noticias

The fire was visible from various points in Chapala and Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos. Photo: Mario Negrete Photography.

Laguna Staff (Chapala).-  The hills located behind the Brisas Chapala subdivision, on the border with Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, were affected by the fire that started during the morning of Saturday, May 7, damaging 67 hectares of forest area.

Around 11:00 a.m. the first reports were received when a large column of smoke was observed in Chapala and visible in Ajijic. Shortly afterward, the smoke could be seen from the municipality of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos. 

Aerial view of the affected area. Photo: Government of Chapala.

The flames quickly spread, when members of the Civil Protection and Firefighters of Chapala arrived in the area. They asked for reinforcements from other municipalities to fight the magnitude of the fire. Soon a tanker helicopter from the municipality of Tlajomulco arrived to help. 

After hours of work, the fire was extinguished with 58 firefighters participating in the arduous work. 

Although most of the burned area was leaf litter, the fauna was affected and forced to move away from the affected area. Before the fire started, some suspicious trucks could be seen from the road near the starting point.  

Translated by Mary Woods

Romario Ibarra González. Photo: Facebook.

Sofía Medeles (Ajijic).- Romario Ibarra González, 27 years old, Daniel Parra, 19 years old, and Carlos Amador Uribe, 29 years old are part of the Chapala National Team that will compete in the third edition of the Jalisco Cup 2022. They are all inhabitants of the magical town of Ajijic.

Daniel Parra. Photo: Facebook.

This year the teams compete for a trip to Paris, France, for first place, and a trip to Colombia for second place. 

The Jalisco Cup is a state tournament created in 2019. More than 130 teams participate from different municipalities and regions of the state. Each year the winners have won trips abroad.

Carlos Amador Uribe. Photo: Facebook.

Translated by Nita Rudy

61-year-old, María Quiroz Rameño is an unstoppable woman. Photo: Alma Serrano. 

Alma Serrana (San Juan Cosala).-  Maybe you didn’t have the childhood or adolescence you would have wished.  Life is never as we thought it would be, no matter how much we plan it. From the country to the city, that’s how your life has been, with many inevitable changes and realities that have made you wake up.

Your 61 years have shown you how capable you are.   Limits are nothing more than the experiences of others who have not dared to go, out of fear, where you knew you could go. Your determination makes you powerful and you always do the best you can, even if at the time you didn’t know how. 

Being a mother has made you see, go, look beyond, be invincible and give it your all. For your children you took off the blindfold, to see that the world is not a loom that you can hold. Sometimes you had to weave your own way, with the fabric of your hands.

You were, are, and will be a daughter, a wife, a mother of four children who had to live in a hurry «with shots and pulls.» Being a mother has led you to be, even when you were widowed, bigger than before, stronger, more you. You never gave up.  Nothing stops you. 

Since you were a child, you had the desire to break everything you came across. You have learned that this unquestionable attitude only exists in extraordinary people.

Thanks to your innate, relentless will you have managed to achieve what only the brave, those who remain standing, can achieve.

You may not notice everything you have achieved because circumstances have not allowed you the time to contemplate.  You have known what to do in the face of adversity, defending yourself from everything, you never lost faith. How courageous you have been. 

There is no doubt that it is not necessary to be a mother for us to honor your life like that of millions of mothers.  Undoubtedly being a mother has made you an impeccable human being at heart. I know that life has not been perfect neither with you nor with anyone else, but life does not need to be perfect to be wonderful.

Translated by Nita Rudy

In center with paper in hand, the municipal president of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel; (left) secretary general of SPTAC, Juan Cuevas Gudiño, and municipal trustee Gamaliel de Jesús Soto Pérez, during the report on the approval of the list of demands, in front of the Municipal City Hall. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.

 Jazmín Stengel (Chapala).- Chapala  President Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel gave the go-ahead to seven of 10 petitions made by the Plural Union of Workers of the Chapala City Hall, in favor of the rights of civil servants.

The remaining three petitions will be submitted to the municipal council for approval, according to the secretary general of the union, Juan Cuevas Gudiño.

The list of demands delivered to the mayor’s office included the approval of medical services for parents who depend on the worker, minor children, and students with a valid school card. The demands were delivered by the union leader after the Labor Day march on May 1, with about 325 participants from the unions of the City Hall, DIF and SIMAPA. 

In addition, it was established that an extra doctor at the Municipal Clinic will attend to the workers to avoid the need for workers to seek private consultation due to a shortage of medical appointments. Municipal medical services will also have the appropriate supply of medicines to cover any necessary services.

Members of the union waited outside the City Hall for approximately one hour until the dialogue ended. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.

Additional requests presented by the Union of Workers of the Chapala City Hall included payment of overdue medical bills, and prompt reimbursement of the full cost of medical care upon approval by the Municipal Clinic director, to occur in the near future.

Another issue approved by the municipal president related to overdue and upcoming payments is the vacation bonus corresponding to five legal days of salary. In order to calculate the arrears, a review of documents will be carried out, stated Cuevas Gudiño.

In this respect, it was also requested that the workers’ vacations be respected, since there have been cases in which the directors have denied a worker’s vacation, and that these vacations be timely and fully made up when delayed.

One of the most relevant requests approved by Aguirre Curiel during the nearly one hour meeting was the freedom of the union to affiliate the 120 workers who have been working for the City Hall for more than three and a half years. SPTAC currently has 276 members.

The facilities of the Centro Cultural Antigua Presidencia or the Coliseo Municipal Benito Juárez were made available for the union to assemble from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm on the last Saturday of each month.

The three requests that will be submitted to the Chapala City Council for approval are: the delivery of the extra bonus for the Public Servant’s Day, the 40 pesos biweekly transportation support, and reimbursement of pending and upcoming surgeries so as not to affect the family income of the union members.

More than 300 people participated with flags and white T-shirts in the Labor Day march in the municipal capital of Chapala. Photo: Jazmín Stengel.

Finally, SPTAC secretary general Juan Cuevas Gudiño openly thanked the municipal president for the recent approval of the five percent salary increase, as well as the increase in the savings fund from 65 to 100 pesos per unionized worker, reimbursement for surgeries and operations for the workers, and equipment necessary to provide citizens with the services they require.

The municipal president congratulated the workers on their day and reminded them of their commitment to work for the municipality. «I did not expect that it would cost us so much to start up … However, we have managed to move forward and stabilize. I thank everyone for their patience and support. It is clear to me that the face of the Municipal Government is each and every one of you,» said Aguirre Curiel.

Translated by MaryAnne Marble

After two years of the pandemic, the flower-producing sector begins to recover. Photo: Internet. 

By: Abigail Angélica Correa Cisneros

This Mother’s Day, ornamental flower producers managed to distribute over 3.8 billion stems of chrysanthemum, rose, gladiola, lily, gerbera and sunflower, produced at the end of the 2021 agricultural cycle.

The sector is just recovering, after two years of depressed sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent droughts. The volume produced last year was valued at almost 6.4 billion pesos, with the State of Mexico generating just over 4.7 billion pesos of the total (74.2 percent), a figure that placed it as the top producing state in the country. 

On May 10, thousands of mothers throughout Mexico received a floral bouquet or decorative ornament as a token of love. Thanks to the beauty of flowers, their aroma or cultural significance, flowers are the most in-demand gift of Mexicans to show love on Mother’s Day.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, chrysanthemums had the highest production volume at the end of last year with over 1.4 billion pieces, of which the State of Mexico contributed 92.3 percent, far ahead of Puebla’s 6.2 percent and Morelos’ 1.0 percent. 

Rose production closed 2021 with just under 1.4 billion stems, an increase of 5.6 percent compared to the previous year. The states of Mexico, Puebla and Morelos led production with 77.3, 7.5 and 7.3 percent, respectively. 

In the same period, 726,729,696 gladiola stems were produced. The species ranked third nationally in value and volume of production. Puebla, State of Mexico and Morelos were the main producers in 2021 with 43.9, 33.4 and 13.8 percent shares, respectively.

In fourth place nationally is the gerbera, which is only produced in the State of Mexico. At the end of last year, growers reached a volume of 192,567,744 stems, which marks an increase of 4.6 percent compared to 2020.

Lilies ranked fifth nationally, with a production of 109,749,312 pieces, which is equivalent to an increase of 3.6 percent compared to 2020. The State of Mexico, Veracruz and Mexico City led production with 84.5, 13.6 and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Sunflower production saw an increase of 25.7 percent from 2020 to 2021, with a volume of 46,841,760 sunflowers produced. This marks the highest increase in production of all floral species. The State of Mexico contributed 25,893,000 flowers; 55.3 percent of the national total.

Another variety in high demand is the Dutch tulip, which is produced only in Mexico City. Production of this species closed 2021 with 455,500 plants, which generated a production value of 15.9 million pesos. 

Meanwhile, production of the orchid – considered an exotic species – reached 946,923 plants and a value of 152 million pesos in 2021. This species is only produced in the states of Jalisco (93.1 percent) and Tamaulipas (6.9 percent).

From the Center

Yesenia Mollinedo Falconi and Sheila García Olivera, from the news outlet El Veraz, in Veracruz, were shot by hired killers. The two journalists were mothers of families. Mothers of missing persons marched from the Monumento a la Madre (Monument to the Mother) to the Angel of Independence to demand «truth and justice» for their loved ones. They highlighted the words of the Mexican UN representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (ONU-DH), Guillermo Fernández Maldonado: «there are no more mothers in the world looking for their children than in Mexico.»

Translated by Rebecca Zittle

(From left to right) Filiberto Pérez Vega, Nadia Vega and José González Valenzuela. Photo: Sofía Medeles.

Sofía Medeles (Ajijic).- Three athletes from Ajijic from the group of mountain runners «Team Jou», managed to stand out in the competition «Ultra Cerro Rojo» in Tlatlauquitepec, Puebla, which took place on April 30.

They are José «Jou» Valenzuela, Filiberto Pérez Vega and Nadia Vega, who ran in the free category, in different  distances; Jou in the 50 km reaching the ninth place; Nadia in 15 km achieving the sixth place; and Filiberto in the 30 km, positioning himself in the number 15.

Both Filiberto and José said they were happy with this experience, even though they described it as a «heavy» race. For Nadia, this competition was the second in which she participated outside of Jalisco, so she shared that she found it incredible to go out and see these places that she described as beautiful.

«Because of my injury, the race was a little difficult for me, but I finished it out of pride. On the route they supported me and gave me a pill to keep me going. Although in my case I did not achieve the goal and I felt frustrated, that motivates me to continue and be better in the next races,» said Jou Valenzuela. 

The three mountain marathoners agreed that they will continue running in races outside the town, and that they feel very motivated, as well as grateful for the support that the people of Ajijic have given them. 

Regarding the selection of those who will represent «Team Jou» in this type of races, Valenzuela mentioned that they are chosen for «the desire» they put into their training.

He also invited anyone who wants to be part of his team to contact him through his Facebook page «Jou Valenzuela» so that he can provide them with information about the meetings.

Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan

 Brian Mattes, new President of LLT at his home in Ajijic. Photo: Patrick O’Heffernan

Recently elected LLT President Brian Mattes was a Washington lobbyist for the Vanguard Group where he guided legislation to benefit retirees. He has  an undergraduate degree in communication and theater and an MBA. Laguna English Editor and longtime radio host Patrick O’Heffernan sat down with Mattes at his home for a conversation on the future of the Lakeside Little Theater. Below  is the full interview.

The production of La MIchichuall by La Cochera Cultura i was exciting do you anticipate others like that?

The performance of Michi-Chihualli produced by El Cochera Cultural at LLT was very exciting to me and there will more like that.  It was a wonderful  collaboration, they were great people to work with and it was a fantastic show. Well received. Why not do more like that? And it is the direction that I want to move the theater  ..doing more productions that are different from what   LLT used to do. It was ground breaking on some levels, but very exciting and new and different. In the next years we will see more productions like that. We are very inclined to work with them again; we are already in conversations about that and perhaps others as well. 

I know there is a bridge between La Cochera Cultural and LLT through donors to both organizations. Will you be able to form those kinds of collaborations without that kind of personal bridge?

I hope so. We would like to see some new productions like that, working within the bylaws, of course, but we can find ways to do that.  So , yes.  It is more a matter of the production, something that will be exciting and enlightening to the Lakeside audience.  One of the visions I have is that LLT becomes a place where it reaches out to not just for entertainment,  but for enlightenment, and that is where I want to go, as fast as possible.

Michi-Chiualli was produced by a Mexican organization with Mexicans on stage…is that an opening to the Mexican community or is that a very difficult challenge.

Both. It is a difficult challenge because of language issues and  so forth.  But I am hoping that it was a was an example of how we can overcome them and work with the Mexican community. I would love to see more Mexicans on stage…we have had the great fortune of having outstanding young Mexicans in certain  roles.   It was wonderful; we have had outstanding talent come from young Mexicans who filled critical roles. And it very rewarding to see the Mexican families come out and see their children on stage…and they are so happy to see their child on stage  in a great production..  That is what  it is all about, being happy at seeing a production. And the tradition of families in the Mexican community is paramount.  So if a Mexican is on stage, the family will come out.  Maybe it will lead to having other Mexicans on stage  filling key roles and the families seeing another show. 

Do you envision seeing Spanish or bilingual productions on stage?

I never thought about but it could be a good idea. I should explore it more.  I am looking for ways to bring more Mexicans into the theater…I have not totally sorted that out yet, but I want to work toward it.  May something like the Met’s projected translations project on the stage or on the back of the screen . Maybe if we could find a technical way to do that we could.  That would be cool.

Would travelling troupes, Mexican or English be possible at LLT?

I am just exploring the idea of traveling troupes at LLT because there are times when the theater is dark and I am not happy when it is dark.  I would like to see more shows in production. If it can filled by a travelling show and it would be giving more to the community.

Could you fill the theater with the local community –   Mexicans –  when the snow birds go home? Is this possible?

It is . I am exploring reaching out to the local community .  It would give us something to with the theater during the summer.

You have so many ideas about theater. Are you a theater person?

I am theater Buff.  I have been going to theater for about 50 years. I have  seen theater around the world. I have seen  professional theater in Broadway, Los Angeles, London. I have seen community theater in little towns in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. I just love theater. 

I have an undergraduate degree in communications in theater and  an MBA. I bring the artistic side and the business side.  I think it is a unique combination to say,  I can  look at the artistic side but also the business side.  We have to be creative, but we have to watch the budget. We have to run the theater as somewhat of a business, but not entirely. There is a great book on management written back in the 90’s called “Good to Great”.  The author was challenged if the business metrics can be applied to community  theater After researching it, he said that  instead of the language of business, which would be naïve, we  should apply the language of greatness.

I loved that and explained that to the Board.  

 My goal is greatness. We will let the patrons define  greatness.  If we do great shows we will have great audiences, and we will raise more money and  produce more great shows,  and it will get going like a flywheel.

 Greatness can mean changing the culture – a new way of doing things. LLT has been trampled by a herd of sacred cows and my job is to turn them into hamburger.  We are culling the herd, one by one, out they go.  Do not tell me that that’s the way we have always done it. – that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

I want to do new  things new ways – traveling troupes, collaborations, doing more with the theater in the summer- lots of things to consider..

But, we need more depth in things like directors, stage managers, etc. ,So I am starting the LLT Academy. We have already assembled a number of people who have graduate degrees in theater from here or London or elsewhere, who have done major productions. They can teach Acting  101 or 201 or 401  and courses in stage management, character development, etc. And we will develop a course catalogue for 6 -8 months.  I hope to start this in  September  or October.   I hope to have courses running by the end of the year.  

I have people on the Board who are excited about this. I have reached out to theater luminaries in the area to teach;  some will volunteer, some who will want remuneration.  Many are eager to teach.  We just have to find a facility to hold it and fit it into our schedule.  I want to have them running by the end of the year for people who have an interest in theater but need to learn some skills. This will  increase our depth and lead to more greatness.

But this means we  need more volunteers.  We will get involved in volunteer fairs. I am hoping to have a big volunteer fair, open house at LLT, maybe in September,  where people can come and tourn the theater, meet people behind the curtain, meet directors, stage managers, other actors,  see the course catalogue an volunteer right there at the theater.

Would the academy be an opportunity to train people for the long term?

That would be my fondest dream.  Start someone young  in the Academy , taking courses for a year or two or three, then  get them involved as an understudy or  apprentice who would develop over the years. Then the next thing you know comes Season 60 and we have this huge number of seasoned people who can put on even better shows.  I am looking past  my term to season 60  and 64 to lay the groundwork for greatness after my term. 

And we need to develop backstops…someone to step in when we lose a sound board operator or director, or whatever.   We will do this in my first term. We can’t run the risk  of not running a show because someone did not wake up, or was incapacitated. We are not running the theater with 30 somethings. We have to consider this; at the retreat with the Board I said we have to have a succession plan in place for all key positions We identify people and train them if we have to.

Demographic changes are happening – younger people are moving here. Is LLT tracking this and its possible impact on programming?

Yes.  We are actually tracking a lot of changes  in the audience,  We have noticed there is a high intellectual capacity in the Lakeside community. There are many people with college degrees, advanced degrees and they are looking for something more novel more  enlightening than a fluffy comedy, but something more engaging.   This is true for the young families and the cyber nomads.  They want something more intellectually challenging.

I have a new board member, Mark Nichols  with a fantastic career at the Schubert organization in the US, and I am just tickled that we have him on board.  He will bring this kind of analysis to the board of who is our audience and what are they looking for.  At the end of the day  the we exist to enlighten and entertain our patrons, and that is what we need to give them….I think we need to do an even better job…we are looking at who is our audience, what  are they looking for , and give it to them.

Was “Silent Sky” an example that kind of intellectual challenge?

Absolutely!  I loved it and the audience loved it…it was so novel, so different. I was stage manager during several performances, so I could talk to audience members coming out at the end of the show.  They were thrilled. When you walked into the theater there was this music playing,  there was an  engaging set that was different, not a bunch of flats that looked like someone’s dining  room. …it was mind-expanding.  I was so excited by that kind of play ,  I can’t wait to do more like that. 

Is there any risk that you will be too innovative for the existing audience, that they will say this is not the old LLT I am use to?

I hope they say that! I was asked to run for President to not to be a caretaken and I won’t be a caretaker.  I will quit first.  I want people to say “Wow that is different LLT and I like it”.  I don’t want a status quo, doing what we are used to doing. I want to shake things up  I want to make LLT a place to go not just  for entertainment,  but for enlightenment. That is the mark of a great theater. New Things, new ways despite the sacred cows and all that.  I understand there exists a magic tome  called the LLT Rulebook.  If I ever  find it,  I will have a bonfire on the Angel Terrace to burn it.  

We will still have a varied collection of plays each year – a comedy, a music.al, etc.  But great plays.

 Going back to “Silent Sky” that was such an audience hit, and  so was Random World and so was  Madre. When people saw Madre, every night, they were in tears, and it was wonderful.  That is what I want. We moved the audience with those plays. There was connection.  We created something that excited them.   I  want people to say that is not the old LLT and I love it.

I know  there is some risk involved. When radio stations change forms, they lose some of the old audience. But they gain a newer , bigger audience. Cadillac went through a major change because its buyers were old and dying off,  They needed to attract new buyers. So they did and sales are up. We have to go through the same thing….change.

 Change management is difficult , and some people will be upset. But at the end of the day  you have a great product to offer if it is done right. It has to be great, it has to be something they like.  They may have liked LLT in the past, but wait until they see what is coming.

And not just the Main stage, maybe travelling troupes, maybe concerts, maybe something else. Look at the staged readings…people loved them.  The  10 minute plays are great idea . MT Live has become a big success. I have become acquainted with something called  Alice’s Parlor , which has run in 30 theaters in the US, in which  of plays with a similar themes  are presented over different nights,s o you can see a variations of the play on successive nights. Other things we have not seen at LLT before  include  summer stock. We can  create more  reasons to come to LLT and that is very exciting.

Jocotepec boardwalk merchants claimed sales were slow, but official estimates of tourist revenue paint a brighter picture. Photo: Hector Ruiz.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- After a “terrible streak” caused by two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the recent Easter holiday season had a favorable economic impact in Jocotepec, said Víctor Loza Ornelas, director of Tourism and Craft Development for the municipality.

More than 18 million pesos (about US$900,000) were spent in the municipality during Holy Week and Easter, according to a management study of estimated tourist revenues.

The estimate was based on the average number of visitors, which, according to the director, reached 18,000 over the holiday period.

Visitors are classified into two categories: those just passing through and those staying for an extended period.

Those who visit for just one day are estimated to spend around 350 to 400 pesos per person.

Longer-term visitors, including those making use of the municipality’s hotels, are estimated to spend between 1,200 and 4,500 pesos per person.

Merchants along the Jocotepec boardwalk have complained that holiday sales were lower than anticipated.

But Loza Ornelas said he was satisfied with the results, particularly given the “terrible streak” of the past two years, caused by the pandemic.

Translated by Alan Ferguson

Vista del malecón de Ajijic y el lago de Chapala. Foto: D. Arturo Ortega.

Redacción.- Luego de las primeras lluvias registradas en la región lacustre del Lago de Chapala, sigue perdiendo nivel. Hasta la fecha, el lago más grande de México ha perdido 93 centímetros, lo que lo ubica al 63 por ciento de su capacidad. 

Del primero de enero al cuatro de mayo, el vaso lacustre pasó del 74.98 por ciento de su capacidad hasta el estado en que se encuentra en la actualidad, es decir, perdió casi 12 centímetros.

Chapala generated 76 new formal jobs during April, according to the IIEG. Photo: Archive. 

In April, Chapala was placed on the list of 20 municipalities with the highest job generation, while Jocotepec joined the list of those with the greatest losses. 

This is according to figures presented by the Institute of Statistical and Geographic Information of the State of Jalisco, or IIEG, based on the IMSS database of insured workers.

Chapala ranked 13th with 76 new formal jobs generated during April, 59 of them permanent and 17 temporary. Leading this category was Autlán de Navarro with 514 workers, Tonalá with 454 new jobs and Guadalajara with 401 more insured workers. 

In contrast, Jocotepec ranked sixth on the list of municipalities with the greatest loss with 271 fewer formal jobs,167 casual and 104 permanent. Zacoalco de Torres had the greatest number, losing 925 workers. Tlaquepaque lost 835 and Zapotlán el Grande lost 741 formal jobs.

At the state level, Jalisco lost 2,061 formal jobs during April 2022, mainly in the agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing sector. Despite this drop, during the first four months of the year, the state generated 34,716 new jobs, making it the second state in the country with the highest accumulated annual figure.

Translated by Mike Rogers