Baja California

Hollywood made a big splash here when it sank the movie replica of the "Titanic" in an enormous water tank built specifically for the cinematic spectacle. The films "Master and Commander" and "Pearl Harbor" followed, with the cannon shots and explosions from those productions rattling high-rise condos and palapa bars up and down the craggy Baja California coast. But fears of drug wars and incentives from rival production facilities all but shut down film-making at Baja Studios, a 35-acre facility on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.

Hollywood made a big splash here when it sank the movie replica of the "Titanic" in an enormous water tank built specifically for the cinematic spectacle. The films "Master and Commander" and "Pearl Harbor" followed, with the cannon shots and explosions from those productions rattling high-rise condos and palapa bars up and down the craggy Baja California coast. But fears of drug wars and incentives from rival production facilities all but shut down film-making at Baja Studios, a 35-acre facility on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.

Baja California authorities seized 105 tons of marijuana Monday morning in what is believed to be one of the largest drug busts in recent Mexican history, according to Mexican authorities and media reports. About 10,000 packages of marijuana were hidden inside six cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial area of the border city of Tijuana. The marijuana was discovered after police on routine patrol intercepted a convoy of vehicles escorting a tractor-trailer that had left the warehouse, officials said.

Abortion foes in Mexico scored a victory Wednesday when the Supreme Court narrowly upheld a provision of Baja California's state constitution saying life begins at conception. Although seven of the court's 11 justices deemed the measure unconstitutional, they were short of the eight votes needed to overturn it. The court debate carried heightened suspense because two of the tribunal's 11 members have joined since the court's 2008 ruling upholding a Mexico City law allowing access to abortion.

Hurricane Eugene, which is moving across the open Pacific off the coast of Baja California, has reached "major hurricane" status, according to an advisory issued late Tuesday by the National Weather Service. The storm is producing sustained winds of 115 mph but remains far from land and has generated no warnings or watches for coastal areas. Weather officials report that the hurricane will "remain no threat to land" over the next couple of days. It is considered to be a Category 3 hurricane, which is capable of causing widespread damage.

The condo in the Palacio del Mar development just south of Mexico's Rosarito Beach spares no luxuries. Travertine tile. Stainless steel appliances. A customized wine rack. Then there's the view. On one side is the glittering Pacific. On another, just 30 feet away, is the half-completed shell of an adjacent condominium project. The building looks like an abandoned parking garage, with floors of concrete piled atop one another and steel spikes poking out from the floor. This luxury condo belongs to Dan McNeil, a Phoenix real estate investor who put it up for sale a year ago after the value of his properties above the border tanked.

The U.S.-Mexico border reopened Tuesday to northbound vehicle traffic, but Calexico's historic downtown district remained closed as inspectors checked for structural damage to buildings in the wake of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake just south of here Easter Sunday. The border crossing had been closed to northbound traffic as officials checked for damage to the federal building, but pedestrians continued to cross through the checkpoint from Mexicali as they fled the aftershocks rocking northern Baja California.

Winning the governorship of Baja California was no easy task for Ernesto Ruffo Appel. In fact, it has taken 60 years for the victory of an opposition party candidate to be recognized in any state in Mexico. Yet, for Ruffo, the newest rising star of Mexican politics, the worst part of the challenge is yet to come.

"I've guided 50 trips to the Baja," says naturalist Allan Morgan, "and I've never seen anything to approach it." Just minutes after seeing a whale feeding off a school of pelagic crabs so dense that the water burned vermilion, Morgan called out another sighting as five dolphins swam near the boat's bow. Without warning, hundreds of dolphins appeared. The sea churned with their hurtling forms as they crisscrossed the ship's path as if in a precision drill.

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake centered in Baja California about 25 miles southeast of the border town of Calexico on Tuesday resulted in some structural damage but caused no injuries, Mexican authorities said. The 8:18 a.m. temblor was felt on the California side of the border but did no damage there. A spokesman for Mexicali's emergency communications department said parts of a school building collapsed in Ejido Nuevo Leon, as did two houses in Ejido Michoacan.

Officials in northern Baja California are throwing a festival for foodies and wine lovers Oct. 5-9, taking over venues from Tijuana's Caliente race track to a cheese cellar near Ensenada. It's a tough job, winning over travelers daunted by ongoing border-area violence associated with Mexico's drug wars. But Baja California state tourism officials are pledging that Baja California Culinary Fest 2011 will bring “five days of intense flavors, delicious aromas, ecotourism, adventure, romance and discovery.” The events will include more than a dozen chefs from Mexico and the San Diego area, including Javier Plascencia (chef at Tijuana's acclaimed restaurant Mision 19, which opened in January)

Mexico's ongoing wave of drug-cartel violence has kept some Americans away, but deep discounts in less-affected areas, such as southern Baja California, have helped keep tourism humming . Alaska Airlines has launched a sale on fall airfares from Los Angeles to beach cities La Paz and Loreto for $119 each way. The deal: The Low Fare Fiesta deal includes each-way airfares from Los Angeles to Guadalajara for $92, Mazatlan for $109...

Hurricane Eugene, which is moving across the open Pacific off the coast of Baja California, has reached "major hurricane" status, according to an advisory issued late Tuesday by the National Weather Service. The storm is producing sustained winds of 115 mph but remains far from land and has generated no warnings or watches for coastal areas. Weather officials report that the hurricane will "remain no threat to land" over the next couple of days. It is considered to be a Category 3 hurricane, which is capable of causing widespread damage.

Freestyle motocross racer Jeff 'Ox' Kargola of San Clemente died Friday from injuries sustained during a punishing, 1,300-mile adventure ride through Mexico's Baja Peninsula, according to event sponsors. Kargola was 27. Kargola crashed during the second day of the Desert Assassins' 2011 Rip to the Tip desert motocross event -- an eight-day contest among 30 dirt-bike racers who cross mountains, beaches and desert between the border city of Mexicali and Cabo San Lucas. "Jeff was attended to by medical personnel on site and was transported via helicopter to the San Felipe hospital where he passed away due to his injuries," read an event statement.

Baja California authorities seized 105 tons of marijuana Monday morning in what is believed to be one of the largest drug busts in recent Mexican history, according to Mexican authorities and media reports. About 10,000 packages of marijuana were hidden inside six cargo containers stored in a warehouse in an industrial area of the border city of Tijuana. The marijuana was discovered after police on routine patrol intercepted a convoy of vehicles escorting a tractor-trailer that had left the warehouse, officials said.

Jason Harrington, wanted on a battery charge in Alameda County, was caught after a chase across rooftops in the Baja California fishing village of San Felipe. Alleged child molester Father Joseph Briceno of Phoenix was handcuffed amid a crowd of parishioners in Mexicali. Tony "The Big Homie" Rodriguez, a Mexican Mafia boss from Indio, hurled threats after being hauled off a street corner by Mexican police posing as junkyard dealers. All three fugitives had a similar escape plan: Flee to Baja California and leave their troubles at the border.

Tropical Storm Ivo continued to build force and chug west through the Pacific but was expected to skirt the Baja California peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami reported that Ivo had sustained winds of nearly 45 mph. It was centered about 260 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, which is at the tip of the peninsula. Ivo was moving west-northwest at 16 mph. Following the forecast track would keep it about 140 miles from the peninsula.

Federal authorities announced a wide-ranging criminal case Friday against top leaders of a Tijuana-based drug cartel that ran much of its operations from the San Diego area, allegedly ordering murders, kidnappings and torture of rival traffickers in Mexico. The racketeering conspiracy case charges 43 cartel lieutenants, enforcers and drug traffickers, among them half a dozen current or former Mexican law enforcement officers, including a top official in the Baja California attorney general's office who allegedly passed along information obtained from U.S. law enforcement to cartel leaders.

A hurricane south of Baja California should generate large waves and dangerous currents in parts of Orange and San Diego counties on Sunday and Monday, the National Weather Service announced Saturday. Twelve-foot waves could begin hitting beaches around 11 a.m. Sunday and could last until Monday, potentially creating prime surfing conditions in areas from Huntington Beach to San Onofre. But forecasters also predicted strong, northbound currents and potentially dangerous riptides.