In keeping with long-held Easter season customs, faithful Roman Catholics across Mexico will dedicate Friday, March 30 to the La Virgen de Dolores (Virgin of Sorrows). Many devout families will set up memorial altars filled with design elements reflecting the sufferings and sacrifices of the mother of Christ. Others will take evening strolls through their neighborhoods to view the shrines, symbolically sharing the Virgin’s pain as they sip liquid refreshments representing her tears.

Chapala’s water services agency (Simapa) is in the process of relocating its San Antonio Tlayacapan branch office from a rented house in the heart of the village to a permanent facility located on the Chapala-Jocotepec highway just west of the Chula Vista Oxxo store.

As the news is dominated by the Republican Party’s efforts to choose a presidential candidate for the national election in November, Democrats have faded somewhat into the background.

With his winning smile and sincere desire to master spoken English, lakeside’s newly appointed traffic office commandant Hector Magaña Rios has all the makings of strong ally for expatriate motorists.

Jalisco Public Security promptly alerted municipal police in the lakeside region to be on the lookout for movements of criminal gangs involved in the narcobloqueos.

Cruz Roja Chapala administrator Ramon Ledesma announced that Chapala area donors will be able to get more bang for their bucks by taking advantage of a new nationwide matching fund program operated under the auspices of the Fundacion Carlos Slim, a philanthropic foundation established by the eponymous Telmex magnate and world’s richest man.