The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 1

TR1R -v SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2001 Serving the Rio Grande Valley Since 1909 50 CENTS DAILY $1.25 SUNDAY V. c-, I I 1 I I mate taMe mica extienmonn Officials will take up issue again in January The laser visa was designed as a more secure dixrument than the mica, and includes the cardholder's photograph, fingerprints, and other cully-encoded data. Following the Sept. 1 1 attacks and the ensuing increased border security, there was widespread concent among area By STEPHEN W. SPIVEY The Monitor Mc ALLEN A possible extension of the deadline for Mexicans to apply for their laser visa cards will have to wait at least one month.

Officials in Texas Sen. Phil Gramm's Washington D.C. office said Friday the extended deadline will have to wait until the U.S. Senate reconvenes to take up the bill. Hundreds of Mexicans on their way to McAllen and other border cities were turned aw ay from bridges along the Texas-Mexico border on Oct.

1. when the Immigration and Naturalization Service officially phased out the mica card and replaced it with the laser visa. Mercedes, said Thursday that the legislation had already cleared the Senate and was now awaiting President Bush's signature. That turned out not to be true. Don Stewarti a spokesman for Sen.

Gramm, R-Texas, said the bill was sent to the Senate Judi ciary Committee on Thursday, and has not been sent to the president for his signature. The Senate will not take action on the bill until it reconvenes next month, he said. "All legislation is on hold until the Senate comes back into session," Stewart said. One day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would have allowed Mexicans still carrying the expired mica border-crossing card to enter the United States, the Senate recessed without taking action.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D- See SENATE page 8A n7 I vb mm I Officials: Prepare for traffic, security measures By JUANOZUNA The Monitor 1 i XwiA ,1 McALLEN With congested traffic expected in the air and on the road this week due tbtthe holidays, travel officials are suggesting certain precautions for Christmas vacationers. Officials said their main concern did not focus on security, but on the surge of travelers quickly 5 filling up planesCFuses and roadways. leading fo slower traffic everywhere and a higher for problems.

"The planes are full, and we haven't had any no-shows," said Lt. Gen. Derald Lary, USAF (retired), director of aviation at McAllen-Millcr International Airport, describing the rush of people seen this week. "The difference is people are getting here early enough to process them quickly." With Christmas being Tuesday, though. Lary said he expected even larger groups to fill up the airways this weekend.

He suggested adhering to the rule of arriving at the airport two hours prior to flight time, adding that even arriving 90 minutes early isn't going to work anymore. "My advice is to get here early and do things comfortably." he said. He also suggested trav eling with unwrapped presents, since there is the possibility of having wrapped gifts opened for security measures. Elizabeth Suarez. transit manager at Central German GarcfaT11 Monitor Clean-up Duty: Officer Martin Blanco! a solid waste -for Pet.

1, surveys an illegal dump site Thursday morning in Donna. Illegal dumping target of Waste Enforcement Program The1 officers sift, through garbage to was founded in 1997. The precinct is the largest in Hidalgo County, which covers territory from Donna to the Willacy County line. During a typical Saturday clean up day, officers and clean-up crews often haul away as The site is littered with old tires, motor oil and household waste. "They don't understand that what they are leaving, their children are inheriting," Blanco said looking at the site.

"It upsets you but you can't give up." Blanco and Flores work for Pet. 1 as part of the county-funded Solid Waste Enforcement Program that By MELISSA SATTLEY The Monitor DONNA Officer Martin Blanco has a daunting task. He and fellow officer Sara Flores police 534 miles of road against their precinct's mounting trash problem. At times it's a frustrating job. search for clueS or stake out illegal dumpsites.

On a Thursday afternoon, Blanco surveyed one of the 20 chronic illegal dumpsites he routinely checks, A pile of fly-infested garbage lying next to a sugarcane field on a rural county road near Donna. See TRAVEL page 10A See DUMPING pagelOA Fox affiliate to drop programs fl f.f.rV -2 1 work affiliates." Fox also had begun requiring that more and more of its network affiliates air local news programs, which Wells said, are expensive to produce. Wells said that Televisa, which produces more Spanish-language programming than any other company in the world, has decided to focus only on its Spanish-language stations, including XERV Channel 9 and el Canal de las Estrellas Channel 21, which serve the Valley and Northern Mexico. to replace XHFOX Fox 17. Fox 17 has been the Valley's Fox network affiliate since 1994 when it began broadcasting the network's television lineup.

In February, the station started a 9 p.m. local newscast. Emmett Wells, general sales manager for Fox 17, said the station is being discontinued by its Mexico City-based parent company Televisa because of Fox 17's declining ratings and increasing cost. "The Fox network paid a huge amount of money for the rights to NFL (coverage) last year," he said. "And those costs were passed on to the Fox net By SUSAN MARTINEZ The Monitor McALLEN The Fox television station serving the Rio Grande Valley will go off the air Feb.

28, which means that local viewers could be without The Simpsons, NFL football, Dark Angel and other popular shows if another Fox affiliate does not pick up the Valley market, Fox company officials said Friday. Time Warner Communications, the Valley's cable television provider, could not be reached Friday to confirm if another Fox affiliate would be broadcast on the company's cable lineup The Anociated Pres BLOSSOMING FRIENDSHIP New York Fire Department firefighter 1st grade, Joseph Higgins of Ladder Company 111 shakes hands with Afghan children at an orphanage Friday in Kabul. A group of New York City firefighters and New York City police officers arrived Friday in Kabul, to deliver a cargo of food, blankets and emergency supplies to the people of Afghanistan. Sm mora on page 6A. NewsCom Losing Homen Homer Simpson, of The Simpsons is one of the characters Fox viewers stand to lose with the loss of XHFOX Fox 17.

See FOX page 10A Li LAS GUITARRITAS I Elementary i Classifieds IE Puzzle 7B Comics 7D Scene 3D lottery 2A Sports IB McAllen 3C TV Listings 2D Obituaries 2C Valley State 1C People 2A What's Up ID BRONC HOOPS The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs advanced to the championship of the San Juan Shootout with a 67-58 victory over Oral Roberts Friday afternoon. Pag IB stuaents benefit from classical guitar class. Page ID Warm and humid, breezy; stray shower High: 80 Low: 54 Complete Weather, on Pag IOC McAllen. Texas Since 1909 Vu. 93, No.

172 60 Pages. 5 Sections A Freedom Newspaper www.ThrMnnitnr.com i i.