Tranvía payment, Pase de Niño plans in place, Motor vehicles increase, Basic salary raise discussed, Dance

Jueves, 14/12/2017

Hola, Todos –

Pagina cultural –

Today’s agenda event cancelled and rescheduled –

La Noche de Ópera – The Opera Night scheduled for Thurs., “La Guarida”, has been cancelled and rescheduled for 15/1/2018.

Upcoming and ongoing agenda events –

Magazine launch – Bareque, an alternative publication will be launched mañana a las 19:30 in el Museo Remigio Crespo Toral.

Art and Design sale – The Departments of Design, Architecture, and Art at UDA and CIDAP will be holding a Festival de Diseño y Arte el sábado y domingo en the gardens of CIDAP. Students will show and sell what they’ve created in their classrooms. <It’s a benefit to have a big family – they’d be kind of obliged to buy your creations.>

Articles about –

Interview – Brazilian Matheus Rocha Pitta is one of the first international artists invited to the XIV Bienal <My NY resolution will be to attend the next Bienal.>, and he is visiting Cuenca to talk about his work.

Concierto – There was a tribute to Violeta Parra, a Chilean singer Thurs. in the teatro at the CCE with “Bandera Roja” which was a protest music group in the 1970’s. <I wonder what they were protesting? I imagine different things from the US.>

Danza – “Vanishing Act,” directed by Ernesto Ortiz, will be performed Friday a las 17:00 in the Unidad de Cultura of the U. of Cuenca. The work comes from six months of work in the dance lab in the Department of Arts. The work contains music, dance and narration which was written by Ortiz.

Conference – A conference on nutrition started ayer and will end mañana a las 13:00. It is a multidisciplinary conference with anthopologists, researchers, doctors, and holders of ancestral knowledge who are talking about relations between producer and consumer, seeds, food sovereignty, and relations between city and country. Some of the issues were globalization, multinational food corporations, GMO’s, and the campesinos fight to maintain food sovereignty against multinationals that destroy agriculture work, introduce poison, and deliver products full of chemicals. <Drop that bag of chips, now!>

Otras cosas –

Titular – 6 años de cárcel para Glas (6 years in jail for Glas) – See Thursday’s CHL article.

Fix-it traffic ticket ring busted – The Prosecutor’s office and National Police ran an operation in 10 provinces that broke up a ring centered in federal and local transit agencies. 51 people were arrested. The ring would “fix” tickets, fines, licenses, etc. Azuay was not one of the provinces.

Salario Básico Unificado (SBU) – The first meeting to analyze the amount to raise the Basic Salary ended without a consensus. Employers wanted a $3.00 raise, and workers $25.00. The next and final meeting will be 19/12.

Tablets – 2,000 tablets were given to students who participated in the “Circulos de Saber” (Knowledge Circles) project. The project prepared high school students from rural and peripheral parishes to take the university entrance exams.

Pase de Niño Viajero – The security plans for the parade are in place. On the night of 23/12, security fences will be installed on the edges of sidewalks along the parade route including on Bolívar from Unidad Nacional to Huayna Cápac. There will also be emergency exits, hydration stations and 7 aid and “lost and found” stations. <Nothing about where the parade will be staged, though.>

Tranvía – The city made the “anticipo” (advance payment/ retainer) to the ACTN Tranvía Cuenca Consortium Thurs. Once the retainer is paid the clock starts on the 300 day construction term.

Transport – Llacta Lab Ciudades Sostenibles conducted a survey that showed 65% of Cuencanos bike, walk and/or take public transit. 2015 data showed 10% walked to work or school. Another 45% used public transport, but walked to and from the stops to their destinations. Only 3% used bikes, but only adults were asked and not minors. A main problem has been the excessive and uncontrolled growth of the number of vehicles. While the population grew 2.7% annually, the number of cars increased 10%. <I wonder if that correlates with the growth in girth that also appears to be happening?>

Police page –

Fire – A mother and 5 children were left homeless after a fire that burned everything in their home except the masonry walls. The mother suspects her husband, with whom she’d had an argument before everyone left for work or school, leaving him in the house. The family which has limited means, needs donations of everything – clothes, school supplies. To help, call 07 305 3055.

Forest fire – 205 hectares have been burned in Quimsacocha. It started on 12/12 and spread rapidly through the páramo near the Cajas National Park.

Amenidades –

Concierto – Renato Zamora will perform mañana a las 20:00 en el teatro Pumapungo. Free passes are available at Prosonido (Gran Colombia y Unidad Nacional!.

And that´s all for today so 2/1/2018. Que tengan una Feliz Navidad. –

Jeanne