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As candidates begin lin-ing up for a place on theMarch primary ballot, theZapata political scene isheating up, and with fourseats on CommissionersCourt up for grabs, thecounty could see an almostentirely new court.

Already, a new face hasappeared at CommissionersCourt after Pct. 3 Commis-sioner Joseph Rathmell re-signed in early Novemberfor a run at the countyjudge seat. Eddie Martinez,a local certified public ac-countant, was sworn in asRathmell’s replacement.

In 2010, the Precinct 2and 4 seats are up for elec-tion, but because of Rath-mell’s resignation, voterswill also vote for his re-placement in March. Marti-nez has said he plans to

run for the seat.Two other Zapatans indi-

cated they will seek the Pct.3 commissioner seat whenthey filed paperwork ap-pointing a campaign trea-surer with the CountyClerk’s office: Alan M.Montes and Karran M.Westerman. Every candi-date must file a campaigntreasurer appointment aswell as periodic campaignfinance reports with theCounty Clerk’s Office.

Rathmell has appointedhis treasurer in the race forcounty judge. And TeresaHein has also indicated herintention to run for theseat.

The race for the Pct. 2commissioner looks like itwill be hotly contested asfour people have indicatedtheir intent to run. Amongthose who have appointed a

ZAPATA

Hopefulsline up forprimaryCounty residents could see new

Commissioners Court after electionBy JULIE DAFFERNTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See POLITICS PAGE 9A

Santa rode into Zapatain style Friday night,on a horse-drawnbuckboard, a boat

and even a flatbed with theimage of Marines putting upthe U.S. flag on Iwo Jima. Itwas the annual Zapata Coun-ty Christmas Parade, a de-lightful event that unfoldedunder sunny skies and a coldwind out of the north. It wasa perfect South Texas “win-ter” day, enjoyed by adultsand kids alike.

SANTA CLAUS ARRIVES

JOLLY ST. NICK HEADLINESANNUAL PARADE

Steve Sanchez, potraying Santa Cluas at the annual Zapata Christmas Parade, waves to the crowd on a chilly Friday after-noon.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

The annual Zapata Christmas Parade took place on Highway 83 on a cold Fridayafternoon.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

The sun has returned toSouth Texas, but the air isstill chilly and Christmasis coming around the cor-ner.

Perhaps the surest signthat the holiday seasonhas begun is the arrival ofthe annual San YgnacioHouse Tour, a festive fund-raising event set for Sun-day.

This year, the event willbe preceded by the inaugu-ration of the brand-newA.L. Benavides Elemen-tary School, Zapata Coun-ty’s first TEA ExemplaryCampus.

“It’s just awesome,” en-thused Principal GerardoMontes, in his 14th year asan educator and second asprincipal of the high-per-forming school. “The newschool has a front of river

stone in keeping with thestyle of the historic homeshere, while offering state-of-the-art facilities for ourstudents.”

The school will be offi-cially opened at 11 a.m.,with public tours followingthe ribbon-cutting ceremo-ny. There will be refresh-ments and entertainment,followed by a benefit platesale. For just $6 a plate,you can get luscious carneasada and a drink forlunch.

After that, it’s time forthe elegant house tour,scheduled to start at 1:30p.m.

Marlen Guerra, librar-ian of A.L. Benavides Ele-mentary, is one of the chieforganizers of the event.

“We have four houses, amuseum, church and theplaza on the tour,” she

SAN YGNACIO

Pictures is the exterior of the new San Agustin Middle School onFriday afternoon.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata Times

Annual tour isset for Sunday

By DIANA R. FUENTESTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See TOUR PAGE 6A

A humble dream of keeping boysoff the streets and providing ahealthy environment for them togrow, was born in 1860, and hassince grown to become a nation-wide phenomenon.

The Boys and Girls Club of Za-pata continues this tradition of of-fering a wonderful place for chil-dren to call their own.

In the one year Ileana Thatcherhas acted as program coordinatorfor the Boys and Girls Club of Za-pata, she has seen countless chil-dren progress into young adultswith bright futures as they develop

UNITED WAY

Boys, girls enjoy Zapata club

Riko Griffen, left, plays tetherball with Hollie Reynolds (with hands on ball) at the Boysand Girls Club of Zapata as part of summer camp activities.

Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | The Zapata TImes

See UNITED WAY PAGE 9A

(Editor’s note: This is one of the 26agencies funded by United Way. The2009-2010 campaign is now underway.)

By ERIKA LAMBRETONTHE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

Saturday, Dec. 5Marine Corps League will be having

a fill-the-helmet drive at Texas 16 andU.S. 83 from 9 a.m. to noon today tobenefit the annual Toys for Tots drive,which provides toys for kids in Zapataand Webb counties. For more informa-tion, call Manuel Garcia at 337-4917.

Zapata Lady Hawks at the Alicetournament, through Saturday.

FLW Eastern Series fishing tourna-ment, Tuesday, Jan. 26 through Saturday,Jan 30, at Falcon Lake. For more in-formation contact the Zapata CountyChamber of Commerce at (956) 765-4871.

Sunday, Dec. 6Benavides Elementary School will

be having a ribbon-cutting ceremony to-day at 11 a.m. to inaugurate the newschool. Following the ceremony, there willbe public tours of the school and therewill be a plate sale — $6 will get you aplate of delicious carne guisada and adrink. Proceeds benefit the school.

The annual holiday San YgnacioHouse Tour to benefit Benavides Ele-mentary School begins at 1:30 p.m. to-day. Tickets are $6 each and will be avail-able at the school at the earlier inaugu-ration event.

Thursday, Dec. 10Hawks and Lady Hawks basketball

teams play in the San Diego tournament,through Saturday.

Friday, Dec. 11Today is the deadline for sub-

mitting wrapped shoeboxes filled withChristmas goodies for distribution toneedy Zapata kids by the Texas A&M Uni-versity Colonias Program. The lid and thebox should be wrapped separately. Good-ies can include candy, toys, books,crayons, gift cards, warm socks and oth-er non-perishable items that fit in thebox. For more information, call the TexasA&M Promotora Office at 765-9921.

American Legion Auxiliary Unit 486will be having its annual fundraising fash-ion show at the American Legion Hall,2213 N. U.S. 83. Doors open at 11:30a.m. This year the event features the lat-est in styles from Steinmart. Tickets are$6 each.

Hawks and Lady Hawks basketballteams play in the San Diego tournament,through Saturday.

Saturday, Dec. 12American Legion Auxiliary Unit 486

will be having Christmas Home Toursstarting at 1 p.m. Tickets are $5 each.Meet at the American Legion Building,2213 N. U.S. 83, first to get refreshmentsand the map of the participating homes.For more information, call 765-8546.

The fourth annual “Mission GiveLaredo” donation drive will include acommunity telethon, live and on-site atSames Motors in Laredo. The theme forthe telethon is “sharing hope,” with thepurpose of raising much-needed funds tosupport and maintain vital meal andshelter services that Bethany House hasbeen providing for 27 years.

Hawks and Lady Hawks basketballteams play in the San Diego tournament,through today.

Sunday, Dec. 13There will be a dance at the Com-

munity Center in Zapata, across from theCounty Courthouse, on the west side ofU.S. 83 to benefit the local Toys for Totsdrive. Music will be by Los Mizmos fromRio Grande City and Los Cinco de Zapata,among others. Tickets are $10 each atthe door. For more information, call Man-uel Garcia at 337-4917.

Monday, Dec. 14Hawks basketball team hosts Mar-

tin High School.The King Ranch Institute for Ranch

Management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville will host its first Richard MifflinKleberg Jr. Family Lectureship on EquineManagement from Monday throughThursday, Dec. 14-17. The meetings willbe held on campus at the Caesar KlebergWildlife Center, and the labs will be heldat the J.K. Northway Exposition Center.Transportation will be provided betweenthe two locations. The cost of the lec-tureship is $500; deadline to register isFriday. For more information or to regis-ter, call 361-593-5401, or visit the in-stitute’s Web site at http://krirm.ta-muk.edu.

Tuesday, Dec. 15Lady Hawks basketball team hosts

Rio Hondo High School.To submit an item for the dai-

ly calendar, send the name of theevent, the date, time, locationand a contact phone number toeditorial@lmtonline.com

CALENDARAssociated PressToday is Saturday, Dec. 5,

the 339th day of 2009. Thereare 26 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in Histo-ry:

On Dec. 5, 1933, nationalProhibition came to an end asUtah became the 36th state toratify the 21st Amendment tothe Constitution, repealing the18th Amendment.

On this date: In 1776, the first scholastic

fraternity in America, Phi Be-ta Kappa, was organized at theCollege of William and Maryin Williamsburg, Va.

In 1782, the eighth presidentof the United States, MartinVan Buren, was born in Kin-derhook, N.Y., the first chiefexecutive to be born afterAmerican independence.

In 1791, composer WolfgangAmadeus Mozart died in Vien-na, Austria, at age 35.

In 1792, George Washingtonwas re-elected president; JohnAdams was re-elected vicepresident.

In 1831, former PresidentJohn Quincy Adams took hisseat as a member of the U.S.House of Representatives.

In 1848, President James K.Polk triggered the Gold Rushof ’49 by confirming that goldhad been discovered in Cali-fornia.

In 1932, German physicistAlbert Einstein was granted avisa, making it possible forhim to travel to the UnitedStates.

In 1955, the American Fed-eration of Labor and the Con-gress of Industrial Organiza-tions merged to form the AFL-CIO under its first president,George Meany.

In 1979, feminist SoniaJohnson was formally excom-municated by the MormonChurch because of her outspo-ken support for the proposedEqual Rights Amendment tothe Constitution.

In 1994, Republicans choseNewt Gingrich to be the firstGOP speaker of the House infour decades.

Ten years ago: AFL-CIOchief John Sweeney welcomedthe collapse of World TradeOrganization talks in Seattle,asserting that “No deal is bet-ter than a bad deal.” CubanPresident Fidel Castro de-manded that the United Statesreturn 5-year-old Elian Gonza-lez, who had been rescued atsea, to his father in Cubawithin 72 hours.

Five years ago: Gunmenambushed a bus carrying un-armed Iraqis to work at a U.S.ammo dump near Tikrit, kill-ing 17. Egypt freed an IsraeliArab man convicted of spyingin exchange for Israel’s releaseof six Egyptian students whowere suspected of trying tokidnap Israeli soldiers.

Today’s Birthdays: SingerLittle Richard is 77. AuthorJoan Didion is 75. Author Cal-vin Trillin is 74. Musician J.J.Cale is 71. Actor JeroenKrabbe is 65. Opera singerJose Carreras is 63. Pop singerJim Messina is 62. CollegeFootball Hall of Famer JimPlunkett is 62. World Golf Hallof Famer Lanny Wadkins is60. Actress Morgan Brittany is58. Actor Brian Backer is 53.Pro Football Hall of Famer ArtMonk is 52. Country singer TyEngland is 46. Rock singer-mu-sician John Rzeznik (The GooGoo Dolls) is 44.

Thought for Today: “All ourdreams can come true, if wehave the courage to pursuethem.” — Walt Disney (bornthis date in 1901, died 1966).

TODAY IN HISTORY

DALLAS — The U.S. Justice Departmentmade the right call in dismissing a voter in-timidation lawsuit against the New BlackPanther Party and recent questions aboutthat ruling are a “political witch hunt” todiscredit Attorney General Eric Holder, theparty’s leader said this week.

Malik Zulu Shabazz, national chairman ofthe New Black Panther Party for Self-De-fense, told The Associated Press the civillawsuit filed by the federal government had“no merit” because the party doesn’t con-done voter intimidation.

Shabazz said he was speaking publiclyabout the issue for the first time because he

wanted to set the record straight before theparty began celebrating its 20th anniversaryduring a national three-day summit thatstarted Friday in Dallas.

“I want everybody to take a second look,”Shabazz said. “I certainly would like blackAmerica and all the world to take a secondlook at the New Black Panther Party at thispoint and to understand that we’re sincerelytrying to help our people and we don’t wantour intentions to be misinterpreted.”

The Southern Law Poverty Center charac-terizes the New Black Panther Party as ahate group but Shabazz denied that, sayingthe party’s “pro-black” message is so strongit “tends to ruffle the feathers of whiteAmerica” in a way that integrationistgroups don’t.

AROUND TEXAS

Malik Shabazz has spoken out against what he claims are mischaracterizations of his organization as a racist hate group.

Photo by Jeff Gentner | AP

Panther leader speaksBy LINDA STEWART BALL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Houston gets earliestsnowfall on record

HOUSTON — Houston had itsearliest snowfall on record Fri-day, with several inches accumu-lating in counties southwest ofthe city.

The previous record for earlysnow in Houston was Dec. 10 in1944 and again last year.

Snow is rare in the nation’sfourth largest city. In the past 15years, it has snowed four times,Accumulations of 3 to 4 inches ofsnow were reported in countiessouthwest of Houston.

’Radio’s Tallest SingingCowboy’ dies

SAN ANTONIO — W.E. “BigBill” Lister, who toured as one ofHank Williams’ Drifting Cow-boys and was dubbed “Radio’sTallest Singing Cowboy,” hasdied. He was 86.

He died Tuesday in San Anto-nio after a brief illness. His fam-ily said Lister was still perform-ing a few months ago.

The 6-foot-7 cowboy, offered adrinking song to Hank WilliamsJr. who used combined his voicewith his father’s.

Houston mayor jumps intogov’s race

HOUSTON — Houston MayorBill White abandoned his cam-paign for U.S. Senate on Fridayin favor of a run for Texas gover-nor.

The Democrat immediately be-comes his party’s strongest can-didate with $4 million in his Sen-ate campaign fund that he cantransfer to a governor’s racefund. White, a wealthy attorney,chipped in more than $1 millionhimself.

-- Compiled from AP reports

School’s racial tensionslead to fights

PHILADELPHIA — Tensionsbetween black and Asian stu-dents at a U.S. public high schoolerupted in a series of assaultsover two days, leading to 10 sus-pensions and several studentsseeking medical treatment.

An official said at a news con-ference that two off-campus at-tacks and a lunchroom attackstem from bullying over culturaldifferences.

Report: Staff warned theirfamilies first

BLACKSBURG, Va. — SomeVirginia Tech administratorswarned their families and or-dered the president’s officelocked well before the rest of thecampus was notified a gunmanwas on the loose, according to arevised state report on the dead-liest shooting rampage in U.S.

history.

Drop in joblessnesssparks optimism

WASHINGTON — Two years

of steep job cuts all but endedlast month, unexpectedly pullingdown the unemployment rate.

Federal figures released Fri-day showed the rate fell from 10.2percent in October to 10 percent.

-- Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Aquinas College students Alicia Oliver, left, a senior, and Ailene Hicks, a fresh-man, walk through the campus in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Friday.

Photo by Rex Larsen/The Grand Rapids Press | AP

Publisher, William B. Green........................728-2501Business Manager, Dora Martinez ...... (956) 324-1226Chief Accountant, Thelma Aguero .............. 728-2553General Manager, Adriana Devally ...............728-2510Retail Adv. Manager, Alice Arce .................. 728-2511Classified Manager, Sandra Valderrama....... 728-2525Adv. Billing Inquiries ................................. 728-2531Circulation Director ................................. 728-2559Creative/Production Director, Raul Cruz ...... 728-2528MIS Director, Michael Castillo.................... 728-2505Editor, Diana Fuentes ................................ 728-2581City Editor, Julie Daffern .......................... 728-2565Sports Editor, Dennis Silva II......................728-2579Business Journal Editor, Joe Rutland .......... 728-2529A&E Editor, Kirsten Crow .......................... 728-2543

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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

Rehab center forcedpatients into slave laborMEXICO CITY — Kidnap vic-

tims freed from a rehab center inMexico City said they weresnatched from the streets andheld in slave-like conditions —beaten, robbed and forced towork 16 hours a day making

shopping bags and clothes pins. Some of the 107 victims said

Friday they were forbidden fromtalking for as long as a week at atime by guards.

Knox convicted, sentencedto 26 years in Italy

PERUGIA, Italy — A jury in

Italy convicted American collegestudent Amanda Knox of murder-ing her British roommate andsentenced her to 26 years.

Her Italian ex-boyfriend Raf-faele Sollecito was also convictedand sentenced to 25 years.

Knox, 22, and 25-year-old Solle-cito were charged with murderand sexual assault in the slayingof Meredith Kercher.

-- Compiled from AP reports

WORLD BRIEFS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 Zlocal PAGE 3A

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ARMY NATIONAL GUARD VISIT

Courtesy photo

Sgt. Jorge Martinez from the Army National Guard visited Zapata South Elementary, in October, forRed Ribbon Week with a message to stay drug free. He also spoke to students about careers in themilitary. Mrs. Magda Salina’s first grade glass is pictured here with Martinez. Back row: Jose Dario,Amanda Benitez, Maximiliano Gonzalez, Miguel Delgado, Jonathan Martinez, Belen Salinas, MarioSolis, Mark Sanchez and Damaris Chapa. Front row: Cody Rodriguez, Aaron Landa, Itzel Garza, No-elia Grimaldo, Kenya Arambula, Luis Guerra Jr., Lucero Castillo, Angeles Vasquez and Sarena Peña.

BURGLARYPolice responded to a call

about a burglary of habitationwith intended sexual assault at4:13 a.m. Thursday at a homeon Texas 16. Upon arrival, depu-ties proceeded to check thepremises and encountered awoman crying. Deputies werethen advised that there was amale subject in the house. Con-doms and pair of leather gloveswere among the items reco-

vered from the home. Police responded to a

burglary of habitation call Nov.28 in the 5300 block of SeanLane. Subjects went into theresidence and took some items.The incident occurred between12:52 a.m. and 2:04 a.m.

Police responded to aburglary of habitation call Nov.27 in the 1700 block of BravoStreet. The complainants statedthat entrance was obtained

through breaking the door win-dow. No items were taken.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULTPolice responded to an

aggravated assault call Nov. 28at Rascal Pub & Grill. The vic-tim stated that she had beenphysically assaulted. The victimalso stated that that she triedto obtain a license plate num-ber and during that time some-one tried to run her over.

THE BLOTTER

Mountains of snow arehere today

Trees, brush and larksare going away;

snow somehow willmelt and make a beautifulspring and will be here tostay.

Snow will cover the

ground and suddenly thismakes a very good sound:

small animals will seekshelter while larger oneswill make this worthwhileall around.

Look out, now, herecomes Mr. Sun; highwaysand railroads are ready torun.

No more mountains ofsnow to see, just beautifulscenery of rivers and

streams.

Soon we will start tosee the birds and hearthem sing, the green treesand ferns start to show.

This means the moun-tains of snow will be athing of the past, but fornow – Oh! How they glow.

(Dora Martinez is a na-tive of Zapata who waspublisher of HispanicNews in San Antonio for21 years. She can bereached at thezapata-times@att.net)

Mountains of snowEditor’s note: This week,

Dora Martinez submits anoriginal poem in the spirit ofthe holidays.

By DORA MARTINEZ

COLUMN

For the first time in Zapa-ta, the Texas A&M ColoniasProgram is sponsoring aChristmas shoebox project.

“We really wanted to getthe community involved,”said Adriana Barrera, out-reach worker with the Tex-as A&M Colonias Program.

The project is aimed atproviding the less fortunatechildren of Zapata with ashoebox full of Christmascheer.

Those interested are giv-en the name, age, and gen-der of a needy child, and areencouraged to fill the shoe-box with all kinds of gifts.

“We’re going to get to seea bunch of kids smilingwhen they get their gifts,”

said Barrera, adding thatbeing able to provide a spe-cial Christmas for a child ispriceless.

“We want to put a smileon their faces for Christ-mas.”

Suggested items arecan-dy, toys, books, crayons,pens, pencils, warm socks,gloves, gift cards and so on,as long as items fit insidethe shoebox.

The colonias program, lo-cated inside the ZapataCounty Courthouse, hasseen a great interest in theproject, and officials expectan increase in donations.

“So far we have seen agood response from thecommunity, and we alreadyhave several donations,’ saidBarrera, adding even someof the court house employ-

ees have expressed a wil-lingness to help.

The project is expected toraise awareness within thecommunity of the less fortu-nate, and Barrera said shehopes it will start a new tra-dition that will see doublethe amount of boxes fornext year.

“Our goal is to give thesechildren a Christmas” theywon’t soon forget, said Bar-rera.

The shoebox project willbe collecting donations untilFriday.

To participate in theChristmas Shoebox Project,or for more information,call 765-9921 or e-mail nana-barrera22@gmail.com.

(To reach Erika Lambre-ton, call 728-2567 or e-mailelambreton@lmtonline.com)

Gift project is underwayBy ERIKA LAMBRETON

THE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

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

WASHINGTON —There is a knotof people stand-

ing outside the NorthwestGate of the White House.They are cold and unhap-py, clutching driver’s li-censes and other forms ofidentification.

Taking his turn, oneman shouts into a com-munications box. He hasan appointment, but he ismade to feel as though heis a rascal after the silver.

There are no welcomemats at this or any othergate to the White House.You feel under suspicionuntil you are cleared in—when you go from in-dignity to thrilling prox-imity to power.

There are no waitingrooms or seats at thegates to the White House.There is no one posted atthe gates to welcome vis-itors, from VIPs to thosewho deserve some courte-sy.

ID requiredThings go badly for vis-

itors who are not carry-ing ID. Some years agosinger Vic Damone andhis wife, Rena Rowan Da-mone, showed up at theNorthwest Gate. The cou-ple had an appointment,but Mrs. Damone didn’tbring her purse anddidn’t have any form ofID.

Forget about name rec-ognition. No ID, no entry.

The Damone tableau isplayed out frequently. ThePeople’s House is not peo-ple-friendly.

Worse, because entry tothe White House is badlyorganized, and often ex-cessively restrictive, nei-ther visitors nor guardsrespect the system — aclue as to how the Bonnieand Clyde of social-climb-ing, Tareq and MichaeleSalahi, got in to PresidentObama’s first state dinnerwithout an invitation,and even spoke to thepresident. (Were theyclimbing, or were theyjust giddy from past ad-ventures on the socialramparts?)

The only thing to besaid for the joylessness ofbeing admitted to theWhite House is that thechilly reception has beenbipartisan.

Complaints galoreSecurity at the White

House gates has grownsince the Lyndon B. John-son administration. Everysubsequent administra-tion has built on the ex-cess security, and faux se-curity, of the previous

one.The guards are mem-

bers of the uniformedunit of the Secret Service.They complain about thejob a lot. The problemseems to be pay; there isnot enough of it, com-pared to other policework. Their beef contrib-utes to the attitude facedby visitors to the WhiteHouse.

The Salahi affair dem-onstrates how too muchsecurity results in abreachable wall. Butthere is too much faux se-curity in Washington, too.

Fake signaturesSince the Sept. 11, 2001

terrorist attacks, a vastarmy of security people(rent-a-cops) has takenover corporate and gov-ernment buildings in thenation’s capital. They sitat desks, or in glass cages,in the lobby of almost ev-ery office building, sup-posedly protecting work-ers from threats.

They are there to getvisitors to sign in and toshow the dreaded ID.

But you can sign in asalmost anyone — for fun,try Adolph Hitler or Nel-son Mandela — and noth-ing happens. Any name isgood enough in the worldof faux security, wherethe incompetent and theofficious blend.

The trouble with fauxsecurity, like excessiveclassification, is that itdefeats its purpose by re-ducing respect for thewhole idea of security.

Waste of timeEvery week I go to a

particular radio studio,where I have to sign inand wait for one of theproducers to escort me.

The busy producershave to leave their con-soles. The guards knowthis is a waste of timeand effort. Everyone de-spises the charade and,therefore, disrespects thesystem.

At Voice of Americaheadquarters, a presspass won’t do. You have toproduce a driver’s licenseand have your picturetaken each time you enterthe building.

Believe it or not, thereare Americans who don’tdrive. Interestingly, Voiceof America requires a pic-ture of its visitors, but theWhite House does not.

So which national se-crets is Voice of Americahiding that the WhiteHouse is not?

(Reach Llewellyn King,host of television’s “WhiteHouse Chronicle,” atlking@kingpublish-ing.com)

COLUMN

Faux securityrife in DC

By LLEWELLYN KINGHEARST NEWSPAPERS

OTHER VIEWS

DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

This farm lies on aneastward-facingslope, which rises

gradually to a thicklywooded ridge in the west. Ican feel the mass of thathill whenever the sun goesdown, and yet, where windis concerned, there’s verylittle lee to it.

Last week, the windcame ripping over thecrest, knocking down a cou-ple of fence sections andgnawing at the trees with asuctioning, siphoningsound. All day long, the airboomed and roared.

By evening, even thehorses were weary. Theyhad been blown about allday as though they weigheda few ounces instead of athousand pounds apiece.

A tree cracks in the dis-tance and they trot, alarm-ed, across the pasture. Awhirlwind of leaves twistspast, and they race awayfrom it. The corner of atarp gets loose, and off theygo.

They transmit this anx-ious energy to me, undilut-ed. I prefer the way the pigsand chickens react. In ahigh wind, the pigs snoozetogether at the back oftheir house, straw pulled

over their heads. The chick-ens sit on their perches,knitting and doing their ac-counts.

Some time during thenight the wind dropped andthe next morning was near-ly still, smoke rising almoststraight up from my chim-ney and from those downthe valley.

There was a strangesense of propriety about, aprimness in the way everytree had relaxed and, at thesame time, come back to at-tention.

In this new silence, thehorses seemed enveloped instillness.

They were no longer

bracing themselves. Theirbones and sinews had re-laxed.

And I relaxed, too. Istood in the sun feeling thestrength of its rays nowthat the wind wasn’t scat-tering them.

When the wind blows,the horses always standwith their heads facingaway from it.

In the quiet of the morn-ing, they were no longermagnetized.

Without a wind, theywere free to face in any di-rection they chose.

Without a wind, the daycould go any way it want-ed.

COLUMN

Watch how the wind blowsBy VERLYN KLINKENBORG

NEW YORK TIMES

I’m a born and bred Tex-an, and one of the thingsI know about Texans is

that we have the courage totackle tough problems.When a fence is down, wemend it. When family mem-bers are in need, we takecare of them. We take re-sponsibility and meet chal-lenges head-on.

Tough choicesI have lived in small town

Texas all my life and waselected to serve as a ruralprosecutor. I’ve always be-lieved we have the right toexpect those we elect to rep-resent us to make the toughchoices the same way every-day Texans approach chal-lenges in our own lives.Sam Houston put it thisway: “A leader is someonewho helps improve the livesof other people or improvethe system they live under.”

The Republicans whohave been running things inAustin for years haven’tstepped up to the plate tomeet our state’s challenges.Instead, they always blame

someone else, blame Wash-ington, and blame one an-other – all excuses aboutwhy they can’t get the jobdone.

On issue after issue,these so-called “leaders”have not done right by ruralTexas.

Texas Republicans triedto take 600,000 acres of ourfarmland for Rick Perry’sTrans Texas Corridor tollroad system that was set tobe run by a foreign compa-ny. Texas Democrats wantto fix our existing highwaysand improve our farm tomarket roads.

Following this year’s leg-islative session, Rick Perryvetoed legislation thatwould have helped ruralhospitals hire doctors – animportant state effort to pro-vide better health care for114 medically underservedTexas counties and 27 WestTexas counties that lackeven one physician.

Medical serviceBy contrast, Democrats

have always worked to sup-port rural hospitals, recruitmore doctors and invest intelemedicine – an important

tool in delivering top-notchmedical services to rural ar-eas.

State Republicans havefailed to develop a plan thatwill meet both the regionaland statewide water needsof our state. Democrats willwork to ensure that ruralTexas’s long term water re-sources are not sold off tothe highest bidder.

Raise taxesPerry and the Republican

legislature have enacted taxpolicy that raised state taxeson many small businessesand lined the pockets oftheir big business campaigndonors. Texas Democratssupport the small business-es entrepreneurs, ranchersand farmers that are thebackbone of our rural econ-omy.

For years, the Texas GOPtried to pass a billion dollarprivate school voucherscheme that would rob ourlocal schools by shippingour public school dollars offto pay for kids to attend bigcity private schools. Demo-crats want to keep our edu-cation dollars working forthe rural schools that are so

important to our communi-ties and to our children. Achild in rural Texas de-serves the same opportunityto get the first rate educa-tion needed to get good jobsin the 21st Century econo-my.

Texans are proud, inde-pendent people who don’tback down. Like all Ameri-cans, Texans are fed upwith today’s self-serving pol-iticians. In Texas, Republi-cans have run the show forthe past decade, and theirfailed partisan leadershiphas divided Texans, threat-ened our progress, and keptTexans from fulfilling ourtrue potential.

Fight for TexasLike Sam Houston, Texas

Democrats don’t cotton totalk about secession and wedon’t look down on others,but we’ll fight for the Texaswe love and do our best tobuild a better rural Texasfor generations to come.

(Boyd Richie is Chairmanof the Texas Democratic Par-ty. He lives in Graham,where he served as both Dis-trict Attorney and County At-torney.)

COLUMN

Democrats help rural TexansBy BOYD RICHIE

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

To be published, lettersmust include the writer’sfirst and last names aswell as a phone number toverify identity; the phonenumber IS NOT publish-ed; it is used solely to ver-ify identity and to clarifycontent, if necessary.

The identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

The Zapata Times doesnot publish letters withjust an initial and a lastname.

People who want to airtheir opinions publiclymust do so openly.

We want to assure ourreaders that a letter iswritten by the person whosigns the letter. The Zapa-ta Times does not allow

the use of pseudonyms.Letters are edited for

style, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-call-ing or gratuitous abuse isallowed. Letters are limit-ed to 500 words.

This space allows forthe public debate of the is-sues of the day. Thank-youletters are published, butdue to limited space, weask writers to list nomore than 10 names insuch letters.

Letters can be mailedto Letters to the Editor;111 Esperanza Driver; La-redo, Texas 78041. Via e-mail, send your letter toeditorial@lmtonline.com

Letters sent via e-mailshould be sent as a Worddocument or as text in thebody of the e-mail itself.Include name and phonenumber as specified.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 Zentertainment PAGE 5A

Between the new nip inthe air and the spirit of giv-ing the season suggests,there may be no betterbackdrop for an evening tofocus on philanthropy, fash-ion and luxe fur than whenthe Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabil-itation Center and JoeBrand department storejoin forces for a 50th anni-versary gala in honor of thenonprofit.

To include a “diamondsand fur” showing on therunway, a delicious dinnerand the talents of Las VegasFrank Sinatra imperson-ator, Henry Prego, it’s sureto be an evening to cherish— as well as give.

Set for 6:30 p.m. Thursdayat the Laredo Country Club,the event will showcase thelatest in winter fashions, aswell as honor those whofounded and have supportedthe Ruthe B. Cowl Rehabil-itation Center, which hasbeen providing integral ser-vices to the community fora half-century.

The fashionThe flashiest portion of

the evening will, no doubt,be the “diamonds and fur”showing by Joe Brand.

Featuring nearly two doz-en models, the runway willbe packed with the latest —and most luxurious — win-ter offerings by the depart-ment store, including plentyof furs created by the store’sin-house furrier and the ex-otic, dramatic jewelry of FaiMilo.

The jewelry, which is no-table in its fine curves,craftsmanship, imaginationand beauty, is “like wearinga piece of art,” said TerriDeutsch, of Joe Brand.

“They have pretty stonesand unique combinations,”

she said. “They do classicpieces, but they are knowna lot for their artistry. Theywin a lot of awards fromaround the world.”

The store will be donat-ing several of the highly-sought jewelry pieces forthe giveaway that evening.

Also starring on the run-way will be furs fromaround the world designedby Joe Brand’s in-house fur-rier, including chinchilla,silver fox, raccoon and rab-bit furs, each used artfullyin timeless or trendy de-signs, from shawls to coatsto bolero jackets.

The cause

Providing more than74,000 therapy visits in thelast year alone, the Ruthe B.Cowl Rehabilitation Centerhas a 50-year history of ser-

vice to the community, pro-viding occupational therapy,wound care, speech therapyand physical therapy, aswell as additional services,to those who may have suf-fered a traumatic injury ordisease.

“We help (patients) getback on their feet and backto a life that at one time,they enjoyed,” explained Ju-lie Bazan, executive director.

Making an appearanceThe gala will begin at

6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec.10, at the Laredo CountryClub. Individual tickets are$150, or a table for 10 for$1,500. Sponsor tables are$2,500.

Proceeds from the galawill benefit the center’s pro-grams and services.

For more informationand reservations, call 722-2431.

Philanthropy and fashionBy KIRSTEN CROW

LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Chelsea Morgensen wears a bolero jacket made of chinchilla fur.

Photo by Ricardo Segovia | Laredo Morning Times

Jay-Z may call himself“The Best Rapper Alive,”but Lil’ Wayne is arguably“The Best Rapper onEarth.”

And to Laredo, he maybe “The-Best-Rapper-Alive-To-Ever-Perform-At-The-LEC.” Period.

“This is … wow!” saidLaredo Mayor Raul Salinasat a Monday press confer-ence at the Laredo Enter-tainment Center. “This iswhat people want in Lare-do.”

According to concertpromoter Paul Magee ofGlobal Groove London, themayor is correct.

He cited an unscientificonline poll in which 77 per-cent out of 5,000 people an-swered they wanted to seeLil’ Wayne at the LEC.

But for an artist of thiscaliber, you don’t need allthe stats.

Last week, the streetswere already buzzing aboutthe possibility of having amulti-Grammy Award-win-ner in concert. Rumorsabounded and the showwas finally confirmedMonday.

“You asked, we deliver-ed,” Magee said.

Lil’ who?Even if you don’t listen

to radio, you know who Lil’Wayne — born Dwayne Mi-chael Carter Jr., and alsoknown as Weezy — is. He’sthe hottest rap artist on theplanet, and featured in vir-tually every song out there.

He’s taken the countryby storm in the last twoyears with his raspy, egotis-tic, metaphoric verses thatseem dumbed-down, butstick. His silly antics —such as giggling in a song— magnify his presencewhether it is at a concert,on a record or even withinhis inner circle.

His last album, “TheCarter III,” spawned multi-ple hits, including “A Mil-li,” “Lollipop,” “Mrs. Offi-cer” and “Got Money.”

“The Carter III” sold 1million records in a week,making Lil’ Wayne the topdog.

The record went on tosell 2.88 million copies, themost of any in the UnitedStates, according to Bill-board. He was on top of thecharts for seemingly mostof the year — songs, re-cords, ringtones, every-thing.

He’ll be here just threedays (if the release is not

pushed back again) beforehis new album, “Rebirth,”is out. On Monday, he be-came the father of anotherboy, nearly three monthsafter having one on Sept. 9.

It’s also possible that hemay be reporting to prisonin February for a one-yearstint after pleading guiltyto an illegal weaponscharge in November, ac-cording to the AssociatedPress.

Show detailsThis concert has been in

the works for almost a year,following the success of theT.I. concert. It is being co-promoted by Global Grooveand the Laredo Entertain-ment Center.

Tickets for the Dec. 18concert are $22, $42, $62and $82, plus facility fee,and will go on sale today at10 a.m.

The LEC is expectingsuch a huge demand thatthey are allowing over-night camping Fridaynight, complete with secu-rity and food from spon-sors Chick-Fil-A and Taco-lare.

The arena is expectingto sell out its seats for thehigh-energy performance.

Lil’ Wayne goes onstage at the 9thAnnual BETAwards on Sun-day, June 28,2009, in Los An-geles.

Photo by Chris Pizzello | AP

Lil’ Wayne expected to bringrecord number to LEC

By EMILIO RABAGO IIILAREDO MORNING TIMES

6A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

‘A HAPPY SCARECROW’

Courtesy photo

Zapata South Elementary School students attended "A Happy Scarecrow," a play by the ZHS DramaDepartment. Pictured here are first grade students from Mrs. Laura Zapata’s class: L to R (front) Mar-tin Presas III, Yahir Cruz, Kively Salinas, Luis Omar Lopez, Joe Chick Jr. and Sara Lee Davila. Cast: BackMarlowe Bigler, Marco Regalado, Eloy Martinez, Jr. Eddie Martin, Adam Escamilla. Middle: Sofia Regala-do, Jessica Martin, Bobby Garcia, Shelby Bigler, Rebecca Gonzalez and Ediel Bernal.

ACCELERATED READING WINNERS

Courtesy photo

Villarreal Elemen-tary recently hostedan AcceleratedReader FamilyNight. Door prizeswere given. Every-one who attendedthe reading nighthad a chance to wina turkey. The follow-ing students werethe winners of theThanksgiving tur-keys. Pictured areLesly Alvarez (thirdgrade), Rebecca Sa-linas (fifth grade),Everth Perez (firstgrade) and LuisMartinez (fourthgrade). Not pic-tured, Nikole Lopez.

“I’ve spent the last 14 years in wonderful health with the people I love. Thank you, LMC!”

Jorge De La GarzaOpen Heart Surgery Success

“It’s been 14 years now. As you can see, my open

heart surgery at Laredo Medical Center was a total

success. No other hospital in this area has more skill*

or experience in caring for hearts. It was a job well

done. I was back at work just six days later and am

still in very good health today. Thank you, LMC.”

Visit us online at laredomedical.com/changinglives

to learn more about how Laredo Medical Center’s

comprehensive cardiovascular care helps people

like Jorge every day.

Quality Care. Close to Home.

1700 E. Saunders (956) 796-5000

*Laredo’s only open heart surgery program.Patient results may vary. Consult your physician about

the benefits and risks of cardiac surgery.

said. “The homes aredressed up for the holi-days. These are beautifulhomes that are carefullytended with a lot of loveand pride. We’re thankfulto the families who openup their homes for thistour.”

Among the stalwarts arelocal philanthropistAdrian Martinez, whoonce again will be show-casing his home and thefamily museum, and theMaria Eva Uribe family,who will be opening thedoors to her parents’home. Fort Treviño alsowill be visited on the tour.

The Vergara homesteadand the Blas Maria Uribehome won’t be shown thisyear because they’re un-dergoing renovations,Guerra said.

But this year’s tour par-ticipants will get a uniqueopportunity for a close-uplook at the new school,which features one-of-a-kind architecture, a gym,computer labs and library,among other benefits forthe 115 students who at-tend the school.

“Just coming into thelobby is amazing,” Montessaid. “I’m happy that thecommunity has this beau-tiful, well-deserved institu-tion of learning. They takeeducation to heart and arevery supportive.”

The annual house touris the school’s primaryfundraiser. Tickets are $6each and will be availableat the school the day of theevent.

“We invite everyone tocome out and join us for

the inauguration of theschool and the housetour,” Guerra said. “It’s aperfect opportunity to seethese beautiful homes andhelp the students.”

Some drivers may beconcerned about the stateof the roads because sever-al streets are under con-struction. To avoid anyproblems, Montes said,visitors should park at theCommunity Center in SanYgnacio or at Lozano’sstore. People will be pickedup there by buses, whichwill be going back andforth from the parking lotsto the school starting at9:30 a.m.

(To reach Diana R.Fuentes, call 728-2581 or e-mail dfuentes@lmton-line.com)

TOUR Continued from Page 1A

SÁBADO 5 DE DICIEMBRELAREDO - Hoy abre al

público el Centro de Cien-cias Ambientales del LaredoCommunity Collage en elCampus Fort McIntosh de 8a.m. a 2 p.m.

LAREDO - El quintoHoliday Bowl Anual de H-E-Bes hoy a las 11 a.m. en elSAC de UISD. Se buscan po-rristas y grupos de danzaque deseen ayudar a reco-lectar juguetes para niñosnecesitados. Los interesadosen participar pueden llamaral 791-7461 ó escribir a Xo-chitl Mora a lmora@ci.lare-do.tx.us.

NUEVO LAREDO – Hoyes el Festival Navideño don-de se conocerán las mejoreshistorias de navidad. Elevento es en la Sala de Lec-tura Infantil de Estación Pa-labra, a las 2 p.m.

LAREDO - La Ciudadde Laredo, el Laredo Centerfor the Arts, La Posada Ho-tel, Main Streets Laredo y laOficina del Consulado Mexi-cano invitan al Desfile deNavidadFest el día de hoy alas 5 p.m. El desfile iniciaráen Houston y Flores (St. Pe-ter’s Plaza) al Mercadito Pla-za.

El Center for the Fineand Performing Arts de TA-MIU presenta Concierto LasPosadas 2009 del Ballet Fol-klórico a las 7 p.m. en elCFPA. La entrada es de 5dólares por persona. Niñosmenores de 10 años entrangratis. El evento es la re-construcción de la procesiónde José y María hacia Belén.

DOMINGO 6 DE NOVIEMBRENUEVO LAREDO – En

el marco del Domingo Fami-liar en el Museo hoy se pre-senta “Cuantacuentos Navi-deño y Decorando el Árboldel Museo” en el Museo Re-yes Meza de 4 p.m. a 6 p.m.

LAREDO - El Center forthe Fine and Performing Artsde TAMIU será anfitrión deun Recital de Estudio deCuerdas hoy de 3 p.m. a 5p.m. en el CFPA Recital Hall.El evento es gratuito y abier-to al público.

NUEVO LAREDO – Hoyes el evento “Ayer, hoy ysiempre” en el marco del 40Aniversario del Grupo deDanza Mextli en el TeatroPrincipal del Centro Culturala las 7 p.m.

LUNES 7 DE DICIEMBRECIUDAD MIER - El Al-

calde de esta Ciudad, JoséIván Mancías Hinojosa rindehoy su II Informe de Gobier-no en el Casino Argüelles alas 7 p.m.

JUEVES 10 DE DICIEMBREEl Ruthe B. Cowl Reha-

bilitation Center celebrará su50 Aniversario con un Desfi-le de Modas de Gala de PielJoe Brand programado parahoy en el Laredo CountryClub a las 6:30 p.m. Elevento ofrece varios nivelesde patrocinio incluyendo me-sas por 1.500 y 2.500 dóla-res. Las ganancias del even-to se destinarán a continuarel trabajo que el centro rea-liza para ayudar a muchosclientes necesitados de Lare-do y áreas circunvecinas.Los asistentes disfrutaránuna cena y entretenimiento.Información adicional en el722-2431.

Hoy se presenta ladramatización “The 99” enel Laredo EntertainmentCenter de 7 p.m. a 11 p.m.La producción está diseñadapara mostrar a los jóvenesel resultado de malas elec-ciones y relaciones equivoca-das.

VIERNES 11 DE DICIEMBRERIO BRAVO – La Ciu-

dad de Rio Bravo invita a suFeria del Tamal y Buñuelo apartir de hoy y hasta el 13de diciembre. Hoy abre elcarnaval con la develaciónde una barda.

Agendaen Breve

Zfrontera PÁGINA 7ASÁBADO 5 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2009

CD. VICTORIA - Con el propósi-to de crear una cultura alimenticiaentre estudiantes, la Secretaría deEducación en Tamaulipas está de-sarrollando en escuelas primariasde la localidad y en los primerosgrados del nivel secundaria el Pro-grama “Crece Sano” a fin de man-tener el Control Nutricional y elCombate a la Obesidad Infantil,implantando nuevos esquemas alenseñar al alumno a proteger elcontrol de su cuerpo y a los padresde familia para que tomen deci-siones adecuadas con la nutricióny el ejercicio.

El Secretario de Educación JoséManuel Assad Montelongo destacóque se toma la talla, peso y estat-ura (de los alumnos) para buscarlas estrategias adecuadas en aquel-los casos que se detecten a alum-nos con sobrepeso.

“Asimismo se les proporcionó alos maestros y alumnos materialdidáctico conteniendo orientación

nutricional y así realizar las activ-idades que vienen en el libro rela-cionadas al tema para promoverlos hábitos de la alimentación, ade-más se les brinda a la semana laclase de Educación Física”, dijo

Assad.También existe una propuesta

para que en las cooperativas esco-lares se vengan exclusivamente ali-mentos propuestos por la Secretar-ía de Salud con la finalidad de

ofrecer insumos más saludables yenergéticos que cumplan con lasnecesidades propicias de la etapade vida.

“Crece Sano” busca que losalumnos aprendan a comer sana-mente y llevar una vida de activ-idad física mediante el juego, obte-niendo mejores resultados en nu-trición y esto ayude a lograr elpeso ideal en su vida presente yfutura.

“Crece Sano” realiza pláticas yconferencias de sensibilización apadres de familia, alumnos y profe-sores con apoyo de nutriólogos porparte de la Secretaría de Salud pa-ra dar a conocer las dietas alimen-ticias que los educandos debenconsumir, evitando así el sobrepe-so mediante el consumo de una ali-mentación balanceada.

“Durante el ciclo escolar se daráseguimiento con una evaluacióncontinua y permanente en las in-stituciones escolares, promovidas ysupervisadas por la Secretaría deSalud”, dijo Assad.

Tamaulipas ataca obesidad infantilESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

El programa “Crece Sano” es implementado, cuando el clima lo permite, en escuelasprimarias de Tamaulipas a fin de mantener el Control Nutricional y el Combate a laObesidad Infantil.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

CD. VICTORIA – “¡Quéhonor servir a Tamauli-pas!” dijo el Gobernadorde Tamaulipas EugenioHernández Flores durantela lectura de su V Informede actividades el miér-coles.

Su deseo, dijo, es que latransformación actual dela entidad trascienda a lasnuevas generaciones.

Ante más de seis milpersonas congregadas pa-ra escucharlo en el Polyfo-rum de esta capital, dijoque el gobierno toma in-iciativas y propone solu-ciones, con un gobiernoque facilita, proyecta, con-struye, gestiona e incluye.

Como testigos del men-saje escuchaban catorcegobernadores, presidentesde partidos políticos, lí-deres laborales, empresa-riales y camarales, autori-dades militares y federalesy la sociedad en generalrepresentada por sus orga-nismos cupulares y susmás destacados académi-cos, profesionales, comuni-cadores y artistas.

Suma de esfuerzosEn la lectura del in-

forme, Hernández destacóel Programa Estatal de In-fraestructura 2008-2010, laspolíticas de austeridad yacuerdos con empresariosy trabajadores para de-fender el empleo.

El Programa Estatal deInfraestructura ha canali-zado 48 mil millones de pe-sos a obras estratégicas enlos 43 municipios.

“Es esta una suma deesfuerzos de los tres ór-

denes de gobierno y de lainiciativa privada, quepermite hasta ahora haberconcluido acciones por 15mil 960 millones de pesos,que están en construcciónobras por 14 mil 600 mil-lones y que estén en licita-ción para realizarse en2010, acciones por 13 mil177 millones más”, explicóHernández.

CarreterasEn materia de infraes-

tructura carretera, du-rante el presente año sedestinaron junto a la Fed-eración mil 960 millonesde pesos para cristalizarobras como el libramientosur de Reynosa y sus en-tronques, el corredor in-dustrial Reynosa-Pharr, elinicio de puentes vehicu-lares en Matamoros, y elsegundo cuerpo del Libra-miento Mex 2 en NuevoLaredo. En Tamaulipas ac-tualmente hay 1,400 kiló-metros de carretera.

EducaciónEn educación, con una

inversión superior a los665 millones de pesos, sefortaleció el sistema esta-tal de becas y estímuloseducativos en beneficio de220 mil estudiantes conobras de ampliación ymantenimiento en más de3 mil 600 planteles. En laeducación media superiorse ha destinado más de 730millones de pesos.

Hernández dijo que elprograma de inglés, quebusca que Tamaulipas seael primer estado bilingüede México, llega ya a todos

los niños de escuelas pú-blicas.

Sistema DIFDentro del DIF, habló

del programa “Vive Dife-rente” que consta de la en-trega de paquetes alimen-ticios, servicios de consul-ta, medicamentosgratuitos y orientaciónpreventiva.

Otros programas destac-ables, dijo, son mejora-miento de vivienda, Desay-unos Escolares, CentrosMejores Familias, Lánzate,Adopta un Abuelito (con14 mil apadrinados), Fon-do de Co-inversión social yAvanzamos Juntos.

SaludEn materia de salud, en

cinco años del gobiernoactual, y de forma conjun-ta con la federación, se hadestinado más de dos mil800 millones de pesos parabeneficio de más de 340mil familias a través de laconstrucción de infraes-tructura y el Seguro Pop-ular, a lo que se agrega

también la edificación de55 nuevos centros de saludy la adecuación y remod-elación de 237 centros más.

CampoEn el 2009, sostuvo Her-

nández, en el campo ta-maulipeco se ha destinado,junto a la federación, másde 4 mil 300 millones depesos.

“Tamaulipas se man-tiene por tercer año con-secutivo, como la entidaden la que convergen másrecursos públicos para laproducción agropecuaria,forestal y pesquera”, dijoHernández.

Como parte de estosavances, mencionó el in-

cremento a la superficiemecanizada en 49 mil hec-táreas, con más de tres miltractores e implementosagrícolas especializados, elfortalecimiento de los es-quemas de comercializa-ción a través de la con-strucción de 14 centros deacopio, el arranque de laoperación del parqueagroindustrial de inverna-deros en Tula, la construc-ción de viveros tecnifica-dos, el apoyo a 638 uni-dades de producciónpecuaria, con obras de in-fraestructura y equipa-miento y el impulso alPrograma Caminos delCampo, donde se han in-vertido más de mil mil-lones de pesos, entre otrasacciones.

Gobernadorreporta avancesen Tamaulipas

El Gobernador de Tamaulipas Eugenio Hernández Flores aparece en la pantalla gigante durante la lec-tura de su V Informe de Gobierno, el miércoles, en Ciudad Victoria.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

“Es esta una suma de esfuerzos delos tres órdenes de gobierno y dela iniciativa privada”.EUGENIO HERNÁNDES FLOREZ, GOBERNADOR DE TAMAULIPAS

CIUDAD MIER – Person-al del Sistema para el De-sarrollo Integral de la Fam-ilia (DIF) cada mañanabrinda desayunos para másde 50 adultos mayores deescasos recursos económi-cos que viven en esta Mun-icipio.

La Presidenta del Siste-ma DIF Isabel Cristian Tre-viño Ruiz dijo que los “con-sentidos del gobierno sonlos abuelitos”.

La encargada de la coci-na Rosa Meliá Treviño, asícomo María GuadalupeUbaldo y Gloria Guillermi-na de León tienen la re-sponsabilidad diaria depreparar los alimentos.

El jueves, por ejemplo, secocinaron los tradicionales

buñuelos y champurradopara consentir a los adultosmayores.

Los ‘abuelitos’ agradecie-ron el detalle propio de lasfiestas decembrinas.

“Buscamos que tengan

la oportunidad de que dia-riamente cuenten con undesayuno”, dijo Treviño, amanera de conclusión.

(Yahaira L. Zambrano esDirectora de ComunicaciónSocial de Ciudad Mier).

Garantizan desayuno aabuelitos en Cd. Mier

POR YAJAIRA L. ZAMBRANOESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Trabajadoras de la cocina del Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral dela Familia en Ciudad Mier cocinan los tradicionales buñuelos paraunos 50 adultos mayores, el jueves.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Ciudad Mier

II INFORME DE GOBIERNO

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Ciudad Mier

El Alcalde de Ciudad Mier José Iván Mancías Hinojosa rendirá suII Informe de Gobierno el lunes 7 de diciembre a las 7 p.m. en elCasino Argüelles, junto al edificio de la Presidencia Municipal.Se invita a los residentes del Municipio a asistir para escuchar elavance de las obras en la ciudad.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALZCISD

P.O. BOX 158ZAPATA, TEXAS 78076

(956)765-6546

Zapata County I.S.D. will be accepting proposals for the TELECOMMUNICATIONS,

INTERNET ACCESS, INTERNAL CONNECTIONS AND BASIC MAINTENANCE

OF INTERNAL CONNECTIONS.

Below are specifications of the services/materials being requested:

Telecommunication ServicesBasic Telephone Service 69 linesT1 Service 1 T1Cellular Service 90 Phones/lines Alarm Telephone Lines 7 linesDirectory Assistance Charges 7 buildingsFax Machine Lines 22 linesLong Distance Services 56 linesDigital Transmission Services Wireless District Wide

Internet AccessInternet Access District WideEmail service District WideMiscellaneous fees District Wide

Internal ConnectionsSmart UPS RT 300VA Rack mountable 44 UnitsSmart UPS RT 1500va 19 UnitsAccess switch control server 4 UnitsVideo Distribution System and associated hardware and software District Wide48 Port 10/100/1000 w/PoE and up tp 4 MINI GBICS 9 Units160 port 10/100/1000 w/PoE and up to 8 MINI GBICS and redundant power supply 4 UnitsCODECS 6 Units24 port 10/10/1000 Access switch w/PoE District Wide8 port unmanaged switches 50 Units 5 port unmanaged switches 50 Units

Basic Maintenance on Internal ConnectionsBasic Local Network Maintenance District WideBasic Maintenance on PBX District Wide

District Technology AssessmentDesktop communications software has been purchased.Electrical Systems are adequate for the capacity being requested.A sufficient quantity of computers has been purchased.Computer hardware maintenance adequate arrangements have been made.Staff development: All staff has had an appropriate level of training/additional training has already been scheduled.

Zapata County I.S.D. will accept proposals marked TELECOMMUNICATIONS,

INTERNET ACCESS, INTERNAL CONNECTIONS AND BASIC MAINTENANCE OF

INTERNAL CONNECTIONS FOR ZAPATA COUNTY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

DISTRICT ENTITY NUMBER 141503 only by submission through Universal Service

Administrative Company website, www.usac.org. Please feel free to call, Patricia Gonzalez,

@ (956)765-6546 ext 2010, or Rogelio Gonzalez (956) 765-3823 ext 2508 for specifications

or any assistance.

The Zapata County Independent School District will post a Form 470 on the Universal Service

Administrative Company website, www.usac.org in the month of December 2009. The Zapata

County I.S.D. reserves the right to accept or reject any or all quotes and pricing, and the right to

accept the quote and pricing most advantageous to the district.

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

Carmen Ramirez - Rathmell, D.D.S.“Let your smile be

a sign of happiness& good health”

1520 Corpus Christi StreetTelephone (956) 726-0160

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

treasurer is incumbent Ga-briel Villarreal. The filerswho would be contestingVillarreal are ManuelUribe, Sylvia Ramirez Men-doza and Nicolas I. Gutier-rez.

Incumbent Norberto Gar-za is the only one who hasindicated he will run for thePct. 4 seat.

Also, current CountyClerk Mary Jayne Villar-real-Bonoan, County Trea-surer Romeo Salinas, Pct. 3Justice of the Peace Fernan-do Muñoz, Democratic Par-ty Chair Doroteo N. Garzaand District Clerk DoraMartinez Ramos are the on-ly ones to appoint a treasur-er for their respective offic-es.

Four potential candidatesindicated a run for Pct. 1Justice of the Peace: incum-bent Anna M. Guerra, Amy

Salinas, San Juanita San-chez and Jacinto “Jachi”Reyes.

Two people have indicat-ed a challenge to incumbentPct. 4 Justice of the PeaceJose Clemente Gutierrez.Rosa Elena Martinez andRicardo Perez have also ap-pointed a treasurer.

So far, no one has indicat-ed a run against 49th Dis-trict Judge Joe Lopez.

Candidates were able tobegin applying for a placeon the 2010 ballot Thursday.

Democratic Party ChairDoroteo Garza said Fridayafternoon three people had

already applied for a spot:Anna Muñoz Guerra, Ricar-do Perez and Dora MartinezRamos.

Candidates have untilJan. 4 at 5 p.m. to submittheir application. For moreinformation on applying,call Garza at 765-9910.

For more information onappointing a treasurer, stopby the County’s Clerk’s Of-fice.

The primary is scheduledfor March 2 and the runoffis scheduled for April 13.

(Julie Daffern may bereached at 728-2565 or jdaff-ern@lmtonline.com)

POLITICS Continued from Page 1A

positive values.During the summer, children partici-

pate in not only athletic programs, butalso educational ones availablethrough the library, including a sum-mer reading program.

"It has been a great summer," saidThatcher, referring to the new pro-grams that were made available, suchas the addition of a soccer program,among others.

As the summer ended, Thatcher be-lieves that the club will see an increaseof participation levels during the com-ing months.

The club has several activities in theworks for the fall, including Halloweencelebrations and Christmas activitiesfor not only the children but their fam-

ilies as well. "Right now we have a total of 268

children enrolled in our program,"Thatcher said.

The Boys and Girls Club of Zapataprovides children with a healthy learn-ing environment, complete with tutorswho create a family-like atmosphere.

"We provide a classroom setting forthe children in order to help them withtheir homework," said Thatcher.

More and more, parents are begin-ning to get involved, making the pro-gram a bonding experience for fam-ilies.

For more information about theBoys and Girls Club of Zapata County,call 765-3892.

UNITED WAY Continued from Page 1A

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The Zapata Lady Hawks contin-ued to rack up the wins as theyhosted the Falfurrias Lady Jer-seys on Tuesday night.

Leading the wayThe Lady Hawks squeaked out

a 38-36 victory over the Lady Jer-

seys.Zapata (3-3) was led by senior

Ashley Martinez with 10 pointsand Adriana Peña with eight.

Slow scoringAfter putting up 63 points

against the LBJ Lady Wolves in alosing cause, the Lady Hawks hada hard time finding the basketagainst Falfurrias scoring only 38

points.“We did not shoot the ball

well,” Zapata coach Clyde GuerraJr. said. “It became a defensive ef-fort for us. Any time that we playFalfurrias, it’s always a very phys-ical game.”

Going to workThe Lady Hawks were 4-of-39 in

2-point field goals and 4-of-16 from

the 3-point line for the night.Martinez and company went to

work on the court keep the LadyJerseys within striking distancedespite having a hard time on of-fense in the first quarter.

After trading baskets, Falfur-rias took the lead on Makayla Vil-larreal’s basket to end the quarterat 8-6.

Zapata could not find an answerfor Villarreal, who stands 6-foot-3and had 14 points by halftime.

The Lady Jerseys took a 23-16lead into the locker room despitethe Lady Hawks’ offensive out putof 10 points.

Halftime concernsDuring his halftime speech,

Guerra reminded his team the im-portance of minimizing their

Racking up non-district winsLady Hawks’ success continues despite their offensive struggles in game against Lady Jerseys on Tuesday

By CLARA SANDOVALSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

See BASKETBALL PAGE 2B

The Texas Girls Coaches Associ-ation recently released the all-state cross country team for the3A division.

Zapata seniors Marlena Garcia and Mi-chelle Garcia were named to the all-statecross country team for the 2009 season.

Only 15 female athletes from the entirestate of Texas are named to this presti-gious team.

“It is a great honor for Marlena andMichelle,” Zapata coach Mike Villarrealsaid. “To have one athlete on the all-stateteam is great, but to have two runners onthe team is a great day for Zapata.”

Rare honorMarlena and Michelle join a short list

of cross country runners to be named all-state runners under Villarreal.

The last athlete to be named to the all-state team was Jessica Martinez, who ranfor Villarreal from 2004-200(05-07).

Martinez now runs for Texas A&MKingsville University and is the No. 2runner on the Javelina women’s crosscountry team.

Villarreal, who is a member of theTGCA, nominated Marlena and Michelleafter the state meet.

“It’s a long application process becausethey want to make sure that the teamthey pick is deserving of that honor,” Vil-larreal said.

Marlena and Michelle were the onlytwo athletes from Region IV to be namedto the all-state team.

Narrowing downThey were put through a rigorous ap-

plication process that emphasized threeimportant points: performance on thecourse, education and community ser-

vice.After the application process, TGCA

narrowed down the search to 20 athletesand then started to eliminate athletes af-ter doing background searches on them.

“Once they had their 20 athletes, theywent through the applications to makesure that everything that was writtenwas true. They checked their GPAs andso on,” Villarreal said.

The committee, which consists of fel-low high school coaches from across thestate of Texas, voted Marlena and Mi-chelle to the team out of 60 nominees.

Individual effortsMarlena, who captured first place at

the district and regional meet individualtitles maintains a high grade point aver-age and is very active member of herchurch.

She also placed 20th at the state meet,

ALL-STATE RECOGNITION

Zapata senior cross country runner Michelle Gar-cia was named to the Class 3A all-state team de-spite missing part of the Lady Hawks’ season withan injury.

Zapata senior cross country runner Marlena Garcia, who led the Lady Hawks with her 20th-place finishat the state meet, has been named to the Class 3A all-state team.

Courtesy photos

Marlena, Michelle Garcia earnprestigious cross country honor

By CLARA SANDOVALSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

See XC PAGE 2B

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — TheUnited States will face England at theWorld Cup for the first time since afamous upset 60 years ago, then playSlovenia and Algeria in the firstround of next year’s tournament.

The U.S. opens against England inRustenburg on June 12, the teams’first World Cup matchup since theAmericans’ 1-0 victory at the 1950tournament in Brazil.

The United States then meets Slov-enia at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park onJune 18 and completes the first roundon June 23 against Algeria in Preto-ria. The U.S. has never played eithernation.

“This is the best draw we’ve everhad in any World Cup,” said formerU.S. forward Eric Wynalda, now ananalyst for the Fox Soccer Channel.“No disrespect to England, but this isan ideal group for us.”

Premier tiesSeveral U.S. players are well known

to England because they play in thePremier League, including goalkeeperTim Howard (Everton), midfielderClint Dempsey (Fulham), defendersJonathan Spector (West Ham) and JayDeMerit (Watford) and forward JozyAltidore (Hull). U.S. captain CarlosBocanegra played for Fulham.

“It will be like a Premier Leaguegame,” Fulham manager Roy Hodg-son said. “The USA is like a team youmeet every week. It’s better thanmeeting North Korea and a style ofplay you’re not used to.”

The game could feature a matchupof Los Angeles Galaxy teammatesLandon Donovan playing for the U.S.against England midfielder DavidBeckham. Donovan shrugged hisshoulders when the U.S. was picked to

WCupdraws

releasedBy ROBERT MILLWARD

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See WORLD CUP PAGE 2B

that when they put on theblue jerseys, they wouldlose,” James said of Dor-sett, who won a SuperBowl with Dallas in hisrookie season, 1977. “Theonly way that they couldright that wrong was to goout there and kick people’stails in the blue jerseys.

“So for us, in December,the only way we can getthrough December is towin. Point-blank. Simple.”

Not so simple.

Late-season issuesHeading into Sunday’s

game at the Meadowlands

EAST RUTHERFORD,N.J. — Bradie Jamesreached into the past for alittle inspiration as theDallas Cowboys head intotheir most uncertain timeof year: December.

The linebacker spokewith Tony Dorsett, theHall of Fame running backwho was part of the firstwave of Dallas glory days.The kind of days Jamesand his teammates are try-ing to relive.

“He was talking aboutone mystique they hadwhen he was here was

with the Giants, the Cow-boys are 5-10 after Thanks-giving with Tony Romo asquarterback. That in-cludes some Januarygames, regular season andpostseason.

Plus, the Cowboys lastwon a playoff game in the1996 season. No, not quiteas far back as Dorsett’stenure, but certainly along drought.

Romo doesn’t want tohear any of that. He knowsthe Cowboys lead the NFCEast at 8-3, the Giants aretwo games back, and hand-ing them a sixth loss Sun-day pretty much wouldmake the Giants an after-

thought in the division.“We don’t look at other

seasons,” Romo said. “Thisis this season, it’s a brandnew football team. Noth-

ing that happened in 1999and 2004 or 2008 has anybearing on what is goingto happen this December.”

What the Giants need to

happen this December is aturnaround. A quick one,too, because they host Phi-

Ready for a rematch

In this Jan. 13, 2008, file photo, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Patrick Crayton, left, and tackle FlozellAdams leaves the field after losing a divisional playoff game to the New York Giants at Texas Stadium inIrving. The Cowboys are still looking for revenge from that loss as they face the Giants on Sunday.

Photo by Jerry Lara | San Antonio Express-News

Cowboys still looking to avenge heartbreaking playoff lossin 2008 as they take on the New York Giants this Sunday

By BARRY WILNERASSOCIATED PRESS

See COWBOYS PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

the highest finish of anyLady Hawks.

Michelle is part of theStrutters, National Honor

Society, and ran for thecounty fair queen.

As a junior, she capturedthe individual district title

but this past year she wasslowed down by injuriesand was out for six weeks.

Both of the runners are

four-year lettermen.Villarreal was send an e-

mail Monday morning byTGCA and tracked down

Marlena and Michelle to in-form them of the goodnews.

“I was sent an email by

TGCA, and I was very ex-cited because they are veryhard-working individuals,”he said.

XC Continued from Page 1B

ladelphia and visit Washingtonin the next two weeks. A sweepwould put them in position towin the division, or at the leastbe solidly in the wild-card mix.

Tough to succeedBut winning lately has not

been so simple for New York. Af-ter starting 5-0, including a vic-tory at Dallas in the regular-sea-son opener for Cowboys Stadi-um, the Giants have gone 1-5,with the victory coming in over-time against Atlanta. Quality op-ponents New Orleans, San Die-go, Arizona, Denver and Phillybeat them.

If ever there was a time to re-capture what worked for thefirst five games, it’s now. In fact,if it doesn’t happen now, the Gi-ants won’t be making any play-off appearances.

“Every game from now on islike a playoff game,” linebacker

Chase Blackburn said. “We haveto win them to get to the play-offs. We’ve got to make our runright now. It’s a five-game sea-son.”

Dallas still has San Diego andNew Orleans on tap, along withthe Redskins and Eagles. The Gi-ants’ final two games areagainst Carolina and at Minne-sota. Neither of those schedulesis easy.

Must-win gameSo if you want to drag out the

old must-win description, goahead.

“People have been saying thatthis is their season, what they’replaying for,” James noted. “Thisis our season, too, because if wego in and beat these guys, wedon’t have to worry about themcoming back to haunt us.”

The Giants haunted the Cow-boys two years ago on their way

to winning the Super Bowl as awild card. Oddly, it’s the onlylate-season game Romo has lostto New York; he’s 2-0 againstNew York in December.

“We don’t talk about thatstuff,” he said. “When you lose,you learn from it. When youwin, you learn from it and im-prove on it. That is what thisteam has been able to do is putblinders on and continue to go

forward. And we are going tokeep doing the same thing.”

Contrast and compareIn contrast to the Giants, who

can’t keep doing the same thing.They’re also banged-up in thebackfield, with only starterBrandon Jacobs and rookie Gar-trell Johnson healthy at running

back. Eli Manning’s performanc-es have been spotty since he sus-tained a foot injury, and he nowhas a stress reaction that devel-oped from the first problem.

New York also is without de-fensive leader Antonio Pierce.The middle linebacker wasplaced on injured reserve thisweek.

That doesn’t bode well againstDallas, which has a formidablerunning back trio of MarionBarber, Felix Jones and TashardChoice, and one of the league’sbest tight ends, Jason Witten, al-though he’s battling a foot prob-lem.

Do such matchup woes worrythe Giants?

“There’s no fear at all,” line-backer Michael Boley said. “Youcan’t play the game with fear. Inevery aspect of the game, youget hit, you’ve got to get rightback up.”

And right away, because timeis running out on his team.

COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B

“When you lose, you learn from it. Whenyou win, you learn from it and improveon it. That is what this team has beenable to do is put blinders on and continueto go forward.”COWBOYS LINEBACKER BRADIE JAMES

turnovers.“We needed to take care

of the ball, and that is whatI told them to halftime,” hesaid. “We work hard to geta rebound or steal and thengive the ball right back tothem.”

Turning aroundHis players took his

speech to heart, as they hadone of the best defensive ef-forts in the third quarter,

holding Falfurrias to onefree throw and no fieldgoals while scoring 10points.

Zapata hit three fieldgoals from the 3-point lineto take the lead.

Martinez hit two from be-yond the arc while Peñacanned the other 3-pointer.

The quarter proved to bethe turning point for the La-dy Hawks.

Zapata also did an excel-lent job of guarding Falfur-rias’ main offensive weap-

on, Villarreal, as they keptthe ball out of her hands.

Villarreal was held to onepoint in the second half af-ter burning the Lady Hawksfor 14 points in the first half.

“Shelby Bigler and SelinaMata did a great job guard-ing her,” Guerra said.

Back and forthZapata also proved to be

steady from the free throwline in the final quarter, hit-

ting 9-of-17 free throws.As a team they were 18-

of-40 for the night.With less than two min-

utes to go in the game, thescore seesawed back andforth but the vital momentcame when Estella Molinahit a 3-pointer to give theLady Hawks the lead.

The Lady Jerseys camedown the floor and tied upthe game on a layup.

Maritza Garcia went 3-of-4 from the charity stripeto seal the victory as the

clock was winding down.“Maritza, Ashley and

Cathy Quintanilla playedwell down the stretch,”Guerra said.

Getting readyGuerra also has seen his

team starting to gel and findthat cohesiveness that is go-ing to be important duringdistrict play if they hope tomake a return trip to thepost season.

“The past couple ofgames I see the cohesive-ness with the team as a lotbetter,” he said. “They arelearning to play with eachother, and I see that every-day in practice.”

Zapata will travel to Alicefor the Lady Coyote tourna-ment this weekend to facesome quality teams.

“We want to play qualityteams, and that is why yougo to a tournament like Al-ice,” Guerra said. “This willprepare us for district.”

BASKETBALL Continued from Page 1B

play England. “It never ends,” hesaid — apparent reference to hisconnection to the English star.

“This is going to be awesome,”Donovan said. “I can’t wait. Thisis going to be great.”

Matchup historyThe U.S. has beaten England

twice and lost seven times in ninemeetings. The other victory was2-0 in a 1993 exhibition at Foxbor-ough, Mass. In the most recentmatchups, England won 2-1 atChicago’s Solider Field in 2005and 2-0 at Wembley last year.

The only official match between

the teams was at the 1950 WorldCup.

“I think it will be not an easygame,” England coach Fabio Ca-pello said. “It’s good. USA playsgood and the Premier League isthe best championship in theworld. If you are playing in Eng-land, you are a really good player.Like basketball, if you are a Euro-pean playing in the NBA, you area good player.”

Mexico was drawn Friday tomeet South Africa in the tourna-ment opener on June 11 in Johan-nesburg at Soccer City, which alsois where the final will be playedJuly 11. El Tri then plays France,which qualified with the help of

Thierry Henry’s hand ball againstIreland, and Uruguay in Group A.

Other groupsIn the other groups it was:Group B: Argentina, Greece, Ni-

geria, South Korea;Group C: Algeria, England, Slov-

enia, United States;Group D: Australia, Germany,

Ghana, Serbia;Group E: Cameroon, Denmark,

Japan, Netherlands;Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Pa-

raguay, Slovakia;Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast,

North Korea, Portugal;

Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain,Switzerland.

Tough drawsBrazil, a five-time champion,

wound up in the toughest groupand will face two nations in thetop 16 of the world rankings: Por-tugal, which is led by CristianoRonaldo, the reigning world play-er of the year; and Ivory Coast,which has Chelsea’s Didier Drog-ba, who is tied for the PremierLeague scoring lead with 11 goals.

European champion Spain,which has never won the WorldCup, will be a heavy favorite to

make it through to the knockoutphase.

Germany has won the titlethree times, but drew a challeng-ing group. Defending championItaly, trying to match Brazil’s re-cord of five titles, should be confi-dent of reaching the next stage.

The Netherlands, which won allits qualifying games, should be fa-vored to make it through to thesecond round. Argentina is inamong the more difficult groupsand pressure will be on coachDiego Maradona, whose teamstruggled throughout qualifyingto get the best out of talentedstars such as Lionel Messi andCarlos Tevez.

United States coach Bob Bradley speaks to reporters at the end of the 2010 World Cup draw ceremony in CapeTown, South Africa, on Friday.

Photo by Schalk van Zuydam | AP

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre, left, is interviewed after the 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town,South Africa, on Friday. Mexico was drawn Friday to meet South Africa in the tournamentopener on June 11 in Johannesburg at Soccer City, where the final will also be played.

Photo by Denis Farrell | AP

WORLD CUP Continued from Page 1B

FOOTBALLNFL Glance

AMERICAN CONFERENCEEast W L T Pct PF PAPatriots ............. 7 4 0 .636 307 202Jets .................... 6 6 0 .500 249 208Dolphins ........... 5 6 0 .455 256 275Bills .................... 4 8 0 .333 199 261South W L T Pct PF PAx-Colts ............ 11 0 0 1.000 304 184Jaguars .......... 6 5 0 .545 202 255Titans ............. 5 6 0 .455 229 289TEXANS .......... 5 6 0 .455 259 243North W L T Pct PF PABengals ............ 8 3 0 .727 231 174Ravens ............. 6 5 0 .545 257 188Steelers ........... 6 5 0 .545 248 204Browns ............. 1 10 0 .091 122 279West W L T Pct PF PAChargers ............ 8 3 0 .727 312 219Broncos ............. 7 4 0 .636 196 189Chiefs ................. 3 8 0 .273 183 282Raiders .............. 3 8 0 .273 115 258

NATIONAL CONFERENCEEast W L T Pct PF PA

COWBOYS ............ 8 3 0 .727 255 182Eagles ................... 7 4 0 .636 293 228Giants ................... 6 5 0 .545 272 261Redskins .............. 3 8 0 .273 170 205South W L T Pct PF PASaints .................... 11 0 0 1.000 407 221Falcons .................. 6 5 0 .545 272 245Panthers ............... 4 7 0 .364 199 256Buccaneers .......... 1 10 0 .091 181 314North W L T Pct PF PAVikings ............ 10 1 0 .909 342 203Packers ........... 7 4 0 .636 296 215Bears ............... 4 7 0 .364 216 261Lions ................ 2 9 0 .182 193 335West W L T Pct PF PACardinals ............. 7 4 0 .636 267 21749ers .................... 5 6 0 .455 228 213Seahawks ............ 4 7 0 .364 223 250Rams .................... 1 10 0 .091 130 297

Thursday’s gamesJets 19, Buffalo 13

Sunday’s gamesRams at Bears, noonRaiders at Steelers, noonBroncos at Chiefs, noonEagles at Falcons, noonLions at Bengals, noonPatriots at Dolphins, noon

Saints at Redskins, noonTitans at Colts, noonBuccaneers at Panthers, noonTEXANS at Jaguars, noonChargers at Browns, 3:05 p.m.COWBOYS at Giants, 3:15 p.m.49ers at Seahawks, 3:15 p.m.Vikings at Cardinals, 7:20 p.m.

Monday’s gameRavens at Packers, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 10Steelers at Browns, 7:20 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 13Seahawks at TEXANS, noonPackers at Bears, noonLions at Ravens, noonSaints at Falcons, noonBills at Chiefs, noonBroncos at Colts, noonPanthers at Patriots, noonJets at Buccaneers, noonDolphins at Jaguars, noonBengals at Vikings, noonRams at Titans, 3:05 p.m.Redskins at Raiders, 3:05 p.m.Chargers at COWBOYS, 3:15 p.m.Eagles at Giants, 7:20 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 14Cardinals at 49ers, 7:30 p.m.

TRANSACTIONSBASEBALL

American LeagueBOSTON RED SOX: Agreed to terms with SSMarco Scutaro on a two-year contract.TEXAS RANGERS: Claimed INF Joe Inglett offwaivers from Toronto.

National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES: Named Garey Ingram hit-ting coach for Mississippi (SL) and Kent Willispitching coach for Myrtle Beach (Carolina).MILWAUKEE BREWERS: Agreed to terms withC Gregg Zaun on a one-year contract. SignedOF Trent Oeltjen to a minor-league contract.

HOCKEYNHL

NASHVILLE PREDATORS: Recalled C Cal OReil-ly from Milwaukee (AHL). Reassigned F MikeSantorelli to Milwaukee.TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: Recalled C BlairJones from Norfolk (AHL).

AHLPROVIDENCE BRUINS: Recalled D ScottFletcher from Reading (ECHL).SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE: Signed D AndersEriksson.

BASKETBALLNBA Glance

EASTERN CONFERENCEAtlantic Div. W L Pct GBBoston .......................... 15 4 .789 —Toronto ......................... 7 13 .350 81/2Philadelphia ................ 5 14 .263 10New York ..................... 4 15 .211 11New Jersey .................. 0 18 .000 141/2Southeast Div. W L Pct GBOrlando ............................ 15 4 .789 —Atlanta ............................. 13 5 .722 11/2Miami ............................... 10 8 .556 41/2Charlotte ......................... 7 10 .412 7Washington ..................... 7 10 .412 7Central Div. W L Pct GBCleveland .................... 13 5 .722 —Milwaukee .................. 9 8 .529 31/2Chicago ....................... 7 9 .438 5Indiana ........................ 6 10 .375 6Detroit .......................... 6 12 .333 7Southwest Div. W L Pct GBDallas ................................ 14 5 .737 —Houston ............................ 11 8 .579 3

San Antonio ..................... 9 7 .563 31/2New Orleans .................... 7 11 .389 61/2Memphis .......................... 7 12 .368 7Northwest Div. W L Pct GBDenver ............................. 14 5 .737 —Portland ........................... 12 8 .600 21/2Utah .................................. 10 7 .588 3Oklahoma City ............... 10 8 .556 31/2Minnesota ....................... 2 16 .111 111/2Pacific Div. W L Pct GBL.A. Lakers ..................... 14 3 .824 —Phoenix ........................... 14 5 .737 1Sacramento ................... 9 8 .529 5L.A. Clippers .................. 8 11 .421 7Golden State ................. 6 12 .333 81/2

Thursday’s gamesBoston 90, San Antonio 83Houston 111, Golden State 109Denver 114, Miami 96

Friday’s gamesToronto at Washington, 6 p.m.New York at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.Dallas at Memphis, 7 p.m.Charlotte at New Jersey, 7 p.m.Boston at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.Chicago at Cleveland, 7 p.m.Minnesota at New Orleans, 7 p.m.Milwaukee at Detroit, 7 p.m.Miami at L.A. Lakers, 9:30 p.m.

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THE ZAPATA TIMES | 3BSATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES — Here’s how to work it: FAMILY CIRCUS DENNIS THE MENACE

Dear Heloise: I love your Petof the Week photos. I have a 6-month-old white Malti-poo, Chu-la, and I am having lots of trou-ble keeping the AREAAROUND HER EYES clean andstain-free. Can you provide asimple hint for keeping it clean?-- Alma Sepulveda, via e-mail

Alma, this is a common prob-lem, especially on light-coloreddogs. Here’s an easy hint: Use asolution of one part plain babyshampoo to 10 parts warm wa-ter. Mix the solution and, usinga cotton ball, gently wipe the ar-ea until the stain is gone. Thenwipe with warm tap water. Ifthe dog has an excessiveamount of eye discharge, youshould have your vet check itout to make sure there is not amore serious issue going on. --Heloise

P.S.: We clean our Cabbie’seyes with this solution. Ofcourse, she always gets a treatafterward!

BRUSH, BRUSH, BRUSHDear Heloise: My golden re-

trievers seem to have a reallyserious shedding problem. Ilove my dogs dearly, but is thereanything I can do or buy tominimize the shedding all overmy house? -- Sue, via e-mail

Well, these big, beautiful dogsdo shed. We had a lovable onenamed J.D. who adopted us.When I would brush him out-side, the birds were happy withall of the "fluff" to put in theirnest. You can buy a specialbrush called an undercoat rake,sold at pet-supply and feedstores. Go OUTSIDE in yourbackyard or on a patio andbrush the rake deeply throughyour dogs’ coats. You will beamazed at how much haircomes off. -- Heloise

PET PALDear Readers: Donald Tuttle

of Augusta, Maine, sent a photoof his white cat, Virus, eatingcorn on the cob. Donald says:"Virus just loves corn on thecob. She holds the cob downwith her paws and pulls thekernels out of the cob. It is sofunny to watch her, and she’lleat a whole ear of corn!"

To see this cat on the cob,visit www.Heloise.com. -- He-loise

HINTS BY HELOISE

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES NCAA Football SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

ARLINGTON — This isit for the Texas Longhorns,the chance they’ve beenwaiting for since last De-cember.

There are no tiebreakersor computer formulas intheir way.

All Colt McCoy and theNo. 3 Longhorns have to dois beat No. 21 Nebraska inthe Big 12 championshipgame tonight and they willbe playing for the nationalchampionship.

Texas coach MackBrown spent the past 12months reminding his play-ers they were spit out bythe system last year. Hechallenged them to “take itaway from the system” bywinning all their gamesand, so far, they have.

Do it once more and theLonghorns (12-0) will clincha spot in the BCS cham-pionship game Jan. 7against the winner of theSEC championship gamebetween No. 1 Florida andNo. 2 Alabama.

“This is a team thatstarted out in the top twoor three in the country, andif we had not been in thisgame a lot of people wouldhave felt like the team hadnot lived up to the stan-dards,” Brown said Friday.“So they’ve had pressureevery game. There’s beenspeculation about a lot ofthings every week and Idon’t think it affects themvery much. They just keepplaying.”

The Cornhuskers (9-3)can force their way into aBCS bowl with an upset.

It would be quite a coupfor second-year coach BoPelini — and terrific pay-back for Nebraska, whichwas No. 3 and eyeing a na-tional championship whenTexas, a 20-point underdog,won the inaugural Big 12 ti-tle game in 1996.

If Pelini is using thingslike getting revenge and

playing spoiler as motiva-tion, he’s not saying. At anews conference Friday, heinsisted the focus is merelyon Nebraska continuingthe roll it’s been on sinceback-to-back home losses inOctober.

“Everyone’s going tohave their different motiva-tions,” he said. “Ours isstrictly (being) motivatedby what it does for us andour football team.”

Hulking tackle Ndamu-kong Suh, the Big 12 defen-sive player of the year, andhis mates might be able tokeep McCoy and the Long-horns below their averageof 43 points per game. Thebigger question is howmany points quarterbackZac Lee and running backsRoy Helu Jr. and Rex Burk-head can put up against aTexas defense that is No. 1in the country against therun, allowing 61.8 yards per

game.“Their stats and the

things they’ve been able todo defensively speaks for it-self as far as what we’refacing,” Pelini said. “Butit’s 60 minutes. ... I believeour offense, I like our plan.I like who is executing it,and we look forward to it.”

McCoy has won 44games, the most by anyquarterback in NCAA his-tory. He needs one more forhis senior class to matchthe most wins by a four-year class at Texas, a markheld by predecessor VinceYoung and the team thatwon the national cham-pionship in 2005. Winningthe title obviously wouldgive this group the recordall to themselves. It wouldmean even more to McCoyand three other fifth-yearseniors who were along forthe ride in ’05 as true fresh-men taking their redshirt

seasons.Yet another dangling car-

rot for McCoy is the Heis-man Trophy. He’s alreadylikely done enough to be afinalist for the secondstraight year, but a shakystart to this season mayhave him playing catch-upwith one game to go.

Had the Longhorns keptTexas Tech from scoring onthe final play, they wouldhave been in the Big 12championship game, play-ing for a spot in the nation-al championship game. In-stead, the loss left them ina three-way tie for firstplace in the South Division.Oklahoma — a team Texasbeat 45-35 on a neutral field— went to the conferencechampionship, then playedfor the national title.

How often has Brown re-minded them?

“Eight times a day,” hesaid, smiling.

’Horns looking for redemptionNo. 3 Texas can earn spot in national title game with Big 12 championship win

By JAIME ARONASSOCIATED PRESS

In this Nov. 1, 2008, file photo, Texas defensive end Lamarr Houston (33) puts his head on the turf af-ter Texas Tech scored with one second left to defeat the Longhorns and end their hopes for a nationaltitle. Today, they’ll get another chance at their dream in the Big 12 championship game.

Photo by L.M. Otero | AP

GREENVILLE, N.C. —Scotty Robinson can’t doanything around EastCarolina’s campus with-out hearing people weighin on today’s matchupwith No. 18 Houston inthe Conference USAchampionship game.

“It’s been buzzing allweek,” the senior defen-sive end said. “I’ve gotpeople calling me from ev-erywhere to get tickets.There’s been pep ralliesall over campus. Everyclass I go to, people aresaying, ‘You’ve got to getthis one.”’

The Pirates (8-4, 7-1 C-USA) are the defendingchampions and hostingthe game for the first timeafter winning the East Di-vision with the best over-all league record. EastCarolina can become thefirst repeat winner sincethe league went to a divi-sional format in 2005.

But the Cougars (10-2,6-2) are the favorite, boast-ing an offense that EastCarolina coach Skip Holtzjokes puts up “videogame-type numbers” be-hind quarterback CaseKeenum.

It’s also a team thatpounded the Pirates inlast season’s meeting atDowdy-Ficklen Stadium,rolling up 621 total yardsin a 41-24 victory.

It’s a memory that lin-gers with the Pirates, iffor no other reason thanit gave them an up-closelook at the Keenum-led at-tack that has scored 128points in the past twogames and left the Piratesgasping for air last sea-son. And because EastCarolina’s secondary hasallowed six touchdownpasses of 43 yards or more— including scores of 80and 96 yards — Holtz saidhis team’s oft-criticized of-fense will have to shoul-

der a significant burdento help the defense.

That means efficientpassing from sixth-yearquarterback Patrick Pink-ney, who will look to getto the ball to big-playthreat Dwayne Harris,and a strong dose of Do-minique Lindsay carryingthe football.

“You can’t just go three-and-out, but you can’t justsit on the ball and runquarterback sneaks andtry to inch it out and eatup the clock,” Holtz said.“It can’t be your onlygoal. You have to try toscore points, but the of-fense is going to have totry to protect the defensesome in this game.”

Regardless, hosting thechampionship game is an-other step forward for thePirates under their fifth-year coach.

East Carolina has wonseven straight homegames against league op-ponents since, includinglast week’s 25-20 winagainst a Southern Mis-sissippi team that had tak-en 15 of 17 meetingsagainst the Pirates inGreenville coming in.

Houston has tied theprogram record for single-season wins, though theCougars were so dom-inant in a 55-14 winagainst Memphis and a73-14 win last weekagainst Rice that key play-ers have been able to restduring the second half.But receiver Tyron Carri-er said he didn’t think itwould prevent the Cou-gars from coming outsharp Saturday.

“It can help us in mostways seeing that we’refresh. But it could alsoharm us because wehaven’t played a full gamein a while,” Carrier said.“But wins like that reallydon’t do anything but helpyou, it keeps everybodyconfident. I like winninglike that.”

No. 18 Cougarsset for Pirates

By AARON BEARDASSOCIATED PRESS