Hot-air balloons flown by top pilots from Mexico and Europe will be going up, up and away over Mexico’s largest lake during Chapala en Globo, an extravaganza in the great outdoors scheduled for May 26, 27 and 28 at the Boca Laguna waterski club, located on the outskirts of Santa Cruz de la Soledad.

Lake Chapala is not known as a prime location for sport fishing but it turns out that its waters are teaming with largemouth bass, enough so that more than 200 zealous anglers are expected to congregate here Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 to compete in the first Torneo Nacional de Pesca de Lobina.

Need some legal advice on a shoestring budget? Trot down to Chapala’s central plaza Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to get in on consultations to be offered free of charge by attorneys affiliated with the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA). 

Officials from 13 federal, state and municipal government agencies put on friendly faces to introduce themselves to the public at an open forum held Wednesday, May 17 at the cultural center housed in Chapala’s former town hall building. 

Chapala officials are admitting that circumstantial evidence points to a low-level government employee as the prime suspect in the fatal poisoning of more than 20 dogs reported in Ajijic since last summer. 

Emergency calls that have kept the Chapala Fire Department jumping of late include a blaze that broke out Friday, May 5 at a popular restaurant and club located on the Ajijic Plaza. The cause of the fire was attributed to a gas leak in the kitchen. After quick repairs and a clean-up of the damages, the downtown hotspot is already back in business.