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EVIDENCE AGAINST BRADYINVESTIGATOR: DIRECT LINK BETWEEN DEFLATEGATE AND PATRIOTS QB, 7A

The Webb County Bet-ter Community Founda-tion awarded an academ-ic collegiate scholarshipto nine local high schoolseniors during a specialceremony held at theWebb County 406th Dis-

trict Court on May 6. Raul Ruiz of Zapata

High School was amongthe nine chosen for thiscompetitive award.

The foundation re-viewed hundreds of appli-cants from every localhigh school. The recip-ients chosen were stu-

dents who demonstrateda commitment to excel-lence throughout theirhigh school career in aca-demics, athletics, extra-curricular activities aswell as community in-volvement. The $1,000scholarship will aid highschool seniors with finan-

cial assistance to stu-dents wanting to pursuea college degree in anyfield.

This is the first yearthe foundation providesa scholarship opportuni-ty to students.

The following stu-dents were the scholar-

ship recipients: Ana Aguiña, United

South High School Sissy de los Reyes,

Alexander High School Omar Garcia, Nixon

High School Samantha Hernan-

dez, LBJ High School Christina Aidee Li-

mon, United High School Jazmine Peña, Mar-

tin High School Raul Ruiz, Zapata

High School Maria Roxanne Vas-

quez, Cigarroa HighSchool

Vanessa Vela, EarlyCollege High School

WEBB COUNTY BETTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

SENIORS EARN SCHOLARSHIPS

The Webb County Better Community Foundation recently awarded scholarships to students. Pictured from left are Pete Garza, foundation board member; Marisela Jacaman, foundation vice chair; Va-nessa Vela, Early College High School recipient; Maria Roxanne Vasquez, Cigarroa High School recipient; Raul Ruiz, Zapata High School recipient; Isidro R. Alaniz, foundation chair; Jazmine Peña, MartinHigh School recipient; Christina Aidee Limon, United High School recipient; Samantha Hernandez, LBJ High School recipient; Sissy de los Reyes, Alexander High School recipient; Ana Aguiña, UnitedSouth High School recipient; David Sanchez, foundation treasurer; and Cecilia Garcia, foundation secretary.

Courtesy photo

Hundreds of applicants reviewed; Zapata High student chosenSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

LOS ANGELES — Arising share of Hispanicsin the United Statesspeak proficient Englishand the percentage ofthose speaking Spanishat home has been declin-ing, researchers saidTuesday.

A report by the Wash-ington-based Pew Re-search Center found 68percent of Hispanics

spoke only English athome or spoke Englishvery well in 2013, upfrom 59 percent in 2000.The share of Hispanicsspeaking Spanish athome dropped to 73 per-cent from 78 percent overthe same period.

The shift comes as mi-gration to the UnitedStates from Latin Ameri-ca has slowed.

“This is part of a

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

MorespeakingEnglish

Percentage of Hispanics speakingSpanish at home has been declining

By AMY TAXINASSOCIATED PRESS

See ENGLISH PAGE 9A

Gov. Greg Abbottwarmed up his bill-signingpen on Monday, approving ameasure ensuring thatsome high school seniorswho fail to pass state examscan seek an alternate routeto graduation.

"The goal of the Texaspublic education systemshould be to ensure all stu-dents who graduate fromhigh school or college are

SENATE BILL 149

Abbott approvesBill helpsstudentswho fail

Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks in Austin, April 21. Abbott signed Senate Bill 149 Monday, whichensures that some student can still earn a diploma despite poor performance on standardized exams.

Photo by Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman | AP

By EVA HERSHAWTEXAS TRIBUNE

See STUDENTS PAGE 9A

To help combat dia-betes, obesity and depres-sion, Methodist Health-care Ministries, the large-st private, faith-basedsource for healthcare ser-vices in South Texas,awarded seven grantsTuesday to health careproviders in Zapata, Lare-do, the Rio Grande Valleyand Coastal Bend.

Mercy Ministries of La-redo and Texas A&M In-ternational University

were among the sub-gran-tees introduced as the in-augural cohort of the SíTexas Project: Social Inno-vation for a Healthy SouthTexas, a 5-year projectaimed toward improvingbehavioral health andchronic disease in SouthTexas.

The seven sub-granteeswill receive their respec-tive awards every year forthe next 5 years.

Mercy Ministries of La-redo, which serves the un-met health needs of someof the poorest members of

the community, receivednearly $300,000.

Mercy Clinic provides

primary health care for allpeople, with special con-cern for women and chil-

dren as well as the poorand marginalized. Medicalservices include generalmedicine, women’s well-ness, diabetes care, dentalcare, case managementand medication assistance.

Sister Maria Luisa Ve-ra, president of MercyMinistries of Laredo, saidshe is grateful for havingbeing chosen as a sub-grantee.

“This grant means wewill be able to expand ourservices for our patients,”Vera said. “We have beenwanting to provide more

opportunities within theprimary health clinic sothat we can offer most ofwhat the patients need be-ing delivered under oneroof.”

Vera said she hopes tohire a dietician and aphysical activities directorfor the Mercy Clinic in thenear future.

TAMIU will receive $1.7million a year for the nextfive years.

University PresidentRay Keck said the federal

METHODIST HEALTHCARE MINISTRIES

Grants awarded for behavioral healthBy PHILIP BALLI

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See HEALTH PAGE 9A

The objective of the Sí TexasProject is … to highlightintegrated behavioral healthmodels that are effectivelyimproving health outcomes in thecommunities with high rates ofpoverty, depression, diabetes…

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015

THURSDAY, MAY 14Scuba Club meeting at 7 p.m. at

the Embassy Suites Hotel lobby restau-rant in the back (not the steak house).On the agenda is future saltwater andfresh water dive trips and scuba certifi-cation classes. For more information,contact Rene de la Viña, dive master,at 956-740-2101.

Spanish Book Club from 6-8 p.m.at the Laredo Public Library. For moreinformation, contact Sylvia Reash at763-1810.

SUNDAY, MAY 17St. Patrick Church Men’s Club

scholarship steak asado plate sale, 11a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Patrick grounds,555 Del Mar Blvd. $5 per plate. CallSalo Otero at 956-324-2432.

TUESDAY, MAY 19Rock wall climbing from 4 p.m.

to 5:30 p.m. at LBV Inner City BranchLibrary, 202 W. Plum St. People of allages are invited. Climbers must bringan ID and sign the release form,weather permitting. Contact John Hongat john@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400x2520.

THURSDAY, MAY 21Elysian Social Club will be host-

ing its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.Contact Herlinda Nieto-Dubuisson at956-285-3126.

FRIDAY, MAY 22TAMIU commencement ceremo-

nies at the Kinesiology and Convoca-tion Building. College of Arts and Sci-ences (undergraduates only) at 10a.m.; College of Arts and Sciences(graduates) at 2 p.m.; A. R. Sanchez,Jr. School of Business at 2 p.m.; Col-lege of Education at 6 p.m.; College ofNursing and Health Sciences at 6 p.m.Office of the University Registrar at326-2250.

SATURDAY, MAY 23Founders’ Day Celebration at

noon at Laredo Center for the Arts,500 San Agustín Ave. The Webb Coun-ty Heritage Foundation will host a lun-cheon honoring the descendants of itsfounder, Don Tomas Sanchez, and allthe founding families of the communi-ty. The event is open to the public.Tickets are $60. For ticket informationand table reservations, WCHF at 956-727-0977 or visit www.webbheritage.org.

TUESDAY, MAY 26Rock wall climbing from 4 p.m.

to 5:30 p.m. at LBV Inner City BranchLibrary, 202 W. Plum St. People of allages are invited. Climbers must bringan ID and sign the release form,weather permitting. Contact John Hongat john@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400x2520.

The Color of Music, a BallroomGala-Dance at the Laredo Center forthe Arts, 500 San Agustin, from 7 p.m.to 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 and areavailable at the Vidal M. Treviño Schoolof Communications and Fine Arts officeat 820 Main and at the Laredo Centerfor the Arts. Tickets sold at the door.Proceeds will benefit the student activ-ity fund. Contact Robert M. Lopez at273-7811 or rmlopez004@laredoisd.org.

SATURDAY, MAY 30LCC’s Rio Grande Arts Festival

from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. at LCC FortMcIntosh Campus West End. This cele-bration includes contests in playwriting,play production, short film, song writ-ing, battle of bands and dance. Admis-sion is free. For more information, con-tact the Martinez Fine Arts Center atmartinezfineartscenter@laredo.edu or721-5334.

LCC presents Girl in a Coma aspart of the Rio Grande Arts Festival,from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission isfree.

SUNDAY, MAY 31LCC’s Rio Grande Arts Festival

from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at LCC FortMcIntosh Campus West End. This cele-bration includes contests in playwriting,play production, short film, song writ-ing, battle of bands and dance. Admis-sion is free. For more information, con-tact the Martinez Fine Arts Center atmartinezfineartscenter@laredo.edu or721-5334.

(Submit calendar items atlmtonline.com/calendar/submitor by emailing editorial@lmton-line.com with the event’s name,date and time, location andpurpose.)

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, May13, the 133rd day of 2015. Thereare 232 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On May 13, 1940, in his firstspeech as British prime minis-ter, Winston Churchill toldParliament, “I would say tothe House, as I said to thosewho have joined this govern-ment: I have nothing to offerbut blood, toil, tears andsweat.”

On this date:In 1607, English colonists

arrived by ship at the site ofwhat became the Jamestownsettlement in Virginia (the col-onists went ashore the nextday).

In 1935, T.E. Lawrence wascritically injured in a motorcy-cle accident in Dorset, Eng-land; he died six days later.

In 1958, Vice President Rich-ard Nixon and his wife, Pat,were spat upon and their lim-ousine battered by rocksthrown by anti-U.S. demon-strators in Caracas, Venezue-la.

In 1973, in tennis’ first so-called “Battle of the Sexes,”Bobby Riggs defeated Marga-ret Court 6-2, 6-1 in Ramona,California. (Billie Jean Kingsoundly defeated Riggs at theHouston Astrodome in Sep-tember.)

In 1981, Pope John Paul IIwas shot and seriously wound-ed in St. Peter’s Square byTurkish assailant Mehmet AliAgca.

In 1985, a confrontation be-tween Philadelphia authoritiesand the radical group MOVEended as police dropped abomb onto the group’s rowhouse.

In 1994, President Bill Clin-ton nominated federal appealsJudge Stephen G. Breyer tothe U.S. Supreme Court to re-place retiring Justice Harry A.Blackmun.

In 2000, explosions at a fire-works warehouse in the Neth-erlands killed 23 people andinjured nearly 1,000 others. (Asuspect was found guilty ofcausing the blasts, but his con-viction was overturned.)

Ten years ago: The Penta-gon proposed the most sweep-ing changes to its network ofmilitary bases in modern his-tory, a plan that would close 33major facilities in 22 statesand reconfigure hundreds ofothers.

Five years ago: Three Pa-kistani men who authoritiessay supplied funds to would-beTimes Square bomber FaisalShahzad were arrested in a se-ries of raids in New England.

One year ago: A Europeancourt, in an important test ofthe “right to be forgotten,”ruled that Google had toamend some of its search re-sults at the request of ordi-nary people when they showedlinks to outdated, irrelevantinformation.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorBuck Taylor is 77. Singer Ste-vie Wonder is 65. BasketballHall of Famer Dennis Rodmanis 54. Actor-comedian StephenColbert is 51. Singer DariusRucker (Hootie and the Blow-fish) is 49. ContemporaryChristian musician Andy Wil-liams (Casting Crowns) is 43.Actress-writer-director LenaDunham is 29. Actor RobertPattinson is 29. Actor HunterParrish is 28.

Thought for Today: “Whatthis country needs is a goodfive-cent cigar.” — Thomas R.Marshall, U.S. vice president(1854-1925). (To which Ameri-can humorist Franklin P.Adams replied, “What thiscountry really needs is a goodfive-cent nickel.”)

TODAY IN HISTORY

AUSTIN — Racing both a U.S. SupremeCourt decision on gay marriage and legisla-tive deadlines, Texas Republicans pushedahead Tuesday toward putting the state atthe forefront of resistance if same-sex wed-dings are ruled constitutional.

Nearly every Republican in the TexasHouse is backing a measure that would pro-hibit state and local officials from issuingmarriage licenses to same-sex couples. Lessthan three weeks remain in Republican Gov.Greg Abbott’s first session, and the bill mustclear the House by midnight Thursday to ad-vance.

If signed by Abbott, the bill would aim todefy the Supreme Court if it legalizes gaymarriage, laying the groundwork for Texasto potentially raise new legal battles over its

ability to regulate marriage licenses. “It would certainly put the state in a posi-

tion to challenge,” said Republican state Rep.Cecil Bell, who filed the bill shortly after aTexas judge allowed a lesbian couple to weddespite a statewide ban on gay marriage.

The Alabama Supreme Court earlier thisyear already prohibited county officials inthat state from issuing marriage licenses tosame-sex couples. Lawmakers in South Car-olina are also pushing a bill similar to whatwas filed in Texas, according to the HumanRights Campaign, which tracks gay rights is-sues.

Abbott didn’t give hot-button social issueslegislative priority after taking office in Jan-uary. But with the Texas Legislature nowclose to adjourning, Republicans have accel-erated legislation that gay rights activistsconsider hostile.

AROUND TEXAS

Texas Rep. Cecil Bell, R-Magnolia, talks about his proposed bill that would penalize county and local officials for issuing gaymarriage licenses, Tuesday in Austin. Nearly every Republican in the Texas House is backing a measure that would prohibitstate and local officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Photo by Eric Gay | AP

Marriage law gets pushBy PAUL J. WEBERASSOCIATED PRESS

Houston-area school bus crashes into houseLEAGUE CITY — Police say a

Houston-area school bus hascrashed into a house in a wreckthat left a student, the driver anda teacher’s aide slightly hurt.

Officials with the Clear CreekIndependent School District saythe driver apparently had a med-ical problem Tuesday morningand possibly passed out.

League City police say the ac-cident sent the front section ofthe bus into the two-story home.

Woman seeks protectiveorder against senator

LUBBOCK — A woman in Ok-lahoma has requested a protec-tive order against a Texas statesenator whom she accuses ofstalking and threatening to harmher.

Cynthia Ortiz made the allega-tions against Republican Sen.Charles Perry of Lubbock incourt documents filed last weekin Creek County, Oklahoma.

Car hits, kills homelessman during rain stormHOUSTON — Houston police

say a suspected drunken driverhas been charged in the death ofa homeless man who was struckand killed while under a bridgeduring a storm. Investigators saya car was making a turn whenthe driver lost control, the vehi-cle jumped the curb, went underan overpass and hit a homelessman. Authorities believe the vic-tim had sought shelter during arainstorm.

Police seek ID on baby’sbody in luggage near road

SAN ANTONIO — San Anto-nio police are trying to identify ababy found dead in a piece ofluggage dumped along Interstate37. A highway worker preparingto mow some grass on Mondayfound the bag, opened it and dis-covered the body.

The baby appears to have beenvery young, possibly a newborn.

Nobody has been arrested.

Pepper spray used to stopfight at middle schoolDALLAS — A school police

chief says an officer had to usepepper spray to break up a fightat a Dallas middle school involv-ing roughly 60 students.

The Dallas Morning News re-ports the fight happened Mondayafternoon at Dade Middle Schoolin south Dallas. According to aDallas Independent School Dis-trict spokesman, a handful ofstudents started fighting on theschool’s third floor.

Investigators continue toreview fatal bridge crash

AUSTIN — The Texas Depart-ment of Public Safety says inves-tigators are still trying to deter-mine what caused a tractor-trail-er to strike a partiallyconstructed bridge over Inter-state 35 in March, leading to thedeath of a motorist. A man waskilled when a portion of a con-crete beam landed on his pickup.

— Compiled from AP reports

Egg, turkey meat pricesrise as bird flu spreadsDES MOINES, Iowa — Prices

for eggs and turkey meat are ris-ing as an outbreak of bird flu inthe Midwest claims an increas-ing number of chickens and tur-keys. Market experts say grocerystores and wholesalers are tryingto stock up on eggs, but there’sno need to worry about havingenough turkeys for Thanksgiv-ing. Turkey prices, which hadbeen expected to fall this year,are up slightly as the bird fluclaimed about 5.6 million turkeysnationwide so far. About 238 mil-lion turkeys were raised in theU.S. last year.

Egg supplies are falling shortof demand, the U.S. Departmentof Agriculture has indicated.

Man arrested after ‘liking’mug shot on FacebookGREAT FALLS, Mont. — A

Montana man who was arrested

after “liking” his mug shot on aCrimestoppers Facebook pagehas posted bond in a felony forg-ery case.

Levi Charles Reardon of GreatFalls was arrested on April 24,three weeks after an acquaint-ance pointed out his picture on

the Great Falls/Cascade CountyCrimestoppers Facebook pageand Reardon liked it.

Reardon pleaded not guilty onMay 7. Public defender AlexSpayd said Reardon posted a$2,500 bond the next day.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

This Nov. 25, 2014 file photo shows eggs for sale in a Des Moines, Iowa grocerystore. Prices for eggs and turkey meat are edging up as the bird flu in the Mid-west claims an increasing number of chickens and turkeys.

Photo by Charlie Neibergall | AP

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CONTACT US

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 Local THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

The Zapata County Cham-ber of Commerce would like toinvite sponsors to participatein the 5th Annaul Back toSchool Kid’s Fishing Tourna-ment.

This has historically beenone of the biggest events of theyear, and they welcome yoursupport.

In 2014, the support of manyorganizations helped host

more than 400 local childrenwho participated in the tour-nament. Many volunteers andspectators were in attendance.

The chamber is anxiouslylooking forward to even great-er success at this year’s event,which will be held on Satur-day, August 22, 2015.

Below are the details con-cerning this year’s sponsor-ship levels:

$2,000 and more – Plati-num Level: Banner with your

company name and logo, logopresence on event T-shirt,website, email marketing andflyers.

$1000 – Gold Level: Logopresence on event T-shirt,website, email marketing andflyers.

$500 – Silver Level: Logopresence on event T-shirt,email marketing and flyers.

$300 – Bronze Level: Logopresence on email marketingand flyers.

Tourney needs sponsorsSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Zapata Lions Club is host-ing a Memorial Day Mayhem 8Krun and 5K walk on May 23.

The race will start at the LionsClub, 2312 Hidalgo St., at 8 a.m.

Registration is from 7 a.m. to7:45 a.m.

Pre-registration is $15 at active-.com and $25 on race day.

Age categories for the 8K run are14 and under15 – 1920 – 2930 – 3940 – 4950 – 5960 and over

For more information, contactSteve Sanchez at 285-9128 or RomeoGarcia at 750-0366.

Lions Club to hostMemorial Day race

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The Brush CountryChapter of the Texas Mas-ter Naturalist program,focused in Webb and Zapa-ta counties, will be hold-ing its first training class-es July through Novem-ber, and a freeinformational meeting

will be held today.The meeting will take

place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.at Zapata County Techni-cal and Advanced Educa-tion Center (ZTAC).

During regular classes,volunteers compete 40hours of training, wherethey will learn aboutbirds, plants, insects, am-

phibians and reptiles,soils, climate and weather,ecoregions of Texas, andmore.

After completing theclasses and 8 additionalhours of advanced train-ing, volunteers give back40 hours of service timeeach year to our commu-nity. Local service collabo-

rators include Falcon andLake Casa Blanca StateParks, City of LaredoParks and Recreation,Keep Laredo Beautiful,Laredo Community Col-lege/LBV EnvironmentalScience Center, ChaparralWildlife Management Ar-ea, Texas Parks and Wild-life and Webb and Zapata

County nonprofit organi-zations.

The Texas Master Natu-ralist program is anaward-winning volunteerprogram whose mission is“to develop a well-in-formed corps of volun-teers who provide educa-tion, outreach, and ser-vice dedicated to the

beneficial management ofnatural resources and nat-ural areas within theircommunities for the stateof Texas.”

For more information,contact Alberto Sandoval,chairperson of BrushCountry Texas MasterNaturalist Program, at al-berto@rgisc.org.

Naturalist program meeting todaySPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The reintroduction ofdeep fat fryers and sodamachines into publicschools may top the agendaof Agriculture Commis-sioner Sid Miller. But someteachers, nurses and par-ents don’t appear to sharehis appetite for sugarydrinks and french fries.

The Texas Departmentof Agriculture receivednearly 200 public com-ments in response to Mill-er’s proposed repeal of a 10-year-old state policy thatbans deep fat fryers and so-da machines in publicschools while limiting thetime and place where junkfood can be sold. Miller hasalso proposed expanding

the number of days whenstudent and parent groupscan fundraise by sellingsugary and fatty foods —from one to six per schoolyear.

Of the 194 commenters,135 were opposed to theproposed changes. Deep fatfryers were the overwhelm-ing target of concern, withcommenters using choiceterms — "surprised,""shocked," "disheartened"and "appalled" — to de-scribe their outrage.Among the 62 in support ofthe changes, more thantwo-thirds referenced theimportance of using suchfoods to fundraise for pub-lic schools. A handful ofcommenters called for thereturn of the deep fat fryer,while a dozen or so offered

more general support, cit-ing the importance of localcontrol and the need to re-duce state-level mandates.

“I appreciate each andevery one of the individu-als who offered their feed-back regarding the pro-posed rule changes,” Millersaid in a statement, indicat-ing that the repeal wouldallow schools to maintainstrict standards if theywanted to. “The proposedrules do not require aschool district to makechanges; it simply reducesrestrictions and increasesoptions for local decisionmakers.”

But for those who opposethe proposed policy change,a repeal would be a strikeagainst the welfare of thestate’s children and young

adults, who are increasing-ly obese and overweight. In2013, 16 percent of highschool students in Texaswere obese, up from 14 per-cent in 2005. Only Arkan-sas, Kentucky and Alaba-ma reported higher rates.

"Texas has long strug-gled to combat the child-hood obesity epidemic andfaces staggering obesitystatistics," Suzanne Lozano,a registered nurse and thechairwoman of the Ameri-can Heart Association’sstate advocacy committee,wrote to the ag depart-ment. "Obesity is not sim-ply a health issue, it is anissue that will dictate thefuture of Texas and the pro-ductivity of our workforce."

The American Heart As-sociation has joined the

Texas Academy of Nutri-tion and Dietetics, the Tex-as Nurses Association andthe Texas Parent TeacherAssociation to call for thecurrent rules to be upheld.

"Don’t get me wrong, Iam not a kale lover and Iabhor the First Lady’s ideaof good food and caloricmaximums. And, yes, I ama proud Republican," wroteDr. Janice LaPointe-Crump,who called the reintroduc-tion of deep fat fryers andsweetened beverages inpublic schools the "mostabsurd decision I can imag-ine."

Her sentiments wereechoed by Kevin White, aregistered dietitian withthe Tomball IndependentSchool District, who saidthe current regulations

were "not meant to be atemporary ‘diet.’"

"It was meant to set theexample of making andsticking to a lifestylechange," he wrote. "Repeal-ing this would surely leadto more students eating outof vending machines."

Jim Walker, an attorneyin Dallas, was more color-ful in his concern aboutthe state of Texas youth:"We are raising a state andnation of fat slobs that cantext at 100 miles per hourbut can’t walk half a milewithout collapsing in apool of deep fried sweat."

Not everyone sharedWalker’s deep-fried con-cerns, citing bland foodand meager portions asproblems that have comewith strict food standards.

Public questions school junk food planBy EVA HERSHAW

TEXAS TRIBUNE

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015

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

The most surprisingevent of this political era iswhat hasn’t happened. Theworld has not turned left.Given the financial crisis,widening inequality, theunpopularity of the right’sstances on social issuesand immigration, youwould have thought thatprogressive parties wouldbe cruising from win towin.

But, instead, right-lean-ing parties are doing well.In the United States, Re-publicans control bothhouses of Congress. In Is-rael, the Likud Party ledby Prime Minister Benja-min Netanyahu pulled offa surprising win in anelection that was at leastpartly about economic pol-icy. In Britain, the Conser-vative Party led by PrimeMinister David Cameronwon a parliamentary ma-jority.

What’s going on here?Well, there are some is-

sues in each election spe-cific to that country, butthere are a few broadertrends to be observed. Thefirst is that the cutting-edge, progressive economicarguments do not seem tobe swaying voters.

Over the past few years,left-of-center economic pol-icy has moved from oppor-tunity progressivism to re-distributionist progressiv-ism. Opportunityprogressivism is associat-ed with Bill Clinton andTony Blair in the 1990sand Mayor Rahm Emanuelof Chicago today. Thistendency actively uses gov-ernment power to givepeople access to markets,through support for com-munity colleges, infras-tructure and training pro-grams and the like, but itdoesn’t interfere thatmuch in the market, and ithesitates before raisingtaxes.

This tendency has beenpolitically successful. Clin-ton and Blair had longterms. This year, Emanuelwon by 12 percentagepoints against the moreprogressive candidate,Chuy Garcia, even in acity with a disproportion-ate number of unionhouseholds.

Redistributionist pro-gressivism more aggres-sively raises taxes to shiftmoney down the incomescale, opposes trade trea-ties and meddles more inthe marketplace. This tend-ency has won elections inMassachusetts (ElizabethWarren) and New YorkCity (Bill de Blasio) butnot in many other places.Ed Balls, the No. 2 figurein the Labour Party in Bri-tain, co-led the group fromthe Center for AmericanProgress that wrote themost influential statementof modern progressivism,a report on "inclusive pros-perity." Balls could noteven retain his own parlia-mentary seat in the lastelection.

The conservative victo-ries probably have more todo with the public’s skepti-cism about the left thanwith any positive enthusi-asm toward the right. Still,there are a few things that

center-right parties havedone successfully.

First, they have loudly(and sometimes offensive-ly) championed nationalidentity. In this era of glob-alization, voters are re-warding candidates whobelieve in their country’sexceptionalism.

Second, they have beenbasically sensible on fiscalpolicy. After the financialcrisis, there was a big de-bate over how much gov-ernments should go intodebt to stimulate growth.The two nations most asso-ciated with the "austerity"school — those who weresuspicious of debt-basedstimulus — were Germanyand Britain. This will notsettle the debate, but thesetwo nations now havesome of the strongest econ-omies in Europe and theirpolitical leaders are ingood shape.

Third, these leaders didnot overread their man-date. Cameron in Britainpromised to cut the size ofgovernment, and he did,from 45.7 percent of GDPin 2010 to 40.7 percent to-day, according to The Econ-omist. The number of pub-lic-sector jobs there hasgone down by 1 million.

But he made these cutswithout going overboard.Public satisfaction withgovernment services hasgone up. And there havebeen some sensible effortsto boost those at the bot-tom. As The Economistpointed out, "The richest10 percent have borne thegreatest burden of extrataxes. Full-time workersearning the minimumwage pay a third as muchincome tax as in 2010.Overall, inequality has notwidened — in contrast toAmerica."

The British electorateand the U.S. electoratesometimes mirror eachother. Trans-Atlantic vot-ers went for Reagan andThatcher together andClinton and Blair together.In policy terms, Cameronis a more conservative ver-sion of President BarackObama.

Cameron’s win suggeststhe kind of candidate thatwould probably do well ina general election in thiscountry. He is liberal on so-cial policy, green on globalwarming and pragmatical-ly conservative on econom-ic policy. If he’s faulted foranything, it is for not be-ing particularly ideologi-cal, although he has let hisministers try some prettybold institutional reformsto modernize the welfarestate. Globally, voters aredisillusioned with largepublic institutions. Butthey also seem to want aslightly smaller public sec-tor and strong welfarestate reform.

For some reason, U.S.politicians are fleeing fromthis profile, Hillary Clintonto the further left and Re-publicans to the right.

COLUMN

Center-rightmovement

“DAVID BROOKS

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Times doesnot publish anonymousletters.

To be published, lettersmust include the writer’sfirst and last names aswell as a phone numberto verify identity. Thephone number IS NOTpublished; it is used sole-ly to verify identity andto clarify content, if nec-essary. Identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

We want to assure our

readers that a letter iswritten by the person whosigns the letter. The Zapa-ta Times does not allowthe use of pseudonyms.

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-call-ing or gratuitous abuse isallowed.

Via e-mail, send lettersto editorial@lmton-line.com or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Laredo,TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Are you one of thosepeople who drive and text?

If so, nyaah-nanny-boo-boo!

Actually, I’d like to beable to text in any fashionand not be odd-man-out.As a matter of fact, I can’teven talk into my iPhone(Apple, of course, doesn’teveryone?) and create atext. Something about hav-ing such a low, deep(ahem, er, uh, manly, huh?)voice.

In high school, I tooktyping class from MildredDiemart. We had manualtypewriters (mine was aRoyal) and, of course, welearned the “touch” sys-tem wherein we memo-rized the “location” ofwhatever key we needed.

Even though I was con-sidered “challenged” inthis regard since I thoughtManual Dexterity was aguy who made great ta-males, I developed a prettyrapid typing pace. I man-aged to attain a highwords-per-minute (WPM)average. If I could’ve hitthe right key every time, Imight’ve moved up therein the high WPM realmwhere all the girls were.

Could’ve, would’ve,should’ve.

Sheeesh! Situations deal-ing with technical ad-vancement and Ol’Manual, tend to buffalome. If Life Mate (LM) and Ibuy something for thehouse that requires as-sembly, well, guess whogets to read the instruc-tions aloud and hand overtools and parts while LM(bless her patient soul) pro-vides the dexterity and me-chanical know-how to putit together.

And, does she text? Ofcourse, dang it. As a mat-ter of fact, she handles myreplies to text messages aswell. On top of all of thosetalents, LM is an outstand-ing writer herownself.

I tend to want to sit atmy desk and look at thisbig ol’ monitor screen, puteverything on 200 percentand write away. No specta-cles/eyeglasses needed,thank you very much.

I used to type 75 WPMon Ol’ Manual, and 125WPM on an IBM Selectric(for you youngsters, that’s

an electric typewriter).Gee whillikers, technologyis just wunnerful.

Quite naturally, typingskills are a blessing andmuch required in theworld of country editors.

On occasion, I have beenaccused of being verbose.Someone said that to meand I thought they werebeing smart alecks and re-ferring to my Dunlop Dis-ease (my belly done loppedover my belt). And, actual-ly that’s LM’s fault … she’sa great cook.

LM and Son (alsoknown as The Boy) text allof the time. I just sit thereand turn a real prettyshade of Envy Green. It’sone of my better colors. Inthose cases, I retreat to myMan Cave, get behind mydesk and pretend I’m creat-ing once again. Sometimesthat actually works and Iget an idea for a column.

After they’re finishedwith the texting, I get abriefing on developmentsin The Boy’s life, includinghis girlfriend (aka TheSweetie). The Boy is a realestate salesman tycoon.I’ve even watched him textback and forth with a cli-ent or with his office. Talkabout your technological

merry-go-roundOccasionally, they come

over for dinner. Of course,the arrangements for suchare handled via a textingtriumvirate of The Mom,The Boy and The Sweetie.

They come over for din-ner with us and The Pup-py, aka Sawyer The Fa-mous River Wonder Dog,aka The Little Wild Dogand, on occasion, as LePup Savage (pronouncedLay Pup Suh-vodge) as atribute to our new locationin Lake Charles, La. Oncein a great while, The Swee-tie will bring her little Yor-kie (Jack). On Jack’s firstvisit, The Puppy thoughtJack was a wind-up toy orsomething and kept tryingto pin him down with apaw as Jack darted hitherand yon. Talk about yourhilarious sight…

All of this comes aboutthrough this wonderfultechnological advance oftexting. But, being allthumbs is no help at all intexting. So, I just sit on thesidelines and enjoy it.

Willis Webb is a retiredcountry newspaper editor ofmore than 50 years experi-ence. He can be reached byemail atwwebb1937@att.net.

COLUMN

All thumbs, a texting fool

Two or three times a dayon average, suspects in thecustody of the Baltimore po-lice are turned away by thecity jail because they aredeemed too battered, beat-en, bruised or otherwise in-jured or sick to be pro-cessed and admitted. Thepolice are forced to head in-stead for a hospital emer-gency room to seek treat-ment for suspects sufferingfrom head injuries, brokenbones, hypertension and anarray of other afflictions.

The frequency of such oc-

currences was detailed overthe weekend by the Balti-more Sun, which obtainedrecords from the city’s de-tention center under theMaryland Public Informa-tion Act. According to thoserecords, the jail has turnedaway nearly 2,600 ailing de-tainees since June 2012 —about 2 percent of all book-ings.

That staggering figuresuggests the Baltimore po-lice are heedless, at best, ofthe physical welfare of sus-pects in their custody. It al-so may help explain howFreddie Gray could have

pleaded for medical care atleast five times after he wasarrested last month beforethe officers who detainedhim bothered to summon aparamedic — by whichtime it was too late.

As is now widely known,Mr. Gray died of his inju-ries; among them was amostly severed spinal cord -sustained, it is suspected,while he was confined for45 minutes in the back of apolice van, his hands andfeet shackled. That the offi-cers discounted or disre-garded his pleas, as allegedby Baltimore State’s Attor-

ney Marilyn J. Mosby, ap-pears to fit a pattern of neg-ligent police conduct.

Police officers have dan-gerous and physically de-manding jobs. Some sus-pects must be subdued andrestrained in the course ofarrests, and what happenson the street isn’t alwayspretty. That doesn’t absolveofficers of the responsibilityof professionalism — a re-sponsibility that includesan obligation to safeguardthe health of detainees intheir custody. Baltimore po-lice may need a refreshercourse on that.

EDITORIAL

Baltimore black and blueTHE WASHINGTON POST

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 International THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

MEXICO CITY — A teen-age girl at the center of aU.S. custody case appearedin a Mexican court Tuesday,two weeks after authoritiesmistakenly seized anothergirl with a similar nameand sent her across the bor-der.

Alondra Diaz Garcia waspresented to a court in LosReyes, Michoacan state, fora hearing to confirm heridentity and to consider ademand for custody madeby Dorotea Garcia, a Hous-ton, Texas, woman whoclaims to be her mother.

The 13-year-old girl is be-lieved to have been taken byher father to Mexico in 2007without Garcia’s consent.

Garcia traveled to Mexi-co on Monday and told localreporters: “I’m dying tohold her in my arms and Ihope to return with her.”

Alicia Diaz, the girl’saunt, who accompanied herto the court, said her broth-er, Reynaldo Diaz, decidedto leave the girl with hergrandmother to personallyhand her over to Garcia.

She said she was sureAlondra would be happywith Garcia, although, “Wewill miss her.”

Garcia’s search for herdaughter attracted interna-tional attention last monthwhen authorities seized an-other girl, 14-year-old Alon-dra Luna, and the court or-dered her into the woman’scustody despite protests bythe teen’s parents. A videoof the girl resisting policeafter the court rulingspread widely in televisionbroadcasts and online,prompting protests for herreturn.

Alondra Luna traveledwith Garcia to Texas, butDNA tests taken days laterrevealed the mistake andshe returned to her familyin Mexico.

Custodyhearingbeginsfor girl

ASSOCIATED PRESS

KATHMANDU, Nepal — A newearthquake killed dozens of peopleTuesday and spread more fear andmisery in Nepal, which is stillstruggling to recover from a dev-astating quake nearly three weeksago that left more than 8,000 dead.

A U.S. Marine Corps helicoptercarrying six Marines and two Ne-palese soldiers was reported mis-sing while delivering disaster aidin northeastern Nepal, U.S. offi-cials said, although there havebeen no indications the aircraftcrashed.

Tuesday’s magnitude-7.3 quake,centered midway between Kath-mandu and Mount Everest, struckhardest in the foothills of the Hi-malayas, triggering some land-slides, but it also shook the capitalbadly, sending thousands of terri-fied people into the streets.

Nepal’s Parliament was in ses-sion when the quake hit, andfrightened lawmakers ran for theexits as the building shook andthe lights flickered out.

At least 37 people were killed inthe quake and more than 1,100were injured, according to the

Home Ministry. But that toll wasexpected to rise as reports beganreaching Kathmandu of people inisolated Himalayan towns and vil-lages being buried under rubble,according to the U.N.’s Office forthe Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs.

Tremors radiated across partsof Asia. In neighboring India, atleast 16 people were confirmeddead after rooftops or walls col-lapsed onto them, according to In-

dia’s Home Ministry. Chinesemedia reported one death in Ti-bet.

The magnitude-7.8 earthquakethat hit April 25 killed more than8,150 and flattened entire villages,leaving hundreds of thousandshomeless in the country’s worst-recorded quake since 1934. TheU.S. Geological Survey said Tues-day’s earthquake was the largestaftershock to date of that destruc-tive quake.

Tuesday’s temblor was deeper,however, coming from a depth of18.5 kilometers (11.5 miles) versusthe earlier one at 15 kilometers(9.3 miles). Shallow earthquakestend to cause more damage.

At least three people were res-cued Tuesday in Kathmandu,while another nine pulled to safe-ty in the district of Dolkha, thegovernment said.

Rescue helicopters were sent tomountain districts where land-slides and collapsed buildings mayhave buried people, the govern-ment said. Home Ministry officialLaxmi Dhakal said the Sindhupal-chowk and Dolkha districts werethe worst hit.

Search parties fanned out tolook for survivors in the wreckageof collapsed buildings in Sindhu-palchowk’s town of Chautara,which had become a hub for hu-manitarian aid after last month’squake.

Impoverished Nepal appealedfor billions of dollars in aid fromforeign nations, as well as medicalexperts to treat the wounded andhelicopters to ferry food and tem-porary shelters to hundreds ofthousands left homeless amid un-seasonal rains.

Another deadly quake in NepalBy BINAJ GURUBACHARYA AND KATY DAIGLE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rescue workers stand beside buildings that collapsed in an earthquake in Kath-mandu, Nepal, Tuesday. A major earthquake has hit Nepal near the Chinese border.

Photo by Ranup Shrestha | AP

SESIÓN INFORMATIVAEl Capítulo Brush

Country del programa MasterNaturalist de Texas, impartirásesiones para conocer mássobre plantas, animales y na-turaleza del sur de Texas alorganizar caminos naturales,trabajo con menores, mante-nimiento de senderos, entreotras cosas.

Durante las clases, los vo-luntarios cumplirán con unentrenamiento de 40 horas.

Una sesión de informacióngratuita se ofrecerá el día dehoy, de 7 p.m. a 9 p.m. enZapata County Technical andAdvanced Education Center(ZTAC).

Para más información pue-de escribir a alber-to@rgisc.org.

ESPECTÁCULO DE LUCHALIBRE

A fin de recaudar fon-dos y adquirir equipo adecua-do para realizar deporte enlas escuelas de Miguel Ale-mán, México, se llevará a ca-bo un espectáculo de lucha li-bre el viernes 15 de mayo enel Centro Cívico (dentro delos terrenos de la Expo Feria)a las 5 p.m.

El Supervisor de Tránsito,Antonio Santos Ramírez, in-formó que será un evento fa-miliar.

Entre los luchadores queparticiparán se encuentranGranda XXX y Mascara Sagra-da Junior, Ator y los minis delcuadrilátero, los luchadoresenanitos Voladorcito, La Par-quita y Brazalete de Plata yde Platino.

Santos Ramírez agregóque previo al evento se reali-zará un desfile con los lucha-dores participantes.

CARRERACarrera/Caminata 8K y

5K Memorial Day Mayhem, serealizará el sábado 23 de ma-yo, en Lions Club of ZapataCounty, ubicado en 2312 deHidalgo Street.

Puede inscribirse en líneaomás información visite:http://tinyurl.com/mm2nc3q.

CAMPAMENTO DE VERANODel 9 de junio al 2 de

julio, tendrá lugar un Campa-mento de Verano, para los es-tudiantes de ZCISD desdepreescolar a quinto año. Lassesiones serán de 8 a.m. a 12p.m. y de 12 p.m. a 4 p.m.

El desayuno y el almuerzoserán proporcionados. No ha-brá transporte.

El campamento es gratui-to, sin embargo, los estudian-tes deberán cumplir con lasnormativas de fin de año pa-ra ser elegibles.

Las solicitudes de ingresodeberán ser entregadas antesdel 14 de mayo.

Para más información pue-de llamar a Gerardo García al(956) 765-6917; a Dalia Gar-cía, al (956) 765-4332; a AnaMartínez, al (956) 765-5611.

CAMPAÑAMÉDICO-ASISTENCIAL

MIGUEL ALEMAN — Seimplementará la primer cam-paña médico asistencial pro-puesta por miembros de losministerios nacionales “Betel”el 11 de junio, de 8 a.m. a 5p.m.

El grupo de 15 personas,entre médicos y enfermeros,estarán representados por lamisionera Deana Gatlin. Ade-más traerán consigo ropa,medicamentos y despensas.

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

EXHIBICIÓN DE ARTEEl Boys and Girls Club

de Zapata tendrá una exhibi-ción de arte, el sábado 27 dejunio, de 1 p.m. a 4 p.m.

Los integrantes del clubinteresados en participar pue-den llamar al (956) 765-3892.

Ribereñaen Breve

En medio de los recientes en-frentamientos violentos y losarrestos de líderes de cárteles através del Estado de Tamaulipas,el Departamento de Estado de EU,actualizó su alerta para viajar aMéxico el martes, diciendo quehay riesgo de viajar a determina-dos lugares, de acuerdo con repor-tes.

Oficiales del Departamento deEstado dijeron que ciudadanos deEstados Unidos, reportaron fueronvíctimas de crímenes violentos enmanos de grupos criminales envarios estados de México.

La alerta menciona que las per-

sonas deben “aplazar todos los via-jes no esenciales” a Tamaulipasdebido a crímenes violentos — ho-micidios, asaltos armados, robosde auto con violencia, secuestro,extorsión y agresión sexual — queposeen un “riesgo de seguridadsignificativo”, de acuerdo con laalerta.

El jueves, el Alguacil del Conda-do de Webb, Martin Cuellar, dijoestar de acuerdo con la alerta.Cuellar añadió que las personassolo deben cruzar la frontera en si-tuaciones de emergencia o si es unasunto imperativo.

“Si van en una situación deemergencia o no, aún hay peli-gro”, dijo Cuellar. “La informaciónque recibimos (muestra) que aún

hay disturbios por allá. Las alertasson emitidas por una razón”.

Dos incidentes pasaron desaper-cibidos esta semana en Nuevo La-redo, México.

Las personas tomaron las redessociales para informar y para es-tar informados, debido a que auto-ridades de los distingos sectoresde gobierno no emitieron informa-ción.

Alrededor de las 10 p.m. del 4 demayo, el blog Nuevo Laredo en Vi-vo, una fuente para usuarios de re-des sociales, informó acerca de ac-tividad criminal en la Ciudad Her-mana, reportando disparos dearmas de fuego y una persecucióna través de Twitter en la coloniaVillas de San Miguel, al oeste de

Nuevo Laredo. No hay más infor-mación disponible.

Al día siguiente el blog publicóen Twitter, a las 3:10 p.m., que sepresentaron disparos durante unapersecución por la intersección decalle Perú y calle Porfirio Díaz, al-rededor de dos cuadres del com-plejo deportivo Unidad Deportiva.No se hizo pública otra informa-ción.

“Los conflictos violentos entreelementos del criminal y/o el ejér-cito mexicano, pueden ocurrir encualquier lugar de la región y acualquier hora del día”, señala laalerta en referencia a Tamaulipas.

(Localice a César G. Rodriguezen 728-2568 o en cesar@lmtonli-ne.com)

DEPARTAMENTO DE ESTADO

Ratifican alertaPOR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ

TIEMPO DE LAREDO

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera MIÉRCOLES 13 DE MAYO DE 2015

Un hombre arrestado enmarzo, en relación al deco-miso de más de 1.200 librasde marihuana, se declaróculpable el martes en unacorte federal de Laredo.

El 17 de marzo, un gran ju-rado acusó a Víctor Tristan,de conspiración para pose-sión con intento de distri-buir 100 kilogramos o más demarihuana y posesión conintento de distribuir 100 kilo-gramos o más de marihuana.

Durante una conferenciafinal previa al juicio, ante laJuez de Distrito, MarinaGarcía Marmilejo, Tristan sedeclaró culpable a posesióncon intento de distribuir 100kilogramos o más de mari-huana.

Como parte de su acuerdode culpabilidad, el cargo porconspiración será desestima-do en su audiencia de sen-tencia, que está programadapara el 1 de septiembre.

El caso se desarrolló el 27de febrero, cuando agentesde Patrulla Fronteriza quepatrullaban sobre U.S. 83,por el vecindario de SiestaShores, notaron un vehículoFord F-250 transportando ungenerador. Tras conductasospechosa, un agente inte-rrogó a Tristan, identificadocomo el conductor. Despuéstras una búsqueda primaria,en la estación de PatrullaFronteriza de Zapata, agen-tes decomisaron 96 paquetesque contenían 1.190 libras demarihuana valuada en952.000 dólares. Agentes espe-ciales de DEA acudieron a laestación a investigar.

CORTE

Sujetoaceptaculpa

POR PHILIP BALLITIEMPO DE LAREDO

El ciclón de 1909 ingresó confuerza por costas próximas al Trópi-co de Cáncer.

“El día 26 [de agosto] a las seis dela mañana” en Ciudad Victoria, ca-pital de la entidad principió “a so-plar viento moderado del norte”,convirtiéndose “a las 10:45 de la no-che del mismo” jueves “en vientofuerte con rachas violentas, hora enque comenzaron a caer lloviznasdiscontinuas”, extendidas a “lasseis de la tarde del día 27”, informaEspiridión Ledesma, jefe de la Esta-ción Meteorológica.

“Al amanecer del” viernes 27

—abunda— “el viento había cam-biado […] hacia el noroeste, y au-mentando de intensidad, siendo yamuy violento a las 10:30 de la maña-na […] hora en que comenzó a que-brar las ramas delgadas de los árbo-les […] a las cuatro de la tarde em-pezaron a caer árboles corpulentos,y a las seis […] derribaba árboles[…] de tronco muy grueso, volabalos techos de las casas, tiraba losmotores de viento, desplomaba losmuros y barría […] cuanto encon-traba a su paso que no pudiera” re-sistírsele. Los vendavales consiguie-ron “mayor intensidad a las nuevesde la noche” y cesaron “a las dos dela mañana del […] 28”.

El funcionario complementa: En-tre “las seis de la tarde del […] 27”y “las 7:30 de la mañana del […] 28,hubo lluvia continua y abundanteque produjo una precipitación plu-vial de 168 milímetros”, que junto

con las lloviznas sumaron “en con-junto […] 264 milímetros. A las cua-tro de la tarde del […] 30 cesaronlas lloviznas” en la urbe victorense.

Según Ledesma, “probablementeel diámetro del ciclón fue de unosdoscientos cincuenta kilómetros”.“Calculé la velocidad de traslación,dado el tiempo y el espacio recorri-do […] y obtuve un valor para esavelocidad de 21 kilómetros por ho-ra”.

Dedujo asimismo “que el centrodel ciclón tocó la costa de Tamauli-pas 80 kilómetros al norte de Tam-pico, a las dos de la tarde del día 27,y” afectó “en su trayectoria” ampliafranja de la entidad, “internándose[…] a Nuevo León y San Luis Potosí[...] La dirección que seguía era ha-cia Durango y Culiacán”.

(Con permiso del autor, según fue-ra publicado en La Razón, Tampico,el 8 de mayo)

COLUMNA

Narra arribo de ciclón en 1909Nota del editor: Esta es la primer

parte de dos donde el autor relata de-claraciones y reporte oficial de ciclónque golpeó Tamaulipas en 1909.

POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

MIGUEL ALEMÁN, MÉXICO

RECUERDAN BATALLA

Estudiantes de la supervisión escolar número 124 de Miguel Alemán, México, realizaron una asamblea para conmemorar el aniversario 153 de la Batalla de Puebla, en la ex-planada municipal de la ciudad. La batalla es recordada el 5 de mayo. Durante la presentación de los estudiantes rindieron honores a la bandera, realizaron una repre-sentación artística del acontecimiento y se contó con la presencia de autoridades municipales, civiles y militares.

Foto de cortesía

El sábado, la Candidata a la Dip-utación Federal para el Distrito 1por el Partido Revolucionario Insti-tucional (PRI), Yahleel Abdala, visitóNueva Ciudad Guerrero, Tamauli-pas, México.

Durante el recorrido, Abdala sereunió con pescadores del municipiopara escuchar sus comentarios, pet-iciones y necesidades, de acuerdocon un comunicado de prensa.

“Lo único que ellos necesitan esun verdadero defensor de sus inte-reses, que sea un verdadero gestor,porque ahorita están completamenteabandonados; nosotros solo vinimosa ofrecer nuestro apoyo”, señaló Ab-dala en un comunicado de prensa.

Durante el encuentro, se habló dela importancia de la pesca en el sec-tor de Nueva Ciudad Guerrero; éstaactividad representa gran parte de laeconomía de este municipio.

Entre las principales peticionesestuvo la gestión de recursos ante el

gobierno federal para mejorar lascondiciones de sus lanchas, así comolos accesos y caminos a la presa, señ-ala el comunicado.

“Los pescadores forman parte deun sector que se siente abandonadoy necesitamos luchar porque se lesrespeten los derechos que como

gente productiva tienen”, declaróAbdala.

La candidata se comprometió areunirse con ellos nuevamente antesde culminar su campaña para esta-blecer prioridades.

El día de elecciones se realizará el7 de junio.

NUEVA CIUDAD GUERRERO, MÉXICO

Abdala visita a pescadoresTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Yahleel Abdala, candidata a diputada para el Distrito 1 de Tamaulipas, por el PRI, du-rante una visita a Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, México, el fin de semana, donde habló conlos pescadores de la región.

Foto de cortesía

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

NEW YORK — The law-yer who investigated theNew England Patriots in-sisted Tuesday that hefound direct, not just cir-cumstantial, evidence toshow quarterback Tom Bra-dy knew team employeeswere deflating footballs.

Miffed by criticism fromBrady’s agent, Ted Wells de-cided to take the unusualstep of holding a conferencecall with reporters, a day af-ter the NFL suspended theSuper Bowl MVP for theseason’s first four gamesbased on the report.

Wells said his findingswould have been strongenough to convince a juryunder the "preponderanceof evidence" standard,which is used in many civilcases.

Wells released his reportlast Wednesday, asserting itwas "more probable thannot" that Brady "was atleast generally aware" of

plans by two team employ-ees to prepare the balls tohis liking, below the league-mandated minimum of 12.5pounds per square inch.

His voice frequently ris-ing Tuesday, Wells testily re-butted assertions from DonYee, Brady’s agent, question-ing Wells’ independence be-cause his firm does otherbusiness with the NFL.

"What drove the decisionin this report is one thing: Itwas the evidence," Wells

said. "I could not ethicallyignore the import and rele-vancy of those text messag-es and the other evidence."

Wells specifically men-tioned two series of text ex-changes between officials’locker room attendant JimMcNally and equipment as-sistant John Jastremski. Inone, McNally referred tohimself as "the Deflator" andjoked about going to ESPN.In another, Jastremski men-tioned speaking to Brady

the previous night, sayingthe quarterback knewMcNally was stressed out byneeding to deflate the balls.

"That is not circumstan-tial evidence," Wells said."That is two of the partici-pants in a scheme discuss-ing what has taken place."

On Thursday, Yee hadcalled Wells’ report "a signif-icant and terrible disap-pointment," suggesting thatit "reached a conclusionfirst, and then determined

so-called facts later."Along with denying any

bias, Wells derided the ideathat the NFL wanted the in-vestigation to implicate aquarterback he described as"one of the most popular,iconic players in the league."

"That does not makesense," Wells said. "It’s a ri-diculous allegation."

Wells has conducted sev-eral other high-profilesports investigations in re-cent years, including the

NFL report on the MiamiDolphins bullying scandal.To Yee’s assertion that heomitted key statementsfrom Brady, Wells chal-lenged the agent to releasehis full transcript of the in-terview.

"Nothing, I guaranteeyou, in his notes wouldmake any difference in mydecision," he said.

He also disputed Yee’scharacterization of the in-vestigation as a "sting," not-ing that NFL officials ini-tially didn’t take the Colts’complaints seriously duringJanuary’s AFC Champion-ship game.

The Patriots wound uprouting Indianapolis 45-7that day, then went on tobeat the Seattle Seahawks inthe Super Bowl 28-24 forBrady’s fourth title. In thequarterback’s only publiccomments since the report’srelease, he said that thescandal hasn’t taken awayfrom the team’s accomplish-ments.

Brady plans to appeal hisfour-game suspension. ThePatriots were penalized $1million - matching the large-st fine in league history -and docked two draft picks.Owner Bob Kraft has de-clared his "unconditionalsupport" for his two-timeMVP quarterback.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Evidence against BradyInvestigator

points toevidence

NFL investigator Ted Wells claimed that there was direct evidence against Tom Brady in the Deflategate incident.

Photo by Damon Winter | AP

By RACHEL COHEN ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS — FloydMayweather Jr. and Man-ny Pacquiao proved a boxoffice smash, even if theirwelterweight title fightdidn’t live up to the hype.

The May 2 fight obliter-ated the pay-per-view re-cord, with 4.4 millionbuys generating morethan $400 million in reve-nue. With a live gate ofnearly $72 million andother revenue, the boutgrossed more than $600million and likely madeMayweather more than$200 million.

Showtime and HBO of-ficials reported the whop-ping PPV figures Tuesday,saying the fight broke theprevious record of 2.48million buys generated byMayweather’s 2007 fightwith Oscar De La Hoya bynearly 2 million buys.

It also nearly tripledthe record $150 million inpay-per-view revenue gen-erated by Mayweather vs.Canelo Alvarez in 2013.

"We did not anticipatethis number of buys," saidMark Taffet, who headsPPV operations for HBO."It reinforces the notionthat when you give thefans the fights they de-mand, they always re-spond."

Mayweather was the

big winner both in thefight and at the bank. Hewas guaranteed 60 percentof the net revenue to thepromotion, while Pac-quiao’s camp got the re-maining 40 percent.

The total figures to bearound $400 million aftersatellite TV and cable sys-tems take their cut, mean-ing Mayweather - who ishis own promoter - couldwalk away with $240 mil-lion for his night’s work.

BOXING: MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO

Fight breaks PPV recordBy TIM DAHLBERG ASSOCIATED PRESS

Floyd Mayweather Jr. celebrates his victory over Manny Pacquiao intheir welterweight title fight on May 2 in Las Vegas.

Photo by Isaac Brekken | AP

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES Nation WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015

ORLANDO, Fla. —George Zimmerman hadmoved out of Florida re-cently, hoping for a freshstart.

In the two years since hisacquittal in the fatal shoot-ing of Trayvon Martin, theone-time neighborhoodwatch volunteer has hadseveral run-ins with the law.

Once again, he is in-volved in a police investiga-tion, only this time author-ities say he was shot at inhis pickup truck. What ex-actly transpired with theshooter — a man he crossedpaths with last fall — is indispute.

Zimmerman and Mat-thew Apperson were bothdriving Monday on a busyroad in the Orlando suburbof Lake Mary when somesort of confrontation oc-curred. The passenger win-dow of Zimmerman’s pick-up had a bullet hole in itand Zimmerman sufferedminor injuries from flyingglass and debris.

Zimmerman had return-ed to the area for Mother’sDay and a doctor’s appoint-ment, and was driving tohis doctor’s office when theconfrontation took place,said his attorney, Don West.Apperson works nearby, at adisability-benefits office.

Police recovered a hand-gun from Zimmerman andtook two guns from Apper-son’s car. Both men hadtheir guns legally.

“He never waved it, dis-played it or brandished it,”West said of Zimmerman.“He did not threaten Mr.Apperson in any way witha firearm.”

Apperson’s attorney,Mark NeJame, said theshooting was “a good, old-fashioned self-defense case”and that Apperson’s en-counter with Zimmermanwas pure “happenstance.”Apperson claimed Zimmer-man brandished a gun andhe feared for his life, Ne-Jame said.

“He is not looking fortrouble. He did not wanttrouble,” NeJame said.“He’s not following GeorgeZimmerman around. He’snot wanting anything to dowith George Zimmerman,as it relates to any of this.”

Police on Tuesday re-leased a 911 call in whichthe caller says Appersontold him he was forced tofire at Zimmerman.

“A guy says he had toshoot a guy through thewindow and he wants thepolice to come,” the mansaid on the call. “He had toshoot at somebody ... Hesaid it was George Zimmer-man.”

ZimmermaninvestigatedBy MIKE SCHNEIDERASSOCIATED PRESS

Lake Mary Police officer BiancaGillett speaks to media aboutMonday’s shooting involvingGeorge Zimmerman, Tuesday, inLake Mary, Fla. Police recovereda handgun from Zimmermanand took two guns from a manaccused of shooting at him.

Photo by Charles King/Orlando Sentinel | AP

MADISON, Wis. — Awhite Wisconsin police offi-cer will not be charged forfatally shooting an un-armed 19-year-old biracialman who witnesses saywas acting erratically andattacked at least two peo-ple, a prosecutor an-nounced Tuesday.

Dane County District At-torney Ismael Ozanne saidhe won’t file chargesagainst Madison OfficerMatt Kenny in Tony Robin-son’s death, which sparkedseveral peaceful protests inthe weeks following theMarch 6 shooting in anapartment house near thestate Capitol building.

Ozanne, sweating pro-fusely and mopping hisbrow repeatedly with ahandkerchief, spoke force-fully for some 25 minuteslaying out the results of astate Justice Departmentinvestigation. He citedthree 911 callers whose ac-counts meshed with thatfrom police. The callers de-scribed Robinson as“tweaking,” punching afriend, jumping in front ofa car, punching one persontrying to call 911 in the faceand assaulting two people

on the sidewalk. One callerfeared for both his safetyand Robinson’s, Ozannesaid.

“’Tony is acting insaneright now,”’ one of the call-ers told dispatchers, accord-ing to Ozanne.

When Kenny reachedthe apartment building, heheard incoherent yelling,screaming, what soundedlike a fist hitting somethingand items being thrown orbreaking. Kenny thoughtRobinson was upstairs andmight be attacking some-one, Ozanne said.

The officer ran insideand went upstairs with hisweapon drawn, Ozannesaid. He announced his

presence and almost imme-diately the 6-foot-4 Robin-son punched him in theside of the head, accordingto Ozanne. Kenny said hefell into the wall, hittinghis head, Ozanne said.

Kenny said he wasafraid he would fall downthe stairs and lose con-sciousness, Ozanne said.Fearing that Robinsonwould then take his gunand shoot him as well aswhoever was in the apart-ment, Kenny fired sevenshots in three seconds,Ozanne said.

All seven struck Robin-son, with every round en-tering the front of his body,the district attorney said.

“I conclude that his trag-ic and unfortunate deathwas the result of a lawfuluse of deadly police force,and that no charges shouldbe brought against OfficerKenny,” Ozanne said.

Toxicology reports con-firmed that Robinson hadbeen using hallucinogenicmushrooms, marijuanaand Xanax, an anti-anxietydrug, Ozanne added.

The district attorney,who is biracial but identi-fies as black, stressed hisown racial background be-fore announcing his deci-sion. He ended his state-ment with an implicit pleaagainst violent demonstra-tions, saying “truth andlasting change does notcome from violence, butfrom exercising our voicesand our votes.”

Robinson’s mother, An-drea Irwin, said she wasnot surprised by the deci-sion. She said the investiga-tion wasn’t thoroughenough.

“They could have done alot. What they didn’t dowas give my son any re-spect,” she said.

Following the announce-ment, about 20 people satin the street in front of thehouse in Madison whereRobinson was shot.

White officer not chargedBy TODD RICHMOND

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Andrea Irwin, center, mother of Tony Robinson, and her boyfriend,Jeff Jackson, center right, participate in a protest in Madison, Wis.

Photo by M.P. King/Wisconsin State Journal | AP

CHICAGO — PresidentBarack Obama will estab-lish his presidential libraryon the South Side of Chica-go, a part of the city wherehis political career beganand where some of the is-sues that he plans to devotehimself to when he leavesthe White House are play-ing out on the streets.

The Barack ObamaFoundation made officialTuesday what had beenwidely expected, that the li-brary will be erected on asite proposed by the Univer-sity of Chicago. The loca-tion was selected over bids

made by Columbia Univer-sity in New York, the Uni-versity of Hawaii and theUniversity of Illinois at Chi-cago.

“With a library and afoundation on the SouthSide of Chicago, not onlywill we be able to encour-age and effect change local-ly, but what we can also dois to attract the world toChicago,” Obama said in avideo accompanying the re-lease. “All the strands of mylife came together and Ireally became a man whenI moved to Chicago.”

The library, to be locatedin one of two public parksnear campus, is expected tobe a boon to nearby com-munities that struggle with

gang violence, drugs, andunemployment. The Univer-sity of Chicago has said thelibrary and its 800,000 ex-pected visitors a year willtranslate into dozens of newbusinesses, thousands ofjobs and tens of millions ofdollars in revenue.

While the choice was nota surprise — people withdirect knowledge of the de-cision told The AssociatedPress and other media near-ly two weeks ago that itwas the winner — sewingup the deal was less smooththan expected. Questionslingered for months aboutwhether the library couldlegally be built on parkland as the university pro-posed, because the universi-

ty had not secured the land.Those questions trig-

gered a flurry of activity,with the City Council ap-proving an ordinance totransfer the land and statelawmakers passing a bill re-inforcing the city’s right touse the park land for the li-brary as well as “StarWars” creator George Lu-cas’ proposed lakefront mu-seum.

But the bid was still con-sidered a front-runner, inlarge part because the pres-ident once taught constitu-tional law at the university,the first lady once workedas an administrator at theUniversity of Chicago Med-ical Center and they stillhave a family home nearby.

In the video, Obama cit-ed Chicago as the place hewas able to apply his “earlyidealism to try to work incommunities in public ser-vice” as well as beingwhere he met his wife andtheir children were born.

Added first lady MichelleObama: “Every value, everymemory, every importantrelationship to me exists inChicago. I consider myself aSouth Sider.”

As a place to tell thepresident’s life story, MayorRahm Emanuel noted thatthe chapter about the presi-dent’s days as a communityorganizer happened justoutside what will be thedoors of the library.

“This is where President

Obama’s journey began inpublic life,” Emanuel saidTuesday. “He walked thesestreets, knocked on thesedoors.”

That connection remainsa strong one. After the vid-eotaped beating death of a16-year-old honor student in2009, for example, Obamadispatched his attorneygeneral and education sec-retary to discuss teen vio-lence. Four years later, afterhonor student Hadiya Pen-dleton was shot to death ina park about a mile fromthe Obama home, MichelleObama returned to Chicagoto declare in a deeply per-sonal speech that “HadiyaPendleton is me and I washer.”

Obama’s presidential library set for ChicagoBy DON BABWIN

AND CARYN ROUSSEAUASSOCIATED PRESS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

funding will help targetthree health prevalenthealth problems in Lare-do: diabetes, obesity anddepression.

“We will receive $1.7million a year for fiveyears to establish a con-sortium to direct appropri-ate health care deliverywithout duplication orconfusion and with coop-eration between serviceproviders in Webb, JimmHogg and Zapata coun-ties,” Keck said.

Keck said Dr. GlendaWalker, dean of the nurs-ing school at TAMIU, wasthe driving force in theuniversity’s securing of

the grant. Vera and Keck were pre-

sent in McAllen on Tues-day for the announcementduring a 2-day crashcourse designed to pre-pare the sub-grantees forthe evaluation and man-agement of the grantfunds.

Other sub-grantees in-clude Lower Rio GrandeValley Community HealthManagement Corp. in Hi-dalgo County, the Univer-sity of Texas Health Sci-ence Center at San Anto-nio in Hidalgo County,Tropical Texas BehavioralHealth in Cameron Coun-ty, Community Hope Pro-

jects in Hidalgo, Starr,Willacy and Cameroncounties and Rural Eco-nomic Assistance Leaguein Brooks, Duval, JimWells, Kennedy and Kleb-erg counties.

“We at MethodistHealthcare Ministries arethrilled these seven organ-izations emerged as thetrail blazers that will helptest strategies that proveto be the most effectivemeans, as evidenced by anevaluation of their models,to address these health is-sues,” Kevin C. Moriarty,MHM president and CEO,said in a news release.

The money for the

grants awarded stem froma $10 million federal grantMethodist HealthcareMinistries received fromthe Social InnovationFund to support its Sí Tex-as Project.

The award marked thefirst time Social Innova-tion Fund selected a faith-based organization to re-ceive funding since its in-ception.

The Social InnovationFund is a key WhiteHouse initiative and pro-gram of the Corporationfor National and Commu-nity Service.

The objective of the SíTexas Project is to stimu-

late improvements in be-havioral health and chron-ic disease in South Texas,and to highlight integrat-ed behavioral health mod-els that are effectively im-proving health outcomesin the communities withhigh rates of poverty, de-pression, diabetes, obesityand other associated riskfactors.

The project will target12 counties that span theU.S.-Mexico border, includ-ing Webb, Zapata, Starr,Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy,Kenedy, Kleberg, JimWells, Duval, Jim Hoggand Brooks.

After receiving the $10

million grant, MethodistHealthcare Ministrieslaunched an open competi-tion for organizationswith evidence of results tosubmit applications to re-ceive sub-grants of at least$250,000 to $2 million.

Methodist HealthcareMinistries reached out to120 organizations that pro-vide medical services inthe project’s 12-county ar-ea during the competitionperiod, according to Re-becca Brune, vice presi-dent of strategic planningand growth.

(Philip Balli may bereached at 728-2528 orpballi@lmtonline.com)

HEALTH Continued from Page 1A

broader trend, which isthe U.S.-born drivingmany of the characteris-tics of the community,and it is only going tobecome more amplified,”said Mark Hugo Lopez,Pew’s director of Hispan-ic research.

Even so, the numberof Hispanics who speakSpanish at homereached a record 35.8million because of over-all growth in the His-panic population. Thereport found the numberof Hispanics who speakproficient English alsohit a record 33.2 million.

The Hispanic popula-tion in the United Statessurged 53 percent to 54million from 2000 to2013, driven largely bygrowth among U.S.-bornHispanics, not immi-

grants, according to Pew.That’s compared with 12percent growth in the to-tal population.

About half of U.S.-bornHispanics speak Span-ish, and about half oftheir children retain thelanguage, Lopez said.The recent rise of Eng-lish-language mediageared toward Hispanicsis responding to thistrend, he said.

The language report,which was based on ananalysis of U.S. CensusBureau data for Hispan-ics age 5 and older,found 89 percent of U.S.-born Latinos spoke pro-ficient English in 2013,up from 81 percent in2000. For Hispanic immi-grants, English profi-ciency was greateramong those with high-

er levels of education,the report showed.

In Southern Califor-nia, Rene Amel Peralta,28, said he’s increasinglyused English as he pur-sues his college degreein chemistry. He said hehad all but stopped us-ing Spanish — the onlylanguage he knew untilhe came to the U.S. fromMexico at age 13 — buthas started speaking itagain more recently toreconnect with his cul-ture.

“Since I am getting auniversity education,my English language isbecoming more academ-ic, something I don’thave at all in Spanish,”he said. “In Spanish, Ihave the very basics. Itis basically street Span-ish.”

Mauro Mujica, chair-man of the group U.S.English, welcomed thenews but questionedhow quickly immigrantsliving in heavily Span-ish-speaking neighbor-hoods in California andFlorida are masteringEnglish compared withthose who settle else-where.

Mujica, whose organi-zation wants English de-clared the country’s offi-cial language, said hebelieves newcomerswould learn Englisheven sooner if the U.S.government did more tohelp them assimilate.

“I have never met animmigrant, or a motherof an immigrant, whodoesn’t want their kidsto speak English,” hesaid.

ENGLISH Continued from Page 1A

career-ready," Abbott said in astatement after the bill sign-ing. "While it is critical thatthe state appropriately holdspublic schools and districts ac-countable for delivering thebest possible education, wemust protect Texas studentsfrom being penalized as a re-sult of evolving testing stan-dards."

Under Senate Bill 149 bystate Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Ama-rillo, panels made up of educa-tors, counselors and parentswill weigh factors such asgrades, college entrance examscores and attendance to de-cide whether a student shouldearn a diploma despite poorperformance on standardizedexams.

About 28,000 students in theclass of 2015 still must passone or more of the five stateexams in U.S. history, biology,algebra I, English I and Eng-

lish II required to graduate. Ofthose who need to retake ex-ams, about half must retakemore than one.

Supporters of the bill say it’sintended to provide an alterna-tive graduation method forsome otherwise qualified stu-dents, not as a graduation fasttrack for students who did notmeet the requirements neededto get a diploma.

Critics, however, have ex-pressed concern about the ob-jectivity of the panels, made upby educators whose schoolscould be penalized if their stu-dents fail to graduate. Theplan has been criticized by theTexas Association of Businessand the Austin Chamber ofCommerce, which argue that itcould lead to graduates beingless prepared for careers orhigher education.

The law takes effect immedi-ately.

STUDENTS Continued from Page 1A

NEW YORK — After sell-ing millions of Americanstheir mobile phones, Veri-zon now wants to capturetheir eyeballs, too.

As its phone businessslows down, the nation’slargest wireless carrier ismaking a $4.4 billion betthat it can find growth inmobile video and advertis-ing by buying AOL, one ofthe Internet’s oldest brands,which has been through itsown share of transforma-tions since introducingmuch of America to the on-line world nearly a genera-tion ago.

The acquisition is the lat-est effort by a wireless com-pany to tap into some of themoney shifting to streamingvideo and mobile devices.

Ken Doctor, a media ana-lyst for consulting companyOutsell, said Verizon is be-coming less of a utility thatmerely provides access toonline services and more ofa player in the digital arenaas it sees growth in the

likes of Apple, Google andFacebook.

“They’re trying to moveinto that league of playersgetting money from digital,both from consumers andadvertisers,” Doctor said.

For consumers, the dealcould mean more advertis-ing — and ad targeting —from Verizon. That mightmean more personalized adsin online videos and AOLcontent that appears on Ve-rizon handsets and in mar-keting messages to custom-ers.

AT&T has taken a differ-ent tack. Last year, the com-pany said it would buy satel-lite TV provider DirecTVfor $48.5 billion so it couldoffer bundles of TV, Internetand phone services — justlike cable companies. Inmany cases, the Internetcomponent would bethrough wireless ratherthan fixed-wire broadband.

With the AOL acquisi-tion, Verizon will gain ac-cess to advanced advertisingtechnology, including the“One by AOL” platform thatlets customers buy ads

across platforms, includingvideo, online and TV.

AOL reported a 7 percentboost in revenue during itsfirst quarter, mainly onstrong global advertisingsales.

“AOL’s focus on unifyingthe advertising experienceacross display, video, mobileand TV makes it an attrac-tive asset because advertis-ers are looking for betterways to reach their audi-ence across screens,” said

Lauren Fisher, analyst ateMarketer. “Coupled withVerizon’s existing mobile(and streaming video) pres-ence, the companies’ com-bined ad offerings meanmassive cross-screen reachwith much richer audiencedata.”

Verizon also gains controlover significant AOL con-tent, including The Huffing-ton Post and TechCrunch.AOL is the nation’s fourth-largest online property with

about 200 million monthlyconsumers of its premiumbrands, according to itswebsite. And AOL is thethird-largest desktop videocompany in the U.S. by us-ers, accounting for about35.4 of total unique viewersof online video via desktopcomputer in February 2015,according to IBIS World.

AOL’s own shows includea reality series of half-hourepisodes called “Connected”and a two-minute daily sa-tirical sports analysis showcalled “2 Point Lead.”

When it comes to provid-ing Web services, Verizonhas already come under firefor inserting unique track-ing codes into some of itscustomers’ traffic. Althoughthe trackers did not containpersonal information, theycould be used to gauge acustomer’s interests andhabits and used for ad tar-geting. Following com-plaints, Verizon began let-ting customers withdrawfrom the tracking program.

Still, analysts said, themove should not be over-stated since it’s a relatively

small part of Verizon’s over-all value.

According to Moffett-Nathanson partner CraigMoffett, the investment inAOL is “tiny.” He says AOLwill account for little morethan 1 percent of Verizon’stotal value.

“It’s the tip of the tip ofthe tail, and it is clearly notgoing to wag the wholedog,” he said in a researchnote. “Verizon is still, firstand foremost, a wirelessphone company.”

The deal marks yet an-other transformation forAOL, which as a power-house dial-up provider inthe 1990s acquired TimeWarner Cable in 2000 for$165 billion. The deal withTime Warner failed andcame to be regarded as oneof the most disastrous busi-ness combinations in histo-ry.

In 2009, AOL was spun offfrom Time Warner, becom-ing an independent, publiclytraded company and sincethen has transformed itselfinto a media and ad techcompany.

Verizon buys AOL for $4.4 billionBy MAE ANDERSONASSOCIATED PRESS

People walk out of the New York office building where AOL head-quarters is located, Tuesday. Verizon is buying AOL for $4.4 billion.

Photo by Mark Lennihan | AP

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015