The Guadalajara Reporter
Guadalajara's Largest English Newspaper
Police implemented special measures to monitor Chivas soccer fans on Sunday January 17, as official supporter groups returned to the stands after a 10-month ban for rioting. A drone hovered around the stadium and 500 police officers were on duty in a security operation designed to prevent the kind of violence which marred the Clasico Tapatio match against Atlas in March last year.
Cyclists are concerned for their safety after two incidents in January put into doubt the degree to which they are protected on Guadalajara’s roads.
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.
Guadalajara’s most famous clown, Lagrimita, who hopes to run as an independent candidate for city mayor, kicked his campaign off with a press gathering in Plaza 
Universidad. The performer has been accepted as a pre-candidate and now has until February 27 to collect the 23,000 signatures he needs to secure his candidacy. The clown responded with irritation when a reporter accused him of discriminatory behavior on his television show and suggested that Enrique Alfaro, the pre-candidate of the Citizens Movement (MC) was behind the line of questioning. “Maybe you’ve been paid off” he said. “Maybe Alfaro paid you.”
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.
Bookworms looking to get their hands on used volumes in English can head down to La Roma store, located on Pedro Moreno and Avenida Chapultepec. The store is stocked with over 10,000 titles, carefully categorized by genre. It is a great place to browse, with a diverse selection covering all types of fiction, from prose to poetry, the latest crime novels to the classics. Readers will also find titles on a wide array of non-fiction topics: physics, philosophy, Mexican history, feminism and teaching, to name only a few. The shelves display handsome first editions and other collectibles, as well as a selection in Spanish. Staff are helpful and all prices are penciled in on the first white page.
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.
Winners of the 2014 Best of the Best, People’s Choice Awards were recently announced in the “Guadalajara Reporter” and online at www.bestoflakechapala.com. Before they can receive the certificates, the winners should contact the contest sponsors with the exact wording for their certificate and an email address for correspondence.
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.
