“Policeman of year” arrested: A two-time Mexico City “policeman of the year” has been arrested on suspicion of extorting money from illegal “car-watchers” who demand tips for curbside parking. Police said Alejandro Garnino, who was awarded Mexico City's highest police honor in 2005 and 2006, is suspected of charging up to U.S. $93 to allow dozens of car-watchers to operate outside a stadium.
Illinois shooting victim: One of the five victims of Thursday's shooting at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb was Catalina García, 20, the youngest of four siblings from Guadalajara. “She was adored by our family because she wanted to become somebody in life – that's why she was going to school,” her father, Jacinto García, told Spanish-language radio station WOJO-FM. The family lives in Cicero, Ill., which used to be gangster Al Capone's headquarters. A majority of Cicero's population is now of Mexican origin.
Tijuana TV production: Foreign TV manufacturers in Tijuana have been switching production to higher-value flat-screen models, sociologist Jorge Carrillo-Viveros told the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California San Diego. He said this requires more skilled labor, which could see wages for the industry rise from $7,000 to $11,000 annually in North America's TV manufacturing capital. He also said security costs for executives had grown because of kidnapping fears. Carrillo-Viveros, of El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, is a visiting fellow at the center.
Writer dies: Author and playwright Emilio Carballido died in Xalapa in Veracruz state at 82. He belonged to “The Generation of the '50s,” which included writers Rosario Castellanos and Jaime Sabines.
Quality of life: Mexico's per capita income has lagged behind economic growth and the country needs to increase efficiency to boost living standards, a World Trade Organization report said. Mexico's per capita income rose at an average rate of 1.7 percent from 2001 onward, reaching $8,000 in 2006, while the gross domestic product increased 2.3 percent.
Planes held: The military took control of 106 aircraft at Culiacan's international airport in Sinaloa state, the newspaper El Universal reported yesterday. The 103 planes, mostly Cessnas, and three helicopters were not properly documented, the military said.
Palma Salazar sentenced: Héctor Palma Salazar, 49, the suspected former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, was sentenced Monday to 16 years in a U.S. federal prison after pleading guilty to a cocaine-trafficking charge in San Diego.
Bishops discuss drugs: Mexican Roman Catholic bishops urged drug traffickers to take advantage of Lent to give up crime and stop a wave of violence that has left thousands of people dead.
Miners' strike: A judge ruled Thursday in favor of National Mining and Metal Workers Union members striking at the country's largest copper mine in Cananea, allowing them to continue their six-month strike of the Grupo Mexico facility.
Labor Ministry officials fired: Four Labor Ministry officials were fired after an investigation found they neglected safety inspections at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in Coahuila state that exploded in February 2006, killing 65 miners.
Calderón's U.S. visit: Mexican President Felipe Calderón told Mexicans in Los Angeles he would give them more support while also trying to improve conditions back home to stem the northward flow of migrants. Calderón also visited New York, Boston, Chicago and Sacramento.
University lawyer: The rector of the Autonomous National University of Mexico, José Narro Robles, named Luis Raúl González Pérez as the Mexico City institution's head lawyer. González Perez formerly was a special prosecutor who investigated the 1994 assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in Tijuana.
Human rights report: A report by New York-based Human Rights Watch says that officials regularly ignore the findings of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission and that the commission consistently fails to follow up on cases of torture and murder by security forces.
Compiled from news reports by Foreign Editor David Gaddis Smith: (610) 293-2211; david.smith@uniontrib.com
