 |
 |
Costa Rica Your daily |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
|
|
 |
| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 21 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
 |
 |
 |
|
results in investigation By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Fire investigators and judicial agents are seeking the cause of a blaze in Guadalupe, Goicoechea, that resulted in the death of a 53-year-old man early Sunday. The dead man was Rolando Leitón Soto, said a report from the Cuerpo de Bomberos. The blaze was in an auto repair shop where the victim has been sleeping. It was near his home. The fire agency report said there did not appear to be a reason for the fire to start accidentally, so investigators are continuing to seek the cause along with judicial agents. Hospitalized youngsters introduced to stamps By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Hospitalized youngsters are getting the chance to become stamp collectors. The Hospital Nacional de Niños, the Museo de Arte Costarricense, Correos de Costa Rica and Expo Filatelia Nacional 2012 announced a series of workshops where ill youngsters will have a chance to learn about the world via stamp collecting. The hospital considers stamp collecting therapeutic, said a release. Expo Filatelia Nacional 2012 is open through Saturday at the museum. The postal service is providing stamps that have the theme of no violence for youngsters from all over the world. There also is a series of guided tours for hospital patients to the Museo de Arte Costarricense. Also visiting will be youngsters who are in shelters of the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia. Quake reported offshore in Gulf of Papagayo By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An afternoon quake in the Gulf of Papagayo Sunday rattled homes and other buildings on shore, but there was no reported damage. The quake appears to have been felt just in the Guanacaste area. The quake took place at 4:11 p.m. about 27.4 kilometers (about 17 miles) below the surface of the Pacific. The quake was 25.8 kilometers (about 16 miles) northwest of Playa Potrero in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, said the Laboratorio de Ingeniería Sísmica at the Universidad de Costa Rica. The laboratory estimated the magnitude at 3.4. Consular staff to train By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The consular section of the U.S. Embassy will be closed today while staff members there undergo unspecified training. The section will reopen again at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, said an embassy announcement. The embassy staff still will field telephone calls from U.S. citizens who are facing an emergency, the announcement said.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
 |
 |
 |
| A.M. Costa Rica Third
News Page |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 21 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo Stuart |
| Caja urges basic health care to avoid the
current wave of flu |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Health workers have confirmed an increase in serious cases of respiratory infection caused by the influenza viruses. They said that there were confirmed cases in San Miguel de Desamparados, Aserrí, Curridabat, Goicoechea, Pavas, Paraíso and Orosí de Cartago and Los Santos. The increase is not unusual during this time of year, said the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. However, the Caja's Unidad de Salud Colectiva urged that individuals take basic precautions to avoid infection, such as hand-washing. The viruses are the H1N1 and the H3N2. The Caja announcement noted that children and persons with |
chronic illnesses are the most
vulnerable to the viruses. Three persons, including one with a chronic illness, have died in the last few days due to the viruses, said the Caja. Four more persons are in intensive care, according to the report released Friday. The Caja urged persons with a temperature of 38 degrees C (about 100.4 F) or more and with difficulty breathing to go to the nearest clinic. Also vulnerable are persons with asthma, diabetes, heart problems and children under 2 as well as pregnant women, obese individuals and seniors, said the Caja. The Caja said it had enough medicine for the current flu wave. |
| Turrialba volcano neighbors spend four
hours with experts |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
An active volcano can really bring together a community. That is what happened Friday when experts met with residents around the Volcán Turrialba. The national emergency commission set up the meeting, which lasted four hours. The commission said that residents got a complete explanation of what was happening in the volcano. Still unanswered is how long this activity will continue. Residents were told a few days, a few months, perhaps a year. The meeting was in the community of La Pastora which is on the skirt of the volcano. Experts from Sismológica Nacional of the Universidad de Costa Rica, the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico at the Universidad Nacional and the Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias attended, as did María Elena Montoya, the Turrialba mayor, and other politicians. One suggestion that seemed to find favor with those attending was the need to construct bunkers near the volcano summit so that tourists can take refuge if caught by a sudden eruption. Residents also pushed for better roads, both for tourism and evacuation. The Parque Nacional Volcán Turrialba continues to remain closed due to the recent activity, which included the creation of a new aperture in the third crater of the mountain. Officials said the park would remain closed until the safety of visitors could be assured. The emergency commission said that the meeting addressed many rumors that have been in circulation about the volcano. The experts also visited the communities of La Picada and La Silva where they saw first-hand the effects of acid rain on the vegetation. |
 Observatorio Vulcanológico y
Sismológico/ Javier Pacheco Alvarado
The flame is the result of
spontaneous combustion as superheated gases from the volcano reach the
oxygen in the air. The photo was made Jan. 18 about 5:30 p.m.Several community leaders already have brought the various communities together to plan evacuation routes and also locations where refugees could be housed if the volcano increased its activity. Emergency commission members reminded the residents that the volcano is being monitored continually and that any changes will be noticed immediately. The crater that is showing activity is the one furthest to the west. Experts were on the mountain a week ago to witness a red flame shooting from the newly formed aperture in the crater. The observatory said that the flame is the result of spontaneous combustion when the gases from the volcano come in contact with oxygen in the air. The temperature was estimated at 700 C or about 1300 F. The gases are hydrogen, sulfurs among other emissions, the observatory said. |
 |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
|
A.M.
Costa Rica's
Fourth news page |
 |
||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 21 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| New research questions time the American
continents joined |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
New research challenges the idea that Panamå uplifted to join the Americas just 3.5 million years ago. Work on the new canal lane there suggests that much of the land was above sea level from 37 to 21 million years ago, according to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. However, there is additional conflicting evidence. The lead author of the latest research paper is Camilo Montes of the institute with eight other academics. The time when the isthmus joined North and South America has seemed to be settled science at about 3 million years, and a number of research efforts accept these dates as fact. The Smithsonian said that the joining radically altered the world’s climate and set the scene for a great interchange of plants and animals from north to and from south. Genetic studies of marine organisms separated by the formation of the Isthmus are all based on research by the Panama Paleontology Project that sets the date for the connection at about 3 million years ago, the institute noted. The new research is controversial and suggests a much earlier uplift of most of the isthmus. The paper finally has been published online by the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America in its Jan. 13 issue. This is the second paper on the topic, and a third and final effort is due soon. This completes a series of articles that outline a new model for the evolution of Panamá, said the institute. The new research uses reports from 2,000 fields stations and some 70 analyses, including some for the search for petroleum. “This data set suggests that the isthmus was an uninterrupted chain above sea level from late Eocene until at |
 NASA photo
This
is the point where the continents join
least late Miocene times,” said an abstract prepared by the Geological Society of America. On the other hand, another Smithsonian Institute researcher has found a 2.3 meter marlin fossil in the Panamá Caribbean tidal zone. Such fish are typical of the open ocean and the deep seas, the institute said. The researcher, Carlos De Gracia, inadvertently thrust himself into the debate over the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama and suggests that six million years ago, marlin were common in a deep ocean environment at the Caribbean entrance of the current canal, said the institute. The fossil claims a Central American record for the most-complete marine vertebrate fossil yet discovered, said the Smithsonian. Serious researchers do not doubt that the isthmus was lifted above sea level by tectonic activity, that is the movement of the plates on which the continents ride. The open question now is did the isthmus close 3 million years ago at the start of the current ice age or much earlier. |
| Woman, 18, dies in Escazú drive-by
shooting early Sunday |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A drive-by shooting in San Antonio de Escazú Sunday morning killed an 18-year-old woman and injured the 15-year-old boy she was with. Investigators have not established a tentative motive. The two victims were standing on a corner early Sunday when a vehicle drove by and someone inside fired multiple times at them, said investigators. |
The woman was identified by the last
names of Castro Solano. The boy
was identified by the last name of Chavarría, said the Judicial
Investigating Organization. The boy was reported in serious condition in Hospital San Juan de Dios with a wound to the back. San Antonio is several kilometers south and up the mountain from Escazú Centro. This type of criminal activity is unusual in the community. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M.
Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
 |
||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 21 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
 |
| Chávez
sees better days with Obama again at helm By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez says that he hopes for a better relationship with the United States if U.S. President Barack Obama is reelected. During a news conference at the presidential palace in Caracas late Friday, Chávez said he hoped that if Obama is re-elected, the two leaders could shake hands and have a great relationship. The Venezuelan president also referred to an interview Mr. Obama gave to to the Spanish language television network Univision this week. "Obama said he would give more importance to Latin America. He has not done this. I think it is one of the big mistakes he has committed," Chávez said. "He speaks about mistakes in his interview. One of the big mistakes that government has committed is to not communicate with Latin America and to delegate that communication to non-diplomatic entities like the U.S. Southern Command. The roles that should be assumed by him or by his secretary of State are filled by war mongers, by the CIA." Chávez also denied reports published in a Spanish newspaper that said he was dying. He told reporters he was as strong as ever, and the Spanish media simply wishes he would die. Like Obama, Chávez is running for re-election this year, in his case, to a third term. Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela have been tense since Chávez was elected in 1998. Former Guatemalan leader faces genocide charge By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A judge in Guatemala has ruled that there is sufficient evidence to try former dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide during his time in power from 1982 to 1983. The judge ruled Thursday in Guatemala City that Montt should answer to charges of responsibility for mass killings of thousands of indigenous people in their villages. The killings were part of a counterinsurgency effort aimed at leftist rebels in Guatemala's 36-year civil war that ended in 1996. Montt has been placed under house arrest until further proceedings. Montt lost his seat in Congress last year, and with it, the immunity from prosecution granted public officials. Death toll in Brazil rises to 17 in building collapse By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The death toll from the collapse of three buildings in Brazil has risen to at least 17 people. Officials say rescue workers pulled more bodies from the rubble Saturday, three days after the office buildings collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro. At least seven people remain missing. Authorities say they do not expect to find more survivors. The three buildings that fell were between four and 20 stories high. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said the collapse appeared to be caused by structural problems and not a gas leak as first suspected. Witnesses said they heard what sounded like an explosion Wednesday evening, and then, with a rumble, the top floors of the buildings began collapsing, covering nearby vehicles with a thick dust. Officials say the buildings were for commercial, not residential, use. The incident comes as Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup and two years later, the Summer Olympics. Police and protesters clash in Oakland invasion try By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police in Oakland, California, arrested some 200 anti-Wall Street protesters who attempted to occupy a vacant building. The clashes began Saturday when activists torched an American flag in front of City Hall before breaking into the historic building and damaging art exhibits inside. The protesters later marched to an empty convention center they wanted to convert into a social center and tore down fencing. Police say the protesters threw rocks, bottles and other objects at officers who responded by firing tear gas and bean bag rounds (less lethal shotgun ammunition). Officials say three police officers and one protester were injured. During a press conference Saturday, Mayor Jean Quan called on Occupy protesters to stop using Oakland as its playground. She blamed the destruction on a violent splinter group within the Occupy Oakland demonstration. An estimated 1,000 people attended Saturday's march. The national Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York in September. It says it represents the "99 percent" - those outside the top 1 percent of wealth holders. Meanwhile, authorities in Washington, D.C., are planning to evict Occupy protesters from two parks where they have been camping since October. |
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
| A.M.
Costa
Rica's sixth news page |
|
|||||||||
| San
José,
Costa Rica, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 21 |
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
 |
Latin America news |
U.S.
motorist dies in crash
of pickup in Carrillo By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A U. S. citizen traveling on the Nicoya peninsula died in a hospital after his truck flipped on the roadway. According to Judicial Investigating Organization agents the accident occurred Thursday, and the driver died at 5:30 a.m. the following day in Hospital CIMA in Escazú. The man who died was the driver of the vehicle and was identified as, John Darran Cochram, 46. He was traveling with four other passengers, all foreigners, who survived the crash and were only treated for minor injuries at a hospital in Liberia, said police. The vehicle was a Toyota pick-up, and the accident occurred around midday in Playa Carrillo in Guanacaste. The cause of the accident had not yet been determined by authorities Sunday. A spokesperson from the Judicial Investigating Organization presumed the group in the vehicle were tourists vacationing in Costa Rica. Internet firm planning more business services By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Radiográfica Costarricense S.A., the struggling subsidiary of the country's telecom giant, has agreed to let Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia and COOPELESCA, a cooperative in the northern zone, to use its fiber optic network. The companies will offer their own services via the cable, said the public Internet provider known as RACSA. RACSA's parent firm, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, is firmly in the Internet business, too. The announcement came Thursday night at a meeting that RACSA officials said was designed to relaunch its services for large and medium businesses. The company said it is offering cloud computer, voice over Internet, Web television, highway controls for public agencies and wireless services, among others. RACSA is making a $5 million investment in a fiber optic cable. Some 200 kilometers already has been installed of a proposed 1,000 kilometers, the firm said. The company is continuing to negotiate with Grupo ICE for joint use of the cable, it said. Football season begins Saturday in Desamparados By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Most U.S. professional football players are getting ready for a little sports fishing or trips with the family. Only the teams that will meet Sunday in the Superbowl, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, still have a game date. In Costa Rica, the football season is just beginning. The first game is Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Rhynos meet the Bulldogs. The second game is the same day at 7 p.m. with the Toros meeting the Dragones. All games are at the Cuty Monge Stadium in Desamparados. There are two games every Saturday leading up to the semifinals April 21 and the championship game April 28. Also Saturday this week is a final match for flag football players. That is at 5 p.m. |
|
Latin
American news feeds are disabled on archived pages.
|
|
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
Jo
Stuart |
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of this page and this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado 2012 and may not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details | ||||||
branches and trees as
well as possible damage to electrical lines and the chance
that pieces
of metal roofing might fly off. 
James
DeRoy
