Acapulco Mexico

At least 100 college students nationwide contracted a respiratory disease while on spring break in Acapulco, Mexico, the government reported. All of the students reported getting sick about 10 days after returning home. Officials for the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta believe the disease may be histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that is easily treatable.

At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break. Elsewhere in the Guerrero state where Acapulco is located, 11 other people, including soldiers and suspected traffickers, were killed, authorities said. The dead in Acapulco included five police officers, authorities said, who were ambushed while on patrol on the city's outskirts about 2 a.m. Over the next four hours, the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in three locations, police said.

At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break. Elsewhere in the Guerrero state where Acapulco is located, 11 other people, including soldiers and suspected traffickers, were killed, authorities said. The dead in Acapulco included five police officers, authorities said, who were ambushed while on patrol on the city's outskirts about 2 a.m. Over the next four hours, the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in three locations, police said.

Gunmen disguised as soldiers attacked two police stations and killed seven people Tuesday in the resort city of Acapulco, and apparently videotaped the slayings, police and media reports said. Police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the police stations had been at the center of a dispute between reform-minded state law enforcement officials and Acapulco police suspected of ties to drug traffickers.

In the worst natural disaster to strike Mexico since a 1988 storm, Hurricane Pauline swept through this tourist mecca early Thursday, leaving at least 124 dead in the region--with some estimates twice as high--thousands homeless and untold millions of dollars in damage. Most of the dead were counted in and around Acapulco, a port city usually filled with carefree Mexican and foreign tourists.

I was adrift on a canary-yellow air mattress, floating around the pool, one hand trailing the cool water, the other holding a dog-eared copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and Damned," when a deeply accented voice interrupted my reverie with that all-important question: "Perhaps Senora would care for a drink?" It was good-looking houseman, Marcello, from behind the patio bar, his starched white-suited figure shaded by a banana tree. Oh yes, Senora certainly would.

Armed men have kidnapped one of the leading U.S. businessmen in Acapulco, officials said. Real estate agent Ron Lavender was in a car on the resort city's waterfront when it was intercepted by two vehicles. Lavender was forced to get into one of the vehicles, City Councilwoman Gloria Maria Sierra said. Mayor Zeferino Torreblanca also confirmed Lavender's abduction. Lavender, an Iowa native, moved to Acapulco in 1954 and is one of its best-known real estate agents.

Mexico deployed thousands of soldiers to military bases near here Wednesday to crack down on drug gangs responsible for violence in the tourist resort. A column of army trucks, Humvees and armored vehicles brought about 2,000 troops to Guerrero state, a major marijuana- and opium poppy-growing region.

Gunmen disguised as soldiers attacked two police stations and killed seven people Tuesday in the resort city of Acapulco, and apparently videotaped the slayings, police and media reports said. Police officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the police stations had been at the center of a dispute between reform-minded state law enforcement officials and Acapulco police suspected of ties to drug traffickers.

The principal suspect in three Ventura County slayings in spring 2004 was arrested Friday in Acapulco after a 30-month manhunt, authorities said. Rudolfo "Rudy" Negrete, 24, was being transported Friday by Mexican authorities from the coastal resort city to a federal prison near Mexico City, where extradition proceedings will begin, said John Clark, chief inspector of the U.S. Marshals Service in Los Angeles.

Mexico deployed thousands of soldiers to military bases near here Wednesday to crack down on drug gangs responsible for violence in the tourist resort. A column of army trucks, Humvees and armored vehicles brought about 2,000 troops to Guerrero state, a major marijuana- and opium poppy-growing region.

The principal suspect in three Ventura County slayings in spring 2004 was arrested Friday in Acapulco after a 30-month manhunt, authorities said. Rudolfo "Rudy" Negrete, 24, was being transported Friday by Mexican authorities from the coastal resort city to a federal prison near Mexico City, where extradition proceedings will begin, said John Clark, chief inspector of the U.S. Marshals Service in Los Angeles.

Armed men have kidnapped one of the leading U.S. businessmen in Acapulco, officials said. Real estate agent Ron Lavender was in a car on the resort city's waterfront when it was intercepted by two vehicles. Lavender was forced to get into one of the vehicles, City Councilwoman Gloria Maria Sierra said. Mayor Zeferino Torreblanca also confirmed Lavender's abduction. Lavender, an Iowa native, moved to Acapulco in 1954 and is one of its best-known real estate agents.

At least 100 college students nationwide contracted a respiratory disease while on spring break in Acapulco, Mexico, the government reported. All of the students reported getting sick about 10 days after returning home. Officials for the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta believe the disease may be histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that is easily treatable.

In the worst natural disaster to strike Mexico since a 1988 storm, Hurricane Pauline swept through this tourist mecca early Thursday, leaving at least 124 dead in the region--with some estimates twice as high--thousands homeless and untold millions of dollars in damage. Most of the dead were counted in and around Acapulco, a port city usually filled with carefree Mexican and foreign tourists.

I was adrift on a canary-yellow air mattress, floating around the pool, one hand trailing the cool water, the other holding a dog-eared copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and Damned," when a deeply accented voice interrupted my reverie with that all-important question: "Perhaps Senora would care for a drink?" It was good-looking houseman, Marcello, from behind the patio bar, his starched white-suited figure shaded by a banana tree. Oh yes, Senora certainly would.

I've never been one for eating food off the street. But this week, in pursuit of journalistic truth, I purchased a tamale — or tamal, in Spanish — from a street vendor pushing a shopping cart in South Los Angeles. You can sell food on the street legally, with a series of business and health permits, but these days, L.A. County is taking the move to regulate food vending a step further by issuing letter grades to food trucks. Now, even hot dog, fruit and tamale vendors are getting grades.

A 40-year-old man died almost instantly after being attacked by killer bees swarming across Acapulco, Mexico's leading tourist resort, authorities said Tuesday. The government newspaper El Nacional reported that another man was killed by the bees Monday.