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San
José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 210
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 University of
Michigan photo
A possible major breakthroughBananas seen as
key to fighting viruses
By the University of Michigan news staff
A banana a day may not keep the doctor away, but a substance originally found in bananas and carefully edited by scientists could someday fight off a wide range of viruses, new research suggests. And the process used to create the virus-fighting form may help scientists develop even more drugs, by harnessing the sugar code that cells use to communicate. That code gets hijacked by viruses and other invaders. The new research focuses on a protein called banana lectin, or BanLec, that reads the sugars on the outside of both viruses and cells. Five years ago, scientists showed it could keep the virus that causes AIDS from getting into cells, but it also caused side effects that limited its potential use. Now, in a new paper published in the journal Cell, an international team of scientists reports how they created a new form of BanLec that still fights viruses in mice, but doesn’t have a property that causes irritation and unwanted inflammation. They succeeded in peeling apart these two functions by carefully studying the molecule in many ways, and pinpointing the tiny part that triggered side effects. Then, they engineered a new version of BanLec, called H84T, by slightly changing the gene that acts as the instruction manual for building it. The result: a form of BanLec that worked against the viruses that cause AIDS, hepatitis C and influenza in tests in tissue and blood samples without causing inflammation. The researchers also showed that H84T BanLec protected mice from getting infected by flu virus. “What we’ve done is exciting because there is potential for BanLec to develop into a broad spectrum antiviral agent, something that is not clinically available to physicians and patients right now,” says David Markovitz, co-senior author of the new paper and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. “But it’s also exciting to have created it by engineering a lectin molecule for the first time, by understanding and then targeting the structure.” The 26 scientists on the team – from Germany, Ireland, Canada, Belgium and the United States – worked together over several years to figure out exactly how BanLec worked against viruses, and then to build a better version. They were funded by the U.S. and European governments, and by foundations. They used a wide range of scientific tools including X-ray techniques used by the university's Center for Structural Biology that let them figure out the location of every atom in the original and new forms of BanLec. Their efforts helped them understand how BanLec connects to both viruses and to sugar molecules on the outside of cells, and how it leads to irritation and other side effects by triggering signals that call in the first responders of the body’s immune system. This understanding is what allowed them to change the gene in a way that fine-tuned the BanLec molecule. The new one still kept viruses out of cells, but doesn’t have the property that triggers the immune system response. Several years of research still lie ahead before BanLec can be tested in humans. “Better flu treatments are desperately needed,” says Markovitz, who treats patients with infectious diseases. “Tamiflu is only modestly effective, especially in critically ill patients, and influenza can develop resistance to it. But we also hope that BanLec could become useful in situations such as emergency pandemic response, and military settings, where the precise cause of an infection is unknown but a viral cause is suspected.”
Our reader's opinion
Report on proposed law amazed himDear A.M Costa Rica: I was amazed to read your report on 19.613 regarding warfare games and salutes etc. We had this rubbish 20 years ago in the United Kingdom and in the United States. Every film was causing murder. Every video game caused violence. It never took off, and it all went away quietly once they put age restriction certificates on everything. Most of the top selling games are "warfare" games. Most of the top viewed movies contain violence. It is just human nature to crave action, whether it be war or cops and robbers. We all played soldiers as kids. I remember using branches and sticks as rifles (showing my age!), but it was normal. If the country is going to ban all "warfare," what happens if a child mimics a gun by using a stick? Do we cut down the trees, or imprison the child for inciting violence? Mike Keelan
Esparza. Atenas bridge club invites new players By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Tuesday is bridge day in Atenas because that is when the local bridge club meets at Don Yayo's Restaurant from 1 to 4:30 p.m., according to John Randall, a member. He said the game is duplicate bridge, and it is friendly with no gambling. A 1,000-colon fee covers tips for a waiter and the car guard, he added. Players come from Punta Leona, San Ramón, Grecia, Santa Ana, as well as Atenas, he said. He invited other expats to join them and said that no partner was needed. More information is available at 2446-4673. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 210 | |
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| Casa Presidencial is quick to cite tiny changes in the
poverty figures |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Casa Presidencial seized on the latest household income survey to announce Thursday that poverty has declined in the country. The aides to President Luis Guillermo Solís also announced that the survey shows that 16 percent of the population have 50 percent of the riches. The presidential claims were based on the Encuesta Nacional de Hogares 2015 conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. The claim of reduced poverty was picked up uncritically by a number of news outlets. Casa Presidencial said that 32,753 persons have risen from poverty, presumably aided in whole or part by the administration's four-pronged policies. That number was gleaned from the reported decline in poverty of 0.7 percent from 2014. The claim is good politics, but not supported by the numbers. The probability survey was the result of individual interviews with a selected sampling. So the results have to be given along with a sampling error, a confidence interval or a margin of error. Neither Casa Presidencial nor the statistics agency did this. In fact, the methodology, including the number of homes samples, has not yet been given. Still a difference of just 0.7 percent between 2015 and 2014 data clearly is within the mathematical range where the results are identical statistically. So it is safe to say that there are about 317,660 homes with 1,137,881 persons living in poverty, according to what survey takers were told. That's an estimated 21.7 percent of the homes and 23.6 percent of the population, according to the statistical agency. Casa Presidencial promoted the Solís administration sales tax rebate plan as a way of reducing the inequality of riches. The administration is trying to get a 14 to 15 percent value-added tax passed by the legislature. Some say such a tax is |
regressive
and hurts the poor, so the administration said it would refund the
estimated tax paid to the bottom quarter of income earner. But that
would take two years, according to the bill. There is another problem with the administration's take on the new statistics. The statistical agency cited a Gini index of .526, and Casa Presidencial said that 16 percent of the population has 50 percent of the riches. However, the index, created by the Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912, is a measure of income distribution and not the distribution of assets or riches. Most modern developed countries had an index of from .5 to .7. There were these other revelations by the statistical agency: • average net income declined by .5 percent in 2015 and net income per person increased about 2.4 percent to 356,648 colons ($675.50) a month. The statistical report attributed this income increase, if there was a real change, to a reduction in the size of families. • As an indication of sampling error with subpopulations, the agency reported that household income in the Región Chorotega increased neaerly 22 percent over 2014 to 830,707 colons ($1,573). • The top 20 percent of household incomes averaged 1,035.703 colons ($1,952) a month per person, and the bottom 20 percent had an income of 54,556 colons ($103.35) per person. • Those households in extreme poverty were reported as 7.2 percent, which was a half a percent higher than 2014, still probably within the margin of error. That is 104,712 homes and 374,185 persons, said the agency. • Homes in poverty have an average of .43 children five years or less against .22 percent in homes not listed as poor. • The average education level of those living in poverty homes was 6.4 years of formal education. Those not in homes in the poverty category had an average education level of 9.2 years. |
| Foreign minister makes agreement with officials in Kazakhstan | |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Rica's foreign minister has visited Kazakhstan after a stop in Azerbaijan. Both central Asian countries have repressive regimes. The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto said Thursday that the minister, Manuel A. González Sanz, signed an agreement with that country's foreign minister, Erlan Idrissov. The ministry quoted González as saying Kazakhstan has a lot of potential and that Idrissov was invited to visit Costa Rica. The ministry said that a commercial delegation from Costa Rica might visit the country next year. Human Rights Watch says that Kazakhstan heavily restricts freedom of assembly, speech, and religion, and torture remains a serious problem. In 2014, authorities closed newspapers, jailed or fined dozens of people after peaceful but unsanctioned protests, and fined or detained worshipers for practicing religion outside state controls, it said. The government remanded a lawyer who complained about interference in a trial to a psychiatric institution, Human Rights Watch said. The ministry here noted that John Kerry, U.S. secretary of State, was supposed to visit Kazakhstan next week. |
 Ministerio
de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto photo
Foreign ministers shake hands
after signing agreement. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 210 | |||||
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| New hands-free phones and similar still distract driver,
study finds |
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By the University of Utah news staff
Drivers who think it is okay to talk to the car infotainment system or smartphone while driving or even when stopped at a red light should think again. It takes up to 27 seconds to regain full attention after issuing voice commands, University of Utah researchers found in a pair of new studies for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. One of the studies showed that it is highly distracting to use hands-free voice commands to dial phone numbers, call contacts, change music and send texts with Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri and Google Now smartphone personal assistants, though Google Now was a bit less distracting than the others. The other study examined voice-dialing, voice-contact calling and music selection using in-vehicle information or infotainment systems in 10 model-year 2015 vehicles. Three were rated as moderately distracting, six as highly distracting and the system in the 2015 Mazda 6 as very highly distracting. “Just because these systems are in the car doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use them while you are driving,” says a University of Utah psychology professor, David Strayer, senior author of the two new studies. “They are very distracting, very error prone and very frustrating to use. Far too many people are dying because of distraction on the roadway, and putting another source of distraction at the fingertips of drivers is not a good idea. It’s better not to use them when you are driving.” The research also found that, contrary to what some may believe, practice with voice-recognition systems doesn’t eliminate distraction. The studies also showed older drivers – those most likely to buy autos with infotainment systems – are much more distracted than younger drivers when giving voice commands. But the most surprising finding was that a driver traveling only 25 mph continues to be distracted for up to 27 seconds after disconnecting from highly distracting phone and car voice-command systems, and up to 15 seconds after disconnecting from the moderately distracting systems. |
 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
A University of Utah
research assistant introduces a participant in new distracted driving
studies to special devices designed to gauge mental distraction during
road tests.The 27 seconds means a driver traveling 25 mph would cover the length of three football fields before regaining full attention. “Most people think, ‘I hang up and I’m good to go,’” Strayer says. “But that’s just not the case. We see it takes a surprisingly long time to come back to full attention. Even sending a short text message can cause almost another 30 seconds of impaired attention.” “The voice-command technology isn’t ready,” says Joel Cooper, a University of Utah research assistant professor of psychology and a co-author of the new studies. “It’s in the cars and is billed as a safe alternative to manual interactions with your car, but the voice systems simply don’t work well enough.” “Many of these systems have been put into cars with a voice-recognition system to control entertainment: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facetime, etc. We now are trying to entertain the driver rather than keep the driver’s attention on the road.” In 2013, 3,154 people died and 424,000 others were injured in motor vehicle crashes on U.S. roads involving driver distraction, says the U.S. Department of Transportation. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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Colorado
S.A. 2015 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 Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 210 | |||||||
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| As U.S. debt ceiling nears, leadership still is uncertain By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The presumed next speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Paul Ryan, could be elected next week, days before a momentous deadline to avoid a potentially catastrophic U.S. debt default. The federal government hits its borrowing limit Nov, 3, and the Obama administration is warning of dire financial and economic consequences if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by then. “After November 3 we cannot borrow any more money,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Wednesday. “We’re going to be operating on a cash basis. Some days, we’ll have enough cash to pay our bills, other days we won’t. Going past November 3 is irresponsible.” But shepherding a debt ceiling hike through a politically-polarized Congress during a House leadership change is fraught with uncertainty. “It’s not at all clear how this is going to work out,” said analyst Stan Collender, a former staffer of both the House and Senate budget committees. “This is really an extraordinary situation.” Both Ryan and outgoing Speaker John Boehner have attempted to quash speculation that a debt default might actually happen. “I have to make clear: we’re not going to default on our debt,” Boehner told Fox News earlier this week. “I don’t believe we’re going to default on our bonds,” said Ryan last month. But divisions persist between Democrats and Republicans, and even among Republican factions, as to what a debt ceiling hike should consist of. President Obama and congressional Democrats are demanding a so-called clean increase of the borrowing limit. Republicans want to include measures ranging from spending reforms to limits on new federal regulations of the private sector. “I hope Republicans will come to their senses and pass a clean bill to avoid a catastrophic default,” said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Obama insists he won’t negotiate with Congress on the debt ceiling, saying it is the legislature’s responsibility to ensure that funds exist for the spending it authorizes. But many Republicans continue to view the debt ceiling deadline as a tool for extracting fiscal and other concessions from Democrats. “Republican leadership should use every constitutional tool we have to actually address the enormous fiscal and economic problems facing this country,” said Republican senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz. “History has demonstrated that by far the most effective tool that Congress has to rein in a recalcitrant president is the debt ceiling,” he said. Boehner has said he would like Congress to tackle thorny issues before he steps down, giving his successor a less taxing start as speaker. Some congressional observers theorize Boehner might be open to scheduling a vote on a debt ceiling hike acceptable to the White House, and passing it with mostly-Democratic votes in the Republican-led chamber. “The question is whether you can get enough Republicans,” said Collender. “You’re going to need 30 to 40 Republicans to vote for a clean debt ceiling.” If the issue is not resolved before the House selects a new speaker, the task will fall to Boehner’s successor as the clock ticks down to a possible U.S. debt default.  Voice of American
photo
U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in flames
Mrs.
Clinton cites lost sleep
over 2012 Benghazi attacks By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Former U.S. secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Republican-led congressional committee Thursday that she had "lost more sleep than all of you put together" over the deadly 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Mrs. Clinton was the sole witness Thursday during the 11-hour fourth congressional hearing on the attack that left four Americans dead, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Republicans had alleged there were many inconsistencies in Mrs. Clinton's account of what happened and what could have been done to prevent the incident. They also said previous investigations hadn't been thorough enough. Specifically, Republicans wanted to know whether the attack on the compound was a planned terrorist strike that could have been stopped with proper security measures or was part of regionwide protests against videos mocking Islam. During the 11-hour hearing, Mrs. Clinton at times looked bored and impatient, but answered the questions calmly, saying there can never be perfect security anywhere. "America must lead in a dangerous world, and our diplomats must continue representing us in dangerous places,” she said. "We inevitably must accept a level of risk to protect our country and advance our interests and values." While some Republicans have said Mrs. Clinton rejected pleas from Stevens for more security in Benghazi, she said those requests never reached her desk and, instead, were left in the hands of security experts. She denied telling then-defense secretary Leon Panetta to order Marines to stand down during the attack. "Of course not . . . logistics and distance made it unlikely they could be anywhere near Benghazi in a reasonable time," she said. There appeared to be wavering accounts by Obama administration officials in the days immediately following the Benghazi attack. Mrs. Clinton said they were working with early strands of intelligence. "There were probably a number of different motivations for the attack," she said. But after more than three years and numerous investigations, it is still unclear exactly why the militants attacked the consulate. Mrs. Clinton is the Democratic front-runner for the 2016 presidential election. Many Democrats accuse Republicans of holding the Benghazi hearings as a witch hunt to try to destroy her chance of becoming the next U.S. chief executive. Democrats have seized on remarks made this month by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy during an appearance on a Fox News program. McCarthy appeared to boast that since House Republicans created the special committee looking into the attacks, Clinton's approval ratings have dropped. South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, who chaired Thursday's hearing, made it clear at the very start that this was not his motive. "Madam Secretary, I understand some people, frankly in both parties, have suggested this investigation is about you," he said. "Let me assure you, it is not." Gowdy opened the hearing with a lengthy explanation about why the panel was needed and how it differed from other review boards. Questions lingered regarding the government's actions before and after the attacks, because previous investigations were not thorough, he said. Gowdy told Mrs. Clinton the hearing was looking for the truth about the diplomatic compound's request for more security, equipment and personnel and what was being discussed in Washington while the Americans were under attack. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, his Democratic Party's ranking member on the committee, used his opening statement to criticize the panel, saying its work was politically motivated against Mrs. Clinton. "What is impossible is for any reasonable person to continue denying that Republicans are squandering millions of taxpayer dollars on this abusive effort to derail Secretary Clinton's presidential campaign," he said. Cummings said the families of those killed in Libya asked the committee for three things: to avoid making the investigation a political football, find the facts, and make sure this sort of incident does not happen again. Cummings and Gowdy at one point shouted at each other over whether to release previous closed-door testimony from close Clinton aide Sidney Bluementhal, who communicated with her via email about Libya. The Benghazi panel was created in May 2014 after seven previous congressional probes into the attack. Democrats have called for the panel to be disbanded, saying it has not come up with any new information about Benghazi and is wasting taxpayer money. It has spent more than $4.5 million so far. During testimony, Mrs. Clinton said the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi clearly wasn't provided with all the security requested by the ambassador and the mission. But Mrs. Clinton also testified that even critics of the Benghazi security level have said the type of attack that took place would have been difficult to repel. U.S. firm fined $23 million for selling illegal lumber By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. hardwood flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to knowingly buying wood that was illegally harvested from an endangered Siberian tiger habitat in eastern Russia. The company will pay more than $23 million in fines. "Lumber Liquidators' race to profit resulted in the plundering of forests and wildlife habitat that, if continued, could spell the end of the Siberian tiger," Assistant Attorney General John Cruden said Thursday. "We hope this sends a strong message that we will not tolerate such abuses of U.S. laws that protect and preserve the world's endangered plant and animal species." According to the Justice Department, between 2010 and 2013, Lumber Liquidators bought hardwood floors manufactured in China made from timber logged from the Mongolian oak forests in eastern Russia. The forests are home to the world's last 450 wild Siberian tigers and the 50 remaining Amur leopards. U.S. prosecutors say Lumber Liquidators employees failed to take action even though they knew the Chinese flooring likely came from an illegal source. Prosecutors also say the company illegally and deliberately mislabeled the suspect timber as having come from Wales, and declared that wood taken from dangerously dwindling stocks of merpauh from Myanmar as having come from Indonesia. Hurricane Patricia nears Pacific coast of México By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The potentially catastrophic Hurricane Patricia strengthened into a Category 5 storm late Thursday as it moved toward the coast of southwestern Mexico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Patricia has maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour. Hurricane warnings were posted from San Blas south to Lazaro Cardenas. The storm was predicted to make landfall by this evening, Residents were being told to look out for life-threatening flash floods, mudslides and as much as 51 centimeters (more than 20 inches) of rain in some parts. Dead U.S. serviceman said not to have had combat role By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Pentagon says the U.S. is not in a combat role in Iraq despite the recent death of a U.S. service member from Islamic State gunfire during a hostage rescue mission. “U.S. forces are not in an active combat mission in Iraq, and I can say that directly,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook responded Thursday to questions from reporters. A joint rescue mission by U.S. and Iraqi Kurdish fighters freed about 70 hostages, including at least 22 Iraqi security force members, from an Islamic State prison compound in Hawijah, west of Kirkuk. The hostages were under threat of imminent mass executions, according to a Pentagon statement. One American service member was killed while assisting Peshmerga forces under fire from Islamic State militants. The death marked the first time a U.S. service member was killed in combat as part of the year-long campaign against Islamic State extremists. A senior U.S. defense official said dozens of Kurdish and American fighters were involved in the rescue mission. U.S. forces were enabling the mission in coordination with Iraq's Kurdish regional government, the official noted, and they also recovered important intelligence about the Islamic State militant group. The operation was authorized by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter as part of the U.S. train, advise and assist mission in Iraq, according to Cook. “This was a unique circumstance, a specific request from the Kurdistan regional government, and we acted,” Cook said. “Thanks to the actions of not only the Iraqi forces involved here, but the U.S. forces, lives were saved.” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters Thursday there are several types of U.S. operations permitted in Iraq, including special operations, counter terror and humanitarian rescues that are authorized under Operation Inherent Resolve without crossing the constituting a combat role. The American killed during the raid was not immediately identified. A defense official said he was evacuated to Irbil but died a short time later. No Kurdish fighters were among those rescued, according to a statement by Kurdish officials. Iraqi units captured five Islamic State fighters and killed a number of activists during the raid. Four Peshmerga fighters were wounded, according to Cook. Kurdish fighters have had some success in pushing Islamic State fighters out of areas they captured in northern Iraq, with support from air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition over the past year. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, Vol. 16, No. 210 | |||||||||
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Study urges
caution in legalizing pot
By the Journal of the American Medical
Association news staff
The estimated prevalence of adults who used marijuana in the past year more than doubled in the United States between 2001 and 2013 to 9.5 percent, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. Laws and attitudes about marijuana are changing with 23 states having medical marijuana laws and four of these states having also legalized marijuana for recreational use. Bridget F. Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Md., and coauthors used nationally representative data on past-year prevalence rates of marijuana use, marijuana use disorder and marijuana use disorder among marijuana users in the United States. Data came from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and the 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III. The prevalence of past-year marijuana use climbed to 9.5 percent of adults in 2012-2013 from 4.1 percent in 2001-2002, with increases particularly notable among women and individuals who were black, Hispanic, living in the South, middle-aged or older, the authors report. The prevalence of a diagnosis of a past-year marijuana use disorder (abuse or dependence) also increased to 2.9 percent in 2012-2013 from 1.5 percent in 2001-2002, which means nearly 3 of every 10 Americans who used marijuana in the past year had a diagnosis of a marijuana use disorder (approximately 6.8 million Americans). Groups with notable increases included individuals ages 45 to 64 and those individuals who were black or Hispanic, with the lowest incomes or living in the South. Among marijuana users, the prevalence of marijuana use disorder decreased to 30.6 percent in 2012-2013 from 35.6 percent in 2001-2002. Because there was no increase in the risk for marijuana use disorder found among users, in fact there was a decrease, the increase in prevalence of marijuana use disorders can be attributed to the increase in marijuana users between the two surveys, the authors note. “In summary, while many in the United States think prohibition of recreational marijuana should be ended, this study and others suggest caution and the need for public education about the potential harms in marijuana use, including the risk for addiction. As is the case with alcohol, many individuals can use marijuana without becoming addicted. However, the clear risk for marijuana use disorders among users (approximately 30 percent) suggests that as the number of U.S. users grows, so will the numbers of those experiencing problems related to such use. This information is important to convey in a balanced manner to health care professionals, policy makers and the public,” the study concludes. Bus fares cut by regulating agency By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The dip in the price of diesel fuel has trickled down to small reductions in bus fares. The Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Público said it has approved a 3.9 percent cut in fares involving 380 companies and 474 routes. For many city routes, the cut is from five to 25 colons, from nearly one U.S. cent to nearly five. For longer travel, the reductions can be as much as 685 colons, about $1.30 for a trip from San José to Ciudad Neily near the Panamá border. Animal fair is planned
for Saturday in Escazú
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asociación Animales de Asís plans an animal adoption fair Saturday at Walmart, Escazú. Puppies, dogs, kittens and cats will be available, the organization said. A donation is requested. |
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| From Page 7: Police report two incidents of fake currency By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Merchants should be on the alert for fake Costa Rican banknotes. The Fuerza Pública detained three persons Wednesday involving two cases of fake bills. Both were in areas distant from the capital. The first was in Puerto Jiménez de Golfito where two women were successful in passing a fake 20,000-colon note. But police stopped them at a checkpoint on the Interamericana. The second case was in San Marcos de Tarrazú where a man, later found to be from Desamparados, tried to pass a fake 50,000-colon note at a bar. He, too, was detained. |
