for today,,,

bpe wrote:This plan is the real deal. Unlimited talk, text and data to/from anywhere in North America for two phones for $60 per month. I had the rep dig deep into customer service to find out who they partner with in Mexico and it is TelCel. If you sign up at Costco there is no activation fee and the SIM card is free. We switched to T-Mobile today.

bpe wrote:Ladies, watch your purse! Yesterday while having lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, my friend’s purse was removed from the back of her chair, taken over to another table, wallet removed and then the purse was gently replaced on the back of her chair while a second man engaged us in a nonsense conversation in Spanish. Very slick and professional. All was caught on video but no one recognized the three men. I am not going to name the restaurant, so please don’t ask. Within a couple of hours thousands of dollars was charged at various stores in Cabo area.

Attention border crossers: For 57 hours in September, all cars will be barred from entering Tijuana through San Ysidro.

Lasting from Sept. 23 at 3 a.m. until noon on Sept. 25, the closure is part of a plan by the U.S. General Services Administration to realign a portion of Interstate 5. The operation launches the third and final phase of the $741 million expansion of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The closure will affect tens of thousands of drivers--students, commuters, shoppers and others who regularly travel between San Ysidro and Tijuana, passing through the busiest border crossing in the Western Hemisphere.

Authorities are comparing the operation to Carmageddon, when a large swath of the busy Los Angeles I-405 Freeway was shut down for a weekend in 2011 for a highway expansion project.

In this case, the partial closure of I-5 at San Ysidro will cause all vehicle traffic crossing into Mexico during that period to be rerouted to Otay Mesa, where Mexico has only five inspection lanes.

“If you have to cross that weekend, plan on delays,” said Anthony Kleppe, a senior asset manager with the GSA.

At a forum hosted Monday by the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce and the South County Economic Development Council, Kleppe announced key dates for the massive project, which entails re-building the southernmost stretch of I-5 as it leads into Tijuana’s El Chaparral Port of Entry.

The project is scheduled for completion in June 2019, Kleppe told a crowd of several dozen residents, business owners, and government officials from both sides of the border gathered at the Las Americas outlet mall in San Ysidro.

The aim is to double the number of southbound lanes that feed into El Chaparral from five to ten. It will also involve adding eight more northbound inspection lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, bringing the total to 33. In addition, plans call for southbound vehicle inspection booths to be operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors, and a secondary inspection area.

During the construction period, the northbound flow of vehicular traffic will not be affected, Kleppe said. Nor will the pedestrian crossings in both directions.

The 57-hour closure of the southbound vehicle lanes is necessary for the safe removal of a large steel and canvas canopy that currently covers a portion of the southbound car lanes, according to GSA. During that time, workers will also remove concrete crash barriers, and install infrastructure and temporary paving and striping.

“We start with a bang,” Kleppe said.

Following the closure, southbound lanes will be reduced from five to three for a two-month period. After that the plan calls for adding a fourth lane before Thanksgiving, and softening the current sharp 110-degree turn toward El Chaparral to 90 degrees. “It has a better curve, even though there are fewer lanes,” Kleppe said. GSA expects that as a result of the gentler curve, the flow of traffic will not change significantly from what it is today, despite the reduction in lanes.

Monday’s presentation was seen as the launching of an effort to get out the word about the closure and lane reductions. “As the message continues to go out, people are going to be able to plan their trips better,” said Efrain Ibarra, assistant director of the South County Economic Development Council.

“We hope to turn this into a positive,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, where the fear is that a drop in traffic could mean loss of business.

Plans to hold a festival during the closure and promote pedestrian crossings “can make this an economic boost for us down here,” Wells said.

BPE wrote:Drove from LB to GN today (Friday) and we encountered the most federal police writing tickets and patrolling in the 30 plus times we have driven the Baja. Almost every town starting with La Paz and ending up in Guerrero Negro had people pulled over and many more patrolling, probably 25 Federal Police sometimes 2-3 waiting in one spot with radar. Also saw approximately 100-150 Marines in buses headed north out of La Paz, good to see them! Drive slower, be safe and watch out.

CFE to invest $1 billion USD to connect BCS to mainland power grid

The Federal Electricity Commission will invest about one billion dollars for the installation of an underwater cable system that will cross the Sea of ​​Cortez, connecting Baja California Sur to the mainland power grid. The project will be started later this year and be operating by 2021, according to Jaime Hernández Martínez, CEO of the Federal Copmmison of Electricity (CFE). He made the announcement today to the governor of Baja California Sur, Carlos Mendoza Davis, saying that "once the underwater cable system is operating, it will reduce the cost of power generation, improve the entity's competitiveness and the quality of the power transmissions in addition to making the service more reliable."

Along with the underwater power transmission cable, a 32-pair line of optical fiber will be also installed in addition to other projects like photovoltaic plants (solar), allowing additional power produced to be shared on the grid throughout the Mexican Republic. This underwater cable system submarine interconnection was considered "the best option for the entity, in order to guarantee a better quality energy service, more competitive prices and is environmentally friendly", said Hernández Martínez..

"We will comply with all environmental requirements that, far from damaging the environment will be contribute to better ecofriendly development in the state, built around clean energy sources. One of the advantages of this project is that it opens the door to the development of new clean and renewable power generation plants, including both solar and wind power".

Regarding the current power plants, Hernández Martínez said they will become "backup centers" to be used in periods of high demand in extreme temperatures or weather phenomena. That ensures a robust system and with sufficient capacity to meet the demand when needed.

US embassy notice wrote:The Eastern Pacific: Hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific began on May 15, 2017. NOAA expects a near- or above-normal season, with a 40 percent chance of an above-normal season, a 40 percent chance of a near-normal season, and a 20 percent chance of a below-normal season. NOAA predicts a 70 percent chance of 14 to 20 named storms, of which six to eleven are expected to become hurricane strength. Of those, three to seven are expected to become major hurricanes (Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale).

CFE has put a pause on all new solar installs in Baja Sur for the time being. It’s unclear how long this will last but when they do open up another limited amount of solar to be added to their grid that space will fill quickly. ECTECH Solar will be closing our store for the summer due to this but feel free to email us and secure your spot on our waiting list. info atttttt@ectechsolar.com

lpg wrote:
I've just updated my website with information on the festival May 3-5 that marks the founding of the city of La Paz. Events include a dramatization of the arrival of Hernán Cortés, the coronation of the festival queen, performances of dance, theatre and music, as well as film and photography exhibitions. For details on these and other arts and cultural events, visit www.rozinlapaz.com http://www.rozinlapaz.com

Road Report: Worst surface conditions in years especially north of Guerrero Negro to north of Catavina where it felt like the pot holes where going to take out my suspension