EL RRUN RRUN
http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/
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ZAPATA KNEW: PLAY THE GAME, TAKE YOUR CHANCES
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<div>By <b>Juan Montoya</b></div><div>We have named a street after him, a boat ramp on the way to Padre Island, and his family has received the highest honors a nation gives its slain warriors, including a call from the commander-in-chief and that of his boss, the secretary of Homeland Security.</div><div>And, without even knowing for sure, we're confident that his family has received the financial benefits usually afforded to the survivors of one of its slain agents.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXXCboPqNjaQkrCiKSwqAtq1KKhz0dfHCJGOFyQTaz4S-_urHPjSxz5r1GWD-lej1FHiM1C-HR97ScqleUV53C07-W7ow5RHTYy8el4Bwh76lTvJN2wLvrzgr90FYQ13rv9fzdbjYNew/s1600/zapata1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXXCboPqNjaQkrCiKSwqAtq1KKhz0dfHCJGOFyQTaz4S-_urHPjSxz5r1GWD-lej1FHiM1C-HR97ScqleUV53C07-W7ow5RHTYy8el4Bwh76lTvJN2wLvrzgr90FYQ13rv9fzdbjYNew/s320/zapata1.jpg" width="320" /></a>But apparently, that isn't enough for the family and the attorneys representing the survivors of Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed in Mexico and have filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the U.S. government.</div>Other cities and towns around Texas and the rest of the country have also honored the memory of the young agent.<br />His family says officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) knew that the men who bought the guns used in Zapata's murder were buying weapons bound for Mexico, but did nothing to stop them.<br />Zapata, of Brownsville, was serving as U.S. adviser in Mexico when he and Agent Victor Avila were gunned down on a highway in Mexico between Mexico City and San Luis Potosi by members of Los Zetas drug cartel. Avila survived and has joined the case.<br />Zapata’s parents and Avila retained attorneys to pursue claims against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI “arising out of their wrongdoing.â€The attorneys are Benigno “Trey†Martinez of Martinez, Barrera & Martinez of Brownsville; Raymond L. Thomas of Kittleman, Thomas & Gonzales of McAllen; and Magdalena A. Villalobos of the Rad Law Firm of Fort Worth. Jaime Zapata was killed February 2011 in a roadside attack.<br /><div>In the lawsuit, the family maintain that a Texas-based operation similar to Operation Fast and Furious is responsible for allowing the weapons that killed Zapata and injured Avila to get into the hands of known killers. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span>That gun sale plan, known as Operation Fast and Furious has been widely criticized by lawmakers.<br />Those of us who have served in the military or other law-enforcement occupations with the government know that once you pin on the badge and take the oath, you voluntarily enter a world where danger is at every turn. Bad guys all around the world see you as the representative of their worse enemy. It comes with the territory.</div><div>Certain political factions in the U.S. have made it nearly impossible to halt the sale of assault weapons at gun shows with the minimal identification on the part of the purchaser. The Fast and Furious programs were undertaken by the government to try to track the illegal "gunwalking" of these weapons to cartels and organized crime groups in Mexico.</div><div>Zapata and Avila knew this. In fact, news reports indicate that Zapata had actually participated in operations that detected such sales. In fact, he described such an operation in an ICE Report of Investigation (ROI) from August 2010 describing 80 weapons seized in an arms smuggling interdiction between Phoenix, Arizona and San Antonio, Texas. </div><div>Of these weapons, the majority (approximately 50) were noted to have come from Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona, purchased by Uriel Patino and Jacob Chambers. The ROI was written and signed by Zapata. In other words, when he agreed to wok in Mexico, he knew what he was getting into.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhcTdHIyTWyWAawn8EPgRbyI5rXn9WuTrnc2IS5IT0QfvYZfIAehKRKlvfRqOoMy2A5kHeZWCt-Za9m9OP_fvkV71OF2xEy30B3WSqcfVWMOIKysCnhr-ZCfhC7N8JVqhSAN6tPYNQGo/s1600/casket-of-ICE-agent-Jaime-Zapata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhcTdHIyTWyWAawn8EPgRbyI5rXn9WuTrnc2IS5IT0QfvYZfIAehKRKlvfRqOoMy2A5kHeZWCt-Za9m9OP_fvkV71OF2xEy30B3WSqcfVWMOIKysCnhr-ZCfhC7N8JVqhSAN6tPYNQGo/s320/casket-of-ICE-agent-Jaime-Zapata.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />For his family now to sue the federal government equates to a U.S. soldier suing the government for the Taliban killing Americans using weapons originally provided clandestinely to the mujahdeen to fight the Russians.<br />What's next from these lawyers? Will they find Mexican victims killed with these weapons and sue the government again?<br />We wish the Zapata family the best in their quest to get money from the government. But there is a gnawing sense among some of us that this is more of a lawyers' ambulance-chasing effort than any crusade to right a wrong or to honor the memory of someone who died in service of his country.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-2719564343718000640?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/zapata-knew-play-game-take-your-chances.html
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UT SYSTEM: LEASING FACILITIES NOT IN BEST INTEREST OF UTB, WE'D RATHER YOU GAVE THEM TO US AS A GIFT
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<div class="panel-pane pane-page-title"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><h2 style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> Statement by UT System on Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees' Decision Not to Sell Real Estate</h2><br /><div class="pane-content"></div></div><div class="panel-pane pane-block pane-print-0"><div class="pane-content"><span class="print_html"></span><span class="print_mail"><br /></span> </div></div><div class="panel-pane pane-node-body"><div class="pane-content">AUSTIN â€" <a href="http://www.utsystem.edu/news/2012/06/26/statement-texas-southmost-college-board-trustees-decision-not-sell-real-estate">The following statement</a> from University of Texas System Chancellor <a href="http://www.utsystem.edu/chancellor/biography" rel="nofollow">Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.</a>, was issued today (June 26) regarding Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees’ decision not to sell any real estate for future use by The University of Texas at Brownsville.<br /><b>Statement from Chancellor Cigarroa:</b><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kut/files/styles/card/public/201112/_KCA5595_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" id="il_fi" src="http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/kut/files/styles/card/public/201112/_KCA5595_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Francisco G. Cigarroa</td></tr></tbody></table>“The University of Texas System proposed to Texas Southmost College (TSC) an “Educational Village†concept with facilities owned and operated separately by TSC and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) campus alongside one another within the historic Ft. Brown campus.<br />“At a meeting of the TSC and UT System transition teams in Brownsville on Monday (June 25), TSC representatives announced that the community college district would not sell any real estate at this time or in the next three to five years, and that leasing facilities for use by UTB is the appropriate solution.<br />“The UT System stated early in the transition team negotiations that leasing facilities is not in the best interest of UTB’s educational mission as it is not conducive for a prosperous and growing four-year university. The UT System’s priority remains to build a vibrant four-year university campus that one day can rival the best universities in the state. Doing so on borrowed land and with leased facilities does not allow UTB to appropriately advance its educational mission. Without access to land for expansion in Ft. Brown, the proposed ‘Educational Village’ would not be practical; therefore, the UT System will move quickly to evaluate alternative sites in Brownsville for future expansion of the main UTB campus and build the required infrastructure necessary to accommodate its students by Fall of 2015.<br />“Transition activities in preparation for the separation of the two institutions will continue as before, through the interim period until the August 31, 2015 termination date.â€</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-4022714249684374631?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/ut-system-leasing-facilities-not-in.html
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MARCHAN SINGING FOR HIS SUPPER, WILL HE GET BREAK(FAST)?
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By <b>Juan Montoya</b><br /><br />It ain't the fat lady that you hear when you pass by the federal courthouse in Brownsville.<br />Insiders say that in view of his seven-count racketeering and bribing conviction related to the Abel Limas judicial corruption investigation, the virtuoso voice you may hear singing is that of Port Isabel attorney Ray Marchan.<br />Marchan, who fought the federal government's charges that he paid Limas kickbacks and bribes for appointments to lucrative cases, is the first defendant in the federal slate who fought the prosecution aggressively, but now â€" facing a long time in prison â€" is moving quickly to make points (literally) with the federal government.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_1M42MBwOTbDwNW8WgYPtutghedFkJ3IvobwapLlW18lqGaurpXvNWkulchkgPkZ6ZfgqiOooPbetEJ9kdMrlvnc8RJHkR9l33BIOap8K4FEO333sgQNxYHXyr6iqBlJhBB7bla4Voo/s1600/canary1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_1M42MBwOTbDwNW8WgYPtutghedFkJ3IvobwapLlW18lqGaurpXvNWkulchkgPkZ6ZfgqiOooPbetEJ9kdMrlvnc8RJHkR9l33BIOap8K4FEO333sgQNxYHXyr6iqBlJhBB7bla4Voo/s320/canary1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>During Marchan's trial, tantalizing glimpses into the scope of the government's judicial corruption probe were given the public when the names of a handful of Cameron County judges and prosecutors, including DA Armando Villalobos, came up in testimony and cross-examination by the defense. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen limited the questioning of the witnesses when they strayed away from the case before them against Marchan.<br />However, while on the stand, Limas did implicate some prominent jurists.<br />Already, his testimony is known to include several district judges who he said committed unspeakable "crooked" and unethical acts. Limas, in his attempt to save his skin, his wife's, and his son's freedom, has spilled his guts to the federal government.<br />Those judges â€" 138th District Judge Arturo C. Nelson, 444th District Judge David Sanchez, 357th District Judge Leonel Alejandro and 404th District Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez â€" can only guess what's contained in the dossier folders waved by federal prosecutors before the jury that convicted Marchan, except that Limas claims the allegations contained therein are true.<br /><span style="background-color: white;">Already, Nelson has disputed Limas' version of the events leading to his name being linked to the alleged corruption and a former Asst. DA (Doug Pettit) also claims he was unaware that he was being drafted to be part of a Limas-Marchan scheme to generate ad litem fees for him and Marchan. Whether other evidence linking Nelson ad Pettit to the probe is in the hands of the feds is not known.</span><br />And now that Marchan can almost hear the clanging of the prison cell doors behind him on the way out of the Rio Grande Valley, whose head will he seek to deliver to the government is anyone's guess.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-6665829187783163638?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/marchan-singing-for-his-supper-will-he.html
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TSC TO UTB: NO SALE: PAY YOUR RENT AND WE'LL TALK
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<span id="goog_1274545048"></span><span id="goog_1274545049"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qFQfRhxSbpdj2qn2Jbu4J5EP4vW36T72vxfEin0Qwoe4CH_rxoX83YmGlyIUkxbueAH-c6hpeCIfe3aU7Mdd1GlOMupjbH-6HzMITzOCuznmc8FrR4Uj2kSU0LQmqvv6mnkqPMCxz7w/s1600/tscutb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qFQfRhxSbpdj2qn2Jbu4J5EP4vW36T72vxfEin0Qwoe4CH_rxoX83YmGlyIUkxbueAH-c6hpeCIfe3aU7Mdd1GlOMupjbH-6HzMITzOCuznmc8FrR4Uj2kSU0LQmqvv6mnkqPMCxz7w/s320/tscutb.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The transition teams of Texas Southmost College (TSC) and the University of Texas System (UT System) met on June 25, 2012, to discuss the important business of real property, facilities, furniture, fixtures and equipment.<br />At that meeting, Dr. Lily F. Tercero, President of TSC, expressed that “the TSC Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring the successful completion of the transition process and looks forward to having two very prestigious educational institutions in our community.â€<br />She stated that “TSC embraces the concept of an educational village, as proposed by the UT System.†According to Dr. Tercero, “It is a financially viable and student-friendly concept that would entail the sharing of certain student-related services.†Additionally, this collaboration would allow TSC and UTB students continued access to existing facilities.<br />Dr. Tercero did point out that, “At first glance, some operations might be viewed as viable candidates for consolidation or may appear to be redundant, but in actuality, it may be necessary to keep these operations separate for various reasons. For example, the mission of the community college is different from that of a university. Each institution has been purposely designed to serve different populations and different community needs. As a result, service needs and program offerings at both institutions differ, as do reporting requirements at the local, state and federal levels.â€<br />According to Dr. Tercero, “Although the UT System has expressed interest in purchasing certain buildings and land, TSC sincerely believes their proposed concept and educational space requirements can be fully accomplished by leasing rather than selling TSC property.†“It is too early to determine the level of growth that will occur at TSC and UTB; therefore, the TSC Board of Trustees believes that it is fiscally prudent and in the best interest of the College District and UTB to retain the flexibility of a leasing program at this time.†While the Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring the long-term viability of TSC, it is also strongly committed to assisting UTB as it moves to becoming operationally independent from the partnership. “TSC is ready to work with UTB to ensure that it has the space it needs to implement its academic program as both institutions move to becoming operationally independent in fall 2013,†she stated.<br />TSC was initially established in 1926 and entered into a partnership with the University of Texas at Brownsville in 1991. In early 2011, the UT System Board of Regents and the TSC Board of Trustees voted to terminate the partnership. TSC is scheduled to become operationally independent by fall 2013 and separately accredited by August 31, 2015.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6016803033174468094-5570580137512600059?l=rrunrrun.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>
LINK: http://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2012/06/tsc-to-utb-no-sale-pay-your-rent-and.html
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