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Published Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, in Vol. 17, No. 213
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 213
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Construction
permit rule being liberalized
By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The country has a construction law that requires a homeowner to get municipal permission if renovations are planned that cost more than 5,000 colons. That’s less than $10, and, as one lawmaker noted, about the price of a bag of cement. So the Comisión de Asuntos Municipales gave approval and sent to the full legislature Wednesday a revision of the 50-year-old law that would not require municipal permission for jobs costing eight salary bases or less. The current base salary is 424,200 colones, indexed to the monthly salary of a judicial employee. This is the sliding scale Costa Rica uses to compensate for inflation. So the new cutoff if the proposal, No. 19.699, passes would be about 3.4 million colons, about $6,200. Marco Vinicio Redondo Quirós of the Partido Acción Ciudadana said that the current law encourages illegal construction. The proposal would allow homeowners to make small renovations without municipal involvement, he noted. In fact, many Costa Ricans do a lot of construction work on days when the municipal inspectors are not around. That includes Semana Santa and the period between Christmas and New Year’s. That does not just include home renovations. Some residents use these periods to hack down trees and do other work that would bring a fine if an inspector became aware of them.
Air
Costa Rica says it is beginning flight
By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Air Costa Rica said Wednesday that it was beginning business. The only Costa Rican flag airline will begin with 60 days of tourist charter flights, it said. After the first of the year, it will have scheduled flights to Guatemala City. The company said it also plans to fly to the United States. The firm has been working for two years to meet government requirements. The lone aircraft is a Boeing 737-300 that carries the colors of the national flag on its tail. The airline market is a highly competitive one. Carlos Víquez, the general manager, said in a statement that ticket prices will not be low cost but they will be at the lower end of the market. The firm has hired 60 persons, including pilots, a ground staff and hostesses. Puntarenas Centro now has more zika By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
Puntarenas Centro with 203 zika cases, including eight new ones, has edged out Garabito as the most infected location in Costa Rica. Garabito, which includes Jacó, has 162 reported cases but no new ones listed in the Ministerio de Salud health bulletin released Wednesday. Orotina with 103 cases and Esparza with 97 are third and fourth. In all, there are 1,355 reported cases in Costa Rica since the beginning of the zika epidemic in February, according to the health ministry. However, many have zika and do not know it, so the reported cases are only those for which medical help was sought. The ministry said that there are 108 pregnant women who had contracted the disease. The World Health Organization warns that the zika virus is linked to abnormalities in newborn babies and neurological disorders and that it remains a major threat as the mosquito-borne disease continues to spread globally. However, Costa Rica has not had any home-grown cases of microcephaly in babies. Microcephaly is a birth defect that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. World Health says 23 countries or territories have reported cases linked to zika. Most of these cases, more than 2,000, are found in Brazil. In addition to microcephaly, 19 countries and territories have reported an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that has also been linked to zika. There has been one such case in Costa Rica. Another quake for the Central Pacific By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The central Pacific coast was hit with another ground shaker Wednesday. The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica said the quake at 4:28 p.m. was 4.6 magnitude. The epicenter appeared to be 3.7 kilometers north northwest of Pasito de Savegre, close to Quepos Centro. The Red Sismológica Nacional estimated the magnitude at 4.4. The quake was felt in the Central Valley. The epicenter was inland, but the quake Tuesday of a similar magnitude was a few kilometers offshore. Jewelry store stickup suspect caught By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
A man held up a jewelry store in Heredia Centro late Wednesday morning, stuffed rings, earrings, chains and bracelets into a bag and fled. Fuerza Pública officers caught up with two suspects about a kilometer away. They were riding double on a motorcycle. Judicial investigators said that the motorcycle passenger pointed a firearm at pursuing police but then lost his balance and fell off the vehicle along with a bag of jewelry. He was detained.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 213
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| Wine
in Costa Rica is not pricey by world standards, survey
shows |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Costa Ricans consume just 1.32 liters of wine per year per person, and even though prices appear to be high, they are not bad by world standards. SHAREaCAMPER, the Germany camper swapping service, prepared a study of wines from 65 countries because it is promoting wine tourism. Costa Rica does not have any commercial vineyards, and the only wine is imported. The average price here of the 10 most imported wines is $14.89 liter, according to the survey. That is a 750 milliliter bottle. That puts Costa Rica in 33rd position in terms of price Said the firm: The United States ranked in position 35 with an average cost of $15.23 for a 750 milliliter bottle of wine. This compares to Paraguay, which offered the least expensive wine at an average $7.55 per bottle, while at the other end of the ranking the price in the United Arab Emirates is more than five times higher at $39.02 per bottle. The United States also had the 14th most expensive local wine costs (out of countries which produce the |
 SHAREaCAMPER
graphic
their own wine) at $17.61 per 750 millimeter bottle. The company said that the price of wine is dependent on several factors, including taxes, the lobbying of local producers, and of course the type of wine purchased. Annual consumption of wine was 61.3 liters per capital in Luxembourg, 55.4 liters in Portugal and 53.6 liters in France, according to the survey. The full list of prices is HERE! |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 213
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Food |
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| Bugs
seem to be moving closer to the western dinner table |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
They say that someday insects will take over the earth. But first, they probably will take over the menu. More and more research is being done as a response to predictions of a world food shortage or for fear that conventional farming methods and the western diet is bad for global warming. For most expats the main encounter with insects has been the worm at the bottom of a glass of mezcal. Have a couple of shots, and chugging the larva is no big deal but not very nutritious. There have been a few academic attempts to infuse food with insects in Costa Rica, but so far there are no commercial operations, mainly because the western diet is not yet ready for bugs. But diners are quick to order tropical lobsters and crabs. They sure look like big bugs. Of course in some African and Asian countries bugs are on the menu. And the warmer latitudes are good spots for a year-round bug ranch. In the western world, the bulk of the edible bugs end up as a powder to provide protein to standard foods. One concern about a bug diet is the availability of necessary trace elements. A report Wednesday from the American Chemical Society said that researchers analyzed grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms and buffalo worms for their mineral contents and estimated how much of each nutrient would likely get absorbed if eaten, using a lab model of human digestion. |
 The insects had varying levels of iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese and zinc, the society said. Iron is a particularly important nutrient that is often missing in non-meat diets, causing iron-deficiency anemia, which can lead to lower cognition, immunity, poor pregnancy outcomes and other problems, said the society. The researchers from King’s College London, said that crickets had higher levels of iron than the other insects did. And minerals including calcium, copper and zinc from grasshoppers, crickets and mealworms are more readily available for absorption than the same minerals from beef, they added. The results support the idea that eating bugs could potentially help meet the nutritional needs of the world’s growing population, the researchers said, according to the society. |
Here's reasonable
medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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of
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Colorado S.A. 2016 and may not be reproduced anywhere
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 213
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headed for U.S. clinical trials By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Federal regulators have given approval for U.S. clinical trials of a Cuban-developed lung cancer vaccine. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the Food and Drug Administration’s decision Wednesday at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society, which estimates nearly 160,000 Americans will die from the disease this year, with non-small cell cancer the most frequently diagnosed type, by far. The Cuban lung cancer vaccine, called CIMAvax, was developed by the Center of Molecular Immunology in Havana. It works as a form of immunotherapy. CIMAvax does not target and kill cancer cells directly, as many forms of chemotherapy do. Instead it targets a protein found naturally in the body, epidermal growth factor, that signals cells to grow, and in the case of cancer cells, to grow uncontrollably. The vaccine stimulates the immune system, leading the body to produce antibodies that stop epidermal growth factor from attaching to cancer cells. The Roswell Park institute’s chief executive, Candace Johnson, says the protein acts as food for the cells of non-small cell lung cancer, and they cannot survive without it. With the Cuban vaccine stimulating the patient’s own immune system, cancer cells are blocked from receiving the protein they need, and they die. “And it works, that's the beauty of it,” Ms. Johnson said. Roswell Park is the first center to receive permission to sponsor the U.S. testing of any Cuban medical therapy and “bring Cuban science to the U.S.,” as Ms. Johnson said. She and Cuomo have been negotiating to win Cuban and U.S. approval for the landmark clinical trial for more than a year. The trial is expected to start within a month for 60 to 90 patients. CIMAvax will be tested in combination with an immunotherapy medication intended to strengthen the body’s built-in defenses against an array of disease-causing invaders, such as viruses and bacteria. The idea of using the immune system to attack cancer is not new, and two similar vaccines are in the early stages of development in the U.S. Trump turns to hotel business as Washington property opens By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
With poll numbers showing him falling further behind Hillary Clinton in key battleground states, Donald Trump this week focused on promoting some of his signature properties instead of more traditional campaigning. For an unorthodox politician, it was a return to form. “Two years ago when we told the city Trump would be coming to Pennsylvania Avenue in 2016, we had no idea what we were foreshadowing,” Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter and executive vice president of development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the Trump Hotel in the nation’s capital. The entire family was on stage for the event: Trump, his wife, Melania, and his four children, each equipped with a pair of golden scissors. Slicing together, they cut apart a deep red ribbon bearing the Trump name in the lobby of the hotel, which occupies the landmark Old Post Office Tower in downtown Washington, D.C., midway between the White House and U.S. Capitol. Guests wearing VIP badges, flawless in their makeup and designer clothing, chatted over light breakfast pastries before the remarks, and left promptly once the event was over, to avoid the reporters, cameras and protesters outside. The first speakers, Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger and Ivanka Trump, focused almost entirely on the hotel itself, but the Republican presidential candidate’s speech floated seamlessly between brand and campaign. “Our theme today is five words: under budget, ahead of schedule,” Trump told his attendees, referring to the hotel. But he pivoted immediately to point out that the opposite, over budget and behind schedule, was surely the theme of the federal government, as it has been led by President Barack Obama, whom Trump links inextricably to Mrs. Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the presidential election, now 13 days away. Trump delivered a very similar speech a few days earlier, during a stop in Florida that promoted one of his golf courses. “His campaign is his brand. His brand is his campaign,” Sarah Oates, a professor at the University of Maryland, said. “For most political candidates this would seem odd. For him it makes perfect sense. He’s never distinguished between the business brand and the candidate brand. In fact, he deliberately links the two and campaigns on this platform of being a smart businessman.” As if mirroring the blurring of boundaries between brand and campaign, protesters gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the Trump Hotel, holding signs calling out what they said was the candidate’s racist campaign and also calling for a boycott of Trump hotels and products. This is far from the first time the Trump brand has met the word boycott. Recently, the Twitter hashtag “grabyourwallet” began calling on women across the United States to shun clothes and shoes designed and marketed by Ivanka Trump. To those who have purchased Ivanka Trump’s signature products, the message has been either return them for a refund or, if that’s not possible, burn them as a protest against the designer’s support of her father during the presidential campaign. Donald Trump’s brands have been tarnished as well, with travel sites such as Hipmunk reporting a decline in business at his hotels and research group Brand Keys noting reduced sales of clothing and watches branded with his name. The Trump Organization has denied any decline in business caused by the months of fiery political exchanges, and a corporate press release quoted Ivanka Trump as saying, “Our business at Trump Hotels is stronger than ever.” However, Trump executives also have announced they will be rebranding the group’s hotels in the future. Lodgings that were Trump will become Scion Hotels, a name chosen because it means descendant of a notable family, according to the news release announcing the new company. But hard numbers on how much sales of Trump items have declined are hard to establish, and the campaign’s long-term effects on the brand are yet to be seen. “We don’t have any precedent with this,” Ms. Oates said. “The future will have to say what effect running for president has on your brand.” Ms. Clinton, campaigning in the key battleground election state of Florida, went to the Adele concert Tuesday, where the pop artist endorsed her candidacy even as she acknowledged she can't vote for her because she is a British citizen. Wildlife fund reports a decline in species around the globe By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
Wildlife populations across the globe have dropped nearly 60 percent since 1970 and human activity is to blame, according to a report released by conservation groups. The joint report produced by the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London warned that if the current trends continue, the decline in world populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles could reach two-thirds by 2020, an annual loss of about 2 percent. "Wildlife is disappearing within our lifetimes at an unprecedented rate," said Marco Lambertini, director general of World Wildlife Fund International. The report is based on an index of species compiled for long-term-monitoring by scientists. It consists of 3,700 species of animals from more than 14,000 different populations around the world. According to the report, the drastic reduction in wildlife populations can be directly attributed to human development. A growing human population, which has more than doubled since 1960 to around 7.4 billion, means less room and food for other animals and could push them out of existence if changes aren’t made. “We need to transition to an approach that decouples human and economic development from environmental degradation, perhaps the deepest cultural and behavioral shifts ever experienced by any civilization,” Lambertini said. The environmental groups are looking to governments to help make that happen. Lambertini told the French news service AFP a recent sustainable development plan launched by the United Nations could help offset the threats to biodiversity. "We have succeeded in making a strong business case for climate," Lambertini said. "Now we have to make an equally strong business case for conservation of natural systems." Army graduates 10 women from basic infantry course By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
The U.S. Army hit a milestone Wednesday, as the first women graduated from the military branch’s Infantry Basic Officer Leader’s Course. Ten women received their Infantry blue chord at Fort Benning in the southern U.S. state of Georgia, officially making them infantry officers and giving them the ability to lead an Army platoon of infantry combat soldiers. The Army’s infantry is its main land combat force, responsible for defending the U.S. against ground threats and capturing, destroying and repelling enemy ground forces. Including the new graduates, there are 11 female infantry officers in the U.S. Army. Capt. Kristen Griest became the first female infantry officer earlier this year after completing the Army’s Maneuver Captains Career Course and transferring into the infantry. Fort Benning public affairs officer Chris Warner said Wednesday that rather than leading a platoon right away, all 10 women graduates have decided to continue the unspoken tradition of moving from the Infantry Basic Officer Leader’s course to Ranger school, the Army’s elite combat training course. Only three women, Capt. Griest, Capt. Shaye Haver and Maj. Lisa Jaster, have completed that elite course since it was opened up to women in 2015. Capt. Haver and Maj. Jaster are not infantry officers. Officials anticipate a higher likelihood of success from Wednesday’s female graduates, since the Infantry Basic Officer Leader’s Course produces the highest success rates for Ranger School graduates. The Infantry Basic Officer Leader’s course and the Armor Basic Officer Leader’s course were not open to women until this year. The Army is currently training 15 women at the Armor Basic Officer Leader’s Course at Fort Benning, which will be completed at the end of November. The Army's armor division carries out tank and forward reconnaissance operations on the battlefield. More oversight for bosses urged in banking companies By the A.M. Costa Rica wire
services
A U.S. government oversight body is proposing a way to hold banking and investment executives more accountable for criminal activity and fraud committed by staffers against their customers. An inspector general is suggesting that top Wall Street executives be required to sign an annual statement promising that criminal or civil fraudulent activity did not occur while they were in charge, a pledge that could lead to more top executives being sent to prison. The proposal is included in a quarterly report sent to Congress on Wednesday by the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was created in 2008 to bail out a U.S. financial system that was battered by historic crashes in the housing and securities markets. The report said 85 bankers have been charged with a crime and 36 have been sent to prison while more than $10 billion in misappropriated money has been recovered in the past few years. While TARP has been successful at prosecuting top executives of small- to medium-sized banks, it has not done the same with chief executive officers at large Wall Street firms. TARP Special Inspector General Christy Goldsmith Romero said she felt compelled to suggest a reform of the financial system for the first time after seeing many cases where top executives seemed immune from prosecution. "If a CEO says that their institution is too big or too complex to be able to certify about crime or fraud, then they have a much bigger problem, one that should be unacceptable, particularly at banks deemed so systematic that taxpayers bailed them out," Ms. Goldsmith Romero said in the report. The proposal to get tough on top banking and investment executives comes as many citizens are upset they have yet to fully recover from the 2008 financial meltdown, America's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. CEO accountability resurfaced as a top priority for some lawmakers in September after Wells Fargo and Co., a financial services company with nearly $2 trillion in assets, agreed to pay $185 million to settle claims that lower level workers may have created 2 million accounts without customers' knowledge. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf resigned in the wake of the scandal, but U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other legislators believe he should also be criminally prosecuted. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The
contents
of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río
Colorado S.A. 2016 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 sixth news page |
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San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, Vol. 17, No. 213
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Pope's
aide questioned in old sex cases By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
Australian police have interviewed top Vatican official George Pell in Rome over decades-old sexual assault allegations, but authorities said no charges were filed. Pell is a cardinal. A spokeswoman for Australia’s Victoria Police Department said three members of the police force traveled to Rome last week and Pell agreed voluntarily to be interviewed. “As a result of the interview, further investigations are continuing. We are not prepared to comment further at this time,” spokeswoman Amara Bostock said. The investigation stems in part from the claims of two men who say Pell, the Vatican’s finance chief and a close advisor to Pope Francis, fondled them at a pool in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, in the late 1970’s. The men are now in their 40s. Since the investigation began earlier this year, Pell has denied the claims made against him and accused the Australian Broadcasting Corp., which first reported the allegations, of running a scandalous smear campaign against him. The ABC report detailed alleged misconduct involving Pell that dated from the 1970s to the 1990s. In total, ABC said it had obtained statements from eight complainants, witnesses and family members tied to the investigation. Wednesday, Pell again denied the allegations and said he would continue to cooperate with Victoria Police until the investigation is finalized, according to a statement from his office. In August, Pope Francis said he wouldn’t address the allegations against Pell and told reporters they should avoid concluding a media verdict, a verdict based on gossip. Two strong quakes rattle central Italy By the A.M.
Costa Rica wire services
Two strong temblors shook central Italy Wednesday night, not far from the area struck by a deadly quake in August. A 5.4-magnitude quake was followed about two hours later by a stronger 6-magnitude temblor that was centered near the town of Castelsantangelo sul Nera. The earthquakes were felt in Rome, more than 150 kilometers to the south. No deaths are reported but officials in several small towns say older buildings and churches that were damaged in the August quake collapsed. At least two people were injured in the town of Visso and power is out in much of the region. The Aug. 24 earthquake measured 6.2 and killed about 300 people. |
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| From Page 7: Medical device maker invests $55 million By the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
The British firm of Smith & Nephew has invested $55 million in a new plant in a facility in the Zona Franca Coyol, Alajuela, Casa Presidencial said. The company is expected to take on 250 new employees. The firm already employs, 1,700. The company specializes in making instruments and implants to carry out minimally invasive surgery to repair tendons, knees, hips and shoulders. Many devices are used in sports medicine. The New York Stock Exchange-listed the firm in one of the country's many medical device manufactures that export more than $2 billion a year, according to the Coalición Costarricense de Iniciativas de Desarrollo, one of the country’s promotional agencies. |
