Largest pot field discovered in Ensenada

ENSENADA – Military authorities announced the discovery of a 300-acre field of marijuana plants south of this city, considered the largest such spread in Mexico’s history, according to press reports. Had they been harvested and processed, the plants would have yielded an estimated 132 tons of marijuana, the reports said. The immense field was covered […]

April 13, 2017

TJ Beer Fest celebrates best artisan brews

TIJUANA – The region's largest beer festival is this weekend and it's expected to draw up to 15,000 people from both sides of the border to sample some of the world's best brews. The seventh annual TJ Beer Fest on avenida Revolución features one hundred craft beers, 15 of them from the United States, said […]

April 13, 2017

Reports of rape spike nearly 40% in Tijuana

TIJUANA – At the age of 17 she is addicted to the tranquilizers she takes to deal with the pain of having been sexually abused for five years by a trusted family friend. A state-ordered psychological evaluation determined that she showed symptoms of an emotional disorder. Even though she told her mother about the abuse, […]

April 13, 2017

Study reveals reach of poverty in Baja California

TIJUANA – Despite being one of Mexico's richest states, 70 percent of Baja California's population – some 2.2 million people – do not earn enough to cover their basic food needs. That's one of the conclusions from a groundbreaking national study to be released by year's end that examines poverty across Mexico down to the […]

April 13, 2017

Exhibit captures surreal genius of Mexican artist

TIJUANA – Common objects used in absurd ways. Ancient symbols meshed with modern ones. That's the vision of an international artist whose work is being exhibited for the first time at the border. Pedro Friedeberg, 75, was born in Italy but grew up and works in Mexico. He's considered one of the most creative artists […]

April 13, 2017

Latino businesses: When hard work just isn’t enough

ESCONDIDO – Gina Castellón longs for the days when she was running a successful tortillería on West 2nd Avenue. The Mexico native is holding on to her small business of ten years – but just barely. Sales are down. She's had to lay off employees and owes thousands of dollars to the IRS. Until recently […]

April 13, 2017

Slain folk singer was beloved by border fans

TIJUANA – Local fans are mourning the death of Facundo Cabral, one of Latin America's most popular folk singers, who died in a hail of bullets early Saturday in Guatemala City. Cabral, 74, was heading to the airport after a performance when his car was ambushed and sprayed with gunfire. Authorities are investigating whether the […]

April 13, 2017

Tijuana’s birthday bash begins on high note

TIJUANA – This municipality marks its 122nd birthday on Monday but far from reaching for the rocking chair, the city is getting its second wind. Nowhere was that more evident than in Saturday's annual "Opera in the Street Festival," where an estimated 15,000 jammed a historic barrio to enjoy a variety of classical musical presentations. […]

April 13, 2017

Remains of eight people found in Sonora desert

YUMA, Ariz. – The Mexican consulate in this city launched a campaign in recent days to warn their countrymen of the dangers of trying to cross the desert into the United States at this time of year. That warning apparently came too late for at least eight people whose skeletal remains were found Saturday. Authorities […]

April 13, 2017

SD players get their kicks in FIFA World Cup

SAN DIEGO.- The U.S. women’s national team will play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals this Sunday against Brazil in Germany. The match will be played thousands of miles away but it has some San Diego flavor. Starting defender Rachel Buehler is a Torrey Pines High School graduate who played youth club soccer with […]

April 13, 2017

Promising Tijuana boxer Badillo faces biggest fight

TIJUANA – Local boxer Arturo Badillo will square off Saturday night against WBA super flyweight champion Hugo Cázarez in a bullring in Mazatlán. The fight will be nationally broadcast by Televisa as part of its boxing program starting at 8 p.m. The match is the greatest test Badillo, 24, has faced in his four-year professional […]

April 13, 2017

Xolos to play in pre-season game on Saturday

San Diego Flash in playoffs The San Diego Flash came into the 2011 National Premier Soccer League season not knowing what to expect. It was entering its first year in the amateur league after almost ten years without playing in official competition. Turns out the expansion team had more to offer. The Flash will play […]

April 13, 2017

Festival seeks new glory days for tourist strip

TIJUANA – In its golden era, this city's legendary tourist strip was a dynamic, colorful gathering place. Some 700 artists and restaurateurs from across the region will try to revive that ambiance four weekends in a row, starting this Saturday and Sunday. They are throwing a big arts and music festival, called "Revolucionarte Once" between […]

April 13, 2017

Man suspected in 22 killings in Baja California

TIJUANA – For a year and a half, people were ruthlessly killed, once five at a time. Police officers were prime targets. On Thursday afternoon, state authorities presented a man they are investigating as having committed some of those murders, 22 in all, from mid-2009 to January of this year. They identified him as José […]

April 13, 2017

Baja motorists stuck on road in 110 degrees temperature

TIJUANA – Dozens of motorists and buses traveling to Mexicali were stuck in a highway pass at La Rumorosa for more than two hours at midday Thursday in temperatures that reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit as crews repaired the pavement. With no warning from authorities, drivers had to stop and wait in the punishing heat in […]

April 13, 2017

5,000 state workers walk off job in Baja Cal.

TIJUANA – After negotiations collapsed between Baja California's government and an employees' union, an estimated 5,000 state administrative workers, a little more 3,000 of them in Tijuana, walked off their jobs Thursday. The workers, known as "burócratas" in Mexico, are demanding an 8.2 percent increase in their base salary. Baja California's chief of staff, Francisco […]

April 13, 2017

Stuffy opera? Not when artists take to the streets

Tijuana.-Take a complete opera, Japanese drummers and Irish dances, throw in a replica of an Italian village, and you have Saturday's Opera in the Street Festival, one of this city's signature events. It's a free celebration of opera, and art in general, in Colonia Libertad, a historic barrio minutes from the San Ysidro border crossing. […]

April 13, 2017

World Trade Center Tijuana to open for business

TIJUANA – The sparkling green glass of the new eight-story World Trade Center Tijuana stands out in the city's east side, where these types of buildings are not common. It's a sprawling area jammed with low-income neighborhoods, industrial parks and tiny residential developments. It's hoped that the center becomes an anchor for a business district […]

April 13, 2017

Agencies change lives, one small loan at a time

San Diego.- Efren Losoya did what many others have done after losing their jobs in this tough economy. The 38-year-old former car sales manager started his own business. Losoya opened a used car dealership two years ago, saw an opportunity to expand, but lacked the capital to do it. Banks were tightening their credit. He […]

April 13, 2017

Classic pairing: Sixties rocker and orchestra

TIJUANA – There was a fire in this city named Javier Batiz who sparked the rock and roll movement in Mexico 54 years ago. That flame still burns in his musical performances as well as in the more than one thousand musicians he taught, among them Carlos Santana, Alex Lora and Fito de la Parra […]

April 13, 2017