 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
||
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
 Click here to find us on our Facebook page! |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for more details |
 |
A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page |
|
|
|
San
José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 240
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Judicial agents have detained four teens in a robbery and murder that took place Friday. Agents detained the youngsters in four simultaneous early morning raids in Corina Rodríguez, La Guapil and Los Pinos sections of Alajuelita. They are accused in the death of a man with the last name of Vásquez who was walking to his home late Friday in Aurora de Alajuelita. Agents said that the man was shot once in the head, once in the cheek and once in the neck when he resisted. The robbers had a .38 caliber pistol. The robbers stole the man's cell telephone. In another juvenile case Wednesday, mounted Fuerza Pública officers on patrol at Parque de la Paz captured two youngsters who dropped a part of a sparkplug from a pedestrian bridge and shattered the windshield of a passing car. Police said the pair were 15 and 16. The driver was able to stop his vehicle without causing any damage, they added. Money awards for cell outage upheld By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Sala Primera of the Corte Suprema de Justicia has upheld a lower court award of money to individuals who were hurt by a cell telephone outage. The trio were passengers in a truck that went off the road in Puntarenas in September 2010. One of the occupants in the seafood delivery truck tried to call for help for the accident, but he could not obtain a signal from the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad line, according to a summary. Although injured, he had to walk for a distance to call for help, said the Poder Judicial in describing the case and decision. The Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo awarded the trio each 500,000 colons, about $1,000 at the time. The case was treated as a consumer claim because the telephone users were never told of the limitations of the system in that area, said the Poder Judicial. Nine detained in Puntarenas drug case By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Policía de Control de Drogas detained nine of 10 suspects Wednesday in a Puntarenas case that involves what officials say are four drug gangs working together. The activities were described repeatedly in confidential calls to police, said the security ministry. The activities were in Esparza, Barranca and Monteverde de Puntarenas. Distributed were mainly cocaine and marijuana. The individuals detained Wednesday represent one organization, officials said, and they were working with three others. North Korea denies Sony cyber attack By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
North Korea has firmly denied charges that it is behind a massive cyber attack against Sony Pictures. A North Korean diplomat in New York said Wednesday his country has nothing to do with the cyber attack that crippled the Hollywood studio’s computer system last week. "Linking the DPRK to the Sony hacking is another fabrication targeting the country," said the official, who preferred to remain anonymous. "My country publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy," the official claimed. This is the first time North Korea has denied its involvement in the cyber attack on Sony. Pyongyang has been largely silent on the accusation, sparking rampant speculation that Pyongyang might have sponsored the attack. Some press linked the cyber attack to Pyongyang’s anger over Sony’s upcoming comedy "The Interview," the plot of which involves an attempted assassination of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
| The contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Ro Colorado S.A.
2014 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
 |
A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 240 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Hotel operators are more optimistic this year, survey shows |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Hotel operators at tourism locations are expecting a better year this year than last with their holiday bookings. The Cámara Costarricense de Hoteles released findings of its annual survey Wednesday that showed the hotel operators at beaches and the mountains expect an average of 88 percent occupancy. The period includes Christmas through New Year's. That is four points higher than 2013, the chamber noted. Beaches continue being the favored locations because the survey |
showed
that hotel operators there are expecting 91 percent occupancy. Mountain
locations reported 81 percent. As is typical of holiday periods, hotels in the city expected a lower occupancy. They reported 59 percent. The chamber will do a survey after the holidays to determine actual occupancy. The holiday occupancies will give a good indication of the success of the entire high season, which has just begun. Reports from the Pacific coast say that intense cold in the north has advanced the season. |
| Museo Nacional
plans festival with a Christmas theme Dec. 11 By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Museo Nacional plans a Christmas festival Dec. 11, and the event includes the blessing of the museum's portal or nativity scene. There also are workshops to create Yule decorations, choruses, the San José municipal band, and drama presentations. The event is designed for families and is free, although there are small charges for the optional workshops and the holiday food. The event begins at 9 a.m. and runs all day. The Concordia Coral from the Instituto Pro Música under the direction of Darlene Palmer will close the event at 2 p.m. with traditional Spanish Christmas carols or villancicos. The blessing of the nativity scene will be at 9 a.m., and the Rev. Carlos Humberto Rojas is scheduled to preside. The life-size statues are on loan from the San Vicente de Paul sisters of charity and are valuable antiques, said the museum. They are more than 100 years old. They will be on display through January. |
 Museo Nacional photo
These are some of the antique
nativity pieces. |
| Some airlines will put cost of exit tax in the price of
their tickets |
|
|
By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The deal was a very long time in coming. The government said Wednesday that some airlines have agreed to include the cost of the country's $29 exit tax in the price of a ticket. The participating airlines are members of the Spanish-based Asociación de Líneas Aéreas. Continental and American Airlines are members, but Delta and some other U.S. passenger lines are not. Passengers who have booked flights with firms that do not include |
the tax in their
ticket will have to continue to purchase the exit stamp at the airport
from Bancrédito employees. Officials Wednesday said they expect that the manual operator will continue for at least a year. Charter and private flights are not included in the agreement, officials said. They are Ana Helena Chacón and Helio Fallas, both vice presidents, who announced the agreement. Airlines are under no obligation to accept the agreement, officials said. But they expect that most eventually will. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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.
2014 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
 |
|
||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's Fourth News page | |||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 240 | |||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| Talamanca aid While anti-drug officers were chopping down more than a million marijuana plants in the high Talamancas, others were providing food and clothing to needy native residents of Piedra Meza and Telire. And Luis Blanco, head of the Caja clinic in Zarcero spent five of his days off providing medical services and attracting crowds in the remote communities. |
 Ministerio
de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública photo
|
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
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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.
2014 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
|
A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
news page
|
||
 |
 |
|
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 240 | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
 |
| N.Y. grand jury declines to indict chokehold cop By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A grand jury in New York City voted Wednesday not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man in July. The officer, Daniel Pantaleo, was seen in a widely circulated video recorded July 17 with his arm wrapped around Eric Garner’s neck, wrestling him to the ground in an attempt to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes on Staten Island. The heavyset 43-year-old Garner, who had asthma, was heard repeatedly gasping, "I can't breathe!'' The city's medical examiner ruled that Garner’s death was a homicide resulting from the chokehold and the compression of his chest by police officers. New York Police Department officials have said the chokehold technique generally is not allowed. Police union officials and Pantaleo's lawyer argued that the officer used a takedown move taught by the police department, not a banned maneuver, because Garner was resisting arrest. They said his poor health was the main reason he died. Benjamin Carr, Garner's stepfather, said he was distraught over the verdict. “Put it in the hands of the federal government. Let them do something about it,” he said. In a move aimed at de-escalating tension, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced late Wednesday that he was opening a federal civil rights investigation into Garner’s death, a move that Garner’s family and activists have called for in recent months. The grand jury decision comes less than two weeks after another grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, declined to indict a white officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager during a street confrontation. That decision led to weeks of protests and violence that resulted in more than 100 arrests and the destruction of 12 commercial buildings by fire. In New York, protesters gathered in the city's Times Square, some holding signs that said "Black lives matter,'' "Fellow white people, wake up'' and "Once again, no justice.'' About two dozen demonstrators lay down in the middle of Grand Central Station's main hall in Manhattan, in a silent protest as the evening rush hour began. At the site where Garner was apprehended by police and a makeshift memorial to his honor now stands, tempers flared as about a dozen protesters expressed their anger at the grand jury's decision with a protest on the sidewalk. Some demonstrators defiantly crushed cigarettes in front of reporters and passers-by — a reference to the reason that police gave for approaching Garner in the first place. Daniel Skelton, a black 40-year-old banker, spoke loudly as he expressed his outrage steps away from Garner's memorial. “They just don't like us,” he said, referring to police. Skelton called his reaction “not so much anger as frustration. A black man's life just don't matter in this country." In his first public comments on the death, Pantaleo said he prays for Garner's family and hopes they accept his condolences. But Garner's mother said she was truly disappointed in the grand jury's decision. President Barack Obama reacted swiftly to the grand jury decision, saying the case reflected a longtime "concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them, and dealing with them in a fair way." "We are not going to let up until we see a strengthening of the trust and a strengthening of the accountability that exists between our communities and our law enforcement," he said. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called it a deeply emotional day for the Garner family and all New Yorkers, acknowledging that many people did not agree with the grand jury’s decision. He said the decision created "a national moment of pain, a national moment of grief and searching for a solution." It is rare for either federal or state prosecutors to charge a U.S. police officer for excessive force, even when a death results. “There are a lot of cases where police officers don't get indicted for what looks like extreme situations,” said Aaron Mysliwiec, president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Many jurors and judges tend to believe police officers more than your average witness.” The U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have over decades ruled that police officers should have wide latitude to use violence to defend themselves and to take suspects into custody. In the aftermath of the Garner incident, New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said every officer in the police department, the nation's largest police force, would have to undergo new training. He said it would emphasize tactics that could calm an encounter, something the police department has described as verbal judo. Obama planning initiative for young Native Americans By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Maurianna Loretto, an environmental science major at Sitting Bull College on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, says education is key to beating the odds stacked against so many Native American young people. “There are challenges in the community," said Ms. Loretto, 22. "There are negative influences that someone can easily get into and get wrapped up in — and I think we just need people to motivate the young to do good for themselves.” But it’s an uphill battle for most. More than a third of Native American youth live in poverty, and suicide is the second-leading cause of death for those ages 10 to 24. Native Americans also have the lowest high school graduation rates of any U.S. demographic. President Barack Obama, who visited Standing Rock in June, has unveiled a new initiative aimed at helping Native American youth overcome poverty, substance abuse or other challenges. He announced the plan Wednesday at the sixth annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. Also during the conference, the White House released the 2014 Native Youth Report, which acknowledges that past failings in federal policy have contributed to the statistics. The report highlights areas of improvement such as in economic development and education. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who is restructuring the Bureau of Indian Education, said it would take $1 billion to fix Native American schools. “We are doing a lot around Indian education, but there is more that needs to be done," she said. "We are inadequately funded, particularly in construction. We have schools that are falling apart, a third of BIE schools are in poor condition.” During his visit to Standing Rock, Obama heard firsthand from tribal youth about the obstacles they face. The rare presidential visit deeply moved Obama, who at Wednesday’s conference announced the Generation Indigenous initiative, which aims to provide Native American youth with leadership, college and career opportunities. “We want to give those young people and young Native Americans like them the support they deserve," he said. "We have to invest in them, believe in them and love them. And if we do, there’s no question of the great things they can achieve, not just for their own families, but for their nation and for the United States.” It’s a message that hits home for Brian Moskwetah Weeden, co-president of the United National Indian Tribal Youth. “It’s time for our tribal youth to step up in our own communities, even in the bigger picture, in the government-to-government relationships," he said. "And being here, and being present, is a really good thing.” For the first time, 36 Native American high school students took part in Wednesday’s conference as White House Youth Ambassadors, part of the president’s pledge to better the lives of native youth. DNA project now focuses on African populations By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Scientists have been making rapid advances in studies of genetic variations in European and East Asian populations. Now, populations in Africa, the cradle of the human race, are getting the same treatment. The African Genome Variation Project set out to discover more about how variations in DNA can help in understanding patterns of disease, ultimately leading to better treatments. Working with other institutions, including partners throughout Africa, the Genome Variation Project has collected and analyzed genetic information from nearly 3,000 individuals representing the diversity of the African experience over many millennia. Manjinder S. Sandhu of Britain’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, senior author of an article on the project in the journal Nature, said in a telephone interview that DNA reveals traces of the movement of people who originated in Africa, migrated elsewhere, and returned. “It’s a mass population movement from out of Africa," Sandhu said. "Populations have returned over thousands of years and mixed with population groups. And you see vestiges of those signals in the human genomes of modern Africans today.” For example, genetic characteristics of Eurasian people were found in today’s West Africans. Sandhu said the Genome Variation Project might help explain why certain genetic variations make some people more likely than others to develop specific diseases. “And ultimately, if we understand the biological processes underlying those diseases, we can start thinking about how we can develop new medicines, or use existing medicines, to help combat and control those diseases,” he said. In a commentary also published in Nature, Raj Ramesar of the University of Cape Town said analyses of more African genomes would open a larger window into human diversity, evolution ... and disease susceptibility.  Voice of America photo
One of the Yazzie family designsNavajo
silversmiths win
expo spot in N.Y. museum By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Turquoise, coral, opal and silver are tools in the hands of master Navajo jewelers. The Yazzie family has been making contemporary Navajo jewelry for decades and now their work is being celebrated in a museum in New York. For generations the Yazzie family has been using traditional Navajo techniques to make jewelry in America's Southwest. The concho, the squash blossom and the sun are traditional imagery found in many of their pieces. The National Museum of the American Indian in New York is showcasing four decades of work by brothers Lee and Raymond Yazzie. They are elders of the famous jewelry-making family, whose work has been up to now dispersed among private collections. Lee is known for his silversmithing, which was introduced to the Navajo in the middle of the 19th century. He uses silver to encase the jewels, which in Navajo tradition have a spirit. "Many times my father would tell my mother to respect this work. It is sacred, you know the turquoise was sacred," said Lee. Ray, who has been making jewelry since his early teens, is renowned for his stone work. He focuses on Hozho, a Navajo concept that prizes balance and beauty in art and life. "It takes a long time to get everything together especially the different color coral. It takes a few months or even a couple of years to get all the different colors together," said Ray. The museum exhibit, which includes works owned by 50 private collectors, is called "Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family." Glittering world refers to the Navajo name for the realm of light and sun in which all beings live. "This is an influence directly on their jewelry and the colors of the landscape, the light. Navajo belief about light and color," said Curator Kathleen Ash-Milby. Collectors pay a lot for Yazzie artwork. Abby Kent Flythe has been enamored with Navajo jewelry since she was just seven. Now she is a dealer. “Because of the materials and the time it takes them to make and the skills they’ve developed over the years it can go quite high," she said. "Up in the…over the hundred-thousand range." Dozens of Yazzies came to New York City for the gallery opening, which coincided with an award from their home state of New Mexico. For Ray, the experience was overwhelming. "You go through life and you put pieces together and because they go into collections, then the public never really gets to see the pieces that you make and so through the years I always wondered when am I going to get the recognition that I want, you know? When are people going to see what I can do," she asked. The 300-piece exhibit will be on display for one year. The curator says the show is just one part of the larger, contemporary American Indian story. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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.
2014 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| A.M. Costa Rica's sixth news page |
|
||||||||
| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 240 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
||
|
 Al Ándalus photo
Those shoes are made for
dancing.Flamenco
show to tap other rhythms
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Al Ándalus flamenco troupe will borrow from Cuban and Argentine rhythms Dec. 14 for the presentation Con el alma aferrada, which can be translated as "with an obstinate soul," The performances are at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano in Los Yoses. However, the 7 p.m. show is sold out, the dance group said. The title of the show is from the 1935 song "Volver" by Carlos Cardel. He is best known as a tango singer, so the group most likely will work the beat of the tango into its dancing. Traffic should be heavy tonight By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats should know that traffic police are expecting a big day today with three major events. Saprissa, the soccer team, plays arch rival Alajuelense. The Hospital del Niños plans the lighting of its gigantic Christmas tree, and famous singer Marc Anthony performs at the Estadio Nacional. Each event is expected to attract thousands. |
| Costa Rican News |
AMCostaRicaArchives.com |
Retire NOW
in Costa Rica |
CostaRicaReport.com |
| Fine Dining
in Costa Rica |
The CAFTA Report |
Fish
fabulous Costa Rica |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Food |
|
| 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.
2014 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
||||||
| From Page 7: Women to display products of their firms By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Businesswomen will display their works Friday through Sunday at the new location of the Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres west of Mall San Pedro. Some 120 firms are expected to be represented at the VI Feria Nacional de Mujeres Empresarias. The institute cited statistics that said women lead 60 percent of the country's firms. Some 125,288 women work for their own account here, the institute said, citing figures from the Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos. Assisting with the event are the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio, the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje and the Fundación Mujer. |
