Complete public sleeping ban Imperial Beach has banned camping or sleeping in public with an ordinance that reaches into every last corner, from pavement to median, "including but not limited to dirt or landscaped areas." …
July 6, 2020
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Stories by Bob McPhail (RIP)
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Imperial Beach, town without pretense
Bob McPhail and the Reader
Bob McPhail came to the Reader from the Oceanside Blade-Tribune in 1987 and has written stories for the Reader through 2018. McPhail's favorite stories he has written for the Reader: Camp Pendleton Marine kills older …
August 17, 2019
San Diego characters you should have known
Bad blood in Barrio Logan Ducheny is most unpopular with those who run the government-funded agencies, people such as Rachel Ortiz, who directs the Barrio Station youth program; Jess Haro, chairman of the Chicano Federation; …
July 21, 2018
Tijuana vigilantes nab suspected thief
Early on the morning of February 18, residents of the Hacienda Los Laureles neighborhood of Tijuana captured a suspected burglar, roughed him up, and tied him to a utility pole until police arrived. According to …
February 22, 2018
Ensenadan to be prosecuted for abortion
A young Ensenada woman faces up to five years in prison after physicians at the city’s general hospital reported her to authorities for allegedly using pills to provoke an abortion. Abortion remains illegal in Baja …
January 14, 2018
Tijuana nursing-home fire kills six
Six residents of a Tijuana nursing home died Friday, October 27, and two others were injured when a fire swept through the crowded facility in Colonia Flores Magón, according to multiple press accounts. The victims …
October 28, 2017
Too scared to cook in Baja?
International chefs invited to the seventh annual Baja Culinary Fest, scheduled October 19-22, have opted to stay out of Baja California over fear for their lives, according to El Sol de Tijuana. Chef Javier Plascencia …
October 17, 2017
Tijuana animal-rights lawyers win one for zonkeys
Only real estate — not living beings — can be considered part of Tijuana’s cultural heritage, a federal judge has ruled, revoking an earlier decision by the Cultural Heritage Council of Baja California declaring zonkeys …
September 14, 2017
Mass shutdown of Tijuana's Chinese restaurants
Citing various violations of health regulations, municipal health inspectors in Tijuana have ordered the closure of 18 Chinese restaurants until the problems are corrected. According to a report published by the daily newspaper El Sol …
August 17, 2017
Bold assault at Tijuana office-supply store
A group of armed, hooded thieves forced their way into an Office Depot in Tijuana shortly before midnight on July 3, tied up store employees with plastic bands, and stole cash, cellular phones, computers, and …
July 7, 2017
Tijuana priest hospitalized after attack by thief
A Catholic priest was reported to be in stable condition at a Tijuana hospital on Friday, June 9, following surgery after he was stabbed with a screwdriver by a thief trying to rob his church. …
June 10, 2017
It doesn’t look like a Catholic Church
Tijuana’s new archbishop has rejected the design of a new cathedral that has been under construction since 2006. In an undated press release posted on the new cathedral’s website, Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón said, among …
May 30, 2017
T.J. General Hospital running out of chemotherapy drugs for children
Fifty-six pediatric cancer patients being treated at Tijuana’s General Hospital are in danger of relapse and death because the state-funded facility is running out of chemotherapy drugs. “Up to now no child has lost treatment, …
May 21, 2017
Tijuana orders cancellation of concert by Miguel Comando at Las Pulgas nightclub
Tijuana authorities abruptly ordered the cancellation of a concert by Miguel Comando, a singer of narcocorridos, that had been scheduled for the night of April 28 at the Las Pulgas nightclub on Avenida Revolución. Narcocorridos …
May 1, 2017
Panic at the Coca-Cola plant
More than a thousand workers at a Tijuana industrial park had to be evacuated around 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, after a strong odor of gas in the area created panic among employees. El …
April 21, 2017
Tijuana makes the list of least-friendly cities
According to the August 15 edition of Condé Nast Traveler, only Newark, New Jersey, rates as less friendly than Tijuana in its annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Here’s what the magazine had to say about …
August 25, 2016
Where to go for Tijuana AIDS
At least 30 new cases of HIV infection are reported each month in Baja California, and the leader of a prominent AIDS organization says he knows what's behind the alarming statistic, particularly in Tijuana. Steam …
August 15, 2016
Baja bullfighting ban back-burnered
Opponents of bullfighting in Baja California waited for hours on Thursday, April 7, expecting the state legislature to debate and vote on a proposed law that would have outlawed the bloody spectacle, but at the …
April 11, 2016
Tijuana amusement park shut down
By order of the Tijuana Fire Department, the long-popular amusement park Mundo Divertido was closed following a Tuesday evening, April 5, accident in which a ride collapsed and injured at least 12 people, including seven …
April 7, 2016
Arson attack at U.S. consulate in Tijuana
An arsonist doused several vehicles parked at the U.S. consulate in Tijuana with gasoline during the early-morning hours of New Year's day and set them on fire, according to multiple press reports. The vehicles — …
January 3, 2016
Warning registered on road's instability
Baja California's scenic toll road between Tijuana and Ensenada is at risk of another major collapse similar to or worse than one that occurred on December 28, 2013, a scientific expert has warned. Luis Alberto …
December 24, 2015
Tijuana businesses under siege
A wave of armed robberies has swept across Tijuana in the past year, claiming the lives of six small-businesses owners and forcing many neighborhood shops to install security bars through which transactions with customers are …
December 22, 2015
Shot on a motorcycle in Tijuana
A young motorcyclist suffered a bullet wound to his leg on Saturday, November 28, when a Tijuana police officer mistakenly opened fire, according to a report in El Sol de Tijuana. According to the newspaper, …
November 30, 2015
She hailed a cab, they hailed the rocks
Drivers of yellow taxis situated near the international border in Tijuana attacked the driver of a competing taxi libre on Tuesday, October 27, then set his cab ablaze, according to an account published by El …
October 30, 2015
Tijuana sex-promotion project goes limp
Anaheim has Disneyland. Las Vegas has casinos. And Tijuana has, well, prostitutes. Red-faced city officials are back-pedaling ferociously after a high-ranking functionary suggested in a recent television interview that Tijuana should promote sex-for-sale as a …
October 27, 2015
Boy hitman in Tijuana
A Tijuana youth who allegedly responded to a solicitation on Facebook seeking a gunman for hire has been arrested on murder charges. Local news media are referring to the 14-year-old suspect as “the boy hitman” …
October 15, 2015
Robber gets money, deodorant, condoms
A thief who held up a Tijuana convenience store in the wee hours of Sunday, October 4th, got ahold of cash and merchandise, including four packs of condoms. Tijuana’s daily El Mexicano reported on October …
October 6, 2015
Tijuana doctors speak up for pedestrian victims
As many as 30 pedestrians are struck by motor vehicles in Tijuana each week — and few of them survive, a recent report issued by health authorities revealed. The report, in the form of a …
October 2, 2015
Mexico on $4.27 a day
Beginning today, October 1st, workers across Mexico will see a three-peso hike in the minimum wage — the equivalent of about 18 cents in U.S. dollars. The increase will bring the minimum wage to 70.10 …
October 1, 2015
Baja's/Tijuana's mortgage crisis
An estimated 362,000 homes in Baja California have been abandoned by their owners and another 60,000 are at risk of abandonment, according to the national director of El Barzón, a Mexico nonprofit founded to assist …
September 3, 2015
Gunman opens fire outside Tijuana funeral home
An AK-47-wielding gunman opened fire outside a Tijuana funeral home minutes before midnight on Tuesday, August 25, killing two and injuring seven others. Mourners had gathered at La Esperanza funeral home on Avenida Negrete at …
August 27, 2015
295 homicides in first six months this year in Tijuana
Compared to the same period last year, homicides in Tijuana have increased by 19 percent, according to a citizen's group. From January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015, there were 295 homicides in the city, …
July 25, 2015
Tick-borne illness spreads to TJ
A second case of rickettsiosis, a potentially fatal tick-borne bacterial illness, has been reported in Tijuana, state health officials announced on Wednesday, July 15. Earlier reports of the disease had been confined mostly to Mexicali, …
July 17, 2015
Whatfer over wet fur leads to fisticuffs
An argument over a wet cat turned into a brawl that ended with the arrest of four people in Tijuana last week. Neighbors called police to Colonia Villas de Alcázar at around 11 a.m. on …
July 6, 2015
Dog days of bummer
Tijuana police have arrested two men who allegedly videotaped their torture of a dog and posted it on Facebook. The video, which appeared on Facebook over the weekend, led to widespread expressions of outrage among …
July 1, 2015
The price of gringas is about to rise
Beginning tomorrow, July 1, consumers across Mexico will begin paying a 16 percent sales tax on ready-to-eat food, the kind typically purchased in convenience stores. Critics say the new tax will be a financial burden …
June 30, 2015
Operation Methabunga bungled
Residents of the Costa Azul neighborhood of Playas de Tijuana last week led police to a surfboard that had washed up on the beach; it had been hollowed out and stuffed with packets of crystal …
June 21, 2015
Drugs-porn-brothel internet café shut down
Acting on an anonymous tip, Tijuana police busted a downtown internet café over the weekend (June 6) that allegedly was being used as a brothel, a shooting gallery for drug addicts, and a place where …
June 8, 2015
Hundreds spared, four kids hit
Four children were among eight spectators injured on Saturday morning, June 6, at the outset of the 47th running of the Baja 500 off-road race in Ensenada, according to multiple press accounts. The onlookers were …
June 7, 2015
For whom the tolls rankle
About 30 residents of Playas de Tijuana, holding placards and passing out pamphlets to motorists, gathered at around 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, at the entrance of the toll road to Ensenada. They assembled …
June 1, 2015
Suicidal babies
Thousands of baby pelagic red crabs have washed up on the beaches of Playas de Tijuana, the latest in a series of odd occurrences along the shores of Baja California that have left marine biologists …
May 28, 2015