Laredos Jan. 2012

A JOURNAL OF THE BORDERLANDS JANUARY 2012

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Est. 1994 Vol. XVII No. 13 64 PAGES @lareDOSnews LareDOS Newspaper

Wounded warriorsfind solace onSouth Texas huntsPage 10

RGISC, World WildlifeFund address state ofthe Río GrandePage 11

Downtown preservation:re-imagining LaredoPage 28

4th Annual Birding Festivalplans local and ranchfield tripsPage 60

Coming Up:Jamboozie Map Page 41WBCA Schedule Page 30

INSIDE

Self-respect is a question of recognizing

that anything worth having has a price.

Joan Didion

2 I LareDOS I JANUARY 2012 WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

SEVEN GOOD REASONS TO CHOOSE DR. RAFATI’SRADIOLOGY CLINIC OF LAREDO

OUR PRICE LIST

Our philosophy at Radiology Clinics of Laredo is to practice medicine in a manner that involves complete disclosure of our opinion and our charges. In this spirit, I decided to publish my fee schedule, and I urge others to follow suit.

Δ MRI $400.00

Δ CAT SCAN $250.00

Δ MAMMOGRAMS $125.00

Δ BONE DENSITY $125.00

Δ SONOGRAMS $150.00 TO $175.00

Δ STOMACH OR INTESTINE EXAMS $200.00

Δ SKULL AND SINUSES $ 90.00

Δ BONES $ 85.00

Δ CHEST X-RAYS $ 80.00

Δ DOPPLER EXAMS $150.00

These prices include the x-ray, the interpreta-tion, and consultation with the patient on what his/her exam shows and what to do next.

You save time, money, and regrets. Call us

for a price quote.

No appointment necessary. Just walk in at

your convenience.

Immediate results. You walk out with com-

plete knowledge of your exam results

You can always consult Dr. Rafati free of

charge.

Second opinion is always free of charge.

Dr. Rafati has 35 years of experience,

knowledge, and common sense. We saved

thousands of patients the horror of unnecessary

surgery.

The last reason is very, very important. If

your doctor tells you not to go to Dr. Rafati’s

clinic, you should immediately go to see Dr. Ra-

fati and at the same time you should look for a

new doctor. Many doctors are mad at us be-

ϐǤ-

ber, you have the right of choice.

RADIOLOGY CLINICS OF LAREDO5401 Springfield • (956) 718-0092

WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM LareDOS I JANUARY 2012 I 3

PUBLISHER

María Eugenia [email protected]

WRITER

Cristina [email protected]

SALES

María Eugenia [email protected]

Macedonio Martínez

CIRCULATION, BILLING & SUBSCRIPTIONS

[email protected]

LAYOUT/DESIGN

[email protected]

Read at www.laredosnews.com

Juan AlanisBebe FenstermakerSissy FenstermakerDenise FergusonNeo GutierrezJason Herrera

Laura DávilaRandy KochJosé Antonio López Jesus NajarSalo OteroMariela Rodríguez

CONTRIBUTORS

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1, 2 and 3 bedroom floorplans available. Prices starting at $725Town houses and corporate suites also available

For more information, please contact:www.carmelapts.com

Carmel Apartments Office Hours830 Fasken Blvd. Laredo, Texas M-F 8:30-5:30956.753.6500, 956.753.6502 fax Sat. 10:00-5:00

The best kept secret in Laredo

Sit back, relax, and welcome home

1, 2 and 3 bedroom floorplans available. Prices starting at $725Town houses and corporate suites also available

For more information, please contact:www.carmelapts.com

Carmel Apartments Office Hours830 Fasken Blvd. Laredo, Texas M-F 8:30-5:30956.753.6500, 956.753.6502 fax Sat. 10:00-5:00

The best kept secret in Laredo

Sit back, relax, and welcome home

Visiting journalist

Canadian freelance journalist Dawn Paley stopped by the of-fices of LareDOS en route to warmer southern climes, where she plans to rest and write.

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Opinion

BY JOSÉ ANTONIO LÓPEZLareDOS Contributor

In 1964, President Lyndon B. John-son recognized the horrid reality that large segments of American citizens were poor, ill, and needy

— a problem so large that the states could not fix it on their own. The start

of President Johnson’s national War on Poverty was the first step to avoiding

disastrous consequences. For the first time, social, health,

and educational programs were initi-ated as lifelines for poor blacks and Hispanics to climb out of the slip-pery trench of despair. Today, LBJ de-serves credit for turning the keys that opened the doors of opportunity and

equality. In short, social, gender, and racial injustice victories we now take for granted were won by a Demo-cratic president who studied the problems and chose sen-sible solutions to solve them.

The battle

to eliminate racial inequal-ity and to fight

poverty was not easy. LBJ did not buckle under pressure as he and other elected officials faced extraordinary

problems with leadership at the na-tional level. So annoyed were South-

ern segregationists that they fought the plan at every turn. Outraged at the

humanitarian kindness and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, they left LBJ’s party and be-came Repub-licans, taking the first steps

that turned the party of Lin-coln into the party of intol-erance that it

has become today. Fast-forward to 2012. The condi-

tions are nearly the same as in 1964. The economic disparity between rich

and poor is severe. Middle-class wag-es are in a slump. Recent polls show a growing rate of hunger. Again, in-dividual states can’t fix the problem.

However, this time, intolerant politi-cians and conservative state governors have banded together to dismantle, regress, and repress hard-won civil rights.

Conservatives regularly launch verbal attacks against the poor’s work ethic and accuse the poor of being bad role models for their children. Conservative-led states now suppress the poor’s voting rights. So, instead of waging a War on Poverty, far-right politicians are pursuing a relentless War on the Poor. Sadly, they have for-

Our role models were migrant field

workers, day laborers, car-penters, plumbers, paint-ers, gardeners, maids, and waiters who rose at dawn and walked to the bus stop or job site.

War on Poverty has become ‘war on poor’

CONTINUED ON PAGE 54



The future of heart careDoctors Hospital of Laredo receives Chest Pain Center Accreditation

from the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC)

Physicians are on the medical staff of Doctors Hospital of Laredo, but, with limited exceptions, are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Doctors Hospital of Laredo. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians. This hospital is co-owned with physician investors.

Suicide Prevention Walk

Friends and surviving family members of the late Tony Martinez are pictured at the second annual Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk at LCC’s Fort McIntosh campus on January 14. At the lead is Bernadette Martinez, his older sister.

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Viva la resistance – protest meets art

Occupy Laredo’s David Hunt printed posters of protest from wood-cuts he made. He is pictured in Jarvis Plaza just after sunset on January 20, 2012.

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An equestrian success story

Horse trainer Danny Santos rides Estrella, one of his equestrian success stories. Under his expert tutelage the 2-year-old blue roan colt has acquired numerous skills. He is pictured at his training facility in Zapata.

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Border Beer Fest, which is set for Saturday, February 4 at the L.I.F.E. Downs Pa-vilion, will offer Laredoans

a chance to sample over 100 types of beer and food from some of the city’s premier chefs.

Pre-sale tickets for sampling are on sale for $15, and tickets for designated drivers are $10. Admission is open to those who are 21 years old and older. Tickets are available at all Gold Rush

locations or online at www.border-beerfest.com

Proceeds from the event benefit

South Texas Academic Rising Schol-ars and the Río Grande International Study Center.

Chef Beto Gutierrez of La Posada’s Zaragoza Grill and Texas Monthly fame will host a cooking show that high-

lights his modern Latin cuisine. Chef Chano Aldrete, a 22-year culinary veteran, will kick things up with his signature Border Fusion preparations. A Beer 101 session will educate beer lovers on how beer is made.

Participating eateries including El Capataz, Zaragoza Grill, La Roca, La Carreta, Aji, and Buckets will also of-fer samplings.

Factura 22 will perform Classic Rock, Spanish Pop, Top 40, and hits

from the 80s.—LareDOS Staff


News Brief

Beer Fest offers an evening of brew sampling, great eats

Laredo attorney Silverio A. Martinez has an-nounced his candidacy for the Democratic Chair

of Webb County. A practicing attorney in Lare-

do for nearly 10 years, Martinez is a former prosecutor for the Webb County District Attor-ney’s Office. Since leaving the District Attorney’s Office, he has dedicated his career to a general practice of law with an emphasis as a criminal defense trial attor-ney. He has successfully defend-ed clients in numerous federal and state jury trials.

Martinez said that if elected he plans to mobilize the Demo-cratic party in Webb County by encouraging participation in the local democratic process and in-creasing voter turnout.

“I intend to promote the democratic process and, more

importantly, the democratic ideals of our system of govern-ment, by delivering the message of the Democratic Party to all Webb County voters. I believe it is through education that we, as a community and as a people, can attract and elect the best candidates for key government positions,” he stated at the an-nouncement of his candidacy on January 12. He said he hopes to work closely with both state and national party leaders to ensure that Webb County remains an important contributor to the po-litical process.

Martinez is married to Linda Garza-Martinez, also a former chief prosecutor at the Webb County District Attorney’s Of-fice and now a Webb County Public Defender. The couple has

four children. —LareDOS Staff

News

Silverio Martinez announces bidfor Webb Democratic Chair

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Feature

BY MARIA EUGENIA GUERRALareDOS Staff

Enrichment of the heart runs both ways in the hunts and hospitality area ranchers provide for severely wound-

ed veterans returning from service in Afghanistan and Iraq through Combat Marine Outdoors (CMO), a Texas nonprofit dedicated to provid-ing rehabilitation through wildlife adventures.

“It is an honor to host them,” rancher and Vietnam veteran Jim Winch said of the hunts he has of-fered at Rancho Las Tejanas, which is

located between Laredo and Freer. Winch, who spent a year in rehab

post-Vietnam, said that time spent on his ranch was part of putting his life back together after military service.

“Having these soldiers here has done as much for me as for them,” he said.

Winch recently hosted returning veterans Cpl. Chris Bryde, Cpl. Jor-dan McBride, and Cpl. Joe Canary — all active duty soldiers in rehab at

San Antonio Military Medical Cen-ter, formerly Brooke Army Medical Center — for a hunt at Las Tejanas.

Bryde, 23, is a single-leg amputee; McBride, 23, suffered burns and traumatic brain injury as a result of shrapnel; and Canary, 20, is a double amputee.

“Ranchers like Jim and Karen Winch provide all accommodations for our warriors,” said recently re-tired Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Arturo G. García, vice-president and a founder of Combat Marine Out-doors. He is a 24-year Marine Corps veteran who saw combat in Kuwait and Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.

“The time on the ranches gives

these men and women a restful and secure environment that offers inde-pendence and the opportunity to be in a beautiful setting,” García said, outlining the scope of the adventure. “I drive them to the ranch where they are introduced to their hosts and they learn of the unique history of the place. We settle in and have a meal. On the ranch we pray before every meal. On the first day,

we acquaint them with the firearm they will be

using on the hunt, and on the second day they hunt with a guide.”

García said that what the young hunters take with them, besides memories of the adven-ture, is “the fellowship of the campfire, home-

cooked meals, and what they’ve shared with each other about their combat experience, their inju-ries, and the impact of their injuries on their lives. Trapped secrets can

torment you. This opportunity to

share like experiences, coupled with

being independent, makes a huge difference to these men and women

who want to find their way back to

the lives they had before combat and injury.”

He said that men and women from all branches of the military sign up from 20 different veterans hospitals across the country.

“We get them down here. They are briefed

on safety, clothing, gear, and licensing. They will pay for noth-ing. They already paid

with some part of their life. We provide every-thing,” García said, adding that he and oth-ers who transport vet-erans or act as guides are volunteers.

Texas — and es-pecially South Texas

— offers most of the outing sites,

South Texas hunts offer wounded warriorshope, independence, and resolve

Combat Marine Outdoors (CMO) was founded in 2005 by businessman Rusty Hicks, USMC Col. Alan Orr, and Mastery Gunnery Sgt. Arturo García. Hicks, a former NCAA Division I basketball referee and a 23-year Houston football referee, serves as president of CMO. Col. Orr is the Commanding Of-ficer of the 14th Marine Regiment. Sgt. García, who serves the organization as vice-president, is recently retired from the Marine Corps. Landowners who wish to participate can reach

him at (210) 464-1725 or at [email protected].

At Rancho Las Tejanas, from left to right, Marine Cpl. Chris Bryde; Cpl. Jordan McBride; and Cpl. Joe Canary are pictured with hunting guide Chase Hoech; Rancho Las Tejanas owner Jim Winch; and Mastery Gunnery Sgt. Arturo G. García, vice president for Combat Marine Outdoors.

Lance Corporal Samantha Gaona, at Cierrito Prieto Ranch.

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though some veterans have enjoyed adventures in Alaska, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Contributors fuel the work of the CMO, and all donations go to the ef-fort to get the recovering veterans on a hunt or a fishing trip.

“We find our wounded warriors

whatever they need, whether it is boots, clothes, or gear,” García said.

According to García, it is the kindness of donors and contributors — including oil-and-gas exploration

companies that have found huge re-turns in the Eagle Ford Shale play —

that has provided unforgettable les-sons for the hunters, the host ranch-ers, and the corporate contributors.

“Those who feel blessed have shared their blessings with CMO,” he said.

Some of the veterans hunt from homemade ground blinds and oth-ers from customized wheel chairs that have tracks like tanks to move through sand and over uneven sur-faces.

García said that the first cus-tomized Action Track wheelchair was donated by Ramsay Gilman of Houston.

“We have four of them now, which the manufacturer in Round Rock sold to us at cost, $9,500 each,” he said. “Even the taxidermy of tro-phies is offered at cost.”

He characterized the hunters as young men and women with great attitudes and who serve as role models to others.

“They have all their lives ahead, and they are moving forward, un-deterred. On the ranch, there are no limits to mobility. Technology has seen to that. Whatever the physi-cal obstacle may be — the loss of a limb or eyesight — they will pre-vail. They test their abilities on the ranch,” García said.

For some of the recovering vet-erans, the hunt is the first time they

hear gunfire since combat.

“They are able to separate one

from the other and move on,” García said. “The whole experience is ther-apeutic. They will remember how

well they were treated, the respect

they were accorded, the adventure itself, and that the circle of influ-ence on the ranch was all positive.

We also accommodate spouses, chil-dren, and significant others if our

hunters request that we do.”García arranges about 100 hunts

a year between October and Febru-ary.

CMO is a self-insured foundation that has Life Flight emergency and rescue capabilities.

“We’ve tried to think of every-thing,” said García, a former Marine recruiter, “and we give thanks for all that was given to us not only by the ranchers, but also by individuals who understand what we have to do to help these men and women who

have given so much of themselves for us.”

García said he hopes more South

Texas ranchers will offer their land for hunts.

“It’s a generous act to host these American heroes. That gen-erosity is returned in many unex-pected ways. It changes the lives

of everyone involved. You are a witness to hope, determination,

healing, mended hearts, growth, and resolve,” he said. “When the hunt is over, it’s you who under-stands that you were also on the receiving end.”

He added that some hunters and anglers who have had the CMO experience go on to become

escorts or guides.“Me, this is all I’m going to do.

This is a ministry,” García said. “This was an opportunity pre-sented to me to help wounded

warriors by calling up my passion

for God, family, country, the war-riors, the outdoors, and the Ma-rine Corps.”


News

Experts on the state of the

Río Grande and its environ-mental history are featured speakers at the water con-

ference hosted by the Río Grande In-ternational Study Center (RGISC) on Saturday, January 28 at the UT Health Science Center at 1937 E. Bustamante Street.

Entitled “Rio Grande/Rio Bra-vo: River of Life, River in Peril” the conference features a keynote address by Mark Briggs of the World Wildlife Fund; Steve Harris, Rio Grande Resto-ration; Rio Grande Watermaster Er-asmo Yarrito Jr.; Elizabeth Verdecchia of the Texas Clean Rivers Program; Da-vid Negrete, Comisión Internacional de Limites y Aguas (CILA), Nuevo Laredo section chief; biologist Dr. Tom Vaughan of Texas A&M International University; and biologist Tom Miller of Laredo Com-munity College.

“We are excited by the line-up of

speakers and look forward to the key-note address by the World Wildlife Fund,” RGISC executive director Tri-

cia Cortez said. “We want this to be a thought-provoking conference that

forces us to think about what we must do to have a vital and healthy river.” The Río Grande provides life to millions

of people in the United States and Mexico,

and is the only source of drinking water for many communi-ties along the border. However, it is still ranked as one of the 10 Most Endangered Rivers in the World. “We must become better stewards and take proper actions,

individually and po-litically, within our communities if we expect for the river to

sustain us for genera-tions to come,” Cor-

tez said.Admission is free and open to the

public. Registration begins at 8 a.m.,

and the conference begins promptly at

9 a.m. Breakfast and lunch are included. High school, college, and university students are invited to attend. Seating is limited to 150 guests; RSVP is requested. Translation services will be provided.

For more information, contact RGISC at (956) 718-1063 or [email protected]

—LareDOS Staff

RGISC hosts conferenceon the state of the Río Grande

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10


Over a hundred high school students, members of the Area Health Education Center (AHEC), volun-

teered their time in observance of Martin Luther King Day to clean the grounds of Lake Casa Blanca Interna-tional State Park on January 14.

Under the supervision of AHEC

staff members, the students repre-sented various schools from Laredo Independent School District and

United Independent School District.

The group walked the grounds and

removed trash, debris, and other discarded items left behind by visitors who picnic and fish at the

Lake. The lake cleanup is but one of

many activities that AHEC student volunteers undertake throughout the year, according to Julie Bazan,

executive director of AHEC. “Volun-teering and serv-ing the commu-nity they live in is precisely what

the Youth Health Service Corps

Training teaches our students,” Bazan said.

The AHEC was established in 1993 and serves Webb, Zapata,

Jim Hogg, Du-val, La Salle, and Dimmit Counties. The mission of the AHEC is to en-hance the quality of life in the com-munity of the region by increasing the number of well-trained health

care workers; enhance the academic resources and support to existing

health care providers; and foster a

healthy lifestyle for the citizens of the communities. For additional

information about the AHEC visit www. mrgbahec.org call 956-712-0037, or visit Facebook at Mrgbahec Laredo.

— LareDOS Staff

News

AHEC youth volunteers undertake Lake Casa Blanca cleanup

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Imaginarium at the Farmers Market

The Imaginarium offered children at the January Farmers Market bubble blowing on a big scale. The booth was a must-stop for many youngsters.

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Downtown, Main Street gear up for UETA JamboozieNews

BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZLareDos Staff

The streets of downtown Laredo are gearing up for the

city’s largest annual street festival, the UETA Jam-

boozie. The January 28 event, spon-sored by the non-profit Laredo Main

Street (LMS), promises an exciting

array of samplings in both food and

entertainment. UETA Jamboozie is LMS’ largest annual fundraiser and benefits El Centro de Laredo Farm-ers Market and projects to revital-ize downtown buildings and com-merce.

Sandra Rocha Taylor, executive director of LMS, said that Jamboozie is just one of the ways LMS draws attention to historic downtown.

In an effort to capture the taste

of international and regional foods, including New Orleans and Cajun style selections, over 30 food and novelty booths will be lined up

along a 20-block area. The event is aiming to offer a bit of every-thing to Laredoans and visitors. Local, national, and internationally renowned performers will take cen-ter stage at six different locations — the corners of Hidalgo, Lincoln, Itur-bide, San Agustín, Flores, and Grant streets. The diversity of the perfor-mances will range from rock, alter-native rock, jazz, pop/punk, electro

pop, Colombiano, norteño, Spanish

rock, country/blues, and Latin salsa. Rocha Taylor, enthusiastically invit-ed parents to bring their children to

the early hours of the event. “Chil-dren’s activities will begin at 1 p.m.

at the San Agustín Cathedral park-

ing lot. We want to invite families to stroll the historic streets of down-town during a somewhat traffic-free time. Games and face painting will

be available for the kids,” she said. “We want the public to come out

to enjoy downtown and the 14th an-nual Jamboozie. The event has grown from a party on a few streets into a

20-block festivity enjoyed by people

of all ages,” Rocha Taylor said. She added that many of down-

town’s small mom and pop restau-rants and non-profit organizations

set up the delicious food booths

at Jamboozie. “That’s just another way that the event supports our lo-cal economy and local causes,” she noted.

In addition to the participation

of downtown merchants and restau-rants, Jamboozie host hotel La Pos-

ada is offering revelers who want to stay downtown a great package

that includes a Club Level King room, breakfast, drinks and hors d’oeuvres, two tickets to Jamboozie, two VIP passes to the artist tent and

VIP tent, and beads and exclusive ac-cess to the hotel balconies. The cost of the package is $189 plus tax.”

The gates open from 4:00 p.m.

to 12:00 a.m. Pre-sale tickets are on sale at $8 per person, at La Paletera,

UETA, select IBC locations, and Graphitix Advertising and Design,

Portofino, and other select down-town locations. Admission at the door is $10 per person. Children 12

and under enter for free. For more information on the

event please call (956) 523-8817 or

visit Jamboozie.org


Military museum plans move forward

Pictured at the January 11 meeting of the board overseeing the plan-ning and construction of the Juan Francisco Farias Military Museum are, left to right, board member Odie Arambula and architects Ri-cardo Solis and Kennedy Whitely. The board revised and approved its by-laws and is moving forward with plans for the reconfiguration of the historically significant building that will house the museum.

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Walmart funds writing of Tejano curriculum

Julie Martin, Region General Manager for Walmart Stores Inc., pre-sented a $100,000 donation from the Walmart Foundation at the Tejano Monument groundbreaking ceremony on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol on January 13. The one-year curriculum develop-ment and implementation project will foster the teaching of Tejano history to Texas students. Bob Daemmric

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Foundry visit: another chapter in the history of the Tejano Monument


From the Publisher


I wasn’t sure I still had it in me to head out pre-crack of dawn for

a one-day road trip and then get

back in time to keep a commitment

in Laredo. But I did, and the impetus that moved

me was wanting to be at the Stevens Art Foundry in Bulverde — in the Hill Country just north of San Antonio — to witness the loading of five of the Tejano

Monument’s eleven bronze figures onto

a flat-bed trailer headed to Austin.

The cold morning air, wind chill and all, carried on it a certain weight about the decade-long effort to bring the Teja-no Monument to life — that of sculptor

Armando Hinojosa from drawings on

paper to bronze, and the work of those

who lobbied for the monument’s site on the Capitol grounds, passed legislation,

and tirelessly raised funds for the only art at the Capitol representative of the

first settlers in Texas.

Tricia Cortez made the trip with me,

and at the foundry we met Pat and Re-nato Ramirez, Renato the rainmaker and relentless shaker of corporate trees

for donations for the monument. The industry of the foundry that

morning was amazing to watch as those who work there finished details on this

project and other pieces of art. Our in-quisitiveness met with occasional admo-nitions to stay clear of welding and the grinding of metal.

I had a sense that beautiful, meaning-ful things happen here at the hands of

artists and the men who staff the found-ry. Drawings come to life here as objects large and small that will long outlive the men and women who dreamed them, drew them, and forged them.

At a point in the foundry’s open area,

the biting chill of the outdoors met an emanation of warmth from a small, very efficient propane heater jacketed in thick

steel, and we gathered there from time to time to make our hands and faces less numb and to hear of the ongoing work, lo que falta, what is in the making to com-plete the historic monument that depicts

the Tejanos — an explorer, a caballero, a

pioneer family of five, two longhorns, a

goat, and a lamb.We stood in proximity of the nearly

finished statue of the pioneer settler

who, when completed, will stand em-bracing his wife and infant child at the finished installation in Austin, joining

there, too, the statue of the daughter and the son that were about to be moved to Austin. At this moment in his evolution from Hinojosa’s clay model to bronze, the figure of the patriarch settler lacked

arms, though they would soon be weld-ed to him. His wife, in pieces in the next

room, would also soon be cast in bronze and assembled with welds.

In conversation we heard, too, of cor-porate generosity, such as Wal Mart’s

$100,000 commitment to develop cur-riculum for Tejano history for Texas schools.

The clatter of a flatbed trailer an-nounced the arrival of Armando and his son David, who in less than an hour would drive away with the two mas-sive longhorns, the statue of the family’s daughter holding a gourd of water for her lamb, her brother pulling a chiva by the horns, and the lamb.

A good amount of photo-taking and

interviews with Monica Navarro of the San Antonio Univision affiliate recorded

the moment for posterity.

The beautiful life-like bronzes of the monument shone brilliant and rich in the early morning light. On the eve of the monument groundbreaking in Aus-tin — with little ceremony, actually none — the figures were loaded carefully one

by one onto the artist’s trailer to move north along the trajectory of the com-pass point that our history has followed

for centuries.

Foundry visit: another chapter in the history of the Tejano Monument


Opinion

BY CRISTINA HERRERALareDOS Staff

After a break in which I so-lidified an exercise routine

— four weeks and count-ing — and caught up with

my beloved brother back from college, I’m ready for a new year. The theme: carpe diem. The attitude: positivity in

spite of uncertainty.

But several factors surrounding my generation, known as the “millen-nial generation” or more commonly, “Generation Y,” are pushing against

the positivity I (we) desperately want

to feel.If Generation Y had one big col-

lective crystal ball, it would be pretty

cloudy for most of us. I hesitate to think how those just entering col-

lege are feeling, too. Pretty anxious, I would say, but maybe not as anxious as those who graduated college and are still unemployed or who work too

few hours to support themselves.

As Gen Y-ers bitterly blame our parents for screwing it up for us, older

generations bitterly blame us back for being lazy, incompetent, and for not

showing any responsibility. The word

“entitlement” is thrown around a lot when describing our generation. It seems that we have a grand sense of entitlement that really irks our elders, but to them, I ask. “Who raised us? Or maybe, didn’t raise us?” Often we were left to our own devices — literally, de-vices such TV, video game consoles, and computers.

And to my generation, I say, “This all shouldn’t be an excuse for giving

up.”

I found myself stuck in this blame game of sorts — our parents, our

grandparents, rise of technology, in-creasing prosperity and decreasing

work ethics, etc. — but when my head stopped spinning, I realized trying to

find someone to blame is completely

worthless. We need to really think about where Gen Y wants to be in 10 years.

The benefit we have, though, is a

great knowledge of history at our fin-gertips and time to plan our future

carefully. I’m proud to see financial articles

about 20-somethings like myself, most of whom plan to save money for re-tirement because they realize that the idea of Social Security will only exist in history textbooks by the time they reach their 50s and 60s. Economists and expert observers are even calling

20-somethings “too frugal,” but how can that be a bad thing? (Unless you’re a business pushing consumers to

spend — often wastefully nowadays.)

“It’s un-American,” they say, but planning ahead and creating a good

nest egg is simply a smart thing to

do. Also, it’s up to us to shape what

“American values” will look like. I like to think progressivism in social,

economic, and environmental issues will be adopted as “American.”

Planning is especially important as

obtaining a college education almost guarantees that we will start out our careers with debt. So much for a fresh start in the wide-open world, huh? As

a freshman in college I thought the world would be my oyster by the time I graduated. In many ways it is, but in many others, I am quite restricted. Like friends, acquaintances, and co-workers, I found myself moving back with my parents because it was simply

more financially secure.

Gen Y does not want to repeat the

mistakes of the housing bubble, credit debacle, and so on. That’s not going to be our generation, we say, and I hope

that proves true. Old habits often die

hard.History tells us that humans have

been through hard times like these before, and this probably isn’t really the end of the world, whatever you interpret that to mean. The politicians

are still crappy — we just notice it

Generation Y’s future often looks like one big question mark



Venue for local art, music community

Independent designer Olivia Cotton www.olivia-cotton.blogspot.com interacts with a customer at her booth in the Caffe Dolce mini art ba-zaar on Saturday, January 7.

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BY MARIELA RODRIGUEZStaff Writer

The 49th annual Laredo Inter-national Fair and Exposition

(LIFE) opens February 29

and will run through March 3. The non-profit founded in 1963 has

had as its focus the education and de-velopment of

Webb County youth in agri-culture.

Bu si nes s owner and rancher Steve La Mantia has been named LIFE’s 2012 Rancher of the Year. Nic-

hole De Spain will preside over the fair

as queen, along with first runner up

Shelby Melendez and second runner-up

Catherine Uribe. As in decades past, the 2012 fair offers

great entertainment for the entire family. There will be a clown show and petting

zoo for the children, and a cook-off for backyard chefs who believe they have mastered the skill of the grill. One of the fun and educational must-sees is the Wild birds of South America Show. The mobile dairy classroom is back again. There will be sack races, tugs-of-war, and a greased pig contest. The ranch rodeo

is set for Friday, March 2, and the stock show and livestock auction, mainstays of the fair, are set for Saturday, March 3.

The entertainment lineup includes

country music sensation Kevin Fowler on Friday March 2, and Solido on Sat-

urday, March 3. Admission on these days prior to 5 p.m. is $5

for adults. After 5 p.m., it is $20

per person. Children 13 and

under will be admitted for $10 after 5 p.m.

Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. general

admission for school field trips

will be $1 per person. Children

must be with a school group

and have a supervising adult.

Parking passes for parents of

project competitors for all four

days is $10. General admission passes for parents for all four

days is $20. All children under 4 years of age will enter free if accompa-nied by a paying adult all four days.

LIFE is actively seek-ing sponsors for the 2012 Fair.

For more information on the fair or to become a sponsor contact the LIFE of-fice at (956) 722-9948 or visit www.

laredofair.com


Julliard instructor presents master classes

Carol Wincene, professor of flute at the Julliard School of Music, pre-sented master classes to students of Dr. Susan Berdahl and Melissa Hinojosa at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts. She is pictured on January 15, accompanied by music instructor Mary Grace Carroll, in the Urbahn Recital Hall.

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LIFE festivities kick off February 29; great lineup for entertainment and activitiesNews


more because we’re hurting more now than before. People still com-mit heartlessacts — we notice those more, too, with the increasing free flow of communication and 24/7

news channels. And economists will tell you that the bubble bursts and greed of large-scale corpora-tions were quite predictable, if you

were paying attention.

What is completely different about

the present is how much technology

we have at our disposal. I don’t want

to go into an anti-tech spiel, since I

believe the Internet just another way — a much improved way, really — to

catalog our knowledge, experiences,

and random thoughts. But some of the side effects include lower atten-tion span, more need for “instant-

ness,” and less empathy.

What Gen Y and beyond really have to resist is the impulse to take

the easy way out of situations. A big problem I see is the fact that we

were so prosperous throughout our

childhoods. Children need the basic necessities of food, water, rest, edu-cation, etc., but cell phones, a TV in

every room, your own laptop when

you’re 10 years old, and other gad-gets make life too easy.

It’s way more than gadgets, though. Our generation was rarely allowed to fail and more impor-tantly, face consequences. There was always some sort of cushion for us when we failed, and we ended up

thinking, “I guess it won’t be so bad after all.” Some call that “optimism,”

but I call it “being unrealistic at times.” The hard times and conse-quences are necessary so we can appreciate the good, as my brother

reminds me. There’s a reason we’re often called “entitled.” But don’t for-get that past generations, like our

own parents, were often called “en-titled” as well.

And so many of us Gen Y-ers are left craving more stimulating activi-ties in life. We’ve seen it all, but are we really going out there and expe-riencing the world? One of the big-gest things I crave is more sitting around and just talking with new and old friends. Not a bit of catch-ing up, then everybody looks down

at his or her phone awkwardly, but

actual talking. Why is it that so many people feel like they have nothing to

say? I have often shared this feeling.The more I read opinion ar-

ticles and columnists yammering on about the issues I’ve mentioned above, the more I tend to agree, es-pecially as I look around. No, the

world is not going to total crap. No,

kids today aren’t worse than before. And not everything about the “good ol’ days” was good. This awkward time period we are in has the poten-tial to shape the future prosperity

— or goodness forbid, plight — of

our lives. This is the time when we can shape a new world for ourselves,

because we do not simply want to be

known as “entitled, spoiled kids.”

And, to prove that I am not anti-

tech, use the Internet to say some-thing instead of simply consuming.

Share your thoughts on this truly stimulating topic or any other top-ics to any of the following: Facebook (LareDOS Newspaper), Twitter (@laredosnews), or my e-mail, [email protected].

Let’s make this year a good one.


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Treed, landscaped. 206 S. Dakota.

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$156,500 Creative Financing or Lease.

ANTHONY J. PENA (956) 319-4621; 729-1418

SEEKING PART-TIME ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT for environmental nonprofit organization in Laredo, TX.

• The assistant will maintain financial records;; perform clerical and receptionist duties;; and assist the Director in managing the busy workload of this small, fast-paced organization.

•Qualifications preferred: bilingual, experience with bookkeeping and/or QuickBooks, proficient computer skills, and good communication and grammar skills. Must be highly organized and a team player with a positive attitude. Criminal Background and references will be checked. EOE.

Please email resume to [email protected]

Tejano Monument sculptor moves project to completion

Tejano monument sculptor Armando Hinojosa is pictured during a January 12 interview with award-winning Univision-San Antonio journalist Monica Navarro. Hinojosa was interviewed outside the Stevens Art Foundry in Bulverde on the day five of the monument’s bronze figures were moved to Austin. Groundbreaking for the in-stallation of the Tejano Monument was held January 13 on the Capitol grounds in Austin. It will be unveiled March 30.

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2 0 I LareDOS I JANUARY 2012 WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

SUBSCRIBE

[email protected]

BY SALO OTEROLareDOS Contributor

Cuauthemoc “Chito” Rodri-guez has always had a spe-cial niche in minor league

baseball on the border. His name and persona were

raised to a new level at the re-cent Baseball Winter Meetings in Dallas, when he was crowned “King of Baseball,” a longstand-ing tradition in which minor league baseball salutes a veteran player for longtime dedication and service.

Rodriguez, who has been in-volved in professional ball since 1975, said the award caught him by surprise.

“I’ve been going to these con-ventions for 36 years and I’ve

seen it happen to many oth-ers, and all of a sudden, ‘bolas,’ you’re the one,” he said.

Being king comes with all the hardware.

“They come to your table with a trophy, a cape, a crown and they start showing videos of your career. You start thinking of all your childhood, family, and all who helped you in base-ball. But you’re just left speech-less. It’s a tremendous honor,” Rodriguez said.

Joining him at the event were his wife, Adriana, daughters Adriana and Patricia and other relatives.

Rodriguez, 75, is only the second player from Mexico to be named King of Baseball. The other was the late Alejo Peralta

in 1967, when the winter baseball meetings were in Mexico City. Peralta, who died in 1997, was the commissioner of Mexican League baseball and owner of the Mexico City Ti-gres. Rodriguez was hired by Per-alta in the 1990s to run the Tigres and the Tanjore Corporation in Laredo.

R o d r i g u e z , who lives in Lare-do and is a grad-uate of St. Augus-tine High School, started his career with the Nuevo Laredo Tecolotes, where he spent 19 years. His Tecos team won Mexican League championships in 1977 and 1989. The team became the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos in the 1980s, play-ing part of its season in Laredo.

For the last 16 years, Rodri-guez has served as the president of the Tigres de Quintana Roo based in Cancún. The Tigres were previously based in Mexico City and Puebla. His recruitment and development of players has resulted in five league champi-onships — 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, and 2011.

His Tigres career has included playoff appearances every year and nine championship finals. Rodriguez served as the Chair-man of the Board of the Mexican

League for two straight terms, the maximum tenure allowed by the circuit. He has also been a member of the Mexican Na-tional Baseball Team committee since 2003.

Rodriguez is in his second term as the Mexican League’s representative on the Minor League Baseball Board of Trust-ees. He is a member of the Lare-do Latin American International Sports Hall of Fame, Tamauli-pas State Hall of Fame, and the Nuevo Laredo Hall of Fame. He has been nominated to the Mex-ican League Hall of Fame three times.


Laredo businessman crowned ‘King of Baseball’News

Cuauthemoc “Chito” Rodriguez, a legend in minor league baseball, was named the “King of Baseball” in December ceremonies at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Dallas. The Laredo businessman, who served as president of the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos for 19 years, is president of the Tigres de Quintana Roo, a position he has held for 16 years.

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Attorney Juan Cruz of Es-camilla, Poneck, & Cruz, LLP, has announced that Jennifer Lehmann Hall

has become a partner in the law firm and that Orlando “Jay” Juarez Jr. has joined the firm as an associate attor-ney in the Laredo office.

Hall, a 1997 graduate of the Uni-versity of Texas at Austin School of Law, has been with the firm since 1997 and works in the San Antonio office.

“Jenny’s road to partnership was a long one, but well deserved,” Cruz said. “She has proven to be loyal to our law firm and the firm’s clients are very receptive to her advice. Jenny will continue to

focus on school law and employ-ment law defense-based practice, and we are excited to see her de-velop in her new role as a partner of our law firm.”

Juarez is a 2010 graduate of the UT-Austin School of Law and joined the firm this year.

“Our law firm is enthusiastic about having Jay join our team of lawyers,” Cruz said. “He is full of energy, highly intelligent, and a hard worker. We know that Jay’s skills as a lawyer will grow at our firm and that he will serve our ex-isting and new clients very well.”

In addition to Laredo and San Antonio, Escamilla, Poneck, & Cruz have offices in Houston,

Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Mexico City, and Louisiana.

Established in San Antonio in 1991, the firm of-fers civil litigation services, includ-ing government entity defense, municipal bond work, and defense of employment law claims.

For further in-formation, visit epc-law.com.

— LareDOS Staff


News Brief

Partner Hall, associate attorney Juárez join Escamilla, Poneck, and Cruz, LLP

WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM LareDOS I JANUARY 2012 I 2 3

Feature

BY LEM LONDOS RAILSBACK Contributor

Vancouver Island is the larg-est Pacific island east of

New Zealand. It lies just off the western coast of British

Columbia, Canada and a bit above Seattle, Wash. A commercial passen-ger boat ferry between the mainland and Victoria, the capital city of Brit-ish Columbia, situated on the island’s southern tip, takes about 35 minutes each way.

With its supportive climate — the mildest in all of Canada — and plenti-ful rainfall, particularly on the west-ern side, the island nurtures many

beautiful flower gardens in homes

and public places. One of the con-tinuing fads for homes over the last decade is the construction and opera-tion of miniature electric locomotives pulling boxcars and cabooses on a winding track through the garden.

The public gardens do not charge for admission while the garden park attractions charge admission.

The Beacon Hill Park in British Columbia’s city of Victoria is one of the more famous community public parks. The Tofino Botanical Gardens

provide a rainforest and shoreline garden as the gateway to Clayoquot Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Of all of the wonderful gardens, the Butchart Gardens — “Over 100 years

in bloom” — is the most famous. During the 19th Century, Robert

Butchart, a mine owner and pioneer entrepreneur, operated a cement com-pany from the giant limestone deposit close to his home. As the deposit was exhausted, large gaping holes were left in the ground. Jenny, Robert’s wife, thought that those holes looked horrible, and consequently, she decid-ed to cover them and fill them with

flowers.

By 1904, the first phase of Jenny’s

project was completed when she wel-comed the public to her Sunken Gar-den. Over time, she added a rose gar-den, an Italian garden, and a Japanese garden. Recently a Mediterranean garden had been added.

Eventually, the Butcharts dedicat-ed 50 acres to the Butchart Gardens.

On summer evenings, the gardens are illuminated with tiny lights. From June through September, there is free musical entertainment. Fireworks dis-plays abound in July and August. On the grounds is a menagerie carousel with hand-carved replicas of animals from around the world.

The Butchart Gardens hosts many

civic events, corporate parties, and children’s parties throughout the year. Against the backdrop of many flowers of different colors, thousands

of flowering bulbs, flowering shrubs,

and trees, weddings are a specialty. Of course, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a seed-and-gift store, boat tours, tele-phones, restrooms, a visitor informa-tion booth, and drinking fountains are all nearby. The Butcharts’ old home serves as a museum to display original documents, china, and sou-venirs from their global travels.

I was so impressed with all of the different colors, shapes, and scents of the Butchart Gardens. I walked

through all of the five gardens. I tried

to enter into each new trail and to fol-low it to its end, but some of the ends branched off into two new trails. As the sidewalk curved to the right, I found myself in a sea of green.

Against a backdrop of long fir

trees, medium-length trees, 8-feet-tall brown-colored trees, and evergreens — like those planted at cemeteries — lay a long line of carefully manicured hedges about 10-feet-tall and stretch-ing all the way to the back of the sec-tion. In front of those hedges were yel-low-green bushes, green bushes, and dark-green bushes. Below lay clumps of white, yellow, and red flowers. The

overall greenery was punctuated by the smaller pieces of varying color.

On another trail, I encountered a mixing of purple, white, red, and yel-low flowers. At the Japanese Garden, I

witnessed small stone shrines, bench-es—which I used often — and gen-tly flowing streams. The swimming

pool lay in an interesting geometric design of intersecting diagonals with its white stone center surrounded by statues of small animals. At a des-ignated time, those small animals acted as fountains to spew water up and into the pool. In the middle of another swimming pool, situated on yet another trail, I saw a great foun-tain shooting water to about 10 feet in the air. Around the spewing water were beautiful statues of three giant fish posed as if they were diving into

the pool. On still another trail, I discovered

wide swaths of purple, red-orange, white, and mixed colors. Even on the walls of the buildings on the grounds, well maintained bunches of multi-colored flowers and shrubs grew with

relish. Although I didn’t have time to

Colors, colors, everywhere, and not a spot to waste

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE



One of the many fountains at the Butchart Gardens

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the entire 50 acres of garden, I imagined the gardens in toto as a giant canvas on the main features —buildings, trails, statues, pools, fountains, and expanses of varying flower combinations were penciled onto the canvas. Then the paint — trees, hedges, shrubs, flowers — had been painstakingly applied. To me, the entire 50 acres provided a rich skein of color. I began to deep-ly admire the careful planning and planting; the extensive care, nur-turing, pruning, watering; and the daily monitoring by the staff that maintains the wonderful gardens. I especially admired the staff’s ex-pertise and steadiness.

I used the water fountains sev-eral times. I also left a lot of cash with the seed-and-gift shop, bring-ing back a bunch of packages of seeds to see if some of the Butchart beauties could be nurtured in my

Laredo domain. I spent so much time walking the trails and admir-ing the statues, swimming pool, and the trees that lined the bound-aries of each garden that I almost missed my bus back to Victoria. On the ride back, I reflected on experi-encing all of the different flowers, shrubs, and trees — and on their amazing variety of colors, shapes, and smells. I imagined that if there really was a Garden of Eden, it had

to look, smell, and feel like the Butchart Gardens.

In downtown Victoria, I visited the historic Empress Hotel. Walk-ing the many hallways and climb-ing the many stairs to view the historic displays, I was surprised to find that a colleague of mine from the conference was already viewing a miniature replica of one of the old ships that used to land at Victoria Harbour. When I made a quick visit to the downtown shop-

ping area, I was so overwhelmed by the variety of items on sale that I grew fatigued. I also admired the fact that throughout the harbor and shopping areas, the flowers,

shrubs, and trees were carefully ar-ranged and maintained like those in the Butchart Gardens.

Apparently, all of Victoria loves flowers.


News

BY DENISE FERGUSONLareDOS Contributor

Staff at Doctors Hospital of Laredo encouraged healthy lifestyles at its Second Annual Weight-Loss Challenge, which

began on Saturday, January 7 at the hospital’s Women’s Center and ends on April 7.

“It is hoped that the development of good eating habits and maintenance of a healthy weight will lead to a longer life among the participants,” said Carolyn H. Graham, a registered nurse and bariatric

coordinator at Doctors Hospital. “Each participant is provided with the skills nec-essary to adopt healthy eating and exercise habits that will last a lifetime.”

While last year about 100 people par-ticipated, Graham noted that about 162

people filled out registration forms for the

2012 program. Participants will return to

the Women’s Center on April 7 between 8 a.m. and noon to weigh out.

The winners of the challenge will be de-termined by the percentage of weight lost. There will be first, second and third place

winners that will be notified by phone.

The first place prize is a plasma TV.

Participants can contact the Weight Loss and Wellness Center during the chal-lenge with questions. Representatives for the program will correspond with partici-pants throughout the challenge via e-mail, offering tips and ideas.

After each participant weighed in, they were directed to a nearby classroom, where dietician Renee Hinojosa presented a diet-information class. She told partici-pants that healthy eating needs to become a “way of life.”

Some of the talking points presented during the class were:

• Never exclude foods from a diet, but

keep track of amounts that are ingested.

For example, if you drink one-half of a serving of soda, write it down. If an indi-vidual is addicted to a certain food such as ice cream, which he cannot give up, the in-dividual can try eating half a cup per day or a full cup every other day.

• Exercise at least three times per week.

“Walking is an excellent choice because it is good for the joints and reduces hyper-tension,” Hinojosa said.

• Include major food groups at all

meals. A plate segregating the portions of each food may be used. Foods containing protein may help to decrease hunger. “Try to consume foods that go in and come out quickly,” said Hinojosa. “Many vegetables are free foods, and celery actually takes more calories to digest than to assimilate.”

• Do not skip meals, because the body

slows down when it thinks it is starving.• Don’t sit watching TV. Instead you

can walk or run in place or use two cans of corn as weights as you watch. If a snack is

needed, nibble on low-calorie food such as raw vegetables or air-popped popcorn.

• Eat small amounts of low-calorie

food frequently to help control blood sugar levels.

The Diabetes Diet features low sugar intake and a protein representative at every meal. In general, the participants were advised to eat suitable portions of six starches, three vegetables, two fruits, two dairy, 4 to 6 ounces of meat, and up to three fats each a day. The diet is said to control blood-sugar levels and can also help lower blood pressure and choles-terol.

Graham said the challenge may prove

useful to people who are attempting to control caloric intake in order to avoid weight loss surgery.

For more information on the chal-lenge, contact Graham at (926) 721-0207

or [email protected].

Doctors Hospital aims for healthy lifestyles at weight-loss challenge


BY MARÍA EUGENIA GUERRA

From his studio on Farragut Street — a non-descript building a block from the rail yards — Armando Hinojosa

finishes sculpting the last of the 11 fig-ures for the installation of the Tejano Monument that will be inaugurated on the Capitol Grounds in Austin on

March 29. The figure is that of a Span-ish explorer wearing armor, pleated breeches, and high boots.

The sculptor looked back on the events of the decade since he received the commission, recalling that in some instances the years raced by and in oth-ers plodded at a much slower pace. He had the idea after receiving the com-mission that he might leave his day job as an art instructor at the Vidal M. Treviño School of Communications and Fine Arts so that he could focus on the work of the monument.

He didn’t, becoming quickly aware that the stop-and-start momentum of the work would be dictated by bud-gets, fundraising, and a State historic preservationist.

When completed, the installation will consist of the explorer; an hacen-

dado on horseback pushing two Long-horns; and a family of five — mother,

father, infant, a daughter and a son. The daughter holds a gourd of water for a lamb, the boy is trying to move a stubborn cabra that needs milking.

The bronze figure of the rancher on

horseback was completed in 2003 and is in storage in Austin, now joined by

the Longhorns and the two children and their animals. The father figure,

now cast in bronze, awaits the welding of his arms at the Stevens Foundry in Bulverde where Hinojosa has worked with Larry Stevens to bring his sculp-tures to life over the last 43 years.

The mother and infant are about to be cast, and the clay figure of the ex-plorer will soon be loaded on Hinojo-sa’s flatbed trailer in Laredo for a ride

to the foundry and eventually to the Capitol grounds.

Ensuring the historic accuracy of the figures has been as painstakingly

important to the sculptor’s work as the intricacies of making the figures’ faces

and their postures work individually and as a suite of figures that tell a story.

The Tejano Monument is Hinojosa’s for-tieth completed sculpture. He is as up to speed on the history of the first Teja-nos as he is on the process that takes his figures from clay to bronze — the fab-rication of a wax figure, bronze heated

to 2300 degrees, the welding of figures

poured in pieces that weigh about 90 pounds, the sanding and grinding of the welds to remove seams, and arriv-ing the desired patina by heating the bronze figures and spraying them with

acid.Hinojosa is a student of anatomy.

He said the bodies of his figures have

to be built before they are clothed, else the clothing does not fall naturally. He used the reflection of his own arms and

hands in a mirror to fashion the arms of the monument’s male figures, and

he uses calipers to establish accurate

proportions. He said he makes many of his own tools, and that he uses oil-based sculpture clay to bring his fig-ures to life. He used an old pair of worn boots to copy the creases in the leather at the ankles and heels of the boots of the explorer.

“If I can see it, I can paint it,” he said, adding, “My first love is painting.”

Hinojosa said he is thankful that he can earn a living doing what he loves. He is mod-est about his own work and laudatory about “creative people.”

He said it is evident to him when “people put their hearts into their work, whether it is writing, the-

atre, or the visual arts.”Of the work of the monument, he

said, “This is for all Texans, all Tejanos. This is a depiction of Texas history, of the people who came here to settle and to raise horses, cattle, sheep and goats.”

While Hinojosa acknowledged he has “certain skills,” he does not assign himself the title of artist. “Let other

The Tejano Monument:from Farragut Street to the Bulverde foundry,on to the Capitol grounds

Feature



For many of us, downtown Laredo may have an unattractive urban image, and an unpleasant, deteriorated look. This can be attributed to the mod-ernization of some of the old storefronts on our historic streets, an effort stay up-to-date with the latest commercial trends. In order to compete with suburban malls, owners have removed “older” elements, period details,

and ornamentations on the façades of commercial buildings.In their place, some have new elements added or have covered second-story win-

dows to give the streetscape the appearance of a mall. Today, downtown Laredo has a 1960s-1970s look that has been left without proper maintenance. However, behind modern additions and alterations, you can still find historic buildings relatively intact.

By uncovering a historic façade, a building not only recovers its historic signifi-cance and value, but also regains a sense of uniqueness and character that attracts new businesses and shoppers. Downtown Laredo has hidden treasures in its build-ings, and an untapped source of economic development.

To assist downtown business owners to rehabilitate the facades of their property, Laredo Main Street and the City of Laredo created the Façade Improvement Grant Program, which provides up to $15,000 in matching funds to encourage restoration of façades and overall building appearance to rekindle interest in downtown. These funds can be used toward repairing windows, doors, and awnings; removal of materi-als to expose the originals; painting; and repair of brick and woodwork, among other exterior improvements.

Thinking about the great opportunity of this and other grants to change the face of our downtown area, I took the liberty of imagining how some of our historic buildings would look if their architectural value was revealed, if their facades were stripped of the elements that today cover and obscure their architectural value. For more information on the Downtown Façade Improvement Grant Program, please contact Laredo Main Street at (956) 523-8817 or [email protected].(Jesus Najar is an urban planner and community outreach coordinator for the National Trust for Historic Preservation South Texas Field Office in Laredo.)

Original facades reveal downtown treasures

The façade of this two-story building bordering the Tatangelo Parkway (300 block of San Agustín Ave.) is currently a blank wall that is usually unnoticed by passersby. All of the openings, doors, and, windows are bricked-in and painted white. The building’s integ-rity, however, offers us a good idea of its former use and potential to be a beautiful building again. This conjectural rendition shows us how it might have looked before the alterations.

Located on the corner of Farragut and Salinas, the Laredo Improvement Co. Building was built in 1890 in brick. It featured cast-iron cornices and parapets. The Sames-Moore Co. and the Elks Hall later occupied the building. In the 1950s, the building had all of its cast-iron elements, balconies removed and its brick façade was covered with stucco. By the 1960s, the second story exterior was completely covered by concrete and used as a warehouse. The building remains intact, but if uncovered and properly rehabilitated, it could become the landmark building that it once was.

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News Brief


Oscar Antonio Martinez — “Tony,” as he was known to friends and family — had just turned 19 years old ex-

actly one month before his life was cut short. Martinez died by suicide on Sept. 24, 2009, leaving those who knew and loved him heartbroken, and wondering what they could have done differently.

The memory of Martinez and other suicide victims were commemorated at the second annual Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk, held at Laredo Community College’s Fort McIntosh Campus on Saturday, January 14.

“[Tony] used to say ‘smile beautiful’ to everyone because he always had a big smile on his face,” said Bernadette Mar-tinez, Tony’s older sister.

Bernadette and the rest of the Marti-

nez family joined the walk, wearing the same bright green shirt with the phrase “Smile beautiful” atop a picture of a smiling Tony. The year of his birth and death was also displayed — a reminder of a young life lost.

“This walk keeps his memory alive, and I feel like this gives us a sense of peace that people are doing something about it,” Bernadette said. “It’s not being pushed under the rug.”

Martinez had plans, like everybody. He played defensive back for the Alex-ander High School bulldogs. A former high school athlete, outgoing, and loved by many, nobody could expect him.

But suicide does not pick and choose, as made clear by organizers and partici-pants at the walk.

“It’s events like these that are impor-tant, and the community then realizes that suicide is something that can affect everyone,” said Daniel Castillon, execu-

tive director of Border Region MHMR. Castillon also participated in the walk.

Catholic priest John Jesus Maloney with the Pilgrim Center of Hope in San Antonio explained that there are many types of stigmas surrounding suicide that must be “smashed.” Despite the perception that most people who at-tempt suicide are mentally ill, most peo-ple with a mental illness do not die by suicide, according data from the Centers for Disease Control.

“Suicide is more about an illness than it is about a stigma,” Maloney told walk participants. “Suicide is like an emotion-al cancer. Suicide is not a freely chosen act; it’s something that’s not about pain, pride, or arrogance…It does not put a person outside of the mercy of God.”

According to the CDC, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death for all ages in 2007. About 1 million people at-tempt suicide each year in the United

States. Men are 4 times as likely to die by suicide than women, but women at-tempt suicide three times more often than men.

The CDC also reported that His-panic females in high schools attempt suicide at a higher percentage — 11.1 percent — than their white, non-His-panic counterparts, who attempt at 6.5 percent.

For general information about sui-cide and how to prevent it, go to cdc.

gov/violenceprevention/suicide. PILLAR, a local nonprofit dedicated

to the mental and emotional needs, including suicide prevention, can be reached at (956) 220-6100 or facebook.com/

pillar.laredo.The state-funded Border Region

MHMR also offers services for those dealing with suicide or suicidal thoughts. Contact the Webb County office at (956)

794-3000.

Out of Darkness walk highlights victims, suicide prevention




Historic groundbreaking on the Capitol grounds Dr. Cayetano Barrera, president of the Tejano Monument board of di-rectors; Renato Ramirez, vice-president of the board and IBC Bank Za-pata CEO; Richard P. Sanchez, secretary and treasurer of the board; Dennis Nixon, IBC Bank chair and CEO; Armando Hinojosa, artist and sculptor of the monument; and Andres Tijerina, vice-president of the board are pictured in Austin on January 13.

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Another well-attended Farmers MarketJarvis Plaza filled quickly with shoppers for the January 21 Farmers Market. Plant and herb vendors were especially busy with gardeners preparing for spring plantings. The market continues to grow as a vi-able venue for local and area agricultural products.

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Migrant crossings and Border Patrol apprehen-sions of undocumented immigrants might be

sharply down, but attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border without the proper papers could be a much dead-lier proposition than in the past.

Mexican consular reports reveal that while 369 Mexican nationals died during presumed border crossings in 2004 — a year when much greater numbers of people were crossing the border — at least 310 still perished in 2011, a year the Border Patrol has clas-sified as a historic low in terms of un-authorized crossings and detentions.

In Fiscal Year 2011, the U.S. Cus-toms and Border Protection (CBP) agency reported the detention of 340,252 migrants — the vast majority of them Mexican nationals — on the border between Mexico and the U.S. The number was one-fifth the total of

detentions made in the peak year of 2000 when about 1.6 million people were apprehended, and comparable to 1971 levels.

According to the reports, the prin-cipal causes of deaths along the border have included dehydration, drown-ing, vehicular accidents, hypothermia, “health complications,” and reasons possibly connected to violence.

Of the slightly more than 3,000 bor-der deaths of Mexican nationals from 2004 to 2011, as many as 1,116 could have been related to violence, accord-ing to Mexico’s

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Mexican government identified

the Arizona-Sonora border, especially the Tucson sector, as the deadliest zone in the eight-year period studied. Approximately one-half the deaths, or 1,573 cases, happened along the Ar-izona-Sonora line. With 551 deaths

almost split evenly, the areas around the Texas cities of McAllen and Lare-do were also very deadly.

While the Arizona-Sonora border consists of remote desert where tem-perature extremes are the environ-mental rule, the Texas-Tamaulipas border is divided by the Río Grande, a river which becomes a death trap for many who attempt to swim the decep-tively narrow and lazy waterway.

In terms of migrant detentions, the CBP statistics for Fiscal Year 2011 show that 129,118 people were detained in Arizona, 118,911 in Texas, 72,638 in California, and 6,910 in New Mexico.

For the last fiscal year, the CBP

“dedicated historic levels of person-nel, technology and resources to the Southwest border,” according to a news release from the law enforce-ment agency. In addition to beefed-up law enforcement, the Border Patrol considers weak demand for migrant labor and the perilous situation con-fronting Central American migrants passing through Mexico as factors in the historic plunge in apprehensions.

Besides expanding the Border Pa-trol to 21,444 agents by the end of the fiscal year — more than double the

number from the 2004 force’s strength — the CBP noted the deployment of “additional technology assets” includ-ing mobile surveillance units, drones, thermal imaging systems and “small-scale non-intrusive” inspection equip-ment.

According to a Border Patrol spokesman quoted in the Mexican press, a disproportionate number of Mexican nationals detained in Arizo-na are from the violence-ridden Pacific

coast state of Guerrero. Manuel Padilla told the Guerrero

daily El Sur that approximately 9 per-

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Mexican consular reports:fewer but deadlier border crossings




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Opinion


Opinion

BY BARBARA BAKERLareDOS Contributor

“I have a dream that my four children

will one day live in a nation where they will

not be judged by the color of their skin but

by the content of their character.

— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King gave this well-known and oft-quoted “I Have a Dream” speech 52 years ago on the steps of the

Lincoln Memorial. On another historic day 48 years later — Jan. 9, 2009 — our first African-American president took the

oath of office of President of the United

States. I have become disillusioned and

appalled by how our first African-

American president has been treated in a country that claims to know the im-portance of dignity, respect, and honor. We’ve had many civil rights movements to learn from to create a better society for African- Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. Other equal rights movements related to gender, sexual orientation, and people with disabilities have also provided ex-amples.

So the question becomes, “Has Presi-dent Obama truly been judged by the content of his character or the color of his skin?” Let’s look at the facts that have nothing to do with disagreeing with his political ideology or party af-filiation, but rather related to a sinister

type of verbally cruel racism that started back on the plantation. Sometimes I am frightened that this racism will escalate into a physical and violent attack if he continues in office another four years.

The photo of President Obama’s face on the body of a chimpanzee has deep racial implications because African -Americans have experienced deroga-tory comparisons about our physical features being related to primate facial and body figures. It goes back to racial

beliefs about who is considered physi-cally beautiful and attractive in our so-ciety. This type of cruel racism has been used as a basis to treat those who are not considered a member of dominant cul-ture as inferior and non-human because they are “animal-like.”

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neil disrespected First Lady Michelle Obama by referring to her as “Mrs. Yo Mama.” This comment not only has an element of racism, but also sexism. Ms. Obama is an intellectual and accomplished woman who deserves respect and honor for what she has achieved. No woman for that matter deserves to have this crude slang hurled at her in a harassing and taunting manner.

In honor of the holiday season, Mr. O’Neil then puts a photo of Ms. Obama with a strand of hair out place next to a picture of the Christmas Grinch and re-fers to her as the Grinch. In our society, hair is very political for African Ameri-can women and has been a source of oppression for us in terms of issues of beauty and femininity.

In an article entitled, “Black Hair Still Tangled in Politics” in The New

York Times, Catherine Saint Louis wrote, “Getting ‘good hair’ often means trans-forming one’s tightly coiled roots; but it is also more freighted, for many Af-rican-American women and some men, than simply a choice about grooming. Straightening hair has been perceived as a way to be more acceptable to certain relatives, as well as to the white estab-lishment.”

Saint Louis also discussed Malia Obama, who was harshly criticized in a public blog for wearing her hair in a twist while in Rome. The blog stated this was proof that the Obamas were unfit to

represent America. It seems that “natu-ral hair” on African Americans does not represent the diversity and individual-ity that this country was founded upon.

So when Mr. O’Neil makes the case that he has bad hair days, too, and he is

referring to that as well in his commen-tary, he needs to remember that his non-good hair days are accepted as a white privileged, upper class male “norm” in our society. There is no comparison to what African-American women have faced historically and traditionally in our society with bad hair days.

Then there was the heckling from the House and Senate floor at President

Obama during a live State of the Union Address, and a Russian correspondent saying President Obama’s name while gesturing with her middle finger. Some

may argue that any president might face these types of challenges.

My concern is that well-educated and professional people who are supposed to know the appropriate places and times to exercise their right for disagreement in a respectful manner, act instead like bullies on a public playground trying to humiliate and dismiss someone for the sheer meanness of it. Everyone remem-bers the long drawn out public process of accusations and demands that Presi-dent Obama produce his birth certificate

to prove he was an American and quali-fied to be President of the United States.

Most people of color in America will tell you that they have experienced what it is like to have to go above and beyond to prove they are worthy of what is con-sidered a “high level” decision-making position in predominantly white situa-tions. It may not be that way in Laredo, but it is outside of the area.

I found myself watching live cover-age of President Obama speaking about the appointment of the new consumer advocate, only to have it interrupted by John McCain endorsing Mitt Romney. Where are the priorities? I would have rather heard about this important presi-dential office appointment in-depth and

listened to Mr. McCain’s endorsement later in the day during an instant replay. This is not the first time I’ve seen the

media handle President Obama’s public messages in this manner.

Here we are in 2012, decades since Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and with an African-American president who has followed a dedicated path of working to get his education and accom-plishments, only to hear a Tea Party can-didate make a stereotypical comment about African Americans. Presidential candidate Rick Santorum said, “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.”

As NAACP President Benjamin Jeal-ous said, “Rick Santorum’s remark rein-forced unfair stereotypes that are inac-curate and outrageous. He conflates wel-fare recipients with African-Americans, though federal benefits are in fact deter-mined by income level. In Iowa, for ex-ample, only 9% of food stamp recipients are black, while 84% of recipients are white.” Mr. Santorum needs to research all the corporate welfare given to white male-operated corporations.

As an African-American, I do not agree with all of President Obama’s decisions and choices but I still feel sig-nificant pride that we do have our first

African-American president. In my role as an educator, I have seen how he has inspired young people of color that with the message that with hard work and dedication one can aspire to the presidential office no matter what your

race identity is. That’s important for our young people of color to know.

I believe Dr. King would say it is es-sential that we hold our country account-able, that we are not judging people by the color of their skin, and that we ap-proach our disagreements without any “isms.” It’s time to walk the talk to fulfill

the promise and opportunity of “Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Judged by the content of our character or skin color


Under the Middle Eastern Star

The Price of Peace:Dancing with the Devil BY MAJOR

LUIS TINAJERO

Almighty God, We ask that your mighty

spirit be with these soldiers on their mission

today. Make their wits sharp and their focus

intense that they would see and overcome any

danger. And if they do have to fight, Lord give them victory in battle. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

My eyes were closed when I heard our chap-lain relay these words to our God. My mind

was filled with images of people spe-cial to me, and all I could do is wonder if today was going to be a good day or a bad day.

As I opened my eyes at the cue of “Amen,” I looked around the circle that had formed around the chaplain and suddenly found comfort in the unconditional confidence I had in the

men and women I was about to travel with — warriors who were as ready and willing as I am to protect one oth-er at whatever cost.

When you are about to voluntarily expose yourself to the possibility of losing life or limb, words like the ones offered by our chaplain mean a whole lot!

The mission was fairly simple: Move in convoy formation, locate and secure the objective, and get back “home” in one piece.

As we rolled out I began to play scenarios in my mind. They all start-ed with a “bang.” Since Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) are the pri-mary choice of tactic for this enemy, I wanted to make sure that I, as the convoy commander, knew exactly how to react in order to protect and assist this specialized team in case of an attack.

I was amazed at the expert skill

set of my drivers. The visibility inside the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored fighting vehicle

is bad enough, but adding the dust, low light, and crazy traffic conditions

made things extremely dangerous. Space inside the MRAP is very lim-

ited, and wearing the Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) with a full combat load not only adds about 45 pounds to your overall weight, but also further restricts your freedom of movement. This “pleasant” situation added a cer-tain degree of pain and discomfort, and significantly amplified the level

of anxiety I was feeling as I was get-ting ready to travel through this en-emy’s territory.

Let me explain it this way. Think back to the first times you started

playing with a Jack-in-the-box. You heard the music and turned the han-dle rhythmically in anticipation that the stupid clown would eventually and suddenly jump out and scare the shitaki out of you. That is exactly how I felt as we were hurtling down the road toward the objective — except if the clown jumped out this time, it could be very detrimental to our health.

Upon reaching our destination I dismounted and found myself in the middle of a populated area. I led the team toward our objective and was amazed at how oblivious the Afghan civilians were to our presence. De-cades of war have desensitized these people as evident by the lack of reac-tion to a group of American fighting

warriors heading down the street in a tactical formation — weapons hot and at the ready, evidently on a mission, and ready to fight.

As we traversed the crowd, a fe-

male counterpart and I noticed that a civilian Afghani male had stopped and squatted with his back turned to us. We both immediately placed him in our sights and broke formation to investigate his actions. As we ap-proached I noticed that he was fidget-ing with something between his legs. We continued to approach, and it was she who realized what was happen-ing: We were witnessing a grown man urinating in the middle of a busy area in public.

Nobody except us naïve American warriors found this surprising, and a little disturbing, I might add, as we made our way back to our guys. I was still laughing when I witnessed something that topped the last spec-tacle. Across the street was another male looking right at us and reliev-ing himself of his bowels — just like a cat — in front of everybody. And nobody cared.

We finally reached the objective

and secured it without incident or in-juries. The only casualty that day was my sensibilities that had witnessed grown men relieving themselves in a congested and public place.

The trip home after several hours of being in survival mode seemed even longer than the trip out. Again, the Jack-in-the-box was on my mind as were images of my 2-year-old daugh-ter. Would I survive this adventure in one piece and one day get to hold her again? Would she be proud that her daddy danced with the devil and took the necessary risks so that many could enjoy the privileges and free-doms of the American way of life?

There are many brave Americans who have served, are serving, and will serve in wars across the world. War is the price of peace, and war-riors are necessary to fight those

wars.

Major Luis Tinajero

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Santa María Journal


In the distance, the night sky over San Ygnacio erupted oc-casionally in showy bursts of fireworks, but here on the San-

ta María Ranch, the damp desert floor now redolent with the smell of

winter weeds, the New Year arrived calmly and with-out fanfare.

In retreat on the ranchlands, I en-joyed a five-day run

of chores and quiet respite.

Inspired by day by the landscape and by night by the deep, silent beauty of the celestial vault, I kept meaning to write something brilliant — perhaps a chapter in the Laredo novel — but instead the days present-ed me with broken water lines and the kind of put-tering that I actually relish because I can use my hands to engage my brain.

Such was the spirit of the building and installation of nesting boxes in the henhouse. Nesting boxes need to seem private for egg-laying purposes, but they also need to be un-inviting surfaces for nighttime roosts. A roof of sharply sloped metal flashing en-sured there would be no traction for roosting, as did a narrow opening to get into the nesting boxes.

I like tools — a sharp hand saw, a level, a Swanson speed square, a

good hammer, a measuring tape, and a Bosch cordless drill — and I like drawing a plan and sticking to it. I es-pecially like using materials I already have on hand. I marked the success of each day by not having needed to get into a car and leave the ranch prem-ises.

The endeavor included building a small ladder so that the nesting in-

stallation would be accessible to the hens. It took me a couple of hours to finish, but just minutes after comple-tion, there were hens a-laying on the fresh hay in the nesting boxes.

And so went my days un-tethered from what I do to keep LareDOS afloat,

devoting myself to cleaning up any disorder in the ranch compound and putting the finishing touches on the

little altar to the Virgen de Guadalupe that my granddaughter Emily and I

put together. The biting

chill of cold nights gave way to cool, bright days that were perfect for reading on the sunny end of the porch and for for-ays into the brush on the 4-wheeler.

I found great comfort in the companionship of my dog Luna, in evening mes-quite fires in the

kitchen hearth, and meals carefully prepared.

Birdcalls, the silence in between, and the familiar landscape outside every window made me feel centered and as though I’d recovered some vi-tal part of myself that had been mis-placed in the clutter of my office in

Laredo.Four inches of rain have trans-

formed the parched look of the monte. The land looks alive, save for the lacy bonnets of the mesquite trees, now yellowing and dropping. The slow, soaking moisture over a 12-day pe-riod was of much benefit to land and

wildlife habitat. So thorough was its saturation into the sandy earth that there was little runoff into the ponds, and the ranch hand told me

that as he dug fence posts, the earth was moist down to 3 feet.

My grand-children were out of town — off to the high country and snow. I missed them terribly but was pleased to have so quiet a stretch of days.

The New Year arrived without fanfareBy MARÍA

EUGENIA GUERRA





Area chapters of the Bet-ter Business Bureau (BBB) named some of the “most prevalent” scams of 2011

earlier this month. The scams range from the traditional phishing e-mails to job-hunting fraud, a telling sign of another year with a struggling econ-omy.

“With so many still unemployed, the check-cashing scams, and mort-gage relief and payday loan issues have been steady,” said Kristi Peña, a regional BBB spokesperson based in San Antonio. “The temptation of fast cash is misleading, which is why it’s so important for us to provide this in-formation and encourage our city and government officials to help. ”

The BBB also named its top 10 scams of 2011, with “scam of the year” given to the BBB phishing scam, in which thousands of users were sent e-mails usually informing them of “complaints about your business.”

“Each scam has its unique issues whether online, by phone, or in per-son,” Peña said. “What we see with our consumers is that they did not take the time to ask questions, re-search the product or reach out to any local agency that could provide back-ground information, i.e. BBB, attorney general, city and other like entities.”

Peña said some of the best advice she could give consumers included investigating offers that the consumer did not solicit and thoroughly read-ing information — especially the fine

print.“Don’t be afraid to walk away if it

turns into a high-pressure sales meet-ing [and] always obtain three or more quotes no matter what you’re look-ing for. You owe it to yourself to shop around,” Peña added.

The BBB is a private corporation that gathers information about busi-nesses, gives out company ratings, and informs consumers about scams and fraud, according to its website.

The following list includes five

of the most prevalent scams of 2011. Find the full list of the 10 most preva-lent scams at austin.bbb.org/article/bbb-

names-most-prevalent-scams-of-2011-

31824.

Door-to-door magazine scam “Companies that sell magazines

primarily door-to-door are always near the top of BBB complaint data. Last year, many consumers com-

plained they never received a single magazine after purchasing a dis-counted subscription promised by a sales person. When consumers called to request a refund, many companies did not answer.”

Facebook viral videos scam “Viral videos claiming to show ev-

erything from grisly footage of Osama bin Laden’s death to the latest celebrity scandals were popular scams perpe-trated by hackers, often times appear-ing to come from a ‘friend.’ Once the link was clicked, malicious software was downloaded to your computer, which then hacked into your social media account and would send simi-lar messages to your friends.”

Hotel identity theft scam “Consumers complained they re-

News

‘Most prevalent’ scams of 2011 include job-hunting, mortgage relief



Erika Buentello is a self-pro-claimed “love junkie,” and for the month of February, when love is in full bloom, Buentello

wants to share her obsession with the rest of Laredo.

Buentello, a local artist and art teacher, will show her latest collection of works in an exhibit called “Objects of Affection,” which will open at Caffe Dolce on Satur-day, February 11. The exhibit will be on display until March 9.

But Buentello’s exhibit won’t be ro-mantic relationships and fairytales.

“Obviously, love is something we can all relate to,” Buentello said. “Don’t get the wrong idea. You won’t find paintings of

romantic landscapes and beautiful nudes staring off into the dis-tance in my exhibit. My work isn’t traditionally romantic. It’s cheeky and funny and revolves around non-traditional devotions.”

The artist’s feminine and quirky styles are sure to please a wide array of artistic palates. Buentello takes inspira-tion not from “movie-type-of-love-at-f irst-sight” ideals of love, but from everyday objects — a good cup of coffee, a smooth pencil, a fresh piece of paper, or a favorite song.

“You’ll often find that my work is usu-ally luscious and feminine, ripe with ro-mantic textures and patterns, colors and materials. I’m inspired by folk art, crafts,

traditions and celebrations. Glitter, fab-ric, traditional domestic crafts and pre-cious subjects make usual appearances, as I’m attracted to the kitschy quality and humor that they bring to ‘fine art.’”

Buentello will also share her love for craftwork in a make-and-take craft table that will be available specifically for visi-tors on Caffe Dolce’s patio. Visitors will be encouraged to create miniature love letters to a Valentine, “whether it be a person, a puppy, or an iPad,” Buentello said.

“Craft is rich with nostalgia and feelings of comfort and security When I make crafts, or reference craft work through the incorporation of traditional crafting materials in my paintings and drawings, I feel like there is a sense of

warmth that comes from the history that is inherent in simple images or items of crochet, beadwork, threads, patterns and other tactile materials.”

Buentello said that she studied oil painting at the Uni-versity of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a degree in art, but now she works more in watercolor and pencil drawing. She has offered “dollar drawings” done in

pencil and ink at local art bazaars, most prominently at Caffe Dolce. As an artist, Buentello has exhibited at the Blanton Museum of Art and Arthouse in Austin, the Sound Alternative Gallery Space in Laredo, and Box 13 Art Space in Hous-

ton. In 2010, Buentello was one of the art-ists who participated in the prestigious E.A.S.T. Austin Art Tour. E.A.S.T. is a yearly self-guided tour of East Austin’s many art galleries that usually occurs in late November. Buentello displayed her art at Super! Alright! Creative Studio.

Buentello also calls herself a “jack-of-all-trades.” Her talents include embroidery, sewing, sculpt-ing, printing, collage, knit-ting, digital illustration, web design, and baking. Though her list of talents runs long, Buentello said she is most de-voted to pencil and ink draw-ing because it offers “instant

gratification.”

For more information about Erika Buentello and her art, go to her web-site at craftspectacular.com or “Love” her Facebook page at facebook.com/

craftspectacular. Buentello can also be contacted by e-mail at erikabuentello@

gmail.com.


Love is in the air at artist’s upcoming exhibit

What: ‘Objects of Affection’ exhibit opening

When: Saturday, February 11, 8-11 p.m.Where: Caffe Dolce, 1708 Victoria St.

More info: Contact Buentello at (956) 285-2555

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The first-ever 2012 Border Beer Fest benefits

Both 501©3 non-profits


BY DENISE FERGUSONLareDOS Contributor

Michelangelo led a life just as interesting as his work, according to Dr. Richard Wright, history

professor at Texas A&M University. Wright provided a slide presenta-

tion on the subject of “The Art of Mi-chelangelo” at the January 10 meeting of the Tuesday Music and Literature Club.

“He was a Tuscan by birth,” Wright continued, “but his family later moved to Florence.”

Due to the frail health of his moth-er, he was reared by his wet nurse in a family of stone cutters in an area full of stone quarries, an opportune situation given Michelangelo‘s gifts. Michelangelo was later quoted as say-ing, “I sucked in the craft of hammer and chisel with my foster mother’s milk.”

He attended a preparatory school of drawing as a boy, and at one time was punched in the face by a competi-tor, resulting in a broken nose. In due time, word spread about his talent, and as a result, the Medici family of the banking industry, who were pa-trons of the arts, heard about him.

“They approached Michelangelo’s father and offered to bring him into the family as a son and provide for a classical education and help his refine

his talent,” Wright said. Wright relayed an anecdote in-

volving an incident when Michelan-gelo was 12 years old, in which he sculpted a sleeping Cupid from a left-over piece of marble, treated it with chemicals, and buried it, where later it was judged an ancient artifact.

“His God-given gift duped the ex-perts of the period,” Wright said.

After the death of Lorenzo

de’Medici, Michelangelo studied anatomy and eventually settled in Rome.

Dr. Wright included Michelange-lo’s St. Peter’s Pieta as part of his slide presentation. Wright said that the Pi-

eta exemplifies the Age of Classicism,

portrayed in the attitude and mood of the sculpture. A youthful looking Mary quietly contemplates the death of her son.

“The Pieta represents everything in moderation,” said Wright. “The statue of Mary and Jesus exempli-fies purity and innocence of the soul.

Michelangelo worked from the point of view of idealism, and he was as knowledgeable as a doctor about the human body.”

He retuned to Florence in 1501 as a sculptor and carved the statue of Da-

vid. The figure of David is “twice the size of a usual person,” said Wright. “David represented an ideal of the hu-man body and is recognizable as the biblical character because he holds a rock as well as a sling covering his shoulder.”

According to Wright, “Michelan-gelo depicted what David represents, not a literal image as his actual age was 12.”

Later Michelangelo was called to Rome by Pope Julius II. In 1508 Mi-chelangelo began his most important work, the ceiling of the Sistine Cha-pel (built by his uncle) in the Vatican for Julius. According to Dr. Wright, Michelangelo complained about the project for years as he had to learn to paint on fresco.

Wright said that Michelangelo fired all his assistants in a few weeks,

an example of his temperamental na-ture. He described the artist as being gay, radical, and having a tendency to push buttons. Nevertheless, Michel-angelo accomplished the work in four

years while leaning backwards and not able to clearly see what he was doing. The content was drawn from the Book of Genesis with emphasis on bodies rather than the setting. Wright described the work as a “jum-ble of bodies” and added, “Michelan-gelo used bright, intense colors and worked from dark to light shades.”

Around age 60, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint The Last Judg-

ment on the back wall of the Sistine Chapel. In the ensuing years, his work reflected a more religious approach.

He felt guilty about his success as it was predicated on the beauty of the human body (particularly that of the male), and the here and now rather than the Christian philosophy of looking forward to the hereafter.

After his death, the church became more reform-oriented and conserva-tive, and the private parts of Michel-

angelo’s figures were covered with

drapes. “Michelangelo lived to age 90,”

Wright said, “a good example of the concept that it is best to keep active as one ages.”

Also at the meeting, members were notified by fellow TMLC member Ma-ria Soliz, manager of the Laredo Pub-lic Library, that the historical records of the club’s first 100 years have been

officially received into the Depart-ment of the Laredo Public Library ar-chives and are in the process of being catalogued.

Mott reminded members to pick up their pre-paid tickets for the “Annual Valentine Tea — Comedy in Music: A Special Appearance by Victor Bor-gia,” by Dr. Frederich Gechter. The tea will be held at First United Methodist Church Hall at 1220 McClelland Ave. at 4 p.m. on February 14.

Tuesday Music and Literature Club

History professor explores Michelangelo’s art at January meeting

Pictured with TAMIU professor Dr. Richard Wright, who made a presentation to members of the Tuesday Music and Literature Club at the organization’s Jan. 10 meeting are Shereen Grogan, Denise Ferguson, and Rosario Gonzalez. Dr. Wright provided an insightful narrative on Michaelangelo.

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It was a full house at theWebb County Women’s Bar Association

Battle of the Politicos Bowling Tournament.7KXUVGD\-DQXDU\-HWW%RZO


the middle of the night from the ‘front desk clerk’ asking for his or her credit card number because his or her computer had crashed. Scammers counted on sleepy consumers not catching on that the call was not from the hotel at all, but from someone outside who knew the direct-dial numbers for the guest rooms. By the time morning rolled around, consumers found their credit card had been on a shopping spree. This scam was so prevalent that many hotels are now posting warnings in their lobby.”

Mortgage relief scam “Because the federal govern-

ment announced several mortgage relief programs this year, many sound-alike websites popped up attempting to fool consumers into parting with their money to save

their home. Some sounded like a government agency, or even part of a consumer organization. Most asked for an upfront fee and al-most all left you in more debt than when you started.”

Online job scam “Job hunters received e-mails,

visited websites and filled out on-line applications that all looked very professional. Candidates were even interviewed (usually over the phone). Once offered the job, the candidate was asked to fill

out a “credit report” or provide bank information to set up direct deposit. The online forms provid-ed were nothing more than a way to capture sensitive personal data — Social Security number, bank account information, etc. – that could easily be used for identity theft. And, of course, there was no job.”


The U.S. should not partici-pate in wars all over the world that do not directly involve our internal national

defense.Let’s encourage other countries to

solve their own internal, political, and financial problems without our finan-cial intrusion.

Understand that our habit of buy-ing international cooperation with bil-lions of dollars in aid does little more than create more billions of dollars in requests for financial aid.

Control the media’s random vio-lation of freedom of speech with li-cense to exaggerate, disguise, exploit, deceive, terrify, damage, alienate, detract, spoil, and wreck personal, na-tional, and interna-tional events only for the sake of mak-ing a buck rather than to inform accu-rately with absolute unbiased honesty.

We should fight with all our might

any attempt by the federal government pundits to regulate every point of our lives.

Relationships between men and women should emphasize care and concern for each other’s welfare with-out the ever-increasing emphasis on good looks, sex, and money.

Use social media to improve rela-tionships and truth rather than in-crease the trend to be a vehicle of gos-sip and tales out of school.

Quit blaming problems of the mid-dle class on successful people just be-cause they have financial wealth.

Respect and honor the phrase, “we the people in order to form a more perfect union” instead of using the la-

bels of liberal, conser-vative, black, white, Hispanic, fat, skinny, ugly, pretty, or sexy.

Know that our ex-istence is not simply the result of some cataclysmic conjura-tion of events result-ing in the appearance of human and animal

life.There is a supernatural being that

isn’t merely happenstance, honored by millions of people of all persuasions.

Keep a positive attitude and life will be a lot easier.

Let’s get righteous in 2012

BY HENRI

KAHNContact Henri

D. Kahn with your insur-ance questions

at (956) 725-3936, or by fax at

(956) 791-0627, or by email at hkahn@

kahnins.com

Seguro Que Sí


Comedian Sandra Valls has found great success in the entertainment industry. Her impressive resume

consists of two Showtime specials and a long list of TV credits on major net-works, including HBO, LOGO, ABC, BET, MTV3, and Galavision

Now Valls wants to start bringing her brand of comedy and her comedian friends to Laredo for “Mira Que Funny!,” which Valls is planning to host every other month at the Laredo Little Theater. Earlier this month, she performed at the first “Mira

Que Funny!” with her good friend and fellow comedienne Sara Contreras from New York City.

“We wanted to bring some-thing down to Laredo that would make people laugh,” Valls said in an interview with LareDOS. “There is so much going on and so much bad press toward Lare-do right now, so we want to make people forget all the bad stuff and just enjoy themselves.”

Contreras, the Puerto Rican-bred self-proclaimed Brooklynite — she technically lives in New Jersey — has appeared on shows for MTV3, ABC, Fox, and Galavision. Most recently she has showed off her acting chops on NBC’s Law & Order and Law & Or-

der: SVU. Contreras did not take the tradi-

tional route in comedy. After working several jobs, she was a teacher when she entered the “Funniest Teacher Contest” at Stand-Up NY.

“My career came at a time where I was very frustrated with my life and felt trapped,” Contreras said. “This opportunity for this [Funniest Teach-

er] contest presented itself, and I had so much fun on the stage that night. More than anything, it was just fun.”

She won the contest, and every-thing else seemed to fall into place. Contreras signed with Abrams Art-ists within two years.

Contreras originally met Valls when they both participated in the Original Latin Divas of Comedy, which

Valls said was groundbreaking.“The Latin Divas was pivotal be-

cause not only are Latinos underrep-resented in the media: women are un-derrepresented in the media, female comics are underrepresented in the media, female comics of color are also underrepresented, and for me — fe-male comic and gay,” Valls said.

Valls is open and straightforward about her sexuality. She added that she hopes one day she can mention her girlfriend in a bit without having to first establish that she is gay to au-diences.

“Some audiences don’t want to hear it, depending on the part of the

country you’re in, but I don’t want to have to hit it over the head anymore, It should be a normal thing, as it should be,” Valls said.

Valls said that there is also a big myth among the entertainment in-dustry and the public that women just aren’t funny.

“I think they think we’re going to male bash, and a lot of women can do

that, but we don’t,” Valls said.Contreras added that female com-

ics have to convince their audiences not to pigeonhole them.

“People come in already with that attitude,” she said. “A lot of guys al-ready sitting there and say I’m not going to laugh. But they are often surprised.”

Valls, who now lives in Los An-geles, said she still keeps a piece of Laredo with her wherever she goes. The city’s people and her upbringing have influenced her, but she said she

does not want to reinforce Latino ste-reotypes like other mainstream La-tino comics.

“There are beautiful people here in Laredo who are supportive and so rich in the Latino culture, that for me coming back home is coming back to my culture — because I didn’t really know if I was too pale, or too white, or not Mexican enough until I moved further north,” Valls said.

But Valls said she has certainly struggled to gain momentum in her

hometown. Her first show took

place the same night another comedy show — “The Canijos of Comedy Tour,” an all-male show hosted by Valley comedi-an Raymond Orta — at the Civic Center. Valls said she had a dif-ficult time getting local press to

give equal coverage to her own event.

“I’ve never had so many ob-stacles. I’ve never had such a lack of support,” Valls said. “We sell out Civic Centers. We don’t have a problem with that. Why are we doing this at the Little Theater? Because it’s full circle for me.”

Valls is referring to her child-hood. She first performed at the

theater when she was 8 years old, when she played a porcupine in

The Great Cross-Country Race.“I’m supporting the theater in-

stead of renting out the Civic Center,” Valls said. “What we have to do is bring back laughter to Laredo.”

Valls will next be in Laredo on February 10, where she will perform again at the Laredo Little Theater at the Washington’s Birthday Celebra-tion’s Jam for George.

She is still looking for support from the community for her project, “Mira Que Funny!” To get in contact with Valls, or for more information on her work, go to welovesandra.com. For more information about Sara Contre-ras, go to saracontreras.com.


Feature

Comic from Laredo brings ‘Mira Que Funny!’ to Little Theater

Sara Contreras, left, and, Sandra Valls right, performed at the “Mira Que Funny!” comedy show at the Laredo Little Theater on January 14. Valls hopes that she can host the show in Laredo at least every other month.

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The Laredo Theatre Guild In-ternational (LTGI) is in re-hearsals for performances of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,”

which will have a ten-day run from February 2 through February 12 at the TAMIU Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Theatre.

The powerful classic tragedy — known for its ghosts, witches, and murderous bloodiness and its central story of royal lineage and succes-sion — is presented by LTGI in cooperation with Texas A&M International University.

The production is directed by Ver-non Carroll and produced by Joe Ar-

ciniega. Performance times for each week are from Thursday through Sat-urday at 8:00 p.m. and matinees Sun-day at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students with a valid ID

and for senior citi-zens. They are avail-able for advance purchase at Foster’s located at 1202 Del Mar Boulevard, Suite 101; Blue Top located at 101 Hillside Rd #11, and at the TA-MIU Bookstore, as

well as at the box office prior to each

show. According to Carroll, “Murder, mayhem, magic, treachery, and deceit, this has them all. It is one of Shake-

speare’s most exciting plays, and not only for the actors in it. Audiences like it for the action. You can’t beat a good sword fight onstage to grab a crowd’s

interest. We see a powerful, intelligent man who has a nation’s unquestioned support and admiration degenerate into a killer without a conscience. His death is inevitable and he knows it, but he goes down fighting. This is Shake-speare at his best!”

The production features veteran Laredo performers, alongside novices,

with cast member ages ranging from 11 to 70-plus years.

According to Arciniega, who plays Macbeth, “We work very hard to get as close as possible to a professional ex-perience for the audience and the cast. When we have a call for a 70-year-old, we look for one as hard as we can, and fortunately, we generally succeed.”

For more information call LTGI at (956) 319-8610 or email LTGI at [email protected]

—LareDOS Staff

News

LTGI’s “Macbeth” debuts Feb. 2 at TAMIU CPFA Theatre


Keeping a Weather Eye

2011’s icy start gave way to record-breaking heat

BY JUAN

ALANISJuan is Webb County

Coordinator for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) and an Associate Member of the American Meteorological

Society (AMS). He is currently a teacher at United Middle School.

Heat, drought, fire, and ice

— 2011 was a year of ex-tremes. For much of Tex-as, it will be remembered

for the excessive heat and drought.Here in South Texas, the biggest

story early in the year was the ice storm of February 3 and 4. An Arctic cold front moved through South Texas on February 1, bringing record lows to many areas of South Texas for several days. Laredo did not rise above freez-ing on February 3, as the high was only 30 degrees.

Many areas of the Rio Grande Val-ley were below freezing for at least 30 hours or more during the height of the Arctic front. Meanwhile an upper-lev-el disturbance moved across the state and pulled in gulf moisture. This, combined with the Arctic air in place, set the stage for what turned out to be one of the most significant ice storms

in the history of South Texas. Ice accumulations across Laredo

were around one-tenth of an inch, which was enough to cause numer-ous accidents and the closure of major thoroughfares, including Interstate Highway 35. The hardest hit area was farther south in the Río Grande Valley, where between a half to one inch of ice fell, causing hundreds of accidents, and unfortunately, one death. News archives reported nearly 200 traffic ac-cidents and 65,000 customers without power. Nearly every school, business, and highway was closed on February 3.

The most unusual aspect of the ice storm was the first known occur-rence of “lake effect” snow in Texas. Lake effect snows are common in the Great Lakes region of the up-per Midwest, when cold air picks up

warm moist air from the water of the Great Lakes. The Arctic cold front brought strong northwest winds that blew right across the length of Falcon Lake, resulting in a narrow band of 1 to 2 inches of snow downwind of Falcon Lake in Zapata and Starr County. By February 5, the Arctic air moved out and the ice and snow melted away. The rest of 2011, we could say, just melt-ed away as La Niña gave us heat, heat, and more heat.

La Niña, which refers to the cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean waters, is

to blame for the heat and devastating drought of 2011. The pattern allowed for a high-pressure dome to park itself over Texas for much of the summer, sending much-needed rain and relief elsewhere across the country. In an ironic twist, once the ice melted away from the February 4 ice storm, many areas did not receive any more pre-cipitation for several months. Laredo went 97 days without precipitation, tying the record from 1978.

Overall for 2011, many areas of Texas finished between 10 to 20 inches

below normal rainfall and up to 3 de-grees warmer than normal. Many ar-eas, including Laredo, set new records for number of days over 90, days over 100, number of consecutive days over 100, among others.

John Nielsen-Gammon, a clima-tologist and meteorology professor at Texas A&M University, has declared

the current drought the worst in his-tory.

The drought has been devastat-ing for farmers and ranchers. Crop production was far below the nor-mal and many ranchers were forced to sell cattle due to lack of forage. In all, the drought and heat has caused an estimated $135 million in agricul-tural losses in South Texas. On the statewide level, agricultural losses are estimated to be about $ 6 billion.

The drought and extreme tem-peratures also resulted in an excep-tionally busy fire season for much of

Texas. In South Texas, 356,000 acres were burned, destroying an esti-mated 200 structures and damaging many more. The biggest fire of 2011

was near Bastrop, which burned a total of 1645 homes, resulting in an estimated $325 million in damage. According to the Texas Forest Ser-vice, the Bastrop fire started as a

result of gusty winds that knocked

trees down onto power lines, causing sparks to ignite the dry vegetation.

While December was a treat with much needed rain here in Laredo, and parts of South Texas, the out-looks for the coming spring are not calling for any improvement. The latest outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center, show below nor-mal precipitation through June, with above normal temperatures to per-sist through much of the summer 2012. In fact, Nielsen-Gammon said earlier in the year that this current drought could last until 2020.

On a worldwide scale, preliminary data from the World Meteorological Organization show that global tem-peratures in 2011 were the warmest ever for a La Niña event, and tenth warmest overall.

(For questions about the weather in

South Texas and beyond, contact Ala-

nis by e-mail at [email protected].)



You could say that Victor Men-doza is a multi-tasker.

Besides holding down a job with the City of Laredo’s

Planning and Zoning Department, Mendoza writes and performs cover music — and eventually original tunes, he says — with his two bands. He de-signs album covers, T-shirts, websites. He paints and has started creating mu-sic videos. The list might seem a bit in-timidating.

Music has recently become one of his main passions. It’s not uncommon to see Factura 22, a band he started with some friends, and Orphano, a singer-songwriter venture he works on with his son Andres. Factura 22 will play at the Jamboozie in February as part of the Washington’s Birthday Cel-ebration. As Orphano, Mendoza has been playing gigs at local coffee shops, the Farmers Market, and the Bazaar Laredo.

When it comes to his design, Men-doza says his style is “Latino-driven, vintage, and original.” Mendoza has even started designing drumheads, in-cluding a piece for the drummer back-ing Bruno Mars.

Mendoza is married and has four children. He has a graphic design de-gree from the University of Phoenix online, and he’s currently taking class-es at Laredo Community College, on top of his day job and artistic pursuits.

LareDOS asked Mendoza a few questions about his life, work, and how he juggles it all. Q: Where do the ideas for your T-shirt designs come from? They seem to be reflective of Hispanic/Laredo culture.

A: My inspiration comes from my life in growing up in Laredo. In my younger days, I hung around with a lot of “bar-rio” homies, and much of my design is a reflection of that. I am inspired by

[the barrio’s] people and culture. I love Laredo, and I am a very proud citizen of it. I try to implement Laredo as much as I can in my T-shirt designs. It reduces the market for sales, but it’s who I am. Q: What are your roles in Orphano and Factura 22? A: I am the lead singer, guitarist, and I also play the piano and harmonica on some of our songs for both bands. When we play cumbias in Factura 22, I play the bongos. I do all the sound and I manage all the bookings, pro-motions, and scheduling of rehears-als for both bands. Fernando Ama-dor of Factura 22 helps me out with creating the song list for Factura. Q: Tell me more about how Orphano started.

A: In my younger days of drum-ming, I often helped different bands fill in as a drummer. The lead singer

of one band in particular who I would help often began calling me “El Huér-fano.” I asked him why and he replied, “Por que eres como un musico Huérfano que no tiene grupo.” At that time, my Spanish wasn’t too great, and I began tagging the name “huérfano” as “Or-phano” because I was just spelling it as I heard it. When my wife corrected me, I decided just to keep it as Orpha-no. After I sold my kit to help my wife with our firstborn in 1998, I needed to

play something, so I went and bought a cheap guitar. After the guitar I learned piano and other instruments, such as bass and the harmonica to help beef up the sound in my solo per-

formances as Orphano. I never really sang as well, but I just went with it and been gigging as Orphano since then. Q: What kind of response has your music gotten from the community? A: Thankfully they’ve been positive. I’ve had great responses from gigging as Orphano and Factura 22. A veteran of Mexico once came up to [a fellow band-mate] and me after we gigged at the Farmers Market. Speaking in Spanish, the man began telling us that what we are doing is beautiful and motivating. He said, “This is what we need to keep our children from drugs and gangs.” Q: What type of paintings do you create? What materials do you use? A: My wife says I’m addicted to skulls! I can’t disagree, but I’ve never wondered why I’m fascinated with skulls. Many people have requested, complimented, and have purchased my skull draw-ing artwork. Although I sketch more than I paint, when it comes to paint-ings, I like using acrylics because it dries faster than oil. I like painting on wood, preferably old and distressed wood because it has character. When it comes to sketches, I only use any pen-cil I can find, a Sharpie, and paper. I’ll

sketch whatever is on my mind. Lots of zombies — people have requested zombie-fied portraits of themselves…

Q: Where do you hope to be in 10 years? A: I would like to make a living from my art and music.

I’m not seeking to be a Bon Jovi or a Picasso, but it would be great if I could make enough from it to sustain and support my family. In 10 years, I’m looking forward to

the growth of both art and music, at least enough to have my own office instead of working from my home after my full time job, and I would like to be a teacher of graphic design at a high school.

The multi-tasker Victor Mendoza’s talents can be found on websites he has designed:

His personal site: victormendozajr.com• His own designs: 79customdesigns.com• His art and T-shirt work with Fernando Silva: wonderpact.com• His band Orphano: reverbnation.com/orphano • The band Factura 22: factura22.com •

Laredoan moonlights as artist, musician while working 9-5 job

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Note: LareDOS has run book reviews in the past, but this month we solidify our reviews with a column called “The Read.”

Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassi-nation that Changed America Forever. By Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard 336 pages, Henry Holt and Co., $28

If you forget the historical and grammatical inaccuracies of the Bill O’Reilly/Martin Dugard col-laboration Killing Lincoln you’re

left with a disposable Hollywood blockbuster of a novel that is often eye-rolling and essentially forgettable.

And on January 12, National Geo-graphic announced it was adapting the book for its TV channel with — surprise, surprise — big-time direc-tors Tony and Ridley Scott. The two-hour documentary will air next year, and will include CGI and dramatic

re-enactments.Killing Lincoln is still high on the

The New York Times’ Best Sellers list this month despite scathing reviews from literary critics, historians, and a scathing review from an official re-viewer for the National Park Service

bookstore in Ford’s Theatre.O’Reilly responded to the criti-

cism by saying the book was “under fire from the forces of darkness” and

claimed there were only four inaccu-racies and two typos, contradictory to the National Park Service’s review.

Oh, brother. As usual, O’Reilly went for an

emotional defense and did not logi-cally address the inaccuracies when defending his piece of “nonfiction.”

What O’Reilly and his defenders do not get is that this isn’t another attack from the “liberal agenda,” and “peo-ple who don’t like [him]” but rather an actual problem, especially as O’Reilly

wrote a “Note to Readers” that states

— this is actually the first sentence

you read in the book! — “The story you are about to read is true and truly shock-ing.” O’Reilly has even urged later that “all students” should read the book.

These were dishonest and irrespon-sible replies to the criticism.

How are we supposed to trust a book that is riddled with inaccuracies already, especially as O’Reilly earlier claimed on Fox and Friends that he did not want this to be “another boring history book”? The answer: Don’t take Killing Lincoln at face value, or just skip it altogether as it isn’t that great of a book anyway.

It’s really difficult to ignore the out-landish claims and conspiracy theo-ries that O’Reilly and his co-author pose in the book. The book is heavily suggestive of the conspiracy theories, and these theories sometimes venture into Glenn Beck-like craziness. Couple

the claims with grammatical mistakes — using “furl his brow” instead of “furrow,” for example — and the as-tute reader will want to avoid this trashy book.

Here are a few of those historical inaccuracies, according to the Na-tional Park Service’s review. Most are the inaccuracies are obviously written that way for dramatic effect:

O’Reilly states that “The two war-riors will never meet again,” referring to Generals Grant and Lee, when in

fact they actually met again in 1865 to

discuss prisoners of war. O’Reilly makes two references to

the Oval Office, but it was not built

until 1909, about 44 years after the

book’s setting.John Wilkes Booth did not bore a

hole in the back wall of Lincoln’s stage box to view him before the assassina-tion. It was actually bored by “Henry Clay Ford, or rather on his orders and was bored for the very simple reason it would allow the guard, on Parker,

easy opportunity whenever he so de-sired to look into the box rather than to open the inner door to check on the presidential party,” according to letter from Frank Ford.

The authors seems to be very sym-pathetic to the supposed plight of co-conspirator Mary Surrat after she was captured and put into custody on the U.S.S. Montauk, according to the book. O’Reilly and Dugard claim that she was forced to wear a padded hood and stayed in a prison that was “barely hab-itable.” It later states, “Sick and trapped in this filthy cell, Mary Surratt took on

a haunted, bloated appearance.” Ac-cording to expert Edward Steers Jr. of North & South, none of that was true. None. Surratt wasn’t even put into cus-tody on the Montauk, but actually on the Carroll Annex of the Old Capitol Prison. Nor was she shackled or hood-ed. Talk about a startling inaccuracy for the sake of not being “boring.”

And why O’Reilly and Dugard also decided to include references to Booth and Lucy Hale’s “lovemaking” remains a mystery, but I can only surmise this was for some shock value as it did not really add anything to the story but more trashiness.

Even if taken as a Da Vinci Code-esque thriller, Killing Lincoln is way be-hind the fast-paced and much-better-written (I cannot believe I am writing that) 2003 best seller from Dan Brown.

Basically, you’re comparing Harry Pot-ter with Twilight — one is clearly more imaginative, better written, and mem-orable.

Killing Lincoln is another one of O’Reilly’s ego projects, and Abraham Lincoln himself is built up as a mono-lithic figure who predicted his own

death, according to rumors incorpo-rated into the book’s storytelling. As I kept reading, I could hear O’Reilly’s angry voice calling Lincoln a “patriot” and other characters “pinheads,” as on his Fox News show. In this book Lin-

coln remains another faraway charac-ter in a “history” book, not a man.

While much of Killing Lincoln lags in pace and lacks the “shocking” excite-ment it promises, some strengths of this book are found in the Civil War battle scenes and the author’s portrayal of the fascinating relationship between the South’s Robert E. Lee and the North’s

Ulysses S. Grant. But here again, we

find inaccuracies, so take them with a

grain of salt. If only the authors real-ized that there are plenty of fascinating anecdotes to relate to readers without having to revise history. However it’s easy for the reader to get caught up in some of the more thrilling battle scenes.

For a good laugh and maybe a teensy bit of excitement (especially for the Civil War battle fanatics), go ahead and breeze through Killing Lincoln’s 336 pages. But do not make the mis-take of looking to this heavily fiction-alized work — done mostly to spice up an already-fascinating history — as truth. You’ll probably get just as much mental stimulation from watching the Nat Geo Channel’s documentary next

year.

PHOTO: KILLING LINCOLN.jpg

CREDIT: Henry Holt and Co.

Nat Geo Channel set to adapt inaccurate, cheesy ‘Killing Lincoln’The Read

Hen

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olt a

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Maverick ranchers hopeful for better weather, more listeningBY BEBE & SISSY

FENSTERMAKER

Maverick Ranch Notes

The New Year rolled in with-out a pause. So far we have had bright, sunny, warm days and chilly, overcast

ones. It has also been windy, and there has even been some moisture.

Presently there is a bright green covering of vegetation here in the yard in spite of some frosty mornings. A few trees tried to put on new leaves last fall while others were putting on a spectacular show of fall colors. Some wildflowers that are usually spring

bloomers even began flowering and I

am still seeing flowers.

I understand La Niña will be with

us again this year, so who knows what to expect? I do hope it won’t be as dry and hot as last summer. One of the best gifts so far this year is the return of the robins. It has easily been 10 years

since we last saw the numbers that are here presently.

To hear and see them in the yard and the little field below the wall is

such a delight. It will mean more little cedars popping up; however I would rather be with more cedars than with-out robins. They are uplifting to one’s spirit. Our birding neighbor and his wife are joining us on a birding walk at the ranch tomorrow. It will give me the opportunity to sharpen my winter sparrow skills.

I was able to finally catch the stray

cat that was hanging around getting fatter and fatter. He weighed in at 15

pounds on the vet’s scale. I offered him to a relative who declined the offer and then promptly adopted a smaller version of him from a friend. Well, I’ll be! Actually I don’t expect to soften up to my fellow any time soon, if ever.

My chicken population has grown

by four, and the egg production has also increased. So far they all seem to be getting along — just a peck or two in passing, though nothing serious.

I have vegetables thriving in pots on the front porch and getting plenty of sunshine. The chard, spinach, and sorrel are a welcome part of my meals. There are also pots with collards and chives that are surviving the freezes out in the yard. So far, gardening in pots over the winter is succeeding nicely.

— Sissy Fenstermaker

We see what we want to see and don’t see much else. Today, walking around outside the house yard, I saw for the first time scrappy cedars and

huisaches coming up everywhere.Out came the loppers but surprise,

they are now chainsaw-sized. How could that happen? I look out of the yard all the time. When the cows come up I’m always looking at them and I often look beyond down to the spring and creek. By not seeing the middle distance, I missed the oncoming sec-ond growth bushes.

Was it conscious or unconscious avoidance? Cutting brush is a forever job; avoidance is easier but the job is bigger in the end. By this time in life, I know that.

Same thing goes for listening. If a cat thinks suppertime has come and I’m deep in a book, it may take the dog bumping my knee before I hear the cat.

Sometimes I hear what someone has said only when I get home. Scary, but true. Hardest to bear are the not-quite-remembered stories when the teller is gone from this life. Oh to have listened, closer, or just to have taken a

note at that moment would have taken such a little effort.

The results of not truly listening teach the hard way. Papa called mak-ing that kind of effort “getting off your pants.” Pay attention, listen, and take it in! And turn off the blasted internal dialogue.

I once shot myself in the foot be-cause of internal blather. Papa, Uncles Arthur and Clarence, my Aunt Doro-thy, and I were out target practicing at Uncle Clarence’s farm. Kindly they let me go first and with Papa’s .22 hair-

trigger pistol. Uncle Arthur, a crack shot, stood

with me and warned me five times

to keep my arm up. But I wasn’t re-ally listening to him. The sixth time I hit a meatier target and hoped no one would notice. I was grateful I hadn’t hit Uncle Arthur. It was a pretty good shot, too, right through the middle of my foot.

But as all gunshots go, everybody

noticed. There were plenty of weeks to reflect and think about internal dia-logue. I still use the memory of it to remind myself to listen.

To see and to listen require staying in the moment. With so much past and future to think about, it’s common to not stay in the moment. But thinking behind or ahead only involves one’s perception of things. It skips being in the present, which is reality. And not staying in the moment can be danger-ous. Try driving in traffic these days.

Carpenters, surgeons, and seam-stresses know what staying in the mo-ment means.

Giving up internal dialogue and

pursuing full attention takes a lot of work and constant self-reminding. It means keeping things simple. By staying in the moment, we might see some things we were not aware of — and we might hear sounds we had never heard before.

— Bebe Fenstermaker

gotten the meaning of the Christian values they often flaunt. The cyni-cism is abhorrent.

Having been raised in a Laredo neighborhood in a city once cited for the poorest-per-capita-income area in the country, I have a unique per-spective to challenge the unfair at-tacks. Determined to succeed, I was taught at an early age to work hard. I graduated from high school, honor-ably served my country, graduated from college with a Masters degree, had a successful professional career, and was able to provide for my fam-ily. I am happy to report that I was not the exception in beating poverty. Through the years, I have met many of my barrio friends who were also successful in chasing their dream.

We faced daily shadows of dan-ger, but we never lacked for good ad-vice. Our role models were migrant field workers, day laborers, carpen-

ters, plumbers, painters, gardeners, maids, and waiters who rose at dawn and walked to the bus stop or job site. Then they walked back, dead-tired at dusk. The next morning they did it again. Whenever they stopped for a chat, they’d give us a smile, a pat on the head, and pleaded with us to be good to our parents, stay in school, and work hard to better ourselves. My father, a grocery store butcher, gave me the same counsel. Similar role models exist today in poor neigh-borhoods and give the same advice to their kids.

In the end, conservative-led state legislatures and fanatical politicians in Washington have a clear agenda that is not kind to the poor. The poor need a hand up, not a closed fist. They

deserve mercy, compassion, and dig-nity. President Johnson understood that. It was the fuel that powered his War on Poverty and the thrust be-hind his dream of a Great Society.



BY SALO OTERO

Salo Otero is the director of development

for the South Texas Food Bank. He can

be reached at sotero@southexasfoodbank.

org or by calling 956-726-3120.

South Texas Food Bank

December was a special time for giving — giving thanks for all the blessings dur-ing the year, and prayerfully hoping for continued blessings of a new year.

The South Texas Food Bank (STFB) board echoed those sentiments at its De-cember meeting when the South Texas Outreach Foundation (STOF), headed by Laredoans William Dickinson and his mother, Mrs. Charles B. Dickinson Sr., the former Bertha Garza, received a standing

ovation from STFB. The foundation was lauded as one of

the primary 2011 benefactors of the food

bank. William Dickinson and his wife, Gloria, were special guests at the monthly

meeting, representing STOF.“In these difficult economic times with

increased demand for food and reductions from government surplus supplies, the [STOF] has come through once again to help us in our mission to alleviate hunger in our service area,” said STFB executive director Alfonso Casso Jr.

The Dickinsons received high praise for awarding the food bank a $50,000 grant.

The grant money was earmarked for what an STFB spokesman called “a combination plate” to help three STFB programs and to purchase the most basic commodities: beans and rice.

The money will assist three programs for veterans outreach, the elderly, and Kids Cafes. Each month the food bank serves supplemental food to 500 veterans

and their widows and more than 7,000 el-derly. Thirteen Kids Cafes in Laredo-Webb County serve an after-school meal to al-most 1,000 children from Monday through

Friday.STOF now has a three-year history with

the food bank. Two previous grants were used to purchase two vehicles to transport food and supplies. The food bank serves more than 350,000 residents in an eight-

county area from Rio Grande City (Starr

County) to Del Rio (Val Verde County). The majority of those served live in the Laredo-Webb County area.

“This grant is a prime example of a local foundation and family helping their community in need of a very basic neces-sity, which is food,” Casso Jr. said. “The grant will allow us to purchase food items such as rice and beans to make up for the shortfall we are experiencing.”

Food for thoughtKatelyn Reese, 5, granddaughter of

Laredo Daybreak Rotarians Jim and Cathey Moore, presented a gift to the food bank at a December meeting for the Rotary club.

Reese, a student at Kristi-Lin’s Acad-emy, collected money at home in a 2-gallon jar from family members and visitors, and donated it to the food bank. She had $292

in coins and bills, and Rotarians added an-other $74 that morning.

Gwen Garza of the Great American

Cookie Company in Mall del Norte hosted a ”Happy Hour” at her home, collecting monetary donations for the Adopt-a-Fam-ily program and peanut butter as part of a food drive.

And thanks to all the personal and club donations in support of STFB’s mis-sion of feeding the hungry. In the hier-archy of needs, food and water are at the top. Thanks to our network, the food bank has both food and water to assist the un-employed, underemployed, and those on fixed incomes.

Send donations to South Texas Food Bank

1907 Freight St.Laredo, TX 78041

cent of the Arizona detainees during Fiscal Year 2011 hailed from Guer-rero. The detainees were mainly from the urban municipalities of Acapulco and Chilpancingo, both places where economic crisis or narco-violence are the lot of daily life, or from indig-enous municipalities characterized by economic marginalization and out-migration. Padilla said the trend of Guerrero detainees continued after

the end of the last fiscal year, when

once again about 9 percent of the

27,100 people detained by the Border

Patrol in Arizona from October to De-cember 2011 turned out to be from the

troubled southern state. Approximating 3.4 million people

in 2010, residents of Guerrero consti-tuted about three percent of Mexico’s population of 112.3 million, according

to official census statistics.

The U.S. spokesman warned would-be, unauthorized crossers to

stay away, saying the situation was dangerous. Migrants are enlisted as drug-carrying “mules” or subjected to robbery and worse, Padilla said. On December 24, a young woman

was raped and hospitalized with a lung injury, he said. “There are many dangers in trying to illegally cross the border,” Padilla added.

The bodies of presumed migrants continue being recovered in 2012. Last

week, it was reported that the Baja California state police came across the body of an unidentified migrant who

was thought to have died while trying to cross the border between Tijuana and Tecate.

(From Frontera NorteSur on-line,

U.S.-Mexico border news Center for Latin American and Border Studies, New Mexico State University, Las Cru-ces, New Mexico. Additional sources:

La Jornada, January 23, 2012. Article

by Ciro Perez Silva. El Sur, January 20,

2012. Article by Mariana Labastida. El Sol de Tijuana, January 18, 2012.)


Born in Laredo, grand opera artist René Barbera hit the jackpot in July last year when he made history in Plácido

Domingo’s Operalia in Moscow — the first male performer to win three

prizes in the world’s most prestigious contest for young opera singers.

At 27, Barbera has studied opera seriously for only five years. Indeed, a

young artist on the rise, he is a 3-year

member of the Lyric Opera of Chica-go’s Ryan Opera Center.

He won first in opera, first in Zarzu-ela, and first in the audience prize in

the Operalia competition. Barbera was the 2008 winner in the Metropolitan

Opera National Council Auditions,

and he was a member of San Francis-co’s top-notch Merola Opera Program. He studied at the University of North

Carolina School of the Arts from 2004

to 2008, went on for more study at the

American Institute of Vocal Arts in Austria and the Colorado College Vo-cal Arts Symposium.

Barbera moved to San Antonio when he was 9. He recalled that his

third grade teacher in Laredo attached a sticky note telling the music teacher at his next school to get him into choir because she thought he had a good singing voice. He said his parents were both teachers and were always very supportive of his pursuits.

“When I auditioned at UT-San An-tonio, I had planned on majoring in education, as I wanted to be a high school choir director. Some of the voice faculty suggested I change my major to performance, and that’s how I ended up in opera,” Barbera said.

He dropped out of UTSA, moved to Colorado to figure out what to do with

his life, and ended up at the Univer-sity of North Carolina School of the

Arts, where he studied for 4 years.

Barbera said he made “great friends and excellent connections” at the Op-eralia competition.

“Placido Domingo is a truly great man who has done and is still doing so much for the opera world. He is trying to help the young singers of the world any way he can, and I am thrilled I have made a connection with him,” Barbera said.

Barbera will finish a final year with

the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan

Opera Center in Chicago. He will play Lord Arturo Bucklaw in the Ital-ian tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor and Brighella in the German classic Ari-adne auf Naxos at the Lyric Theatre in Blacksburg, Va. He is part of the cast of The Barber of Seville in Vancouver and the Canadian Opera Company’s pro-duction of Gianni Schicchi in Toronto.

Regarding technique, expression, and emotion, Barbera said, “I was lucky to have a voice teacher who un-derstood how to get me to do things through imagery. I don’t really have to focus too much on my technique. I know what I’m doing and how to fix

things that aren’t working, but most of the time I just warm up and get go-ing. At this point, I’m really trying to focus on my acting and interpretation. Acting has always been my weakest point, and I have only recently been able to let go of my inhibitions little by little.”

As to his process for learning a new role, Barbera said he first reads a syn-opsis of the opera, preferably a scene-by-scene description. He translates the opera from cover to cover and sits with the score and listens to a record-ing of the opera.

“Once I have a grasp on the parts, I take the role to a coach and work with him or her on the parts I’ve already worked out and any parts that are giv-

ing me a hard time,” he said. As to the future, Barbera said, “I

would love to get to Europe and take some auditions, and travel as much as possible. I definitely think opera think

will go through changes in the future, but it will survive. When 16,000 people

show up to a free outdoor concert in Chicago, and the baseball park in San Francisco is packed for a live broad-cast of ‘Lucia,’ I can’t help but feel very hopeful about the future of opera.”

And so we reach the end of another column on talented ex-Laredoans who are out there shining brightly, mak-ing the world a better place. My friend Temo Rocha sent the news tip on Bar-bera. A friend for many years now, Temo and Sylvia Rocha have lived in Azusa, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles for the past 36 years. Barbera’s grand-father and parents were friends of

Temo. Go to renebarbera.com for more information about Barbera.

To close, as Norma Adamo says:

TAN TAN!


BY DR. NEO GUTIERREZ

Dr. Neo Gutierrez is a Ph.D. in Dance and Fine Arts, Meritorious

Award in Laredo Fine Arts recipient 2009 from Webb Co. Heritage Foundation, Laredo Sr. Int’l 2008, Laredo MHS Tiger Legend 2002, and Sr. Int’l de Beverly Hills, 1997.

Contact [email protected].

Notes from LaLa Land

Former Laredoan is opera’s triple winner

Laredo-born René Barbera has found great success in the opera scene, winning three prizes in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition in Moscow.

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The Mystery Customer

Restaurant service leaves bad taste; state leads MC on wild goose chase

BYTHE

MYSTERYCUSTOMER

Sushi Madre401 W. Saunders St.

The MC has to revise his origi-nal ravings about Sushi Madre. While the sushi cannot be beat — tested on multiple friends and acquaintances of the MC — not much can be said about the service after multiple trips.

The servers are often not very attentive to the needs of custom-ers, and on more than one occa-sion, the MC has been left waiting a long time for the tab when he’s ready to leave. Sometimes it’s even difficult to get the attention of the

servers. In Laredo, it often seems you sacrifice service for food, or

vice versa.

Texas Comptroller’s OfficeLaredo and Austin locations

The MC takes off his retail ser-vice hat and puts on his taxpaying hat as he evaluates the Texas Comp-troller’s office. The local field office

could not give him the information he required, so he was sent to the state office, which also led him on a

wild goose chase for information. Staff members seemed thor-

oughly uninformed, even though he thoroughly checked the cor-rect terms for the information and also explained as specifically as he

could. Getting public information

from the state is always a difficult

situation.

Kohl’s5219 Santa Maria Ave.

Though the discounts on nice clothing have been helpful to the MC, the service at Kohl’s has been nothing special. Listless employ-ees seem stuck in their own world, and it’s difficult to find somebody

who can help find an item. Service

suffers in hard economic times, unfortunately.

Mariscos El Pescador3919 San Dario Ave.

Sometimes the MC feels cursed to get servers’ shift changes time after time. The latest shift change to wreak havoc was at Mariscos El Pescador, where the MC and his guest enjoyed some delicious appetizers before the main show.

After 20 minutes of waiting,

the MC asked the waitress — who was not the same one who he originally had — where his entrees were. She said she had not been informed of any more dishes, even though the MC and his guest saw the first waitress write down the whole order, even asking for sides in both entrees. Good mariscos; spotty service.

Webb County Tax OfficeWebb County Justice Center1110 Victoria St. #107

The momentum to get jobs done timely and efficiently in this office is legendary. The MC had two especially good experi-ences — one to do with property taxes and the other to do with auto sticker renewals. The cross training of employees is a model other Webb County offices would do well to follow.


The Mystery Customer

Home on the range TAMU-Kingsville sophomore Jenny Santos is pictured doing what she loves best, working with horses. She is pictured over the Christmas break at her father’s equestrian training facility in Zapata.

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BY CORDELIA BARRERALareDOS Contributor

Martin Scorsese’s 3-D

film, Hugo, is a story

about the power of movies. A sumptuous

and sometimes breathtaking adven-ture about the potential of films —

and the dreamers behind them — to transport, inspire, and invigorate us with their awesome visions, Hugo is a master filmmaker’s gift to children

and adults alike. Impeccably crafted, and an obvious labor of love, Hugo is Scorsese’s tribute to the magic of the cinema.

Scorsese’s primary inspiration in Hugo is the true story of turn-of-the-century pioneer filmmaker Georges

Méliès, his surviving films, and his

collection of mechanical, wind-up fig-ures called “automata,” a moniker for a self-operating autonomous robot. The film is based on writer/illustra-tor’s Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the 2008 Cal-decott Medal, among the most pres-tigious of American children’s book awards.

The first half of the film is like a

dazzling preamble, an adventure sto-ry that introduces its heroes and vil-lains amidst a magnificent 1930s rail-road station in Paris and the symbolic r e s o n a n c e that 3-D was

meant to sup-port — when it’s divested of its gim-mickry and instead used to thematically draw its audience into a marvelous realm where wizards and visionaries live among dreamers and adventurers, and, of course, the rest of

us. The second half of the film fluidly

shifts its focus to the stuff of history and legend: the groundbreaking and influential works of French filmmaker

and magician Georges Méliès,Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is a young

boy who lives with his father (played in flashback by Jude Law), a master

clockmaker. His father teaches him the art of clockwork and instills in him a love of the movies. When his fa-ther dies in a museum fire, the child is

taken away by his uncle, an alcoholic watchmaker who is responsible for maintaining the clocks at the Mont-parnasse railway station in Paris. His uncle teaches Hugo to take care of the clocks and quickly disappears.

Hugo secretly lives in the walls of the train station, maintaining the clocks, and stealing food to survive. He also works on his father’s broken automaton, which was discarded by a museum. Hugo steals mechanical parts from the station’s toyshop to continue his father’s work, but the shop’s owner (marvelously played by Ben Kingsley) catches him, and subse-quently snatches Hugo’s father’s note-book, which he is convinced the boy has stolen. The automaton is missing one essential part: a heart–shaped key. Convinced that the automaton con-tains a message from his father, Hugo

is desperate to retrieve his father’s notebook. He befriends Isabelle, the toyshop owner’s goddaughter, and, in time, we learn the shop owner’s

secret.Hugo is highly

symbolic: The deli-cate machinery that keeps the hands of the giant Montpar-nasse railway sta-tion clock running smoothly is much like the delicate machinery of our hearts and minds. After suffering great loss — the loss of his caring father — Hugo has only one thing: hope. It is this hope that fuels his actions, and as he is forced to move beyond the con-fines of the walls where he hides, his actions begin to enrich the lives of those he touches. Much of the joy of Hugo is invested in its detective-story plot.

As the mystery at the heart of Hugo unfolds, we be-gin to understand that the delicate movements of a greater clockwork

of the world bind us to each other; we all have a purpose, and it is only through the connections we forge that we may d i s c o v e r

ourselves as a gift for others.An homage to an art form that

has undoubtedly touched, and like-ly enriched the lives of so many, one

of the assorted pleasures of Hugo is that many of the early silent films shown — such as Le voyage dans la lune/A Trip to the Moon (1902) and

Le voyage à travers l’impossible/An Impossible Voyage (1904) — are

Méliès’ actual works. In Scorcese’s hands, the flat, often awkward im-ages in these films are rendered strikingly beautiful — however mel-ancholic.

There is a grand metaphor at work in Hugo, and the film’s arche-types — its heroes and villains, its dreamers, and scapegoats — remind us that it’s never too late to dream again, and we are never too old to believe in magic.

Movie Review: Oscar Season

The kindest magic trick of all: Martin Scorsese's 'Hugo'

As the mystery at the heart of Hugo unfolds, we

begin to understand that the delicate movements of a greater

clockwork of the world bind us to each other; we all have a

purpose, and it is only through the connections we forge that

we may discover ourselves as a gift for others.

Asa Butterfield plays Hugo Cabret in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.

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Traditionally Modern Cooking

ILet’s face it; January is a somewhat for-gettable month. People are recovering from the holiday season, and that in-cludes recovery from all the rich and

complex food. Despite its less-than-glam-orous reputation, January is a transitional month for me. I use it to get used to the new year, and before I know it, it’s Febru-ary. Speaking of which, because Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I’ve decided to share a simple, yet elegant and romantic menu with my readers.

There’s plenty of time for a test run and alterations to tailor this menu to your tastes. Perfection comes more easily if you’ve had practice. The recipes that follow are divided in half, for two people. If you are cooking for a family of four, simply double the reci-pe. Cooking time is the same regardless.

The main dish is chicken, my favorite meat because it is light, and when done properly, has a memorable flavor without

becoming off-putting. Chicken picatta takes mere minutes to prepare — from stove to table. A slab of chicken breast is pounded out with a mallet until it is even and thin, and then breaded and pan-fried in olive oil. After 5 to 8 minutes, (2-4 minutes on ei-ther side) the breasts are golden and ready to eat. Its subtle flavor and perfect texture

are sure to please any spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend.

The two supporting sides are roasted as-paragus and cous cous, both incredibly easy to prepare. The asparagus takes 10 minutes

and the cous cous 5. In theory, you could get

this meal on the table in fewer than 15 min-utes. Purchase a store-bought dessert and you’ve got a stress-free dinner fit for a king.

I cannot live with myself after serving a bought dessert for a romantic meal, so if I have an hour — and I mean only an hour — I’ll make bread pudding. It’s a recipe I’ve adapted from my favorite cook, Nigella

Lawson. If you don’t know of her, Google

her; she’s amazing. For something that tastes like it took

hours to prepare, caramel bread pudding requires mere minutes to assemble. The hardest thing about this dessert is trying not to eat too much. You do have to make caramel, and if it fails like it did my first

time, no worries. For example, caramel re-quires boiling sugar and water until it turns amber. Then you add cream or milk and stir like crazy.

If you get a lump of caramel candy after adding the cream to the cooked sugar and water like I did, simply add milk and bring to a simmer on medium heat. The candy should melt into the liquid and you can con-tinue making the pudding. Sample the mix-ture to ensure it doesn’t taste scorched.

For perfect timing, start cooking the bread pudding first. Then begin the chick-en. When the chicken is almost done, start the asparagus. Six minutes before serving, start the cous cous. If you get the chicken done first, place in a 350-degree oven until

you are ready to serve dinner.

Valentine’s Day dinner

By JASON HERRERA Herrera is an English major at Oklahoma City University.

He’s had a passion for cooking since he was 8 years old, when he started teaching himself recipes and eventually, creating his own scrumptious meals. Herrera also enjoys

gardening and horror movies.

• 2 chicken breasts • 1 egg • 1 cup breadcrumbs (regular or Panko) • Italian seasoning (or any mixture of seasoning you like) • Salt and pepper • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 tablespoon butter

Pound the chicken out using the flat side of a meat tenderizer between two sheets of wax paper until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick. Beat the egg on a plate and place the breasts on the plate. Coat with egg. Pour breadcrumbs onto a plate and season well. Salt and pepper the breast, then coat with breadcrumbs. Mean-while, on medium-high heat, melt the butter into the olive oil. Add the breast and cook for 3 minutes on each side. Serve hot.

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• 4 stale rolls (or slightly toasted fresh rolls) • 1/2 cup sugar • 2 tablespoons water • 1/2 cup cream • 1/2 cup milk • 2 eggs beaten

Swirl — don’t stir — the sugar and water together in a saucepan. Boil on high heat for 3-5 minutes until it turns a light amber color. Quick-ly pour in the cream; it will spit and make a loud noise. Stir in the milk and eggs. Meanwhile, tear the rolls into pieces in a large dish. Pour the cream mixture over the top of the bread and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the eggs have cooked. Serve hot.


At the peak of higher popula-tions of native and migrating bird species in Laredo and Webb County, the Laredo

Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) will host its Fourth Annual Laredo Birding Festival from February 1 to 4. Late January

and early February are prime time to catch sight of a possible 240 species living in or

passing through in the area.The festival, which draws local enthu-

siasts and birders from throughout the nation and other countries, features visits to well-established local and regional sites for bird watching, as well as field trips to

nearby ranches. Sightings unique to Lare-do include the white collared seedeater, the green parakeet, and four species of kingfisher.

The Monte Mucho Audubon Society will act as local field guides for the festival,

and together with individual wildlife biol-ogists assigned to each individual outing, registrants in the festival will learn about habitat and will receive on-target identifi-cation in the field.

This year’s event includes the participa-tion of three birding experts — Pete Dunne, Gene Blacklock, and Ro Wauer, who will

present on a variety of birding topics dur-ing the festival’s evening sessions.

Additionally, special guests from the Texas Ornithological Society will promote their respective organizations and the various birding field trips they organize

throughout the year. The festival’s participants can avail

themselves of wildlife photography field

trips sponsored by the Images for Conser-vation Fund (ICF) that will be held at two ranches set up with special blinds for wild-life photography. Attendees will be paired with a local guide and an expert wildlife photographer from the 2010 ICF Pro Tour

of Nature Photography Borderlands of

Laredo Texas competition. The festival opens Wednesday, Febru-

ary 1 with an informal meet and greet re-ception at La Posada, the host hotel. Visit-

ing birders can meet local members of the Monte Mucho Audubon Society and the roster of speakers for the four-day event. Local birder and wildlife photographer Butch Ramirez will exhibit his photos at the reception, which is free and open to the public.

Curbside transportation from La Posada to all outings will be provided by the CVB. A complete schedule of birding outings, sites, events, and information on registration is available at the Laredo CVB website, www.visitlaredo.com

Speaker Pete Dunne, a natural history and birding writer, is the founder of the World Series of Birding and is the current director of the Cape May Bird Observa-tion. He is vice president of natural history for the New Jersey Audubon Society, and

publisher of New Jersey Audubon magazine. He will speak on pishing or squeaking, the art of calling hidden birds. Dunne is a well known author and co-author of numerous books about birds and birding including Hawks in Flight, Pete Dunne on Birding, Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion and The Art of Pishing. He is best known for his skills as a hawk watcher.

Gene Blacklock, noted birding book

author, guide and educator will present on Birds in Texas. He is a curator, naturalist, and educator at the Welder Wildlife Foun-dation. In the 1960s, Blacklock founded the

annual Texas Colonial Waterbird Survey and Census, the longest ongoing survey of its type to address the near-extinction of the brown pelican in Louisiana and Texas. He also worked as a biologist with colo-nial water birds along the Texas Central Coast with Texas Parks & Wildlife Depart-ment, became senior partner of a private environmental consulting firm, and was

Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program project manager from 2000 to 2010.

Naturalist and conservationist Ro

Wauer, retired from the National Park

service after 32 years as a park ranger, re-gional chief scientist, and Chief of National

Resource Management in Washington,

DC, is the event’s third speaker. He is the author of over 180 nature articles and has

authored 25 books, including Finding But-terflies in Texas, Butterflies of the Lower Rio

Grande Valley, Field Guide to the Birds of Big Bend National Park, three visitor’s guide books to national parks in the USA and Canada, and Birder’s Mexico.


Laredo Community College

Family Fun Fest celebrates 24 years; Phase I facilities completed

Special to LareDOS

Family Fun Fest and Musicale, now in its 24th year, will be held on the Fort McIntosh Campus grounds next to the

Maravillo Gymnasium on February 11 from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

The Musicale highlights the talents of the college’s performing arts pro-grams and as well as those from other local schools and private dance stu-dios. Modern dance, mariachi music, and traditional Mexican dances can all be found on the main stage.

LCC student organizations will be operating food concessions, selling fare such as hot dogs, burgers, corn dogs, nachos, pizza, corn-in-a-cup, funnel cakes, roasted corn, candy, and marshmallow shish kabobs, among many others.

College faculty and staff will host interactive games and activities that include a petting zoo, rock climbing, face painting, inflatable slides, and

bounce houses.ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGETLaredo Community College invites

students and the community to the opening of its two newest instructional facilities: the $14.7 million Lewis En-ergy Group Academic Center (LEAC) and the $9.6 million Visual and Per-forming Arts Center (VPA).

Inaugural ceremonies will be held Monday, February 27 at 9:30 a.m. with tours of the new facilities and to thank donor Rod Lewis, president and CEO

for Lewis Energy Group, and a former LCC student.

Both buildings, part of Phase I of LCC’s Facilities Master Plan, were completed on-schedule in Decem-ber 2011 and are in use for the Spring 2012 semester. Construction costs for Phase I came in under budget, saving the college about $500,000. Included in phase 1 of the plan was the $3.8 million renovation and expansion of the Moore Vocational Building and a new 300-vehicle parking lot at the north side of campus.

The 111,045 square-foot LEAC is named in honor of Lewis, whose $1 million donation helped facilitate the purchase of equipment and furnish-ings for the new facility. The structure will house the departments of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Distance Learning. Select kinesiology courses also will be housed on the first floor.

The $9.6 million VPAC is a 47,000-square-foot complex that will house six academic music/art classrooms, and studios for dance, ceramics, painting, and metal arts. It also will feature an art gallery, music practice rooms, fac-ulty offices, and department offices.

The Facilities Master Plan will be fulfilled in several phases to rejuve-nate the communications and tech-nological infrastructure, as well as the physical facilities of the 63-year-old Fort McIntosh Campus. Now that the challenge of the master plan’s first phase has been met, LCC is pre-paring for the second phase, which consists of 22 improvements.


SMW Patriot

Scholarship recipients

Melissa C. Cigarroa, president Society

of Martha Washington and Dr. Jane

Unzeitig, Scholarship Committee chair

are pictured (standing) with 2012 SMW

Patriot Scholarship recipients Jasmin Es-

cobar, Alexander High School; Ricardo

Perez, Nixon High School; Amanda Cas-

tillo and Alexa Vasquez, United South

High School; Edward Castillo and Ma-

ria Ruiz, LBJ High School. Seated from

left to right is SMW Madrina Committee

chair Tina Cerda with recipients Dan-

iela Vargas and Karina Treviño, Martin

High School; Brenda Loera and Karina

Mendoza, Cigarroa High School; Selina

Quiroz, United High School; and Kayla

Gloria, Early College High School. The

students will travel to Washington, D.C.

to attend a one-week educational pro-

gram called “Close Up Washington.”

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BY MARIELA RODRÍGUEZLareDos Staff

The Laredo Webb County Bar Association (LWCBA) held its Third Annual Noche Agave Tequila Tasting and Silent

Auction January 20 at Paseo Real re-ception hall, hitting high notes for at-tendance, fun, music, and scholarship raising. The event is among the first

to kick off the Washington’s Birthday Celebration festivities.

The Grammy-winning Grupo Fan-tasma provided the evening’s enter-tainment. Asked to comment on the evening, LWCBA President George Altgelt characterized the crowd as, “folks just dancing the night away.”

A variety of tequilas, complimen-tary of Glazer Distributors, were avail-able for the event. Individual tickets were sold at $100 and tables went for $1,000, $1,500, and $2,500. Early tabulations signaled that the LWCBA had — after expenses — raised over $40,000 from ticket and table sales, a silent auction, and a raffle for a dia-mond pendant.

Once the funds are matched by the Fernando A. Salinas Trust, ap-proximately $40,000 each will go into scholarship endowments at Laredo Community College and TAMIU. The LCC fund is called the Laredo Webb County Bar Association and Fer-nando Salinas Trust endowment. The TAMIU endowment is named for the

late Barbara Kazen, the much beloved director of the Beth-any House shelter and kitchen for the homeless.

Of the event, Al-tgelt said, “The mo-tivation behind this event is an exten-sion of what we law-yers do. We service our clients and try to make the world a better place. We were able to raise funds to assist those students who are academically equipped but financially

disadvantaged.”

For additional information on the

event please contact Mark Garner, executive assistant for the LWCBA, at (956) 725-4400, e-mail [email protected], or visit 1120 Matam-oros Street.

LWCBA’s Noche de Agave hits high notes for fun, music, and scholarship funds

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Laredos Jan. 2012