Localidades

View of the Ajijic boardwalk and Lake Chapala. Photo: D. Arturo Ortega. 

Editorial Staff.- After the first heavy rain of the year, Lake Chapala is still losing water. To date, Mexico’s largest freshwater lake has lost 93 cm (over 3 feet); it’s at about 63% of total capacity. 

From January 1st to May 4th, Lake Chapala dropped from 74.98% of capacity to its current level, a loss of about 12 cm.

Translated by Amy Esperanto

Jocotepec Regional High School on Donato Guerra Street, south of the city. Photo: Héctor Ruiz.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- Francisco Díaz Aguirre, the new director of the Regional High School of Jocotepec of the University of Guadalajara (U of G), was sworn in on May 17. The event took place at the Enrique Díaz de León Auditorium in Guadalajara, where the list of academics who will direct the U de G’s high schools during the period 2022-2025 was made public.  Ricardo Villanueva Lomelí, the general rector of the U of G, announced the new appointments.

So far, the new principal is still in the process of handing over the responsibilities of his former position and has not yet been on site at the Regional High School. However, Lourdes Álvarez Cerna, who directed the institution from 2015-2018 and 2019-2022  said she was satisfied with the choice of Díaz Aguirre (Paco), as her successor. «I feel very calm, very satisfied because I know Paco very well. He is very empathetic with young people and very committed. He has my full support and I am sure that he will continue with all the projects in progress,» she stated.

Álvarez Cerna said that, although she will no longer be the school’s director, she will continue as a teacher, «I am not sad. It is something that was already coming, the contract expired and there is a need for new blood to lead the school. I will continue teaching here.»

Finally, Ávarez Cerna, after expressing her good wishes for the administration of «Maestro Paco,» emphasized that one of the main challenges to be taken on by the administration is that of young people and addictions and the psychological, social and economic effects left behind by the pandemic.

Translated by Elisabeth Shields

Heavy machinery clearing streambeds in La Canacinta Ajijic. Photo: Courtesy.

Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).-  Chapala is preparing for the rainy season by clearing streams and riverbeds in the municipality to prevent flooding. Up to 32 risk points have been identified in the municipality, where rains could cause flooding.

The work focused in the Ajijic area is near the La Canacinta neighborhood because of the mudslides that occurred in October of last year.

Other places where work has been completed or is underway are the San Marcos stream in the municipal capital, the Grande stream in the San Antonio Tlayacapan delegation next to the golf club and the one in the Las Guerras neighborhood, in Atotonilquillo.

 Emergency Services in Chapala are prepared to deal with complications from rainfall of 30 to 70 millimeters, according to general statistics on which the Fire Department and Civil Protection are based. However, the rainfall on October 5 reached 120 millimeters near La Canacinta.

Translated by Nita Rudy

Miguel Ibarra Garavito, coordinator of Health in the municipality of Jocotepec, on behalf of the Jalisco Ministry of Health (SSJ). Photo: Héctor Ruiz.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- Medical authorities in the municipality of Jocotepec reported a favorable outlook regarding dengue infections for this year.

According to Miguel Ibarra Garavito, coordinator of Health in the municipality of Jocotepec on behalf of the Secretary of Health of Jalisco (SSJ), very few infections have been reported.

As of May 6, only one suspected case of dengue was reported in the municipality, which turned out to be negative.

The incidence of cases this year contrasts radically with that of past years, including 2020, where the municipality of Jocotepec had the highest number of dengue cases at the state level with 393. 

Despite predictions for high infections this year, the outlook is favorable. According to the doctor, dengue is a biannual disease, which means that one year there is a higher incidence and the following year there is a lower incidence. 2022 should be one of infections.

The success so far this year is due to the intense decluttering campaigns to eliminate all containers that can accumulate water throughout the municipality, such as the campaign that started on March 1st until April 29th.

27 trips were made throughout the municipality and around 359 tons of scrap metal and other materials that could serve as incubation sources for mosquitoes were removed, as well as a total of 1,559 tires. These items were found in houses and vacant lots. 

In view of the positive scenario of contagion, Ibarra Garavito urged the community to pay attention to symptoms such as headache, body aches, eye pain, weakness, fever, among others, and not to self-medicate, but to see a doctor as soon as possible.

There are variants of dengue that with the combination of wrongly administered medications can trigger hemorrhages, since dengue, being a disease caused by a virus, in most cases the only treatment is paracetamol.  

Dengue is a disease transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes, of which there are four serotypes, ranging from a mild infection, strong flu-like symptoms, to severe hemorrhage.

Translated by Nita Rudy

The overturned patrol car lies on the road. 

Editorial staff. – In the early morning of May 19, a drunk driver crashed into and overturned a patrol car of the Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos Police Department. The police vehicle was parked on the highway while officers controlled traffic following a prior collision on the Guadalajara-Jocotepec highway near the intersection with La Barca highway

After a report of the original collision, authorities went to the scene to find a woman who was pinned inside her truck. She reported that a runaway trailer had hit her, destroying the front passenger side of the truck. The woman was traveling alone. 

Because a highway lane was reduced, municipal police officers placed a patrol car behind the accident to alert motorists, but an intoxicated man in a RAM pickup truck hit the patrol car and overturned it. No security personnel were injured, but the drunken driver sustained injuries requiring medical attention.  

Translated by Mags Petel

The mayor of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel, accompanied by municipal officials and elements of Civil Protection and Chapala Firefighters. 

Editorial Staff.- Real estate developers who improperly diverted streams were largely to blame for major landslides in Chapala riverbeds last October, an investigation has confirmed.

The results of a diagnosis by the State Civil Protection Unit of the State of Jalisco (UEPCBJ) showed that the diversions had greatly reduced the natural width of the channels.

The diagnosis was revealed during a session of the Municipal Council of Civil Protection of the Municipality on Thursday, May 19.

State director Roldán Guerrero said the narrowing of the channels threatened the sustainability of the fragile micro-basin in the municipality. He argued against any type of construction that puts the population at risk.

The municipal president of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel, said that since his administration began, no real estate development had been approved.

He added that collaboration between all parties involved in future developments would be of the utmost importance to guarantee the security of residents.

The director of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Chapala, Lorenzo Antonio Salazar, reported that maintenance and conservation of riverbeds in federal zones had begun.

He said the work consists of cleaning streams in the municipality, starting in the Ajijic delegation since that was where the greater number of obstructions in the channels was detected.

He said that 30 percent of the work had been done, using machinery from the municipality and involving personnel from Public Works, General Services, Public Cleaning and Parks and Gardens.

The municipal director cited a previous lack of maintenance as a problem, with channels becoming obstructed by branches, trunks, earth and stones.

The rainy and tropical cyclone season began on May 15 and is expected to end on November 30.

Translated by Alan Ferguson

Jalisco Cup ball. Photo: Semanario Laguna. 

Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- The Chapala Women’s National soccer team suffered a crushing defeat against Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos last weekend, with a 5-0 loss in round 4 of the Jalisco Cup.

The Chapala team has only six points in total; out of four games played they have won two and lost two. They have nine goals for and nine goals against, which places them in third place in the general table of Group 5 Southeast.  

Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos leads the tourney after the fourth day, with wins in two of three games, their total goals amount to 15 in favor and only three against.

Manzanilla de La Paz  deposed Chapala from its second place  position, with three games played and all won,  and 13 goals in favor and three against, which results in a difference of 10 goals and nine points in tota.

With five teams in the Southeast group, Chapala will have an off day  next matchday. It won’t be until the sixth matchday that Chapala will have the opportunity to recover the points needed to qualify for the round of 16.

Chapala’s next leg will be the second match against Mazamitla, this time as visitors, at noon on Sunday, May 29 at the Unidad Deportiva de Mazamitla.

Each match is known as a «leg.» The group winners host the second leg in the round of 16. The team that scores more goals over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is tied the away-goals rule is applied. Therefore, the club that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances.

Translated by MaryAnne Marble

Image of the wrecked bus at the scene of the accident. Photo: Courtesy.

After losing its brakes, a bus carrying workers crashed into the side of the Tuxcueca-Citala highway, leaving 14 people dead and 19 more injured. The accident occurred during the night of May 18.

The blue vehicle with the logos of the Ruza company was transporting workers from a berry company after a day’s work when its brakes failed..

Nine men and five women lost their lives in the accident, while another six women and 13 men were injured and were taken for medical attention to the Municipal Medical Services and the Jocotepec Community Hospital.   

Some of the injured were treated at the regional hospital in Jocotepec, while others had to be transferred to Guadalajara due to the seriousness of their injuries.

During the support operation, security officers of the Secretary of National Defense, officers of Public Security of Tuxcueca and the State Police participated. Other support included the Jalisco Institute of Forensic Sciences (Ocotlán Delegation); Medical Services of Jocotepec; Tuxcueca Firefighters; as well as Civil Protection officers of the command of Mazamitla, Chapala and Jocotepec in addition to the Highway Police, Investigative Police (Agency of Tizapán el Alto) and State Civil Protection.

Translated by Kerry Watson

Martha Alcaraz at the moment she received the «Manuel Altamirano» award from the Ministry of Public Education. Photo: Courtesy.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).-  A teacher from Jocotepec received state recognition for her more than 40 years of service in education.

Martha Yolanda Alcaraz Ramírez, the coordinator of preschool education for the municipality of Jocotepec, received the «Ignacio Manuel Altamirano» award from the Federal Education System last Sunday, May 15, during the commemoration of Teacher’s Day.

The award was presented to her by the Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, and the head of the Jalisco Ministry of Education (SEJ). A total of 1,341 teachers statewide were recognized at the event for having more than 40 years of service.

Alcaraz Ramírez, who assumed the position of coordinator in 1989, said she was pleased with the work that has been done in the municipality at the preschool level, and she appreciated the recognition of her long career as an educator, as well as all the other teachers in the state.

«I want to extend special recognition to all the educators who work to overcome all the problems that have arisen, especially in these times of pandemic,» she said.

In closing, Alcaraz Ramírez told attendees that at 59 years of age, she still has a lot of energy to continue with such important work and that although she is eligible to retire, she assured them that «as long as the body is willing,» she will continue to work in the classroom.

The «Ignacio Manuel Altamirano» award, given to teachers with more than 40 years of service, consists of a gold medal, remuneration and a letter of recognition signed by the President of the Republic.

Translated by Rebecca Zittle

The family was helped by officers to locate the child. Photo: Attorney General’s Office. Photo: Internet. 

Editorial Staff.- State police officers in San Antonio Tlayacapan, in the municipality of Chapala, prevented a woman from being the victim of telephone extortion.

While on patrol the officers were approached by a citizen who reported his sister received a call that her son, a 13-year-old minor, was being held for ransom.

According to the May 16 report, the officers prevented the mother from transferring the money, informing her it was possibly an extortion attempt. At the same time, they began a search to locate her son as soon as possible. 

Minutes later the officers were notified of the minor’s arrival near the Chapala Police Station. The officers went there to corroborate the incident and verify that he was in good health.

After notifying the ministerial agent about the case, the municipal authorities returned the minor to his guardians.

Translated by Mary Woods