newswhen he got a bill after be-ing told the hospital wouldlook into waiving theircosts. After being contact-ed by the columnist, theDunagans were told billsfor the mother and sonwould be waived and thehospital would also pay forcounseling.

Erickson said the hospi-tal had expressed from thebeginning that the family’sbill would be covered.

Baby switchprompts staffre-education

ASSOCIATED PRESS


ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENTSCHOOL DISTRICT

JOB POSTING Position: Bus Driver

Salary: $11.06 Per Hour $15.92 Per Hour Minimum Maximum

Auxiliary Pay Ranges: Pay Grade 3

Minimum Duty Days: 187 Days

Minimum Requirements: Valid Texas commercialdriver's license; Class B with P&S endorsement.

Special Knowledge/Skills: Must be 18 years of age;ability to pass physical, alcohol and drug test; abilityto complete required bus driver safety training; abilityto follow verbal or written instructions; ability to com-municate effectively (verbally); knowledge of studentdiscipline procedure; and ability to manage studentbehavior.

Deadline for Applying: Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Applications May Be Obtained From:

Human Resources Department 17th & Carla Streets

P.O. Box 158 - Zapata, Texas 78076 (956) 765-6858 - Fax (956) 765-5940

Website: www.zcisd.org

We consider applicants for all positions without regardto race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, mari-tal or veteran status, the presence of a medical condi-tion, disability or any other legally protected status.

An Equal Opportunity Employer


JOB POSTING Position(s): Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)Professional Employee Salary Schedule:

$19,837.00 $27,945.00 Minimum Maximum

Pay Grade: Instructional Support Pay Ranges PG3


Minimum Requirements: Education/Certification: IFr High school diploma or GED; valid Texas licenseissued by the Board of vocational Nurse Examiners.

Special Knowledge/Skills: Knowledge of basic firstaid and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR);strong j organizational communication and interper-sonal skills; proficient keyboarding and file mainte-nance skills; ~bility to use personal computer andsoftware to pevelop databases and word processing;ability to tommunicate effectively (verbal and writ-ten); and treat all peoplel with dignity and respect.








JOB POSTING Position: Certified Nurse Assistant

Salary: $13,958.00 $21,587.00Minimum Maximum

Pay Grade: Instructional Support Pay Ranges PG1


Minimum Requirements: Possess a high schooldiploma or GED; Nurse's Aide Certification; CPRCertified; and qualified to perform various screenings.

Preferred Experience: One year of experience inhealth-related position, including contact with school-age children.

Special Knowledge/Skills: Demonstrate ability towork effectively and harmoniously with administratorsand other staff; demonstrate ability to communicateeffectively both in written and oral form; treat all peo-ple with dignity and respect; knowledge of basic firstaid and cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR); strongorganizational, communication and interpersonalskills; proficient keyboarding and file maintenanceskills; and ability to use personal computer and soft-ware to develop databases and word processing.

Deadline for Applying: Wednesday, February 1, 2012







AUSTIN — The TexasBoard of Education gavepreliminary approval Fri-day to new math stan-dards for schools state-wide, but moved to blockimplementation unless theLegislature provides fund-ing for books to help stu-dents cope with toughercurricula.

The board passed themeasure 13-0 with twomembers absent. Therules still must be formal-ly approved during itsnext meeting in April.They could, however, po-tentially put pressure onstate lawmakers to ap-prove funding for newbooks and other key class-room materials beforeTexas can demand its stu-dents learn more.

“Today is an importantday for this body as wellas the schools,” said Re-publican Thomas Ratliff,who authored an amend-ment compelling fundingfor books as part of largerrules on new math curric-ula for elementary, middleand high school students.

“This now says we’renot going to pass any newstandards without guaran-tees books will be fund-ed,” Ratliff told the board.

Not till 2014Based on the textbook

provisions included in Fri-day’s vote, new math cur-ricula standards from kin-dergarten through eighthgrade would take effect forthe 2014-2015 school yearwhen new books are avail-able; and in 2015-2016 for

grades nine through 12when those books areready, according to DebbieRatcliffe, a spokeswomanfor the Texas EducationAgency.

She said it’s difficult toestimate how much statefunding would be neededto purchase new books forthe future curricula stan-dards, but that “a veryrough estimate for K-12math material” would bearound $350 million.

Fund moneyEducation authorities

use the Permanent SchoolFund, an endowment es-tablished in the 1850s andconsisting of state landand mineral rights, royal-ty earnings and stocksand bonds, to raise moneyfor the purchase of newbooks — then must havethe Legislature appropri-ate that money back sothe purchases can go for-ward.

But the Legislature cut$4 billion in educationspending during lastyear’s session — the firsttime since World War IIthat lawmakers did notapprove education spend-ing increases to meet ris-ing school enrollments

statewide. Lawmakers arenot in session currentlyand don’t reconvene untilJanuary 2013.

Ratcliffe said during“the last budget cycle ortwo, there was a problemwith purchasing text-books,” and that the cutsmeant authorities had topostpone a plan to buy sci-ence books for all gradeslast year. Instead, theysimply bought supplemen-tal text books for somegrades.

In a statement promot-ing his amendment, Rat-liff said that the boardwould previously adoptnew curricula standards,then “would hope andpray that the Texas Legis-lature would adequatelyfund the instructional ma-terials that cover the newstandards.”

The school board hadpreviously adopted new —or modified existing —math curricula standardsfor students in 2006, 2007,2009 and 2010.

“For too long we haveput educators and stu-dents in the difficult posi-tion of being tested onnew materials for whichwe haven’t provided in-structional materials,”Ratliff ’s statement said.“That ended today.”

No new books maykill math standards

By WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS



FALCON — Marcial A.Cadena passed away Sat-urday, Jan. 21, 2012, at LifeCare Hospital.

Marcial was born in Pa-ras, Nuevo Leon, Mexico,to Blas and Maria VicentaCadena.

Mr. Cadena is precededin death by his parents:Blas Maria and Maria Vi-centa Cadena; son-in-law,Mario Saldivar; and agreat-grandchild, Baby Os-car Mario Saldivar.

Mr. Cadena is survivedby his wife of 48 years,Maria Thelma Cadena;children: Elisa (Rudy)Thatcher, Elia (Romeo) Ca-nales, Marcial (Amelia)Cadena, Eva (Martin)Aguayo and Erika (Liber-ando) Saenz; grandchil-dren: Michelle (Jose H. Jr.)Garza, Melina (David Jr.)Gonzalez, Marlina Thatch-er, Rudie Ann Thatcher,Reannah Thatcher, Mario(Crystal Hernandez) Saldi-var Jr., Jose Francisco(Nelia) Saldivar, Luis An-tonio (Mizel Gonzalez) Sal-divar, Arianna L. Canales,Carlos Daniel Benavidez,Abigail Mae Aguayo, Mar-tin Aguayo Jr., KassandraSaenz, Kimberly Saenz,Katie Saenz; and threegreat-grandchildren; twobrothers: Blas and RamiroCadena; sister: Gloria(Elias) Cortez; and by nu-merous nieces and neph-ews.

Honorary pallbearerswere: Blas R. Cadena, Ra-miro Cadena, Apolonio“Polo” Cadena and Fer-

nando “Yoyo” Valadez Jr.Pallbearers were: Mar-

cial Cadena, Mario Saldi-var Jr., Jose Francisco Sal-divar, Luis Antonio Saldi-var, Rudy Thatcher, RomeoCanales, Martin Aguayoand Liberando Saenz.

Visitation hours wereMonday, Jan. 23, 2012,from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. witha rosary at 7 p.m. at RoseGarden Funeral Home.

The funeral processiondeparted Tuesday, Jan. 24,2012, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10a.m. funeral Mass at SantaAna Mission in Falcon,Texas. Committal servicesfollowed at Falcon Cemete-ry in Falcon, Texas.

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

MARCIAL A. CADENA

here and 20 percent in RapidCity, S.D., where she maintainsfamily ties.

Case Nelson helps managethe Four Seasons Resort, whichprovides a landing spot for thewayfaring northerners to parktheir recreational vehicles.

The resort also offers a recre-ational hall where “there’s al-ways bingo,” she said, in addi-tion to other games and activ-ities.

Case Nelson said the out-doors recreation and mildweather are major draws, butwhat really attracts the winterTexans is the sense of commu-nity, she said.

“We’ve had people who havestayed and just planned to behere a night or two, and they’venever left,” she said “And thatsays a lot about this communi-ty.”

Celia Balderas, a spokeswo-man for the Zapata CountyChamber of Commerce, said inthe last six years, Zapata hasattracted increasingly morewinter Texans.

Numbers have risen despitenegative media attention Zapa-ta and the border communitieshave received in recent years.Balderas said the drug violenceemanating from Mexico hasskewed some potential visitors’perceptions. But, eventually,word of mouth gets around,and people realize it isn’t so

dangerous, she said.Last year, 450 people from

various parts north called Tex-as home last winter, Balderassaid.

On Feb. 16, the chamber willhost a winter Texan and seniorcitizen appreciation day. Formore information, call thechamber at 765-4871.

Blasita Lopez, a spokeswo-man for the Laredo Conventionand Visitor’s Bureau, said win-ter Texans have walked intothe office in recent monthsfrom Illinois, Ohio, Montana,Michigan, Washington, NewJersey, Minnesota, Arizona,Maryland, Missouri and vari-ous parts of Canada.

The retirement-age peopleconverge in Zapata to escapecolder-weather climates. Theyprefer the wide-open spacesmaller towns provide. Perhapsanother reason, Lopez said, istheir proximity to a bi-nationalcommunity in Laredo.

The impact of winter Texanspours into Laredo and sur-rounding areas as well as theyshop, receive medical treat-ment, dine out and see sightsin the Gateway City, she said.

“They eat in Laredo, theyshop in Laredo, and they spendtheir money here, so we wel-come them,” she said.

(JJ Velasquez may be reachedat 728-2567 or [email protected])

COMMUNITY Continued from Page 1A

dered to kill people — sometimes with ma-chetes and sledgehammers — to test their met-tle.

“We’re definitely happy with the verdict, andit puts another hit man in the group away,” As-sistant U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno saidWednesday afternoon after hearing the jury’sverdict. “Now we can concentrate on workingwith Mexico to apprehend the remaining fugi-tives and bring them to face justice in thiscrime.”

Prosecutors had alleged that as part of theZetas’ drug enterprises, Castillo Chavez hadbeen in a group of sicarios, or hit men, who in2006 were sent to the U.S. to eliminate a Laredo-area trafficker who’d cast his lot with a rivalcartel.

Jesus Maria “Chuy” Resendez had joined thewest coast Sinaloa Cartel against the Zetas andtheir one-time masters — the Gulf Cartel —and was at the top of a hit list, prosecutors said.

They said Castillo Chavez and other sicariosshot and severely injured one of Resendez’s ne-phews March 18, 2006. On March 31, 2006, prose-cutors said, Castillo Chavez and his fellow hitmen shot Resendez’s older brother in the foot.

And finally, on April 2, 2006, they and anothergroup of Zeta killers, guided by a local prisongang member, caught Resendez and his 15-year-old nephew when their truck was stopped at acrowded intersection.

Eight hired killers piled into a pickup and,armed with handguns and AK-47s, pumpednearly 100 rounds into Resendez’s pickup, con-victed Zetas sicario Raul “Richard” Jasso Jr.,29, testified in court last week.

Defense attorneys argued the feds had thewrong man.

Drug Enforcement Administration agentHumberto Lopez testified that officials foundCastillo Chavez in 2009 in Houston while inves-

tigating a tip that someone involved with theResendez killings was living there. They usedan informant to set up a meeting with CastilloChavez, Lopez said, and arrested him and threeothers at a Houston drug stash house.

Defense attorneys said the agents were look-ing for someone else and just scooped up Castil-lo Chavez in the process. They disputed testi-mony from witnesses they said were not cred-ible and motivated by either revenge or, in thecase of the former Zeta hit men, to reduce theirsentences.

The fact that prosecutors told a rambling sto-ry about the Zetas’ operations on both sides ofthe border, much of which had nothing to dowith Castillo Chavez, weighed against him, saiddefense attorney Roberto Balli.

“I think there was a great amount of evi-dence that had nothing to do with Gerardo,” hesaid. “I think it was overwhelming for the juryto hear all these things, and the only personthey had to punish was Gerardo.”

Castillo Chavez is one of 34 people charged inthe feds’ wide-ranging conspiracy indictmenttargeting the Zetas’ No. 2, Miguel “El 40” Trevi-ño Morales, and his network on both sides ofthe border.

So far 16 defendants, many of them U.S. citi-zens, have been brought to court to face charg-es in the case. Of those, 14 have pleaded guiltyin federal court. Prosecutors dismissed theircase against one, although he pleaded guilty torelated charges in state court. Castillo Chavezwas the only one to go to trial.

He took his case before a jury in 2010, and ju-rors dismissed one firearms charge againsthim but couldn’t reach a verdict on a relatedracketeering charge and the drug conspiracycharge. A judge dismissed the racketeeringcharge, but prosecutors later tacked on addi-tional charges.

ZETA Continued from Page 1A

ing in some regions, includingWashington County, a rural areanorthwest of Houston that hasn’tseen much rain this year.

“It’s really nice to see some of thecows in the county have water afterall these months,” said RobertSmith, the county’s emergency man-agement coordinator. “I think thecows are doing a jig.”

Near San Antonio, some areas gotmore than 9 inches of rain. The SanAntonio Fire Department made 14rescues, pulling people out of theirvehicles after they drove into risingwaters.

By Wednesday morning, weatherwas so severe east of Austin that theBastrop Independent School Districtclosed schools for the day, justmonths after consoling students whohad lost their homes and belongingsin drought-sparked wildfires. Atleast two other school districts expe-rienced delays and closures, and oneasked parents to bring their childrento school after the roof of the build-ing that houses the school buses wasdamaged.

The National Weather Service alsowill have to survey damage to con-firm whether a tornado or straight-line winds toppled trees and powerlines, damaged businesses, blew outwindows, flattened barns and ruinedrooftops throughout WashingtonCounty and downtown Brenham, atown about 60 miles northwest ofHouston. No one was injured.

Another apparent tornado dam-aged a tire shop in Somerville, andthe third was spotted in WallerCounty.

Still, meteorologists said Wednes-day’s storms would not be enough toend a drought that has parched Tex-as for more than a year.

“Certainly, it’s not a drought-bus-

ter. We have a long way to go to digout of a big hole,” said Clay Ander-son, a meteorologist with the Na-tional Weather Service for the Aus-tin and San Antonio region.

It was, however, one of the biggestrain events some parts of the statehave seen in months. A record 5.66inches of rain dropped on the Aus-tin-Bergstrom International Airportbetween midnight and early Wednes-day, Anderson said. Some areas eastof Austin and San Antonio got morethan 9 inches of rain.

Unfortunately, though, only 4 inch-es of rain fell in areas that rechargethe aquifers that are a major sourceof water for Austin and San Antonio.

Pat McDonald, a National WeatherService meteorologist in NewBraunfels, said the most rainfall re-corded from the storm was in Cald-well County, where 9.3 inches fell inUhland.

Even before the storms reachedHouston, wind gusts of up to 50 mph

brought down power lines, leavingthousands without power. An air-port spokeswoman said severalflights were delayed at the city’s twoairports because of wind, rain andtornado warnings.

Victor Murphy, a climate expertwith the National Weather Service,said these storms could bringenough rain to some parts of NorthTexas — including Dallas and FortWorth — to pull them out of droughtconditions, but that won’t be clearfor another week.

But areas of South and southeastTexas that are in severe and excep-tional drought will get only minorrelief, Murphy said. The streams,reservoirs and lakes are too low tobe refilled by one line of storms.

“It’s just an improvement,” hesaid. “This drought’s too severe andtoo prolonged for one rain event tojust end the drought, especially inareas like Houston and Central Tex-as.”

WEATHER Continued from Page 1A

A four-wheel drive truck is stuck in the mud on South Pope Bend Road in Cedar Creek,on Wednesday. Buckets of rain and powerful winds that apparently spawned several tor-nadoes swept across the state Wednesday, forcing drivers to abandon cars on floodedroads but not dropping enough water to make up for a historic dry spell.

Photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

LAREDO — The Zapatapowerlifting team hit theroad and headed to theninth annual Toros Pow-

erlifting meet in Laredo on Jan.21.

Zapata was able to take home

many medals, including twoteam trophies in tough competi-tions.

“I am very proud of the kidsand all their accomplishments,”Zapata coach Mario Arce said.“We did very well today and tookhome a few medals.”

The Lady Hawks took homesecond place with 45 points,

while Weslaco, a powerhouse in5A, took home first place, scor-ing 62 points.

The Hawks took home thethird-place trophy with 22 points,behind Laredo United South andLaredo Cigarroa, which placedfirst and second, respectively.

POWERLIFTING

Strong Hawks

Alexis Garza placed third in the 165 division with a lift of 745.Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata performs well at Toros lift meetBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See POWERLIFTING PAGE 2B

The second round of Dis-trict 32-3A play has provento be favorable to the LadyHawks as they match thepace of district leader LaFeria.

Senior Shelby Biglerpoured in 18 points to gowith her 11 rebounds as Za-pata soundly beat PSJASouthwest, 49-22.

Zapata (8-1, 18-5) contin-ues to stay one game be-hind La Feria, setting a col-lision course when theymeet in the second round.

Zapata’s offense was evi-dent from the opening tipagainst Southwest as theLady Hawks found the bas-ket often thanks to Biglerand Kristina De Leon.

De Leon ended the night

with 14 points, but her big-gest contribution came onthe boards where she led allplayers with 16 rebounds,giving Zapata control to theboards and the game.

Zapata’s Rebecca Quinta-nilla added eight pointswhile Jackie Salinaschipped in with six points.

Zapata was able to take a10-6 lead first quarter butallowed PSJA Southwest tohang around, as the LadyHawks were not consistent-ly attacking the basket.

“We start the game a lit-tle slow — especially on of-fense — as we miss someeasy shots,” Zapata coachHector Garcia Jr. said. “Thesecond quarter was a littlebetter scoring, but, through-out the game, we were just

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

Epi Martinez (10) and the Hawks basketball team made some noisewith their 47-26 victory over PSJA Southwest, Tuesday.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Boys and girlsearn wins over

SouthwestBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BASKETBALL PAGE 2B

LAREDO — The Zapata golfteam’s first venture into the seasonsaw many positive results when theyhit the course at the Nixon MustangInvitational golf tournament thispast weekend.

Zapata battled ten other teams onthe boys’ side while the girls battledseven teams in their division. Zapatawas the only 3A school present atthe tournament.

“Not bad for being our first tour-nament,” Zapata coach Cylde Guer-ra Jr. said. “Everyone knows whatthey specifically need to work on.We’ll get better.”

Zapata’s Tony Gutierrez placed5th in the individual boys standingsout of 59 golfers who took the courseat Laredo Casa Blanca Golf Courseon Friday and Saturday.

“Tony and Leanna did well thesecond day,” Guerra Jr. said. “Tonymissed a lot of birdie putts in twodays. Hopefully those putts will goin this weekend.”

Gutierrez shot an 82 in his firstday of competing and improved hisscore on the second day with a 76 toearn his 5th place finish behind La-redo Alexander’s Luke Begwin (71-69-140), who took the first place hon-ors.

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF

Hawks perform well atMustang invitational

Zapata’s Tommy Gutierrez tees off the 16thHole at Casa Blanca Golf Course, Friday,while participating in the UISD InvitationalGolf Tournament.

Photo by Cuate Santos | The Zapata Times

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See GOLF PAGE 2B

Ihave covered many

sports and enjoy theuniqueness of eachone. If you know me,

then you already know bas-ketball is my first love. Ihave no problem followingit to any level — from ele-mentary to the professionallevel — and covering itwith ease.

There is also great ex-citement when I have theopportunity to cover othersports beyond my comfortzone, like Mixed MartialArts, boxing or even theprofessional bull riding.

I added something newto the long list of sports I’vecovered, recently, when, forthe first time in my jour-nalistic career, I covered ahigh school powerliftingmeet.

It was exciting because Iwould finally get to watchthe Zapata powerliftingteam in action and seewhat its all about.

I will admit I didn’tknow what to expect anddidn’t know where to start,but, with great determina-

tion to make sure I mademy first experience a mem-orable one, I went directlyto the coaches.

Coach Mario Arce wasfound in the middle of theCigarroa gym encouragingthe Zapata athletes and yell-ing encouragement whileCoach Veronica Arce wasdoing the same with thegirls’ team.

I stood to the side andproceeded to ask some ofthe coaches that werestanding against the wallhow the meet works.

Everything that these lif-ters go through was an eyeopening experience fromthe moment they readied tolift.

The majority of the lif-ters listen to their favoritesong to pump them up andget the adrenaline flowing.

Eye openingexperience

See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B

B Zscores SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

Taking home gold med-als were Joana Rivera inthe 148-pound weight classwith a total of 660 pounds,Michelle Arce in the 165-pound weight class (910-pounds total weight), Kla-ri Salinas in the 181-pound weight class (890-pounds total weight) andJoel Elizondo in the 181-pound weight class (1,115total weight).

Salinas took home lifterof the meet honors in the181-220+ division after 370pounds in the squat, 175benchpress and 345 on thedead lift, for a total of 890pounds in the meet.

The Zapata girls hadone of the biggest groupsat the meets, and the pop-ularity of the sport hasgrown in the past fewyears.

“Powelifting in Zapatahas been big for the pastdecade,” Arce said. “The

girls are doing very well,and so is the boys’ team.We are very proud of allthe kids.”

Varsity girls results97 weight class: 2. Angela

Darnell (595 total weight),3. Gina Rodriguez (525 to-tal weight)

105 weight class: 2. JackieGarcia (555 total weight)

114 weight class: 4. Alex-andra Garcia (545 totalweight), 5. Briana Gonza-lez (540 total weight)

123 weight class: 2. Crys-tal Navarro (525 totalweight)

132 weight class: 3. LilyCantu (560 total weight)

148 weight class: 1. JoanaRivera (660 total weight),2. Christina Velasquez(620 total weight)

165 weight class: 1. Mi-chelle Arce (910 total

weight), 3. Alexis Garza(745 total weight), 4. Seci-lia Mata (625 total weight)

181 weight class: 1. KlariSalinas (890 total weight),3. Elise Muñoz (710 totalweight), 4. Amanda Esqui-vel (710 total weight)

Varsity boys results181 weight class: 1. Joel

Elizondo (1115 totalweight)

220 weight class: 2. Gua-dalupe Gonzalez (1285 to-tal weight)

Freshman boysresults:

275 weight class: Francis-co Moreno (1255 totalweight)

Super Heavy Weight: 2.Eduardo Sanchez (1210 to-tal weight)

POWERLIFTING Continued from Page 1B

Hawks’freshmanFranciscoMorenolifted 1,255in the 275freshmendivision.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

I also saw a lot of honeybottles that were gulpeddown through out the dayto give those lifters thesugar rush that can be ve-ry vital in helping themlift at the right moment.

The athletes were intheir zone as they chalkedtheir hands and went overlast minute procedures intheir head, all while listen-ing to music on theirIpods.

When it was time to getto the lifting area, some lif-ters screamed loudly topump themselves up be-

fore they tackled the chal-lenge.

Each one — with greatdetermination — put theirbest lift forward. Theypushed that weight intothe air until they were giv-en a green light by allthree judges.

Some came away withexcitement as they hadclaimed a personal best,but for others it just wasn’ttheir day when they failedto meet expectations andwalked away discouraged.

The athletes were usual-ly met by the coach to go

over what they did right orwrong and what theycould have done better —from the positioning oftheir hands on the bar totaking deep breaths at cer-tain points of the lift.

I learned so much thatday watching these ath-letes compete and had ablast.

I just can not wait formy next meet, I look for-ward to another day of ex-citement.

(Clara Sandoval can bereached at [email protected])

SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1B

United’s Archie Ramos(77-75 -152), claimed secondplace while Eagle Pass’ Pe-dro Gomez (79-77-156) andUnited’s Leo Hernandez(79-78-157) came in 3rd and4th.

Zapata’s Ricky Pradocame in 21st with a two-dayscore of (95, 88) 183 whileteammate Victor Garzaplaced 31st overall with ascore of 194.

Rounding out Zapata’s ef-forts was Ramiro Torres(110, 98), who placed 39thoverall with a two dayscore of 208.

The boys team placed 7thoverall out of ten teamswith a combined score of743 after a two-day score of389-354.

On the girls’ side, JuniorLeanna Saenz — who hadthe tenth best finish amongthe girls in the field — ledZapata.

Saenz’s first day score of100 drove her to finish bet-ter the second day whenshe scored 97 to finish thetournament with a two-dayscore of 197.

Freshman Leann Hughesfinished the tournament in

21st place with scores of124-116-240 while Krystahad a score of 128-131. JessGarza had scores of 117,130.

The girls team finished5th out of the seven teamwith team totals of 469-474-943.

“The two freshmen, Ramand Leann, held their ownagainst a tough field,” hesaid.

The Hawks’ golf teamwill return to play at theUISD boys’ tournament atthe Casa Blanca golf coursethis weekend.

GOLF Continued from Page 1B

playing to Southwest’s tempo.”Zapata responded to Garcia’s challenge

and clamped down on defense. The LadyHawks only allowed PSJA Southwest onlyfour points in the second quarter as theybuilt a 23-10 halftime lead.

De Leon, Quintanilla and Salinas an-chored the defense.

“Our defense has been a big improve-ment because the girls are very aggressivethat they enjoy playing our half press,”Garcia said. “They love to pressure the

ball and cause turnovers.”“Right now, I do think we are peaking at

the right time, but we’ll see after our nexttwo games as we play Rio Hondo and LaFeria.”

Zapata’s half court defense continued tocause PSJA Southwest problems and forcemany turnovers.

“The second half, our defense started tocause some turnovers and started to runthe floor as we went up 33-18,” Garcia said.

Zapata continued their onslaught on

PSJA Southwest and walked away with a49-22 victory.

Boys on the riseAfter a grueling preseason that only wit-

nessed one victory, the Hawks are on therise in District 32-3A as their over allgame improves.

Coach Juan Villarreal preached themost important part of the season is dis-

trict play. Saying the pre-season is just towork out the wrinkles.

The Hawks have been slowly coming to-gether and were able to pick up anotherwin against PSJA Southwest 47-26 Tues-day night for their third district win.

Zapata is sporting a 3-4 district recordand coming into their own. The team’schemistry is evident on the floor.

“The kids played very good and arelooking forward in playing Rio Hondo,”Villarreal said.

BASKETBALL Continued from Page 1B

The crack of a bat andthe sight of a perfectlymanicured field can onlymean one thing — thehigh school softball seasonis here.

The season officiallyopened across Texas onFriday, but the first daypractice for the LadyHawks is Monday.

Last year, Zapata soft-ball had a banner year andcoach Jaime Garciaguided the team to theschool’s first district titlein program history.

Now, the Lady Hawkshead into the softball sea-son as the defending Dis-trict 32-3A champions witha wealth of experience re-turning to the diamond.

“It is going to be a bat-tle. District will be tough,”Garcia said. “P.I. (Port Isa-bel) brings everyone back.Rio Hondo and La Feriacan still contend, but, insoftball, anything can hap-pen and you have to go outthere and play the game.”

“We are hoping to re-peat (as district cham-pions).”

One of the most notablereturners is catcher Mi-chelle Arce, who wasnamed Offensive Most Val-uable Player last year forthe big bat she carriedaround the plate.

She is one of the team’smost versatile player and

is rarely sent back to thedug out.

Arce is a three-year let-terman along with pitcherEstella Molina, who is ex-cepted to take the moundfor the Lady Hawks.

“She had a high battingaverage and led the teamwith RBI’s,” Garcia said.

Molina is very tough inthe middle of the platewith her great ball con-trol.

“Estella had 67 put outsin district last year,” Gar-cia said. “She can hit herspots and has great loca-tion with her pitches.”

Taking first base isJackie Salinas, who is alsoan outstanding athlete forthe volleyball and basket-ball teams.

There will be a battlefor second base where no-

body has establishedthemselves as the frontrunner.

Junior Maria Espinosais tabbed at third base,and the short stop is Jack-ie Gutierrez — a three-year letterman.

The outfield is com-prised of Lilian Flores (leftfield), Alisa Solis (centerfield) and Gabby Chapa(right field).

Zapata will host theirannual Lady Hawks’ soft-ball tournament March2-3, but they are alreadylooking ahead to the dis-trict season.

Zapata opens up withPort Isabel on March 13thto kickstart their quest todefend their district title.

(Clara Sandoval can bereached at [email protected])

Softball season approachesBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMESMICHELLE ARCE:District 32-3A’soffensive MVP re-turns this year.

WACO — Baylor University officials have fivestadium builders working on proposals for a newfootball stadium being considered for the Baylorcampus in Waco.

Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw tells theWaco Tribune-Herald (http://bit.ly/y3Vyge) thatthe Kansas City, Mo.-based Populous architectu-ral firm has the five working to come up withmore precise cost proposals for the stadium.

The stadium being considered for a 90-acreBrazos River front site on campus would replace62-year-old Floyd Casey Stadium. The 50,000-seatstadium is two miles southwest of the Baylorcampus.

Baylor officials have warned that the projectdepends on the results of a feasibility study andwhether Baylor can privately raise about $250million.

Baylor mullingnew on-campusstadium plans

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ABU DHABI, United ArabEmirates — Maybe those swingchanges are paying off for TigerWoods.

Woods moved into contentionwith a 3-under 69 Friday afterthree birdies over five holes onthe back nine in the secondround of the Abu Dhabi GolfChampionship, finishing twoshots behind leader ThorbjornOlesen of Denmark (67).

“I’ve grown to understandwhat Sean (Foley) wants me todo and how my body is going todo those things and produce thenumbers he wants me to pro-duce,” Woods said.

Olesen made seven birdies inhis first 12 holes for a one-shotlead over 18-year-old GarethMaybin of Northern Ireland (70)

and Matteo Mannasero of Italy(65).

“For me it’s very special. It’snot many years ago I was watch-ing them on TV,” Olesen said ofthe world’s best golfers. “I knowit’s tough, but I’m trying to keepplaying my own game and do mybest.”

Rory McIlroy finished with a72 after a two-stroke penalty forbrushing away sand in front ofhis ball on the fringe at theninth hole.

The 22-year-old U.S. Openchampion, playing again withWoods and top-ranked Luke Do-nald (72), opened with a bogeyand double bogey on the third af-ter an errant drive and someshaky putting.

He rallied with three birdiesbefore a double bogey on theninth. That’s when Donald spot-ted the sand infraction and

called him on it.Players are allowed to brush

away sand on the green but noton the fringe.

“Wasn’t thinking clearly and apenalty there,” McIlroy said.“My ball was just maybe six feetoff the green and there was a lotof sand in between my ball andthe hole.”

McIlroy, the co-leader after thefirst round with a 67, managedtwo birdies on the next threeholes after the infraction.

Woods started slowly with twobirdies and a bogey on the frontnine. He warmed up with birdieson the 11th, 12th and 15th beforedropping a shot on No. 16 afteran errant drive landed in deeprough.

“I thought I played well to-day,” Woods said. “I made a cou-ple putts here and there, but itwas tough out there. The greens

got a little quicker, a little bitdrier and the rough is certainlygetting deeper and more lush.”

The best score of the day camefrom Manassero, who made sev-en birdies in a bogey-free round.

Woods is tied for fourth in agroup that includes McIlroy andRobert Karlsson of Sweden (72).

Spain’s Sergio Garcia (69), Ire-land’s Padraig Harrington (69)and South Africa’s CharlSchwartzel (70) are another shotback at 140.

Fourth-ranked Martin Kaym-er (73) failed to make the cut in atournament he has won threetimes.

Much of the attention was onWoods, who is trying to followup his season-ending victory lastmonth at the Chevron WorldChallenge with another win.That ended a two-year run with-out a victory, a period in which

the 14-time major winner en-dured a series of injuries andturmoil in his personal life.

Woods had a bogey-free firstround but admitted the greensfooled him much of the day. Heseemed to figure them out Fri-day, making several key putts in-cluding a 10-footer for his birdieon the 15th.

Woods said he’s adapting tothe new system under Foley.

“If you would have asked me(six to eight months ago) if Iwould understand the system aswell as I do and the numbers I’mproducing, I probably wouldhave said no,” he said. “Now I doand when we talk, it’s very sim-ple.”

McIlroy said he saw signs ofthe old Woods during the pasttwo days, which featured astrong short game and ability toshape the most difficult shots.

Woods shows flashes of potential in U.A.E.By MICHAEL CASEYASSOCIATED PRESS

DENNISTHE MENACE

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES | HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT:

JUDGE PARKER

REXMORGAN M.D.

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

HINTS | BY HELOISE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Readers: Howlong has it been sinceyou’ve CHANGED YOURTOOTHBRUSH? Whatabout if you’ve had a coldor the flu?

Should you change itwhen you feel better? TheAmerican Dental Associ-ation (www.ada.org) saysyes, and here are someother suggestions:

Replace your tooth-brush at least every threeto four months. If you’vebeen ill, the ADA saysthat would be a good timeto change out your tooth-brush as well.

Rinse your tooth-brush thoroughly withtap water, and let it air-dry after each use.

Don’t store yourtoothbrush for a long pe-riod wrapped in a sealedcontainer.

Sharing toothbrusheswith someone else is not agood idea. Duh! Yuck, anddouble yuck! — Heloise

P.S.: When toothbrush-es are on sale, buy a cou-ple of extra ones! It’s acheap investment in gooddental health.

PET PALDear Readers: Avis in

Smithfield, Maine, sent apicture of her light-browntoy poodle, Buffy, with apacifier in her mouth!Buffy got the idea fromAvis’ granddaughter,Alex. When Alex fell oneday, Buffy brought her the“binky” to comfort her.Avis says, “Dogs are sosmart and loving.” To seeBuffy and our other PetPals, visit www.Heloise-.com and click on “Pets.”— Heloise

PROTECTING PETSDear Heloise: As a

longtime pet rescuer, I’vebecome aware that thereis an increase in foundand lost pets during win-tertime. It’s easy for petsto slip out during thesetimes.

After the holidays, I’d

like to remind the findersto post notices, check formicrochips and lookaround the area for “lostpet” signs. Many rescueorganizations and shel-ters can tell you aboutlost-and-found listings onthe Internet, and, ofcourse, the newspaper isa great resource.

Pets do get lost. Let’stry to get them backhome. Thanks. — Lynnie,via email

Woof, woof ! Daisy (atan Chihuahua), our of-fice mascot who is a res-cue dog, agrees. Shecomes to work daily andadds many smiles for us!— Heloise

EASY CLEANDear Heloise: Cleaning

vases with narrow necks?The easiest way is to usea denture-cleaner tablet.Fill a vase with water anddrop in a couple of tab-lets. Give it time to work,then rinse, and it is clean.— Nancy S., Fort Pierce,Fla.

GIFT-TAG HINTHello, Heloise: Through

the years, I have usedmany hints from both youand your mom. So, here isa hint from me:

Most business cardsare printed on nice paper.Unused business cardsmake great gift tags. Iglue two business cardsback to back, hiding thebusiness information.Then the small tabs canbe decorated as you de-sire. With a simple holepunch and some ribbon,you have individual nametags. I read you in TheVillages Daily Sun in TheVillages, Fla. Thanks forall your information. —Jean Holder, via email

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Sports SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. — GregSchiano relishes the chal-lenge of trying to turnaround the struggling Tam-pa Bay Buccaneers.

The 45-year-old Schianowas formally introducedFriday as the ninth coach infranchise history, inheritinga team that allowed themost points in the NFL thisseason.

“We’re beginning a newchapter for the Tampa BayBuccaneers,” Bucs co-chair-man Joel Glazer said, add-ing that they’re very excitedfor that new chapter to be-gin.”

Glazer said Schiano “hasa vision for what he wantsto do.”

Schiano transformedRutgers from a strugglingcollege football program in-to a Big East contender dur-ing an 11-year run with theScarlet Knights. The Bucsare banking on him to havethe same kind of impact inTampa Bay, which has notwon a playoff game sincewinning the Super Bowl fol-lowing the 2002 season.

“There’s been several op-portunities to go to placesthat were quote, unquotebigger names or bigger pro-grams.,” Schiano said. “Andat times I listened. Butwhen I tried to put myselfthere, it just didn’t feelgood.

“As I went through thisprocess, and pictured myselfbeing the coach of the Tam-pa Bay Buccaneers, I onlyfelt one feeling that wasnegative and that was sad-ness of leaving my players(at Rutgers). Other thanthat it was tremendous ex-

citement. That’s how I knewthis was the one.”

Schiano replaces RaheemMorris who went 17-31 inthree seasons. The Bucswere 4-12 in 2011, missingthe postseason for thefourth straight year.

The Morris era endedwith a 10-game losingstreak, during which a po-rous defense allowed 31 ofmore points in seven of theteam’s last eight games andthe offense sputtered, inpart because of the inconsis-tent play of Josh Freeman,who threw took a step backin his development whilethrowing a career-high 22interceptions.

Schiano was one of atleast 10 candidates the Glaz-er family interviewed dur-ing a 24-day search. Oregoncoach Chip Kelly turneddown the job earlier thisweek, leaving Schiano, for-mer Green Bay Packers andTexas A&M coach MikeSherman and Carolina Pan-thers offensive coordinatorRob Chudzinski as finalistsfor the Tampa Bay opening.

In addition to gettingFreeman back on track,Schiano faces the challengeof improving a defense thatyielded a franchise-record494 points while also rank-ing near the bottom of theNFL in sacks and yards al-lowed.

The Bucs used first- andsecond-round selections ineach of the past two draftsto rebuild the defense line,yet still have not been ableto generate a consistentpass rush.

Schianointroduced atTampa BayBy FRED GOODALLASSOCIATED PRESS

GREG SCHIANO:Was introduced asthe new TampaBay coach Friday.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Ifanyone knows how Novak Djokovicfeels after sweating and scrappingfor almost five hours in the Austra-lian Open semifinals, it’s his nextopponent — Rafael Nadal.

A day after Nadal beat Roger Fe-derer in four compelling sets, Djo-kovic dug deep to overcome AndyMurray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 onFriday night after 4 hours, 50 min-utes.

Defending champion Djokovicwill face Nadal in a third straightGrand Slam final on Sunday. It’s areversal from three years ago, whenNadal had to regroup after his ownlengthy semifinal.

The Spaniard needed 5 hours, 14minutes in 2009 to get past compa-triot Fernando Verdasco in thelongest men’s singles match in thetournament’s history. He was so ex-hausted, he didn’t lift a racket thefollowing day.

Yet when the final rolled around,he beat Federer — who had an ex-tra day to rest — in five sets that re-duced the usually composed Swissplayer to tears.

Now a weary Djokovic has lessthan 48 hours to prepare to face Na-dal, one of the most fit players inthe game.

“I know that I maybe have a men-tal edge because I’ve won six finals.... We played in 2011 and I’ve hadlots of success against him,” Djo-kovic said. “That’s going to be mymain priority and concern the nextday and a half, to physically be ableto perform my best and be ready toplay five sets.”

Djokovic won 10 titles in 2011, sixof them by beating Nadal in finals.Just as Nadal has the mental edgeover Federer, Djokovic has devel-oped a hold over the Spaniard.

But the No. 1-ranked Djokovichas shown chinks in his armor atMelbourne Park this year. AgainstDavid Ferrer in the quarterfinals,he struggled to breathe throughmost of a straight-sets win and atone point, clutched his leg in agony.

Against Murray, he looked com-pletely spent again when he hob-bled gingerly back to his chair afterdropping serve to go down 2-1 in thethird set.

“He’s done it many times before,”

Murray said. “He runs very welleven when he’s breathing heavy. Iwas ready for that. He was similarin the last match. But he movedfine.”

Murray had his own slump whenhe lost the fourth set in 25 minutes— an aberration in a match featur-ing long baseline rallies that quiteoften ended in errors.

One rally in the eighth game ofthe second set ended after 41 shots.The third set lasted nearly an hourand a half, with the opening gametaking almost 15 minutes alone.There was one serve-volley point inthe entire match, won by Murray.

The gap between the top-rankedplayer and the No. 4 was mostly in-discernible throughout a match fea-turing 18 breaks of serve and al-most as many changes in momen-tum.

When a scampering Murrayknocked a forehand into the net onthe final point, Djokovic collapsedonto the court. He shared a warmhug with his old friend Murray,sank to his knees and did the signof the cross, then turned to his play-ers’ box and thumped his chest.

Many of his 70 match wins in2011 seemed to come easy — thiswas anything but.

“Definitely one of the best (wins)under the circumstances,” Djokovicsaid. “Time wise, I think this wasone of the longest, if not the longest,that I’ve played in the later stages ofa Grand Slam.

“As a tennis player, you practicehard every single day knowing that

you will get an opportunity to bepart of such a great match and onsuch a high level.”

After losing the last two finals atthe Australian Open, Murray wentout a round earlier this time but leftmore encouraged than ever that hecan break through and become thefirst British man to win a GrandSlam singles title since 1936.

“Tonight’s match was importantfor many reasons,” the 24-year-oldMurray said. “Obviously I wantedto win first and foremost. But alsosort of after last year, the year thatNovak’s had, I think there’s a veryfine line between being No. 1 in theworld and being 3 or 4. I think thatgap, I feel tonight I closed it.

“My job over the next two orthree months is to surpass him andthe guys in front of me.”

After Victoria Azarenka and Ma-ria Sharapova go for the women’s ti-tle and the No. 1 ranking on Satur-day, Djokovic will bid for his fifthmajor title in Sunday men’s final,with the chance to become only thefifth man in the Open Era to winthree straight Grand Slam titles.

If he can achieve that, Djokovicwould make 10-time Grand Slamwinner Nadal the first man sincethe Open Era began in 1968 to losethree straight major finals. Just likeNadal three years ago, Djokovicdoesn’t plan on doing much beforeSunday’s final.

“I think I had enough time spenton the court. Now it’s all about re-covery,” said Djokovic, who has won19 consecutive Grand Slam matches.

Nadal awaits DjokovicBy CAROLINE CHEESE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, celebrates after defeating Andy Murray, of Britain, during theirsemifinal at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, early Sat-urday.

Photo by Andrew Brownbill | AP

The Zapata Times 1/28/2012

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