The History of Tia Juana or Tijuana | Mexico. The Natives In centuries past, the California peninsula was inhabited by tribes of natives, notably the Pai Pai, Cochimi, Kiliwa, Cucupa and Kumiai. The Kumiai settled in the area we now know as Rosarito naming it UACUATAY (which translates to "the big house") and trace of their everiday life such as arrowheads, stone kitchen utensils, mortar, etc., have been discovered. These artifacts provide a rich source of information regarding their lifestyles.
Today, in the area of San Jose de la Zorra just 30 kilometers east of La Mision Village, descendants of the Kumiai can still be found. The Mixtecs were from the area in the south of Mexico. They had built one of many rich cultures during the time of the Aztec rule. The Name There are different views on the origin of the name for the town. The City "Tia Juana, the last town in Southern California . Phase One – Entertainment Phase Two – Working North Tijuana is one of the most traveled and largest border crossings in the world. The River. Youth Gangs and Violence. Youth Gangs and Violence Youth gang violence from the 1950's to the 1980's has a curious history.
Miller (1992:2) contended that the national perspective of gangs during this period was dominated by a New York City media view: "a flowering in the 1950s, death in the 1960s, revival in the early 1970s, and dormancy in the later 1970s. " His survey of gang problems in major American cities (Miller, 1975, 1992) proved the latter part of this media theory to be wrong. Miller's study showed that gang violence was very prevalent in the 1960's and 1970's. He argued that nothing had changed from the 1950's; rather, media and public attention were diverted from gangs to the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and ensuing riots.
Miller's (1992) study indicated that gangs had become more dangerous than ever in the 1970's. He attributed this to four major motives: honor, defense of local turf, control [of facilities], and gain [of money and goods]. Guns Homicides. Drive-by shootings. Two portraits of supermarket magnate emerge at L.A. trial. For a man who built his grocery empire store by store in some of Los Angeles County's most crime-ridden and graffiti-scarred neighborhoods, George Torres seemed to fare remarkably well with local gangbangers and taggers.
His Numero Uno supermarkets, for the most part, remained as pristine on the outside as they were sparkling on the inside. And, after a rough beginning, he had relatively few run-ins with local toughs. Just how Torres, 52, was able to achieve this apparent status promises to be an underlying theme in his racketeering trial, which got underway this week in the downtown Los Angeles courtroom of U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson. Torres' defense attorneys portray him as a self-made entrepreneur who earned the respect of neighborhood mothers -- and, by extension, their sons -- by bringing fresh meat and produce to their neighborhoods at a fair price. He was a man who treated customers with respect and gave at-risk youths jobs to help steer them from gangs and drugs. Pasadena Weekly - The Al Capone of Arcadia?
Only two days into the federal racketeering trial of George Torres and US District Judge Stephen Wilson was already bored. For the past 25 years, prosecutors argued, Torres, owner of the popular Los Angeles grocery store chain Numero Uno, pulled money out of his stores for “personal use,” cheated on his payroll taxes, and built an empire off the backs of the illegal immigrants who worked for him.
Pasadena City Councilman and former federal prosecutor Steve Madison, representing Torres, countered by trying to show that ex-employees of Numero Uno were coerced into or compensated by the government for testifying against Torres — who was arrested at his Arcadia home in June 2007 and charged with tax evasion, bribery, harboring illegal immigrants and conspiracy to commit murder.
Wilson, an easily irritated man who enjoys telling lawyers how to do their jobs, wanted to get to the good stuff. “Let’s face it, this case is being tried on murder,” he said. Numero Uno | Crime Scene. Jeffery Anderson has a piece out today on Ticklethewire, which goes into some detail about how the government essentially blew its case against George Torres, the inner city grocery store kingpin who was accused in a racketeering case.
Thomas Himes tackled the same material in Sunday’s newspaper. Here’s a snippet of Tom’s story in case you missed it: LOS ANGELES — In the eyes of a federal court judge, an Arcadia man who was convicted of soliciting murder and racketeering was the victim of a rogue LAPD cop who bribed and threatened key witnesses in the case. As a result, George Torres, 52, the one-time owner of the Los Angeles-based Numero Uno supermarket chain, which had a store in South El Monte, is free again after serving nearly two years time in federal custody. “Now he (Torres) stands convicted of nothing,” Torres’ attorney, Steve Madison said. Torres still faces charges of harboring illegal aliens, bribing a planning commissioner and tax evasion and will return to court on Nov. 30.