Martes, 12/7/2016: Youth symphony debuts, Home burglaries down 25%, New passenger van law, Craft center opens, IVA refunds

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Upcoming event –

Exposición – An exhibit of terracotta sculptures by Pablo Artega will open Wed. at 19:00 in the Galería Salón del Pueblo de la Casa de la Cultura.

Articles about –

La Sinfónica Juvenile – The Juvenile Symphony of the Conservatorio Nacional “José María Rodríguez” debuts Wed. at 19:00 in the Teatro Sucre.  The 60 musicians are between 10 and 20. The program is a mix of classical and popular music at a level that can be interpreted by youth.

7th edition of the Festival de Arte Callejero, “Arte Calle 2016” (7th Street Art Festival, “Art Street 2016) – This festival, on an international tour, will be in Cuenca from 27/7 to 3/8.  The festival opens on 27/7 at the old Escuela de Medicina (12 de Abril). There will be puppets, story telling, circus and clown acts, and lots of music.

Exhibit – Paintings by Alena Kárpova will be showing at República Sur (Pres. Córdova 5-55 y Hermano Miguel).  The opening is this Thu. and runs until 25/7.

Book launch – Author Carlos Vásconez is preparing to launch a new novel, “La vida exterior” (The life outside) after spending a long period writing short stories.  (But what do you care?  If you can’t read the paper, you’re surely not going to read a whole book, are you?  My apologies to those who can read and for whom these translations are only a convenience.)

Otras cosas –  
 
Titular – Sistemas de Agua con posiciones diferentes (Water Districts with different opinions) –

Community alarms – The Barrio Seguro Project of the Council for Citizens’ Security, currently composed of 1,278 homes in 20 barrios, has reduced home robberies about 25%. After a training period, the program installs alarms which the resident can activate in an emergency.  Each participating house gets a distinct identification plaque.  Alarms are transmitted to ECU 911 which calls the householder to determine what kind of emergency there is and then dispatches the appropriate responders.

Correction – Jail time for speeders is only 3 days, not 5 as published yesterday.  (Still not something you’d plan for a weekend although you’d probably have stories to tell afterward.)

Articulated buses – Quito has 5 new articulated buses, each seating 250 people.  The buses have video cameras, LED screens, preferencial seats, space for the disabled, USB ports, ventilations systems and safety zones.  (Sounds like you’re getting on a 747.)  The buses were places into service after technical tests and their compatibility with the infrastructure. (Imagine an articulated bus making a turn from Calle Larga onto one of the narrower side streets.  I bet they had to design the routes very carefully.  Imagine an articulated bus wedged into the intersection of calle Larga and Padre Aguirre.)

Amazon – A study on Ecology and Evolution by scientists from Ecuador, Spain and Chile reported that petroleum activities threatens the survival of more than 25 ecosystems and 745 unique species in the Amazon.  Currently, 30% of the Ecuadorian Amazon is in the hands of oil companies and will rise to 70% if the government increases extraction permits.  (I guess the lungs of the world are going to be looking like the Marlboro Man’s pretty soon.

Bus line change – Line 27 (Sinincay-Huizhil) will return to its normal route tomorrow. In August, service will only be provided until 21:00 due to low demand.

LOTTTSV – A new law on Transit, Land Transport and Road Safety is being supported by the Chamber of Tourism, Hotel Association, Cuencan Civic Collective and Citizens “observatorio” (Observatory or Oversight?).  The law would allow the van services, now only licensed for tourist services, to legally provide interprovincial passenger transport.  (No more strandings by the side of the road.)

Your sliver of life article for today is about – brick making. Brickmakers in the Racar sector are testing the use of glazes without lead.  The lead is extracted from batteries (huh?) and used in the glaze for roof tiles to the detriment of the workers’ health. The city has at least 600 brickmakers and the trade is one of the most important productive activities in Cuenca.  (Just look at all the apartment buildings, plus all the interior walls you can’t see and that’s a lot of bricks.)  To reduce greenhouse gases, downdraft kilns were built and some coops such as Jardín Azuayo will give “green” credits to factories that make improvements.

PRAC – Portal Regional de Artesanías de Cuenca (Regional Gateway of Cuencan Artesans) – The center for crafts on Huayna Cápac and Bolívar will open this Friday.

IVA refunds – 65,757 people have received $124,298.94 in IVA refunds for paying with a credit card, debit card or electronic money.  You don’t have to go to the IVA offices;  the money will be deposited in your account.  (Before you go screaming that you didn’t get your refund – I bet it’s the electronic money account you didn’t sign up for out of mistrust.  So is a few dollars extra a month worth ditching your unease?)

Internacional –
 
Colombia/Venezuela – The governor of Táchira State in Venezuela said there would be no more repetitions of Sunday’s mass shopping trip.  The shoppers were only allowed to cross the border for fear of a brawl.  He said there was no “corredor humanitario” (humanitarian corridor) declared.  (It was a shopping flash mob.)

And that´s all for today so Hasta Mañana –

Jeanne