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 at 5:27 AM PDT

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 at 5:26 AM PDT

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 at 5:26 AM PDT

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 at 5:25 AM PDT

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 at 5:25 AM PDT

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 at 5:25 AM PDT

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 at 5:24 AM PDT

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 at 5:24 AM PDT

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 at 5:23 AM PDT

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 at 5:23 AM PDT

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 at 5:23 AM PDT

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 at 5:23 AM PDT

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 at 5:23 AM PDT

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 at 5:22 AM PDT

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 at 5:22 AM PDT

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 at 5:21 AM PDT

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 at 5:21 AM PDT

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 at 5:21 AM PDT

‘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 at 5:20 AM PDT

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 at 5:20 AM PDT