Out and About in Puerto Vallarta
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
| | Vallarta resident Jimmie Ellis (with Chobe the lion) on the Lion Walk at the Tshukudu Game Lodge in Hoedspruit, South Africa. | | |
Puerto Vallarta's police chief, Raymundo Cruz Rodriguez, is hospitalized, as of this writing, after gunmen, reported paid by the major Sinaloa cartel, attacked him. His bodyguard also is hospitalized. Three men were arrested, including one who resides in Vallarta.
With this big-time attack, announcements, including from Mayor Javier Bravo, indicate increasing vigilance. Installation of 48 cameras around town is scheduled. We'll wait to see how this works out.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon is shaking up the attorney general's office. As background, a respected international news service, Reuters, explains:
Calderon made drug fighting a cornerstone of his administration as he took office in December 2006, but despite his army-backed crusade against traffickers, the cartels remain strong, and violence is on the rise.
In recent months, police chiefs have been ambushed and killed in brutal attacks, while increasingly children and families are becoming victims.
Mexico's main drug gangs, the Gulf cartel, and a group of traffickers from the western state of Sinaloa, are at war with each other and the security forces. Adding to the mayhem, several factions within drug groups are fighting for power.
Jalisco state has experienced families being killed, including children. A child was killed here in Puerto Vallarta when his father, a tourist law enforcement official, was killed.
To happier news, Hacienda Jalisco, San Sebastian, will be managed by Joe and Monica Thompson. Their two children will attend school there. Joe will continue working private parties in Vallarta.
Pamela Thompson, mother of Joe, will continue with reservations, publicity, and answering questions. The owner, who lives in Los Angeles, was in partnership with the late Bud Accord. Best wishes for success.
Ann Marie Danimus, a professional theater performer and manager, is gearing up for the Santa Barbara Theater season. Right now, her efforts are focused on the new restaurant, perfecting recipes and buying equipment. A sidewalk cafe and an espresso/wine bar in the lobby are planned. Remodeling of the theater begins in August. Late-night entertainment upstairs will follow regular theater shows. The schedule is being completed. Sounds like it is going to be a fun gathering place, morning (for breakfast) to morning with meals and late-night entertainment.
Jimmie and Mary Ellis are back in Vallarta briefly after 15 weeks of travel from Mount Kilimanjaro to Cape Town, South Africa, cruising from Cape Town to Amsterdam, visiting friends in Scotland and cruising the Norwegian fjords and the North Cape, Europe's most northern point.
They then leave mid-August for a 15-day land/cruise Alaska trip, traveling across western Canada by train to Toronto to visit family and friends. It is Mary's mom's 80th birthday. Then they cruise for 78 days to the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Amazon River before returning to Florida and Puerto Vallarta on December 19, in time for Christmas.
Our thoughts are with Silvia, following the death of her husband and author Bill Reed.
Caterer and musical performer Kathy Overly lost her mother, Peggy, who was helpful to Kathy with catering preparations. We are thinking of you, Kathy.
Local thoughtful AIDS activist Paul Crist attended the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. He will provide reports when he returns.
Sylvie's cafe, Constitution 344, primarily is a carryout with good breakfast items, including omelets and other egg dishes. All kinds of salads and sandwiches are available. She has a lot of natural juices for everything from job stress, indigestion to colitis. Also many smoothies with milk options. Hours are 7 am - 5 pm, Monday-Friday and 8 am - 5 pm, Saturday. Tel: 223-2078. Sylvie Scopazzo also is general manager of Canopy Tours de los Veranos. Email: roodyandboo(at)hotmail.com.
Tom Robbins, author of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, appears at the San Miguel de Allende summer literary festival. His session is on August 20th, "Teaching a Sentence to Sing." His latest book, B is for Beer, as Robbins says, a 128-page "hallucogenic hymn to beer, children and the cosmic mysteries that sustain us all."
What are you reading this summer? I am awaiting delivery of Daniel Silva's latest book of international intrigue, Moscow Rules. When Alexander McCall Smith has another book out in his No. 1 Lady Detective Agency series, I immediately get a copy. The new one is The Miracle at Speedy Motors.
Nobel Prize recipient Alexander Solzhenitsya is remembered in death as in life for his standing up to the Soviet Union. The Gulag Archipelago is said to have been the first seeds of the Soviet Union's eventual collapse. He wrote an essay entitled, "Live Not By Lies", written probably hours before he was sent into a 20-year exile.
Enjoy a summer of reading.
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to BanderasNews, the Vallarta Tribune and other local publications, she writes Out and About in Puerto Vallarta, an informative column that offers inside information about who, what, why, where and when it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more articles by Twila Crawford. |
Vallarta Weddings
Vallarta Living | August 2008 
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