Aero Calafia launches

Peñasco-Hermosillo service

With expectations for an increase in tourism for Puerto Peñasco, Puerto Peñasco-Hermosillo flight service was recently reopened under the direction of Aero Calafia.

Luis Carlos Soto Gutierrez, coordinator for the Commission for Tourism Promotion, along with Mayor Heriberto Renteria Sanchez, inaugurated the new route that will connect the state capital to this beach destination.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. the local airport welcomed the Cessna Grand Caravan 208, XA-UGI, thereby officially opening the service that will depart Tuesday s and Thursday s each week, with a ticket price of 1,300 pesos one way.

Following the traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, Luis Carlos Soto Gutierrez noted that with this flight they will continue promoting tourism to Puerto Peñasco.

He thanked the airline for their interesting to becoming part of the promotion of tourism that Governor Eduardo Bours has fostered since the beginning of his administration, which represents a state investment in tourism infrastructure of nearly 250 million pesos, and funds from private initiative totaling over 2 billion dollars.

He reiterated that with this new flight, the influx of tourists to the  area would continue to rise, as it is a real option for entertainment for both national and international tourists.

Ricardo Anaya Covarrubias, Director of Commercialization and Marketing for Aero Calafia, noted the new route would be added to existing services from Guaymas and Cd. Obregon to various cities in Baja California Sur mainly.

He stated the Peñasco-Hermosillo route is the 23^rd operated by the airline, with 22 operative offices linking Baja California Sur, Baja California, Sinaloa, Jalisco and Sonora.

Based on responses seen in the number of passengers, he added, they will increase frequency of the service, with the possibility of adding another route between Peñasco-Mexicali at a later date.

By BONNIE HENRY   Arizona Daily Star

They started with a pie plate and a bucket. Later, they graduated to a net.

From those humble beginnings, Betty Hupp and Marilyn Malone — pals for decades, neither one a scientist — have come up with “The Edge of the Sea of Cortez,” a gorgeously photographed guide to what lives in the tidepools of the Upper Gulf of California.

“It’s setting new standards for guides. It is amazing,” says Don Thomson, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona.

“Most of the field guides around are more scientific, with relatively few pictures,” says Peggy Boyer, executive director of CEDO, the Spanish acronym for the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans in Rocky Point Mexico. A small Mexican fishing villiage.

Indeed it is — with 1,026 color photographs of everything from sponges to sea urchins, scallops to sea anemones, jellyfish to fiddler crabs.

“We wanted something for families,” says Hupp, who along with Malone will do a book-signing Dec. 13 at Tohono Chul Park.

In fact, it was family — more specifically, their kids — who planted the seed decades ago.

“We were on the beach years ago at Puerto Penasco,” says Malone, 71. “The kids would come up with something they’d found on the beach and say, ‘What’s this?’ ”

“And we’d say, ‘We don’t know,’ ” says Hupp, 79. “We couldn’t find anything to answer the kids’ questions.”

Settled into the same Midtown neighborhood in Tucson, the two met years ago on a field trip to the downtown library.

Hupp, the mother of six, was married to a pilot stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Malone, mother of two, was married to Carl Hodges, one of the founders of CEDO and one-time head of the UA’s Environmental Research Lab, which studied desalinization and prompted shrimp farming in Mexico.

She often accompanied her husband on his trips to the Sea of Cortez.

In 1981, she and Hodges divorced, and Malone, who’s since remarried, became a detective with the Tucson Police Department, investigating child abuse and neglect cases, including homicides.

Meanwhile, Hupp had also retired as an executive assistant at the UA. With more time to spare, the two women ratcheted up their friendship. In 2004, they attended a three-day tidepool institute at Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point, put on by CEDO.

“There were marine biology interns there. They camped out. We got a motel room,” says Malone. They also delved into research, picking up books here and there but finding few photos in them other than in black and white.

Meanwhile, field research on the beach often entailed rising before dawn for low tide.

“We started with a small camera, a bucket and a glass pie plate to capture the animals and take photos from the undersides,” says Malone.

Every spring from 2004 through 2007 the two women picked out and photographed tidepool creatures on the beaches of Puerto Penasco and Cholla Bay.

“We would get queries from Mexicans and American tourists, but we never had any problems,” says Hupp. “We were just a couple of little old ladies.”

After the first trip, they shifted from film to digital images, taking 10,000 photographs in all.

They also took classes in how to best present those images in layout and design.

One of the hardest tasks was deciding what to leave out, what to leave in.

There were also environmental concerns.

“We tell people to be careful and put the rocks back where they found them,” says Hupp.

Adds Malone: “This is not a preachy, environmental book.”

Thomson, who along with other scientists helped edit the book, says none of the creatures highlighted in the book is endangered.

As the book took shape, editors in the scientific community gave them constant feedback. “We wanted to make it as accurate as possible,” adds Malone.

Self-published, the book is now being distributed by University of Arizona Press and is also available through CEDO.

“We learned a lot,” says Malone, who along with Hupp is hoping their book is translated into Spanish. They’re also thinking of doing another book, possibly on the Southern Gulf of California or even Hawaii.

Whatever they do, the agreement they entered into before this book still holds.

“We made a pact that family and friendship came first,” Hupp says.

“And we are still friends,” Malone says.

___

Information from: Arizona Daily Star, http://www.azstarnet.com

Praise for work of fire department
Call to maintain community assistance
           
In honor of Fire Fighter’s day, the work of members from the heroic Puerto Peñasco Fire Department was praised. During the official ceremony, a call was made to the fire fighters to sustain their care and assistance for the community.
In a central event hall in the city, family members, friends and authorities gathered to honor the valuable public servants.  During the event, in which four new firemen were sworn in, recognitions were handed out honoring years of service as well as acknowledgement for the support of the municipal authorities and the department’s board. There was also a moment taken to remember fallen firemen.
The celebration, which was preceded early on with a mass of thanksgiving, was carried out in a simple yet moving manner. The morning mass was followed by the demonstration through the principal streets of the city and a gathering of members from the fire department.
In the official ceremony, held that night, firemen Jorge Arturo Ramos first retold a true tragic story and then called on department members to reflect on little things that can build or destroy life, and how details left ignored can cause fires.
He stressed that there are those who have lost their homes due to only small things; he emphasized that life not be tarnished from things that can be addressed or prevented. He noted that seemingly insignificant things can result in one losing their life, family, work, and children.
Fire department and civil protection director, Nicandro Cornejo Torres, stated that the intent of this institution is to assure quality emergency services for the community.
He point out that this celebration is beneficial to internally reflect on past experiences, current situation and what may be coming in order to learn from the past, enjoy the present and build a better future.
Cornejo Torres expressed his appreciation and stressed the support that Mayor Heriberto Renteria Sanchez has provided, as well as that of the fire department board, in maintaining services that the community of Puerto Peñasco demands.
Hector Acosta Felix, president of the board, remarked that all of the members of this department would continue to provide their best efforts towards contributing to the continued growth and strength of the fire department and services.

The Center for Canine Attention is now working at full speed to end the obsolete and painful method used to euthanize stray dogs, with the Municipal Health Coordination Office seeking to implement new attention procedures with help from qualified personnel.

Oscar Eduardo Castro Castro, Puerto Peñasco’s Municipal Health Coordinator, said that within the short-term there is a proposal to implement a lethal injection method to euthanize stray dogs that represent a health hazard, especially to children.

As soon as the City Council approves the project, a veteranarian with the necessary experience will be contacted to take care of the animals concentrated at the Center for Canine Attention, and also they will proceed to acquire the necessary equipment and medications for this purpose, said the doctor.

Castro Castro said that in the last few months the problem caused by stray dogs has decreased significantly – it was once necessary to remove from the streets up to 50 dogs a day, but now they are seeing between 6 to 8 dogs brought to the anti-rabies center.

The Health Coordinator asked for the support and understanding from the citizens to attend to this problem, saying it is necessary that people who own dogs to take care of them and to keep them within their own yards to avoid them wandering the streets or entering other people’s houses and annoying the neighbors.

Asked about the ecological latrines program, the public servant explained that up to the moment they have installed close to 150 latrines in places that do not connect with the sewage system – like Nuevo Penasco and the San Rafael Colonies – and that this is a first stage. For the 2nd stage they aim to install between 500 to 600 ecological latrines to avoid problems and the potential for infections and contamination.

He added that recently they made visits on the homes in the colonies and that they detected that some people made improper use of the latrines, a situation that was corrected by the city workers.

Posted by http://defrente.puerto-penasco.com

By Alberto Aldrete Valdez

Bottled water has become very popular because of its better taste when compared to tap water. However, there can be irregularities in the process.

The war for water for human consumption pivots on “flavor vs. price”. The water is cheap but the consumers don’t trust it completely. Bottled water is more expensive, but there are people that prefer it even though they don’t meet the requirements.

It seems like the problem is cultural. Even in the further ends of the town, such as the peripherals neighborhoods where the buying power is lower, people still buy bottled water. There are families that still drink from the tap because that is their custom and they don’t get sick. The water purifying plants in Puerto Penasco have earned a place in the minds of the consumers, and the high demand for water has increased the number of plants. A decade ago there were less than 10; three years ago there were 18. According to the Chief of Sanitary Risks Unit Roberto Karam Gutierrez there are now currently 26 registered plants. People trust the purity of the water, but it also denotes a certain economic status.

In Puerto Penasco and in almost all cities in the country there has been a boom of bottling plants – 26 for a community like this one is too much.

According to Karam Gutierrez, Sanitary Regulations verify the operations of these plants. They have suspended and even closed some plants because they have detected leaks in their systems. Another plant lied about its filtration process, which resulted in poor quality. Those plants have already reopened because they corrected the anomalies. Karam Gutierrez kept the names private because their bosses have prohibited it. Karam Gutierrez said that if someone requires that information, then they can ask for it in writing through the Law of Transparency.

Contrary to the PROFECO’s position of publicizing the names of the companies that are sanctioned for prices, the health authorities have traditionally hidden the information of the sanctioned water plants. That would serve as a lesson to the owners and as a warning to the consumers.

It was not possible to find out the names. Karam Gutierrez defended himself by clarifying the issue because the job performed by his agency lacks adequate material and human resources. It is also due to the fact that the local office is located in Sonoyta and they must travel there.

An owner of a purifying plant admitted that there are irregularities because it is almost impossible to comply with the many rules set by Sanitary Regulations. He revealed that there are also businesses here that don’t follow the correct procedures to purify water.

Each plant is visited at least once a year, but the ones that do poorly are visited with greater frequency. Even though he refused to name them, he agreed to name some of the higher scoring ones such as Agua Fina, Agua Vida, Agua Santa and Agua Reyna …

One of the rules that is broken the most, he says, is the labeling of the bottles. There are many plants that just refill the containers, put a new cap on and they go out for distribution. This makes it seem like the Sanitation Inspectors may have turned a blind eye to this and other anomalies.

The price of purified water is not subject to any regulations. It is up to the distributors and to the supply and demand of the market. It is not regulated and it depends on the operation costs of each plant. Prices fluctuate between 6.50 to 13.00 pesos (60 cents to $1.20 USD).

Karam Gutierrez indicated that those prices are cheap compared with Hermosillo because Puerto Penasco is considered an ‘expensive’ zone.

Another rule that all plants must obey is to label their distribution vehicles. They may be sanctioned if they don’t because the consumer should know who he is buying from.

One of the guarantees of bottled water is that it is purified with a reverse osmosis treatment, low in salts and free of bacteria. The consumer has the option of choosing between price and better tasting water.

Watch out with tap water!

Even though tap water is potable, it is far from fit for human consumption, says Gutierrez. Although the water is potable, it has high levels of salts, PH index and bacteria. That could cause gastrointestinal diseases, parasites, diarrhea, and even hepatitis.

He attributes this to the high pollution of the ground, the excessive use of latrines, demographic growth and that the human body has weakened; twenty years ago one could stand more. Bottled water didn’t even exist because everyone drank from the tap.

He recognized that in this municipality the culture in prone to buying bottled water, even in the peripheral neighborhoods. Even though many families have economic hardships they still consume bottled water.

Karam Gutierrez said that even though it is tap water, it is monitored by Sanitary Regulations; samples are taken at 36 different locations each week.

Purifying plants are checked every 15 days, while sewage water is checked every 15 days in 7 different locations.

Posted by http://defrente.puerto-penasco.com

Job in Rocky Point gives Arizona student unique experience

Betty Reid
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 27, 2008 10:59 PM

The Arizona RepublicJan. 27, 2008 10:59 PMIn Mexico, Leonel Chavez Najera is a bombero, a firefighter.

In America, he is a Carl Hayden High School student who attends Franklin Police and Fire Science High School in the afternoon.

The 18-year-old senior leads two lives in two countries.

At Franklin, the senior learns about teamwork, fire behavior, the types of fires, safety regulations and properly storing 25 pounds of gear. That includes a yellow helmet, a stained jacket, a pair of blue kneepads and a bright-yellow oxygen tank.

But on weekends, he drives to Rocky Point, Mexico, to report for duty with the H. Departmento de Bomberos, where he mops the station floor, washes fire trucks and keeps his ears tuned to a scanner. The Rocky Point Bomberos certified him as one of their own in August and he became Sonora’s youngest firefighter.

Najera, 18, aspires to be a Phoenix firefighter.

Najera, who is an American citizen, spent much of his youth in Rocky Point where his parents now live. He was 10 when he witnessed a house fire. Mexican bomberos rescued a frightened, screaming toddler, and that heroic moment launched his dream.

“A firefighter helps save lives. I want to do that,” Najera said.

Najera joined the bomberos last year as a standby firefighter when its fire chief gave approval. The arrangement allows the high-school student to study in Phoenix and work at the station on weekends.

During one fire, Najera saved a little girl who was burned when a gas stove ignited.

In Phoenix, Najera is learning from Ed Metzger, a Franklin fire-science teacher. Students are learning about wildfires this month and Metzger reminds them that firefighting isn’t always exciting.

Eighty percent of a firefighter’s work is responding to emergency medical calls, and about 20 percent involve fire, he tells his students.

Metzger understands Najera has a head start.

“When a person truly wants to be a firefighter, they will go wherever to do that job,” Metzger said. “What (Najera) did is he went to where he could be a firefighter at the age of 18 and did what he had to. He went to where the work and the demand are at.”

However, he must attend a fire academy before he officially becomes a Phoenix firefighter, Metzger said.

Posted by www.azcentral.com  

Please join us to see the demonstration of the new state of the art beach cleaning equipment purchased for the exclusive use in Rocky Point on January 19th, 2008, at 12:00 Noon at the Sonoran Sea Resort. The manufacturer representative will be present at the demonstration to answer all and any questions. The demonstration will show how dramatic a difference it could make to the beach at your resort. The response has been overwhelming for this much needed beach cleaning. Please try to attend this demonstration as we believe the available cleaning time slots will be reserved quickly.  

Eight new police cars delivered to help improve security in Puerto Peñasco

By Ivan Bravo Lopez
Issue #450

To bring greater security services and to reinforce surveillance in Puerto Peñasco, municipal authorities delivered eight new police vehicles to the Public Safety Department. They also equipped them with other assorted equipment valued at more than 5 million pesos (~$457,000 USD).

The symbolic delivery of the police units took place in the parking lot of one of the facilities of the Municipality. It was directed by Mayor Heriberto Rentería Sanchez, who expressed his concern for having a safe and secure port in which safety for its citizens – along with strong cleaning efforts project the dignified image of a rapidly growing port.

The new units are six Ford Pick-up squad cars and two Crown Victoria sedans, years 2000 to 2003. They also received 45 cell phones, which will be distributed to different sectors of Puerto Peñasco. The Mayor Heriberto Rentería delivered the equipment to enhance security to the Municipal Director of Public Safety, said Salvador Alvarez.

The Mayor along with the Municipal Secretary and other authorities present formally delivered to the Municipal Public Services new equipment to continue with the cleaning projects and improve the image of Puerto Peñasco. They received 2 dumpsters, 1 motorgrader, 2 sweepers, 2 branch disposal machines and a steam machine. The total investment was of 5 million 217 thousand pesos (~$476,000 USD).

“We want to have a well guarded Puerto Peñasco. This is part of the credit investment that we received from Banobras (Mexico’s National Works and Public Services Bank). We will continue to equip Public Safety and Public Services – they are the ones that need the most support – as well as the ones that we use the most. We already know how that feels from the Governor’s Conference. During that time, security was tighter and there were less criminal incidents.”

He also mentioned that in 2008 they will implement higher efforts for Public Safety to lower crime rates. While it is quite difficult to monitor all the neighborhoods, homes and businesses, but with the help of more equipment and more human resources, it can be done, he said.

He recognized that federal resources to enhance security will be given as soon as the crime rates decrease. That is the requirement for this Municipality to receive the resources.

Director of Public Safety Salvador Alvarez recognized the positive disposition and interest that the municipal authorities have on the improvement of Public Safety. He promised to care for the maintenance of the equipment and to provide the community the safety that they deserve. Lastly, the Municipal President took a tour around the installations of the municipal parking lot aboard a sweeper to see the good condition of the equipment. They will be used to keep the public peace and to help with the cleaning efforts.

Posted by http://defrente.puerto-penasco.com/index.html