| | |  Vallarta Living | September 2008 
Out and About in Puerto Vallarta
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
| | This week is especially lively with the Independence Day celebration on September 15. After a day of events, ceremonies, music and dancing, at 11 pm, Mayor Javier Bravo will deliver "El Grito" reenacting the historic cry for independence. | | |
We are celebrating Mexico's Independence from Spain this month. This week is especially lively with the Independence Day celebration on Monday evening, September 15. After a day of events, ceremonies, music and dancing, at 11 pm, Mayor Javier Bravo will deliver "El Grito" reenacting the historic cry for independence. Plenty of fireworks. For events and restaurant specials, please see Vallarta Celebrates Mexican Independence right here on BanderasNews.
Commander Alfredo Rivas, fire chief here, visited Calgary, Canada, to thank the fire department there, through Angels for Mexico, for their contribution of equipment. Commander Rivas explained that this community of 300,000 has one fire station, and until recently, very little equipment.
Christena Callaghan, founder of Angels for Mexico, says, "The situation down there is beyond dire, and we've started in Puerto Vallarta." Calgary´s fire chief, Bruce Burrell says that the Calgary department will help its counterparts in Puerto Vallarta get up to a certain standard. A big thank you.
Mexico's top court has backed a Walmart employee who had complained that vouchers handed out by the company as part of its salary payments could only be spent in the company's stores.
The Supreme Court compared the practices of U.S. retailer Walmart in Mexico to employer-worker relations and old company stores in the latter 1800´s during the dictatorship of former president Porfirio Diaz.
Mexican non-governmental organizations previously had called for a boycott of Walmart to protest low salaries and working conditions of its employees. Walmart is reported to be the largest private employer in Mexico, with 157,000 employees.
On Sunday, September 14, the Mr. Gay Puerto Vallarta 2008 competition will be presented by Vallarta Enfrenta el SIDA, A.C., an AIDS/HIV educational organization. The event will be at the former Sr. Frog's, corner of V. Carranza and Ignacio Vallarta. Doors open at 9 pm with the event concluding at 3 am.
School of Champions, operated by the non-profit Children of the Dump, begins the school year on September 17. More than 300 children are expected for two sessions of school. A school feeding program reaches about 2,000 children in eight primary and kinder schools. Help is needed with school supplies, specifically notebooks and back packs, and cash donations to support daily operations. To help and to get more information, email arthurefumerton(at)yahoo.com.
The Vallarta Botanical Gardens will be closed from September 15th-October 1st, reopening on October 2nd.
Some interesting facts concerning drug trafficking in Mexico: It is worth more than USD $10 billion a year and growing. Mexico's Public Safety Secretary Ganaro Garcia Luna has warned that drug trafficking will continue and grow unless a comprehensive strategy is developed to fight it. He said criminals use cell phones. Mexico does not have a cell phone registry. Officials have said they will create a database for police to track down criminals who use mobile phones to commit crimes. The government is reported to be restructuring what is known as corrupt police departments after a model in Spain, according to Luna. Many law-enforcement personnel have been killed fighting the drug trafficking.
A bluegrass local duo, Blue Darlin' plays on Friday nights at 7 pm at Cafe Roma, Encino 287. John Swanson and Erin Govrik sing, accompanied by mandolin and guitar. For more information, go to RomaMexico.com. While you are there, you also can check the local weather online using Café Roma's Puerto Vallarta Weather Station.
Dining with two smoker friends caused our moving around following our entrees. We moved to the patio so they could be comfortable smoking. My normally mild-mannered friends declared the new non-smoking law, in parts of dining facilities, as "facist." As a non-smoker, I always say I will die of causes from second-hand smoke here. In the U.S., not that many persons smoke anymore because of various applicable laws.
The Tribune's new editor is Tatiana Meneses (editor(at)vallartatribune.org). Elsewhere, a new weekly newspaper is scheduled to be out this fall. The vallartatoday.com website is for sale (olsen(at)vallartatoday.com) The daily newspaper cut back to a weekly during the summer and is back as a usual small daily. Banderasnews.com is considered the top website in the Banderas Bay area with local, Mexico and world news.
MSNBC's Keith Oberman and Chris Matthews have been removed from their anchor posts for political conventions coverage that was deemed biased and unfair. They will continue as commentators.
Think it is fun to hear Alaska women talk about going hunting together - the way some of us talk about going to the movies or going shopping.
During a recent heavy rain, a caterpillar sought shelter on our terrace. Now I know for sure why we have wonderful butterflies around our place.
We talk about gorgeous sunsets. The other day, the sunrise was beautiful with pink colors on the clouds.
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to BanderasNews, the PV Mirror 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. |
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