Mariachi music has been officially recognized by UNESCO in its annual list of “intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.”

Mary Alice Sargent, a Lakeside resident since 1992, has kept herself active since she’s lived here. The retired school teacher, who hails originally from Iowa, was the chairperson of the Lake Chapala Society Education Committee for nine years and still takes her place on the board of directors. She’s active as a volunteer in several organizations and is often the “go-to”  person when it comes to getting things done. This time of year, however, Sargent turns her attention to her impressive collection of nacimientos (nativity scenes).

A woman who in the mid-1960s slept on the ground for two and a half years in a remote village of northern Jalisco while learning about weaving, yarn painting and beadwork from indigenous women has been honored by a national radio station.

At the Jalisco Institute for Reconstructive Surgery in Guadalajara on a recent Thursday, Operation Smile appeared to be living up to its name. Everyone looked happy.

Driven by a desire to combat climate change and promote urban mobility, a longtime U.S.-born resident of Guadalajara has come up with a website to help users navigate the city’s public transport routes with ease.

Notwithstanding that some news organizations have detected a decrease in Tea Party momentum and are predicting the conservative movement’s decline  into obscurity once the economy upturns, Karen Cage believes she and others in the Lakeside group can make a difference in the 2012 presidential election.