Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - There's always so much going on in Puerto Vallarta and around the Republic it can be difficult to keep up with it all. Here's a look at some of this week's Mexico headlines and Vallarta news, some community announcements, and a couple of this weekend's events that you won't want to miss.

'Hard Travelin' with Woody' Comes to Vallarta

Hard Travelin' with Woody, produced by Hall of Fame Director Marshall W. Mason and featuring folk singer Randy Noojin, is coming to Puerto Vallarta on April 16th as a benefit for Democrats Abroad Mexico. Hop a box car through the Dustbowl with Woody Guthrie and commune with the spirit, stories and songs of America's iconic folksinger, saint-of-the-workingman and poet-of-the-people in this critically acclaimed multimedia one-man play with Woody's music and artworks. According to Backstage Magazine, "By equating the conditions of Depression-era America with those of today, writer-performer Randy Noojin invests 'Hard Travelin' With Woody,' his one-man show about Woody Guthrie, with topicality and urgency, rescuing it from mere homage and transforming it into a call for united action against the greed and selfishness of the rich." Randy Noojin has presented this award-winning show from coast to coast, visiting 40 cities in 17 U.S. states, taken the show on a 2-week tour of Canada, and now he's bringing Woody to Puerto Vallarta's Act II Stages on Thursday, April 16, 2015 at 7 pm. Tickets cost $250 pesos or $300 pesos for VIP seating and a Meet The Artist reception, and can be purchased from members of Democrats Abroad or at the Act II Entertainment box office, which is located on the corner of Insurgentes and Basilio Badillo and opens daily at 1:00 pm.

Mexican Mayor Says Women Should Be Watching Soap Operas, Not The News
Huffington Post

The mayor of the northern Mexican city of Chihuahua is taking heat for urging a crowd of women to watch soap operas instead of the news during a speech delivered Sunday. During an event to mark the Day of the Domestic Worker, Javier Garfio Pacheco of the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party led a raffle for a plasma-screen television and went on to praise them, saying they're the best units for watching soap operas, or "telenovelas," during breaks from work. "No news - because the news isn't so good," Garfio Pacheco said in the speech, while shaking his finger at a crowd of female domestic workers. "Watch soap operas instead - and above all good soap operas." Though Garfio Pacheco later said he spoke in jest, the comments immediately sparked reactions on social media, along with a recrimination from the opposition.

Andrew McCarthy to Keynote Sold Out NATJA Conference in Puerto Vallarta

Travel and tourism personality, Andrew McCarthy will keynote the Annual NATJA Conference in Puerto Vallarta this coming May. The actor, director, and six time Lowell Thomas award winner is an editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler, and has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Travel+Leisure, AFAR, Men's Journal, Bon Appetit, and many others. The 2015 edition of the North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) Conference & Marketplace, scheduled to take place in Puerto Vallarta from May 5-9 has sold-out with over one hundred active journalists confirmed. Hosted by the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board, #NATJAPV15 will be the largest conference for the conference and will provide US and Canadian journalists with the opportunity to experience Puerto Vallarta's trend-setting adventure and cultural activities which have made the city an international destination and a source of continuous editorial stimulus.

Corona-Maker Announces Billion Dollar Investment in Mexico
Forbes

Constellation Brands, the company that distributes Corona, Modelo Negra, and Modelo Especial in the U.S. announced plans to invest more than one billion dollars to expand production at its facility in Coahuila Mexico from 10 to 25 million hectoliters a year, a move that the company expects to help it increase its share in the U.S. beer market from 7 percent to 14 percent. The investment in the Coahuila factory is expected to top US$1 billion. According to company spokesman Edgar Guillaumin, "imported beer and craft beer are growing a lot in the U.S. We want to keep pushing premium Mexican brands in the U.S. market. We're concentrating on beer that's where we have aggressive plans for growth." Mexico currently exports more than $1.5 billion dollars worth of beer annually, a figure that should rise as Anheuser-Busch owned Grupo Modelo and Heineken-owned Cervezas Moctezuma, makers of DosEquis, continue to expand production.

Weekend Events in Puerto Vallarta and Around Banderas Bay
Click on titles for more information

• 'Anthology of Comedy' at the Boutique Theatre

• Vallarta Real Estate Fair at Rivera Molino Plaza

• Fundraiser for Vallarta Animal at Casa Yvonneka