Adriana Gómez Licón Entry - Headliners Foundation of Texas
Transcription
Adriana Gómez Licón Entry - Headliners Foundation of Texas
College football HELLOIRISH? Tommy Rees Notre Dame in the running for the Sun Bowl. 1C 68º / 36º Michael Floyd CLOUDS AND SUNSHINE SUNDAY, DEC. 5, 2010 $1.75 COPYRIGHT® 2010, EL PASO TIMES A Times special report: BROKEN PROMISE JESUS ALCAZAR RUAN / SPECIAL TO THE TIMES Rafaela Mendoza, 38, stands next to her mother and father in her hometown of Tlacotalpan in the Mexican state of Veracruz. She is one of about 1,600 Veracruz residents who returned home under a state-sponsored program that paid their way from Juárez. An additional 1,300 are on a waiting list to leave Juárez because of the violence that has killed more than 7,000 people since a drug war erupted in 2008. More photos from the exodus, 6A Violence chases families back to native Veracruz Bliss helps, but EP jobless rate remains high By Adriana Gómez Licón EL PASO TIMES VERACRUZ, Mexico — Thousands of families left this depressed coastal state 15 years ago for blue-collar jobs in the bustling factories of Juárez. Now many of them are fleeing Juárez, one of the most violent cities in the world, to return to Veracruz, an impoverished place that has been ravaged by natural disasters. The Veracruz state government is subsidizing the exodus from the border. This year, it has paid for seven charter flights that ferried 1,600 people from Juárez to the port of Veracruz. An epidemic of extortion, kidnapping and murder has led these people to the same conclusion: It is better to be poor in Veracruz than to be prey in Juárez. “We prefer to be in these floodings than to live in a violence-torn city,” said a woman named Lilia, who witnessed the shooting deaths of three men on a Juárez street. Fearful of retribution, she asked that her last name not be published. Juárez this year has had about 2,800 murders — twice as many as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston combined. More than 7,000 people have died violently in Juárez since 2008, when a war erupted between the Sinaloa and Juárez drug cartels. Veracruz was the port that U.S. sailors invaded in 1914 on orders from President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson feared that Ger- Please see Veracruz 7A TODAY AT elpasotimes.com •See a narrated slide show of images of the Veracruzanos leaving Juárez and returning to their homes. By Zahira Torres AUSTIN BUREAU RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES El Paso Museum of Art Director Michael A. Tomor talks inside one of nine galleries at the museum Thursday. The museum begins a yearlong 50th anniversary celebration this weekend. Year of events to mark museum’s 50th birthday By Doug Pullen EL PASO TIMES Like thousands of other El Pasoarea schoolchildren, Michael A. Tomor’s first experience with the El Paso Museum of Art was a tour he took with his fourth-grade classmates from Western Hills Elementary School in the early 1970s. “Had it not been for the museum when I was a kid, I would have not gone into it,” Tomor said. Now 48, the El Paso High School graduate is the director of the city- run art museum. It begins a yearlong celebration of its 50th anniversary this weekend. The museum was in the historic, Trost-designed William W. and Iva Turney mansion at 1211 Montana when Tomor was a schoolboy. Now it is part of the city’s Museums and Cultural Affairs Department and is on 2.75 acres in a renovated Greyhound bus terminal. It houses the world-renowned Samuel H. Kress Collection of Eu- Please see Museum 8A The real job of the museum is to preserve our culture for future generations. Michael A. Tomor, Art museum director Inside|Business » 1E | Classified » 1D | Crossword » 4D, 10F | Deaths » 4-5B | Movies » 11F AUSTIN — To a large degree, Fort Bliss and other government jobs have insulated El Paso from the recession that has crippled many other border communities, economists say. Even so, El Paso’s unemployment rate is consistently higher than the state and national averages. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, which adjusts raw unemployment numbers to reflect for seasonal changes such as holiday hiring, El Paso had a 10.4 percent unemployment rate in October. In contrast, during the same period Texas averaged 8.1 percent and unemployment nationally was 9.6 percent. The difference may be jarring to some, but Please see Jobless 8A Living Christmas in El Paso Love music, lights and sentimental holiday movies? El Paso’s holiday celebrations have it all. See story, 1F Broken Promise from 1A elpasotimes.com Veracruz Continued from 1A many was sending arms to Mexican President Victoriano Huerta, who rose to power through a bloody coup during the Mexican Revolution. Today, historic Veracruz is Mexico’s third-most-populous state, but it also is a place where poor towns are as common as the primary crops of sugar cane and coffee beans. One recent day, 177 people who returned to Veracruz from Juárez stepped off the plane with mixed feelings. In the sticky heat they no longer are accustomed to, their foreheads filled with beads of sweat. The muggy day was only one reason for their discomfort. They have no homes and no job prospects. Relatives would have to provide many with temporary shelter. “We are going for quite an adventure,” said Clara Ramírez, 45. Still, life will •Four be much more peaceful than officers ambushed it was in and killed Juárez, she in Juárez said, where gang mem1B bers kidnapped her for failing to pay extortion money at the soup kitchen she ran. PHOTOS BY JESUS ALCAZAR RUAN / SPECIAL TO THE TIMES At a government hangar, former governor of Veracruz Fidel Herrera welcomes people who had been living in Juárez for years. Herrera, whose term ended Tuesday, subsidized their return through his administration because of the violence that has spread throughout the city of Juárez. A journey for jobs Veracruzanos are nicknamed Jarochos. But those who left for Juárez received a label that mixed their origin and their destination — Juarochos. They settled in neighborhoods on the outskirts of Juárez that would become the most dangerous areas on the border. Many had worked in the sugarcane fields or at low-paying jobs in the city of Veracruz. The Mexican government, which had once provided incentives to farmers and fisherman, began eyeing bigger industries in the early 1990s, said Carlos Garrido de la Calleja, a professor at Universidad Veracruzana who specializes in migration. One reason was that the North American Free Trade Agreement was on the horizon. Other economic troubles led many to begin looking to Juárez for employment. “The privatization of the sugar mills worsened the agricultural crisis,” Garrido said. The price of sugar has always fluctuated, but production under the new private model shrank and slowed the economy, Garrido said. About 2 million people in Veracruz state depend on the sugar industry. Another blow came when thousands saw their industrial jobs end after the construction of a nuclear power plant near the city of Veracruz was completed, Garrido said. Those workers did not want to go back to the fields, he said. All the furniture Rafaela Mendoza left behind in Tlacotalpan was ruined by flood waters caused by a hurricane. She is ready to start from scratch in Tlacotalpan after a decade of living and working in the maquilas of Juárez. Out of the fields, into the plants Peasants were desperate for jobs in the ’90s. Luis Gabino Ventura was one of them. At 17, he would travel by bus for at least an hour from the small town of Potrero Nuevo to a sugar mill. Supervisors would randomly choose workers for the day. “I would go in the morning. If I was not chosen, I would go back in the afternoon, then at night,” he said. Ventura made the equivalent of $12.66 a day. When he was lucky, he would work three days a week. But some weeks he would get only one shift. From his vantage point, the factories in Juárez beckoned like a distant but attainable oasis. After NAFTA was signed, maquiladoras boomed as more foreign companies relocated to Mexico to attract cheap labor. Juárez needed workers, and Veracruz had a ready pool of unskilled and uneducated people. Ventura and others said charter buses hired by companies would pick up people in rural areas and take them north, promising jobs, homes, health coverage and education for their children. With megaphones on the roofs of their cars, recruiters would tout factory jobs in Juárez. Ventura heard from a cousin in March 1996 that Juárez was a destination for those seeking steady work. The cousin had married a mechanic who found a job at a plant that manufactured wiring for cars. “She said there were jobs,” Ventura said. “She talked about the benefits.” Ventura traveled alone by bus to Juárez a few months after that conversation. The trip took 40 hours and covered 1,300 miles. With the help of his cousin, Ventura soon joined the emerg- Lilia, holding her young daughter, says she did not feel safe in Juárez. Taking her two sons to school was not safe, she says. “I told my neighbors in Juárez, ‘I can’t live here anymore.’ ” ing blue-collar work force composed of many Juarochos like him. He got a job at the same plant as the cousin’s spouse. Companies would place workers with no relatives in buildings that resembled cattle sheds. Some would stay for 15 days. Others would sleep in the sheds for up to two months. Whoever could endure the work at the factories would stay and earn other benefits, such as buying little homes from the federal housing agency. The rest would move on to the next plant. Even with the hardship of moving to a faraway place, jobs brought happiness. Just walking the streets of Juárez would remind them that opportunities were everywhere, Ventura said. His eyes widened and he flashed a rare smile as he described cars scouting Juárez in search of workers. Ventura met his wife while working at another maquila, Scientific Atlanta, in June 1998. At the plant, they built cable modems and digital cable boxes. They married after two years, had three children and bought a little house near the airport. Each earned about $70 a week. As a hobby, Ventura sang in a band that played cumbia music at quinceañeras and weddings. “It was a different Juárez,” Ventura’s wife said of the years before 2007, when fear made its way to the poor neighborhoods where thousands from Veracruz had settled. ‘The drug trafficker clipped our wings’ The pattern of crime in Juárez is like a map of the areas Juarochos populated in the ’90s and early 2000s. Most murders occur in colonias southeast or northwest of the city. One neighborhood in particular, Rivera del Bravo, is nicknamed Riveras de Veracruz because so many residents migrated from the coastal state. In this subdivision only a few yards from the border fence in Socorro, Texas, people speak a distinguishable accent in which they do not pronounce the letter “s” and where cursing is part of the local tongue. Far from the center of the city, newcomers started their lives in Juárez. Local government did not seem to care about these immigrants, Garrido said. “It is a shame that local authorities knew about the influx of immigrants from Veracruz and allowed them to establish at the edges of Ciudad Juárez,” he said. In February 2007, the Veracruz government conducted an informal census and calculated that 200,000 former Juarochos lived in Juárez, said Luis Ramos, director of the program that helps Veracruzanos in Juárez. Juárez is a city of 1.3 million. “Veracruzanos found a way to create a mix,” he said. Ramos said buses would arrive with fruits, seafood and other fare from Veracruz every other week. A restaurant named El Encanto Jarocho, or the Jarocho charm, became popular with people of Juárez and of Veracruz. In one of the poor colonias of the Juarochos, the Echevarría family struggled as violence escalated. In 2004, the Echevarrías left their traditions, relatives and the tropical weather of Veracruz to work at the maquilas, Rafael Echevarría said. “But the drug trafficker clipped our wings,” he said. Armed men stormed into the Echevarrías’ home twice this year, stealing their valuables and ordering the family of six to vacate the home or face death, said Cristian Echevarría, 22, son of Rafael and Alejandra. “The third time, we will rob the house and kill you,” Cristian said they told them. “But why?” Cristian thought to himself. “We are poor.” Life in a pressure cooker The Echevarrías knew crime was out of control when the teacher of 7-year-old Valeria asked each child to pay 300 pesos, or $24, per week to extortionists. “We were not sleeping,” said the father, Rafael Echevarría. “We were defenseless.” Cristian said living in those neighborhoods was also a temptation for young men who were recruited by drug cartels. While hanging out with friends one day, Cristian said, several men pulled over in latemodel SUVs, their AK-47s visible. One reached into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of bills that he said amounted to 5,000 pesos, or about $400. “We only needed to take the cell phones and wait to receive instructions,” Cristian said the man told them. Cristian said he declined, but some of his friends took the phones and the money. The memory that haunts the Echevarrías most at their hot one-bedroom home in Veracruz was being caught in crossfire between hit men and police. It happened on a Saturday, one day before they left Juárez in May. Rafael and Alejandra were riding in a city bus with Valeria. They heard gunfire and bullets riddling the metal bus. Police were on one side, reputed criminals on the other. Valeria ducked and crawled beneath the seats, smashing her teeth on the floor when the bus screeched to a stop. The girl saw blood everywhere. Her parents cried out in panic, assuming that their youngest daughter had been shot. Fortunately, she was not. She only lost a tooth. The Echevarrías moved back to Veracruz. “She is the reason why we are here,” Alejandra said. “We don’t want her to grow up in that city.” Since the shootout, Valeria behaves differently. Nightmares haunt her. Her parents said she barely speaks. They believe she was traumatized, but they don’t have money for psychologists. Distracted and anxious, Valeria just sits and draws on recycled sheets of paper. Mostly, she draws heart shapes and writes messages such as “I love you.” Far away from the murders — Juárez averages nine homicides a day — the Echevarrías still feel suffocated by the violence of their former city. Any time an SUV with tinted windows drives by, Cristian Echevarría said, the family is terrified. He starts running or walking in the opposite direction. It is his instinct. “I had grown used to Juárez,” he said. Back where it all started In the town of Carlos A. Carrillo, population 22,000, residents are familiar with the smell of sugar burning and the sight of ash piling up on streets and inside crudely built homes. People depend on the sugarcane mills to survive. “No ashes means no money,” they say. During the six-month off-season for sugar production, people eat what they can, including deepfried turtle. Residents of this downtrodden town were the first to speak to Fidel Herrera, former governor of Veracruz, about the dangers relatives faced in Juárez. Herrera, whose term ended Tuesday, conceived the idea of returning at least some Veracruzanos to their native soil at taxpayer expense. The program began in March. It also helps people from Veracruz flee Reynosa, a border city in the state of Tamaulipas that is plagued by drug-cartel violence. The program intensified an exodus from Juárez that has left more than 100,000 houses abandoned and prompted the closings of at least 10,000 businesses, according to the city planning office and the chamber of commerce. Luis Ramos, the program director, said 400 families have already left Juárez through government subsidizes. An additional 500 families are on a waiting list. All travelers underwent criminal background checks and El Paso Times Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010 7A were clean, Ramos said. The recent flight carrying 177 travelers was part of the government program. None had been on a plane before. Herrera welcomed the families at the government’s hangar. The state department of health, education and labor and other agencies set up booths to hand out information to newcomers. “You are our source of pride,” Herrera told them. He said he brought back Veracruzanos more as an act of kindness than to better their economic condition. He said the program has nothing to do with the fact that his wife, Rosa Borunda, is native of Juárez. “It was the humane thing to do,” Herrera said. Some returning families stay in the metro area of Veracruz, where 700,000 live. It is the largest port in Mexico, handling nearly a million tons of vehicles every year. Others travel in buses to towns trying to recover from natural disasters. Rafaela Mendoza was one happy-go-lucky traveler. She recently arrived at her hometown of Tlacotalpan, battered in September by Hurricane Karl. The river Cotaxtla swelled and its waters destroyed the road that connects Tlacotalpan, a town of 8,000, to the coast. The aluminum sheets that once sheltered Mendoza, her husband and three children were taken by the floods or by people rebuilding their homes. What few belongings she had were lost in heavy rains. “See? I am poor, poor, poor,” she said. Yet Mendoza smiled. “My husband will build it once he gets here from Juárez,” she said. Her husband, two daughters and son are still in Juárez. The daughters are already married and will stay. The father and the son plan to meet her in Veracruz before the end of the year. “We’ll be eating rice and beans, but there is peacefulness,” Mendoza said. She has no job prospects and does not know what she will do. A reunion brings joy On a recent afternoon, Mendoza’s parents and six siblings gathered to celebrate her return. Mendoza’s mother fried a type of bream fish from the river. Then she cut onions, green chiles and tomatoes to prepare a sauce. The steamy house smelled like fish with a scent of lime. Flies covered the slices of vegetables and a bottle of CocaCola. Lacking doors, the house has curtains that separate the one bedroom from the dining area and from the bathroom. Behind the house, Rafaela’s brothers climbed the palm trees to get coconuts for everyone. With a machete, they cut the outer husk of the orange-yellow coconut just enough to make a small hole to drink the liquid. After the juice was gone, they cut the shells in half to remove the tender meat. As poor as Mendoza’s family is, her mother still invites strangers into the house to eat. Poverty dominates rural areas of Veracruz. Of 7.1 million people, half struggle to pay for a place to live. About 1.5 million cannot afford to eat. The poverty rate dropped 11 percentage points from 1994 to 2006, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy. But Veracruz still is prone to poverty, said Adolfo Sánchez Almanza, an economist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Since 1970, Veracruz has dropped 10 spots to fourthworst state in Mexico when it comes to welfare, Sánchez said. The southern states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Guerrero are worse off. Sánchez said the living conditions are a result of “nanny state” policies. “The government has historically helped those living in extreme poverty with socialist programs that don’t end poverty,” he said. Juarochos returning to Veracruz will put more pressure on a feeble economy, he said. “The government has already sent them there, but now what?” he said. They have tasted what it was like to own a house, a car and to earn at least $60 a week living in an industrial city so close to the modern United States. He said the floating population of Veracruzanos may be forced to go back to Juárez if their homeland turns out not to be productive for them. “If their living conditions don’t improve,” Sánchez said, “they will be prone to return.” Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6129. 44º / 31º TUESDAY FEB. 23, 2010 COLD, EARLY SNOW A MEDIANEWS GROUP NEWSPAPER 50 CENTS Ready for the big time FONDNESS for CACTUS 3C 1D SPOTLIGHT Drug war violence Fleeing Juárez Obama’s new health plan In a final effort to achieve historic health care changes, President Barack Obama unveils his most detailed plan yet. Realistically, he’s just hoping to win a big enough slice to silence the talk of a failing presidency. 2A As the death toll mounts, and the inequities between law enforcement agencies and the cartels they are trying to battle become more disparate, an estimated 420,000 residents along with a slew of businesses from this border city of 1.2 million have sought refuge from the seemingly endless crackle of gunfire. Scenes of abandonment Photos by Jesus Alcazar / Special to the El Paso Times Right: The former location of Aroma restaurant now sits vacant after a fire swept through the restaurant’s Juárez location. Aroma has since relocated to El Paso. Below: A “for sale” sign hangs outside this house in Juárez, an indication of exodus the city has experienced. Bottom: The former location of the Maria Chuchena restaurant sits vacant in Juárez. The restaurant has moved to El Paso. County confirms medical examiner’s résumé problems; no action taken By Diana Washington Valdez El Paso Times EL PASO — County Human Resources Director Betsy Keller said her staff found discrepancies in Chief Medical Examiner Paul Shrode’s résumé. She reported her department’s findings at Monday’s meeting of the County Commissioners Court. The commissioners first discussed Shrode’s résumé during a closed session. Then, once back in open session, they announced that no action would be taken at this time. Shrode did not attend Monday’s meeting and has Shrode not returned phone messages for comment. Keller said Shrode does not have a graduate law degree from Southwest Texas State University, which he claimed he had on the résumé he submitted when he applied in El Paso. “He took several graduate courses at Southwest Texas,” Keller said. He has a medical degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center but no other graduate degree, the county confirmed. In a previous job application — for Harris County — Shrode indicated he had a paralegal diploma or degree from Southwest Texas State University, now known as Texas State University. However, according to the registrar’s office, he attended the school for only one semester in 1979 and was enrolled in political science courses. Shrode also said on his résumé that he was a deputy medical examiner for the Lubbock County Medical Examiner’s Office before coming to El Paso. However, the Human Resources Department confirmed that he was actually an employee of Texas Tech in Lubbock, which had hired him as a professor of pathology. At the time, Texas Tech was on contract with Lubbock County to perform medical examiner duties, and Shrode was one of the Texas Tech employees who did autopsies and was allowed to use the title of Please see Résumé 7A By Adriana Gómez Licón El Paso Times E Single mom saw 2 killings, moved family By Stephanie Sanchez El Paso Times EL PASO — Silvia’s selfimposed exile in El Paso has not been easy. She and her two children fled Juárez to avoid the violence that has ravaged the city. She relied on family members for help, but they had their own problems to deal with. Now in a shelter for women, she and her children wait for their next move. Silvia saves the little cash she earns working odd jobs. Her daughter, Julia, 10, and son, Manuel, 9, attend school and make good grades. “I want my children to be better than me. I don’t want them to struggle like I have struggled,” said Silvia, 27. Printed on recycled newsprint using a soybean-based ink TODAY AT elpasotimes.com •Online poll: Do you know anyone who has fled the violence in Juárez? Silvia, who asked that her family’s last name not be published for fear of retaliation, came to the United States with $300 in June 2008. She brought only a change of clothes for herself and her children. The violence was touching too close to home, she said. Silvia, who wears her dark brown hair long, sat on a chair on the shelter’s porch. Julia and a friend, wearing their school uniforms, rested on the ground in front of Silvia. They chatted and giggled. Manuel, sweaty with messy hair, played ball with a friend in the shelter’s gated playground. It’s hard to imagine a little more than a year ago, Julia and Manuel saw a bloody body Please see Mom 7A L PASO — Hundreds of thousands of people from violence-torn Juárez are abandoning their homes, closing their businesses and moving elsewhere. Although reliable numbers are hard to come by, El Paso police and real estate agents, and Juárez demographers, detect an increase in refugees from Mexico living in El Paso. The city of Juárez’s planning department said 110,000 houses have been abandoned from 2005 to the beginning of 2009. Which means that, based on average family size, about 420,000 people, or 30 percent of the city’s residents, have moved out of Juárez, either to other parts of Mexico or to the United States. In addition to the violence, more than 75,000 people have lost their jobs since December of 2007 in Juárez, according to numbers from the Instituto Mexicano Seguro Social. Most of the jobs have been lost in the maquiladora industry. Restaurants, hairdressing salons, clinics and bakeries have closed. About 40 percent, or 10,678 businesses, were forced to close in Juárez because of the fear of extortions and assaults for not paying fees, or “cuotas,” to criminal organizations, according to the Mexican chamber of commerce. “Let people here tell how scared we are of even answering the phone,” said Julia Monarrez Fragoso, professor at the Colegio de la Frontera in Juárez, to Mexican President Felipe Calderón during his first visit to the city Feb. 11. Many people in Juárez want to leave the city, where more than 4,600 people have been killed since 2008. María del Socorro Velázquez Vargas, a professor at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, UACJ, said the results of a survey conducted with 1,800 people last December showed that about 47 percent of Juárenses want to move to the United States because of the violence. Even though brutal attacks have scared away many residents, the weak state of the maquiladora industry also has increased the migration. “It is the first time that population will increase less than 1 percent,” Velázquez Vargas said. “It’s historic.” During World War II, the Bracero Program allowed farmworkers from Mexico to temporarily work in the Unit- Please see Juárez 7A Inside n Business 1F n Calendar 2B n Classified 1E n Crossword 5D, 3E n Deaths 4B n Lottery 2B Movies 2D n Nation 3A n Opinion 5B n Sports 1C n Television 6D n Washington 4A n World 8A In Sports n The Hanks Knights baseball team returns eight starters. They are the Times’ preseason No. 1. 1C To subscribe Call 546-6300 or log on to elpasotimes.com Continued from 1A El Paso Times Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 elpasotimes.com 7A Juárez Continued from 1A ed States. During those days, Juárez had huge growth because immigrants arrived in the area to work in the program. The population grew from 49,000 to 123,000 people. When the program ended in the 1960s, the maquiladora industry skyrocketed and attracted Mexicans from different parts of the country. The growth in the sector continued throughout the 1990s. It peaked after 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement was implemented. Just like the automotive industry, maquiladoras began to face competition from low-cost offshore plants in Central America and Asia. Many have shut down or laid off workers since 2000. Maquiladoras offered jobs to 250,000 workers in Juárez at the beginning of 2008. The number dropped to 176,700 as 2009 concluded. “It’s always recurrent that every time there is a recession in the United States, we feel the impact,” Velázquez Vargas said. The growth from 2000 to 2008 was slow compared with the decades after 1940. The Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, the counterpart of the U.S. Census, reported 1.2 million living in Juárez in 2000, and 1.3 million in 2005. Estimates by UACJ demographers calculated that Juárez grew by 55,000 people in 2008, mostly led by births. The natural growth, which is the difference between the number of people who are born and die, is still what drives population growth in El Paso’s sister city. More couples are having children than the number of people who are dying. On the other side of the border, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said that, in the past two years, 30,000 people have moved to El Paso after fleeing Juárez. The county’s population is about 750,000. Allen was attempting to justify the purchase of 1,100 M4 rifles by saying his department needed to be ready for a possible spillover of violence from Juárez. He said Jesus Alcazar / Special to the El Paso Times Residents in this Juárez neighborhood have placed large boulders in the street to block vehicles from entering or exiting in hopes of quelling the violence that has plagued much of the city. he arrived at the 30,000 figure through comments he heard at intelligence briefings. Sergio Ramirez, a real estate agent in El Paso, deals with clients who have come to Juárez in the past few years. He said most Mexicans fleeing Juárez are looking for rental homes and apartments. “They are all renting because they cannot afford the expenses,” he said. “For every 50 (people) who are renting, two or three are buying.” Century 21 APD reports the latest rental vacancy rate at 2 percent. The U.S. Census Bureau said the rate was 9.2 percent in 2008, and 10.5 in 2007. Meanwhile, some southwest neighborhoods in Juárez are virtually deserted. “That is a problem that is going off like a red light ... These are a lot of homes,” Velázquez Vargas said. Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6129. Commercial real estate for rent is abundant in Juárez — 10,678 businesses have closed their doors as the city continues to be ravaged by violence. Mom Résumé Continued from 1A Continued from 1A dumped behind their school in Juárez. “It was shocking for the children. I was in shock when they told me. I never thought they would experience something like that,” Silvia said. “We don’t talk about it anymore. ... They do remember though.” Silvia called for Manuel. He said he recalled seeing the body and how it frightened him. “Juárez is a bad place. There are bad people who rob and assault people,” he said, gasping for air after running to his mother. “I felt like they didn’t take care for us in school. I was scared they could kill students and teachers, too.” Silvia said she was glad her children do not live in that environment anymore. Silvia worked in the perfume and jewelry section of a department store in Juárez. About a month before coming to the United States, she said, she was driving home and witnessed two execution-style killings. “I saw one on the road, then turned on another street and saw another execution. They were back to back, in less than 15 minutes. They were shootings,” she said. “At that moment, you think ‘I hope I am not caught in the crossfire.’ They shoot randomly, and sometimes stray bullets hit innocent people.” More than 4,500 people have been killed in Juárez since the beginning of 2008. Most killings have been linked to warring drug cartels. Silvia said she fears her brother might be among those who have died. She said he was involved in drug trafficking and disappeared two years ago. “I don’t know what happened to my brother,” she said. “One day, he called and told us goodbye. He told us if anybody called to ask about him, we should say we didn’t know anything about him. His telephone has been off ever since. We haven’t heard from him since.” Countless other families have fled the city, which once was home to 1.5 million deputy medical examiner on the paperwork. David Fisher, a government watchdog in Elgin, Texas, said Texas Tech was forced to dismantle its former medical examiner arrangement with Lubbock County because it was allegedly illegal. “Shrode’s previous supervisors at Texas Tech in Lubbock did not have the authority to confer the title of deputy medical examiner on anyone,” Fisher said. Fisher has a complaint against Shrode pending before the Texas Medical Board. Keller said Shrode received his undergraduate degree from Indiana Central University in world history and Spanish in 1972, and not in 1973, as his résumé indicated. Keller also confirmed that Shrode passed only one of the two required exams to become board certified. “He is no longer eligible to sit for those boards (exams),” she said. Elizabeth Gard, who also filed a complaint with the Texas Medical Board against Shrode, complained to commissioners about the way Shrode’s office delayed releasing her late husband’s autopsy report and death certificate, and about alleged errors in the documents. County Assistant Attorney Holly Lytle defended how the county handled the release of the autopsy report and death certificate. Later, Gard said, “What Lytle presented was inaccurate because she did not have the complete informa- Victor Calzada / El Paso Times Silvia and her two children have taken refuge in El Paso for more than a year in fear of the drug violence in Juárez. The family first lived with relatives in Albuquerque in June 2008. but has shrunk by tens of thousands. Precise numbers vary, depending on which government agency is counting. Silvia, who was born in Sonora, Mexico, and grew up in Juárez, was a single mother living with her parents. She worked long hours daily to support her family. Before moving in with her parents, Silvia was married to the father of her children. She moved to the United States after her children were let out of school for summer vacation. She said she had a visa to cross into the United States and her children are U.S. citizens. She, her children and her father set out for Albuquerque, where her sister and brother-in-law lived. Silvia said she had a job as a cashier at a grocery. Four months later, Silvia’s brother-in-law was deported. He did not have documents to be in the United States. Silvia said her sister moved back to Juárez to be with her husband. She said she left Albuquerque with her sister because she did not know anyone else in New Mexico. “We came back on Halloween 2008,” she said. “We were driving past Las Cruces and I told my sister, ‘What am I going to do in Juárez?’ She said, ‘Well, work.’ I said, ‘We’re going back to the same thing.’ ” When they reached El Paso, Silvia said, she decided to stay at her aunt’s house in Central El Paso. After three days she moved to the shelter. “I left everything behind, but it has been worth it. ... I feel like I’m starting from the bottom. But everything is for my children — all my sacrifices. We feel at ease here. Even though we’re right next to Juárez, life is completely different here. Things are peaceful. I know my children go to school and they are safe.” Stephanie Sanchez may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6137. tion from my husband’s medical records.” After the meeting, County Judge Anthony Cobos said, “I’ve lost confidence in Dr. Shrode. As time goes on, I believe a lot more is going to come to light regarding him.” County Commissioner Veronica Escobar said the district attorney and county attorney consider Shrode qualified to be the medical examiner. Under Texas law, the only requirement for a medical examiner is that he or she be a licensed medical doctor. Escobar said Shrode did embellish his résumé, but commissioners already admonished him a couple of years ago. “It would be irresponsible for the county to fire someone simply to do the politically expedient thing,” said Escobar, referring to other politicians who’ve said the county should fire Shrode. Lawyer Theresa Caballero, who is running for county attorney in the Democratic Party primary election, said she would have advised the commissioners to fire Shrode. “I told the commissioners (Monday) I wanted this to go to a vote, and for everyone to be able to see how they voted,” Caballero said. “Shrode is dishonest. I would like for him to be fired. Lives are at stake.” Lawyer Sergio Coronado, a county judge candidate and Canutillo ISD board member, also has called for Shrode’s ouster. County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal, who faces a challenge by Caballero for the county attorney’s post, said Shrode is qualified to stay on as El Paso’s chief medical examiner. Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6140. SUNDAY 68º / 46º MARCH 7, 2010 $1.75 CLOUDY, BREEZY A MEDIANEWS GROUP NEWSPAPER Ó Living Business Maquilas For love of music fight recession, not violence 1F IT’S THE OSCARS DECISION ’10 Primary election runoffs District 76 race draws big money By Ramon Bracamontes El Paso Times •Who will win? Doug Pullen makes his Oscar predictions and events coverage 1F, 11F •Red carpet at 6 p.m followed by awards show coverage at 6:30 p.m. today on ABC. •All is ready for Hollywood’s big night 5A 1E EL PASO — The median household income in state House District 76 is $23,400 a year, a little more than half the national average. Almost half of the voters do not have a high-school diploma. About 12.4 percent of the adults are unemployed, more than 2 percentage points higher than in El Paso as a whole. But these days, big-money lobbyists from across Texas are courting the district’s 73,174 registered voters. Norma Chávez has been their state representative since 1997. Just 8,641 of those registered voted in last week’s Democratic primary election, which saw Chávez and her main challenger, Naomi Gonzalez, advance to a runoff election in April. A third candidate, Tony San Roman, polled in single digits but got enough votes to prevent Chávez or Gonzalez from breaking the 50 percent threshold to win the nomination outright. Gonzalez, 31, an assistant Drug war in Juárez | Caring for the victims county attorney, is making her second try for public office. She lost a City Council race in 2008 to Emma Acosta. Chávez, 49, has won seven two-year terms to the House. Gonzalez said she received an unpaid leave from the county attorney’s staff about one month ago so she could Please see Race 9A City employee benefits Not all church leaders oppose coverage for the unmarried By David Burge El Paso Times Jesus Alcazar / Special to the El Paso Times Dr. Arturo Valenzuela Zorrilla leads the Juárez doctors’ committee, which meets to discuss ways to protect its members from organized crime. Recently, Valenzuela Zorrilla organized a workshop for doctors on tactics for negotiating ransoms. ‘I know that now I’m too exposed. I am the tipping point. If they kill me, then we know that was the limit.’ Dr. Arturo Valenzuela Zorrilla, treats victims of violence Juárez physician helps when others refuse By Adriana Gómez Licón •Woman held in kidnapping cases 9A El Paso Times JUAREZ — Dr. Arturo Valenzuela Zorrilla fills a void left by two years of violence committed by warring drug cartels. The secretary of the surgery specialist summons him one day to the General Hospital in the deadliest city in Mexico. Gunmen had hit a man with three bullets, one to the neck and two to the torso. “It happens every day,” Valenzuela Zorrilla said. Many times a day, actually. More than 4,600 people have been murdered in Juárez since January 2008. Many more have been wounded. Health care is under siege. Valenzuela Zorrilla is one of the few doctors who take phone calls or drive to hospitals late at night to try to save victims of attacks. Many hospitals Printed on recycled newsprint using a soybean-based ink Business Calendar Classified Crossword EL PASO — Not so fast in condemning the unmarried, say various churchgoers and leaders in El Paso’s religious community. Not all Christians and religious groups, they say, are against the city government policy that extends health insurance benefits to gay and unmarried heterosexual partners of city employees. “It’s a shame that this is being portrayed that it’s the religious community versus the secular community,” said Larry Bach, the rabbi of Temple Mount Sinai, a reform synagogue. “I’m a religious person and I believe that anyone in a long-term, committed, monogamous relationship shouldn’t be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation.” A vocal group of churchgoers, pastors and business people, however, has been a fixture at City Council meetings since July, when the city’s governing body first proposed its controversial domestic-partner benefit program. Soon after, City Council members approved health insurance benefits for unmarried partners of city workers. Opponents are circulating a petition to call for a citywide vote on overturning the policy. They want the city to limit health benefits to its em- Please see Benefits 9A Iraq vote crucial test for future of country By Rebecca Santana Associated Press now turn down patients with bullet wounds because, in some cases, hit men followed them all the way to the operating rooms to finish the job. Clinics have closed after assaults and extortions have left owners with empty pockets. Doctors have closed their offices for fear of extortions and kidnappings. “The medical profession is a very sensitive one,” Valenzuela Zorrilla said. “We are in the epicenter of the situation.” From his office window, Valenzuela Zorrilla can see El Paso’s Downtown buildings and the Franklin Mountains. In the same office, he takes calls from BAGHDAD — Though today’s parliamentary election is billed as a key test of Iraq’s nascent democracy, Iraqis fear that the vote will lead to a protracted period of uncertainty while the winners and losers try to cobble together a new government — even as American forces prepare to go home. None of the main political coalitions is expected to win an outright majority, and that outcome could mean months of negotiations and more violence despite hopes the balloting will boost efforts to reconcile Iraq’s divided ethnic and religious groups. Iraq’s second nationwide election for a full par- Please see Physician 9A Please see Iraq 8A 1F 2B 1D 7D, 10F Deaths Lottery Movies Nation 4-5B 2B 11F 3-4A Opinion 8-9B Sports 1C Television TV Times World 11-12, 15A Inside Private investigator Jay J. Armes remains on the job solving cases. 1B To subscribe Call 546-6300 or log on to elpasotimes.com Continued from 1A Physician Continued from 1A fellow doctors who go to him for advice on how to deal with extortions and kidnappings. Valenzuela Zorrilla leads the local doctors’ committee, which meets to discuss ways to protect its members from organized crime. Recently, Valenzuela Zorrilla organized a workshop for doctors on tactics for negotiating ransoms. He carries a cell phone provided by the committee to take calls from people with questions about public safety. “People don’t know how to confront kidnappings, how to negotiate kidnappings. They panic,” he said. Then he talks about capitulating to the kidnappers to save a life by paying ransom. “For instance, you can get it down to 10 percent of the first sum demanded,” Valenzuela Zorrilla said. He was the first person to publicly speak to Mexican President Felipe Calderón when he visited Juárez last month. Valenzuela Zorrilla criticized Calderón’s use of the military to help police Juárez, and what he considered a belated response to the violence. Valenzuela Zorrilla also said the government needs a strategy to solve extortions and kidnappings. “I know that now I’m too exposed,” he said. “I am the tipping point. If they kill me, then we know that was the limit.” Nobody has extorted or threatened Valenzuela Zorrilla, a single dad raising a 9year-old girl. She often calls and sends text messages to check on him. Valenzuela Zorrilla said his daughter understands how important it is to be vocal on issues related to violence. “My daughter told me, ‘Dad, when you die I will continue to do what you are doing.’ With a daughter like that, you can’t back out.” For decades, countless people in El Paso depended on health-care services across the border. In late 2008, a study by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation found that nearly a third of El Pasoans had used some kind of medical service in Juárez. That same year, dentists in Juárez began losing U.S. patients. Physicians were among the first to protest against organized crime. In December 2008, the doctors’ committee was formed. Hundreds of health-care workers covered their faces with sterile masks and gathered at the giant Juárez flagpole in Chamizal Park. Valenzuela Zorrilla was there. He said the medical profession became vulnerable to the violence throughout the second half of 2008. The threats abated in 2009. Criminal organizations began kidnapping doctors again this year. This prompted one physician, general practitioner Leticia Chavarría, to interrupt one of Calderón’s visits to ask the president for measures to better investigate kidnappings and extortions. “My problem is the same all doctors have,” she said. “That they look at us as victims easy to kidnap.” At least 11 doctors whom the committee knows about have been kidnapped since June 2008. Doctors said family members are afraid to call the police. “There’s no report because there’s no trust,” said Dr. Miguel García, another general practitioner. García estimates that about 200 doctors’ offices and seven clinics have closed. Fearing retaliation, he did not want the El Paso Times to publish the name of the clinic he owns. The clinic’s gynecologist was recently kidnapped, and García said the criminals confused that doctor with him. In the past two weeks, Mexican authorities have arrested members of two alleged kidnapping rings. Police said one was led by a doctor who targeted other medical professionals. Rene Romeo Ruiseco Salinas, nicknamed “El Doctor,” remains a fugitive. Ruiseco Salinas is a 28-yearold general practitioner. On Friday, Mexican authorities arrested Soledad Aldana Rodriguez, known as “La Chole,” in connection with Ruiseco Salinas’ alleged ring. She is accused of feeding and guarding 15 kidnapping victims until bribes were delivered. One of those victims was a dentist, officials said. Other members of the ring, including El Pasoan Sergio “El Toki” Iglesias, were arrested last weekend. The effects these crimes have had on health care are felt on both sides of the border. The number of people treated in the United States after attacks in Juárez continues to rise. University Medical Center of El Paso treated 83 people shot in Mexico last year, compared with about 50 patients in all of 2008. More than three-quarters of the patients it treated in 2009 were U.S. citizens Members of the doctors’ committee against organized crime said they do not see how Calderón will keep a recent promise to extend health coverage to 300,000 people in Juárez. The committee members prefer to see a change in crime-fighting tactics. They want government to cleanse police departments and courts of corruption. Meanwhile, Valenzuela Zorrilla continues to respond to emergencies in the early hours of the morning. He said no other doctor wants to go out when it is dark. “Going out at night is an extreme sport,” he said. The surgery specialist has become more alert. He takes different paths to go to the hospital and back home. He tries to vary his schedule to avoid premeditated attacks. Even with all the shootings and people in need of longterm treatment, Valenzuela Zorrilla said, he is not getting much out of it monetarily. “It is not profitable. It is not safe. It is dangerous, so why would you risk being a doctor?” Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6129. elpasotimes.com By Chris Roberts El Paso Times EL PASO — A Juárez woman who allegedly participated in the kidnapping of 15 people, including a customs agent’s wife and a dentist, has been arrested by Mexican authorities. Soledad Aldana Rodriguez, known as “La Chole,” allegedly was part of a kidnapping ring headed by René Romeo Ruiseco Salinas, known as “El Doctor.” Rodriguez was arrested Friday, according to Chihuahua state attorney general’s staff. Her duties included renting six houses where victims were held, bringing them food, and guarding them until bribes were delivered, authorities said. The houses were in neighborhoods spread throughout the city. Other kidnapping victims included two grocery store owners, the brother of a woman who owns a laundromat, the wife of a store owner who sells floor coverings, the relative of a doctor, and the cousin of a store owner who sells paintings in Chihuahua City. The victims were 10 men and five women. Two of the alleged kidnappings occurred in February. The rest were in 2009. Continued from 1A Race Continued from 1A campaign full time. She said Saturday that she intended to remain on leave through the runoff election. This decision was difficult, she said, because of the loss of pay, but she wanted to avoid any appearance or allegation that she was campaigning on taxpayers’ time. Other attorneys in the civil division are handling her cases during her leave, Gonzalez said. Both Chávez and Gonzalez have received buckets of campaign money — nearly $500,000 combined — from political action committees, business associations and businessmen who do not live in the district. Just how much influence the outside money has will not be measurable until the votes are counted af- The Rev. Kati Houts, the pastor at the Metropolitan Community Church of El Paso, is an outspoken supporter of domestic-partner benefits. “It has to do with laws and fairness.” Houts says. cost of up to $287,000. The overall city budget is $673.9 million, of which about $35 million is spent each year on health benefits for municipal employees and their families. “I think the opponents have gotten so much coverage and made such a wave about it, I’m concerned that people think that’s the way all Christians view things,” ClugySoto said. “It’s not.” Barney Field, executive director of the citywide ministry El Paso for Jesus, is one of those opposed to benefits for unmarried partners of city employees. Field is involved with a group called El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values. He said the group is trying to protect and promote traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Field said his group has never tried to portray itself as representing all Christians. “But we represent the vast majority of them,” he said. If his group is successful in getting the issue on the ballot, he said, he is confident it will win. “I think you’ll be surprised at how many Christians turn out to vote in favor of traditional family values,” Field said. Churches that get involved in politics straddle a thin line to keep their federal taxexempt status, said Kay Bell, tax editor for the national consumer finance Web site Bankrate.com Churches and other nonprofit organizations cannot directly support or oppose a particular candidate. They can, however, lobby on behalf of issues or legislation as long as it is not considered to be a “substantial part of their activities,” Bell said. The Internal Revenue Service determines violations on a case-by-case basis. Churches found in violation of campaign restrictions could lose their tax-exempt status. The Rev. John Stowe, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, declined to be interviewed for this story. He previously said the Catholic Church would support the city’s new benefits program but with reservations. Catholics oppose changing the basic meaning of marriage, but also oppose discrimination, he said in a December interview. Stowe also said it was important to extend health coverage to more people. The Rev. Ed Roden-Lucero, pastor of San Juan Diego Catholic Church, urged compassion and took a swipe at the opponents’ tactics. He stressed that he was speaking for himself and not his church. “The people who are affected by this policy are ordinary people,” Roden-Lucero said. “They’re somebody’s brother or sister or son or daughter. I just think the self-righteousness of these opponents doesn’t serve the Christian faith ter the runoff on April 13. David Luna, 75, a longtime Lower Valley resident, said the origins of the money Chávez would not influence him. He said he supports Chávez and will vote for her again. “People will decide based Gonzalez on who they know and what the candidate has done in the community,” Luna said. “No one is looking at the money and where it comes from. Norma has done a lot for us, and Naomi is unknown.” Central El Paso resident and voter Alejandro Sepulveda, 71, mostly takes the opposite view. “Norma has done a lot for this community, but it is time for her to go,” Sepulveda said. “Naomi is humble and willing to work with everyone. Her opponent has forgotten where she came from, and she is no longer working for the people.” House District 76 stretches from the University Medical Center area to Ysleta in the Lower Valley. Only a small part of the district is north of Interstate 10. Cheryl Howard, a demographer at the University of Texas at El Paso, said she understands why special interest groups are pouring money into this race. The profile of District 76, Howard said, may leave the impression that many voters are looking for someone to tell them how to vote. This, she said, led to the outpouring of television, radio and direct-mail ads largely financed by insurance and attorney lobbies based outside the dis- trict. “When you have a population that doesn’t feel entitled to give their thoughts, then they get their thoughts from someone else,” Howard said. Chávez and Gonzalez have received large amounts of money from organizations lobbying on different sides of the same issue. Finance reports show that Chávez has received more than $272,000 in contributions. She received money from political action committees representing banks in Alabama and Washington, D.C. Chávez also received about $108,000 from the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and a Houston law firm. Gonzalez has received about $192,000. Most of it came from Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which paid for television and radio ads. The group wants to limit awards in lawsuits, a position at odds with the trial lawyers associ- Photos by Mark Lambie / El Paso Times The Rev. Mike Hamilton, pastor of St. Timothy Lutheran Church, says he supports domestic partner benefits. “It’s mainly a civil rights and justice issue and not a religious issue,” Hamilton says. 9A Juárez woman held as alleged kidnapper Benefits ployees, their legal spouses and their dependent children. Bach said opponents of the policy will be able to get enough signatures to call a city election on Nov. 2. They need about 1,500 signatures to get the issue on the ballot. But, he said, it is not a slamdunk that they will prevail in an election. “I’d like to believe and do believe that many, many El Pasoans are proud of their City Council and will vote accordingly,” Bach said. “This includes many religious El Pasoans.” Bach said that for him the policy is a matter of fairness. “I read the same Bible as folks on the other side. I come away with an understanding that there’s an important principle of fairness and justice and important principle on health. We should be seeking to get more people covered with health insurance.” The Rev. Deborah ClugySoto, pastor of Desert View United Church of Christ, said she thought the issue would have blown over if the city had merely given benefits to unmarried heterosexual partners of city employees. Opponents, however, have latched on to the fact that it gives more rights to gay and lesbian people, she said. “What’s this about?” ClugySoto asked. “It’s about everyone having adequate health coverage. To us, it’s not an issue of what your sexual orientation is about. We’re not talking about a huge amount of people or budget. It’s about getting more people coverage that they need.” The City Council voted 7-1, with Rep. Carl L. Robinson dissenting, to include domesticpartner benefits in this year’s budget. Just 19 city employees signed up to have their partners receive taxpayer-funded health benefits. The estimated cost is $42,000, city budget analysts say. The city originally estimated that 45 employees would be eligible at a El Paso Times Sunday, March 7, 2010 well, nor does it serve the real needs of real people well.” The Rev. Kati Houts, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of El Paso, has been an outspoken supporter of domestic-partner benefits. “It’s something our denomination supports,” she said. “We believe in equality for all, like most Americans do.” To Houts, domestic partner benefits have nothing to do with religion. “It has to do with laws and fairness,” she said. “That’s it in a nutshell for me. We believe all people are created equal in the eyes of God. “It’s also in the Constitution that we are all created equal, so we should all receive equality under the law.” The Rev. Mike Hamilton is pastor of St. Timothy Lutheran Church, which is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination. The national church voted last summer to allow gays and lesbians to be pastors if they are in committed relationships, he said. In the past, the church allowed gay and lesbian ministers but they needed to be celibate, he said. There are two other large branches of Lutheranism in the United States, and they do not allow gay and lesbian ministers, Hamilton said. Hamilton said that his church had not taken a stand on the domestic-partner isation. City Rep. Steve Ortega, whose city district mirrors most of the House district, said both candidates had to take the money or else they would not be able to get their message out. “Unfortunately, until the system is refined, you are going to have huge amounts of money being given to candidates by special interest groups,” Ortega said. “If you choose to take the high road and not accept the money, you will probably lose because you will not be able to get your message out.” City Rep. Eddie Holguin, who represents a part of the same district, said he hoped voters would take the time to look closely at who is giving money to whom. “I don’t think the voters understand right now that the money is coming from Austin,” Holguin said, “and the media isn’t accurately Ruiseco Salinas remains a fugitive. Police are also looking for at least seven other people they think were involved in the ring, including Rodriguez’s sister, son and nephew. Rodriguez allegedly was introduced to Ruiseco Salinas through her son’s girlfriend in late 2008, when he prescribed medicine for her sick daughter. About a month later, she was invited to join the kidnapping ring, officials said. Rodriguez, according to authorities, said Ruiseco Salinas participated in all 15 kidnappings. Last weekend, five other alleged members of the ring, including an El Pasoan, were arrested. Doctors and other professionals have been targeted by kidnapping rings in Juárez since 2008, when a war between two drug cartels erupted. An estimated 200 doctors’ offices and seven clinics have closed. Some doctors, trying to protect themselves, reportedly vary their schedules and take different routes between home and work. Chris Roberts may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6136. sue, but that he personally supports extending health benefits to unmarried partners of city workers. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “It’s mainly a civil rights and justice issue and not a religious issue.” Hamilton said he sees the issue as one of tolerance. “I can’t see Jesus taking a stand against people living together, who love each other but don’t have a document from the county,” he said. “Everything for Jesus boiled down to love. Does love boil down to resenting or trying to block the person your neighbor loves the most from getting insurance?” Hamilton said public money spent on the program was a trickle. “This is just a drop in the bucket,” he said. “There are so many more important things to involve ourselves in, like immigration reform and justice for the poor. Spending all this time on this is really puzzling to me. The priorities of people who oppose this in an organized way are out of whack.” Van English is a gay El Pasoan and a lifetime churchgoer. He said opponents of domestic-partner benefits are using religion as a weapon. “They’re not alone,” he said. “A lot of groups have used religion that way. Many of the wars in the history of the world have been religionbased. That’s not what Jesus or God intended.” The Rev. Wayne Kendrick is pastor of Peace Lutheran Church, which has not taken a formal stand on domesticpartner benefits. Kendrick’s church also belongs to the same branch of Lutheranism as Hamilton’s. “Our national church body would hold a couple of convictions,” he said. “One, cohabitation is not the proper relationship to be in; marriage is the standard. At the same time, our church advocates for justice. It supports legislation and policies to protect civil rights and prohibit discrimination. To me, this is an issue of justice.” David Burge may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6126. portraying that.” El Paso educator Lily Limon spent 20 years of her career working in District 76. She said that the district is not as poor as people think and that the voters will analyze a race before voting. She based this on the fact that the parents she met at the schools were working 10-hour shifts, yet their main concern was their children, their family and bettering themselves. “Parents are involved in state legislator politics only when an issue is close to their heart,” she said. “More parents would be involved if politicians took time to really meet with them and explain how legislation will affect them. Too often, they feel unwanted at meetings where they may not understand the issues, especially if there is a language barrier.” Ramon Bracamontes may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6142. THURSDAY 87º / 64º SEPT. 23, 2010 SHOWER OR STORM 75 CENTS COPYRIGHT® 2010, EL PASO TIMES Memphis vs. UTEP FALL DECOR 1D Weather Flash flood watch The storm that soaked parts of El Paso on Wednesday is likely to drop more rain today. See story, 1B 1C A FAMILY AFFAIR Ascensión vigilantes take on kidnappers By Adriana Gómez Licón EL PASO TIMES ASCENSION, MEXICO — In a small rural town of Chihuahua, the rule of law is a vague concept, and angry residents felt justified in killing two presumed kidnappers Tuesday. The two 17-year-olds, Raymundo Rascón •La Polaka website editor reportedly receives asylum 1B Ortega and Andres Ramírez González, were part of a group of eight who had abducted 16-year-old Thelma Díaz Salazar from a seafood restaurant, state police said. Ascensión is a farming town 120 miles southwest of Juárez and close to the U.S. border with New Mexico. The town had been the scene of a rash of kidnappings in the past few months. In the past, Ascensión residents had banded to- Please see Ascensión 7A UTEP | Title 9 awareness OLYMPIC MEDALIST VISITS Developers: Flood-plain maps could cut revenues By Chris Roberts EL PASO TIMES A federal effort to ensure that the nation’s levees can protect homes from 100-year floods could drastically slow development in the Upper Valley and cost local governments property-tax revenue, say area homeowners and developers. “People continue to look at this as just a West Side issue,” said Pat Woods, a developer who owns an Upper Valley home. But a drop in the taxes collected would affect the entire city and county, as well as Lilly Canutillo, Anthony and the region’s school districts, said Woods. He was among about 20 people who attended a meeting at City Hall to discuss the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood insurance rate maps. In El Paso, a proposed FEMA map would put about 24,500 homes in the Rio Grande flood plain, which is about 8,700 fewer than are considered at risk on the current map. In part, that is due to efforts to improve levees that protect the Lower Valley. However, nearly 5,300 Upper Valley homes were added to the flood plain. And no new building permits would be issued for flood-plain areas. If the proposed flood-plain map is approved, which probably will take more than a year, local governments would lose about $12.3 million each year in property taxes, said Sal Masoud, a developer and Upper Valley homeowner. His calculations assumed a 30 percent drop in property values. Those values would drop, he said, because of the additional insurance costs, possible difficulties in getting building permits for major home improvements and caps on what the insurance will pay if the home and its contents are destroyed. However, some say the 30 percent figure is too high. And because more El Paso homes would be removed from the flood plain than added, the overall tax impact could be positive. FEMA’s nationwide effort to certify levees that protect low-lying areas from flooding came soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, said Isela Canava, acting chief of the International Boundary and Water Commission. The commission is responsible for levees that run from Hatch, N.M., to Brownsville, she said. Most of those levees did not meet federal certification standards. City Rep. Ann Morgan Lilly, who represents the area, called the meeting. “We need to know what do we do to get them certified so we can get a decent Please see Flood 7A RUBEN R. RAMIREZ / EL PASO TIMES Jessica Mendoza, left, autographs a softball for Arielle Gomez, 6, on Wednesday at the UTEP Union. Mendoza spoke at the campus as part of a UTEP Athletics and Frontera Women’s Foundation initiative to raise awareness about Title 9. Mendoza is a two-time Olympic medalist as a member of the U.S. softball team, capturing gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and silver in Beijing in 2008. A four-time All-American while at Stanford, she is the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and was voted the organization’s 2008 Sportswoman of the Year. See story, 1C. Track owner thanks backers in tax election Fort Bliss: Shooting aftermath Officials defend post’s system for notification By Felix Chavez By Maggie Ybarra EL PASO TIMES EL PASO TIMES Fort Bliss on Wednesday defended the system used to alert Army personnel of the shooting at a convenience store that left two people dead. The post sent out an initial alert on Monday when a retired Army sergeant shot two women in the head at a post convenience store. The alert did not mention the shooting, but it did inform personnel to stay clear of the area. Questions about the effectiveness of the system arose Tuesday during a news conference with post commander Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard. Mike Lister, emergency manager for Fort Bliss, said the alert was distributed through a mass-notification system inside the post’s Installation Operation Center. The system distrib- screen. It was installed about six months ago, he said. Lister said that the post tests the system every Wednesday, but that the Live horse racing will stay in Ruidoso for at least five more years, and owner R.D. Hubbard couldn’t be happier. “I was pleased,” Hubbard said. “I just want to give thanks to all the supporters we had. Now we can move forward and continue to give people a good product.” On Tuesday, voters in Lincoln County ap- Hubbard proved a business retention gross receipts tax increase that will help keep the racetrack in Ruidoso. The tax in Lincoln County will be raised by three-sixteenths of 1 percent. There Please see Shooting 7A Please see Track 7A VICTOR CALZADA / EL PASO TIMES Fort Bliss commander Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard speaks Tuesday to news reporters and photographers outside the Shoppette that was the scene of a fatal shooting Monday. uted e-mail, text and voice messages to Army personnel in less than six minutes, he said. The system, which cost more than $200,000, includes 22 workstations, several televisions and a projection Inside|Business » 1F | Classified » 1E | Crossword » 7D, 4E | Deaths » 4B | Movies » 2D Continued from 1A | Texas elpasotimes.com El Paso Times Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010 7A Texas has increase in Hispanic-owned firms THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUSTIN — As the number of Hispanics has grown in Texas, so too has the number of Hispanic-owned businesses, the Census Bureau reports. Texas is ranked third nationally, behind California and Florida, in the number of Hispanicowned businesses, according to new figures. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas grew by 40 percent between 2002 and 2007, reaching 447,000. The Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday that Texas was also No. 3 in percentage of businesses that are Hispanic-owned — 21 percent. David Hinson, national director of the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency, said he was “highly encouraged” by the growth data but said the Hispanic business community’s full potential has still not been realized. “The average Hispanic firm is too small,” said Hinson. “What we have to do is work hard to make the investment that these firms can grow larger so they can create more jobs and have more economic output for the nation.” The data are especially encouraging in Texas, said Gabriel Sanchez, the Dallas-based regional census director for Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. “These trends … are completely self-evident, I think, to anyone who has spent time driving around Texas and going to different areas. You see tremendous growth in Hispanic-owned businesses,” said Sanchez. “In these times when people are so concerned about jobs, businesses create jobs, so growth of any businesses is good overall.” Hispanic business growth in the Austin area is a good example of the trends that have helped Texas weather the recession, Sanchez said. The number of Hispanic- the cotton fields. The passengers of the third vehicle are at large. By then, dozens of residents had already joined the search for the kidnappers, forming a group of about 200 people. Thirty minutes after the crash, about 9:30 a.m., people found two alleged kidnappers a mile from the crash scene. The people attacked them. Ignacio Ramírez said he paused to observe what was going on. “Everywhere I looked, I saw people whose family members had been kidnapped in the past,” he said. “The hate had been accumulating from months before.” Finally, he said, the military and the federal police separated the alleged kidnappers from the mob. But the crowd would not drop the matter so easily. The crowd made federal police take the alleged kidnappers in a civilian truck supervised by residents. Many more followed the truck carrying the two boys back to the military barracks. At the barracks, one of the boys told the mob, “See you here in 15 days,” witnesses said. The crowd, now grown to nearly 2,000 people, exploded again. Crowd members broke into the barracks with trucks, took the two boys outside and beat them, witnesses said. Federal police agents tried to separate the disorderly crowd from the alleged kidnappers by putting the boys inside a police vehicle for several hours. The windows were closed. People obstructed police from helping the two boys inside the vehicle and also blocked the area where a federal police helicopter was trying to land. About 3 p.m., a man informed the crowds that the boys were dead. It is unknown whether the boys died of the beating or were asphyxiated. The Chihuahua state attorney general’s office had not determined the cause of death Wednesday. The alleged kidnappers the Mexican army detained were Obed Alberto Flores Arellanos, Jesús Manuel Rascón Ortega and Arturo Matancillas Lozoya. Officials did not release their ages. The suspects were taken to Juárez and are detained on suspicion of kidnapping. State police were expected to present the suspects before a judge today, said Jorge Leyva, of the Chihuahua state attorney general in Ascensión. Leyva said the state attorney general opened an investigation into the kidnappings and also into the killings of the two boys. On Wednesday, the mayor of Ascensión, Rafael Camarillo, said it was clear the power of the residents on Tuesday was greater than that of the authorities. Although he opposes the way residents acted, Camarillo does not want the people of Ascensión to face homicide charges. “It would make them even angrier,” he said. Camarillo on Wednesday fired his 14 municipal police officers. He said people demanded the firings, and he did not want any more conflicts. Soldiers meanwhile patrol Ascensión, a town that has seen devastating effects because of organized crime. Ascensión is a rural town where residents grow cotton, onions and red chile. Some work in the factories or own small businesses. Camarillo said crime is worse in his town than in Juárez, a city known worldwide because of its drug-cartel violence. “It has been a difficult administration,” Camarillo said. He will leave office the second week of October. More than drug-trafficking, Camarillo said, the economic crisis has caused gang crime in the rustic town. “This has never happened before in the history of the state of Chihuahua or Mexico,” he said. Ascensión used to be a safe town, people say, until recently. For several months, multiple kidnappings have taken place in town. Residents organize to donate money for ransoms of up to tens of thousands of dollars. Ignacio Ramírez will become the second-in-command in Ascensión in October. Ramírez said Tuesday’s events prompted residents to form a civil police, or vigilante group, that will respond to future kidnappings. He said he did not know whether the residents would be armed. He has contacted the LeBarón community, which is also under siege because of kidnappings. This religious community, also of northwest Chihuahua, became known last year when Eric LeBarón was kidnapped. The community protested against the governor until Eric LeBarón returned home. But later, his brother and a community leader, Benjamín LeBarón, turned up dead. Now, vigilante groups in LeBarón and other communities in Chihuahua patrol towns with hunting weapons, the only ones allowed by the government. “We can’t go on living a life that is like hell,” Ramírez said. was distributed to Army personnel was handled with precaution because the facts were developing by the minute and the Army did not want to create a panic on post by releasing inaccurate information. “We didn’t have all the facts at first, and I refer to that as the fog of war,” he said. “We had to wait until the fog had cleared before we released any of the facts.” Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said the Army immediately sent out a short two-line message after the shooting ad- vising everyone to stay way from the area. The shop is at 1333 Cassidy. “We knew there was no danger. That much we knew — not only to the community on Fort Bliss but to anybody,” Offutt said. The shooter, retired Army Sgt. Steven Kropf, 63, was killed by Army civilian police while he sat in his car with his gun. Officials have not elaborated on what led the military police to shoot him. Both women were taken to Beaumont Army Medical Cen- ter, where Bettina Maria Goins, 44, died. The other woman, whom the FBI declined to name, was shot in the head and chest. She was still in stable condition Wednesday afternoon, said FBI Special Agent Michael Martinez, spokesman for the FBI. Garrison commander Col. Joseph Simonelli said that if anything ever occurred on post that had the potential to endanger the lives of civilians living outside the post’s gates, he would immediately provide that perti- nent information to the public. Lister gave local news media representatives a tour of the center Wednesday and offered a demonstration of the mass-notification system at Fort Bliss. Soon, he said, contact information for the FBI, El Paso Police Department and El Paso Fire Department will be added to the system, and they will receive notifications of post emergencies as well. track. Hopefully, down the road we can seek help from the state in terms of tax relief.” Hubbard has said that casino profits at the track are down 58 percent since 2003 in part because of competition from a pair of Native-American casinos — the Inn of the Mountain Gods and Casino and the Casino Apache Travel Center. In addition, Hubbard pays a significant amount of taxes, 26 percent, to the state, says he pays 20 percent as dues to the New Mexico Horseman Association. Before voters passed the tax increase, there had been talk of moving the racetrack to another city in New Mexico, including Las Cruces, Clovis and Alamogordo. “We have plans to market our product better,” Hubbard said. “We plan on being in Ruidoso, and we’re not looking at moving the track anywhere else.” Earlier this month, the racetrack celebrated the 52nd running of the All American Futurity, the top quarter-horse event in the country and the richest — $1 million going to the winner. Mr Piloto won the Labor Day event at 22-1 odds. The racetrack is also home to the Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities, along with the Ruidoso, Rainbow and All American derbies. Live racing takes place from Memorial Day through Labor Day. “I’m grateful that the track will stay because it is an important part of our tradition and a big part of our economy,” said John Underwood, a Ruidoso attorney and a member of the Lincoln County Economic Development Committee, which campaigned for the business retention tax. “This wasn’t just for the track; it’s about economic development. Money will come for other developments so we can diversify the economy.” Longtime quarter-horse trainer Blane Wood was ecstatic with the vote outcome. “Awesome,” said Wood about the tax being passed. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the racetrack does for Ruidoso. I have a home in Ruidoso, and it was impor- tant that the tax passed. Ruidoso has a great history of racing, and it means so much to so many people. I really didn’t want to have to move my operation to another city in New Mexico during the summer. Ruidoso is just a wonderful place to be in the summer.” Quarter-horse trainer Michael Joiner, who maintains stables at the track, was also pleased with the results, and now he, along with others, can make plans for the future. “We can move forward and not have any doubt for the next five years,” Joiner said. “That’s important.” mission spent between $2 million and $4 million annually on levee improvements, she said. “We have been able to do within a couple years what it would have taken 20 years to accomplish,” said John Merino, principal engineer in the commission’s Engineering Department. Because floodwaters flow through and around gaps in levees, long stretches must be certified by FEMA before an area can be removed from the flood plain, said City Engineer Alan Shubert. For Upper Valley residents, that means the levees must be certified from the American Dam near the old Asarco plant to possibly beyond Hatch, N.M., Merino said. The commission is working on sections of that stretch and will present them to FEMA as they are completed, Canava said. If the map is finalized before those projects are completed, it becomes more difficult to make changes. “If you wait for the next map cycle, it could be years,” Shubert said. Homeowners who think they will be added to the flood plain can purchase federal flood insurance for the zone they currently are in, which would provide a lower rate, Shubert said. That zone will be locked in as long as the policy is maintained. Those policies have caps that might not cover all losses. Although interim measures exist to ease the problems for homeowners, ultimately it will be necessary to “get the levees done and certified,” Shubert said. “I think the city needs to put a lot more time into appealing these (proposed) maps,” Masoud said. He said the maps are “riddled” with mistakes. “We have done that to the extent we can with the resources we’ve got,” Shubert said. “It’s very difficult to come up with a technical appeal.” Ascensión Continued from 1A gether to raise ransom money. On Tuesday, they banded together to get revenge. The kidnapped girl’s aunt, Maricruz Salazar, said the group had been carrying out at least three kidnappings a week for months. People of Ascensión knew the kidnappers because they were members of the small community. “We are a town in so much distress,” Salazar said. “We are sick of the kidnappings.” What occurred Tuesday was bound to happen, many residents say. State police said eight gunmen arrived about 8 a.m. at Mariscos Lolo, a restaurant owned by Noel Dolores Loya. He is a town alderman and the uncle of the kidnapped girl. The eight kidnappers appeared to have confused the girl with Dolores’ wife. They grabbed the girl and escaped in three vehicles northbound toward Buena Vista, a ranch of Mennonites, officials said. Meanwhile, the father of the girl and the owner of the restaurant called the Mexican army and federal police. They also called friends and relatives in town to organize a mob. “I don’t understand how they could gather everyone so quickly,” Salazar said. On their way to Buena Vista, the kidnappers were already being followed by at least 20 people on horseback and in vehicles. One of the kidnappers’ vehicles, a Ford Explorer, rolled over on the highway. The second vehicle, a truck, turned over and fell into an irrigation channel to avoid crashing with the Explorer. A gunfight then erupted between the Mexican army and the kidnappers. The army captured the three men traveling in the first car. The passengers of the second vehicle tried to flee by hiding in Shooting Continued from 1A post used the system in an official capacity only six or seven times. “The Monday incident was the first of that nature,” he said. “Most of the incidents were weather-related — high winds, rain and flooding.” Lister said the information about Monday’s shooting that Track Continued from 1A were 3,719 votes in favor of the tax increase measure and 3,299 against. The increased tax will provide Hubbard with $750,000 a year for five years and will help offset losses the track has incurred during the past several years. The 75-year-old Hubbard has owned the track since 1988. “We wanted to stay in Ruidoso; the track has so much history,” Hubbard said. “To get 53 percent of the vote was great and it shows people in the community wanted to keep the Flood Continued from 1A insurance rate,” Lilly said. About $220 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was known as the “stimulus bill,” has been dedicated to levee improvement projects, Canava said. Before the stimulus money was available, the com- EL PASO TIMES Ascensión Mayor Rafael Camarillo says he is against the attack his constituents performed on two alleged kidnappers. Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at [email protected]. owned business nationwide jumped by nearly 44 percent, reaching 2.3 million, compared with the national rate of 18 percent growth during the same five-year period. Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas took in $62 billion in revenue in 2007 and employed almost 400,000 people, according to the Census Bureau. The survey is conducted every five years as part of the nation’s economic census. The 2007 survey collected data from a sample of more than 2.3 million businesses, the Census Bureau said. The survey defines Hispanic-owned businesses as those in which Hispanics own 51 percent or more of the equity, interest or stock. The Census Bureau’s estimated population figures Wednesday listed Texas at nearly 24.8 million, with people of Hispanic or Latino origin making up nearly 37 percent of the overall figure. Online: http://www.census.gov Immigration takes back seat in governor race By Paul J. Weber ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO — Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who runs a state with an estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants, is giving a roomful of real estate agents his greatest hits from the campaign trail. More job growth. Fewer school dropouts. A retreating federal government. Retired Capt. James F.A. Turner, clapping in a white cowboy hat, likes everything he hears. Then there’s what he didn’t hear. “Did he say anything about immigration?” the 70-year-old Turner wondered afterward. Despite a raging national debate over immigration heading into the midterm elections, Perry and his opponent, Democrat Bill White, have barely whispered the word. Arizona showed it wasn’t happy to leave immigration enforcement to Washington, but Perry and White have been content to leave the issue out of their race to lead Texas, which according to the Pew Hispanic Center has the second-highest number of undocumented immigrants behind California. Perry says discussing immigration policy is pointless until the border is secure. White said he’ll have his hands full and can’t fix all the federal government’s problems. Political analysts say it’s business as usual in a Texas gubernatorial race, going back to when George W. Bush campaigned in the 1990s. But when the Texas Legislature convenes weeks after the winner of this campaign is sworn in, some lawmakers expect to be under pressure to take up illegal immigration. Two Republicans have Maggie Ybarra may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6151. Felix Chavez may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6167. Chris Roberts may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6136. pledged to introduce Arizonastyle legislation, which puts local police officers on the front lines of enforcing federal immigration law. State House Affairs Committee chairman Burt Solomons said he also expects to see 60 or 70 other immigration-related bills to be filed. Solomons, a Republican from conservative north Dallas, said illegal immigration was second only to jobs when he surveyed constituents about their top concerns earlier this year. “It comes up in questions in forums and town halls. ‘What’s going on with immigration? You plan on doing anything this session?’ ” Solomons said. “You hear members say, ‘In my district, this is an important issue.’ And you don’t hear it from one or two members who seemingly want to be on the forefront.” Last month, state officials testified to Solomons’ committee that undocumented immigrants cost the state at least $250 million last year for costs of prison and medical care. Most out-ofsession committee meetings are typically unlively and sparsely attended. The room was nearly packed. Dueling attacks over ethical lapses and tax records have turned the governor race nasty between White, the popular former Houston mayor, and Perry, who is seeking an unprecedented third four-year term. But aside from both stating that Arizona’s law wasn’t right for Texas, neither has said much on immigration. Years-old criticism that White ran a “sanctuary city” for undocumented immigrants in Houston? Perry’s campaign has lobbed the attack infrequently; White spokeswoman Katy Bacon said the accusation is false. White rips Perry over shortfall By Paul J. Weber ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO — A gaping budget hole that Texas faces emerged again in the race for governor Wednesday after Gov. Rick Perry equated early shortfall estimates to “Ouija board” projections. Democratic challenger Bill White seized on the remark, saying Perry lacked business sense for comparing an estimated $18 billion shortfall from state budget officials to crystal ball readings. Perry said he was referring to methods used in some projections that he says are much higher than others. “I think it’s a little bit premature to be getting your crystal ball out or your Ouija board or whatever these people are using,” Perry had said Tuesday at a campaign stop in Midland. Appearing in Irving on Wednesday, Perry tried to clarify the earlier comment, saying he mentioned Ouija boards and crystal balls when referring to methods used in some budget shortfall projections because the figures are much higher than the state Senate finance chairman’s recent estimate of $10 billion to $11 billion. “So there have been others who have estimated, guestimated — again, I don’t know the logic or the economic rules that they’re using to come up with their numbers,” Perry said. “You’ve had some that said it’s 18 billion. Another group said it’s 21Â. You know — I thought I was at an auction for a while. ‘Who’s going to make it 25?’ ” RECORD PROFITS 2010 U.S. companies hauled in profits at a record annual rate of $1.66 trillion dollars in the third quarter, according to a report by the Department of Commerce Tuesday containing a number of economic indicators. Companies thrive; 10M to stay jobless By Neil Irwin THE WASHINGTON POST 2008-’09 WASHINGTON — Unemployment is set to remain higher longer than previously thought, according to new projections from the Federal Reserve that would mean more than 10 million Americans remain jobless through the The growth rate announced Tuesday is set to be one-third faster than the past two years, which was about $1.2 trillion. •Economy grows against pessimism 1F 2012 elections — even as a separate report shows corporate profits reaching their highest levels ever. Please see Profits 11A 66º / 37º PARTLY CLOUDY WEDNESDAY, NOV. 24, 2010 75 CENTS COPYRIGHT® 2010, EL PASO TIMES 1C ‘DANCING’ QUEEN MINERS TOP AGGIES 3A Drug violence spotlight | Erika Gándara Obama: US will defend S. Korea By Hyung-jin Kim and Kwang-tae Kim ASSOCIATED PRESS Strife-torn valley town has just 1 officer left By Adriana Gómez Licón EL PASO TIMES PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE EL PASO TIMES Erika Gándara, 28, is shown with her AR15 weapon, at the Guadalupe police station across from Fabens, Texas. Gándara is the only police officer in Guadalupe. GUADALUPE, Mexico — The only police officer in a long and deadly stretch of border towns in the Juárez Valley is 28year-old Erika Gándara. She works in plainclothes but keeps a semi-automatic rifle, an AR-15, hidden between cushions in her stark office. A bulletproof vest hangs near the door. A portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, adorns one wall. These items are all Gándara has for company at the station. Eight officers constituted the police force of Guadalupe. One Please see Tall 11A INCHEON, South Korea — South Korean troops were on high alert today as their government exchanged threats with rival North Korea after a frightening military skirmish that raised tensions on the peninsula to new extremes. President Barack Obama reaffirmed Washington’s pledges to protect ally Seoul after the North shelled a South Korean island near their disputed border, killing at least two marines and wounding civilians. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the skirmish one of the “gravest incidents” since the end of the Korean War. South Korea vowed retaliation and Obama said today that it would strengthen military forces in the disputed west- •In focus: N. Korea ern waters near the island of Yeonattacks S. pyeong and to halt aid to the comKorea 2A munist North, while the North warned of more military strikes if the South encroaches on the maritime border by “even 0.001 millimeter.” South Korea today sent two ships carrying 2,000 boxes of relief supplies to the stricken island, coast guard official Kim Dong-jin said. He said that about Please see Defend 11A Today at elpasotimes.com Socorro council moves to recall mayor, 1 other By Aileen B. Flores EL PASO TIMES SOCORRO — During a heated meeting that included shouted accusations and two people being removed, a recall effort began Tuesday against the Socorro mayor and a City Council member. The introduction of the recall ordinance comes after councilman Luis Varela was arrested last week on suspicion of selling marijuana and possessing cocaine, and after Mayor Guillermo “Willie” Gadara Sr. was indicted G. Gandara Sept. 2 in the continuing FBI public corruption investigation. At the special meeting Tuesday night, City Council members Guillermo “Willie” Madrid, Jesse Gandara Jr., Gloria Rodriguez and Mary Garcia introduced the ordinance to remove Mayor Gandara and Varela from office. Meanwhile, a group of residents are also working on the recall of those four council members. In response to the ordinance introduction, Mayor Gandara asked City Council members to include themselves in the ordinance since they are already facing a recall process by a group of residents. Recall leaders have to collect at least 500 signatures per district to call for a special election to remove elected officials. “I think it is only fair to include themselves on the ordinance. That’s what the majority of the people want,” Mayor Gandara said Please see Socorro 11A Inside|Business » 1F | Classified » 1E | Crossword » 5D, 5E | Deaths » 4B | Movies » 2D Live chat: Jane Steele Do you need some tips for Thanksgiving dinner? Chef Jane Steele will take your questions during a live chat at 10 a.m. Continued from 1A elpasotimes.com El Paso Times Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010 11A Profits Continued from 1A PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE EL PASO TIMES Erika Gándara joined the Guadalupe Police Department in June 2009. An officer was shot dead the same week. Since then, the other seven officers that constituted the police force have all resigned. Gándara is now the only officer in the small town in the Juárez Valley. But she forges on. “I am better off alone than in bad company,” she said. Tall Continued from 1A was shot dead the week Gándara joined the department as a dispatcher in June 2009. The other seven resigned within a year, driven out by fear, Gándara said. The last one quit in June, and no potential replacements have applied, Gándara said. “I am here out of necessity,” she said. Women have increasingly become the face of police forces in rural areas outside Juárez. The territory borders a string of small Texas towns, including San Elizario, Tornillo and Fabens, and stretches all the way to Presidio. In the Mexican town of Praxedis Guerrero, also in the Juárez Valley, the police chief is a 20-year-old college student with a department staffed by 12 women and two men. Most of them, including the chief, are unarmed. The appointment of this young police chief created an international media frenzy. In contrast, Gándara has received little notice, even though her town of 9,000 is larger than Praxedis. It is chilling that inexperienced policewomen are left to safeguard violent towns, said Maki Haberfeld, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She said cultural perceptions account for females running these police departments. “They are operating under the assumption that the killers would be more likely to kill men than to kill women because of the machismo culture,” Haberfeld said. Speaking specifically of Gándara’s situation, Haberfeld said, “It is jeopardizing her life.” Gándara did not go through Guadalupe is a town in the Valley of Juárez that has been riddled with drug violence. any type of police academy or formal training. Still, she said, given the corruption in Mexican police forces, she may not be in the worst position. “I am better off alone than in bad company,” she said. Police forces that help drug cartels are rampant in her country. Even though her salary is only about $7,000 a year, Gándara said, she is not susceptible to bribes. “If they want to kill me, they can go ahead and do it. I don’t want to be involved in those dirty businesses,” she said. U.S. Border Patrol officials said the Juárez Valley is an attractive drug corridor for two organized crime operations — the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels. They are presumably responsible for an epidemic of arsons, kidnappings and killings. The turf war in the valley reached a fever pitch in March. Arsonists destroyed homes and businesses. Cartel members told townspeople to leave or face death. Residents said many fled to West Texas towns. Others moved to Juárez, a city also torn by violence. The exodus did not bring peace did to the Juárez Valley or even to some who left it. Gunmen arrived in June at the Juárez home of the former mayor of Guadalupe and killed him. The man, Jesús Manuel Lara Rodríguez, had sought refuge in the city. In late October, riflemen attacked a bus carrying maquiladora workers, killing three women and a man, near the town of Guadalupe. “We are living in a mess, believe me,” said a 24-year-old woman named Mari. Gunmen killed her husband last year. “People here are scared,” she said, an understatement in a shattered town. Most houses and shops in Guadalupe are abandoned. A bakery, a liquor store and two groceries are among the few businesses still open. Traffic persists, despite the lack of commerce. Late-model trucks kick up clouds of dust that blind people who still walk the streets. The only sounds of laughter come from children on the school playground. Women stand on the corner near the elementary school, but not for long. They leave their houses only to pick up their children. Almost nobody visits the plaza anymore. On a recent day, only a few construction workers remodeling the town hall rested on public benches. Gándara responds to terrible crimes and carnage, such as the bus shooting. In another recent case, a man was stoned to death. But compared with their counterparts in the United States, municipal police in Mexico are limited. Gándara, for instance, does not investigate murders. Instead, she calls state police. Sometimes, police from the adjacent municipality accompany Gándara to the more gruesome crimes. At least a dozen soldiers patrol outside and inside the town hall where she works. Regularly, however, she travels by herself without the army for an escort. “The protection is coming from up there,” she said, gesturing toward the heavens. People in town know Gándara because she is out and about. RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES two people were removed from the meeting when they stood up and expressed their opinions. The meeting then continued with Madrid reading a series of memos disclosing complaints against the mayor and his behavior toward city employees. Madrid then said the majority of council members decided to introduce the ordinance and initiate the recall because they do not want the image of Socorro to be damaged any further. Madrid said businesses have refused to establish in Socorro because of the bad publicity. Among the projects was a nursing home that was projected to bring more than $3 million in revenue to the city of Socorro, he said. “Enough is enough! We can’t continue this; we’re going to have to recall the mayor and Mr. Varela,” Madrid said. Jesse Gandara said the ordinance will give the community its integrity and voice back. A second reading and public hearing will take place Dec. 1 at the city hall building on Rio Vista Drive. Public comment will be allowed at this meeting and action by the City Council can be taken. If the council adopts the ordinance, a special election to recall the mayor and Varela is expected to take place in February, Jesse Gandara said. Socorro Continued from 1A during Tuesday’s meeting. But Jesse Gandara shouted back, saying the four council members aren’t the ones facing criminal charges. “No one in this council has broken the law, but you and Mr. Varela,” Jesse Gandara told his uncle. “You’re indicted by the FBI.” In September, Mayor Gandara was indicted on allegations he conspired to commit fraud and deprive the public of honest services while he was president of the Socorro school board. Gandara has refused requests by some members of City Council to resign as mayor. Varela was arrested after sheriff’s deputies said they found 27.5 grams of cocaine in a truck Varela was driving. Deputies said Varela helped three other men deal nearly 44 pounds of marijuana to the officers posing as buyers. The drug deal allegedly took place Nov. 16 in the parking lot of a Peter Piper Pizza at 10870 North Loop, deputies said. As of Tuesday, Varela remained in the El Paso County Jail, county records showed. Jesse Gandara said the recall movement against him and the Alfonso Gutierrez, a former Socorro City Council member, interrupts a special council session Tuesday night. Gutierrez said he is in favor of recalling the mayor and council and wants the county to take over the city’s government. other three City Council members is a “complete fabrication” from the mayor and his people. He claimed the residents collecting the signatures to recall council members are the mayor’s supporters. Mayor Gandara denied his nephew’s allegations, maintained his innocence and then questioned Jesse Gandara. “Since when are you the jury? Since when are you the judge that has condemned me?” Mayor Gandara asked his nephew. From the audience, Socorro resident Louis Bolaños loudly questioned Jesse Gandara Jr. about accusations of him stealing water. Lower Valley Water District officials found Jesse Gandara Jr. irrigating his land a few months ago despite the fact he owed $95 in water taxes. In August, Gandara said he had recently purchased the property and was not aware of the taxes owed and that he was planning to settle the debt. Bolaños was allowed to remain in the room, but at least Aileen B. Flores may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6362. Former police officers taught her how to fire her rifle and pistol. Soldiers patrolling Guadalupe sometimes mentor her on details of law enforcement, she said. Gándara grew up in Guadalupe and attended school until ninth grade. She is single and without children. She said she does not know which gangs operate in the area. Gándara naturally confronts narco traffickers, she said, but cannot investigate their operations. Gándara said her job is more difficult than that of Marisol Valles García, police chief of the adjacent municipality of Praxedis. “Her ideas have more to do with family values, with social programs,” she said. “Our job is public safety.” Only 10 miles away from Gándara, Valles held a meeting with her female officers on a recent day. Valles, like Gándara, has a bulletproof vest that hangs inside a cage. But Valles has no weapon. She does not know how to shoot a gun. Valles said she hopes to restore peace by having female police officers gain residents’ trust. Valles’ position as chief is mostly administrative. The mayor of Praxedis, José Luis Guerrero, said Valles, at age 20, was the most qualified person for the job. People in Guadalupe, with their one-member police force, say they are more vulnerable to attacks and kidnappings. Many continue leaving for the city. The dangerous road from southeast Juárez to the valley towns rich in cotton is rarely traveled. “We don’t feel safe, not at all.” Mari said. “We are living at God’s mercy.” Adriana Gómez Licón may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6129. Defend Continued from 1A 340 residents escaping the island were to arrive at the port city of Incheon aboard a coast guard ship around midafternoon. Images released by the local government and obtained through YTN television showed people huddled in emergency shelters, children wrapped in blankets, and rows of destroyed houses with collapsed walls, blown-out windows and charred roofs. A man with a shovel walked through the rubble. The skirmish began Tuesday when North Korea warned the South to halt military drills near their sea border, said South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters — but away from the North Korean shore — the North retaliated by shelling Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population. Seoul responded by unleashing its own barrage from K-9 155mm self-propelled howitzers and by scrambling fighter jets. Two South Korean marines were killed in the shelling, which also wounded 15 troops and three civilians. Officials in Seoul said there could be con- Even though conditions are likely to remain miserable for job seekers for years to come, an extraordinary bounce-back is under way in the nation’s corporate sector, where profits rebounded 28 percent during the past year to an all-time high in the third quarter. Businesses’ spending on compensation for employees, by contrast, rose only 7.6 percent. Among the reasons for the strong earnings growth were that financial companies are no longer suffering from huge write-downs on bad investments as they were in 2008, and that US companies are increasing profits by doing business overseas. The economic recovery, which had earlier been driven in large part by government stimulus spending, is now increasingly fueled by demand from consumers and businesses. That shift had been in doubt as recently as the summer, when growth had noticeably slowed. The Fed’s top policymakers project that gross domestic product will rise 3 to 3.6 percent next year — which would be a solid acceleration over growth the past two quarters, but still would be enough only to bring the unemployment rate to the 8.9 to 9.1 percent range in the final months of 2011 and 7.7 to 8.2 percent at the end of 2012. Top Federal Reserve officials project that the unemployment rate, now 9.6 percent, will fall only to around 9 percent at the end of 2011 and around 8 percent when the next presidential election arrives in late 2012. The central bankers had envisioned a more rapid decline in joblessness in their previous forecasts, prepared in June. The sober economic forecast comes despite signs that the recovery is picking up slightly. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that gross domestic product rose at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the three months ending in September, not 2 percent as earlier estimated. And there have been solid readings in recent weeks on job creation, manufacturing and retailing. The apparent contradiction reflects the brutal math that faces the nation trying claw out of a deep recession: Moderate growth, which would be fine in normal times, will do little to bring down sky-high joblessness, a reality reflected in the Fed’s forecasts. The officials also increased their estimate of how low the nation’s unemployment rate could ultimately slide without stoking inflation. Several estimated that level is 6 percent or higher, not the 5 to 5.3 percent earlier thought. “There are structural issues or residue from the financial crisis and the housing bubble restraining the economy,” said Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price. “It’s not even close to being a garden-variety cyclical recovery.” It was these diminished expectations for growth that led Fed officials this month to announce plans to buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds in a bid to drive down long-term interest rates and pump up growth. siderable North Korean casualties. Shin Sung-hee, a fisherman, said he was mending his fishing net near a port on Yeonpyeong when he saw columns of black smoke and fire billowing from the hills. “I couldn’t think of anything. I just thought my wife would be in danger, so I rushed to my house,” Shin said. His wife, Lee Chun-ok, said that when she fled her partly collapsed house, she saw black smoke engulfing the town and fires erupting from nearby hills; a woman was crying on a bridge. Her husband ran over and told her they had to escape, so they ran to a port and managed to get on a ferry with several hundred other people. The U.S. government called the North’s barrages an outrageous, unprovoked attack, but sought to avoid any escalation and did not reposition any of its 29,000 troops stationed in the South. Obama was expected to telephone South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to discuss the issue. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers today that the military will send reinforcements to five islands near the disputed sea border, but provided no details. “South Korea maintains military readiness to deter North Korea’s additional provocations,” he said.