Several groups who have asked the Assembly to ban bullfights in the state demanded lawmakers action on a bill to prohibit such events.
Cecilia Lechuga, spokeswoman for the groups, said representatives attended a Legislative meeting in which assemblymen were asked to vote for the proposal.
The Legislative Political Coordination Board –that decides what bills will be considered for voting- decided to postpone the bullfight vote Tuesday.
“We don’t know the motives behind and are expecting assemblymen tell us why,” Lechuga said.
The activist said assemblymen Mario Osuna with the National Action Party, David Ruvalcaba with the Institutional Revolutionary Party, and Francisco Barraza with the Baja California Party, decided to delay the vote on the bill.
The groups delivered over 80,000 signatures from voters in support of the bill, she said.
Lechugas said the groups presence at the Assembly seeks from lawmakers to listen to the state’s majority opinion and vote accordingly and responsibly for the community’s right to a free-of-violence society.
Grenade found, suspects flee
Police officers seized Thursday morning a grenade and a motorcycle in which two suspects transported the artifact, but the couple was able to flee, said the Municipal Public Safety Department.
At 10:17 a.m. police agents observed a black and red Italika motorcycle by Zaragoza and Alamo Mocho streets at Ejido Puebla, in southeastern Mexicali.
The law enforcement agents attempted to stop the driver for a traffic violation, but the suspect refused to stop and a chase began.
At the intersection of Conalep Street and Del Cartero Avenue, the suspects threw a grenade, a .40-caliber magazine loaded with 14 cartridges and the motorcycle.
The suspects, a 50-year-old man and a woman were being transported to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office when ran away at Fraccionamiento Valle de Puebla neighborhood.
The suspects crossed an agricultural field and police officers were not able to arrest them.
Man caught with vehicle reported stolen
A man was arrested late Tuesday close to downtown while driving a vehicle with California plates that was reported stolen, said the Municipal Public Safety Department.
Authorities said at 11:15 p.m. police officers observed a 1993 green Jeep Cherokee with California plates, driven by David, 36 by Colima and Fourth Streets at Colonia Pueblo Nuevo neighborhood.
Police agents received previously a report regarding a similar vehicle that was reported stolen.
The law enforcement officers stopped the driver, who was nervous after the vehicle’s documents were asked from him.
The driver had no weapons or drugs in his belongings, the police said.
However, the vehicle coincided with the one reported stolen.
The suspect was arrested and transported to the police headquarters to begin his processing.
Free parking bill approved
Members of legislative commissions approved a bill that, if enacted, would give free parking to customers who show their tickets at the entrance.
With three votes in favor and two abstentions, the Joint Metropolitan Development, Infrastructure and Communications and Transportation Commissions approved the proposal that would provide free parking for those who pay their electricity, water, property tax, telephone, passport, car registration renewal, and license payments in state agencies.
The bill includes a provision that would allow authorities to apply fines of up to US $972 for those companies that violate the law.
Assemblyman Roberto Dávalos, a member of the left-leaning Democratic Revolutionary Party from Tijuana -who introduced the bill-, said he will now fight for the proposal at the Assembly Floor.
“Users are charged inappropriately for a parking space, even though they consume or pay public services in their businesses,” he said. “The State Building Law, on its Article 22, says every building in the state must have parking space.”
San Luis Potosí is the most recent state that approved a similar bill, Dávalos said.
The bill also includes provisions to punish those who charge parking in public areas, like streets and empty lots.
Assembly Speaker meets union representatives
Baja California Assembly Speaker Rodolfo Hernández met Wednesday with a representative of the Public Employee Union who protested at Mexicali’s Civic Center.
The group demands a salary increase and better working conditions.
Union leader Juan Manuel Oceguera Villa, who led a group of 50 workers, asked Hernández his intervention in the controversy.
The union leader asked the lawmaker to cut the red tape to deliver enough funds to satisfy the group’s demands.
The union members work for the Judiciary Branch in Tijuana.
Oceguera said the union has not received the salary increase for 2016, even though other bargaining units have already got their increase.
Group members said no toilet paper is available at the Judiciary’s offices, as well as water and other needed items.
Union members arrived to the State Assembly after requesting support at the Judiciary and Executive offices, where they were allegedly told the Legislature is in charge of the approval of any additional budget funds.
Hernández said the state, like the rest of the country, is going through a very tough fiscal condition that makes it more difficult to get more funds.
However, the Assembly Speaker made a commitment to meet with the Secretary of Planning and Finance to find a solution to the issue.
