From June 25-September 2, 2010, Ensenada’s Centro Estatal de las Artes (CEARTE) is the site of the “Rostros y Tradiciones de México (Faces and Traditions of Mexico)” Art Exposition from the private collection of ING global financial services company. The remarkable exhibition, which graces the walls of the Sala Internacional, is comprised of 53 paintings and drawings created by national and international artists who carried out their production in Mexico. Their works represent the magnificence and beauty of the Mexican culture as well as the development of the Mexican national identity through the 19th and 20th centuries. Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, María Izquierdo, Carlos Orozco Romero, Raúl Anguiano, Roberto Montenegro, Augustine Arrieta and Saturnino Herrán are among the many artists featured in this extraordinary exposition.
 
Exhibition hours are 8am-8pm Monday-Saturday and 11am-7pm on Sunday. Admission is free. CEARTE offers free English and Spanish guided tours of the exposition from 9am-noon and 3-7pm Monday-Friday by reservation only. For information, call the reception desk at (646)173-4307 or 173-4308, ext. 101 or e-mail  Ensenada’s Centro Estatal de las Artes is located on the corner of Blvd. Costero (Lázaro Cárdenas) and & Av. Club Rotario, opposite the Riviera Cultural Center clock tower.

On Thursday, July 29, 2010, Ensenada will receive a visit from Steven B. Kashkett, the U.S. Consul General, and Sarah H. Schmidt, who is currently serving as the Deputy Chief of American Citizen Services at the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana. They will be accompanied by a team of officers from the American Citizen Services section.
 
One of the Consulate’s goals is to revitalize its relationship with areas like Ensenada, which is outside of Tijuana but inside the Consular district, and to meet with and speak with expatriates living in Baja. There is an open invitation to all American citizens living in the Ensenada area to attend a short but important meeting at 10am on Thursday, July 29, at the San Nicolás Hotel & Casino on Av. López Mateos & Av. Guadalupe in Ensenada.
 
Mr. Steven C. Kameny, one of the officers, will be addressing recent changes in the absentee voting laws and changes in fees for passports and other services. Sarah Schmidt will address important routine and emergency services that the Consulate provides to American citizens. There will also be a Q & A session.
 
Mark your calendars and plan to attend! Please RSVP with Tillie Foster at (646)154-2060 or e-mail

ENSENADA, Mexico – Opened in March 2010, Culture Beat Performing Arts Center was created with the goal of preserving the indigenous and African cultural heritage of the Mexican people through artistic expression. Since its opening, many international artists have performed at the center, such as Midnite, Sene Africa, Quinto Sol, and the legendary Skatalites, the originators of ska music. The center also provides a space for local bands to perform their music, as well as a space for local art, dance and music teachers to share their knowledge through classes. As a tribute to Culture Beat Center’s goal, the murals and paintings inside the center were inspired by cultures like the Maya, Aztec, Toltec and Olmec; there are many abstract ornamental designs that depict gods like the feathered serpent, mythical animals, demons, birds and plants. Located next to and above Librerías de Cristal on Av. López Mateos #688 between Av. Macheros & Av. Miramar, Culture Beat Center is open for anyone who is looking to experience and learn about the beautiful cultural elements that make the people of the world.

On May 15, 2010, a large crowd of dignitaries, officials, well-wishers and friends from both sides of the border gathered at the Ensenada cruise ship terminal to honor local businessman Nico Saad for his many contributions to the Ensenada community and tourism sector for more than five decades. The highlight of the celebration was the ceremonial presentation of a large gold plaque of recognition to Nico Saad by the City of Ensenada and Proturismo de Ensenada, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.
 
Nico Saad’s list of accomplishments is extensive. In addition to establishing his Hotel San Nicolás in 1968, Nico was the founder of Ensenada’s Sister City program with Redondo Beach, the founder of Ensenada’s Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo program with San Diego, and the founder of the Miss Ensenada International beauty pageants. Besides serving as an officer of many Ensenada tourism-related organizations through the years, Nico served as Baja California State Secretary of Tourism and Baja California’s Federal Tourism Delegate. For more than 40 years, Nico has supported and promoted desert racing and has been instrumental in making the sport what it is today. In 2008, he was inducted into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in the United States in the “Pioneer: Industry” category.
 
Congratulations and muchas gracias, Nico Saad, for your past and present contributions to Ensenada and its tourism industry!
 

McMillins Take Overall And Trophy Truck Win; Norman Gives Honda 15th Overall Motorcycle Title at 42nd Tecate SCORE Baja 500 Desert Race
  from www.score-international.com

ENSENADA, Mexico – Continuing to add to the legacy of one of the sport’s legendary family of racers, third-generation desert racer Andy McMillin and his father Scott, of San Diego, split the driving in their No. 31 McMillin Realty Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck Saturday to master the world’s best desert racers in the 42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
 
Dicing over the rugged 438.81-mile course with several of the top competitors for the majority of the race, the McMillins stayed focused and consistent to outlast all challengers in finishing the grueling test in nine hours, 15 minutes and 13 seconds, averaging 47.20 miles per hour to win the overall 4-wheel and the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, which had a SCORE-record 39 of the 850-horsepower, high-tech, unlimited production trucks leave the starting line Saturday morning in Ensenada.
 
Round 3 of the five-race 2010 SCORE Desert Series, the second-oldest desert race in the world and part of the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series, was held in Ensenada, Mexico. Traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule, over 100,000 spectators enjoyed the world’s best desert racers in action at the 42nd anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
 
Entries came from 26 U.S. States from Hawaii to Connecticut along with the additional countries of Mexico, Austria, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Uruguay and the U.S. territory of Guam.
 
With racing continuing in the elapsed-time race that had a 22-hour time limit until 9:20am Pacific Time Sunday, both the start and the finish line were located in the heart of Ensenada, Mexico on Boulevard Costero adjacent to the historic Riviera del Pacífico Cultural Center. It was the third time in race history that the pre-race activities and the finish were all held on this historic boulevard. SCORE officials released the official results following complete data tracking review Sunday morning after the course closed.
 
The total number of starters (289) was tied for the 12th highest total with 2008 in the 42-year history of the popular race. The starting list included 164 cars and trucks and 125 motorcycles and ATVs. The total of 192 finishers is the fourth-most number finishers in the event’s 42-year history, for a tremendous 66.4 percent finishing rate.
 
Johnny Campbell Racing gave American Honda the top two overall motorcycle finishing positions as Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif., and Quinn Cody, Buellton, Calif., gave Honda its 15th overall motorcycle victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with their winning time of 8:47:00 at 49.96mph on a JCR Honda CRF450X. In the elapsed-time race, they edged the twin Honda CRF450X of teammates Colton Udall and Jeff Kargola of San Clemente, Calif., by just 26 seconds.
 
It was the fourth overall victory in this race for Norman in the last five years.
 
For the second time in three years, Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., rode the fastest ATV in the race, recording a winning time of 10:24:35 on a Honda TRX700XX. Sharing riding duties this year with him this year were Josh Caster, also of El Cajon, and Wes Miller of Fallbrook, Calif. Their average speed over the boulder-strewn course was 42.15mph.
 
Andy McMillin, the budding 23-year old superstar has now won three of the last four SCORE races: the 2009 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 and this Tecate SCORE Baja 500 with his father Scott, and this past January’s SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge driving solo. This victory was also the fourth career SCORE Trophy-Truck race win in his young desert racing career. It was also Andy McMillin’s second class win in this race as he won the unlimited Class 1 with his father in 2005. (read entire press release)

ROSARITO BEACH, Baja California – A new metropolitan tourist police force to serve visitors along the 70-mile tourist corridor from Tijuana to Ensenada was launched March 31, 2010 in a Rosarito ceremony. Leading state and city officials as well as members of the new force took part in the ceremony in a tented area along the coastal scenic road from Tijuana to Ensenada.
 
“Today, the Metropolitan Police will begin working between the three cities to better assist our visitors and bring them additional peace of mind,” said Hugo Torres, the mayor of Rosarito Beach and a leader in the effort to form the special force. (Rosarito established its own 30-member Tourist Police Force in 2008.)
 
Torres said that crime in Baja was down last year – 10 percent overall and 21 percent in Rosarito, a five-year low – but scattered violence in Mexico as authorities crack down on drug cartels has made many people, including Southern Californians, concerned.
 
Also attending the Wednesday ceremony were Baja State Public Safety Secretary Daniel de la Rosa; Secretary of State Tourism Oscar Escobedo; Ensenada Mayor Pablo Alejo; and Tijuana deputy police chief Julian Domínguez.
 
The Metropolitan Tourist Police, in conjunction with other police agencies that also patrol the area, will have working with visitors as its main responsibility, De La Rosa said. The officers will be in vehicles marked Policia Turística Metropolitana. Each vehicle also will carry the insignia of the city force which the officer represents. Fourteen officers, men and women, were at Wednesday’s ceremony.
 
Baja Metropolitan Tourist Police officers received special training from San Diego police under an agreement between Baja mayors and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders.
 
“We’ve always prided ourselves on our working relationship with our friends to the south,” Sanders said last year when that agreement was signed, adding that the economies of the two regions are closely tied and both benefit from binational tourism.
 
“What’s good for Rosarito and Tijuana and Ensenada is good for San Diego,” Sanders said.
 
Torres said that because San Diego is such a popular tourist destination, it is especially expert in dealing with visitors. He thanked Sanders for his city’s support and assistance. “It is extremely generous of Mayor Sanders and the fine officers who assisted us,” he said.