Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco): News Archives

Mexico, USA Opposition to Secret Toxic Landfill

The Secret Toxic Dump on the Border

Proposed Mexican landfill raises concerns on both sides of border

More protests likely over plan for toxic-waste dump in Sonora

Rocky Point protests over proposed toxic waste dump could continue

The EPA's take is found here: http://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder/ pdf/cegir_assessment_11-2-06.pdf

Locals Fear Toxic Dump Still Possible (with completely unlinkable Windows Media video.)

Protest blocks border crossing, from the Tucson Citizen

Rally stalls Rocky Point travelers from AZCentral.com

Rocky Point protest may delay tourists from AZCentral.com

The blockade began about 11:15 a.m. Sunday, and by 3 p.m., a Mexican customs official said there were about 100 cars backed up at the Sonoyta border crossing. The official said the protesters were not violent but were spread across the road, making it impossible for cars to pass.

Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said it all ended around 7 p.m. as protesters made way for cars to pass through, while continuing to promote their cause.

Also, and this is completely unrelated, but this gave me a laugh. Floating 7-11 == genius.

Ta-daa! The puerto-penasco.com classified ads are now online, and providing a lower-cost advertising outlet for people looking to reach the Peñasco marketplace - and the puerto-penasco.com site readers.

Many of you have emailed me over the years looking for a low-cost way to reach people about your house/boat/condo/trailer for rent/sale/lend/lease/repainting/resale - or with some other advertising need that doesn't quite fit the bill of the banner advertising I already offer. Now all you need is a credit card and about 5 minutes, and you can place your own advertisment.

As always, your feedback is welcome.

In non-advertising news, note this tidbit from the San Antonio Business Journal: "NADBank funds $2 million air quality project in Sonora"

"The North American Development Bank (NADBank) approved a $2.27 million loan package for the City of Puerto Peñasco toward a street paving project that, once completed, should improve air quality ...

The project consists of paving 24 streets, encompassing 237,634 square meters of surface space. The total $4.55 million project will be carried out in phases over the next two years. By paving the streets, the city will be able to reduce the amount of dust particles in the air..."

The NADB press release is here.

I sure would like to know which roads they are talking about, because I have a few suggestions ...

New batch o' news in from De Frente:

Tourism Office To Be Reopened
Larry D. Large Foundation Delivers Didactic Material to Schools
Students And Organizations Volunteer To Clean The Beach
Negative impact of 'The Pointe' on the Morúa Estuary
The Old Pantheon, Shelter Of The Homeless And Sad Stories
Death - all of us are headed there - no doubt!
Local Airport Already Counts on Fuel

Not from De Frente, but still a good read:
Sailing for the 'Real Thing': New Marinas Integrate Quiet Bays and Villages in the Mar de Cortes

For those of you interested in business in Mexico:
Also, those of you with business interests might take a peek at the World Bank Group's Doing Business In Mexico 2007. It compares the business regulations of Mexico's 31 states, and Mexico City, and rates and comments upon things like registering property, getting credit, enforcing contracts, etc. Each state is rated on a number of data points, and there's some neat info buried in there about doing business in Sonora. (Tip o' the hat to mexidata.info for the link)

Reservations at the Point, The premier Rocky Point Reservations travel agency, has enhanced its customer experience with the release of its new website.  Reservations at the Point currently provides Resort, Condo, and Hotel reservations for Puerto Penasco, commonly known as Rocky Point.

... Fontes' class is painting a mural on an El Barco oyster restaurant in Puerto Peñasco, Son., documenting the region's ecological history

The project allows the students to see the importance of sustainability, social responsibility and design ethics, said visual communications professor Ellen McMahon.

It's a rare, but relevant, education because of what is happening in the background, she said.

The restaurant is in the midst of a dispute involving real estate developers, conservationists and the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans, (CEDO in Spanish), a binational nonprofit and biological research center.

Speaking of which, here's a recent CEDO press release (Wod doc) expressing their opposition to the approval of "The Pointe in Las Conchas" project, reflecting the concerns of neighbors in the estero, including the oyster cooperatives and the residential neighborhoods."

CEDO is aware of the importance of tourist development for the growth of our community; nevertheless, it is essential to find a balance between development, society and the environment, respecting areas of great ecological importance. Only by working together can we identify the ideal sites for tourist activities and the necessary infrastructure without affecting these other interests.

They are expecting about 10k bikes this year, up from about 7k last year

The Discovery Channel is going to be on hand, filming for Biker Build Off, and doing some sort of rapid-video thingy to get it on the air quickly.

I'm going to see if I can get a handle on the Discovery Channel video (Do you hear me, Discovery Channel? Drop a guy a line!) once it is available and see if I can't get some video clips up here ASAP.

Speaking of videos, for those of you curious what the whole thing looks like, cyclerides.com has some neat videos from previous rallies - check out Rocky Point Rally 2005 and Rocky Point Video for some short music video-style presentations. (They are both about 10 megs, windows media format)

Actually, cyclerides.com also has some photo galleries from the 2005 rally as well - so if you're looking for some time to kill, go poke around cyclerides.com! :)

For more info see http://rockypointrally.com/