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A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
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José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 233
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The minister who supervises the traffic police and other road agencies characterized as sensationalism the disclosure that he accumulated 13 traffic tickets since 1996. The minister, Carlos Segnini Villalobos, said that all the information was open to the public anyway. He said there were other topics more important and more urgent for the country instead of his driving record. Segnini is minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes. He said he was not going to justify the traffic violations. He has paid and learned from them, he said. The ministry released a list including the date, the violation and the fine paid. The most recent was Feb. 16 when the infraction was not respecting a traffic sign. That cost the minister 50,274 colons, about $93. In fact, seven of the 13 violations were of this type, extending back from Aug. 27, 1998. Another was for parking incorrectly. But Oct. 12, 2007, the violation was alcohol. Murder suspects, jailers tussle By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The suspects in the murder of turtle protector Jairo Mora got into a fight with guards Monday afternoon at the cells of the Tribunales de Justicia in Limón. The Judicial Investigating Organization, which provides security for the courts, said that when a jailer was taking the suspects to the afternoon session of the murder trial, one of the accused pushed and hit the judicial worker. Other suspects joined in, said the Judicial Investigating Organization and other jailers had to intervene to quell the melee. The judicial agency said that those involved will face another allegation of resistance to authority. One of the suspects was treated for injuries, the agency said. Public employees invited to march By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Public employees have been given leave to march today in a demonstration against violence to women. The event organized by the Instituto Nacional de Mujeres begins at 9 a.m. at Parque la Merced. President Luis Guillermo Solís is participating. He said his cabinet also will march. Public employees can be out of their offices from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. as long as there are sufficient persons to cover the work, said the president. Solís said that today is a day to celebrate the battles that women have won to take the places that have been denied them for much of history. In Spanish the day is called Día de la No Violencia. In another activity for the day the U.S. Embassy is sponsoring with the security ministry the showing of the documentary "Justicia para mi hermana." The movie, directed by Californian Kimberly Bautista, related the three-year struggle of a Guatemalan woman to bring the murder of her sister to justice. Ms. Bautista is expected to be present. The embassy said that in the three years, the woman encountered many obstacles, including a judge who was accused of killing his own wife and witnesses who declined to testify out of fear. Eventually the boyfriend was jailed. The audience today will be police officers. Industrial policy sought by government By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The government convened a forum Monday to discuss a policy for industry. The goal of the forum was to define the steps to create such a policy. The Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio is taking the lead, and other ministries are expected to participate. The ministry also is seeking support from the chambers of commerce, banks and similar institutions. Luis Guillermo Solís was quoted as saying such a policy is needed to reinforce the importance of industry. The session was supported by the Proyecto Procalidad of the European Union.
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 233 | |
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| Montes de Oca mayor tells employees to forget Christmas gifts |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Santa Claus has clashed with anti-corruption policies in Montes de Oca. The mayor, Fernando Trejos B., reminded municipal workers and the public Monday that soliciting informal Christmas bonuses is contrary to ethical rules. There is a long tradition of municipal employees in Montes de Oca, which includes San Pedro, and other municipalities in the country, going house to house seeking Christmas cash. The mayor on his statement said that sometimes the garbage truck drivers blow their horn to remind residents of their presence. In fact, competing garbage crews have been known to poach into |
the territory of
other
crews. In addition, individuals appear claiming to
have been cleaning the street all year. A Montes de Oca directive says that the workers cannot ask for such presents. But the employee ethical manual says that they cannot receive them. The mayor said that any public employees violating these rules will be subject to a disciplinary proceeding. The mayor's statements run counter to long tradition of giving presents of cash to trash collectors, street cleaners and others who handle the dirtier side of daily life. Many residents have said that as long as there is not coercion, they are happy to brighten the life of lower-paid municipal workers. |
 Ministerio
de Gobernación,
Policía y Seguridad Pública.
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Plenty
of police Who says you can't find a cop when you need one? There were 280 new police officers sworn in Monday at Plaza de la Democracia. That's just in time for the big Christmas show of force. Other graduates Monday attended advanced courses and a program for border security. |
| Tamarindo tourism pioneer Julia Boogaard dies in California |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A Tamarindo tourism pioneer died Saturday in California. She was Julia Boogaard, who moved to the popular beach resort when it still
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Costa Rica only to
visit her family. Traveling was her passion and she circumnavigated the
world several times. "In 2013 she decided to spend six months of the year closer to her family now in California. Three months later she had a stroke, and a year and a half later she passed away. She was a very intelligent woman, passionate about traveling and her family. She was a people person, a very good businesswoman and well remembered as a pioneer of Tamarindo, Costa Rica." In addition to her daughter, she is survived by her son-in-law Warren, grandchildren Martin and Renee and her brother Pim. Mrs. Boogaard was born in the Netherlands. Her father was a well-known flower exporter, and she had two older siblings. She had a good childhood and traveled a lot with her father on business throughout Europe. "She was a popular girl, and living in a university town, her dance card was always full," her daughter said. "At age 24 while working as a receptionist in Noordwijk, she met her future husband. They married and very shortly thereafter had a daughter. After a few lean years, they started a cosmetics wholesale business which became very successful." The couple separated in 1986. Mrs. Boogaard was an avid supporter of World Animal Protection, and her family requested that any donations be made there in her memory. |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 233 | |||||
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| Cutting-edge genetic study says turtles are related to birds
and dinosaurs |
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By the California Academy of Sciences news
staff
A team of scientists, including researchers from the California Academy of Sciences, has reconstructed a detailed tree of life for turtles. The specifics of how turtles are related to one another, to other reptiles, and even to dinosaurs have been hotly debated for decades. Next generation sequencing technologies in academy labs have generated unprecedented amounts of genetic information for a new look at turtles' evolutionary history. These high-tech lab methods revolutionize the way scientists explore species origins and evolutionary relationships, and provide a strong foundation for future looks into Earth's fossil record. Research results, appearing in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, describe how a new genetic sequencing technique reveals turtles' closest relatives across the animal kingdom. The new genetic tree uses an enormous amount of data to refute the notion that turtles are most closely related to lizards and snakes. Instead, authors place turtles in the newly named group Archelosauria with their closest relatives: birds, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. Scientists suspect the new group will be the largest group of vertebrates to ever receive a new scientific name. The technique used in high-tech labs allowed scientists to move beyond years of speculation and place the Archelosauria group in its rightful place on the reptile tree of life. The technique has been available since 2012, yet scientists are just beginning to tap its potential for generating enormous amounts of genetic data across vertebrates. Major findings also resolve an evolutionary mystery |
 California Academy of
Sciences
Turtles, like this alligator
snapping turtle Macrochelys temminckii, are a diverse group of animals with a
hotly contested evolutionary history. surrounding softshell turtles, a bizarre group of scale-less turtles with snorkel-like snouts. Until now, studies linked softshell turtles with a smaller semi-aquatic group called mud turtles, despite the fact that softshells appear in the fossil record long before their mud-loving counterparts. The academy's study places softshells in a league of their own on the evolutionary tree, quite far removed from any turtle relatives. Their long independent history helps explain their striking looks as well as their ancient presence in the fossil record. |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 233 | |||||||
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| Grand jury in Missouri declines to indict policeman By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
After months of weighing evidence and testimony, a grand jury in Missouri has decided against indicting Darren Wilson, the white police officer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Michael Brown during a street confrontation almost four months ago. The announcement came Monday evening after days of agonizing suspense in this central U.S. state and beyond. After their exhaustive review of the evidence, jurors determined that no probable cause exists to bring charges against Wilson, said Robert P. McCulloch, St. Louis County prosecutor, speaking from the courthouse in the county seat of Clayton. As they awaited the decision, hundreds of people gathered in the streets of nearby Ferguson, where the 18-year-old Brown was killed. The mood there was tense, with some demonstrators carrying signs bearing messages such as "Jail for Life." Minutes after the announcement, protests erupted in Ferguson. Some of the protesters looted local businesses and threw rocks at police, who responded with tear gas and bean bag bullets. Several fires raged uncontrolled early Tuesday, as authorities scrambled to deal with the unrest. Sporadic gunshots could be heard, though it is unclear if there were any casualties. Demonstrations were also held in cities across America. At Times Square in New York City, protesters held signs decrying "police tyranny" and chanted the "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" slogan that has become popular at rallies against police violence. In Oakland and Chicago, protesters flooded freeways, blocking cars with their hands held in the air. A small crowd of protesters also gathered outside the White House. The Aug. 9 shooting inflamed tensions in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb, which is patrolled by an overwhelmingly white police force. Rioting broke out the night after the shooting. Protests, sometimes violent, erupted for weeks, and police responded with tear gas and armored vehicles. Demonstrations have continued in Ferguson and in Clayton, where the grand jury began meeting in late August. McCulloch said the grand jury met for 25 days and heard 70 hours of testimony from 60 witnesses. He said much of the witness testimony contradicted the evidence from the scene and that many others later changed their stories, admitting they had not witnessed the confrontation. He praised the jurors for completing "this monumental responsibility," and he lauded the unprecedented cooperation" between federal investigators and local authorities. The prosecutor also extended his sympathy to Brown's family over his death. He concluded his prepared remarks by saying he joined with the family, clergy and others "in urging everyone to continue the demonstrations, continue the discussion … but do so in a constructive way." After the announcement, Brown's family issued a statement saying they were profoundly disappointed. Lawyers for Darren Wilson said in a statement that the grand jury's decision shows the officer "followed his training and followed the law" during the confrontation with Brown. President Barack Obama, in a brief televised address, called on Americans to "accept this was the grand jury's decision to make." He acknowledged the ruling left some people deeply disappointed, even angry, but called on all protesters to refrain from violence. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal investigations continue into the shooting and into whether the Ferguson Police Department is engaging in unconstitutional practices. Calling Brown's death a tragedy, Holder said far more must be done to create enduring trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Monday, streets around the courthouse had been barricaded and neighboring businesses had boarded up storefronts, hedges against any trouble that might erupt with news of the grand jury’s decision. But, despite throngs of law enforcement officers and news media, not a protester was in sight less than an hour before McCulloch shared the grand jury's decision. But by the time McCulloch had finished speaking, at least 50 people had gathered at the courthouse. Their mood was subdued. Government officials in Missouri repeatedly have appealed for calm. At a news conference earlier Monday evening, Gov. Jay Nixon joined several other officials in calling for peace, respect and restraint no matter what the outcome. A week earlier, he had activated the National Guard to assist local law enforcement. "No matter what is announced, people will be emotional," acknowledged the county’s executive, Charlie A. Dooley. He urged people "to remain focused on long-term systemic changes." He said officials were committed to de-escalating negative actions while ensuring free speech, with the help of law enforcement and National Guard troops. "I do not want people in this community to think they have to barricade their doors and take up arms," Dooley cautioned. Medal of Freedom given to 19 distinguished citizen By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama has awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 19 distinguished Americans. Those awarded Monday include artists, activists and public servants. Three U.S. civil rights workers murdered by members of a white supremacist group 50 years ago were awarded posthumously. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were slain as they participated in historic efforts to register blacks to vote in Mississippi. Their deaths, part of a conspiracy by the Ku Klux Klan, led to the first successful federal prosecution of a civil rights case in Mississippi. Chaney was black. Goodman and Schwerner were white. The voting rights activists’ brutal murders were a driving force behind passage of sweeping anti-discrimination laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Retired professional golfer Charles Sifford, an African-American, is another civil rights pioneer honored. Now 92, he broke the Professional Golfers' Association's color barrier in the 1960s by playing in tournaments that until then only allowed white golfers. Despite harassment and death threats, he was the first black to win two PGA tournament events in 1967 and 1969. The Medal of Freedom also went to actress Meryl Streep, who the president described as "truly one of America’s leading ladies." When awarding Ethel Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Robert Kennedy, Obama said, "We give thanks to a person whose love for her family is matched by her devotion to her nation." Obama also honored singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder and retiring U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who is the longest-serving member of Congress. Another award winner is former U.S. Rep. Abner Mikva, the Illinois Democrat. Other honorees include composer Stephen Sondheim and longtime NBC journalist Tom Brokow. Another member of the distinguished group is Chilean-born author Isabel Allende, whose 21 books have sold 65 million copies in 35 languages. The Medal of Freedom also has been awarded to activist, writer and curator Suzan Harjo, praised for helping to improve the lives of other Native Americans. Actress and activist Marlo Thomas was honored in part for leading outreach efforts for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee, which offers pediatric cancer treatments and research for children's catastrophic diseases. Economist Robert Solow and physicist Mildred Dresselhau are also among those receiving the civilian honor. Honored posthumously are choreographer Alvin Ailey, congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii and Edward Roybal of California, founder of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. President John Kennedy established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963. Since then, it has been awarded to 500 people. Most admired jobs don't always bring in the bucks By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Money and prestige don’t necessarily go together when it comes to the jobs Americans admire most. Although doctors top a Harris Poll list of the most prestigious jobs in America, military officers, firefighters and police officers — who work in occupations that are not known to be particularly lucrative — are also in the Top 10. Doctors are the highest paid workers in the United States with an average salary of $191,880, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates survey. The Harris Poll found that 88 percent of U.S. adults believe physicians have either “a great deal of prestige” (45 percent) or “have prestige” (44 percent). The average firefighter salary is $48,270, while police officers earn $58,720. Registered nurses pull in $68,910 annually, architects make $71,790, and engineers $92,170. The poll results come from an online survey of 2,537 adults that was conducted in August 2014, and also examine which professions Americans find least admirable, many of which pay well. The least-prestigious occupations on the list include real estate brokers and agents (73 percent), union leaders (65 percent), stockbrokers and bankers (62 percent), and accountants (60 percent). Americans are mixed on some jobs. Opinions are almost evenly split when it comes to how members of Congress, entertainers, actors, farmers and journalists, are perceived. Those divisions often come down along age lines. Younger people, those under 49 years old, tend to think highly of actors and athletes as opposed to those over 50 who hold the opposite opinion. And while doctors might top both the money and prestige lists, the poll finds most parents would encourage their own children to become engineers. Swiss museum will receive hoard of looted Nazi art By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A museum in Switzerland has decided to accept hundreds of artworks from the son of a Nazi-era art dealer. German authorities seized a priceless collection of 1,280 artworks in 2012, hidden in an apartment in the city of Munich. Many of the works were looted from Jewish families across Europe by the Nazis. The collection of paintings was discovered by tax inspectors who were searching the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, son of Adolf Hitler’s art dealer, Hildebrand Gurlitt, in 2012. Cornelius Gurlitt died in May this year and named the Bern Art Museum in Switzerland as his sole heir. The president of the museum’s Board of Trustees, Christoph Schaeublin, announced Monday it would accept some of the artworks. Schaeublin said the decision was far from easy for the board of trustees. He added there were certainly no feelings of triumph, which would be absolutely inappropriate in light of the art collection's history. Among the works are paintings by Pablo Picasso and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Bern Art Museum said it would not accept looted artworks, and pledged to help return stolen paintings to their rightful owners. That will not be an easy task, says Christopher Marinello of Art Recovery International in London, which specializes in stolen and disputed artworks. “It is extremely difficult to identify and prove a claim to Nazi-looted artwork. Many of these people were fleeing for their lives and the last thing they were about to do is grab a box of receipts," said Marinello. An agreement known as the Washington Principles aims to make it easier for claimants to prove ownership of stolen art. German authorities have struggled to deal with the fallout of the extraordinary find in 2012, says Marinello. “There is a lot to be learned in this case and the way it was handled for the next time. And I do believe there will be a next time. We have not seen the last of hordes of Nazi-looted works of art," he said. The recovery of some of the art looted by the Nazis was dramatized in the 2013 movie "The Monuments Men," starring George Clooney. Earlier this year, a photo album depicting such stolen masterpieces was donated to the United States’ National Archives. Eighty-eight-year-old Harry Ettlinger was one of the original Monuments Men, six soldiers from a US Army unit tasked with recovering thousands of looted artworks at the end of World War II, some of them hidden inside salt mines. He recalled his first mission. “The first one happened to contain the stained glass windows from the cathedral of Strasbourg, and Eisenhower made a big deal about it, rightfully so, and it was my job to go down into the mine and have miners help me get those boxes up and put on trucks to be returned," said Ettlinger. |
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2014 and may
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| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 233 | |||||||||
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By the Michigan State University news staff
A new study led by a Michigan State University scholar throws cold water on that theory that enough droughts, floods and heat waves will begin to change minds of global warming skeptics. Only 35 percent of U.S. citizens believe global warming was the main cause of the abnormally high temperatures during the winter of 2012, Aaron M. McCright and colleagues report in a paper published online in the journal Nature Climate Change. "Many people already had their minds made up about global warming and this extreme weather was not going to change that," said McCright, associate professor in Michigan's Lyman Briggs College and Department of Sociology. Winter 2012 was the fourth warmest winter in the United States dating back to at least 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some 80 percent of U.S. citizens reported winter temperatures in their local area were warmer than usual. The researchers analyzed March 2012 Gallup Poll data of more than 1,000 people and examined how individuals' responses related to actual temperatures in their home states. Perceptions of warmer winter temperatures seemed to track with observed temperatures. "Those results are promising because we do hope that people accurately perceive the reality that's around them so they can adapt accordingly to the weather," McCright said. But when it came to attributing the abnormally warm weather to global warming, respondents largely held fast to their existing beliefs and were not influenced by actual temperatures. As this study and McCright's past research shows, political party identification plays a significant role in determining global warming beliefs. People who identify as Republican tend to doubt the existence of global warming, while Democrats generally believe in it. The abnormally warm winter was just one in an ongoing series of severe weather events, including the 2010 Russian heat wave, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and the 2013 typhoon in the Philippines, that many believed would help start convincing global warming cynics. "There's been a lot of talk among climate scientists, politicians and journalists that warmer winters like this would change people's minds," McCright said. "That the more people are exposed to climate change, the more they'll be convinced. This study suggests this is not the case." |
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| From Page 7: Truckers spend 90 percent of the time waiting to cross border at Paso Canoas, study said By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Truckers spend 90 percent of their time waiting to cross the border to and from Panamá at Paso Canoas, a new study says. The report prepared by the Fundación Georgia Tech said that the waiting could be reduced drastically with modernization of the border post. The study showed that importing into Costa Rica takes between 12 and 15 hours while exportation takes between seven and eight hours. The study was done at the request of the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. The summary said that the wait times could be reduced to just 15 percent of the current amount. |
