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The cure for bites from North American coral snakes is about to disappear. Find out why an unprofitable antivenom may end up costing lives.

By Glenn Derene, contributed by Leonard Nowak

As venomous snakes go, the coral snake is a clumsy biter. Unlike pit vipers such as rattlesnakes and cottonmouths, which have gruesomely efficient fangs that articulate forward during a strike and inject venom like hypodermic needles, the brightly colored coral snake has small, rear-facing fangs that guide venom into a wound. This process doesn't always work well - experts estimate that 25 percent of coral snake envenomations are dry bites - which is perhaps why the coral is so unaggressive. The snake is found throughout Florida, as well as in parts of Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona, but there are generally only about 100 or so bites each year.

What the coral lacks in belligerence, it makes up for in neurotoxicity. Unlike bites from pit vipers, which cause immense pain and swelling at the wound site, coral snake victims usually report little pain after being bitten. But the effects begin to show within hours, with symptoms such as tingling sensations in the extremities, dysarthria (slurred speech) and ptosis (droopy eyelids). Then a victim's lungs shut down. "The venom acts as a neuromuscular blockade to the lungs," University of Florida professor of medicine Craig Kitchens says. "Without antivenom, you need artificial respiration or you die."

Unfortunately, after Oct. 31 of this year, there may be no commercially available antivenom (antivenin) left. That's the expiration date on existing vials of Micrurus fulvius, the only antivenom approved by the Food and Drug Administration for coral snake bites. Produced by Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer, the antivenom was approved for sale in 1967, in a time of less stringent regulation.

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By Michel Marizco, For the Nogales International

Reporting from Sasabe, Sonora - Law enforcement agencies from both sides of the border say a gun battle rivaling one that took place last week could be about to hit the mountain towns west of Nogales, Sonora.

On the U.S. side, some federal agents have expressed frustration with the Mexican and Sonoran governments, neither of whom has appeared to try and defuse the situation after the July 1 fight between organized crime gangs that left 21 people dead on a rural road outside the sleepy mountain town of Tubutama.

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By JB Miller

Another undocumented immigrant has been shot in Santa Cruz County.

Sheriff's deputies are investigating the shooting of an undocumented immigrant near Rio Rico, as well as the discovery of human remains in the same area.

On Friday morning, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a "concerned citizen" who had encountered a group of undocumented migrants at the intersection of West Frontage Road and Peck Canyon Drive in Rio Rico, according to dispatch records. The men initially said they had been shot at and robbed, then told deputies they had also come across two dead bodies at the southern end of Peck Canyon Drive, which is approximately 10 miles from the U.S.- Mexico border.

across two dead bodies at the southern end of Peck Canyon Drive, which is approximately 10 miles from the U.S.- Mexico border.

Sheriff Antonio Estrada said that according to his department's incident report, five undocumented migrants had crossed into the United States and were walking through a canyon around 5 a.m. on Friday when two unidentified males wearing camouflage clothing shot at them with a high-powered rifle.

"The victims claimed no demands were made. They were just walking and fired upon," said Estrada, who added that the group had not been robbed. Estrada said that when the group ran, one of the men, Manuel Esquer Gomez, 45, from Nogales, Sonora sustained a gunshot wound to the left forearm. 

As the group continued, the men stumbled upon skeletal remains of what they thought were two people.

Deputies from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office, along with a U.S. Border Patrol special response team and air support, responded and found the skeletal remains of one man. Documents found on the man identified him as Alberto Donato Lopez, 40, from Puebla, Mexico. Lopez's body was taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office in Tucson to determine the cause of death.

"It is unknown at this time if the deceased was killed or died of natural causes," Estrada said. "There's always a concern that these people could possibly be victims of violence."

Estrada said the Border Patrol tracked footprints from the scene of the shooting, but no suspects were found. 

"At this point we don't know who they are and whether they are from here or from Mexico," said Estrada. "It's perturbing to hear of people with high-powered rifles and camouflage. It raises some real red flags."

By JB Miller
For the Nogales International

Three members of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) got an earful of complaints from residents of Rio Rico and Valle Verde when they came to Nogales this week for two water-rate hearings. Customers of Liberty Water in Rio Rico, where the company is asking for a 98 percent rate increase, and Nogales residents who rely on the Valle Verde Water Co., which has seen its wells plagued by contamination, took turns speaking at the June 2 meeting.

The Liberty rate increase request is "excessive and particularly unreasonable in this economic time," said Kathi Campana, president of the Residents of Rio Rico civic organization.

County Supervisor Rudy Molera noted the high unemployment rate in Santa Cruz County - currently more than 18 percent - that stands to worsen once produce companies lay off hundreds of employees for the summer.

What's more, Molera said, "SB 1070 has had an effect on our downtown shopping."

On March 3, he and the other Santa Cruz County supervisors passed a resolution opposing Liberty Water's request. They described it as "shocking" in an area with high unemployment.

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The visible tire marks and raccoon footprints along the bed of the Santa Cruz River near Chavez Siding Road suggest that locals - humans and animals alike - have noticed the dried-up sections of the river.

But the parched waterway may have surprised visitors who recall the heavy rains of the past winter, or the river's steady flow last June, and the two Junes before that.

Sherry Sass, co-founder of Friends of the Santa Cruz River (FOSCR), a nonprofit group that has monitored the river since 1991, said this is the most severe drying she's seen in years.

"I think people who see the river dried up are shocked," Sass said, "because they've gotten used to seeing year-round flow for years and years."

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Operation Streamline continues to prosecute illegal immigrants in the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, but one border expert does not believe the program is effective.

During a teleconference hosted by the Immigration Policy Center last week, Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the Berkeley School of Law, said Operation Streamline is an example of "a misdirected policy."

But Arizona's U.S. Attorney said the program has meant a significant reduction in apprehensions and that it continues to be effective.

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Federal statistics may show a drop in violence for big cities in border states, but they don't reflect the reality of rural areas along the border, local experts say.

Federal statistics, an FBI report and an in-house Customs and Border Protection report point out that cities including San Diego, Phoenix and El Paso have falling violent-crime rates and that Border Patrol agents face less danger than city police, according to The Associated Press.

While the studies may be truthful, they don't capture the reality of life along the border, said Palominas-based veterinarian Gary Thrasher.

"Douglas is safer than it ever was, but go out into the San Bernardino Valley and it's a different story," Thrasher said.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Facing off over illegal immigration, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer told President Barack Obama that Americans "want our border secured" and called Thursday for completion of a separating fence. Obama underscored his objections that the tough immigration law she signed is discriminatory.

Meeting in the Oval Office, Obama said Arizona's law and similar efforts by more than 20 states would interfere with the federal government's responsibility to set and enforce immigration policy.

Neither side appeared to give ground on the contentious issue although both talked about seeking a bipartisan solution.

Obama urged her to "be his partner" in working toward a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's badly fractured immigration system. Brewer told The Associated Press afterward that she told Obama her state is not ready for the comprehensive solution he favors.

"I said we need to have the fence completed, have more troops on the border and more resources" for aerial surveillance, she said.

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Sahuarita Police Chief John Harris said he will enforce Arizona's new immigration law but said "the added responsibilities will stretch our resources when they are already stretched to the max."

Harris was among a group of police chiefs who took their concerns to Washington on Wednesday in a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Among other concerns, Harris said in an interview after the meeting, law enforcement officials "think we will be sued by both sides" of the immigration issue.

"We've got the far left crying racial profiling and discrimination and the far right (potentially) suing us under SB 1070 saying we're not doing enough," he said. "This will cost cities and towns lots of money" defending itself in lawsuits.

Another problem with the law, Harris said, is apparently conflicting provisions on how to determine somebody's legal status. As written, even the most routine arrests could take hours, regardless of whether somebody has proper identity.

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