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| A.M. Costa Rica Second newspage |
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concern among officials By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A low-pressure system has emergency workers on alert along the Pacific coast and the southern zone today. The Comisión Nacional de Emergencia issued an alert Wednesday night based on information from the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional. Rain was expected on the Pacific slope and the Central Valley, the commission said. The weather institute said that the atmospheric instability would be producing heavy rain from the first hours of today. The emergency commission warned operators of small boats and also motorists to restrict activities in the heavy rain. The commission also said that those in danger of being flooded should take action to find a nearby shelter early and not wait until the last minute. The northern Pacific got 51.6 mm (2.03 inches) of rain between 7 p.m. and midnight Wednesday, according to the automatic weather station in Santa Rosa. The station at Liberia registered 33 mm (1.3 inches) during the same period. Juan Santamaría airport reported 47.1 mm (1.85 inches), but less rain fell in other parts of the Central Valley. New undersea cable gets its inauguration Friday By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Officials are holding a ceremony Friday in Esterillos Este to mark the successful hookup of the nation's Internet system to another underwater cable. The Cable Submarino del Pacífico comes ashore there, and the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad is arranging the festivities. The cable is managed by Global Crossing. The country now is connected to the world with two undersea cables, the Maya 1 and the Arcos, and both are in the Caribbean. From Esterillos the cable is connected to the nation's data distribution system that carries other signals, as well as international Internet. The telecommunications monopoly said it was investing $30 million in the project. When the company announced the project in May 2006, it said the cable would be hooked up by late 2007. $12 million allocated for Sixaola development By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
President Óscar Arias Sánchez signed a law Wednesday that generates $12 million for the Río Sixaola basin in southeast Costa Rica. Arias said that the measure will help to raise the area from its cruel underdevelopment. The government will come up with $2.8 million, and the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo will provide $9.2 million, according to the plan. The agreement comes at a time when the Arias administration is under fire for converting money for projects for the poor into stipends for so-called advisers who are political supporters. According to Arias, this project will improve the infrastructure and permit Sixaola to construct dikes to protect the inhabitants from flooding. The town was wiped out by such flooding Jan. 9 and 10, 2005. Arias also said that the area could take advantage of sustainable tourism and modernize its system of agriculture to become an exporter rather than a subsistence economy. The area is populated by a substantial percentage of Bribri Indians particularly in the higher elevations of the Talmanca mountains. President Abel Pacheco promised that the town of Sixaola would be relocated after it was hit by massive flooding in 2005. The water from the nearby river filled the town up to the rooftops. However, residents have since complaints that not much has happened. Two men in Cóbano held in drug sales to tourists By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Agents of the Judicial Investigation Organization captured two men suspected of selling drugs to tourists in Santa Fe de Cóbano, Puntarenas, Wednesday. Various suspected drugs were seized by officials, including a kilo and a half of marijuana, 100 grams of cocaine and 50 grams of crack according to an organization release. The suspects, who were not identified by name, are the latest in a string of drug-related arrests made by the organization and the Fuerza Pública.
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| Effort against Escazú home invasions shows some progress |
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By Elise Sonray
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Armed bands have had their way in the high class neighborhoods of Escazú. From fake flower deliveries to the use of rental cars that match the vehicle of the actual homeowner, the groups are more organized and advanced than ever, said officials Wednesday. “The area draws a lot of attention because of the types of houses here,” said Ronny Sánchez Villegas, the director of the Fuerza Pública in Escazú. House robberies and thefts are the top crime in the area, said Sánchez. The majority of those houses belong to Americans and other foreigners, said the police director. In a typical home invasion, a gang of armed robbers break through the gates and hold occupants at gunpoint or pounce when a homeowner opens a garage door or gate to park a vehicle. Some invasions have been violent, and one nearby at the home of a former presidential candidate in March 2007 led to the death of two innocent persons. With 10 officers per shift to cover a zone of 35 square kilometers (13.5 square miles), his staff is not enough to keep up, said Sánchez. Just two months ago the Fuerza Pública and the Judicial Investigation Organization paired up to fight the robberies in Trejos Montealegre. Since then, crime has gone down some, said Sánchez, but the bands are still on the loose, he said. A number of diplomats live there. Tuesday night a man in Escazú reported that he heard a knock at the door and, when he open it, he was attacked by at least six gunmen wearing ski masks. Among the things stolen was a .38 caliber revolver, said Sánchez. The victim, Raúl Balio, lives in a large house in La Carmén de Bebedero, Escazú, said Sánchez. The criminal analysis unit of the Judicial Investigation Organization conducted a study last year categorizing house robberies and thefts by area, mode of operation, time of day, and day of the week, said the judicial director of the Sección de Asaltos. The most prominent areas of house burglaries and robberies included Trejos Montealegre, Santa Ana, Rohrmoser, and Curridabat, said the director, Manuel Brenes Carillo. The organization has since been working with the local Fuerza Pública to bring down the number of cases in each area, said Brenes. For the last month, officers have been patrolling the Trejos Montealegre area three times a day, said Sánchez. Other entities, including the U.S. Embassy, also maintain private patrols. In one case, police found two scanning radios in an abandoned vehicle which they believe robbers used to listen in on to police communications, said Sánchez. “They can't use the radios to communicate. But they know what we're doing,” said Sánchez. One band uses bulletproof vests, said Sánchez. Sánchez said there are at least two prominent bands who |
 A.M. Costa Rica/Jeremy Arias
Escazú director Ronny Sánchez Villegascome into Escazú solely with the purpose of busting into houses. Police believe that one group is from Alajuela and that one is from Pavas. Many times they travel in two or three cars, said Sánchez. At least one of the bands rents cars similar to the car owned by the homeowner so the subdivision security guard does not suspect anything, said Sánchez. “They rent luxury vehicles so they don't stand out in the neighborhoods. They can disappear,” said Brenes. Police also believe there are at least two groups of Colombians, one of which invaded the house in Bebedero Tuesday. And there is yet another group of eight to 12 men that have pilfered three large construction sites in Escazú this year alone, said Sánchez. The men are believed to be the same ones who were stealing at sites in Curridabat last year, said Sánchez. The thieves, who leave with ten of thousands of dollars worth in tools, are believed to be from Desamparados, said Sánchez. Police are encouraging the creation and use of neighborhood watch programs, said Sánchez. Three streets in Trejos Montealegre are participating so far, although some areas have not been cooperative, said the police director. Brenes advised people to call 800-8000-OIJ (800-8000-645) the confidential investigation number with any tips or suspicions. “If there is someone lurking outside your house or a suspicious delivery take appropriate actions. Don't approach any suspicious vehicles. And install metal doors and an electronic security system if possible,” said Brenes. |
| Another telecom bill gets a green light from the constitutional court |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Sala IV constitutional court decided Wednesday that a bill designed to strengthen and modernize the telecommunications industry did not contain fatal flaws. The bill, No. 16.397, is one of a package generated by the free trade treaty with the United States. The vote was 5-2 with the dissenting magistrates outlining what they saw to be serious constitutional flaws. The magistrates who say constitutional problems were Fernando Cruz Castro and Gilbert Armijo Sancho. They said that said that the measure should have been |
submitted to autonomous institutions, the municipalities and the Banco
Central. However, a summary of the bill on the Asamblea Legislative Web
site shows that many public entities had reviewed the measure and gave
comments. Among those were the Banco Central. This is not the measure that opens up the telecommunications market to non-public entities. A companion measure does that. But this bill defines the role of the state and addresses regulation and the role of the existing Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad as a telecommunications supplier. The measure had been referred to the court for an opinion by the legislature, which already passed it once. |
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Initiative launched to fight neglected tropical diseases
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Earlier this year, President George Bush said the United States would spend $350 million over five years to fight seven of the world's most common parasitic and bacterial diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people in tropical regions of the world. A Washington-based global health network is urging Congress to fully fund the initiative, and encouraging other developed nations to join the effort. Battles against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis regularly grab international headlines and are the focus of multi-billion dollar global health initiatives. But many other diseases are equally widespread and cause massive suffering in scores of countries, yet rarely seem to capture the world's attention. Called "neglected tropical diseases," they include river blindness, elephantiasis, snail fever, and hookworm, roundworm and whipworm. A U.S.-based group is fighting to change what it perceives as an imbalance in the world's focus on health matters. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases has a new high-profile advocate: former Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson, who will be serving as the organization's global ambassador. "Neglected tropical diseases — they are really from biblical times," he said. "But they affect one billion people in the |
world.
One out of six people that are currently alive, and it is the billion
that are the poorest. The billion that really have no chance to
improve unless we, as a society, get involved." Thompson was speaking at a news conference in Washington. Neglected tropical diseases generally do not cause death, but often lead to disfigurement, extreme pain, and incapacity. Health officials say, in India alone, billions of dollars in economic activity are lost every year to the diseases. The maladies can also make people more susceptible to other, more deadly afflictions, such as HIV. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases is targeting 14 diseases worldwide, all of which are readily treatable at a minimal cost. "Fifty cents per person per year is all we need in order to defeat these neglected tropical diseases. That is not heavy lifting," said Thompson. Thompson says major pharmaceutical companies have already agreed to provide drugs targeting the diseases free of charge. As a result, the primary costs of waging a global initiative would be in transporting and administering the medicines. |
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World Court orders U.S. to halt execution of death row five
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The United Nations' highest court has ordered the United States to halt the planned executions of five Mexicans on death row in Texas while their cases are being reviewed. The International Court of Justice Wednesday said U.S. authorities should "take all measures necessary" to ensure the five are not put to death, pending the court's final judgment. In June, Mexico filed a request with the court to stop the executions of the five Mexican nationals, who were denied consular assistance after their arrests. Mexico charges that the United States is in breach of its international duties. |
One of the Mexicans, José Medellin, is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5 for the rape and murder of two teenage girls. The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, ruled in 2004 that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row. Under the 1963 Vienna Convention, foreign nationals have the right to talk to their country's consulate after their arrests. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court said U.S. President George Bush overstepped his authority by ordering Texas to comply with the 2004 World Court ruling and reopen its case against Medellin. |
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Russian DNA tests identify children of Czar Nicholas II By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
DNA tests have positively identified the remains of two children of the last Russian czar, settling a mystery that had long surrounded their fate. The Russian General Prosecutor's office says remains found last year in the city of Yekaterinburg have been identified through DNA testing as those of Grand Duchess Maria and Prince Alexei — two of Czar Nicholas II's five children. Investigator Vladimir Solovyov explains three laboratories helped identify Maria and Alexei. Solovyov says each group worked independently and there was even an element of competition among them. He says they compared genetic material of the czarist family found in 1991 with the genetic samples of the children found last year to make a positive identification. The announcement comes just one day ahead the 90th anniversary of the czarist executions carried out by Bolshevik agents early on July 17, 1918. A written account left by one of the killers, Yakov Yurovsky, indicated the royal bodies had been soaked in acid and thrown down a mineshaft. He said two of the victims were burned and buried nearby. Those are the ones identified Tuesday. The remains of Czar Nicholas, his wife and three daughters were buried in 1998 in Saint Petersburg. Nicholas II is leading an Internet poll conducted by the Rossiya television network and the Russian Academy of Sciences to name the greatest Russian. Some see that as an indication of renewed interest in the country's royal past. The Orthodox Church, which canonized the czar, is holding memorial services Wednesday and Thursday to commemorate him and his family. But Nikolai Lukyanov, the director of the Russian Royal Family Museum in Moscow, said it is not enough to merely pray for the Czar. At a minimum, said Lukyanov, monuments to Communists who toppled the czar should be removed and street names should be changed. He says there are streets in Yekaterinburg within blocks of the place where the czarist family was killed that still bear the names of their executioners. Lukyanov notes, however, that Russian Communists continue to oppose the removal of monuments to their former leaders. In an indication of continued reverence for Russia's Soviet past, Communist dictator Joseph Stalin holds second place in the Internet poll behind the Czar Nicholas among 50 of the country's leading historical figures. |
| A.M. Costa Rica Sports news local and from the wires |
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Food, festivals, arts, entertainment, poker |
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 A.M.
Costa Rica/Jeremy
Arias
A few dollars brings a colorful investment. A cone-like cacho rests on loaf of sweet-milk bread |
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| This is where you really can exercise that sweet tooth |
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By Jeremy Arias
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff The noise of traffic passing along the busy street outside is partially drowned by the low hum of refrigerators housing cold drinks and the occasional ring of the cash register that marks the sale of another pastry to a soon-to-be satisfied customer. A mother enters the shop, her young son holding her hand and bouncing excitedly up and down by the counter. The boy immediately begins the chaotic, ritualistic children's dance: a youthful, energetic plea for sweets. This is Lerners Panadería, a cozy, friendly bread and pastry shop just west of the Banco Nacional building in central San José where the mutual desire for something tasty transcends nationalities. The air is ripe with the gentle, warm scent of baked breads stacked in rows under the register. Long loaves of melcochan and sweet-milk bread line the shelves behind the counter and the tantalizing cake and pie display seems to tempt passersby as it rotates slowly near the street entrance. All in all, these tiny shops, which can be found throughout the central city, appear to have mastered the art of culinary seduction, and with their universally low prices, they are almost impossible to resist. Cone-shaped cachos are a delight with their delicate, flaky bread surrounding a rich, smooth cream made of butter and vanilla. A casual window shopper may enter prepared to pay considerably |
more than the 450 colons they cost. With the Tuesday rate of 540 colons to the U.S. dollar, even a heavenly looking slice of lemon pie won't run a purchaser more than 93 cents. The surrounding shops are no different. At the Panadería y Reposteria Richypan on the busier Avenida Central, a delicious rectangle of chocolate cake goes for 400 colons. At still another store on Calle 6, a bag of sugar cookies, a chocolate-filled doughnut and two heart-shaped cookies spread with jelly cost a total of 1,000 colons. In the fast-paced capital of San José, with Burger King and McDonald's competing for business from opposite sides of the Plaza de la Cultura, it's nice to know that places like Lerners Panadería are still alive and well, offering Costa Ricans and foreigners alike a place to rest and sample the simpler side of life. Back at Lerners, an older gentleman sips coffee as he chats with a cashier, his legs crossed and his back eased casually against the wall as the mother, her son satisfied with a newly-purchased cacho pastry, jets off into the hustle-bustle of Calle 8. Temporary visitors to this oasis provided by the panadería are quickly lost in the faceless crowd. Another pair enters shortly afterwards, a man and woman, also holding hands. The man smiles happily as his companion orders two coffees, his eyes scan the shelves hungrily. Another satisfied customer. |
| After 110 years 'Faust' finally returns to the historic Teatro Nacional |
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By Jeremy Arias
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff Mephistopheles shall return to the Teatro Nacional this month with a performance of the Charles Gounod opera “Faust” to be put on by the Compañía Lírica Nacional. Gounod's interpretation of the classic was the first performance put on by the theater for its inauguration Oct. 21, 1897. The opera company released the following synopsis of the opera: Faust, played by José Luis Sola, is an aging scholar who offers his soul in the afterlife to the demon Mephistopheles (Vesselin Stoykov) in exchange for youth and good looks. Smitten by the enchanting Marguerite (Birgit Beer), a rejuvenated Faust vies for her love with the noble protector Siebel (Joaquín Yglesias) and eventually seduces and impregnates her, only to abandon her to the torments of the devious Mephistopheles in her hour of desperation. In an exciting climax, Faust does battle with Marguerite's brother, a returning soldier named Valentin (Fitzgerald |
Ramos). The tale concludes
with a dramatic reunion between Faust and Marguerite, wherein she faces
her final temptation, and Faust must contemplate the price of his
bargain with Mephistopheles. Scene design, costumes and lights will be arraigned by Stefano Poda while Ramiro A. Ramírez is music director, according to the opera company release. The songs will be performed in French. The Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional and the Coro Sinfónica Nacional also will participate. The opera will open July 27 at 5 p.m. Repeat performances will be July 30 at 7:30 p.m. and again Aug. 1, 3, 5 and 7. The performances Aug. 1, 5 and 7 will be at 7:30 p.m., and Aug. 3 at 5 p.m., according to the release. Prices vary depending upon the seating, but the range is between about $40 for premium seats to as little as $2 for side gallery options, according to a theater ticket guide. Tickets are available in the theater ticket office or at the theater Web site. |
| Those high hole cards can be a bit tricky to playt |
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A common mistake made by amateurs is the way they play overcards
after the flop when the flop misses completely. Overcards are
hole cards that are of higher rank than any card on the board. In deep stack no limit hold’em tournaments, players start with a lot of chips. In these tournaments, the most important decisions are the ones made after the flop. That’s not the case in tournaments where the average stack is shallow. In these tourneys, pre-flop decisions are essentially all you have. It’s an easier form of poker to play. With fewer decisions to make, it’s essentially a two-card game where you’re hoping for the best. So let’s look at a sample hand in a deep stack tournament where you call a raise with K-Q and the flop comes 9-7-3. If your opponent bets on the flop, fold your hand right there. Don’t try to be a hero. You have nothing! But you decide to call anyway. Even if you do manage to improve your hand by catching a king or a queen, there’s still no guarantee that you’ll win the hand. Your opponent could have pocket nines, or even A-A or K-K. He’d have you dominated, and you’d be destined to lose a decent-sized pot. Besides that, you’d only have a 14 percent chance of catching a king or queen on the turn. When you combine that slim possibility with the fact that even if you did get lucky, you still might lose, well, folding your hand should be the obvious decision. And there’s another reason to dump this hand. Say you did catch a king or queen. The fact is that one pair hands are rarely good enough to win big pots in no-limit hold’em. Trust me. Even if you were to pair up your king, the best play is still to proceed with caution. The only situations where you might want to play after the flop with overcards are if you’re taking a stab at stealing the pot on a bluff or when you have additional outs to go along with your overcards. For example, say you decide to raise before the flop with K-J. The big blind calls and the flop comes 2-2-7. Your opponent checks. |
 There’s no way for your opponent to know that you missed the flop completely. So, make one more bet on the flop hoping to get him to fold his hand on your bluff. Now, if he calls, or worse, raises, put on the brakes; there’s no need to lose any more chips than necessary. You can also safely play your overcards when you flop a straight or flush draw. In this example, you call a raise with Qd-Jd and the flop comes 8s-9h-4d. You’re obviously hoping to catch a ten to complete a straight, or even a jack or queen to give you a possible winning hand. If a ten comes on the turn or river, you’d play your hand aggressively in a big pot. But if a jack or queen hits, again, play your hand cautiously. If instead of a straight draw you flop a flush draw, you’ve got the green light to play your two overcards. This situation yields a very powerful drawing hand. In some cases, it will even be a favorite over a pair on the flop. Say you’re dealt the As-Ks and your opponent holds Jh-Jd. The flop comes 9s-6s-2d. While the pocket jacks might appear to be the best hand, your suited A-K will actually win the pot over 50% of the time. Go ahead and play this hand with a big bet. Visit www.cardsharkmedia.com/book.html for information about Daniel Negreanu’s new book, "Hold’em Wisdom for All Players." © 2008 Card Shark
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