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

Adios to school routine, hola to summer fun

TIJUANA – The volume of traffic has dropped considerably in this city this week and along with it the daily stress that comes from too many vehicles jammed onto streets at the peak times. That's because Tuesday is the official last day of 2010-2011 public school year. Classes in most of the 1,550 preschools, elementary, […]

April 13, 2017

More than 2,000 extras sought for Baja movie

TIJUANA – A casting company is looking for more than 2,000 Caucasian and Asian extras for a movie that will be filmed in Baja California starting Aug. 29. The movie’s plot involves a young man trying to return to his father during World War II. Details of the film have not yet been disclosed. According […]

April 13, 2017

Season tickets for Tijuana Xolos on sale Monday

TIJUANA – Season tickets for this city's professional soccer team, the Xoloitzcuintles, go on sale starting Monday for the upcoming Apertura 2011 season. The team won promotion to Mexico's First Division league, and so will play at home against popular teams such as Chivas de Guadalajara (Aug. 3) and Tigres (Oct. 2). The package of […]

April 13, 2017

3 U.S. citizens arrested on drug charges in Tijuana

TIJUANA – Four people were arrested Saturday morning, three of them U.S. citizens, who allegedly had nearly five pounds of cocaine hidden inside vehicle batteries, state authorities announced. Baja California police said officers on routine patrol in Paseo de los Héroes Boulevard, in the Río zone, saw two people moving items from a VW Beetle […]

April 13, 2017

SD church builds 16 houses for fire victims

TIJUANA – A San Diego-based Christian church and municipal authorities teamed up to build 16 houses for people who lost their homes in a ferocious fire last May. On Thursday, city officials and members of Amor Ministries presented the houses, which will be home to 60 people who were displaced by the fire in the […]

April 13, 2017

Dozens protest man’s killing by Border Patrol

SAN YSIDRO.- About 50 people gathered at the port of entry to protest the recent shooting death of a Mexican man by the U.S. Border Patrol and to question the agency's policies. They held a vigil Friday evening to condemn the death of José Yañez Reyes – and there's no doubt their message was received […]

April 13, 2017

Weaker Mexico team to begin Copa América

Since being invited to the Copa América party in 1993, Mexico has always done well in the soccer tournament for South America’s national teams. Despite this good record, the team Mexico entered in this year’s edition of the tournament, which began Friday in Argentina, is not a strong one. Mexico was forced to field a […]

April 13, 2017

Border wait times spike up to three hours

SAN YSIDRO – Nearly two weeks into a three-year expansion of the lanes at the port of entry, regular crossers are, well, more cross than usual. On Friday morning, motorists waited at least three hours to cross, many arriving late to their appointments. "Two weeks ago the wait became exceedingly slow, much more than before," […]

April 13, 2017

Game plan is working for Mexico’s team

PASADENA – Mexico came out fast in the 2011 Gold Cup tournament, ultimately winning the team's sixth championship on Saturday. And El Tri brought a circus of talent to the field. The team's coach, José Manuel de la Torre, has put together what many consider to be the best Mexican team in years. This team […]

April 13, 2017

Two former officers shot to death in Tijuana

Tijuana.- Two former municipal police officers were shot to death Wednesday morning in an eastern district, authorities announced. The killings pushed Tijuana's total number of violent deaths so far this year to 268, some 110 less than the same period last year. Meanwhile, the mayor announced the city's anti-corruption program would move next to the […]

April 13, 2017

‘Tijuana 3D’ takes aim at fighting crime

TIJUANA – Citizens are a powerful tool to fight crime in Mexico, and that tool is about to go high-tech on the border. A new campaign was unveiled Tuesday called "Tijuana 3D" that uses new and old media to reach one million residents and enlist their help to fight crime. The concept behind "3D" – […]

April 13, 2017

Bargains spur 12% increase in Mexico tourism

Tourism in Mexico is up again despite the perception that it is not safe because of the drug-related violence that has claimed thousands of Mexican lives in recent years, according to a binational panel in San Diego on Tuesday. "The perception is that we are losing ground but it's the other way," said Ernesto Coppel […]

April 13, 2017

Eight players in Mexico’s U-22 team suspended

Mexican soccer fans on both sides of the border expressed disappointment at Tuesday’s news: Eight players in Mexico’s U-22 national team in Argentina for the Copa Amércia tournament were suspended because they possibly had prostitutes in their hotel. Mexico’s Soccer Commission announced that each player will be suspended from the team for six months and […]

April 13, 2017

Real Madrid stars to play against Chivas in SD

Soccer fanatics take note: One of the world's premier teams, Real Madrid, will be bringing most of its stellar roster for the game against Chivas de Guadalajara on July 20 at Qualcomm Stadium. The list includes renowned players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas, Kaka and Karim Benzema, among others. They will play a friendly […]

April 13, 2017

Old movie palace to get starring role as theater

According to Tijuana's Historical Society, during the 1930s there was a small bullring where el Roble sits and it was in 1940 when it became a movie theater, part of the era where movie palaces across the country were managed by the quasi-public agency Compañía Operadora de Teatros S. A., known as Cotsa. They were […]

April 13, 2017