Miércoles, 16/1/2019
Hola, Todos –
Actividades – 
De la pagina cultural –
Concierto – The rock band “Tribus” will launch their new album el viernes a las 20:00 in the Teatro Carlos Cueva Tamaria. They will also play material from their last album, “El Guardián de las almas perdidas” (The Guardian of the lost souls).
Exposición – “Naturaleza, calma y armonía,” paintings by Hortensia López, who specializes in portraiture and religious art, opened Wednesday in the Galería de la Alcaldía.
The tram in El Centro
Semana del Diseño 2019 (Design Week 2019) – CIDAP is planning this week which will differ from last year. This year the exhibit… which will run from 8-14/4, will feature Contemporary Jewelry Design. <I can hear all of you ladies scribbling or typing this into your calendars.> There will also be a Feria de Comercio (Commercial Fair) from 11-15/3 and an exhibit, “Máscaras: la imagen de América” (Masks: the image of America).
Teatro – “La Película” will be screened el domingo a las 20:30 in “Break” (Simón Bolívar 10-31 y Padre Aguirre). It’s about a fading film director who wants to recover his fame with a box office hit. Cost: $3 & $5.00.
Otras cosas –
Titular – No se privatizarán las hidroeléctricas (Hydropower will not be privatized) – The Minas-San Francisco hydroelectric plant was opened in Pucará. The Minister of Hydrocarbons said that discussions about awarding concessions to operate the projects were distorted, and that the state will not sell what is the property of Ecuadorians.
Pedestrian unfriendly sidewalks – A study done by the Llactalab “Ciudades Sustenables” group from the Universities of Cuenca and Azuay found that even when wide enough, sidewalks have obstacles. <I imagine many of your feet have gotten tangled up with some of those obstacles and your faces with the garbage grills.> The group evaluated 48 streets throughout Cuenca with respect to the physical characteristics such as width, the street, continuity and quality of the sidewalk, trees, pedestrian crossings, lights, etc. It also looked at land use elements to see what was around the sidewalks such as businesses, housing, how close they were to the city center, and population density. They analyzed 22 elements to determine which had the most influence. The most important was sidewalk width. For every meter less in width, there were 40% fewer pedestrians. Street parking also reduced the number of pedestrians by 58%. <Just getting rid of those slippery red pavers would keep you from skiing down the handicapped ramps into traffic.>
Integration of buses and tranvía – To date, the Cámara de Transporte de Cuenca doesn’t have an agreement to integrate the urban buses with the tram. A meeting has been scheduled for this week. Currently, buses on the 100 line which parallels the tranvía, carry between 46,000-50,000 passengers daily. The CTC wants to determine the compensation it will receive to maintain its economic balance since it is in the process of replacing its fleet. A consultant has estimated tram fares should be between 35 cents & 50 cents depending on demand. The city calculated a 35-cent fare if the tranvía can get 60,000 passengers daily. The tranvía will need about a $2 million subsidy from the city during its initial operations. <Which will increase thereafter?> <Is this going to be a drawn out fight between the CTC and the city with the passengers left in the lurch?>
Business page – Sukasa has added “Aid for you,” a line of products such as canes, toilet stools, wheelchairs and more for post operative patients who are in rehabilitation and for seniors. <The problem is getting that wheelchair past your front door and along the sidewalk – see previous item.>
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. The text between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), is Jeanne’s personal opinion and not part of the news translation.
