City urges kids to take the plunge and drop the soda

CHULA VISTA — This city has a challenge for its young residents: Trade in your soda for a good soaking. It's rewarding children who forgo high-calorie, high-sugar drinks for two weeks with tickets to the Knott's Soak City while supplies last. The goal is to fight childhood obesity, according to a city announcement issued Tuesday. […]

April 13, 2017

Baja assigns new crime fighters as violence drops

TIJUANA – The number of high-profile crimes in this city has dropped considerably this year and groups tied to drug cartels are no longer terrorizing residents, forcing them to stay home, as happened in 2008 to 2010. That’s not to say that killings related to the sale and transportation of drugs have stopped altogether. State […]

April 13, 2017

Gourmet cheeses crafted in Baja’s wine country

ENSENADA – Traveling two hours to taste cheese may seem absurd. But don't tell that to Martín Hernández, who has spent 65 of his 80 years selling cheese in a downtown Tijuana market. "The Ramonetti cheese is not only the best in the region, but also one of the best in all of Mexico," he […]

April 13, 2017

Baja police detain guerrilla in Ensenada

TIJUANA – A guerrilla from southeast Mexico, wanted for kidnapping and homicide, had opened a creamery several months ago in downtown Ensenada, authorities said. On Saturday, Baja California police detained Antonio Díaz Bahena, 49, an alleged member of the Revolutionary Army of the Insurgent People, an armed group that emerged in 1997 in the state […]

April 13, 2017

Frustrated Xolos can only net a tie against Puebla

TIJUANA -Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles did it again. The new team in the Mexican Primera División was the better team Saturday afternoon. It at times dominated possession and the flow of the match. But it wasn't enough as the Xolos played to a 1-1 draw against Puebla at Estadio Caliente. Tijuana appears to be comfortable facing […]

April 13, 2017

Arellano Félix boss arrested in Tecate

TIJUANA – A routine police stop in Tecate led to the detention at dawn Saturday of a high-ranking lieutenant in the Arellano Félix cartel and the dismantling of his drug network, Baja California police announced. He was identified as Juan Carlos Flores, 28, nicknamed "El Argentino," who authorities believe is the second in command in […]

April 13, 2017

Think Hatfields, McCoys duel, but with masks

TIJUANA – Audience members in lucha libre are not only the spectators but also participants in the match, playing the word games and swapping threats with the "técnicos" and "rudos." Sometimes members of the public, particularly those in the first rows, lose control and begin tossing chairs and beer at each other. Something like that […]

April 13, 2017

Xolos to take on known foe on home turf

TIJUANA.- They packed the lobby at the Tijuana airport last Saturday night. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles fans clad in the team red and black colors chanted, beat drums and danced as their team arrived into town. The Xolos were coming into a makeshift party as they celebrated their first win as members of the Primera División, […]

April 13, 2017

Military finds tunnel a year in the making

TIJUANA – At first glance, it’s a house under construction on a private, little-traveled street just steps away from the rusting fence that divides Mexico and the United States. But just past the garage is a tunnel 954 feet long, about three feet wide and 32 feet deep, a year in the making. The tunnel […]

April 13, 2017

U.S. expands to five Ready Lanes at Otay Mesa

TIJUANA– The Ready Lane program has been so popular to speed-up crossing at the Otay Mesa port of entry that it's being expanded to five lanes, depending on traffic. U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched the program in May with up to three Ready Lanes available to enable faster crossing for those travelers with the […]

April 13, 2017

Police detect new crime group in Tijuana

TIJUANA – Four alleged members of a new drug trafficking organization called the Caballeros Templarios were arrested Wednesday night with 71 pounds of crystal meth and weapons, state authorities announced. The new criminal organization emerged in the Mexican state of Michoacán in April after the violent La Familia cartel splintered following the death of its […]

April 13, 2017

Lawsuit alleges ‘torture by Taser’ in migrant’s death

The attorneys for the family of a Mexican citizen who died at the hands of federal agents at the San Ysidro border crossing last year provided Wednesday chilling new details of what they alleged was "torture by Taser." The suit alleges that an agent "repeatedly electrocuted" the man after he was handcuffed and prostrate on […]

April 13, 2017

Mexican singer hits ‘Different’ stride in new disc

Mexican songwriter Ximana Sariñana is betting her fans like something "Different." That's the name of the single of her self-titled new album, which is mostly all in English. That's a departure from her first production, "Mediocre" (Warner Brothers, 2008), which was all in her native Spanish. Sariñana, at the House of Blues on Thursday, performs […]

April 13, 2017

Forced to work at massive marijuana farm?

TIJUANA – The 57 laborers detained at the massive marijuana field discovered south of Ensenada said they were being forced to work there against their will, said Baja California's human rights ombudsman. But federal authorities said the men are members of an organized crime group. They are being held at El Hongo, the state penitentiary […]

April 13, 2017

U.S. team with German touch takes on Mexico

They came to an agreement in time. The U.S. Soccer Federation signed Juergen Klinsmman to be the national team head coach last week. The timing might have been near perfect. The United States and Mexico meet in an international soccer friendly Wednesday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Klinsmann replaces five-year coach Bob Bradley and […]

April 13, 2017

Where do you hide 2.2 tons of pot?

TIJUANA – Military authorities intercepted a tractor-trailer bound for the United States carrying more than 2.2 tons of marijuana hidden in vegetable boxes on Sunday. The truck, which had California plates, was discovered at the Otay Mesa border crossing, according to a statement from the Second Military Zone issued Monday. One man was arrested. The […]

April 13, 2017

New clinic to treat all children with cancer for free

TIJUANA – Enedina Romero says she spent a million pesos in the first year after her son was diagnosed with leukemia. The expenses, about $80,000, were for tests, medications and treatments at private clinics and were covered by her medical insurance. But by the second year, the company cancelled her policy and she was forced […]

April 13, 2017

100 Baja agents to fight crime in downtown Tijuana

TIJUANA – What's keeping a lid on tourism and commerce in the downtown area is the perception that it's not safe, one local business leader said. Domestic and foreign tourists are actually starting to return little by little to the area, including to the emblematic avenida Revolución, after the district endured a series of blows […]

April 13, 2017

Sanz lending his voice to Mexican reality show

TIJUANA – "La Voz … México," the new reality show from Televisa that soon will be broadcast by Univision in the United States, has added Spanish singing star Alejandro Sanz as one of the four coaches. Olivia Flores, a spokeswoman for Televisa México, said that Sanz will share his experience along with singers Lucero, Aleks […]

April 13, 2017

Xolos win first game in tough First Division

It wasn't the prettiest goal but José Sand will take it. So will the rest of his teammates and the entire city of Tijuana. Sand poked in a ball loose into the net to help Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles to its first win in the Mexican Primera División. The Xolos earned its first three points in […]

April 13, 2017