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INDEX
Calendar............................A2
Obituaries.........................A2
Opinion..............................A4
Spanish..............................A5
Sports................................A6
Comics............................. A7
Classiieds........................A9
Local..................................A10
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Volume 86, No. 2223
Copyright 2015
Del Rio News-Herald
Gay wedding cake at
center of Colorado Ap-
peals Court case
A suburban Denver baker
who refused to make a wed-
ding cake for a gay couple will
argue Tuesday before the Col-
orado Court of Appeals
SEE PAGE 10A
SEE PAGE 4A
OPINION
NATION
Longtime Hollywood
producer Jerry Wein-
traub dies at 77
A publicist for Weintraub
said he died of cardiac arrest.
OBITUARIES
SEE PAGE 2A
Classes at the Firehouse
Fine Arts, Dance & Fitness, Pho-
tography, Fiber Arts, Creative
Penmanship, Pottery, Creative
Writing, Free Kid Workshops,
Culinary Classes, Homeschool
Classes, and more.
AROUND TOWN
iNside
HISTORY IN SONG
Photo by Chris Adams | Del Rio News-Herald
Phil Lancaster sings a story about an orphan to captivated attendees.
Library brings Riders on
the Orphan Train program
Unchanging truth about
marriage
By CHRIS ADAMS
Del Rio News-Herald
A program titled, Riders on
the Orphan Train, made a stop
in Del Rio Wednesday and
captured the interest of the
sparse but appreciative audi-
ence that came to learn about
a tragic part of American his-
tory.
The program, held at the Ra-
mada Inn and sponsored by the
Val Verde County Library, told
the story of thousands of dis-
placed young people through a
multi-media presentation that
included, live banjo-laced folk
music, discussion and spoken
exposition, archival images,
and interview excerpts from a
1993 PBS documentary.
The presentation explored
the plight of approximately
250,000 orphans and unwant-
ed children who were loaded
on trains in New York City
and given away at train sta-
tions throughout the nation.
This relatively unknown chap-
ter of our country’s history oc-
curred between 1854 and 1929.
In 1997, novelist Alison
Moore and singer/songwriter
Phil Lancaster developed the
Riders on the Orphan Train
program for The Orphan Train
Heritage Society of America,
Inc. in Springdale, Ark.
“Alison Moore and I met
at the Kerrville Folk Festi-
val in 1997. We got together
and hung out and she came
to spend the summer in Fay-
etteville (Ark.) after the festi-
val and that’s when we found
out about the orphan trains ...
got a documentary ilm and
watched it and said, ‘We got to
do something with this,’” said
Lancaster. “So we collaborated
on writing some of the songs
and put this program together
with grant monies through the
Humanities Council in Arkan-
sas and we’ve been doing this
program for the last 17 years.
I’m hoping I can 10 more years
of touring in before I have to
slow down.”
Their program is the oicial
outreach program of the Na-
tional Orphan Train Complex
based in Concordia, Kansas.
The inal stop for the orphan
train was in Sulphur Springs,
Texas in 1929. Lancaster said
that many of the orphans that
came to Texas were taken in
See PROGRAM, Page 3A
July 17
Border Federal Credit Union
will host its 12th Annual Youth
Financial Camp for students
ages 14- 18.
Welcoming the challenge
By KAREN GLEASON
Del Rio News-Herald
Oriana A. Fernandez, the
city’s new economic devel-
opment director, says she
welcomes the challenges her
position is sure to bring and
is looking forward to work-
ing on issues as diverse as the
restoration of commercial
airline service and improve-
ments to the city’s parks.
Fernandez, a native of
Eagle Pass
and the vale-
dictorian of
Eagle Pass
High School’s
Class of 2001,
was hired as
the city’s new
economic de-
velopment
director June 16. Fernandez
earned a bachelor’s degree in
English and kinesiology from
Rice University and holds a
master of business adminis-
tration degree from Sul Ross
State University.
Fernandez, who had been
working as an English teach-
er and coach in the local pub-
lic school district since 2008,
said she applied for the city’s
economic development posi-
tion because she was ready
for a new direction.
Fernandez said about a
year or two ago, she began
feeling the pull to change,
as she could ind no new op-
portunities in the situation
where she found herself.
“An opportunity would
open up, and they would hire
someone else, so I started
thinking bigger picture, and
I said well, I’ll start studying
to be a school administrator,
because I already had seven
years in education at that
point,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said she began
studying to become a school
administrator and is now
only nine hours short of in-
ishing that education, which
she said she hopes to con-
tinue.
Then one day, she said, she
happened to be perusing the
city’s web site and saw the
job posting for the economic
development director posi-
tion.
“I want to say this was
Fernandez eyes airline as top priority for Del Rio economy
See DIRECTOR, Page 3A
S.C. Senate votes
to take down
Confederate flag
By STEVE PEOPLES
AND JULIE BYKOWICZ
Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
Worried about “Repub-
lican-on-Republican
violence,” top party do-
nors are taking action,
with one iring of a
letter calling for more
civility and another
seeking to block busi-
nessman Donald Trump
from the debate stage al-
together.
Foster Friess, a Wy-
oming-based investor
and one of the party’s
top 20 donors in the last
presidential contest, is-
sued a letter to 16 White
House prospects and
the Republican Nation-
al Committee late last
week calling for candi-
dates to stay on the “ci-
vility reservation.”
“Our candidates will
beneit if they all sub-
mit to Ronald Reagan’s
11th Commandment,
‘Thou shall not speak ill
of a fellow Republican,’”
Friess wrote in a letter
sent to Republican Na-
tional Committee chair-
man Reince Priebus. A
copy was obtained by
The Associated Press.
In the dispatch, Friess
cites the backing of ca-
sino magnate Sheldon
Adelson and Chicago
Cubs co-owner Todd
Ricketts. “Would you
join the efort to inspire
a more civil way of mak-
ing their points?” Friess
wrote. “If they drift of
See DONORS, Page 3A
see Page 6a
Del Rio National
falls to
Eagle Pass
FERNANDEZ
By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. —
The push to remove the
Confederate lag from
the grounds of the South
Carolina Statehouse is
about to clear its irst
hurdle.
But even if a bill to
bring down the rebel
banner passes the state
Senate as expected
Tuesday, it faces a less
certain future in the
House.
Senators voted 37-3 on
Monday to take down the
lag and the pole it lies
on, both of which were
erected in 2000 as part
of a compromise that in-
volved removing the lag
from atop the Statehouse
dome. The vote was well
over the two-thirds ma-
jority that will be needed
Tuesday to send the bill
on to the House.
But while that means
debate would be-
gin Wednesday in the
House, it is far from
clear whether a vote will
take place the same day
— or what the vote will
be. House members ap-
pear to be less uniied.
Republicans met be-
hind closed doors Mon-
dayandstruggledtoreach
a consensus on what to
do next. Some, including
Speaker Jay Lucas, have
See FLAG, Page 3A
As Republican
infighting grows,
donors call for calm