Bandstand will glow pink
as reminder to women


The bandstand in Parque Morazán will be getting a rosy glow tonight as a reminder to women to conduct self-examinations for breast cancer.

The structure, formally known as the Templo de la Musica, will be bathed in pink lights, as part of the current Campaña de Prevención contra el Cáncer de Mama: Aprendo por mi Vida.

The display is a joint project of the Municipalidad de San José, the AVON company and the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz.

Fiestas spots at auction
Saturday in San José


Have plans to make a few extra colons by maintaining a booth at the Fiestas de San José at Zapote over the Christmas vacation?

If so, bring your checkbook to an auction of available spots. The auction will be Saturday in the municipal building on Avenida 10.

The Comisión de Fiestas de San José said that the starting bid for the four places reserved for a restaurant and bar is 6.6 million colons each. That's $11,400.

The carnival area, some 6,040 square meters, about 1.5 acres, starts at 71 million colons. some $122,500.

There also are spots for fast food vendors at a lower starting bid as well as some 18 spots for sales of various other articles and traditional toys.

Also up for grabs is the right to install portable toilets at the fiestas and one megabar, that is supposed to be a two story structure. The starting bid is 52 million colons or about $90,000. The megabar operator has the right to charge admission to the facility.

Flat rate taxi charge
gets frown from regulator


The price regulating agency is miffed that some taxi drivers are using a printed sheet with fixed rates. For example, the rate from San José to Santa Ana is listed as 7,000 colons on one sheet.

The agency, the Authoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos said that the fixed rate causes passengers to pay more than they should. The agency insisted that the only legal way for taxi drivers to charge for their services is to use the approved taxi meter, even if the trip is to Playas del Coco.

The price of a rate is not affected by the time of day, the conditions of the road, the origin of the trip or whether the day is a holiday, said the agency. Taxi drivers usually charge more for making pickups at hotels and some say the hotels take a cut.

The agency said it welcomes complaints from citizens. However, charging by the trip is a frequent method used by taxi drivers when they leave the immediate metro area.

Robbery conviction means
sentence of 15 years


A man convicted of eight violent robberies of truckers and pedestrians got 15 years in prison in the Tribunal de Juicio de Heredia Wednesday.

He was identified by the last names of Aburto Hernández. He also was convicted of illegal possession of a weapon.
All the crimes were in the Provincia de Heredia, said the Poder Judicial. The crimes began July 5, 2008.

Among other crimes the man was accused of robbing youngsters who were skating in Parque El Carmen in Heredia.

Copenhagen negotiations
hinge on early agreements


With less than 50 days until the Copenhagen Climate Conference, officials have been meeting in London to work out the details of an agreement. While there is universal consensus that there needs to be a deal at Copenhagen, there are still many challenges to hammering out an agreement.

Britain hosted a meeting of officials from the 17 major economies this week, focusing on narrowing differences about how to tackle climate change ahead of December's Copenhagen Conference. British Energy and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband says there's one area that's not in doubt.

"The universal view that we need to get an agreement in Copenhagen, not an agreement at any price, but that we have come a long way and we need to convert the distance that we have traveled into an agreement in December of this year," he said.

Miliband said he was encouraged by this week's meeting and the general agreement among the participants that hard decisions have to be made at Copenhagen in December.

"There is a spirit of engagement, a spirit of willingness and actually a spirit of determination that having come so far, now is not the time to falter. Now there is significantly further to go, this is absolutely not a done deal. It remains in the balance in my view," Miliband said.

It will be a complex deal. Developing nations are worried about the cost of making changes, and whether reducing carbon emissions might hinder their growth, developed nations don't want to slow their economies or change the lifestyles of their citizens. Miliband says everyone's concerns need to be addressed.

"We are trying to do something very tough, we are trying to turn around the inexorable rise in global carbon emissions and that's never been done before and it certainly wasn't done at Kyoto. So the difficulty stems from the fact that in every country there are compelling constraints and difficulties that need to be overcome," Miliband said.

Denmark's foreign minister was also in London this week. The minister, Per Stig Moeller, says the European Union will have to take the lead on financing. One of the bigger challenges is finding the funds that will help developing nations make the changes they need to reduce carbon emissions.

"Without funds for transfer of technology and money for adaptation, the developing world will not strike a deal in Copenhagen, you can forget it," Moeller said.

He says it's not just the developing world that faces changes, the United States does too.

"It's obvious that the United States is in a difficult position. We know that while the United States recognizes the need, and the president not the least, for swift action, the domestic political situation complicates matters. But I think that the United States will demonstrate the necessary leadership once the show gets going," Moeller said.

The U. S. Senate still has to pass legislation that would cut emissions by 20 percent in just over a decade. If the Congress doesn't approve the bill before December, that could send a message that the U.S. is not committed to change. Washington's climate envoy, Todd Stearn, says the substance of the bill shows America's commitment.

"The kind of number that's in the Senate bill, frankly the kind of number that's in the House bill, those are strong numbers for the United States, that would involve a shift, really a seismic shift in the U.S. economy," Stearn said.

Developing countries such as China and India have not clearly laid out plans to cut their emissions. Both have indicated they intend to make cuts. Stearn says nations may do different things, but actions will be important.

"The view of the United States on this point is that there is differentiation in what countries need to do. But in terms of the willingness of countries to stand behind whatever it is that they're doing, there can't be differentiation there. It can't be that the developed countries say we'll stand behind what we're doing and the developing countries say we'll tell you what we're doing but we won't stand behind it. So on that point, we've still got work to do," Stearn said..