Foto: El lago de Chapala. Foto: Héctor Ruíz.

Redacción. – El lago de Chapala ha perdido 16 centímetros en esta temporada de estiaje, informó la Comisión Nacional del Agua (Conagua) Jalisco. 

El vaso lacustre se encuentra al 73 % de su capacidad, mientras que las presas cuentan con 87% de almacenamiento. 

The Mayor of Chapala, accompanied by ejido residents, public officials from the Municipality and the State Government

Editor. – The President of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel, announced the repair of 90 kilometers of farm-to-market roads during the start of the works in the ejido or communally-owned area of Potrero David López, in the Atotonilquillo delegation.

The work began with the receipt of heavy machinery from the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) through the Rural Development Directorate and the machinery module and the boards of directors of the ejido areas.

«Today we start with this commitment to refurbish the farm-to-market roads; this is coordinated with you (ejido representatives), in the sense that you have a part and the Municipal Government another part. We thank SADER for the coordination and support of machinery to be able to give a prompt and timely response to the ejidos of our delegation and the municipality of Chapala,» said Aguirre Curiel.

These actions will allow for the rehabilitation of approximately 30 kilometers of road in

Atotonilquillo and approximately 100 kilometers throughout the municipality. The program began in Atotonilquillo and will be replicated in the other ejidos of the municipality, including the indigenous communities.

«We have been in the government office only a month and a half, and it has not been an easy start. I would like us to be faster, but due to budget issues and conditions we will not describe in detail, it was not the best way to start our administration. However, we have resolved some of the problems and we have made progress and achieved many results,» said the mayor of Chapala.

Through a press release, the Municipality reported that, «the renewal of the heavy machinery agreement with the State Government will allow improving the connectivity of communities, plots, ejido areas and the economy of producers; supporting farmers in their agri-food production processes in Chapala, as well as facilitating their transit through the farm-to-market roads located within the municipality». 

Translated by Kerry Watson

Patrulla de la Fiscalía. Foto: cortesía.  

Redacción- Por participar en el  robo a una persona, Juan Diego “N” , fue detenido por elementos de la Fiscalía del Estado (FE) 

Su detención se logró sobre la carretera Chapala – Mezcala, en el cruce con camino a Hacienda La Labor, en el municipio de Chapala.

 Juan Diego “N” ya se encuentra a disposición del  Juez de Control y Juicio Oral del Quinto Distrito Judicial.

The classic view of the press-government relationship is one of wary opposition: Patrick O’Heffernan.

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? Well, the usual things of course – family, health (such as it is), a wonderful home in Mexico, friends, all of our volunteers. But there are a few other things that come to mind as we Americans celebrate this day of being thankful.   One of them is our local government in Chapala.

The classic view of the press-government relationship is one of wary opposition; the press reports on the corruption and incompetence of government, and government uses the press to tell good news stories (deserved or not) and hide the bad news stories of mistakes and corruption.

But, there are times when the government actually does good things and I, at least, am thankful for them.

First, I am thankful for l00 new lightbulbs in the traffic lights on the Carretera from Ajijic to Chapala. Semanario Laguna  has been covering the miserable state of stoplights in Lakeside for several editions now  – even in my column  in the last edition. Last week crews from the Federal government and the new administration in Chapala repaired those traffic lights.

They replaced old dim bulbs with new LED’s,  they fixed the light housing hanging down at Juárez, they synchronized the lights at the Walmart intersection, and they got all the lights working on the Carretera. The last administration tried and failed; the Aguirre administration got it done. Thank you.

The  second thing I am thankful for is  the current administration’s action to stop the invasions of the lakeshore.  Growing up in California,  I directed parts of the political campaign to stop similar “invasions” of the coastline.  As staff to Governor Brown, my team  helped create the Santa Barbara Channel Islands National monument to stop oil companies from “invading” the islands. So I know from “invasions” and am grateful for the move to stop them here.  

In general, the  current administration has hit the ground running; it responded to the floods with urgency and competence: it blocked trucks illegally filling  the shoreline;  it got the lights back on in the Ajijic Malecon and Plaza.  A pretty good first 2 months  record that Chapala citizens – including me–  can  be thankful for.

Now, if they could just fill the potholes, install a traffic signal facing the lakeside at the Carretera and Galeana,  pave the dirt roads in Riberas, and stop the“cuetes”,  I would be thankful all year round.

Lake Chapala Community Orchestra. Photo: Archive.

Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic (JAL) Lakeside will reverberate with the sound of music this holiday season as local song groups and bands announce a busy schedule of entertainment and sing- alongs.  Demand has been so brisk that already the Lake Chapala Community Orchestra has had to add a performance because the first two sold out. Semanario Laguna will update this list as new events are added, but we recommend checking the Lakeside entertainment Facebook pages like Lakeside Live and Ajijic and Lakeside Entertainment Group for more events as they pop up.  

Our current list of holiday  music and dance events:

Lake Chapala Community Orchestra

A Lakeside Christmas with Mariana Vigueras (soprano)

Thursday  Dec..9.21  3 pm and 5:30

Friday Dec.10.21 3 pm

Lakeside Presbyterian Church

Reservations: lccotickets@gmail.com

Yves Restaurant

Christmas Jazz with Lolita Moreno Azpeitia  Band

Dec 2,2021

Free. Reservations 376 766 3565

Joven  Ballet

Gala Ballet

Sunday ,Dec. 12.21

4:30 pm

Chapinaya

Tickets $200:  WhatsApp 331088 2546

Los Cantantes del Lago

It’s Christmas

December 7 and 14 7 pm

December 8 and 15: 4 pm

Bravo Theater, Riberas

Tickets $350 at Mia’s Boutique and It’s Kinda Bazar or online at https://loscantantesdellago.com/reserve-tickets/

Lakeside Little Theater

Songs for the Holidays

December 22, 4 pm

 McIntosh Auditorium at LLT

200 pesos. Tickets at LLT box office or

 at https://www.lakesidelittletheatre.com/tickets

Lake Chapala Society

Holiday Concert with Enrique Allende

December 18, 2:30 pm and 5pm

LCS Garden

Tickets $600 and $450 available at LCS Office or online at https://bit.ly/39mknlL

Los Amigos Big Band

A Big Band Christmas

Dec. 17, 18, and 19th

4 sentido, Riberas

Times and ticket price TBA

Firefighters work the La Loma landfill fire. Photo: Courtesy.

Héctor Ruiz Mejía – Jocotepec City Hall will seek to temporarily reopen the La Loma landfill, which has not been used since it caught fire a little more than three years ago.

According to municipal President José Miguel Gómez López, using the La Loma landfill would give authorities more time to definitively solve the problem regarding disposal of garbage, which collapsed recently due to the refusal of Ixtlahuacán to dump waste.

Although José Miguel hopes to rehabilitate the landfill, more than 40 ejidatarios of La Loma oppose the project. They fear it will contaminate their land, and they remember in 2017, still under the administration of Manuel Haro, the landfill was already at the point of collapse.

“The Ejido of La Loma is one of the smallest, the poorest and they still want to fill us with garbage, which is why the population will not agree,” said one of the ejidatarios who preferred to be anonymous. He said while the landfill was in operation, more than 40 head of cattle died due to contamination.

The La Loma landfill has not yet been officially closed, so the stream that crosses it continues to contaminate the lake. “The water is a source of infection and flows into the lake,” explained another ejidatario.

La Loma landfill after the fire. Photo: Courtesy.

These arguments have not been enough for the mayor, who has emphatically pointed out that if it is not used, then it should be closed because of liquids from the garbage leaching into the stream that crosses the landfill.

The interviewee said the municipality does not have the budget of around 1.5 million pesos that it would cost to properly close the landfill. He said the municipality is looking for the garbage collection company GIRRSA to make the investment to facilitate garbage transportation, prevent contamination from the creek and provide a temporary fix while a permanent solution is being sought.

Since their former plan to open an inter-municipal landfill was discarded after no municipality agreed, as well as the case of Villa Corona, there is still a problem with the garbage service.

“That landfill needs to be closed,” said José Miguel. “The University of Guadalajara has done a study and since the La Loma landfill is at half of its capacity,  it can serve us for two or three more years without any problem.”

In view of the refusal of the community of La Loma, José Miguel explained that he will look for a legal way to carry out the reopening, as he assured that he is aware that the land where the landfill is located was previously purchased by the City Hall, although he has not presented proof yet, he says he will soon reach a resolution. 

Translated by Mike Rogers

San Juan Cosalá’s boardwalk baths 

Héctor Ruiz Mejía – Jocotepec( JAL). – Semanario Laguna toured the boardwalks of Jocotepec municipality and found many of the bathrooms in bad condition. Some of the restrooms, such as the ones on the San Juan Cosalá boardwalk, have irregular and unreliable schedules; there are times when they are open until 5:00 p.m., but only for a short time, and other times when they are not even open at all.

In the case of Chantepec, the bathrooms are not even in operation, since they are in terrible condition. Carlos Monreal Macías, in charge of the Jocotepec City Hall, assured that changes are already being considered. «We have already received a report on the situation of the restrooms in Chantepec, and the truth is that they are in very bad condition. We are even contemplating the installation of stall dividers, since they don’t even have the basics,» he said.

Regarding the irregular and unreliable schedules, reported regularly by citizens, and Seminario Laguna, he said that he was unaware of the situation, but announced that measures will be taken. He added that constant vandalism has made it difficult to maintain the facilities in good condition. He mentioned the example of Chantepec, where the benches and grills have been vandalized, as well as the constant graffiti. In August alone, eight of the barbecue grills in the western zone of the malecón del Chante, had to be repaired due to vandalism.

Finally, he pointed out that due to the high prices of scrap metal, copper theft is still a problem. It’s a constant battle to keep electricity working in good condition as the wiring is a perpetual target for thieves. Municipal presidentHector Nanuel Haro Perez of Jocotepec urged everyone to report any theft that they see.

Juan Martin Santana, Director of Public Services, asked everyone to help maintain and respect all public areas, «I want to ask people to help take care of our public spaces, they are for everyone to enjoy. In these times it is very important to have these spaces, to be able to live together.» The number for the Jocotepec Police is 387 763 0006.

Translated by Amy Esperanto

INE will be at The Ajijic Cultural Center to provide services to voters.

Sofia Medeles (Ajijic,Jal.) – Personnel from the National Electoral Institute (INE) will be at the Ajijic Cultural Center (CCA) for citizens to renew, process, or replace their voter credentials. 

The INE will be open at the CCA from November 24 to 29 (except for the weekend days of November 27th and 28th). They will be open from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Tokens for appointments will be issued to citizens in order of arrival.

Translated by Amy Esperanto

In the photo, the actors playing  Don Paco and  the boy Emiliano,  in  the HBO series Mariachis.

Staff. The town of Chapala is one of the locations where the Warner Media series in production for HBO, tentatively named Mariachis, will be filmed, with the participation of singer and actor Pedro Fernández.

Filming will take place for 10 days in the town. Afterwards, filming will begin on another series by HBO, called Pancho Villa, also set to be filmed in part in Chapala, according to production personnel.

Translated by Dee Lynn

La diputada federal del PRD, Verónica Juárez Piña. Foto: cortesía. 

Redacción. – La diputada federal del Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRD), Verónica Juárez Piña pidió al Gobierno y la Fiscalía de Jalisco que investiguen y sancionen a los implicados en el abuso de menores de una primaria y tres preescolares del estado, entre los que se encuentra el preescolar Fray Ruiz Cabañas y Crespo de la delegación de San Nicolás de Ibarra. 

Dichos casos de pederastia en el estado, se reportan en el Informe “Es un secreto, la explotación sexual en las escuelas”, realizado por de la Oficina de la Defensoría de los Derechos Humanos, en el que se señalan estos actos en la primaria “Adolfo López Mateos” y el jardín de niños “Idolina Gaona de Ruiz” de Zapopan, el jardín de niños “Carlos González Peña” de Lagos de Moreno y en el preescolar “Fray Juan Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo” de Chapala.

Ante la falta de acciones por parte de las autoridades, también solicitó que la Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos de Jalisco (CENDH) intervenga en cada una de las quejas presentadas, ya que solo hay dos recomendaciones de dicha instancia. 

Y es que desde el 2017 en la delegación de San Nicolás de Ibarra, se denunció el abuso de al menos 11 menores del preescolar de la población en el que resultó implicada una maestra que impartía clases de inglés y otros dos implicados ajenos al plantel educativo, además de la directora del plantel.

La Comisión Nacional de derechos Humanos (CNDH) acreditó en el 2020 el abuso de 15 menores del preescolar de San Nicolás, y a inicios del 2021 solicitó a las autoridades de Jalisco a disculparse de manera pública ante las deficiencias de cómo se llevó la investigación del preescolar en cuestión, ocasionando violaciones graves a los derechos humanos de los infantes involucrados.

El informe del caso refiere que los niños y niñas del preescolar de San Nicolás reportan que los obligaban a bailar y desnudarse, así como que les mostraban videos de animales apareándose. Algunos niños y niñas fueron penetrados con distintos objetos. 

Los abusos eran grabados y fotografiados. La directora permitía el acceso a los dos agresores externos.  La maestra fue detenida el 18 de julio de 2017 y aún permanecen prófugos tanto la directora, como los agresores externos.

La Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE) estima que cada años 5 millones 400 mil niños son víctimas de abuso sexual, de los cuales, en el 60 por ciento de los casos el agresor es alguien cercano a la familia -como padres, padrastros, tíos y vecinos- o la escuela.