City bus owners want 45-cent fare; College students support vaccines; Beware of police in green jackets; Pet neutering offered; New government minister

Jueves, 15/7/2021

Hola, Todos –

Actividades –

De la pagina cultural –

Lista la edición 20 del Otro Cine (The 20th edition of Otro Cine is ready) – The 20th edition of the Encuentros del Otro Cine will start el 24/7. 28 full length films and 2 programs of short films will be shown on line. This documentary film festival is one of the most important Ecuadorian festivals at an international level. You can see “Cosas que no hacemos” by Bruno Santamaría at 18:00 on www.festivaledoc.org. You can also get the festival schedule on its Facebook page.

Titular – Toque de queda en El Oro (Curfew in El Oro) – See Thursday’s CHL article for story.

Cuenca –

A University of Cuenca student takes a selfie of his vaccination. (El Mercurio)

Reiteran en el alza de pasajes (Repeat for fare increase) – The CTC (Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca) which represents the 475 buses circulating in Cuenca is asking for a fare review and technical study. The CTC estimates the fare should increase up to $.45 to insure normal circulation of its buses. According to Manolo Solís, president of this transportation union, income has decreased progressively and is insufficient to cover the operation and debt service costs. On its part, the city is collecting information and cálculos (calculations – your word for the day. A cálculo is also a stone – as in a kidney stone. Something else to make your language learning experience more difficult.) for a technical diagnosis of the fare. There is no date for the completion of the study, but when it is done, it will go to the Concejo Cantonal de Cuenca which is the only body that can approve a modification of the fare.

Usuarios (Users) – Marco Arias, a supporter of the Comité Ciudadano de Usuarios de Transporte Público en Cuenca, said it expects the users group to be invited to the meetings to analyze the fare. He said that it is necessary for the city to nail down the integration between the bus and tram systems.

Capacitación a conductores de busetas (Training for bus drivers) – Ahead of the partial return to schools, EMOV EP is starting training for school, commercial and institutional bus drivers. The drivers will learn rules of the road, biosecurity in transport, about the Revisión Técnica Vehicular, efficient and safe driving, and inclusion of disabled students.

Harán esterilizaciones en San Joaguín y Sayausí (They will do sterilizations in San Joaguín and Sayausí) – The free Cuídame campaign to sterilize dogs and cats <Don’t worry – this is not for people. And you thought there were a lot of folks refusing vaccines. Wait til the city starts offering free vasectomies.> was held in Turi under the direction of the Comisión de Gestión Ambiental (CGA) of the Municipio de Cuenca and the Fundación ARCA. David Vásquez, director of the CGA said about 120 pets in the area were fixed. He stressed the importance of caring for pets and said the work is done in conjunction with other entities such as foundations and the U. of Cuenca. He projected that there will be 4,000 sterilizations done this year with the next ones in San Joaquín el 22 & 23/7 and in Sayausí el 9, 10, & 11 de septiembre. If you want an appointment, go to the offices of the parish junta.

Universitarios, optimistas con la vacunación (University students optimistic about vaccination) – Several university students were interviewed at the vaccination center at the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana. They expressed relief that they were getting their jabs, recorded the moment with selfies, and said they were going to post the fotos on social networks to encourage their contacts to get vaccinated as well. <How often do you see a 20 something year old without a phone in the hand. A surgeon/electronics expert should develop a graftable palm phone.> They also said they missed in-person classes and hoped that they could return to class in septiembre. They also commented that the process was well organized and speedy. The vaccinations are being given on a schedule determined by the cycle the student is in, starting with the 10th to 6th levels ayer, and ending with the 1st level el viernes.

Pacientes del HJCA pueden acceder a resulados en línea (HJCA patients can access results online) – Patients of the Hospital de Especialidades José Carrasco Arteaga can get lab test results on line in 3 easy steps. <Easy, that is, for a Spanish speaker.> When the sample is taken you get a link from hospital staff. Once you go to the link, select the name of the hospital (José Carrasco Arteaga) in the Unidad Médica box, and enter your cedula number and the lab order number. You can get on-line results for blood (except for special analysis tests), urine, poop, and other biological liquids <Such as if you need a sperm count?>. Results for X-rays, CT scans, and other tests where the results are on films will still need to be picked up in person.

Sucesos –

Investigan a agrupación que roba en domicilios (Home robbery gang investigated) – The Policía Nacional are investigating a group that is committing robberies by entering houses by posing as police. The group which is composed of people between 20 & 30, wears the green jackets similar to police jackets and gains entry when the owners let them in.

A espera nuevo uniforme (Awaiting new uniform) – Rafael Pérez, commander of the Azuay Police Subzone said that as of last month, the police in the investigative arms such as Policía Judicial, Antinarcóticos, Dinased and Dinapen no longer use the green jackets. They are waiting for the new olive colored uniforms to arrive in agosto. In answer to the question of how the criminals got police uniforms, the police answered that there are many businesses that make police clothes without controls or regulations. The police are now working with the appropriate entity to control the clothing so that it can’t be purchased by people who are not police. The police are asking citizens to call ECU-911 if they see suspicious people wearing green police jackets so their identities can be verified.

Region –

Mejoran acceso a Chobshi (Access to Chobshi improved) – The improvements to the access to the Parque Arqueológico de Chobshi in Sígsig are almost ready. The $800,000 project was delayed due to the pandemic and rains. The 5.6 km. road received new asphalt paving with curbs and gutters still to be installed.

Adquieren inmueble para adecuar museo municipal (Property acquired to adapt into municipal museum) – The Municipio del Sígsig recently acquired an historic home near the Parque Arqueológico de Chobshi for $49,000, and will spend another $75,000 to restore and alter the house for use as a museum where the city can display the 120-150 artifacts in its possession. The opening is expected to be in diciembre and compliment the tourist attractions of the archeological ruins.

Nacional –

Alexandra Vela, nueva ministra de Gobierno (Alexandra Vela, new Minister of Government) – Pres. Lasso has made his first change in his cabinet, replacing César Monge who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in julio de 2020 with Alexandra Vela as MInistro del Gobierno. Vela is a professor, lawyer, and has served in various high level public offices. She was a private secretary to Jaime Roldós and a sub-secretary in the Administration of Osvaldo Hurtado. She was a councilperson in Quito, Vicepresident of the Asamblea, and currently a professor at the Universidad de las Américas.

Deportes –

Uran se cae del podio, Carapaz se sube (Uran falls from the podium, Carapaz climbs) – Ecuadorian cyclist Richard Carapaz rose one position to 3d place in the Tour de France.

And that´s all for today so Hasta ? –

Jeanne
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Editor’s note: Jeanne’s Periodico is a translated digest of news from the Cuenca daily newspaper El Mercurio. If details, such as event dates and times, do not appear in the translation, they did not appear in the newspaper (please don’t ask her for them). The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.