MONDAY DECEMBER 5, 2016 $1.00

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135th year, No. 174, 22 pages

United’sdynamicsophomoresTreviño and Campero have Lady

Longhorns off to hot start

Page B1

SPORTS

Guntraffickersentencedto prison

Page A5

CRIME

Smoking will no longer beallowed in public housing un-der a new rule announcedrecently by the Obama admin-istration.

The Department of Housingand Urban Development citedresidents’ health as a reason forthe smoking ban, as well as areduction of maintenance costsfor public units.

“Every child deserves togrow up in a safe, healthy homefree from harmful secondhandcigarette smoke,” HUD Secre-tary Julian Castro said.

HUD has been advocatingfor smoke-free public housingsince 2009. As of a year ago,228,000 units were alreadysmoke-free. This rule will affectthe remaining 940,000 unitsacross the country, includingthose in Laredo.

Julia Orduña, planning andcommunity affairs specialist forLaredo’s Housing Authority,said there are 938 public hous-ing units spread across ninelocations in Laredo. There areabout 2,900 residents living inthese units; about 1,400 areminors.

According to the CountyHealth Rankings for 2016, 18percent of Webb County adultsare smokers, but it is not clearhow many local public housingresidents smoke.

Orduña said Wednesday’sannouncement will not becomean official federal rule for atleast 60 days, to allow for pub-lic comment. Then the housingauthority will have 18 months towork on policy and be in accor-dance.

Once the rule is enacted,smoking will be banned within25 feet of public housing andadministrative offices.

The rule applies only to “to-bacco products where the to-

OBAMAADMINISTRATION

Smokingbannedin publichousingBy Julia WallaceLAREDO MORNING TIME S

Smoking continues on A12

AUSTIN, Texas — Austinand Washington should be farmore simpatico under soon-to-be Republican President Don-ald Trump than the WhiteHouse’s current occupant, butthere’s still room for potential

policy clashes when Texas’GOP-controlled Legislatureheads back to work.

Immigration, schools, no-longer-so-flush state coffersand fights over which bath-rooms transgender Texans canuse will likely drive debate,while guns and marijuana

David Williams / Bloomberg

The Texas State Capitol building stands in Austin, Texas, onJune 2.

TEXAS LEGISLATURE

Debate over schools,bathrooms maytrump guns, potBy Will WeissertASSOCIATED PRE SS

Texas continues on A12

LCC continues to get a boostin its enrollment from studentswho are still attending highschools.

Laredo Community Collegeofficials said student enroll-ment increased 5 percent fromfall 2015 due to United Indepen-dent School District relocatingits dual enrollment program toLCC. Dual enrollment is a way

for high school students to takea college course and receivesimultaneous academic creditfor the course from both thecollege and the high school.

For fall 2016, LCC reportedan enrollment of 9,176, an in-crease of 427 students com-pared to fall 2015. That marksthe second consecutive yearthat fall enrollment has in-creased at LCC. From fall 2014to fall 2015, enrollment in-

creased 5.3 percent. Prior tothat, enrollment had decreasedfor three consecutive years.

Also this fall semester, LCCrecorded an increase in se-mester credit hours taken. Thathas not happened at LCC since2010. Although enrollmentincreased from fall 2014 to fall2015, the number of semestercredit hours taken dipped from72,812 to 70,344.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Student enrollment up at LCCDual enrollment boostsonce dropping numbersBy Judith Rayo LAREDO MORNING TIME S

LCC continues on A12

About 76 percent of the localhomeless population are fromLaredo, according to a point-in-time survey done by LaredoHomeless Coalition in January2016.

National Hunger and Home-lessness Awareness week isheld each year the week beforeThanksgiving. Agencies inLaredo aid the homeless pop-ulation throughout the yearand join forces during theweek to generate more aware-ness among the public.

The South Texas Food Bankdistributed bags of food, per-sonal care kits, blankets anddog food to Bethany Houseclients in support of the aware-ness week. It was the first yearthe food bank held the drive inconjunction with St. AugustineHigh School students with thesupport of Bethany House and

BETHANY HOUSE

HELPING THE HOMELESS

Courtesy file photo

The South Texas Food Bank partnered up with St. Augustine High School to collect anddistribute bags of food, personal care kits and blankets to Bethany House clients in support ofNational Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week in Laredo on Nov. 15.

Groups joinforces to helpthose in need

By Andrea CastañedaLAREDO MORNING TIME S

Homeless continues on A12

A12 | Monday, December 5, 2016 | LAREDO MORNING TIMES

FROM THE COVER

policy may take a back-seat. The wild card:abortion policy, due tothe U.S. Supreme Courtruling against Texas’ 2013restrictions.

Here are key issues towatch — and what mightget overshadowed —when lawmakers begintheir 140-day session onJan. 10:

Immigration

The Department ofPublic Safety wants morethan $1 billion to helpsecure the Texas-Mexicoborder, but Trump’spromises to build a tow-ering wall and impose animmigration crackdowncould spare the statefrom spending so much.

Trump’s victory alsomay spur approval oftwo contentious immi-gration initiatives thatstalled in previous ses-sions: A would-be banon “sanctuary cities”requiring police officersto enforce federal im-migration laws and therepeal of a 2001 law of-fering cheaper in-statetuition at public universi-ties to some high schoolgraduates who came tothe U.S. illegally.

Education

There are bipartisancalls to spend more on

K-12 classrooms but law-makers won’t be com-pelled to do so becausethe Texas Supreme Courtdeclared the school fi-nance system constitu-tional in May, ending alengthy legal fight.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, atea party favorite whoheads the Texas Senate,is again championingschool vouchers, whichgive families public mon-ey to pay for private andreligious schools. Hecould have a powerfulally in Betsy DeVos, a“school choice” advocatetapped to be Trump’seducation secretary.

But for years, the is-sue’s been stymied in theTexas House by Demo-crats and by rural Re-publicans wary of hurt-ing public schools thatare the lifeblood of theirsmall districts.

Transgenderbathrooms

Texas already led amultistate lawsuit thathas temporarily blockedPresident Barack Oba-ma’s directive allowingtransgender students touse the public schoolbathrooms of theirchoice. Now, Patrick andother top Republicansare backing proposalsbanning transgenderpeople from doing thesame in all Texas bath-rooms — mimicking alaw that North Carolina

passed last year to na-tional outcry, boycottsand the loss of lucrativesporting events.

Democrats and busi-ness leaders are opposed,as is Republican HouseSpeaker Joe Straus, whosays the issue isn’t ur-gent and worries aboutNorth Carolina-likebacklash.

State budget

Oil prices staying solow for so long havecooled the Texas econo-my. Lawmakers finishedtheir last session in 2015with about $4 billion inprojected budget sur-pluses, but much of thatmay evaporate becauseprojected state tax reve-nues declined. Oil andnatural gas now accountsfor about 8.5 percent ofTexas’ overall economicoutput, according to thecomptroller’s office.

There’s still $10-plusbillion in the rainy dayfund — money top Re-publicans have vowed tomostly preserve. Yet,doing so will make ittougher to cover risingMedicaid expenses andpay for costly fixes to atroubled foster care sys-tem while also deliveringon GOP promises toexpand property tax cutsthat have already lost thestate billions.

Foster care

A federal judge is

overseeing the foster caresystem overhaul, neededbecause hundreds ofat-risk children are goingunseen by caseworkersdue to understaffing atthe Child Protective Ser-vices agency so acutethat some youngstershave slept in state offices.

Gov. Greg Abbott isclamoring for faster im-provements, but theywon’t come cheap. Law-makers have alreadyapproved nearly $150million in special emer-gency funding — andthat’s just the start.

Abortion

Lawmakers may strikeback after the U.S. Su-preme Court dismantledkey portions of the state’s2013 abortion restric-tions.

One untouched policywas a ban on abortionafter 20 weeks of preg-nancy; legislators couldtry to move that ban upby a few weeks. SomeRepublicans also want toprohibit abortion in thecase of severe fetal ab-normalities, meaning theprocedure could be avail-able in Texas only if themother’s health is threat-ened.

Guns

“The Year of the Gun”during the 2015 sessionallowed license holdersto carry handguns inplain sight and bringthem onto college cam-puses. Now, conserva-tives could tweak thoselaws to ensure there arefewer zones where au-thorities have kept gun

bans, such as zoos andsome public buildings.

But firearm policy mayotherwise take a back-seat since there appearslittle appetite for “consti-tutional carry,” or lettingnon-license holders —virtually anyone in Texas— openly carry guns.

Marijuana

Relaxed marijuanalaws for legal and medic-inal use have even cometo more conservativestates like Arkansas, butdon’t count on Texas tofollow suit. After theLegislature took the babystep of legalizing canna-bis oil to treat epilepsy in2015, Abbott declaredthat the state would gono further, likely doom-ing bills for broader le-galization.

TEXASFrom page A1

bacco leaves are ignit-ed, such as cigarettes,cigars and pipes,”according to HUD.Electronic cigarettesseem to be OK, al-though HUD acknowl-edged their danger aswell, and said they areseeking additionalcomments on the is-sue. Electronic ciga-rettes could end upbeing prohibited in thefinal rule.

HUD also said pub-lic housing tenantswho do not abide bythis new policy couldbe evicted.

SMOKINGFrom page A1

Laredo Homeless Coali-tion. Angie Osterman,the food bank’s market-ing specialist, said theyhope to increase theiramount of distributionnext year.

The South Texas FoodBank aims to alleviatehunger in eight countiesthroughout South Texas.The food bank serves anaverage of 28,000 familiesper month, having pro-vided 175,000 meals thislast year.

Lucia Garcia, origi-nally from Laredo, re-turned back home recent-ly from Wisconsin whereher husband found workfor six months as a car-penter. Garcia frequents

Bethany House and wasamong the clients whoreceived a care package.

“I didn’t expect it, itwas very nice receivingthe food, hygiene, shoesand the blankets,” Garciasaid. “It is a gift and it isvery nice. I am verygrateful. It’s appreciated.We’re homeless, we stayhere sometimes or some-times on the streets. It’seasier to go to work andhave a home and paybills. It’s very difficultbeing homeless.”

Garcia said she andher husband have beenhomeless for a monththis time around andthey have a limited sup-ply of necessities. Shesaid she is thankful forall the help that BethanyHouse provides. BethanyHouse offers emergency

shelter for both men andwomen.

The shelter is usuallyat full capacity everynight. Transitional hous-ing is also available for alonger period of stay,typically for families thatfind themselves without ahome. Monica Bautista,director of communityrelations at BethanyHouse, said the shelterworks closely with schooldistricts as they help inidentifying homelessfamilies.

“We get a lot of re-ferrals from the schooldistricts, both UISD andLISD. The way thatworks is that usually thefirst persons to identifythat a kid is homeless isthe teacher,” Bautistasaid. “Maybe the kidbrings up in a conversa-

tion what his living situa-tion is, so the teacheridentifies that they’rehomeless and we usuallyget a call from the liai-sons from either schooldistrict and that’s how weusually start a process tobring a family in.”

Bautista attributeseach school district’s roleas key because that iswhere collaborationcomes in and they maybegin to help families inneed. The shelter alsoprovides breakfast, lunchand dinner each day.About 1,350 of the mealsprepared every day areserved through differentprograms. Roughly 550meals are served on siteat the dining facility and500 are delivered to peo-ple that are homebound.Food is prepared and

provided for the kids cafeas well. The HousingAuthority of the City ofLaredo works with Beth-any House to feed chil-dren in public housing.

“It’s been a partnershipthat we’re very happythat they’ve supported usand they’ve continued tohelp us in our initiative tohelp the low income resi-dents of our colonias,”Julia Orduña, planningand community affairsspecialist of LaredoHousing Authority, said.

The partnerships be-tween the local agenciesis vital in aiding thehomeless and in prevent-ing homelessness. Mon-ica Urdiales Alleman,doctor of nursing prac-tice, spoke about theimportance of a teameffort among the agencies

during the 12th annualMarch Against Hungerand Homelessness. Alle-man said it is a barrierwhen one agency is un-able to provide the prop-er resources for someonein need. Once agenciesrespond as a system,services may be providedefficiently.

For now clients likeGarcia are happy withthe shelter and saidthey’ve done a nice jobkeeping it clean andpeaceful.

“I’m glad, I’m veryblessed — not with all thematerial things. Thereare so many positives tolook at. I’m here and I’malive,” Garcia said. “Iwant to prosper, every-body here that I knowwants to prosper in theirown way.”

HOMELESSFrom page A1

This fall semester, LCCreported a total of 72,142 se-mester credit hours. Theamount of state funding acollege gets is determined bythe number of semester credithours taken. Most collegecourses are three semestercredit hours. That means theymeet for three hours per weekover a semester.

“We are hoping that wecontinue to increase and main-tain our enrollment,” saidVincent Solis, LCC vice presi-dent for instruction and stu-dent services. “Our goal is todevelop a college-going cul-ture.”

In fall 2015, the dual enroll-

ment program at LCC had astudent enrollment of 1,576.This fall semester, the pro-gram had 2,099 students en-rolled, an increase of 33 per-cent.

Trustee Gilberto Martinezsaid he was happy and praisedthe work of Solis and his staff.

He said LCC’s programs,such as the nursing depart-ment, have experienced ahealthy enrollment.

According to an InsideHigher Ed story published inNovember, enrollment at manyTexas community colleges hasrebounded due to dual enroll-ment.

The story says that, “Lastyear, there were more than133,000 Texas high schoolstudents enrolled in dual-credit courses, compared to

about 17,800 dual-credit stu-dents in 2000, according to theTexas Higher Education Coor-dinating Board. These stu-dents account for at least 25percent of the total enrollmentat 17 of the state’s 50 communi-ty college districts. The growthis spurred partially by theaffordability of dual enroll-ment for students, but also bycolleges and high schoolsworking together to betterperfect the handoff of stu-dents.”

LCC’s enrollment peaked in2011, when 10,076 studentsregistered for a total of 88,345semester credit hours. Thenumber dropped the followingyear, with LCC reporting anenrollment of 9,356 studentsand 82,362 semester credithours.

LCCFrom page A1

SAN ANTONIO — Authorities say ev-eryone was safely evacuated from a UnitedExpress plane after its nose gear collapsedwhen it landed at San Antonio Interna-tional Airport.

San Antonio Fire Department spokes-man Woody Woodward says that when theplane landed Sunday afternoon its nosegear collapsed. He says 55 people weresafely evacuated from the plane via emer-gency slides. He says there was no fire.

Woodward says there was only oneminor ankle injury reported but the per-son refused treatment because she wasconcerned about making her connectingflight.

Plane landinggear collapsesASSOCIATED PRE SS