A member of a state native tribe won first place in the National Great Contest of Popular Art, said the state in a press release.
Aurelia Ojeda Meléndrez, a Kumiai artisan from San José de la Zorra town in Ensenada municipality, won the competition during the forty-first edition of the contest.
Ojeda Meléndrez received the prize during a special ceremony held in Mexico City and led by President Enrique Peña Nieto.
The artisan got first place with the presentation of a rectangular canister made with rush and using a technique almost extinct. Only few of these original canisters exist in American museums, said the Cultural Institute of Baja California.
Ojeda Meléndrez has been attempting to rescue the elaboration of these canisters.
The Ensenada artisan competed with 1,200 artists from 26 Mexican states and 131 obtained recognitions.
The contest is organized by federal agencies and private foundations.
The institute’s director Manuel Bejarano said the recognition is a very important prize that appreciates artistic abilities of state native communities that have preserved their heritage for generations.
Law reform approved to regulate guide dogs
Assembly members approved Thursday a law change to regulate the usage of guide dogs in public spaces by handicapped residents.
The bill to modify the State Law of Handicapped People was originally introduced by Assemblywoman Irma Martínez from the New Alliance Party.
The lawmaker said the goal of the bill is to expand the right of handicapped residents to mobility and free move in public and private areas.
The bill includes the creation of a committee to register guide dogs that have been especially trained in registered centers.
The new law will become effective the day after it is published in the state’s Official Journal.
Official meets with migrants
A state official met Thursday with groups of migrants to deliver goods and educate them about their protection. However, the response from the immigrants was not expected.
Secretary of Public Safety Daniel De La Rosa held an event at Buen Samaritano center to listen the immigrants’ concerns.
The meeting is part of the actions established by a special commission created to prevent crime statewide in which local, state and federal agencies take part.
One of the commission’s priorities is migrant protection by providing help and preventing discrimination.
De La Rosa said Mexicali receives 30 percent of all deported immigrants from the United States and last year 55,000 immigrants were repatriated through Baja California’s Ports of Entry. So far this year the state has received around 36,000 deported immigrants, he said.
During the meeting, immigrants demanded the secretary to stop harassment from police agents who detain and arrest them without any reason.
The agency has also delivered flyers among businessmen and pedestrians in Mexicali Downtown.
Party leader announces lawsuit
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI in Spanish) state Chair Chris López announced Thursday the filing of a lawsuit for the final vote count in three Tijuana districts.
The party chair said many violations were documented during the elections in districts 10, 11 and 13.
The lawsuit was supported by Mayoral candidate René Mendívil and National Committee delegate Leobardo Alcalá.
“There are many reasons and elements that we have documented that make us announce that after multiple violations and irregularities we will refute election results,” López said. “Tijuana deserves order and clean elections, and residents deserve security and certainty in all and every vote.”
Mendívil said he hopes election institutions bring certainty, transparency and security to the citizens’ will.
Final vote tally in the state’s largest city put National Action Party (PAN in Spanish) candidate Juan Gastélum leading the election held June 5.
Party lawyer Adán Carro said the PRI is integrating the file to show anomalies and crimes committed by state officials, PAN leaders and candidates, as well as staff from the State Electoral Institute.
Carro declined to provide lawsuit details, but he said the most important were impersonation of election officials who illegally made the final vote tally.
He also said his party has detected many inconsistencies in final vote tally documentation in dozens of poll sites.
Parties and candidates must file these types of lawsuits at state election courts first and eventually appeal before the federal election court.
Change of command law modified
Assembly members approved Thursday a change to the law that regulates changes of command in public offices in order to provide more transparency to such processes.
Incoming elected officials will have now 45 days to verify and inspect all areas of the office they are about to be in charge of.
Assemblywoman Rosalba López, a National Action Party member from Tijuana, said office terms are about to finish and begin in few months with a new load of top employees leading public agencies.
“We are negotiating to once approved these changes the state advertises them to enact the modifications and apply them when new officials take the oath in cities and the legislature,” she said.
The bill was introduced in April and turned to the Revenue and Budget Commission she leads.
The new law, if enacted by the Governor’s office, will also give incoming public officials two months to let know controllers and auditors to report any anomalies detected.
The law mandates the seizure of any final payments made to responsible parties in case funds and equipment gets lost.
