for today,,,

Border News Abounds
Customs and Border Patrol started using biometric identification scans, a new technology, on Thursday. The scans capture an incoming traveler’s facial photograph to match existing records.

KPBS reports that Tijuana may be badly affected by El Nino this year.

The Union Tribune reported that nearly half the bank branches in San Ysidro have closed in the last two years, affecting small businesses the most. The backbone of San Ysidro boulevard is small businesses, in particular the Casas de Cambios, here’s the good, the bad and the messy: their businesses are failing due to the effective crackdown of drug related money laundering. Councilmember David Alvarez is trying to address the matter effectively.

Voice of San Diego begins a bimonthly Border Report written by border enthusiast Enrique Limon.
The newsletter this week included that San Diego developers are building more affordable housing inTijuana. Although the U.S. doesn’t keep records of how many Americans have immigrated to other countries, it’s estimated that 50,000 Americans currently live in Tijuana where the cost of living is more affordable. The article explains that construction by American builders could bring better infrastructure for the city, but also has its drawbacks.

Tijuana has plans to improve its transportation. They begun construction on a 23-mile bus rapid transit system and are looking into a light-rail system.

SENTRI border crossing hours extended for motorists.
Mexico’s Pemex oil company opens 5 gas stations in US.

lpg wrote:La Paz, Baja California Sur (BCS).

By February 2016, La Paz will have an international flight to Los Angeles, with a frequency of once a week, which could remain after four months of operation if the market permits, said Luis Genaro Ruiz Hernández, head of the Tourism Department of the State Government.  

He clarified that this flight will not have cost state coffers "as happened previously when he was at the head of that unit Ruben Reachi Lugo, whose tenure as head of the Tourism Ministry, is subsidized international flights to La Paz with public money from the tax on lodging "reports The Sudcaliforniano, this time the air link was thanks to an agreement between the Tourism Board and a private company, the official said.  

Finally, the Secretary of Tourism also announced that next Sunday for the first time will be docking at the port of Pichilingue in the state capital -the Pacific Princess cruise of the television series "The Love Boat" itself - amid his tour to mark its 50th anniversary, plus the arrival of 17 cruises for next season is expected.    Sheryl Owner of La Paz Gringos

lpg wrote:Mexico will be the first country in the world to have a vaccine available for dengue fever when it begins shipping early next year following approval today by Mexican authorities.


But the new vaccine, developed by the French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, has produced the best results among people with previous exposure to the virus.

Guillaume Leroy, leader of the dengue team at Sanofi Pasteur, the company’s vaccines division, said the vaccine acted best as an immunity booster for such people.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease seen by the World Health Organization as a threat to about half the world’s population. Some 400 million people are believed to be infected annually.

Called Dengvaxia, the vaccine has only been approved in Mexico for patients aged nine to 45 who live in areas where the disease is endemic, barring its use for younger children — considered to be more at risk — and tourists.

Leroy added that additional data will be needed before considering whether the vaccine may be of use to travelers.

“Mexico is one of the countries where we started our clinical trials, which has been associated with the program from the very beginning and whose regulatory authority is certified by the World Health Organization,” said Sanofi Pasteur executive vice-president of vaccines, Olivier Charmeil.

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Mexican regulators cleared the use of the vaccine based on the results of a clinical testing program that included over 40,000 people of different ages from 15 countries.

During the trials, the vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by 80% and lowered the possibility of developing the most severe, hemorrhagic form of the disease by 93%.

Deliveries to Mexico from a plant near Lyon, France, will start early next year, said Charmeil and Leroy.

Charmeil said the drug’s pricing would be determined with the Mexican government over the next few weeks. He told the Wall Street Journal that the price would reflect the “value” of the vaccine in terms of the savings that it could bring about elsewhere. He said the total annual cost of treating dengue was around $9 billion globally, and that prevention strategies such as mosquito nets cost a further $6 billion to $9 billion.

Dengvaxia is shaping up to be a “blockbuster” product for the company, said Charmeil, who added that the vaccine is the “innovation of the decade” and is expected to generate over US $1 billion per year in sales.

Other drugmakers including Japan’s Takeda and the United States’ Merck are also working on dengue vaccines but are believed to be several years behind.

In Mexico, 7,136 cases of dengue were reported between January 1 and July 28 5,728 of which were classic and 1,408 hemorrhagic, with 11 deaths.

Congress is poised to enact a law denying or revoking passports for U.S. citizens who haven’t paid their taxes.

Under a new law expected to take effect in January, the State Department will block Americans with “seriously delinquent” tax debt from receiving new passports and will be allowed to rescind existing passports of people who fall into that category. The list of affected taxpayers will be compiled by the Internal Revenue Service using a threshold of $50,000 of unpaid federal taxes, including penalties and interest, which would be adjusted for inflation.
The rule has been passed in similar versions by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is part of a highway-funding bill, H.R. 22, that is now before a conference committee. Congress is expected to pass it in early December

lpg wrote:With the new fiberoptic line installed by Telmex this past week, I'm getting ~20 mbps download and 5 mbps upload or more, according to speedtest.net. This is in El Esterito on the borderline with El Centro, and I'm on the 599/mo plan.

lpg wrote:FYI: Monday the 16th is a national holiday in Mexico (Revolution Day) and banks, schools, government offices & some businesses will be closed.The following weekend, Nov 20 - 23rd is "Buen Fin" which is similar to Black Friday in the US - many stores have storewide sales with big discounts. 

Gerardo Left

La Paz, Baja California Sur - The municipal administration of La Paz approved a forensic audit of the prior administration for the period 2011-2015, headed by mayor Esthela Ponce Beltrán, and later Francisco Javier Monroy Sánchez, as according to what is indicated today in a press release, they have detected diversions of funds of 377 million pesos (US$23 million).
 
A diversion of 123 million pesos (US$7.5 million) from a loan of 150 million made in 2013 was detected, and more than 254 million pesos (US$15.5 million) of federal funds earmarked for public works was revealed.

The Mexican Supreme court has opened the door for the possibility of legalizing recreational marijuana use. On Wednesday, the Supreme court ruled that growing, possessing and smoking marijuana for recreational purposes is legal under a person's right to personal freedom. A professor at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico, Catalina Perez Correa Gonzalez, explains this new ruling. 

bpe wrote:Courtesy of the Ventana View:  Heads up people crossing at Tecate! As of October 27 at 9am construction at border. Normally you would go through the border and inspection and go straight through the traffic light, not now, construction! Be warned if you go left at the light you continue past more construction which continues until you end up going up an incredibly narrow and STEEP hill! If you are driving anything bigger than an SUV this is a very dangerous and potentially disastrous way to go, you may have to back down because there is nowhere to turn around. I would highly recommend going RIGHT at the lights because left is a disaster and has no road marking for detours. I don't know what is to the right but it has to be better than going left. Bien Viejo.

BPE wrote:Crossed headed south at Tecate today and not at all smooth. Driving only a truck with a shell on it and I was selected for further inspection. Since I had more than three kite surf boards and two kites I had to pay a 2000 peso duty. Apparently those are the legal maximums for boards and kites according to my customs agent. Also had to pay two times since the first amount paid I showed to the inspector did not satisfy him even though he was in communication with the payment authorities. Had to unpack and repack the rig in the street too. Almost two hours lost to this whole process.
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Stopped in the big mall that Ensenada Walmart is in, took a taxi into town. While away a person climbed into the motor home and stole a computer. The police came along to investigate and went in and took 2 more computers and 800 cash. This was witnessed by the security guard. The same police came back and took the report and said we could go to the office and file more paper work. Since then have had other concerning comments re: the Ensenada police. Be watchful and don't leave your vehicle unattended for very long.  (unsigned)

 El Niño that is among the strongest on record is gaining strength in the Pacific Ocean, and climate scientists say California is likely to face a wet winter.
“There’s no longer a possibility that El Niño wimps out at this point. It’s too big to fail,” said Bill Patzert, climatologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
“And the winter over North America is definitely not going to be normal,” he said