Bus and tram to use one card; Conserve water, city tells residents; Cell phone hacks increase; Olympic champs get new homes; Rescued dogs need food

Jueves, 22/8/2024

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

Un sábado para danza (A Saturday for dance) – The International school of talents, “Famabellydance” is inviting the public to enjoy the magic of “Moana” el. sábado, 24/8 a las 19:30 in the Teatreo de la Casa de la Cultura (Luis Cordero y Pres. Córdova). Call 096 909 2532 for information and ticket sales. Cost: $5.00.

Titular –

Cuenca’s Fundación Peluditos is asking the public for help to feed the dogs it rescues from city streets. Donations can be made through social media. (El Mercurio)

Unificarán tarjeta para pagar en bus y tranvía (One card for bus and streetcar fares) – The tranvía and the Cámara de Transporte, which runs the 475 urban buses, have 240 days to adjust their fare payment systems to only one card or another technological method. The 240 days will start when the change to the Ordenanza para la Aplicación del Sistema de Recaudo (collection) en el Transporte Público is published in the Registro Oficial. The revision of 2 articles of the ordinance was approved at the 2nd debate by the Cantonal Council el 15/8.

The article says that payment by electronic cards, or other electronic or digital methods have to be 100% interoperable with the systems of collection of municipal transport which include buses, the tranvía, and public bicycles. The unified system will need to be approved by the City’s Department of Information Technology and Communications, the City of Cuenca and authorized by EMOV EP. There will also need to be client service centers which will have sales and recharging of the payment system.

According to Gustavo Valencia, councilman and president of the Commision of Transit and Transport Mobility, the bus card should be usable for the tranvía and bicycles as well. He expects the consolidation of the systems by the end of the year, with a software investment of about $800,000 on the part of the tranvía. The first option for the design of the software would be the multinational Indra company which designed the access control and ticketing for the Tranvía de Cuenca. However, if that company does not offer its services, the Municipality will need to find other options. <Did the ordinance revisions include some kind of incentive or penalty for not consolidating the fare systems within 240 days? >

Cuenca –

ETAPA: en hogares debe bajar consumo de agua en un 20% (ETAPA: household water consumption should be reduced by 20%) – Cuenca has had 40 days of drought and the river flows are extremely low. The Tomebamba should have a flow of 6.5 cubic meters/second, and it is at .83 <Barely enough to fill a dog dish>. The Yanuncay’s flow should be 6 and is at 1.48; the Tarqui’s should be 3.5 and is at 1.54; and the Machangara should be at 4.5 and is at 1.28. Verónica Polo, manager of ETAPA, has called for responsible water consumption. She said that the available reserves are down and it is necessary for households to reduce their usage by 10-20% to guarantee a supply for up to one month. <Does that mean no water after a month if the rains don’t come?> She asked people not to irrigate crops and wash cars, take short showers, and check pipes for leaks.

Donaciones de alimentos (Food donations) – The Fundación Peluditos Cuenca announced thru their social media that they need food for dogs rescued from the streets. Those who are interested <and generous> can coordinate their donations through the foundation’s social networks, Paypal@peluditos, or by calling 099 561 9212.

Actualidad –

Ataques a dispositivos móviles crecen un 70%: Latinoamérica (Attacks on mobile devices grow by 70%: Latin America) – Attempts to attack mobile devices increased 70% in Latin America from agosto, 2023 to julio, 2024. These 3.9 million attempts to attack devices contrasts with the 2.3 million attempts between agosto, 2022 and julio, 2023, implying 7.46 blocks per minutes. The countries most affected were Brazil with 1.8 million blocks, México with 835,000, Ecuador with 402,000, and Colombia with 203,000. <Those countries have 3 to 12 times the population of Ecuador – why would we be such a target?> The highest increase in threats was in Chile with 133,000 blocks, a 213% increase. According to experts, <For me, an expert is any typical 10-year-old kid plus any younger sibling doesn’t need diapers any more.> the main threats detected in cellphones and tablets were unwanted advertising and platforms offering loans with the cell phone as collateral which block access to the victim’s device if the monthly payments are not made.

Sucesos –

Rompen puerta y roban en iglesia de San Blas (San Blas Church door broken and church robbed) – Delinquents robbed the collection boxes in San Blas church in the madrugada of el 21/8. To enter they broke part of a wood door and forced the burglar bars. In their search they forced doors on wooden furniture. The damaged entrance door is a patrimonial asset.

Bomberos rescataron a seis canes en Cuenca (Firemen rescued six dogs in Cuenca) – Firefighters rescued 6 young puppies who were born and living under a concrete platform in the parque Luis Cordero on Wednesday afternoon. The puppies were heard by neighbors who gave the alert. The puppies were taken to a foundation for finding them a home. <From the photo, they’re very cute puppies. But then, all puppies are cute.>

Nacional –

Queja por falta de oxígeno en los hospitales del IESS (Complaint about lack of oxygen in IESS hospitals) – Patients of the IESS hospitals staged a protest against the lack of provision of oxygen to homes of patients with respiratory illnesses. IESS owes providers $9.8 million for over a year and the businesses have warned they will stop providing oxygen service and will not take new patients. After the complaint was made public, IESS announced it had reached an agreement with Linde Ecuador to pay the debt in installments for the next 30 months.

Dos casos en sospecha por viruela el mono se vigilan (Two suspected cases of monkeypox under surveillance) – Since ayer, the Ministerio de Salud started issuing epidemiological information about monkeypox in the country. Currently, there are two cases which are considered suspicious. So far in 2024, 6 cases have been confirmed although they were not the new strain Mpox Clado lb which has caused a worldwide alert, but the strain that came into Ecuador in 2022. The 2 new cases are being tested to see if they are the new strain which is considered highly contagious.

Deportes –

Gratitud de campeón (A champion’s gratitude) – Ecuador’s Olympic medalists gratefully received houses from the Government. Daniel Pintado and Glenda Morejón, who is from Imbabura, received theirs in Cuenca in a ceremony that included Pintado’s family and his work team, and Morejón’s boyfriend. Angie Palacios and Neisi Dajomes received houses in Quito where they will be neighbors. The homes are furnished and practically ready to live in. <The athletes probably only need to get their toothbrushes and clothes y lista.>

And that’s all for today so hasta ? –

Jeanne