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TEXAS TARGETS FANTASYTEXAS LATEST STATE TO CALL DAILY FANTASY SPORTS ILLEGAL, 7A

The Zapata County FairAssociation board of direc-tors and members havenamed Zaragoza IV andTammy Arambula Rodri-guez the 2016 ZCF ParadeMarshals.

Zar and Tammy are Za-pata natives, graduates ofZapata High School andvery proud graduates ofTexas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Zar andTammy have been in-volved with the ZapataCounty Fair since theywere in third grade, so for-tunately they are nostrangers to livestockshows.

Growing up, Zar raisedand showed goats, andthen continued raisingand showing lambs, hogsand steers until he gradu-ated from high school. Hewas a member of theNorth 4H Club and servedas vice-president and pres-ident throughout his years

in 4H. He also participatedin Leadership Lab inBrownwood, Texas, and4H roundup. Upon enter-ing Zapata High School,Zar became an FFA mem-ber.

Tammy raised andshowed lambs until shegraduated from highschool. She was a memberof the Lucky Clover 4HClub where she served assecretary for severalyears, and then became anFFA member at ZapataHigh School.

As 4H and FFA mem-bers, Zar and Tammy par-ticipated in activities suchas Toys for Tots, fooddrives, community beauti-fication projects, ZCF pa-rades as well as manymore activities.

After graduating fromTAMU-CC, Zar and Tam-my decided to move backto Zapata where they start-ed their careers. Tammy is

ZAPATA COUNTY FAIR

Parade marshals

Zaragoza IV and Tammy Arambula Rodriguez were named the 2016Zapata County Fair parade marshals.

Courtesy photo

Zaragoza and TammyRodriguez selected

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

See MARSHALS PAGE 10A

Texas continues to behome to some of the poor-est counties in the countrywith poverty most preva-lent along the Texas-Mexi-co border, census figuresshow. Zapata County is thefifth-poorest in the state.

The latest county-levelpoverty estimates from theU.S. Census Bureau, re-

leased in December, showthat poverty is dispropor-tionately distributedacross the state. Amongcounties with at least10,000 residents, bordercounties face the highestrates of residents living inpoverty — nearly one inthree people in South Tex-as. Meanwhile, suburbancounties near the state’s

TEXAS

Zapata is 5th-poorest county

By ALEXA URATEXAS TRIBUNE

See POOREST PAGE 10A

AUSTIN, Texas — Anargument has emergedover a Texas AttorneyGeneral Ken Paxton rulingthat could limit the abilityof local governments toban guns in courtroomsand a law that legislatorssay was meant to prohibitguns inside courthouses.

Some local officials arereviewing longstandingfirearm policies after Pax-ton’s recent opinion mayhave come into conflictwith a 2003 law that pro-hibited the carrying ofguns in any building witha courtroom, The DallasMorning News reports.

The wrangling rests onthe word “premises” anddifferent interpretations.A Texas “open carry” law

that took effect Jan. 1 letslicense holders carryhandguns holstered totheir hips or otherwise inplain sight. The law hascaused a fresh look at gunpolicies, and complaintshave surfaced about thescope of some governmententities’ court-related gunbans, particularly in mul-ti-use buildings.

In a nonbinding opin-ion, Paxton settled lastmonth on a narrower in-terpretation of the law —that handguns may onlybe barred inside court-rooms and related offices.But he provided some flex-ibility and local officialshave looked to justify theirlongstanding courthousebans based on the Texas

OPEN CARRY

The Zapata County Courthouse, 200 E. 7th St., is shown in this filephoto. Some of Texas’ local officials are reviewing longstanding fire-arm policies after Paxton’s recent opinion.

Courtesy photo

Guns may be allowed incourthouses

Texas attorney general writes opinionthat could limit local governments’ ban

ASSOCIATED PRESS

See COURTHOUSES PAGE 10A

WASHINGTON — TheSupreme Court stepped in-to a boiling political dis-pute over immigrationTuesday, setting up a likelydecision in the middle of apresidential campaignmarked by harsh rhetoricabout immigrants.

The justices agreed to re-view whether President Ba-rack Obama, acting with-out congressional approval,has the power to shieldfrom deportation up to 5million immigrants livingin the U.S. illegally andmake them eligible to work

without fear of beingrounded up.

Underscoring the politi-cal dimension, the case willbe argued in April and de-cided by late June, about amonth before both politicalparties gather for theirnominating conventions.

If Obama prevailsagainst opponents led byRepublican governors,there would be roughly sev-en months left in his presi-dency to implement plansthat would affect the par-ents of U.S. citizens andlawful permanent resi-dents, as well as some peo-ple who arrived in theUnited States before they

turned 16.“We are confident that

the policies will be upheldas lawful,” White Housespokeswoman Brandi Hof-fine said after the court’sannouncement Tuesday.

At issue is the DeferredAction for Parents of Amer-icans program, which Oba-ma said in late 2014 wouldallow people who have beenin the United States morethan five years and whohave children who are inthe country legally to“come out of the shadowsand get right with the law.”He also announced the ex-pansion of a program thataffects people who came

here illegally as children.That earlier program,

Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals, is not beingchallenged and has result-ed in more than 720,000young immigrants beinggranted permission to liveand work in the UnitedStates.

When he announced themeasures 14 months ago,Obama said he was actingunder his own authoritybecause Congress hadfailed to overhaul the im-migration system. The Sen-ate did pass legislation on abipartisan vote, but House

US SUPREME COURT

IMMIGRATION QUESTION

In this Nov. 20, 2015 file photo, Ingrid Vaca, originally of Bolivia, speaks during rally for immigration reform in front of the White Housein Washington. The Supreme Court has agreed to an election-year review of President Barack Obama’s executive orders to allow up to 5million immigrants to “come out of the shadows” and work legally in the U.S.

Photo by Jacquelyn Martin | AP file

Justices to review Obama’s executive powerBy MARK SHERMANASSOCIATED PRESS

See IMMIGRATION PAGE 10A

PAGE 2A Zin brief WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

THURSDAY, JANUARY 21Opening reception for artwork by

Ryder Richards, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. atLCC’s Visual and Performing Arts Cen-ter, West End Washington Street. Fea-tured artwork by nationally acclaimedTexas-based artist Ryder Richards willbe on display during Laredo Communi-ty College’s upcoming art exhibition, "athing of this world." Join us for anopening reception and art discussionled by Richards. Admission is free andopen to the public. The exhibit will beon display until Feb. 25.

Preschool Read & Play at McKen-drick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library,1920 Palo Blanco St., from 11 a.m.–12p.m. Story time and crafts for pre-schoolers. For more information, con-tact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredo-library.org or 795-2400 x2403.

Family Story Time & Crafts atMcKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Li-brary, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5p.m. For more information, contactPriscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredoli-brary.org or 795-2400 x2403.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 22Build and program a LEGO robot

at McKendrick Ochoa Salinas BranchLibrary, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5p.m. Appropriate for school-aged chil-dren. For more information, contactAnaliza Perez-Gomez at analiza@laredo-library.org or 795-2400 x2403.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23“Leaders: Influencing STEM Fu-

tures” educational administration lead-ership conference at the TAMIU Stu-dent Center Ballroom. School adminis-trators, teacher leaders andeducational administration students areinvited to attend the second annualevent.

United ISD Zumba Master Classevent. Registration at 9 a.m. at theUnited 9th Grade Campus gym, 8800McPherson Road. Zumba class to beheld from 10 a.m. to noon and will betaught by elite Zumba instructors fromthe city. Fee is $20 and includes agoody bag and T-shirt. All proceeds tobenefit United ISD students with schol-arships to college. For more informa-tion call, 956-473-6201 or visitwww.uisd.net.

Holy Redeemer 8th annual fund-raiser dance at the Laredo Civic Centerfrom 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with music byCalle 8. Please call Amparo Ugarte at286-0862 for more information.

Intermediate computer class atMcKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Li-brary, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from10:30-11:30 a.m. Learn to create an ac-count on Twitter, how to tweet andhow to follow. Basic computer profi-ciency is required.

Mouse practice and keyboardconfidence class at McKendrick OchoaSalinas Branch Library, 1920 Palo Blan-co St., from 2-3 p.m. Learn to use themouse and perfect your typing skills.No prior computer experience is re-quired.

Open language lab class atMcKendrick Ochoa Salinas Branch Li-brary, 1920 Palo Blanco St., from 4-5p.m. Learn a language by using theMango Online Language Learning Sys-tem. Choose from more than 70 lan-guages. Library card preferred.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26Join the MOS Library Knitting

Circle at McKendrick Ochoa SalinasBranch Library, 1920 Palo Blanco St.,from 1-3 p.m. Please bring yarn andknitting needles. For more information,contact Analiza Perez-Gomez at anali-za@laredolibrary.org or 795-2400x2403.

Crochet for Kids at McKendrickOchoa Salinas Branch Library, 1920 Pa-lo Blanco St., from 4-5 p.m. Pleasebring yarn and a crochet needle. Formore information, contact Analiza Pe-rez-Gomez at analiza@laredolibrary.orgor 795-2400 x2403.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28Spanish Book Club from 6-8 p.m.

Laredo Public Library – Calton. Formore information please call SylviaReash at 763-1810.

The Villa San Agustin de LaredoGenealogical Society’s Greet and MeetMembership Drive from 3-5 p.m. at St.John Neumann’s Parish Hall. There willbe displays, a presentation on DNA ge-nealogical testing and merienda. Formore information, contact SanjuanitaMartinez-Hunter at 722-3497.

Preschool Read & Play at McKen-drick Ochoa Salinas Branch Library,1920 Palo Blanco St., from 11 a.m.–12p.m. Story time and crafts for pre-schoolers. For more information, con-tact Priscilla Garcia at priscilla@laredo-library.org or 795-2400 x2403.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 20,the 20th day of 2016. There are346 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On Jan. 20, 1936, Britain’sKing George V died after hisphysician, Lord Dawson ofPenn, injected the mortally illmonarch with morphine andcocaine to hasten his death;the king was succeeded by hiseldest son, Edward VIII, whoabdicated the throne 11months later to marry Amer-ican divorcee Wallis WarfieldSimpson.

On this date:In 1265, England’s first rep-

resentative Parliament met forthe first time; the gathering atWestminster was composed ofbishops, abbots, peers, Knightsof the Shire and town burgess-es.

In 1649, King Charles I ofEngland went on trial, ac-cused of high treason (he wasfound guilty and executed bymonth’s end).

In 1942, Nazi officials heldthe notorious Wannsee confer-ence, during which they ar-rived at their “final solution”that called for exterminatingJews.

In 1945, President FranklinD. Roosevelt was sworn intooffice for an unprecedentedfourth term.

In 1961, John F. Kennedywas inaugurated as the 35thPresident of the United States.

In 1981, Iran released 52Americans it had held hostagefor 444 days, minutes after thepresidency had passed fromJimmy Carter to Ronald Rea-gan.

In 1986, the United Statesobserved the first federal holi-day in honor of slain civilrights leader Martin LutherKing Jr.

In 1990, actress BarbaraStanwyck died in Santa Mon-ica, California, at age 82.

In 2001, George WalkerBush became America’s 43rdpresident after one of the mostturbulent elections in U.S. his-tory.

Ten years ago: Japan halt-ed all imports of U.S. beef be-cause of mad cow fears. (Ship-ments resumed six months lat-er.)

Five years ago: Federal au-thorities orchestrated one ofthe biggest Mafia takedownsin FBI history, charging 127suspected mobsters and asso-ciates in the Northeast withmurders, extortion and othercrimes spanning decades.

One year ago: PresidentBarack Obama, undaunted bythe new Republican majorityin Congress, issued a sweep-ing challenge in his State ofthe Union address to do morefor the poor and middle classand to end the nasty partisanpolitical fight that had charac-terized his six years in office.

Today’s Birthdays: Come-dian Arte Johnson is 87. For-mer astronaut Buzz Aldrin is86. Movie director DavidLynch is 70. Rock musicianPaul Stanley (KISS) is 64. Rockmusician Ian Hill (JudasPriest) is 64. Comedian BillMaher is 60. Sophie, Countessof Wessex, is 51. Actor RainnWilson is 50. TV personalityMelissa Rivers is 48. SingerXavier is 48. Singer EdwinMcCain is 46. Rap musician?uestlove (questlove) (TheRoots) is 45. Rock singer KevinParker (Tame Impala) is 30.Actor Evan Peters is 29.

Thought for Today:“Whatever people in generaldo not understand, they are al-ways prepared to dislike; theincomprehensible is alwaysthe obnoxious.” — Letitia Lan-don, English poet (1802-1838).

TODAY IN HISTORY

SAN ANTONIO — Thousands of Texanstook to the streets Monday for marches,speeches and volunteer efforts to remem-ber slain civil rights leader Martin LutherKing Jr. on the federal holiday in his name.

Participants carried signs, U.S. and Tex-as flags in the annual march in San Anto-nio, billed as one of the largest in the coun-try.

San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor said lateMonday that she hadn’t received any esti-mates on the number of marchers but thata “great crowd” had turned out.

“The weather was beautiful and we hada peaceful observance,” she said.

The march, organized by the city’s MLKJr. Commission, is a public celebration thathas drawn tens of thousands of partici-pants over the years. The organizing grouppreviously was called the Martin Luther

King Jr. Memorial City-(Bexar) CountyCommission, developed in the 1980s underthen-San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros.

The history of the San Antonio marchgoes back to mourning following King’s1968 assassination. The Rev. R.A. CalliesSr., a San Antonio pastor and teacher, be-gan leading small processions honoringKing’s legacy shortly after the slaying, ac-cording to the MLK Jr. Commission web-site.

“It started with the passion and commit-ment of a few community activists,” Taylorsaid.

Those processions grew over the years,with the theme of Monday’s march being“Uniting Communities to Advance Human-ity.”

“It just has grown,” Taylor said. “Every-one feels included and everyone feels wel-come to participate,”

AROUND TEXAS

Anjelica Pack, left, and Alice Garrett pray at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at the University of Texas at Austin onMonday. Thousands marched from UT to the Capitol.

Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman | AP

Parades for MLK DayASSOCIATED PRESS

Man shot afterconfronting burglars

TYLER — Police say a manwas shot in the arm after con-fronting three people who werein the process of burglarizing hisvehicle an East Texas restaurantparking lot.

Police say the 39-year-old vic-tim heard his vehicle’s alarmwhile eating at a restaurant.When he went to see what washappening, he confronted thethree suspects, who shot at him.

2 Texans sentenced for trafficking meth

AMARILLO — Federal prose-cutors say two Amarillo menwho admitted trafficking a largequantity of liquid methampheta-mine have been sentenced toprison.

Prosecutors say 37-year-old Da-mian Erik Alcala was sentencedTuesday to 27 years in prison.Last month, 42-year-old RichardMadrigal was sentenced to 21years and 10 months.

Unvaccinated North Texasstudent develops measles

RICHARDSON — A health of-ficial says an unvaccinated stu-dent at a Dallas-area elementaryschool developed measles aftertraveling internationally.

Jawaid Asghar, chief epide-miologist for Collin CountyHealth Care Services, tells TheDallas Morning News the childwent to school Jan. 5, showingsigns of measles the next day.The child has since recovered.

6-year-old dies in golf cart accident

TRINITY — Officials say a 6-year-old girl has died after thegolf cart she was riding in,which was being operated by an8-year-old, overturned in EastTexas. The girl died Sunday.

The child driving the golf cartin the small town of Trinity hadtried to turn around when itoverturned and landed on 6-year-old passenger Kendall Lasseter,who lived in Bacliff.

Minivan smashes intoChanel store, 6 detained

DALLAS — Police detainedsix robbery suspects after a mini-van smashed into a Dallas-areaChanel boutique and priceypurses ended up scattered alonga street.

An alarm alerted police, whodetermined a minivan was dri-ven through a display windowand the suspects escaped with anumber of handbags, fleeing inthe vehicle and on foot.

Man charged with murderafter man lit on fire dies

HOUSTON — Houston policeare searching for a 32-year-oldman who has been charged withmurder after the man authoritiessay he lit on fire during an argu-ment died.

Curtis Holliman has beencharged with murder. Police saythat on Monday, Holliman threwgasoline on two men at a homeand then lit them on fire.

— Compiled from AP reports

California bus crash kills2, sends 8 to hospitalSAN JOSE, Calif. — A Grey-

hound bus rolled onto its sideduring a rainy Tuesday morn-ing commute in Northern Cali-fornia, killing two women andsending at least eight others tothe hospital, authorities said.

Several other victims sufferedminor injuries and were treatedat the scene in San Jose. Oneperson suffered major injuriesand three others were beingtreated for moderate injuries,the California Highway Patrolsaid. Several passengers withminor injuries were ferried to ahospital in a local commuter busto be checked out by medicalpersonnel for bruises and cuts.

Woman jumps in SUV,stabs Denver fire chiefDENVER — Authorities say a

woman stabbed Denver’s firechief after jumping into his ve-

hicle near the department’sheadquarters.

Police spokesman DougSchepman says the womanjumped into Chief Eric Tade’sblack SUV on Tuesday after-noon and stabbed him in thehand and leg. Tade ran into fire

headquarters for help.Authorities say Tade’s inju-

ries are minor. He was hospital-ized in fair condition.

The woman was arrested onsuspicion of aggravated assault.Witnesses identified her.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

A California Highway Patrol officer moves belongings from a Greyhound bus crashthat left two dead and at least eight injured on Tuesday, in San Jose, Calif. A Grey-hound spokeswoman said the bus, which left Los Angeles Monday night, was car-rying 20 passengers in addition to the driver.

Photo by Noah Berger | AP

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 State THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

FORT WORTH — An ar-gument raised Tuesday bylawyers for a Texas teenag-er known for using an “af-fluenza” defense in a fataldrunken-driving wreck —that he may have been tak-en to Mexico against hiswill — is unlikely to helphis case, outside juveniledefense attorneys said.

And even if a judgeagrees that Ethan Couchwas forced to flee to Mexi-co, he could still be lockedup if the judge determineshe violated probation by at-tending a party where peo-ple were drinking.

Attorneys for Couch saidthe 18-year-old is droppinghis deportation fight inMexico as they investigatewhether he fled there orwas brought against hiswishes. He was arrestedthere with his mother, whois now charged with hin-dering the apprehension ofa felon. She was returned

to the U.S.quickly, butCouch won adelay basedon a constitu-tional appealthat normal-ly leads to alengthy trial

process. Authorities allege the

two crossed into Mexico inDecember, as Texas prose-cutors investigated whetherCouch violated his proba-tion in the 2013 drunken-driving case. His attorney,Scott Brown, said Tuesdaythat whether his client“was voluntarily or invol-untarily taken to Mexico issomething that is still beinginvestigated.”

That comment came af-ter a brief hearing in juve-nile court scheduled to de-termine whether Couch,who is being held at a Mex-ico City detention facility,violated his probation andif the case should be trans-ferred to adult court. Butthe judge cut the hearing

short after Couch’s attor-neys said his parentsweren’t properly notified.Another hearing was setfor Feb. 19.

Dallas attorney PeterSchulte said the new de-fense argument might berelated to the “affluenza”claim that Couch was cod-dled into a sense of irre-sponsibility by his wealthyparents. The condition isnot recognized as a medicaldiagnosis by the AmericanPsychiatric Association,and its use drew wide-spread derision.

The latest argument,Schulte said, could be“some extension of affluen-za, that he can’t make deci-sions on his own and anytime mommy says to dosomething he does it.”

But the argument is un-likely to impress a judgebecause of Couch’s age,Schulte said.

Attorney Seth Fuller ofDenton, Texas, said Couch’sdefenses are limited toclaiming he didn’t realize

he was violating probationby going to Mexico or thathe went there involuntarily.

“This is just grasping atstraws,” he said, adding, “Itdoesn’t seem like a good de-fense, but it is one of thefew available.”

Neither Schulte nor Full-er is involved in Couch’scase.

The latest strategy,though, could affectCouch’s mother.

If Ethan Couch canprove he was taken againsthis will, Tonya Couch canbe charged with kidnap-ping. Tarrant County dis-trict attorney spokeswomanSamantha Jordan saidthere would have to be “ad-equate proof” that TonyaCouch forced her son to goto Mexico before prosecu-tors brought additionalcharges against her. “We’dhave to see the evidence,”she said.

Whether Couch is able toprove that he was taken toMexico against his wisheswill not affect prosecutors’

efforts to transfer his caseto the adult system, Jordanadded.

Attorneys for TonyaCouch declined to commentTuesday. The 48-year-oldwas released on bond lastweek in Texas after shewas brought back fromMexico.

Brown, Ethan Couch’sU.S. lawyer, said “docu-ments have been filed to re-lease the injunction” thatobjected to his return, butdid not say how long theprocess would take.

Immigration and federalcourts officials in Mexicosaid they didn’t have anyinformation indicatingCouch was dropping his de-portation fight. Couch’slawyer in Mexico didn’t re-turn messages, and U.S.Marshals spokesman TrentTouchstone said he had noinformation about the is-sue.

The hearing to deter-mine whether Couch’s caseis transferred to the adultsystem can take place with-

out him.If his case remains in the

juvenile system, he couldbe put in a juvenile deten-tion center until he turns19 in April, when his re-cord could be expunged.

He was 16 at the time ofthe crash. Investigatorssaid Couch was driving atthree times the legal intoxi-cation limit for adults whenhe crashed a pickup truckinto a crowd of people try-ing to help a stranded mo-torist, killing four. A juve-nile court judge sentencedCouch to 10 years’ proba-tion, outraging prosecutorswho wanted him to face de-tention time.

If his case is transferredto the adult system, Couchwould face up to 120 daysin an adult jail, followed by10 years’ probation. If he vi-olates probation, he couldface up to 10 years in pris-on per death, TarrantCounty District AttorneySharen Wilson has said.

“He’s trying to avoid allpunishment,” Fuller said.

Claim unlikely to help ‘affluenza’ teenBy EMILY SCHMALLASSOCIATED PRESS

COUCH

HUNTSVILLE — A Tex-as inmate scheduled to beexecuted this week for kill-ing a female impersonator15 years ago insists thedeath was an accident dur-ing sex and has made mul-tiple appeals to the U.S.Supreme Court.

Jurors at his trial,though, were convincedthat Richard Masterson in-tentionally strangled 35-year-old Darin Shane Hon-eycutt, stole his car andfled to Florida before be-ing arrested with anotherstolen car.

Masterson, 43, is set forlethal injection Wednesdayevening for Honeycutt’sslaying.

He would be the first

person put todeath thisyear in Tex-as, whichcarries outmore execu-tions thanany otherstate. Its 13

lethal injections last yearaccounted for almost halfof the 28 executions na-tionwide.

Lawyers for Mastersonhad multiple appeals pend-ing at the U.S. SupremeCourt on Tuesday, afterfailing in lower Texas andfederal courts to block hisexecution.

Attorneys argued thatHoneycutt’s death was ac-cidental or the result of aheart attack, that a HarrisCounty medical examinerwith questionable creden-

tials was wrong to tell ju-rors it was a strangula-tion, that Masterson’s ear-lier lawyers failed todiscover the informationand that his prolongeddrug use and then with-drawal while in jail con-tributed to his “suicide byconfession” when he spokewith police.

His lawyers also con-tend that the Texas Courtof Criminal Appeals de-nied Masterson his rightsto due process and accessto the courts by refusingtheir challenge to a newTexas law that keeps se-cret the identity of the pro-vider of pentobarbital thatTexas prison officials usefor lethal injections.

Lawyers for the state ar-gued that Masterson’s at-torneys offered no scientif-

ic evidence about Honey-cutt’s death that hadn’tbeen previously raised andrejected, including at Mas-terson’s trial. According tocourt filings, Mastersonconfessed to police, told abrother he killed Honey-cutt and wrote to Texas’then-Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott in 2012 ac-knowledging the slaying.

“I meant to kill him,”Masterson wrote to Ab-bott, who is now Texas’governor. “It was no acci-dent.”

Earlier this month, how-ever, Masterson told theHouston Chronicle fromdeath row that while heaccepted responsibility forHoneycutt’s death, “I nev-er admitted I murderedanybody.”

Masterson had a long

drug history and criminalrecord beginning at age 15.Court documents show heignored advice from law-yers at his 2002 trial andinsisted on testifying.

He told jurors he metHoneycutt, who used thestage name Brandi Hous-ton, at a bar and they wentto Honeycutt’s Houstonapartment, where Master-son said the chokeholdwas part of an autoeroticsex act.

Honeycutt’s body wasfound Jan. 27, 2001, afterfriends became worriedwhen he failed to show upfor work.

Evidence showed Mas-terson had taken Honey-cutt’s car and dumped itin Emerson, Georgia. Hewas caught more than aweek later at a Belleview,

Florida, trailer park withanother stolen car. Theowner of that car testifiedabout meeting Mastersonin a Tampa bar frequentedby gay men and told of asimilar attack where hewas choked unconsciousby Masterson and robbed.

In his testimony, Mas-terson told jurors he was afuture danger — an ele-ment they had to considerwhen deliberating wheth-er a death sentence wasappropriate.

“Everyone has to liveand die by their own ac-tions,” Masterson said.

Jurors sent him todeath row. His case has re-cently drawn the attentionof Pope Francis, who hasreinforced the CatholicChurch’s opposition tocapital punishment.

Killer of female impersonator to be executedBy MICHAEL GRACZYK

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MASTERSON

PAGE 4A Zopinion WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

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

Members of the Republi-can governing class arelike cowering freshmen athalftime of a high schoolfootball game. Some arepart of the Surrender Cau-cus, sitting sullenly ontheir stools resigned to thelikelihood that their teamis going to get crushed.Some are thinking ofjumping ship to theTrump campaign with analacrity that would makerats admire and applaud.

Rarely has a party sopassively accepted its ownself-destruction. Sure, Do-nald Trump and Ted Cruzare now riding high insome meaningless head-to-head polls against HillaryClinton, but the odds arethe nomination of eitherwould lead to a party-deci-mating general election.

The Tea Party, TedCruz’s natural vehicle, has17 percent popular sup-port, according to Gallup.The idea that most wom-en, independents or main-stream order-craving sub-urbanites would back aguy who declares his ad-miration for Vladimir Pu-tin is a mirage. The ideathat the GOP can marchinto the 21st century inten-tionally alienating everyperson of color is border-line insane.

Worse is the prospectthat one of them mightsomehow win. Very fewpresidents are so terriblethat they genuinely endan-ger their own nation, butTrump and Cruz would gothere and beyond. Trumpis a solipsistic brandinggenius whose “policies”have no contact with Plan-et Earth and who would beincapable of organizing acoalition, domestic or for-eign.

Cruz would be as uni-versally off-putting as hehas been in all his work-places. He’s always beengood at tearing thingsdown but incompetentwhen it comes to puttingthings together.

So maybe it’s time forgoverning Republicans toactually do something. Yes,I’m talking to you state leg-islators, or local commit-teepersons, or members ofCongress and all your net-works of donors and sup-porters. If MoveOn can or-ganize, if the Tea Partycan organize, if JustinBieber can build a giganticsocial media movement,why are you incapable ofany collective action at all?

What’s needed is agrass-roots movement thatstands for governing con-servatism, built both on-line and through rallies,and gets behind a singlecandidate sometime inmid- to late February. Inpolitics, if A (Trump) andB (Cruz) savage each otherthen the benefits often goto Candidate C. But therehas to be a C, not a C, D,E, F and G.

This new movementmust come to grips withtwo realities. First, theelectorate has changed.Less-educated voters are inthe middle of a tidal waveof trauma. Labor force par-ticipation is dropping,wages are sliding, suiciderates are rising, heroin ad-diction is rising, faith in

American institutions isdissolving.

Second, the RepublicanParty is not as antigovern-ment as its elites think itis. Its members no longerfit into the same old ideo-logical categories. Trumpgrabbed his lead with anideological grab bag of ges-tures, some of them quiteon the left. He is moreHuey Long than CalvinCoolidge.

Given the currentstrains on middle- andworking-class families,many Republican voterswant a government thatwill help the little guy;they just don’t want onethat is incompetent, cor-rupt or infused with liber-al social values.

In addition, younger vot-ers and college-educatedvoters are more moderatethan party leaders. Accord-ing to one of the smartestconservative analysts, Hen-ry Olsen, somewherearound 35 to 40 percent ofthe GOP electorate is only“somewhat conservative.”

What’s needed is a coali-tion that combines HueyLong, Charles Colson andTheodore Roosevelt: work-ing-class populism, reli-gious compassion and in-stitutional reform.

Years ago, reform con-servatives were proposinga Sam’s Club Republican-ism, which would actuallyprovide concrete policyideas to help the workingclass, like wage subsidies,a higher earned-incometax credit, increased childtax credits, subsidies forpeople who wanted tomove in search of workand exemption of the first$20,000 in earnings fromthe Medicaid payroll tax.This would be a conserva-tism that emphasized so-cial mobility at the bottom,not cutting taxes at the top.

Maybe it’s time a center-right movement actuallyoffered that agenda.

And maybe it’s timesome Republicans took astand on what is emergingas the central dispute ofour time — not betweenleft and right but betweenopen and closed. As the po-litical scientist MatthewMacWilliams has found,the key trait that identifiesTrump followers is author-itarianism. His central im-age is a wall. With theiremphasis on anger andshutting people out,Trump and Cruz are morelike European conserva-tives than American ones.

Governing conservatismhas to offer people a securefinancial base and a steadyhand up so they can wel-come global capitalismwith hope and a sense ofopportunity. That’s thetrue American tradition,emphasizing future dyna-mism not tribal walls.There’s a silent majority ofhopeful, practical, pro-grammatic Republicans.You know who you are.

Please don’t go quietlyand pathetically into thenight.

COLUMN

Time for aconspiracy

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY CLASSIC DOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

At my age, three-quar-ters of a century plus, Ican no longer claim naiv-eté. Well, I guess I could,but who’d believe me.However, there was a timewhen this country-bred-and-raised youngster wasplenty naïve.

But, maestro, a littlemusic, please.

Tah-dah. Even though I was 21

years old and had twoyears at Sam HoustonState Teachers Collegeplus a year as news editorof The Teague Chronicle, Iguess I wasn’t preparedfor Big City Life and theways of the 1958 world inHouston and its suburbs. Itransferred to the Univer-sity of Houston after theaforementioned experienc-es and thought I was pre-pared, or as Uncle Harveywould say, “repaired,” foranything.

Upon arrival in Big H, Ishould’ve been “repaired”for a sign atop the ShellOil building. As I ap-proached from the northside, the “S” had burnedout of the neon name signatop the skyscraper. Forsmall- town me, it was justas scary as it was funny.

I moved in with aunt,uncle and their four chil-dren in a three-bedroomhouse and began a two

bus-company a day ride toand from school.

My day began at 5 a.m.and ended at 11 p.m. Aris-ing at that early hour wasnecessary for me to getthe mile from my new res-idence to the private com-pany bus line stop. A 6:30a.m. Pioneer Bus Linesride would get me intodowntown Houston just intime to catch a city busthat would put me out bya University of Houstonentrance, through whichI’d sprint 250 yards to theJournalism and GraphicArts building where I wasemployed.

At least that’s whereone of my jobs was. From8 a.m.–1 p.m. Monday–Fri-day, I was the secretary-re-ceptionist for the J-GA de-partment for which I waspaid $1 per hour. Two af-ternoons a week I was the$5 per week copy editor ofthe Houston Cougar, UH’sstudent newspaper. Twomore afternoons I was acommissioned ad salesperson via a sales intern-ship at a suburban news-paper, owned by UH J-GA

prof Billy I. Ross and Rig-by “Pop” Owen Sr.

Several other advertis-ing students went throughthe sales internship but itled to a much-needed,steady income for me.

By summer time I wasemployed as the full-timegeneral manager of thissuburban weekly paperowned by the aforemen-tioned duo. It was a 30-minute drive from the UHcampus, which necessitat-ed me to buy a car. Mydad helped me acquire a1952 rusted-out, baby blue,two-door, stick shift Chev-rolet, which also served asa “newspaper hauler”from “Pop’s” Conroeprinting plant to the one-room-finished model shellhome that served as thesuburban paper’s office.

However, prior to thesummer opportunity,there was a competitionabout which I was notaware. There was, howev-er, some hanky-panky ofwhich I’d become cogni-zant. One of the ad stu-dents, an older, marriedman, was having an affairwith a married womanwho was the editor of thesuburban paper. He evenbragged to me about theaffair. This philanderingad student wanted the GMjob as well. (Convenient,

no?) He arranged for an “of-

fice assistant,” a prettyredheaded friend of theeditor, to be hired. On theassistant’s first day on thejob, Adman and Editor leftquickly for lunch together,leaving me with Red. Shequickly made her move.

Tah-dah, dramatic mu-sical crescendo, please …

… In came another adstudent, an older and mar-ried good friend of mine,who immediately sawwhat was happening andnot being as naïve as I,put it all together. Hedragged me out of therefor lunch and had me de-tail the events prior to hisarrival. He exploded andtold me, in no uncertainterms, to go home and hewould call me later. By theend of the day, I was in-formed that neither of thephilandering couple wereemployed and that I wasthe new, full-time GM ofthat newspaper.

Welcome to — HELL —I recalled of the sign onmy entrance to hot Hous-ton, which I then thoughtof as Texas’ lust capital.

Willis Webb is a retiredcommunity newspaper edi-tor-publisher of more than50 years experience. He canbe reached by email atwwebb1937@att.net.

COLUMN

Texas’ blue collar lust capital

President Obama did notfocus his final State of theUnion address on an agen-da for the next — and last— year of his presidency,tacitly indicating that hedoes not expect to makemuch headway as a lameduck facing a hostile Con-gress in an election year.

But the president stillnoted the flurry of legisla-tive compromise at the endof last year, which kept thegovernment open and pro-

vided long-term infrastruc-ture funding. And hereached out directly toHouse Speaker Paul D.Ryan, R-Wis.:

"Speaker Ryan has talk-ed about his interest intackling poverty," he said."I’d welcome a serious dis-cussion about strategies wecan all support, like ex-panding tax cuts for low-in-come workers who don’thave children."

Given the perpetual par-tisan rancor about the sizeof the federal safety net, it

may be surprising thatthere is a significant pointof agreement between poli-cy minds in both parties onexpanding a major anti-poverty program. The suc-cess and elegance of theearned-income tax credit(EITC) accomplish thisfeat. The credit tops upwages for low-incomeworking people, pullingmillions out of poverty ev-ery year. But its design —increasing the subsidy withwages before flatlining andthen tapering off — encour-

ages people to enter the la-bor force and work moreonce they are in it. As ameans of improving condi-tions for the working poor,it is much better targetedthan, say, increasing theminimum wage, whichhelps teenagers from af-fluent families as much asdesperate parents trying tofeed and house their chil-dren. The potential forcompromise is obvious.Election year or no, Mr.Ryan should take the presi-dent up on his offer.

EDITORIAL

A refreshing point of agreementTHE WASHINGTON POST

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 Zentertainment PAGE 5A

NEW YORK — Growingcalls for a boycott of the A-cademy Awards over thelack of diversity amongthis year’s Oscar nomineesare forcing stars to choosesides and threatening tothrow the movie industry’sbiggest night of the yearinto turmoil.

The backlash over thesecond straight year of all-white acting nominees isalso putting heavy pres-sure on the Academy ofMotion Pictures Arts andSciences to diversify itsoverwhelmingly whitemale membership.

The furor grew on Tues-day when the Rev. AlSharpton said he wouldlead a campaign encourag-ing people not to watch theFeb. 28 telecast. On Mon-day, Spike Lee, this year’sOscar honoree for lifetimeachievement, and JadaPinkett Smith announcedthey will boycott the cere-mony in protest.

Academy president Che-ryl Boone Isaacs, who hasled efforts to diversify theacademy, responded lateMonday evening with aforceful statement sayingthat those previous mea-sures weren’t enough.

Isaacs, the academy’sfirst African Americanpresident, said that “it’stime for big changes” andthat she will review mem-bership recruiting to bringabout “much-need diversi-ty” in the academy’s ranks.

At a Los Angeles galahonoring Boone Isaacs onMonday night, actor DavidOyelowo — who was fa-mously snubbed last yearfor his performance as theRev. Martin Luther KingJr. in “Selma” — expressedfrustration with the acade-my.

“This institution doesn’t

reflect its president and itdoesn’t reflect this room,”Oyelowo said. “I am an a-cademy member and itdoesn’t reflect me and itdoesn’t reflect this nation.”

Other stars beganweighing in. George Cloo-ney, in comments to Varie-ty, said that after earlierprogress by the industry,“you feel like we’re movingin the wrong direction.”He noted that movies like“Creed,” “Straight OuttaCompton,” “Beasts of NoNation” and “Concussion”may have deserved moreattention from the acade-my.

“But honestly, thereshould be more opportuni-ty than that,” Clooneysaid. “There should be 20or 30 or 40 films of thequality that people wouldconsider for the Oscars. Bythe way, we’re talkingabout African Americans.For Hispanics, it’s evenworse. We need to get bet-ter at this. We used to bebetter at it.”

A 2012 Los AngelesTimes study found that the

academy was 94 percentwhite and 77 percent male.

UCLA’s latest annualHollywood Diversity Re-port concluded that womenand minorities are sub-stantially underrepresent-ed in front of and behindthe camera, even while au-diences show a strong de-sire for films with diversecasts. Hispanics and Afri-can Americans go to themovies more often thanwhites do.

UCLA surveyed film andTV executives and foundthat 96 percent are white.

In his comments Mon-day, Lee said the Oscars’problems ultimately residewith “the gate keepers”who have the power togreen-light projects.

Isaacs enlisted ChrisRock, who famously calledHollywood “a white indus-try” a year ago, as host ofthis year’s ceremony. Thebacklash all but ensuresRock’s opening monologuewill, for many, be the mostanticipated event of theshow.

Last year’s broadcast,

hosted by Neil Patrick Har-ris, was also boycotted bysome viewers because ofthe all-white slate of actingnominees. Ratings dippedto a six-year low for ABC.

Some on Tuesday putpressure on Rock to jointhe boycott. The rapper 50Cent urged on Instagram:“Chris, please do not dothe Oscars awards. Youmean a lot man, don’t doit.” A representative forRock didn’t immediatelyrespond to an email.

Just how much moreBoone Isaacs can do to pro-mote diversity at the acad-emy, where membership isfor life, remains to be seen.In November, she launcheda five-year initiative to en-courage more diversity inHollywood, called A2020.

But Boone Isaacs notedthere is some precedent formore drastic steps. In thelate ’60s, for example, acad-emy president GregoryPeck tried to inject moreyouth by stripping manyolder members no longerworking in the industry ofthe right to vote.

Calls for Oscars boycottBy JAKE COYLE

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this Monday photo, Comedian Chris Rock speaks during an event celebrating Rev. Martin LutherKing Jr. at the Riverside Church in New York. Rock is scheduled to host the Oscars Feb. 28.

Photo by Andres Kudacki | AP

NEW YORK — As theEagles co-founder, singerand songwriter GlennFrey mastered the mix ofrock ‘n’ roll and countrymusic, and the band’s hits— including “Hotel Cali-fornia” and “Take ItEasy,” both co-written byFrey — helped define the1970s.

Frey died Monday ofcomplications from rheu-matoid arthritis, acute ul-cerative colitis and pneu-monia in New York at age67. He was born in Detroitand formed the band withDon Henley in 1971 in LosAngeles.

Frey and Henley camefrom humble beginningsafter playing back-up toanother legend, LindaRonstadt, and later form-ing the Eagles when sign-ing with David Geffen’sAsylum Records. Theirsound would go on to suc-cessfully blend rock andcountry — something oth-ers tried but was masteredby the Eagles. Who elsehas won Grammy Awards— stretched across 1975and 2008 — in the rock,pop and country catego-ries?

The band released someof the most popular songs

of the 1970s: “Take ItEasy,” written by Frey andJackson Browne, is irre-sistible with Frey singinglead and the band’s har-monies intact, and “HotelCalifornia,” the moodysoft rock track, is a classic.

“Hotel California” wasjust one of the Eagles’tunes to peak atop the Bill-board Hot 100 chart:“Heartache Tonight,”“New Kid in Town,” “Oneof These Nights” and“Best of My Love” alsowent to No. 1.

Frey and Henley wrotemost of their hits andwere known as one of thetop songwriting teams.Two of the band’s albumswould go on to rankamong the top-selling al-bums ever released.

Frey, Eaglesbandleader, dies

By MESFIN FEKADUASSOCIATED PRESS

In this March 20, 2010 filephoto, Glenn Frey of the Ea-gles performs at MuhammadAli’s Celebrity Fight Night XVIin Phoenix, Arizona.

Photo by Ralph Freso | AP file

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6A THE ZAPATA TIMES International WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

MEXICO CITY — Mex-ican authorities want totalk to actor Kate del Cas-tillo, who arranged SeanPenn’s interview withdrug lord Joaquin “ElChapo” Guzman, a gov-ernment official said Mon-day.

The official, who wasnot authorized to discussthe case publicly andspoke on condition of ano-nymity, confirmed that in-vestigators have formallyasked del Castillo to meetwith them about the en-counter she and Penn hadwith Guzman.

The official said Mon-day that it is unclear whenthat will happen and add-ed that del Castillo is con-sidered a witness and isnot accused of any crime.

Guzman is the Sinaloadrug cartel capo who wascaptured earlier thismonth in Los Mochis, Si-

naloa state, six months af-ter escaping from a maxi-mum-security prison.

Penn’s article aboutGuzman was published byRolling Stone the day afterhis capture.

Eduardo Sanchez,spokesman for Mexico’spresidency, said last weekthat the governmentwould investigate whethera crime was committedduring the meeting be-tween the drug lord andthe actors, but that therewas no criminal probe ofPenn or del Castillo.

However he criticizedthe idea that someonewith information about awanted fugitive would notshare it with authorities.

Del Castillo respondedto criticism last week viaTwitter, writing: “Not sur-prisingly, many have cho-sen to make up items theythink will make good sto-ries and that aren’t truth-ful. I look forward to shar-ing my story with you.”

In this March 24, 2013 file photo, Mexican actress Kate Del Cas-tillo attends a NASCAR Sprint Cup auto race in Fontana, Calif.Mexican authorities said on Monday that they want to talk to theMexican actress who arranged an interview with drug lord Joa-quin “El Chapo” Guzman for actor Sean Penn.

Photo by Reed Saxon | AP file

Mexico wantsto questiondel Castillo

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLOASSOCIATED PRESS

LANDSTUHL, Germany— Pale but smiling, formerU.S. Marine Amir Hekmatirecounted Tuesday how dis-belief turned to joy whenhe and three fellow Ameri-cans realized that they werebeing released as part of adeal with Iran and reunitedwith their families afterspending years in Iranianprison.

Speaking publicly for thefirst time since being al-lowed to leave Iran in aprisoner swap Sunday, Hek-mati said the sudden end tohis four-year ordeal stillseemed surreal. Convictedby an Iranian court of spy-ing and sentenced to deathin 2012, he was later given a10-year sentence on a lessercharge after a retrial.

“I was at a point where Ihad just sort of accepted thefact that I was going to bespending 10 years in prison,so this was a surprise and Ijust feel truly blessed to seemy government do so muchfor me and the other Amer-icans,” Hekmati told report-ers outside the U.S. mili-tary’s Landstuhl RegionalMedical Center in Germa-ny, where he was taken fortreatment.

There was no advancewarning of his release, headded. “They just came onemorning and said ‘packyour things.”’

“I was worried that may-be the Iranian side was go-ing to make new demandsat the last minute or thatthe deal wasn’t going towork out, so up until thelast second we were all wor-ried and concerned,” hesaid.

The 32-year-old says heand his fellow prisoners en-dured repeated delays untilthey were allowed to boarda Swiss government plane.But they weren’t able to re-lax until the jet had left Ira-nian airspace, after which“champagne bottles werepopped” and veal and choc-olates were served, he said.

Hekmati said he feltlucky and humbled by thesupport he received fromthose campaigning for hisrelease. He expressed grati-tude to President BarackObama, U.S. Congress andhis other supporters, re-serving special thanks forthe U.S. Marine Corps.

Asked about his 4 1⁄2 yearsin Iranian prison, Hekmatisaid “it wasn’t good,” butthat his Marine traininghelped sustain him.

“I tried my best to keepmy head up and withstandall the pressures that wereput on me, some of themwere very inhumane andunjust,” he said. “Hearingabout some of my fellowMarines supporting mereally gave me the strengthto put up with over fouryears of some very difficulttimes.”

“He has not had much ofa chance to exercise andhe’s lost some weight but helooks fit and I think he ison the mend,” U.S. Rep. DanKildee, a Democrat fromHekmati’s home state of Mi-chigan, earlier told The As-sociated Press.

“A better diet and achance to exercise... and Ithink he’ll turn out to bejust fine.”

Hekmati, WashingtonPost reporter Jason Rezaianand pastor Saeed Abediniarrived late Sunday atLandstuhl for treatment. Afourth American releasedin exchange for the U.S.pardoning or droppingcharges against seven Ira-

nians opted to stay in Iran,and a fifth American wasreleased separately.

Rep. Jaret Huffman, aDemocrat representing Re-zaian’s home district in Cal-ifornia was also visitingLandstuhl. He said therewere “tears, and smiles andhugs” when the family wasreunited.

“He continues to be ingreat spirits, his health issound, he’s going through aprocess and it’s going totake a few more days, butJason’s on track to get hislife back,” Huffman said.

Kildee said he had asteak dinner Monday nightwith Hekmati as well asHekmati’s two sisters andbrother, and that he seemedin “pretty good spirits” forsomeone who had been in-carcerated for so long.

“We talked a bit abouthis experience, but I thinkhe was just appreciating hisfreedom and trying to enjoyit as much as he could,”Kildee said.

Hekmati was detained inAugust 2011 on espionagecharges. He says he went toIran to visit family andspend time with his ailinggrandmother. After his ar-rest, family members saythey were told to keep thematter quiet.

Hekmati was born inArizona and raised in Mi-chigan. His family is in theFlint area. He and his fam-ily deny any wrongdoing,and say his imprisonmentincluded physical and men-tal torture and long periods

of solitary confinement in atiny cell.

Kildee said he looked for-ward to talking more withHekmati about his experi-ence in the coming monthsbut did already learn somedetails.

“We talked about a few ofthe aspects of his incarcer-ation, (he) described theprison conditions as beingbleak as we know them tobe by reputation, describedthe fact that he had beentold he was going to be re-leased on several occasions,so even when this momentcame he wasn’t sure it wasreally true until he was atthe airport,” he said.

“In some ways that wasanother way to sort of pro-vide psychological torture— to continue to tormenthim with his release.”

Huffman said Rezaianhad told him his captivitywas “horrific” with occa-sional “comedic moments,”but that he didn’t want togo into further details.

“It’s Jason’s story and Ithink the world wants tohear directly from him,”Huffman said. “But whatamazed me about my timewith him last night is hisspirit — if the RepublicanGuard thought they’d breakthe spirit of this guy, theyfailed miserably.”

Hekmati said that he’slooking forward to gettinghome soon.

“I really want to see myfamily and be back in theland of the free, backhome.”

Americans joyful over releaseBy CHRISTOPH NOELTING

AND FRANK JORDANSASSOCIATED PRESS

In this image made from video, former U.S Marine Amir Hekmati, center, is flanked by Michigan con-gressman Dan Kildee, left, and Hekmati’s brother-in-law Ramy Kurdi in Landstuhl, Germany, Tuesday.Former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati was one of four Americans released by Iran.

Photo courtesy of APTN | AP

Sports&OutdoorsWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

AUSTIN — The Texasattorney general sidedTuesday with the growinglist of states that considerdaily fantasy sports sitessuch as DraftKings andFanDuel illegal, stoppingshort of ordering the mul-tibillion-dollar industryto pack up and leave.

Attorney General KenPaxton said a court wouldlikely find daily fantasysports illegal under Texaslaw. But attorney generalopinions in Texas arenonbinding, leaving thegames essentially free tocontinue there for now.

Regardless, the opinionis another blow to dailyfantasy sports operators.DraftKings and FanDueltook in a combined $3 bil-lion last year and havegone to court in otherstates, including NewYork and Illinois, follow-ing similar actions by

state attorneys general.“Simply put, it is pro-

hibited gambling in Texasif you bet on the perform-ance of a participant in asporting event and thehouse takes a cut,” Pax-ton said.

Boston-based DraftK-ings responded by callingPaxton’s prediction abouthow a court might rulewrong and said it willcontinue operating inTexas.

“The Attorney Gener-al’s prediction is predicat-ed on a fundamental mis-understanding” of dailyfantasy sports, DraftK-ings attorney Randy Mas-tro said in a statement.

DraftKings and Fan-Duel have argued acrossthe U.S. that daily fantasyis a game of skill, notchance, and insist thattheir operations are legalbecause they technicallydon’t accept wagers andbecause their successdoesn’t rely on any partic-

ular result.Paxton issued the opin-

ion in response to a for-mal request from a Texaslawmaker. He said it wasup to the Legislature —“not this office or thecourts” — to change thelegal framework to makedaily fantasy sports per-missible.

A spokesman for TexasGov. Greg Abbott declinedcomment.

State legislaturesacross the U.S. are grap-pling with the legalityand possible regulation offantasy sports as lawmak-ers returned to work thismonth. In New York, anappellate court allowedDraftKings and FanDuelto continue operating af-ter state Attorney Gener-al Eric Schneidermansued to end their oper-ations.

The Texas attorneygeneral’s office did notimmediately respond toquestions about whether

Paxton would now at-tempt to crack down onthe companies.

Among those dis-pleased with Paxton’s rul-ing was Dallas Mavericksowner Mark Cuban, whotweeted “what a disap-pointment.” He said Pax-ton didn’t represent theviews of Texans andtweeted that his stancehad nothing to do with inhis investment and adrevenue in daily fantasysports, which he put atunder $1 million.

DraftKings and Fan-Duel have become ubiqui-tous during televisedsporting events and havepartnered with sportscompanies such as ESPNand Major League Base-ball. But their aggressivead campaign ahead of the2015 NFL season drew theattention of regulatorsand lawmakers who havequestioned their businessmodels in states such asNevada.

DAILY FANTASY SPORTS

Texas targets fantasy

Chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Peter Schoenke speaks with reporters following a public hearing in Boston on Jan.12. Schoenke objected to regulations proposed for online sites including DraftKings and FanDuel.

Photo by Michael Dwyer | AP

Texas latest state to call daily fantasy sports illegalBy PAUL J. WEBERASSOCIATED PRESS

CINCINNATI — PeteRose is getting a hall offame induction — in theCincinnati Reds’ team hallduring a weekend of honorsthis summer in his home-town — that will include re-tiring his No. 14.

The Reds’ announcementTuesday came after MLBcommissioner Rob Manfredrejected Rose’s applicationfor reinstatement to base-ball last month.

Manfred concluded thatbaseball’s career hits leaderhasn’t shown evidence of “areconfigured life” and con-tinued to gamble, evenwhile seeking to end thelifetime ban imposed in1989 for betting on numer-ous Reds games while play-ing for and managing theteam.

Reds’ chief executive BobCastellini said Manfred ap-proved the plans to honorthe 74-year-old Rose. TheJune 24-26 events also willfeature a 40-year reunion ofthe 1976 world championReds, on-field ceremoniesand a team hall of famebanquet in which Rose willbe awarded the red sportscoat its members wear.

“This is an honor, thatyou can’t just believe howyou feel,” Rose said at anews conference, notingthat he grew up a Reds fanand was born a few milesfrom the Great AmericanBall Park where he will behonored. He broke intobaseball as a Red, playedmost of his career withthem, and also managedthe team.

The National BaseballHall of Fame in 1991 adopt-ed a rule that keeps anyoneon the permanently ineligi-ble list off the ballot.Manfred said last monththat his decision to contin-ue the MLB ban was sepa-rate from any determina-tion on National Hall eligi-

bility. He said while Roseremains banned from work-ing for any major leagueteam or minor league affil-iate, he could make ceremo-nial appearances with thecommissioner’s approval.

“Pete was told that in theimmediate future, he prob-ably is not going to be ableto look in terms of Cooper-stown,” Castellini saidTuesday. “And we certainlywanted to make sure thatwe picked up that vacuum.The commissioner gave uspermission to do that; wecouldn’t be more pleasedthat it is now. Now’s thetime.”

An MLB spokesman con-firmed that the Reds hadsubmitted ceremonial plansthat were approved.

Rose offered his thanksto Manfred, while addingthat he still holds out hopefor some day joining theNational Hall.

“I haven’t given up onCooperstown. I’m not thetype who’s going to give upon anything,” he said. “Butthis is fine, I’m happy ... I’mnot going to sit here andsay it’s the second-bestthing, cause it’s not ... I’mfrom Cincinnati. This is thefirst big thing.”

Rose has rejoined histeammates from the 1975-76world champions in recentyears in on-field reunionsand other ceremonies inCincinnati. Castellini saidthere are plans, althoughthe timetable is uncertain,of adding a Rose statue tothose of all-time Redsgreats outside Great Amer-ican Ball Park. His “BigRed Machine” teammatesJohnny Bench, Joe Morganand Tony Perez alreadyhave statues.

Rose is joining thosethree National Hall of Fam-ers in the 85-strong Reds’hall that includes the latemanager Sparky Andersonand much of the rest of the’75-76 team.

MLB: CINCINNATI REDS

Former Reds player and manager Pete Rose will be inducted intothe team’s Hall of Fame Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Photo by Gary Landers | AP

Pete Rose put inReds’ HOF

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ENFRENTAMIENTOAutoridades de Tamau-

lipas dieron a conocer que unsospechoso murió durante unenfrentamiento que ocurrieraa las 3 a.m. del lunes por elcrucero de la Carretera al Ae-ropuerto Internacional y Bule-var Universidad, al suroestede Nuevo Laredo, México. Nose dio a conocer la identidadde la víctima.

Elementos militares y ofi-ciales de la policía federal seencontraron con un automóvilIsuzu, sin placas, el cual, se-gún reportes, estaba ocupadopor hombres armados. Su-puestamente los sospechososdispararon contra los solda-dos y oficiales antes de huir.El reporte agrega que el con-ductor perdió el control de launidad y se volcó quedandocon las llantas hacia arriba, aun costado de la carretera. Elresto de los sospechosos lo-gró escapar.

De igual forma agentes lo-graron decomisar un armalarga con su cargador, cartu-chos útiles, un radio de co-municación y tres teléfonoscelulares, entre otros objetos.

RECLUTAMIENTOLa Dirección Municipal

de Reclutamiento en MiguelAlemán, México, hace un lla-mado a los conscriptos de laclase 1997, anticipados y re-misos, para que acudan a lasoficinas y hacer entrega desu media cartilla.

La recepción se realizarádurante el mes de enero, ylos jóvenes deberán llevartambién dos copias del actade nacimiento, CURP, compro-bante de domicilio, certificadodel último grado de estudioso constancia de estudios ac-tuales, dos copias de unaidentificación oficial (INE, pa-saporte o licencia de mane-jar).

El horario de las Oficinasde Reclutamiento, dentro dela Secretaría del Ayuntamien-to, es de 8:30 a.m. a 3:30p.m., de lunes a viernes.

Si los conscriptos de laclase 97 cumplen con el re-quisito podrán recibir su car-tilla militar liberada en di-ciembre próximo.

En Nueva Ciudad Gue-rrero, México, se informa alas personas que tramitaronsu cartilla militar en el 2015y que cuentan con su mediacartilla, deben presentarse es-ta semana en la PresidenciaMunicipal, en horario de 9a.m. a 3 p.m.

Pida más información enel (897)976-0370 o (897)976-0114 con Manual Adalber-to López.

OLIMPIADANuevo Laredo, México,

será sede de la eliminatoriadel selectivo de box para laetapa regional de la Olimpia-da Infantil y Juvenil 2016.

El evento será el 21 deenero en el Polyforum La Fe,donde se espera participenalrededor de 300 pugilistas,de los cuales al menos 60serán de Nuevo Laredo.

Entrada gratuita.

TIRO AL DISCOEl Boys and Girls Club

of Zapata invita al NovenoTorneo de Tiro al Disco (Spor-ting Clay) que se realizará elsábado 30 de enero. La cuotade entrada es de 120 dólarespara equipos con 5 tiradoresadultos y 60 dólares paraequipos con cinco tiradoresjóvenes – equipos juvenilesdeben contar con un entrena-dor o patrocinador presente.

Participantes deben estarregistrados para las 7:30 a.m.el día del evento, y deberánllevar sus propias municiones7 ½, 8 y 9 solamente. El ho-rario de actividades será de 7a.m. a 7:45 a.m. el registro; 8a.m. primera etapa; 11 a.m.,segunda etapa; 2 p.m., terce-ra etapa.

Puede inscribirse en el si-tio bgczapata.com. Habrá pre-mios.

Ribereñaen Breve

NASHUA, New Hampshire —Pese a un creciente conjunto depotenciales votantes hispanos enEstados Unidos, los latinos casiseguramente estarán subrepre-sentados en las urnas en el 2016,de acuerdo con un estudio dado aconocer el martes.

El Pew Research Center encon-tró que una cifra récord de hispa-nos pudieran acudir a las urnasen noviembre, por encima de los11,2 millones que lo hicieron envotar en el 2012, pero que los lati-nos de la generación del Milenio—la fuente del crecimiento de loshispanos elegibles para votar—

tendrán una baja participación.La mayoría de los hispanos en Es-tados Unidos, 52%, son demasiadojóvenes o no son ciudadanos esta-dounidenses.

Las conclusiones provienen deun análisis de datos del Buró delCenso por parte del Pew.

Solamente 48% de los votanteshispanos acudieron a las urnasen el 2012, comparado con 64% delos blancos y 67% de los negros.Esa cifra es aún menor para el ca-so de votantes hispanos de la Ge-neración del Milenio, con apenas38% de votantes activos en el2012.

Mark López, director de estu-dios hispanos para el Pew Center,dijo que la baja participación se

debe mayormente a la geografía.Dijo que más de la mitad de loshispanos con derecho a voto en elpaís —aproximadamente 52%—viven en California, Texas yNueva York— ninguno de los cua-les son estados disputados quepuedan cambiar una elección.

“Los votantes hispanos en esosestados no reciben tanta atención,no ven tantos anuncios de campa-ña, como aquellos que viven enestados disputados como Florida,Nevada y Colorado”, dijo López,quien además señaló que los his-panos constituyen aproximada-mente 14% de todos los votantesen cada uno de esos estados.

En otros estados potencialmen-te competitivos en la contienda

presidencial, incluyendo Virginia,Pennsylvania y Wisconsin, loshispanos son menos de 5% de losvotantes. Algo similar ocurre enestados influyentes de votacióntemprana como Iowa (2,9 y NewHampshire (2,1%).

El reporte concluyó que los his-panos de la Generación el Mileniose registran para votar a tasasmás bajas que otros miembros deesa generación. Hace notar que50% de los hispanos de esa gene-ración elegibles para votar esta-ban registrados en el 2012, compa-rado con 61% de los blancos y64% de los negros.

(Emily Swanson, especialista deSondeos Noticiosos de la AP contri-buyó a este reporte)

VOTO HISPANO EN ELECCIONES 2016

Baja actuaciónPOR SERGIO BUSTOS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PÁGINA 8A Zfrontera MIÉRCOLES 20 DE ENERO DE 2016

La recolección de tapas deplástico y aros de latas esuna campaña que lleva a ca-bo la Alianza Anti CáncerInfantil A.B.P. en Tamauli-pas, a fin de ayudar con loscostos a familias con hijosque padecen la enfermedad.

Esta semana, la Universi-dad Politécnica (UP) RegiónRibereña con sede en MiguelAlemán, México, hizo entre-ga de 20.000 tapas de plásticoy 5.000 aros de lata que fue-ran recolectados durante el2015.

“Vamos a seguir apoyandoen las campañas para seguirsumando esfuerzos que brin-den amor, esperanza y vida alos niños que lo necesitan”,dijo Sonia Mercado Rodrí-guez, Rectora de la UP.

La alianza fue creada porun grupo de padres de fami-lia quienes tuvieron la ideade organizar “una ayuda in-tegral para los niños y otrasfamilias”, indica un comuni-cado de prensa del Gobiernode Tamaulipas.

Al reciclarse las tapas deplástico y aros de lata, laalianza puede obtener ga-nancias que les permiten“apoyar a niños con cáncery a sus familias ofreciendoapoyo para suplir sus necesi-dades básicas en atenciónmédica, psicológica, nutri-cional así como de asisten-cia social; proporcionandouna atención integral y au-mentando con ello su opor-tunidad de supervivencia almejorar su calidad de vida”,de acuerdo con la misión delsitio oficial de la alianza.

Para conocer mas acercadel programa y saber comopuede ayudar puede llamara sus oficinas centrales ubi-cadas en Monterrey, México,al +52 81 8191 1070.

SERVICIO

Apoyancon

tapas yarosTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

Gerardo Unzueta Loren-zana nació en Cecilia (Ciu-dad Madero) el 3 de octu-bre de 1925. Tras que su pa-dre fuera expulsado de laindustria petrolera, la fa-milia se traslada a la Ciu-dad de México.

Aún joven, ingresa alPartido Comunista Mexica-no (PCM), y se une al nú-

cleo directivo que rompecon el dogmatismo y asu-me posturas críticas frenteal gobierno y la Unión So-viética.

Reproduce artículos defondo para la prensa ta-maulipeca y de otros esta-dos. Inicia en publicacio-nes independientes y diri-ge órganos informativos decarácter partidista. Consi-gue entrevistar a Ernesto“Che” Guevara reciéntriunfa la Revolución Cuba-na, lo que grabado en discoalcanza varias ediciones.

Las simpatías con el mo-vimiento estudiantil y po-pular lo vuelven preso polí-tico de 1968 a 1971. RecorreTamaulipas en 1976 junto a

Valentín Campa Salazar,aspirante presidencial delPCM, privado de registro.La Reforma Política de1977 legaliza a los comunis-tas y dos años más tardeUnzueta se convierte encombativo legislador de lacámara baja.

De una fusión entre elPCM y organizaciones afi-nes, en la siguiente décadasurge el Partido SocialistaUnificado de México(PSUM). En Tamaulipas,Unzueta sostiene la candi-datura a senador en 1982;un año después disputa laalcaldía de Tampico, distri-to por el que contiende enlos comicios federales de1985 y resulta diputado plu-

rinominal. La coalición del PSUM

con los partidos Mexicanode Trabajadores y Revolu-cionario de los Trabajado-res en 1986 lo postula can-didato a gobernador.

En procesos locales, laoposición contaba con po-cos financiamientos públi-cos, pero no obstante, Un-zueta impulsa campañascon las propuestas de ma-yor solvencia vista por Ta-maulipas. Basadas en lamodernización democráti-ca, diseña y expone alter-nativas serias al desarrolloexcluyente que presentaTamaulipas.

Por ejemplo, plantea re-generar la laguna del Car-

pintero de Tampico ytransformarla en sitio re-creativo, proyecta estrate-gias concretas para comu-nidades rurales de alto re-zago y con respecto de losdéficits socioeconómicosen la zona fronteriza conEU.

Desempeña con espíritude servicio el puesto legis-lativo. Ayuda a sus compa-ñeros, materializa iniciati-vas para mejorar las condi-ciones de vida en Tula.

Unzueta falleció el 10 deenero a la edad de 90 añosen la Ciudad de México.

(Con permiso del autorsegún fuera publicado en LaRazón de Tampico, el 15 deenero del 2016)

COLUMNA

Fallece político opositor Gerardo Unzueta Gerardo Unzueta Lorenza-

na es autor de numerosasobras bibliográficas, destacacomo intelectual de ideasavanzadas y desde la izquier-da contribuye a democrati-zar el país.

POR RAÚL SINENCIO CHÁVEZESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

La antigua Jurisdicción Sa-nitaria No. V de Nuevo La-redo, México, construidahace más de 50 años, fue

transformada en un centro de saluda la vanguardia, en una obra queforma parte del paquete de cons-trucción, ampliación, remodelacióny equipamiento de tres unidades delos tres niveles de atención por par-te del Gobierno de Tamaulipas.

La inversión general en materiade salud suma 3.500 millones de pe-sos, y tan solo en el centro de saludse ubicaron más de 18 millones depesos, de acuerdo con un comunica-

do de prensa.Según datos del Gobierno del Es-

tado en los centros de salud seatiende el 85 por ciento de la de-manda por servicios de salud departe de la población.

El edificio ubicado por calle Vic-toria en la Colonia Hidalgo benefi-cia a alrededor de 17.000 habitantesy cuenta con atención primaria yprevención de enfermedades, servi-cios para detección oportuna decáncer, curaciones y vacunas, tresconsultorios de medicina general yun módulo de atención dental, ade-más que alberga las oficinas del Se-guro Popular, vectores y de la Co-misión Estatal de Protección contra

Riesgos Sanitarios.Beneficiarios de los programas

como “Niñez y adolescencia prote-gidas”, “Mujeres plenas”, “Varonessanos” y “Adultos mayores en con-trol” también recibirán sus servi-cios en las mismas instalaciones.

Durante el evento estuvieronpresentes el Secretario de Salud enTamaulipas, Norberto Treviño Gar-cía Manzo, el presidente municipalde Nuevo Laredo, Carlos EnriqueCanturosas Villarreal, y las presi-dentas del Sistema DIF en Tamauli-pas y Nuevo Laredo, Maria del Pi-lar González de Torre y BelindaSerna de Canturosas, respectiva-mente.

NUEVO LAREDO, MÉXICO

TRANSFORMANCENTRO DE SALUD

El edifico del Centro de Salud, ubicado en la Colonia Hidalgo en Nuevo Laredo, México, fue inaugurado el lunes por autoridades, en-cabezados por el Gobernador Egidio Torre Cantú y el Presidente Municipal de Nuevo Laredo, Carlos Canturosas Villarreal.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Modernizan edificio y extienden serviciosTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 National THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A

LANSING, Mich. — On-ly a year ago, Rick Snyderbegan his second term asMichigan governor pro-moting the same achieve-ments that had propelledhim to victory in 2014: Thestate was at last in themidst of an economiccomeback, and Detroit hademerged from bankruptcy.

Now the water crisisgripping Flint threatens toovershadow nearly every-thing else Snyder has ac-complished, and the gover-nor’s annual State of theState address has becomeperhaps the most impor-tant speech of his career.

The Republican has lit-tle choice but to devotemuch of Tuesday’s addressto the emergency, whichhas put Flint families atrisk for lead exposure andengulfed his administra-tion with criticism fromacross the nation.

“Right now, it’s every-thing,” Lansing-based Re-publican consultant TomShields said of the Flint di-saster. “People will forgetabout what he did to bringDetroit out of bankruptcyand change taxes and ev-erything else” if the Flintsituation is not handledcorrectly.

The images of an impov-erished city where no onedares to drink the tap wa-ter have put Snyder on thedefensive and forced him tostep up his efforts to help.The governor, who hasapologized for regulatoryfailures and for an under-whelming initial response,has rejected calls for his re-signation.

In recent weeks, he de-clared a state of emergency,pledged another round ofunspecified state funding,activated the NationalGuard to help distribute

lead tests, filters and bot-tled water, and successfullysought federal assistance.But to many people, thosesteps took way too long.

He plans to offer moreideas during his televisedspeech to the GOP-led Leg-islature, including moremoney and proposals toprovide health services tokids with elevated lead lev-els and to prevent watershutoffs if bills go unpaid.He is also consideringwhether to release emailsrelated to the crisis, whichbegan when Flint, about anhour’s drive from Detroit,switched its water sourcein 2014 to save money.

Shields said it is not inSnyder’s nature to showemotion publicly.

“He doesn’t want to feelyour pain. He wants tocure it,” Shields said.

Michigan’s top environ-mental regulator has re-signed over the failure toensure that the Flint Riverwater was properly treatedto keep lead from pipesfrom leaching into the wa-ter.

The fiasco has bruisedSnyder, a former venturecapitalist and computer ex-ecutive who took office in2011 billing himself as apractical decision-makerand a “tough nerd.” Whenhe sought the state’s topjob, he touted his experi-

ence as a turnaround artistcommitted to making gov-ernment work better forpeople.

He cannot run again un-der term limits and hasstrayed from conservativeorthodoxy on some issues,such as expanding Medi-caid despite his party’sstand against the healthcare overhaul and vetoinganti-abortion and gun-rights legislation.

His top achievements in-clude overhauling taxes,signing right-to-work lawsin organized labor’s back-yard and enacting a road-funding package.

Democrats have opposedmany of Snyder’s mostsweeping laws, including anew emergency managermeasure under which hisadministration has madebudget decisions for strug-gling cities and school dis-tricts. They say what hap-pened in Flint is an indict-ment of the GOP’s promiseto run government like abusiness.

“The state of our state isnot strong when residentsare being poisoned by theirtap water,” House MinorityLeader Tim Greimel said.

The U.S. Justice Depart-ment is helping the Envi-ronmental ProtectionAgency investigate, and thestate attorney general hasopened his own probe.

Michigan governor tospeak about Flint crisis

By DAVID EGGERTASSOCIATED PRESS

Plaintiffs, from left, Melissa Mays, Rhonda Kelso, and Keith Pem-berton pose for a photo during a news conference in Flint, Mich.

Photo by John M. Galloway/Detroit News | AP

AMES, Iowa — Republi-can presidential front-run-ner Donald Trump receiveda key endorsement Tuesdayfrom conservative heavy-weight Sarah Palin.

The former Alaska gover-nor and former runningmate of Sen. John McCainin his 2008 bid for the WhiteHouse, is endorsing the bil-lionaire businessman, ac-cording to a statement re-leased by his campaign.

“I am greatly honored toreceive Sarah’s endorse-ment,” Trump said in astatement. “She is a friend,and a high quality personwhom I have great respectfor. I am proud to have hersupport.”

Palin is scheduled to ap-pear with Trump at a rallyat an agricultural center atthe Iowa State Universitylater Tuesday and will alsobe joining Trump at twoevents on Wednesday, in-cluding a rally in Tulsa, Ok-lahoma.

The endorsement comesless than two weeks aheadof the critical lead-off Iowacaucus, where Trump islocked in a dead heat withTexas Sen. Ted Cruz.

In the statement an-nouncing the endorsement,Trump’s campaign de-scribed Palin as a conserva-tive who “helped launch thecareers of several key futureleaders of the RepublicanParty and conservativemovement.” The statementalso quoted Cruz as oncesaying he “would not be inthe United States Senatewere it not for Gov. SarahPalin...She can pick win-ners.”

Campaigning in NewHampshire, Tuesday, Cruzresponded to Palin’s en-dorsement of Trump, saying“regardless of what Sarahintends to do in 2016, I willremain a big, big fan of Sa-rah Palin.”

Trump’s national politi-cal director Michael Glassn-er previously worked with

Palin, who was a virtualnewcomer to the nationalpolitical arena whenMcCain named her as hisrunning mate. She has sincerisen to prominence as oneof the most outspoken con-servatives in the party.

She signed on as a FoxNews commentator after re-

signing as Alaska’s gover-nor in 2010, a job she helduntil last year.

Asked Tuesday morningabout his thoughts on a po-tential Palin endorsements,as rumors of her potentialbacking swirled, Trumpsaid, “I’m a big fan of SarahPalin.”

While Trump said hedoesn’t typically put muchstock in endorsements, hesaid, “I think it could verywell result in votes.”

Palin endorses TrumpBy JILL COLVIN

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this May 31, 2011 file photo,Donald Trump walks with formergovernor of Alaska Sarah Palinin New York City. Trump re-ceived a key endorsement fromconservative heavyweight SarahPalin, Tuesday.

Photo by Craig Ruttle | AP file

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —The Tennessee lawmakerwhose bill would bar thestate from following the U.S.Supreme Court’s gay mar-riage ruling says he is unde-terred by a projected loss of$8.5 billion in federal fundsif the proposal becomes law.

State Rep. Mark Podysaid at a state Capitol rallyon Tuesday that the propos-al he has dubbed the “Ten-nessee Natural MarriageDefense Act” is worth anycost — and the Republicanfrom the Nashville suburbof Lebanon disputed the es-timated loss of federalfunds.

“The right to who we areis at stake,” Pody said.

He cited a 2006 amend-ment to the state constitu-tion that defined marriageas being only between aman and a woman and de-clared that any judicial in-terpretation to the contrary“shall be void and unen-forceable in Tennessee.”

That amendment passedwith more than 80 percentof the vote a decade ago.

“We’re only upholdingwhat we’ve already votedon,” Pody said. “They tram-pled our constitution.”

Last year’s decision bythe nation’s highest courtwas based on cases in four

states including Tennessee,where three couples hadsued to have their out-of-state marriages recognized.

Pody’s proposal is sched-uled for its first hearing ina House subcommitteeWednesday afternoon. Podyurged supporters to contactthe five members of the pan-el to persuade them not tokill the bill.

Legislative analysts esti-mated that if the state refus-es services to same-sex cou-ples, Tennessee stands tolose $6.5 billion in federalMedicaid money and anoth-er $2 billion in food stampand Temporary Assistancefor Needy Families funds.

Committee member BillBeck, a Nashville Democrat,said he won’t support themeasure.

“The Supreme Court dic-tates the law of the land,”Beck said. “Are we going tosecede from the union?”

Beck dismissed Pody’sproposal as “red meat” forconservatives.

“They love it, and Podywill keep it playing as longas he can,” Beck said. “He’sturning them out right andleft.”

But some Republicanswho oppose gay marriagesay a better approach wouldbe to pass a resolution de-manding that the state’s at-torney general file a lawsuitto block the ruling.

Supporters of a bill seeking to exclude Tennessee from the U.S. Su-preme Court’s gay marriage ruling attend a rally at the state Capitolin Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday.

Photo by Erik Schelzig | AP

Tennessee’s anti-gay marriage billwould cost $8.5B

By ERIK SCHELZIGASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — It’san image football fans inIowa are likely to see thisweekend: Ted Cruz, hisface smeared with blackgreasepaint, sitting in aLouisiana duck blind witha borrowed shotgun.

His Republican presi-dential campaign saidTuesday it’s spending$700,000 to air a gun-friend-ly ad during the NFL con-ference championshipgames.

Cruz has made the de-fense of Second Amend-ment rights a cornerstoneof his presidential cam-paign, touting his past le-gal work fighting againstgun control laws. But re-cords suggest the 45-year-old politician’s passion forthe issue emerged relative-ly recently in his life, coin-ciding with his ascent inRepublican circles in Tex-as.

Cruz was in Louisianalast week to film a cam-paign video with Phil Ro-bertson, the gray-beardedpatriarch of reality TV’s“Duck Dynasty” clan. Thejunior senator from Texas,clad in camouflaged over-alls, is shown squeezing offa couple of rounds towardthe gray sky. It was notclear whether the candi-date struck any ducks.

Looking into the cam-era, Robertson says his se-lection criteria for endors-ing a candidate include“would they kill a duck,put ‘em in a pot and make‘em a good duck gumbo.”He then tells Cruz, “You’reone of us, my man.”

In his three years in theU.S. Senate, Cruz’s votingrecord has earned an A+rating from the NationalRifle Association. Fierycriticism of President Ba-rack Obama’s efforts totighten background checksfor gun purchases is a sta-ple of Cruz stump speech-es: The candidate quippedthat back in Texas theterm “gun control” meansthat you “hit what you’reaiming at.”

In an autobiographypublished last year, Cruzrecounts how after hemoved to Austin in 2003 toserve as the state’s appoint-ed solicitor general, he be-came concerned aboutleaving his wife, Heidi, athome alone while he trav-eled. The couple had previ-ously lived in Washington,where each had jobs in theadministration of Presi-dent George W. Bush.

“Worried that an intrud-er might come through thewindow, I placed a hatchetbeneath our bed, and start-ed to tell her to grab thehatchet if anything hap-pened,” wrote Cruz. “As Iwas saying this, it struckme ... this was stupid. Hei-di is 5-foot-2. The last thingI wanted was for my beau-tiful, petite wife to be try-ing to swing a hatchet at alarge, menacing robbercoming through the win-dow.”

The next day, Cruz re-counts, he bought her aSmith & Wesson .357 Mag-num revolver to keep inthe bedside table. Accord-ing to his campaign, Cruzalso owns a 12-gauge Beret-ta Silver Pigeon shotgunfor bird hunting, though aspokeswoman declined todisclose when he boughtthe weapon. The campaignalso declined to say wheth-er he holds a permit to car-ry a concealed firearm.

According to the TexasParks and Wildlife Depart-ment, Cruz purchased hisfirst hunting license therein 2006, when he wouldhave been 35. He then

bought licenses in three ofthe last 10 years — 2008,2014 and 2015.

Cruz’s campaign said hepurchased a Louisianahunting license before therecent video shoot with Ro-bertson, though the state’swildlife department re-fused last week to confirmthat.

Records from Iowa showhe also bought licenses in2013 and 2015 at the HoleN’ the Wall Lodge, site ofan annual pheasant hunthosted by home-state U.S.Rep. Steve King, typicallyattended by aspiring GOPpresidential contenders.King has since endorsedCruz and is now a nationalco-chairman of his cam-paign.

At the most recent huntin Iowa, a smiling Cruzposed for media photoswith about two dozen deadfowl while wearing immac-ulate tan and orange hunt-ing attire, a shotgun rest-ing on his shoulder.

The campaign’s websitealso features a wide arrayof apparel targeted at hun-ters, including camouflageT-shirts, safety-orange hatsemblazoned with his name,and even “Camo Cruzie”drink holders. Earlier thismonth, Cruz’s campaignraffled off a custom Re-mington 12-gauge shotgunengraved with his logo.

Questions about wheth-er Cruz is an active sports-man became a campaignissue during his 2012 runfor the U.S. Senate in Tex-as. During a televised de-bate, Cruz’s Democratic op-

ponent questioned whetherCruz owned a gun andtwice asked whether hewas an avid hunter. Cruzresponded that he was agun owner, but declined tosay how often he hunted.When pressed afterward,he said the question was adistraction from the race’sreal issues.

“He’s been pretty forth-coming about saying he en-joys hunting but doesn’tget to do it as often as hewould like,” Cruz cam-paign spokeswoman Cathe-rine Frazier told The Asso-ciated Press. “You don’thave to have a hunting li-cense to shoot guns.”

She added that Cruz vis-its shooting ranges prettyoften. He held a campaignrally at an Iowa shootingrange last month.

“It’s no secret that Sen.Cruz has been a passionatedefender of the Constitu-tion from a very earlyage,” Frazier said. “He ex-ercises his own right tobear arms regularly and of-ten, and he’s very glad tolive in a country where hecan do that.”

In boosting his bonafides as a foot soldier forthe Second Amendment,Cruz often cites his role ina 2008 court challenge tothe District of Columbia’sban on private possessionof most firearms in the na-tion’s capital.

As solicitor general,Cruz helped file a brief tothe U.S. Supreme Court onbehalf of Texas and 30 oth-er states in support of DickHeller, a Washington resi-dent who challenged thecity’s gun ban. In his book,Cruz details the case atlength and slams the Bushadministration for arguingin court that reasonable re-strictions on gun owner-ship are constitutional ifthey protect “importantregulatory interests.”

“I was dismayed withthe Bush administration’sattempt to water down theSecond Amendment andincensed with D.C.’s at-tempt to write the SecondAmendment entirely out ofthe Constitution,” Cruz re-counts.

Cruz appeals to gun ownersBy MICHAEL BIESECKER

AND WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

This image made from video shows Ted Cruz in a video where heis endorsed by "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson.

Photo courtesy of Cruz campaign/YouTube | AP

10A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016

Republicans refused to putthe matter to a vote.

Texas quickly led a legalchallenge to Obama’s pro-gram on behalf of 26 statesand has won every round incourt so far. Most recently,in November, the 5th U.S.Circuit Court of Appealsruled in favor of the states,prompting the appeal to theSupreme Court.

Texas actually asked theSupreme Court not to hearthe case challenging thoserulings, but state AttorneyGeneral Ken Paxton said hewas pleased the justices willexamine the president’sconstitutional power to in-tercede without congres-sional approval. “In decid-ing to hear this case, theSupreme Court recognizesthe importance of the sepa-ration of powers,” Paxtonsaid.

The U.S. solicitor general,Donald Verrilli Jr., said inhis Supreme Court filingthat allowing the lowercourt rulings to standwould force millions of peo-ple “to continue to work offthe books, without the op-tion of lawful employmentto provide for their fam-ilies.”

The administration saidTexas and the other statesdon’t even have the right tochallenge the plan in feder-al court. The lower courtsdecided that Texas doeshave the right, or standing,to sue because at least500,000 people living in Tex-as would qualify for workpermits and thus becomeeligible for driver’s licenses,the costs of which are sub-sidized by the state. “Texaswould incur millions of dol-lars in costs,” the state saidin its brief.

The justices also saidthey would consider wheth-er, if the states can pursuetheir lawsuit, Obama ex-ceeded his authority underfederal laws and the Consti-tution.

Some court observers sawin the court’s decision tolook at Obama’s power un-der the Constitution a po-tentially ominous sign. “Itsuggests that the court iswilling to engage PresidentObama’s entire use of exec-utive orders,” said JeffreyRosen, president and CEO

of the nonpartisan NationalConstitution Center.

Still, Democratic officialsand immigrants’ advocatespraised the court’s action.Senate Democratic LeaderHarry Reid of Nevada saidthat “law-abiding men andwomen continue to live inconstant fear of being sepa-rated from their children.These families must be al-lowed to step out of theshadows and fully contrib-ute to the country that theylove and call home.”

The future of the estimat-ed 11 million immigrantsliving in the country illegal-ly has been much discussedby Republican and Demo-cratic presidential candi-dates. Democratic front-run-ner Hillary Rodham Clintonhas pledged to go furtherthan Obama to protect largegroups of immigrants fromdeportation.

Republican DonaldTrump has proposed de-porting all people who areliving in the U.S. illegally,an idea embraced by someother GOP candidates anddismissed by others.

While immigration activ-

ists generally have beensupportive of Obama, theyhave criticized his adminis-tration for raids this monththat resulted in the arrestsof more than 120 immi-grants from Central Ameri-ca who came to the countryillegally since 2014. Thoserecent arrivals are notamong immigrants whowould benefit from Obama’splan.

The raids are part of ashift in the administration’senforcement actions to fo-cus on criminals, those whopose a threat to national se-curity or public safety, andrecent border-crossers.

The change means thatpeople who are here illegal-ly but who are not other-wise violating the law areless likely to face deporta-tion.

About 235,000 people weredeported in the fiscal yearthat ended Sept. 30, accord-ing to the Department ofHomeland Security.

That was the smallestnumber since 2006 and a 42percent drop since a recordhigh of more than 409,000 in2012.

IMMIGRATION Continued from Page 1A

Legislature’s 2003 actionthat expanded the prohib-ition of guns for courts toinclude the “premises.”

Officials with HaysCounty, south of Austin,have decided to scale backthe government center’sgun-free zone in light ofPaxton’s opinion. But oth-er counties are continuingto maintain their gunbans in their courthousebuildings, including Dal-las County and Amarillo’s

Potter County. “We still think ‘prem-

ises’ means the building,”said Potter County FirstAssistant Attorney DaveKemp, explaining howcommissioners there re-cently arrived at a deci-sion. “They still felt verystrongly that this is not aplace where we wantguns.”

Gun rights advocatescounter that the underly-ing definition of “prem-

ises” was not meant toprovide flexibility but tolimit gun bans to a partic-ular portion of the build-ing.

“Folks are trying to ex-pand it too much,” saidlawyer Charles Cotton anda National Rifle Associ-ation Board member.

A definitive answer like-ly won’t come until Pax-ton acts on a court-relatedcomplaint, bringing thematter before a judge.

COURTHOUSES Continued from Page 1A

largest cities contain thesmallest shares of poor peo-ple, with less than 10 per-cent of residents living inpoverty in many suburbs.

Though the share of poorTexans has graduallydropped in recent years,17.2 percent of the state’spopulation was still livingin poverty as of 2014.

The census determinespoverty based on incomeand family size. For exam-ple, a family of four is con-sidered to be living in pov-erty if their household in-come is less than $24,008 ayear.

Here’s a look at the Texascounties with the highestand lowest poverty rates,among those with popula-tions of 10,000 or more.

Counties with thehighest poverty rates:Willacy County

Population: 22,056Willacy County, just

north of Brownsville, hasthe highest poverty rate inthe state with 38.8 percentof residents living in pover-ty. It has the second-highestchild poverty rate with 45.9percent.

Starr CountyPopulation: 62,040 Starr County ranked as

the second poorest countyin the state with 35.4 per-cent of its population livingin poverty. Part of the Rio

Grande Valley, the county ismostly made up of severalsmall towns, including RioGrande City.

Cameron CountyPopulation: 415,103At the southern tip of

the state, 34.5 percent ofCameron County’s resi-dents are poor. Home toBrownsville and Harlingen,the county also has thehighest child poverty ratein the state with 47 percentof children living in poverty.

Hidalgo CountyPopulation: 806,447At the heart of the Rio

Grande Valley, 33.5 percentof Hidalgo County’s popula-tion lives in poverty. Hometo McAllen and Edinburg,the county also has a highshare of poor children with45.5 percent of children liv-ing in poverty.

Zapata CountyPopulation: 14,231In Zapata County, 32.6

of residents are living inpoverty. Just south of Lare-do, the county comprisesseveral small towns includ-ing the city of Zapata.

Counties with thelowest poverty rates:Rockwall County

Population: 83,239Rockwall County, locat-

ed just west of Dallas Coun-ty, has the lowest share ofpoor residents with only 6.8percent of the population

living in poverty. It also hasthe lowest child povertyrate with 8.9 percent of chil-dren living in poverty.

Collin CountyPopulation: 836,947Collin County ranked

as the county with second-lowest share of poor resi-dents with 7 percent of thepopulation in poverty.Home to Plano and McKin-ney, it also has the second-lowest child poverty rate.Only 9 percent of childrenare poor.

Williamson CountyPopulation: 457,218Just north of Austin,

only 7.8 percent of William-son County’s residents arepoor. The county’s popula-tion is spread across citiessuch as Georgetown andRound Rock and includesmany commuters who trav-el to Austin for work.

Kendall CountyPopulation: 36,058Only 8.3 percent of the

population in Kendall Coun-ty lives in poverty. West ofSan Antonio, the county ismostly made up of smalltowns and is home to manycommuters to San Antonio.

Denton CountyPopulation: 708,627North of the Dallas-Fort

Worth metro area, 8.7 per-cent of Denton County’spopulation is poor. Thecounty is home to the cityof Denton and the Universi-ty of North Texas.

POOREST Continued from Page 1A

a teacher at VillarrealElementary School andZar is the Zapata CountyExtension Agent.

Zar also became amember of the ZCF Live-stock Committee wherehe was an assistant su-perintendent for the goatsand then became the su-perintendent for thesteers.

Tammy started withthe ZCF by becoming theannouncer at the live-stock show. Tammy isnow the livestock com-mittee secretary and con-tinues doing the announc-ing for the livestock show.

Zar and Tammy havestated that they love vol-unteering at the ZapataCounty Fair and helping

all exhibitors and parentsin any way they can. It istheir passion, since theygrew up showing animalsthemselves. They haveboth been members of theZCF Livestock Committeefor over 10 years.

They have three won-derful children: Daniel,who is a fifth-grader andcurrently raising a steerand a lamb, Nadina, whois a third-grader and cur-rently raising a lamb anda hog, and Roxana, who isa Pre-K student and is aClover Kid. The Rodri-guez kids are members ofthe North 4H Club, andjust like their parents,they’ve developed a loveand responsibility forlivestock animals. Zar

and Tammy are veryproud of their childrenand wholeheartedly knowthat one day they are go-ing to follow in their foot-steps in volunteering andhelping all exhibitors inany way they can.

Zar and Tammy are ve-ry honored to have beenchosen as the 2016 ParadeMarshals. They want tothank the ZCFA from thebottom of their hearts.

To all the citizens of Za-pata County and sur-rounding counties, Zarand Tammy, along withthe ZCFA and ZCF Live-stock Committee, inviteeach and everyone of youto come and enjoy the“Best Little Fair in Tex-as.”

MARSHALS Continued from Page 1A

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016 THE ZAPATA TIMES 11A

LAS VEGAS — A robustU.S. economy and job mar-ket, plus low mortgagerates, should help keep therecovery in the new-homemarket going at a modestpace this year, but a returnto pre-housing boom salesand construction levels isn’timminent.

That’s the forecast thatDavid Crowe, chief econo-mist for the National Asso-ciation of Home Builders,delivered Tuesday during apanel of economists at thetrade association’s latest in-dustry convention in LasVegas.

And despite the U.S. econ-omy’s mixed track record ofgrowth in 2015, Crowe pro-jects that the economy willexpand 2.7 percent this year,the strongest gain since be-fore the Great Recession in2008, as consumer spendingcontinues to grow.

“There are a number ofpositive indicators out therethat make me believe ... thiswill be a good year for the

economy and for housing,”Crowe said. “Not only ishousing finally drivingsome of that, housing is fi-nally moving at a much fas-ter pace than the economy.”

U.S. homebuilders are en-tering 2016 feeling betterabout their sales prospectsthan they have in years,thanks to rising home pric-es and gradually improvingsales.

New-home sales climbednearly 15 percent throughthe first 11 months of lastyear, while construction ofsingle-family homes hit aneight-year high in Novem-ber. The trends have helpedlift construction hiring:Construction companiesadded 215,000 jobs last year,a 3.4 percent gain.

Even so, sales and con-struction have yet to re-bound fully from the hous-ing bust nearly a decadeago.

Whether that progresscontinues this year will de-pend largely on the U.S.economy continuing to im-prove.

That’s come increasingly

into doubt lately. Falteringgrowth in countries likeChina, the world’s second-largest economy, and finan-cial market turmoil haveheightened concerns thatthe U.S. economy could bein for a stumble.

There aren’t any majorsigns pointing to that, how-ever, argued another panel-ist, David Berson, chiefeconomist at NationwideMutual Insurance’s Nation-wide Economics.

“All of the economic datawe look at in the last 50 to100 years is not flashingwarning signs right now,”Berson said. “The stockmarket is not a very goodleading indicator of theeconomy. I’m not terriblyconcerned that the economyis going to fall into reces-sion.”

He also predicted broadsustained growth for hous-ing this year. The exception:Some of the markets where

prices have been risingmuch faster than income,such as Dallas, or cities thathave been reliant on the oilindustry for jobs and arenow being squeezed by thesteel drop in oil prices.

The residential construc-tion sector is still recover-ing from the housing bustand the Great Recession,which officially ended morethan six years ago.

New-home sales remainbelow their 52-year historicaverage of 655,200 as of No-vember. Yet prices are ris-ing. The median new-homesales price was up 0.8 in No-vember from a year earlierto $305,000.

Hiring was relativelystrong last year, with em-ployers adding about 245,000jobs a month.

“Unlike past recoveries,employment and thestrength of employment iswhat gives people confi-dence, gives them incomeand allows them to feelcomfortable in taking on amortgage,” Crowe noted.

His forecast calls for sin-gle-family home construc-

tion to reach 840,000 thisyear, up from a projected711,000 last year. That’s stilldown from the 1.3 millionpace the industry averagedbetween 2000 and 2003, be-fore the housing boom.

On the sales front, he ex-pects new home sales willbe about 607,000 this year,up from an estimated496,000 last year.

Homebuilders, which typ-ically hire subcontractors todo construction, carpentry,plumbing and other workinvolved in building ahome, have been strugglingwith delays and highercosts because of a shortagein labor.

A NAHB survey thismonth found that three-fourths of builders who re-sponded listed the laborshortage as their top con-cern heading into this year.

Many are also strugglingto find land that’s for saleand ready to build.

“And there’s still difficul-ty in buyers getting mortag-es, so those will keep (2016)from being even more ro-bust,” Crowe said.

Economists see more housing growthBy ALEX VEIGA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this June 9, 2015, file photo, a roofer works on a home underconstruction in the Briar Chapel community in Chapel Hill, N.C. U.S.homebuilders enter 2016 feeling better about their sales prospectsthan they have in years, thanks to rising home prices and graduallyimproving sales.

Photo by Gerry Broome | AP file

NEW YORK — The Interna-tional Energy Agency says oilprices may fall further thisyear due to low demand,warm winter weather and anoversupply of crude.

The organization, which ad-vises countries on energy pol-icy, said in its monthly reportTuesday that global excesssupply may reach 1.5 millionbarrels per day during thefirst half of the year.

“Unless something changes,the oil market could drown inover-supply,” the IEA said.

U.S. crude prices have fallen24 percent since the beginningof the year. Benchmark U.S.crude fell $1.03, or 3.5 percent,to $28.39 a barrel in New Yorkon Tuesday.

Many oil companies, includ-ing Chevron and BP, have cutjobs and reduced spending tosave money.

The IEA noted mild temper-atures at the outset of winterin the U.S., Japan and Europelowered demand for oil.

Meanwhile, more oil fromIran could boost global suppli-es further. Iran has said it isaiming to increase its oil pro-duction by 500,000 barrels perday now that sanctions havebeen lifted under a nucleardeal with world powers.

“There will be enormousstrain on the ability of the oilsystem to absorb it efficiently,”the IEA said, referring to theoverall excess supply.

Oil may fallfurther

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — U.S.stocks struggled througha turbulent day of trad-ing Tuesday and eked outsmall gains, led by utilityand consumer stocks.The price of crude oilcontinued to fall, and en-ergy and mining stockstumbled.

Stocks in Asia and Eu-rope had rallied earlierin the day as investorswere satisfied with Chi-na’s fourth-quarter eco-nomic growth. The DowJones industrial averagerose as much as 183points in the first min-utes of trading Tuesday.The gains faded in the af-ternoon before a latespurt of buying in thelast half hour sent index-es mostly higher.

The Dow Jones indus-trial average rose 27.94points, or 0.2 percent, to16,016.02. The Standard &Poor’s 500 index rose onepoint to 1,881.33. TheNasdaq composite indexfell 11.47 points, or 0.3percent, to 4,476.95. Ma-jor indexes had plungedFriday, and the Dow andS&P 500 are coming offtheir worst openingweeks of a year in histo-ry.

The Chinese govern-ment’s report confirmedthat the world’s second-largest economy is slow-ing, as annual growth hita 25-year low in 2015.That can affect demandfor everything from ener-gy to metals to consumer

goods and heavy machin-ery. Fears about a slow-down in China, and howabrupt and painful itmight be, has helpedknock oil prices to 12-year lows.

Safe-play stocks likeutilities and telecommu-nications companies rosethe most. AT&T added 52cents, or 1.5 percent, to$34.51 and NextEra Ener-gy gained $2.55, or 2.4percent, to $107.81. Con-sumer goods maker Proc-ter & Gamble, the makerof Tide detergent andCharmin toilet paper,gained $1.75, or 2.3 per-cent, to $76.73.

U.S. crude fell 96 cents,or 3.3 percent, to close at$28.46 a barrel in NewYork. Brent crude, abenchmark for interna-tional oils, rose 21 centsto close at $28.76 a barrelin London.

Energy stocks contin-ued to fall on concernsabout reduced worldwidedemand. Chesapeake En-ergy lost 48 cents, or 13.5

percent, to $3.08. Mara-thon Oil fell 46 cents, or5.7 percent, to $7.68.

The price of gold fell$1.60 to $1,089.10 anounce. Silver rose 22.5cents, or 1.6 percent, to$14.121 an ounce. Coppergained 3.4 cents, or 1.7percent, to $1.978 apound. Gold miner New-mont Mining lost $1.39,or 7.9 percent, to $16.31and copper producerFreeport-McMoRan gaveup 39 cents, or 9 percent,to $3.96. Freeport-McMo-Ran shares have skidded41.5 percent in 2016.

Delta Air Lines report-ed a bigger fourth-quar-ter profit because of fall-ing fuel prices. Delta saidit expects fuel to be evenless expensive in the firstquarter. Its shares rose$1.46, or 3.3 percent, to$45.96. Health insurerUnitedHealth Groupposted stronger-than-ex-pected results in thefourth quarter. Its stockrose $3.31, or 3 percent,to $112.58.

Netflix surged after-market as the company’snet income surpassedanalyst forecasts and itsinternational subscribergrowth was strongerthan Netflix had expect-ed. Netflix’s stock surged8 percent in extendedtrading to $116.75.

Jewelry retailer Tiffa-ny fell after reportingthat sales dropped in thefourth quarter and saidit will eliminate somejobs. The company alsoforecast minimal earn-ings and sales growth in2016. The stock lost $3.43,or 5.1 percent, to $64.22.

So far not a single U.S.company has gone publicthis year, according toKathy Smith of Renais-sance Capital, a managerof IPO-focused exchange-traded funds. Thatshould change this week,as Elevate Capital, whichoffers credit and relatedservices to people withbelow-average credit, isexpected to start tradingFriday. But Smith said

only two companies willgo public this month.There were also just twoIPOs in December, thefewest in any monthsince October 2011.

“The IPO market ispretty close to beingclosed,” Smith said.

Companies are reluc-tant to go public whenthe market is weak, andthe companies that didgo public last yearweren’t rewarded for it:Smith says the compa-nies that completed theirIPOs in 2015 are down anaverage of 17 percentfrom their offering pric-es.

France’s CAC 40 rose 2percent and Germany’sDAX added 1.5 percent.Britain’s FTSE 100gained 1.7 percent. Chi-na’s Shanghai Compositesurged 3.2 percent andHong Kong’s Hang Senggained 2.1 percent. Ja-pan’s Nikkei 225 inchedup 0.5 percent.

The U.S. dollar slippedto 117.44 yen from 117.50yen on Monday. The eurorose to $1.0923 from$1.0885. Bond pricesslipped. The yield on the10-year Treasury note,which has slumped thisyear, rose to 2.05 percentfrom at 2.04 percent.

In other trading of en-ergy futures, the price ofwholesale gasolineinched up 0.5 cents to$1.026 a gallon. Heatingoil fell 2.6 cents to 90.9cents a gallon. Naturalgas slipped 0.9 cents to$2.091 per 1,000 cubicfeet.

US stocks rise in shaky tradingBy MARLEY JAY

ASSOCIATION PRESS

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday.

Photo by Richard Drew | AP

12A THE ZAPATA TIMES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016