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A.M. Costa Rica
Your daily English-language news source Monday through Friday |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 117 | |||||||||
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Sala
IV supports student
who wears dreadlocks By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The personal hairstyle of a student again was the issue before the Sala IV constitutional court. The magistrates sided with the student. He is Darnell Campbell Moore, who was barred from attending the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas in Sabana Oeste because he wore dreadlocks. The magistrates said that a youngster of university age had the right to his own image and to determine his own personal presentation as long as it did not offend morality or public order. In addition, there was no proof that the hairstyle was against the rules of the institution, said a summary of the decision released Tuesday. Campbell was represented by Epsy Campbell Barr, a prominent politician and a relative. This is an issue that comes into court periodically, sometimes with racial overtones. Deadlocks are typical of Jamaican culture, and Campbell is black. Native Costa Rican students also have had trouble at universities for wearing their hair long. One university student who successfully challenged without court an administrator's ruling on his hair said that he was told that long hair was a sign of being homosexual. There once was a time when Costa Rican immigration officials would deny entry to young tourists who arrived with long hair. Two mild earthquakes ripple through country By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The country experienced two earthquakes Tuesday. One early Tuesday happened just 51 minutes after midnight. The epicenter was in northern Costa Rica not far northeast from Lake Arenal. The Laboratorio de Ingeniería Sísmica del Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería said that the 3.7 magnitude jot was 4.2 kilometers (2.6 miles) northeast of Tilarán and 11.9 kilometers (7.4 miles) south southwest of San Rafael de Guatuso, Alajuela. A quake also took place at 6 p.m. some 41 kilometers (25.4 miles) northwest of Playas del Coco, said the Laboratorio. This epicenter was offshore in the Pacific. The magnitude was estimated at 4.2. In both cases, the data shows that although the quakes were felt in nearby areas, the sensation was mild.
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| 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 | ||||||
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| A.M. Costa Rica Third
News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 117 | |
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Jo Stuart |
The new bridge is two lanes. The temporary bailey bridge is on the right. The distance is about 410 feet over the Tárcoles, a major river. Engineers say the new span has a 25-year useful life. |
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
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| Permanent bridge at scene of tragedy due
to be ready in August |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A permanent bridge is about 80 percent complete over the Río Grande de Tárcoles between Orotina and Turrubares, according to the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. This is the spot where a hanging bridge gave way and dumped a bus and its passengers into the river Oct. 22, 2009. Five persons died. Officials eventually replaced the span with a steel bailey bridge. The new bridge replaces that temporary measure. The hanging bridge was not just any bridge. This is a span that starred a year earlier in a Channel 7 "60 Minutes"-like presentation of terrible bridges. Even the bus involved in the crash was the feature of a television news sequence when a tire fell through the aging deck of the bridge and mechanics had to use hydraulic jacks to extricate it. Those who died ranged from a 75-year-old man on his way to a medical appointment to a 30-year-old wife and mother. The accident was a national scandal because there had been pleas to fix it from local officials, including one delivered just two weeks before the accident. The bridge basically was an aging wooden deck supported by cables. |
The span originally was erected from
1920 to 1924. Engineers said that
one of the two main suspension cables parted to cause the accident.
There may have been structural damage to one of the anchor points of
the cables. Investigations showed that the bus company did not have permission to use that route. Eventually Karla González, who was public works minister at the time, faced criminal charges that were eventually dismissed. The tragedy highlighted the sorry state of the country's roads and bridges and delivered a black eye to the Óscar Arias Sánchez administration. The road agency spent 1.5 billion colons, about $3 million, to erect the new, two-lane bridge. Officials expect to have the job done in August. Work was delayed when the effects of Hurricane Thomas in November 2010 caused the river to change its course slightly. The bridge underpinnings had to be redesigned, said the Consejo. Designers also raised the level of the bridge deck. The new bridge is 125 meters or 410 feet long and it complies with all earthquake requirements, said the Consejo. The work that remains involves installing utilities, barriers and grading up to the accesses. |
| Expert gives lawmakers highly critical
report on Ruta 1856 |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The country's newest highway, Ruta 1856 in northern Costa Rica, got a stinging review Tuesday before a legislative commission. The summary came from Olman Vargas Zeledón, director of the Colegio de Ingenieros y Arquitectos. He said the stretch was badly planned, lacked drainage and was vulnerable to possible landslides. He was appearing before the Comisión Permanente Especial de Control de Ingreso y Gasto Público. A full report on the roadway is due next week. Vargas said the absence of adequate drainage was a key failing because the road is gravel. Without adequate plans for runoff, flowing water can carry away much of the road material, he said. This is the stretch that figures in a series of bribery investigations. The road was built with direct contracts instead of competitive bidding because the central government was trying to provide quick access to an area that had been invaded by Nicaraguan soldiers. |
Vargas said the road was like an
accordion with variable widths ranging
from 40 meters (131 feet) to just 10 to 14 (33 to 46 feet). Vargas also talked about the slopes that he did not think were stabilized adequately and where they would be prone to slides during rainy weather. The commission decided to meet again Tuesday to hear more about the roadway. More than 200 judicial agents fanned out June 6 to pull off 41 simultaneous searches, the largest such police operation in history as part of the investigation over the road contracts. The 41 locations, mostly construction companies, were in 11 cantons, said the Poder Judicial. Specifically sought were receipts and accounting information relating to payments by the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad, the nation's road agency. The construction companies had received payments for 19 billion colons or about $38 million. At least three public employees are suspected of receiving bribes from construction companies. |
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| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| 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 | ||||||
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 117 | |||||
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| The roundup goes high tech with DNA
taking place of brands |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
There was a time when the best way to keep track of cows was to rope, throw and brand the little ones. Otherwise, there would be mavericks running around without marks of ownership. High tech is taking that tradition a step further. The Judicial Investigating Organization and the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología will be announcing today a project to keep track of cattle by using DNA, the genetic markers. The ministry and the investigative agency said that rustling and illegal butchering of cattle is becoming more frequent in the country. There also is a concern when people are exposed to meat that is inadequately prepared. DNA evidence also is a powerful proof at trial, said the ministry. The ministry has received 28 million colons, about $55,000 so that the Secretaría Nacional de Salud Animal can conduct a study of cattle genetics in Costa Rica. |
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| Study says major eruptions can have
negative effect on ozone |
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By
the American Geophysical Union new staff
Giant volcanic eruptions in Nicaragua over the past 70,000 years could have injected enough gases into the atmosphere to temporarily thin the ozone layer, according to new research. And, if it happened today, a similar explosive eruption could do the same, releasing more than twice the amount of ozone-depleting halogen gases currently in the stratosphere due to manmade emissions. Bromine and chlorine are gases that “love to react — especially with ozone,” said Kirstin Krüger, a meteorologist with GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany. “If they reach the upper levels of the atmosphere, they have a high potential of depleting the ozone layer.” New research by Ms. Krüger and her colleagues, which she presented Tuesday at a scientific conference in Iceland, combined a mixture of field work, geochemistry and existing atmospheric models to look at the previous Nicaraguan eruptions. And the scientists found that the eruptions were explosive enough to reach the stratosphere, and spewed out enough bromine and chlorine in those eruptions, to have an effect on the protective ozone layer. Ms. Krüger’s talk was at the American Geophysical Union’s Chapman Conference on Volcanism and the Atmosphere. Steffen Kutterolf, a chemical volcanologist with GEOMAR and one of Ms. Krüger’s colleagues, tackled the question of how much gas was released during the eruptions. He analyzed gases that were trapped by minerals crystallizing in the magma chambers, and applied a novel method that involves using the high-energy radiation from the German Electron Synchrotron in Hamburg to detect trace elements, including bromine. From that, Kutterolf estimated the amount of gas within magma before the eruptions, as well as the gas content in the lava rocks post-eruption. The difference, combined with existing field data about the size of the eruption, allowed the scientists to calculate how much bromine and chlorine are released. Previous studies have estimated that in large, explosive eruptions — the type that sends mushroom clouds of ash kilometers high — up to 25 percent of the halogens ejected can make it to the stratosphere. For this study, the research team used a more conservative estimate of 10 percent reaching the stratosphere, to calculate the potential ozone layer depletion. Taking an average from 14 Nicaraguan eruptions, the scientists found bromine and chlorine concentrations in the |
 Photo by Steffen Kutterolf
Apoyo Caldera in Nicaragua where
a major volcanic eruption 24,500 years ago could have released
gases that temporarily depleted the ozone layer.stratosphere jumped to levels that are equivalent to 200 percent to 300 percent of the 2011 concentrations of those gases. The Upper Apoyo eruption 24,500 years ago, for example, released 120 megatons of chlorine and 600 kilotons of bromine into the stratosphere. Volcanic sulfate aerosols alone can lead to an ozone increase — if chlorine levels are at low, pre-industrial levels, Ms. Krüger said. But bromine and chlorine are halogens, gases whose atoms have seven electrons in the outer ring. To reach a stable, eight-electron configuration, these atoms will rip electrons off of passing molecules, like ozone. So when an eruption also pumps bromine and chlorine levels into the stratosphere, the ozone-depleting properties of the gases together with aerosols is expected to thin the protective layer. “As we have bromine and chlorine together, we believe that this can lead to substantial depletion,” she said. “And this is from one single eruption.” Because the effects are in the stratosphere, where the volcanic gases can be carried across the globe, eruptions of tropical volcanoes could lead to ozone depletion over a large area, Ms. Krüger said, potentially even impacting the ozone over polar regions. However, that’s a question for future research to address. Some volcanic gases can last in the stratosphere up to six years, she added, although the most significant impacts from eruptions like Mount Pinatubo were within the first two years. The next step in the research, Ms. Krüger said, is to investigate how much damage to the ozone layer the volcanic gases caused in the past — and what the damage could be from future volcanic eruptions in the active Central American region. |
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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 |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 117 | |||||||||
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| U.N.
agency now calls diesel exhaust carcinogenic Special
to A.M. Costa Rica
More than a decade after it was classified as probably carcinogenic to humans, the U.N. health agency Tuesday classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the World Health Organization, announced the re-classification Tuesday, after a week-long meeting of international experts, and based its decision on sufficient evidence that exposure is associated with an increased risk for lung cancer. “The scientific evidence was compelling and the working group’s conclusion was unanimous: diesel engine exhaust causes lung cancer in humans,” said the chairperson of the agency's working group which reviewed the scientific evidence. He is Christopher Portier. “Given the additional health impacts from diesel particulates, exposure to this mixture of chemicals should be reduced worldwide,” he added. According to the agency, large populations are exposed to diesel exhaust in everyday life, whether through their occupation or through the ambient air. People are exposed not only to motor vehicle exhausts but also to exhausts from other diesel engines, including from other modes of transport, such as diesel trains and ships, and from power generators. There had been mounting concern about the cancer-causing potential of diesel exhaust, particularly based on findings in epidemiological studies of workers exposed in various settings, the research agency noted. The working group reviewed the evidence and, overall, it concluded that there was sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust. In particular, it found that there was sufficient evidence to determine that diesel exhaust is a cause of lung cancer, and noted that there is a positive association with an increased risk of bladder cancer. The working group also concluded that gasoline exhaust was possibly carcinogenic to humans, a finding unchanged from a previous evaluation in 1989. The agency said that governments and other decision-makers now have a valuable evidence-base on which to consider environmental standards for diesel exhaust emissions and to continue to work with the engine and fuel manufacturers towards those goals. In 1988, the agency had classified diesel exhaust as probably carcinogenic to humans. An advisory group, which reviews and recommends future priorities for the agency, had recommended diesel exhaust as a high priority for re-evaluation since 1998. Aide to wounded lawmaker wins her congressional seat By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Democrat Ron Barber has won a special election in Arizona to finish the term of a congresswoman who was wounded in a mass shooting last year. Barber, who was an aide to former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, defeated Republican Jesse Kelly in Tuesday's election. Ms. Giffords resigned her seat in the House of Representatives this past January to focus on her recovery from the near-fatal shooting, which occurred during a public appearance in Tucson in January 2011. Six people were killed and 13 others injured, including Barber. He will have to run for re-election in November for a full two-year term. The special election to fill Ms. Giffords's seat was one of many elections being held across the country Tuesday, many of them congressional primaries to pick the Democratic and Republican candidates to run in November. One of the biggest races took place in Virginia, where former U.S. Sen. George Allen defeated little-known opponents in the Republican primary in the race for his old Senate seat. Allen, a former governor of Virginia, lost his 2006 re-election bid to Democratic challenger James Webb after he was caught on camera using a racial slur to describe a Webb campaign volunteer. He will face Democrat Tim Kaine, another former Virginia governor, in the November election to replace the retiring Webb. Primary elections were also being held in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina. In another election-year issue, officials in Washington state say a referendum on same-sex marriage will be placed on the November ballot. Earlier this year, Gov. Christine Gregoire signed legislation that legalized same-sex marriage, but it was put on hold while opponents gathered enough signatures to place it on the ballot. State election officials say opponents turned in nearly 250,000 signatures, well over the legal minimum of 120,577. A recent poll shows more than 50 percent of Washington state voters approve of legalizing same-sex marriage. |
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| 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 |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Vol. 12, No. 117 | ||||||||||
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Latin America news |
 U.S. Navy photo
Navy and Coast Guard crew
members alongside the 'USS Nicholas' prepare to transfer the captured
cocaine bales.U.S. forces at
sea stop
another cocaine shipment By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Another U.S. naval vessel has recovered cocaine in an incident that led to the capture of a drug-smuggling gofast boat. The boat is the guided-missile frigate “USS Nicholas,” which was in the Pacific Ocean as part of Operation Martillo, the multinational effort against drug smuggling. The U.S. Southern Command said that crew members of the “Nicholas” pulled bales of cocaine totaling 4,910 pound from the sea during the incident June 4. The action also involved the “U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sherman” and a Colombian naval vessel. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard crew members appear to have chased the gofast boat back into Colombian waters where a Colombian patrol boat captured it and its crew. New Parque la Libertad hosts 88 bird species By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A new book describes 88 bird species that can be found at the new Parque la Libertad in eastern Desamparados and La Unión. The book “Avifauna” was created by Guiselle Alvarado and Silvia Bolaños, ornithologists with the natural history department of the Museo Nacional. Banco Nacional supported the work. The park has 34 hectares, some 84 acres. The land was donated by Holcim (Costa Rica) S.A., the concrete firm, and the government has been working to create a biological garden and a reforestation project as well as a number of other park attractions. The bird project required a year, said the authors. They said they encountered bird species that are not usually found in an urban setting. About 40 per cent are migratory. One goal of planners is to make the park part of a biological corridor between Loma Salitral, the Escazú mountains and La Carpintera. |
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| 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 | ||||||
