The American School Foundation of Guadalajara hosted the fifth International Congress on Physical Education and Sports at its campus in the Providencia neighborhood. The congress welcomed more than 300 participants form around the world. From left to right on stage, were Athletic Director of JFK Queretaro Arturo Bustamante, Panamerican University Sports Director Alvaro Castañeda, University of Guadalajara Physical Culture Coordinator Gabriel Flores, Jalisco Director of Planning for the State Council for Sports Formation (CODE) Oscar González, Director of the Mexican Program at the American School Norma Guinto, and Director of Physical Education at the American School Alejandro Garza. 

The Jalisco Police Department has unveiled a striking new tribute to their colleagues who died on duty.

The memorial wall, which has been installed outside the department’s headquarters on the Periferico Norte in Guadalajara, is constructed from stone, with 46 bronze hands emitting flames to represent fallen agents of the past 30 years.  The agents honored are not just from the State police force, but also from municipal forces.

In unveiling the monument on Dia del Policia (Police Officer’s Day) this week, State Police Commissioner Jose Angel Campa Molina said that the wall is incomplete, and will need to grow to contain the names of all the officials who died in the course of carrying out their duties. “There are more officers and we must collect all the data so that the wall is well documented” he said. 

The monument cost around 400,000 pesos ($US 25,500) to construct, which far exceeded its original estimated price. It was not funded by public money, however, but by donations from police officers and their families.

Drivers visiting the immigration office in the Palacio Federal on Avenida Alcalde should be aware of disruptions caused by the construction of the third line of the tren ligero. Drivers coming from Zapopan direction via Avilo Camacho will need to take Calle Guanajuato at the Glorieta Normal, followed by Mariano Barcena. Those coming from downtown Guadalajara can turn onto Avenida Hospital immediately after passing the construction site.

A group of 200 French citizens took to the streets of Guadalajara in a march of solidarity following the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris last week. The protestors carried French flags and colored pencils in honor of the cartoonists, as well as banners that read “Je suis Charlie” (I am Charlie).  The march was organized by the Colegio Franco Mexicano de Guadalajara to denounce the Paris attacks that left 17 people dead. Besides being an act of terrorism, the violence was considered an aggression against the values of the French Revolution. “They attacked the founding values of our country, they attacked our freedom of expression,” said protestor Violene Dauvois.

“It is important to us to show solidarity with the families and the victims” said Dauvois, who added that she was afraid for the security of her family in Paris. “I think this may not be the last time something like this happens, so we can’t stay quiet.” 

The Guadalajara march, which took place during the Sunday Via RecreActiva event, coincided with mass rallies of unity in Paris and other major European cities. The French community in Guadalajara also sent a letter of condolence to the families of the victims.

A conman from Florida who escaped the authorities for 37 years has finally been captured. Robert Woodring, 81, failed to appear for a seven-year prison sentence for mail fraud back in September 1977. While investigating another fugitive case, officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received a tip that he was living in Guadalajara.

It is not yet clear how long Woodring had been in the area, but U.S. Marshals spokesman Barry Golden said he lived with a Nicaraguan woman.

“For someone to be on the run for 37 years, I can only imagine that the guy was bragging that he eluded capture for more than three decades because, after all this time, how would anyone in Guadalajara have known anything about this?” Golden said.

Woodring, who had reportedly been a federal drug informant, fled from Florida authorities aboard his 60-foot yacht. Two police helicopters and a Coast Guard vessel pursued him but the chase was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean when night fell and Woodring refused to respond to their demands.

Three days later, he was arrested in South Florida, but jumped bail. He was subsequently charged with a 10-month prison term for escaping on the yacht and a seven-year sentence for mail fraud.

Woodring is now held in the federal detention center in Miami, where he has already begun serving the sentence for his convictions.

Transport police are cracking down on drivers who break the law by speaking on their cellphones or texting. Since the initiative was launched on January 8, almost 700 drivers have been caught engaging in risky behavior behind the wheel. Each has been fined 195 pesos ($US13), equivalent to three days of the minimum salary.