The gallito you get can be a chile relleno (a filled pepper), an almuerzito de repollo (cabbage), tortas de huevo con cebollin (a scallion omelette) a barbudos (string bean omelette), a canellones ticos rellenos de carne (pasta stuffed with meat) or an enyucada with beef as well cheese. The last is meat or cheese wrapped in yucca and deep fried.

One of the real deals for expats is the ease of getting a Costa Rican driver's license. Assuming that the expat already holds a valid, unexpired license from North America or Europe, the whole process should not take more than a few hours.

A few years ago data reporting was new to Costa Rica. The major players in the market were Datum.net, Cero Riesgo S.A., Protectora de Crédito Comercial S.A., and Trans Union Costa Rica. Today the same companies still are in the market. What is interesting is the increasing role they play in providing credit, localization and employment reporting to companies, lawyers and financial institutions.

Youngsters went wild Saturday night and early Sunday. Fires broke out in Santa Ana and several communities in Heredia. Police detained 140 persons.

For the second day in a row, Costa Rican firemen faced a massive blaze. The fire Wednesday was in a saw mill and adjacent lumber yard in Pueblo Nuevo de Alajuela.

An immigration Web site is reporting that changes have been made in a proposed bill that outlines rules for foreigners to get residency.

Fire tore through at least eight boats docked at the Costa Rican Guardacostas station in Puntarenas Tuesday and sent columns of black some into the air and into the surrounding neighborhood.

"Sin Nombre," the film that won the Sundance Festival's awards for best direction and cinematography, has just opened in U.S. theaters and already has received rave reviews.

The traffic and buses are gone now, except for a few delivery vehicles. And the full width of Avenida 4 and adjacent streets are filled with pedestrians.

Jesus Christ was conspicuously absent during the Palm Sunday procession in San José, but there was a passel of apostles.

The Archivo Nacional is seeking nominations for the Memory of the World Programme that seeks to preserve documentary heritage that reflects cultures.

The latest entrant to the Costa Rican real estate market is Wall Street's Henry Kaufman, famous since 1957 when he took over the largest bond specialist unit of the New York Stock Exchange.

Environmental inspectors — some 20 strong — descended on the Finca Babilonia in Siquirres Wednesday. The operation is owned by Del Monte, but it did not take inspectors long to find something amiss.

Another downtown Gringo institution is fading from view, a victim of rising prices and perhaps lower patronage.

O.K., the ballots are in for the first (and perhaps last) weekly genius award from A.M. Costa Rica. The award goes to the persons who or institutions that distinguish themselves as being in dire need of having their brain fixed.

Now life will change. No more lingering in bed until 6:30 a.m. Every day becomes a race against the rain. Depending on location, figure a heavy thunderstorm every day between 1 and 2 p.m.

The moth pictured Tuesday really is a bug, called machaca in Costa Rica. There is an interesting, sexy tale about the bug, too.

Initially identified incorrectly as a moth, this is a peanut-headed bug called machaca in Costa Rica.

Craig Snell left his computer on when he left his home in Ostional. He also left his wallet, passport and credit cards within the dwelling. He left his dog and did not provide any extra food. That was 40 days ago, and he has not been seen during that time.

The Sala IV, in it decree, told the inspectors' office that to investigate a judge they had to investigate his or her performance in the execution of their duties — like do they show up for work on time — but not to meddle with their application of the law.

The question that remains in the air is: Will Internet reporting have the same effects on political corruption and misdeeds as the current paper product? On such a question democracy hangs.

The entire judicial and law enforcement apparatus of the country suffered a black eye early Thursday when armed men, as if on cue, showed up at the judicial building in Golfito and took 320 kilos of confiscated cocaine.

There are two big festivals starting today in the southern zone, and the Municipalidad de Osa will take advantage of the events to sign an agreement with the Museo Nacional to provide more protection for the stone spheres found in the canton.

A development firm said Wednesday it had finished a concept project to advance plans for a 302-hectare adventure theme park near Parrita.

For the third year in a row, the Municipalidad de San José is working with the Catholic Church to observe Semana Santa.

Three tourist sites, including the 17th century church ruins in Ujarrás, have been refurbished and made accessible for the handicapped in a program spearheaded by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo.

One does not have to go far to find beauty in Costa Rica. This roble de sabana tree has blossomed even though it lives in a concrete jungle on a corner where desperate men pile cardboard for recycling each afternoon.

The municipality's first horse parade did not do much for beer companies, but horse lovers had a treat Sunday.

Easter is less than three weeks away, and that means expats will have just this week and next to conduct official business with the government.

President Óscar Arias Sánchez formally announced Wednesday that Costa Rica would resume diplomatic relations with Cuba after a 47-year rupture. Arias made the announcement on the anniversary of the Black Spring crackdown in Cuba six years ago when 55 activists and independent journalists were arrested.

Costa Rica's 911 emergency telephone service has an automatic answering system. That revelation came Tuesday as the flames from a field fire climbed up the wall of a neighbor's home and shot 45 feet into the air.

The transport ministry has started construction of three bike routes. Two are in Puntarenas and one is in Limón.

One big problem with the Costa Rican legal system is notifying the parties to a criminal or civil court action. Hopefully, this difficulty has been solved with the revamping of the judicial notification law. Even the name has been changed to make it easier to understand.

Lawmakers have approved on first reading a change in the law that would give employers an income tax deduction if they give jobs to female heads of households.

The new stadium being donated by the People's Republic of China will cost $83 million, some $10 million more than the original estimate, according to officials who participated in a ceremony marking the start of work.

Casa Presidencial has discovered a great resource right under their collective noses. Costa Rica Multilingüe, a program of the Presidencia, issued a call Wednesday for English-speaking volunteers who want to help adult Costa Ricans learn the language.

Casa Presidencial scheduled a 5:30 p.m. press conference of major importance Wednesday and then canceled it at the last minutes. The Presidencia said that the important event involved another country and that Costa Rica was going to make a joint announcement today. But the news leaked out that the big event is the visit of Joseph R. Biden, the 66-year-old vice president of the United States, at the end of the month.

Two earthquakes hit the southern zone of Costa Rica Wednesday. The first was at 11:24 a.m. The second came at 3:04 p.m. Both were within the 5 to 6 magnitude range.

Fuerza Pública officers have been making spot checks of buses and bus stops mainly on routes that involve Heredia.

Each day A.M. Costa Rica receives letters critical of Costa Rica. The Internet discussion lists are frequently negative, too. So it is with delight that the editors publish this missive from a Canadian couple who not only enjoyed their trip but are able to comment authoritatively on dental tourism.

Residents of beach towns are organizing and plan to present a proposed law to legislators that will trump the existing maritime restrictions.

Sparks from a brush fire ignited the thatched roof of one of Tamarindo's leading restaurants, and the subsequent fire leveled the establishment.

Costa Rica still hopes that a private company builds a new convention center here. The nation's convention proposal suffered a setback when the government of Taiwan scrapped a $25 million planning project as Costa Rica severed diplomatic relations in favor of the People Republic of China in June 2007.

A self-described once-foolish investor has pledged $10,000 to the Luis Enrique Villalobos reward fund. He is Hank Guichelaar of Longview, Texas, who is known to fellow investors are the author of a newsletter on the Villalobos financial crash.

Autopista del Sol will announce today a system of electronic toll collecting that is designed to reduce the wait by motorists at toll booth.

President Óscar Arias Sánchez is scheduled to sign today a law against terrorism and money laundering. The measure has been promoted as a way for the country to stay a member of the Egmont Group, a 20-year-old an informal organization of countries designed to fight money laundering. But the law is much more.

"All the little investors, like me, that only wanted to better their retirement and are not looking to make tons of money, only to have enough to get by on! If he would only return the money of the small investors, people with under 100,000 dollars so we can retire and pay our bills."

Life in Costa Rica today is similar to the circus juggler who has multiple balls up in the air at one time. There is a file cabinet full of unfinished business.

The abuse of Costa Rica's domestic violence laws is touching everyone, even senior expats. One 71-year-old man — who is blind in one eye — was thrown out of a home last week in a theatrical production put on his wife's daughter from another relationship. The man's wife wants the house they once shared.

The tourism institute will donate 120 million colons to keep Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio open. The money, about $214,000, will be used to construct new toilets and a treatment plant at the park.

The Sala IV constitutional court has stripped Cahuita and Puerto Viejo of their status as cities and reaffirmed the principle that no one there could acquire rights in the maritime zone after 1977.

The administrator of the nation's roads paid an amount six times more than it should have for private contractors to clean highway gutters, said the Contraloría de la República Thursday.

As is usual, Costa Rica came in for some criticism when the U.S. State Department released its annual human rights survey of the world.

Observers of the Costa Rican scene have seen another chapter close in the saga of the Brothers Villalobos. Canadian Keith Nash, who is generally credited with being a factor in the downfall of the ponzi scheme, has died at 96, according to a Canadian newspaper.

A critical e-mail by a supporter of Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio lambasted the business community there for inaction. But the message generated support and a renewal of a donation pledge for the endangered park.

The tourism institute will invest $500,000 in promotion to attract tourists to Limón in November for the finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre, a race across the Atlantic by sailboats.

Modern life has pretty well taken the sting out of the old legendary creatures whose main goal was to keep Costa Ricans on the straight and narrow. And the poor ghosts are having self esteem problems.

Heredia's utility company will invests $180 million in a sewage treatment plant and some 500 kilometers (311 miles) of collector lines to services eight of the province's 10 cantons.

It may come as a surprise to animal lovers that the bird with the most representation in recovered examples of pre-Columbian sculpture is not the parrot but the vulture. And that appears to be true throughout the archaeological history of Costa Rica

The good news is that January exports to Canada increased 9.7 percent over the same month in 2008. The bad news is that total January exports from Costa Rica were $600.6 million, a number which represents a 19 percent decline from the same month the year before

The country has put its support behind health tourism. A decree published Wednesday pledges the executive branch to simplify and speed up the process of giving approval to firms involved in this type of tourism.

Havoc and panic stemming from fraud charges against U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford have spread to Latin America, prompting several governments to swing into action. The man at the center of the banking and investment scandal turned up in Virginia Thursday and promptly was served with legal papers showing his assets have been frozen.

New estimates of sea level rise suggest inundations could be worse than anticipated. The report is not good news for Costa Rican coastal dwellers who have been warned by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to expect a maximum sea level rise during the next 100 years of about 1 to 4 inches.

The fake check scammers have moved up the sophistication scale.

Times was when Colombian drug lords and leaders of the paramilitary forces traveled to a recreational area near Santa Ana for vacation. They felt safe and far removed from the daily struggle in their home country.

Within the citizen security initiative passed twice by the legislature this month is a legal change that tightens up Costa Rica's prohibition against human trafficking. For the first time, the legal change covers the trafficking of persons inside the country, noted the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública Monday. Now only trafficking of persons across national borders can be prosecuted.

The executive branch put its weight behind two measures Monday that are designed to strengthen tourism in Costa Rica. The first is a general law of tourism and the second is a measure to promote rural tourism.

The free sexual atmosphere of Costa Rica can have negative consequences when sex tourists and expats inadvertently create offspring and then either turn their backs or leave not knowing what they have done.

PriceSmart in Costa Rica will stop putting shoppers' purchases in plastic bags March 2, the company said.

Some 17 agencies of the government agreed Thursday night to study and create a plan to reduce tax fraud.

The Sala III high criminal court has thrown out a challenge to the flagrancia process for criminals caught in the act or nearly so.

The decline of amphibian populations worldwide has been documented primarily in frogs, but salamander populations also appear to have plummeted, according to a new study in Central America.

The nation's environmental tribunal will turn its attention to the many pineapple fields in the Caribbean and northern zone in its first sweep of the year.

AN EDITORIAL: The paragraph should be changed so that there is no chance the the law will be interpreted to mean retroactivity. Otherwise, at best, there will be a extensive litigation on this point. And who knows how the Sala IV constitutional court will decide.

A period of 15 days is reasonable for the immigration department to issue renewal and replacement residency cards know as cédulas, the Sala IV constitutional court has ruled.

The nation's price regulating agency is blaming the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip for an increase in the local gasoline prices.

Taxi drivers, their competitors and others in the transport industry met for nearly eight hours Wednesday to create what the Presidencia is calling an historic accord.

The Asamblea Legislativa Tuesday passed on first reading the initial citizen security bill, part of a package that contains revisions to the immigration law. The bill that was passed received strong support among lawmakers.

Despite what he calls a tough situation, the chairman of Paragon Properties of Costa Rica, S.A., renewed his promise Monday that he would complete the infrastructure on the company's many projects here.

Dos Pinos, the milk company, is in trouble with environmental inspectors again over discharges from its El Coyol plant.

Here is a great tip for expats to find property with Google Earth when a real estate sales agent provides them with a "catastro" or a plat map of a parcel. Google Earth has come a long way in the last several years. Back in 2005, there was very little high-definition photography available for Costa Rica, but today there is much more and it is very impressive.

Proposals by President Óscar Arias Sánchez to shield the country from effects of a world economic crisis got mixed reviews Union leaders have expressed concern while business executives called the ideas a good start.

The nation's real estate market is grinding to another crisis as developers find they are unable to perform on their promises. In beach towns and in the Central Valley condo buyers gave money to developers as down payments in anticipation that a building would be erected. Now many structures do not exist or stand unfinished, and the buyer's legal problems are just beginning.

President Óscar Arias Sánchez presented his 29-point stimulus and rescue plan to the country Thursday night. The president's proposals depend heavily on borrowing, including a $500 million infusion for the Banco Central. Many of the proposals already have been discussed and some have already been approved. The rescue plan appeared to be an integration of what the administration has been doing for months. There were some new items.

Murders took nearly a 25 percent increase in 2008, according to statistics reported Wednesday by the Judicial investigating Organization. In 2007 there were 349 murders in the country. In 2008 there were 435. That is an increase of 86 murders or 24.6 percent.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told senators Tuesday that although much attention was given to Russia's recent courting of some Latin American countries, he is more concerned about new activities of Iran in the region.

Mardi Gras is coming to Esterillos Oeste. The central Pacific Krewe of Sirena is planning a parade Saturday, Feb. 21, starting at the local plaza at 2 p.m.

Along with other responsibilities, President Barack Obama is assuming control of the decades-long struggle to stop illegal drug shipments into the United States from Latin America and elsewhere.

The country will try to produce biogas to generate electricity as a byproduct of its proposed sewer plant.

Just a month after its country’s fisheries agency passed measures protecting its sailfish and other sport fishing resources, Costa Rica has formed the first national sport fishing federation representing the interests of its anglers and the sport fishing tourism industry.

Now it turns out that most of the world was a big ponzi scheme. The $1 billion dropped with Luis Enrique and Oswaldo Villalobos appears to be peanuts compared with the $50 billion loss attributed to Bernard Madoff.

The nation is assuming nearly $1.5 billion in new debt under plans from the Arias administration.

The tourism institute is creating a new section to inspect and exert control in the country's maritime zone. A new study by the Contraloría General de la República gives the institute eight months to have the inspection system working.

Four municipalities have joined forces to protect the Río Grande de Térraba in the south Pacific coast.

The Sala IV constitutional court has come down strongly on the side of those who want to be creative in the way they dress.

Two unexpected images showed up in a Jan. 8 photograph of traffic on the Próspero Fernández highway. The images reinforce the belief that something is traveling through the skies above Costa Rica.

Many expats would like to travel to the United States with friend to show them around. If their friend goes about the process the right way and can prove true ties to Costa Rica, he or she probably will get a visa. They have a better than 75 percent chance to do so. The expat also should do a bit of homework and ask the friend the right questions to see if they do have what it takes to get a United States visa. The embassy's Web site is a wealth of information regarding the visa process.

King and the U.S. civil rights movement of which he is the most prominent figure are far more than simply the enfranchisement of a minority.

The Sala IV constitutional court has ruled against the Sardinal-Playas del Coco water pipeline.

Unhappy readers seek to censor el Diario extra. Two shocking photos in El Diario Extra have generated a wave of condemnation and calls for newspaper censorship.

There was general dismay when the transport ministry said it would chop down a line of trees along the north side of the old road to Escazú in Sabana Sur. The ministry and the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad said the current two-lane highway would be widened and that the trees would have to go.

Officials abruptly canceled a reinauguration of the Plaza de la Democracia this week in keeping with the national mourning over the Cinchona earthquake. However, work continues on the site in downtown San José.

A flurry of earthquakes Monday night and Tuesday morning signaled the presence of yet another fault in the vicinity of the Volcán Poás, and residents of the area, already reeling from Thursday's 6.2 magnitude shock are nervous.

Peninsula Papagayo has opened Phase I of Marina Papagayo with 180 slips capable of accommodating private crafts ranging from sport fishing boats to mega-yachts, the marina said in a news release.

The preliminary estimate of the damage inflicted by Thursday's earthquake is $100 million, Casa Presidencial said Monday. The death toll rose to 17 with the recovery of three more bodies in the community of Cinchona. And the president declared five days of national mourning through Friday.

The status of freedom in nearby countries is exactly what one would expect. A survey released Monday by Freedom House gave a failing grade to Cuba and so-so evaluations for Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Colombia. Costa Rica continued its top evaluation as a electoral democracy.

Expats are coming to the aid of those who suffered damage in the Thursday earthquake.

What appeared at first to be another routine earthquake has fast become a national emergency. The Cruz Roja said Thursday night that more than 300 persons have been injured and that 15 persons have died. Individuals remain trapped in workplaces, vehicles, buses and hotels, and some will have to be airlifted to safety this morning.

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit north of the Central Valley this afternoon at 1:21 p.m. and set streets and buildings in motion. There were injuries. The quake endured for at least 20 seconds and was followed by a number of aftershocks, some of which were felt.

Those in the business are quick to say the Costa Rican real estate markets to emphasize that there are no universal truths to the current economy.

There may be a little hitch in the government's plan to begin rail service to Heredia in mid-February. The nation's rate-setting agency said Tuesday that the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles, which runs the trains, has not yet applied for approval of fares.

If you thought that Christmas was long past, you are selling short the Catholic culture of Costa Rica. Today is a special day, el Día de los Reyes Magos.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will be opening a regional office in Costa Rica, the U.S. Embassy said Monday.

Many times going to see a lawyer in Costa Rica is like taking a science lesson. Sometimes they tend to make any discussion about the law or a legal matter very complex. They love to write out lengthy descriptions of legal procedures on blackboards or whiteboards.

Individual expats who seek to import goods under the new free trade treaty with the United States and other Central American countries face a bewildering process.

A.M. Costa Rica served up 16.6 million news and advertising pages to 691,986 unique readers in 2008, statistics at the newspaper's Web site show. The readership reflects an 17.6 percent increase over 2007

The 56th time is a charm, according to the Fuerza Pública in San Pedro de Montes de Oca. Finally after 56 arrests last year alone, a man has been put behind bars.

A foreign woman has avoided being expelled from Costa Rica because the Sala IV constitutional court found that a conviction after a traffic accident does not warrant canceling her immigration status.

In 2009 the attention of those expats interested in politics will turn to Costa Rica because national elections are the first Sunday in February 2010. That means the bulk of the campaigning will take place in 2009.

A retired physics professor is creating a network of weather stations connected by Internet to cover all of Costa Rica. The plan is to complement the national meteorological institute’s limited coverage and to aid in disaster planning.

Anyone who goes hungry to the Fiestas de San José better bring money. Although kids rides and some other services are inexpensive, purveyors of food do not seem to have been filled with holiday spirit.

Along the street in the commercial district, shoppers were out in force. The day was Saturday, the second day after Christmas, and the stores promised big sales. Some pedestrians were returning from the Desamparados carnival and changing buses in the center of the cantón.

The Tribunal Ambiental Administrativo reported that it handled 50 percent more cases in 2008 than in 2007.

The classic four-masted bark Sea Cloud sailed into the Port of Limón this week. The 316-foot long windjammer sailed up the coast from Panamá with it's compliment of 30 sails billowing with a 20-knot wind at her stern.

U.S. President George Bush issued a proclamation Dec. 23 to implement the Central American Free Trade Treaty with Costa Rica.

Birds use song systems to communicate about mating and reproduction, territorial boundaries, age and even overall health. Sandra Vehrencamp studies them to decode which elements convey such essential information. With colleagues in the Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, she studies birds in such natural habitats as Costa Rica, Colombia and Bonaire.

The nation's chief prosecutor has interjected himself into the case of a U.S. woman being extradited to face a federal charge of international child abduction.

"When this author arrived with his family 36 years ago, Costa Rica was truly a paradise. It has a good chance to be so again. It will just take time as with all evolution. This writer is dedicated to making a difference with the help of A.M. Costa Rica, and this dedication will continue well past the New Year."

The operator of the Allegro Papagayo was in environmental court Thursday seeking to reduce a claim for some $224,000 by the government because the hotel ran sewage into the Golfo de Papagayo.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev expressed interest in a Nicaraguan proposal to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans with a new canal. The project could include the Río San Juan that runs along Costa Rica's northern border.

Despite the pretensions of peace and tranquility, a hidden war rages in and around Costa Rica. Only infrequently do signs of this battle come to light. Wednesday two separate incidents illustrated the situation. In the Golfo Dulce a presumed drug fastboat turned up adrift with 25 bullet holes in the hull.

Those caught driving drunk New Year's morning will not face the stiffer penalties of the new traffic law. The law was signed by President Óscar Arias Sánchez Wednesday, but it will not take effect until 10 working days after it is published in the La Gaceta official newspaper.

A proposed bill that would change the current immigration laws probably will not see discussion in the legislature until next year.

According to the unreconstructed Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th of December.

Optimistic tourism officials are getting ready to welcome the person they are calling the 2 millionth tourist to the country for 2008.

Eggnog may be the seasonal drink elsewhere, but in Costa Rica the universal lubricant is cane liquor or aguardiente. The government monopoly Fábrica Nacional de Licores, makes the product that is a favorite of many family gatherings, alcoholics and casual tipplers.

Folks who may never live to see their mortgage paid off can still get one, the Sala IV constitutional court has ruled.

Sick youngsters at Costa Rica's famous Hospital Nacional de Niños will be getting a brightly colored early Christmas present from some of the best artists in the country.

Jet Blue Airways, which opened a hub for Latin America in March at Orlando, Florida, said Wednesday it would begin flights to San José March 26.

A team of researchers led by Princeton University scientists has found for the first time that tropical rain forests, a vital part of the Earth's ecosystem, rely on the rare trace element molybdenum to capture the nitrogen fertilizer needed to support their wildly productive growth. Most of the nitrogen that supports the rapid, lush growth of rain forests comes from tiny bacteria that can turn nitrogen in the air into fertilizer in the soil.

Law officers, acting on a U.S. warrant Tuesday, captured a U.S. citizen wanted to face multiple charges of fraud. The man is suspected of being one of nine persons who ran a series of scams from Costa Rica that collected up to $13 million from customers in the United States.

Lawmakers discussing ways to finance protection of witnesses and victims seem to have come to an agreement that a new tax is needed. They will suggest that a tax be imposed on the interest from bonds issued in foreign currencies.

The vacation for public employees will be about 16 days this year, thanks to Christmas and New Year's Day being on Thursdays.

The Museo de Arte Costarricense closed its doors Monday to begin a year-long, 350 million-colon restoration and repair job. The museum is in the former international airline terminal on the east side of Parque la Sabana.

Here is the help one needs for this year's tax season. Most expats hold their Costa Rican assets in a company. Whether it be a sociedad anónima or a sociedad de responsabilidad limitada — also known as an S.R.L. or in Gringo speak an L.L.C. — expats have tax obligations like Costa Ricans. However, most expats use inactive companies to hold the assets, and tax obligations are different for active and inactive companies.

The Arias administration is making moves to change the nation's Constitution because officials think that the current document makes the country ungovernable. Administration officials have not said what they have in mind, but here are some suggestions from the expat point of view.

Many suggestions on what to do about a major tropical problem.

A U.S. woman facing a federal charge of international child abduction said Thursday she is seeking refugee status in Costa Rica. If granted, Costa Rica would decline to extradite her to face the U.S. charge.

The Dutch government is donating a statute of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, the young German girl who hid with her family in a Dutch attic until discovered by Nazis during World War II.

The Arias administration is pushing constitutional reform as a way to change what officials see as the ungovernability of the country.

Banco Nacional, despite full time advertising and promotional employees, likes to surprise its customers. Instead it was the ministry that said Tuesday that the bank will be closing down its automatic teller network at 10 p.m. Friday and every day afterwards until 5 a.m. the next morning.

The minister of the Presidencia said Tuesday that the time has come to put what has been known as the nation's secret police under clear controls.

Investors who lost their money with Savings Unlimited are getting restless because former fugitive Luis �ngel Milanes Tamayo has been free here for more than five months, and their money seems as far away as ever.

San José's 12th annual oxcart parade, known as the entrance of the saints, is nothing to sneeze at, admitted Arturo Arrollo, a 70-year-old oxcart handler, or boyero, from Atenas. The parade, which kicks off Christmas festivities in the capital, is a showcase both for boyeros and their massive oxen. The animals pull delicately painted, brightly colored traditional oxcarts from Paseo Colón to Avenida Segunda, a highway usually occupied by taxis and buses belching black smoke.

The executive branch has placed a new immigration bill on the priority list for the Asamblea Legislativa in the so-called extraordinary session that begins Monday.

The preliminary damage report from more than a week of flooding is in, and the national emergency commission has a preliminary figure of 42.3 billion colons or about $77.3 million.

I was a Pilgrim. I had to wear a squat, black cardboard hat with an ugly buckle in the middle. Thanksgiving stinks, I thought.

In the first environmental case involving projects cited this year along the Pacific, the nation's environmental court says a conservation district is seeking $2,124.509 in damages against Hermosa Vista, a 60-hectare (148-acre) development 15 minutes south of Jacó.

A legislative committee unanimously reported out a new immigration bill that would jack up dramatically the income required by of foreign residents.

The full legislature gave initial approval Tuesday to a rewrite of the nation's traffic laws that contains stronger penalties.

Sunday marks the official start of the Christmas season in San José. The kickoff will be highlighted by the traditional Entrada de Santos y Boyeros, which is a procession of carretas pulled by bueyes with santos aboard.

Costa Ricans in the Caribbean and northern zone are waking up today to the eighth straight day of rain. About 4,000 of them are in shelters because of heavy flooding and rivers running out of their banks.

How to handle employees and their paperwork represent continuing problems for expats. An article on domestic employees produced a great deal of interest. Many persons wrote and said they were not legally registering their employees and did not have workers compensation for them either. Some expats asked if they needed to cover themselves as well. Everyone that wrote still is confused.

The Caribbean coast is taking it on the chin again with rains and flooding spawned by a cold front. Some 32 communities have been affected, and up to 2,100 persons are in shelters, according to the Cruz Roja,

High government officials and police supervisors are dumbfounded that the No. 2 man in the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad is accused of using his position and inside knowledge to advance a long-running check fraud scheme.

Legislators passed for the second and final time Thursday a $15 tax on every air ticket to Costa Rica purchased outside the national borders. The same vote also results in eliminating a 3 percent tourism tax on hotels and other temporary housing vendors.

Amnet, the cable television company, appears ready to surrender its franchise in the Municipalidad de San José rather than put its lines underground.

Those who hope to pass a driving test now have to do so by using a vehicle with a manual transmission. The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte said Wednesday that a decree has been published in the La Gaceta official newspaper prohibiting test-takers from using automatic transmission vehicles.

The Costa Rican economy is expected to surmount lower real estate activity that will last well into 2009, said representatives from a Costa Rican real estate association during a Tuesday conference on the future of Costa Rican real estate.

The decline of some frog species in Costa Rica may be related to pesticides and herbicides. That is suggested by the reports of two recent studies.

Costa Rica hosted 5,383 U.S. students in 2006-2007, a slight drop from the previous year, according to statistics available on the Web site of the Institute for International Education.

The world economy may be dragging, but Costa Rica will soon see an incentive payment of its own, a traditional one. Fast approaching is the time when employers have to come up with the aguinaldos for their workers.

What is just a tropical layover for the president of China has become a defining moment for Costa Rica.

The Asamblea Legislativa approved on first reading Thursday the administration's $15 a head tax on tourists. The measure also would repeal the 3 percent tax on hotel stays and other purchases in tourist-related businesses.

Justice can be a do-it-yourself occupation in Costa Rica. Or at least some situations can illuminate the reluctance of judicial employees to seek justice.

Although a new reading of the play by the Dominical Little Theatre group uses only three microphones and some dramatic lighting for staging, theater group founder Monica Perez said most of the play's bawdy humor remains.

A new draft of the nation's immigration law was accepted as a substitute Tuesday by the legislature's Comisión Permanente de Asuntos de Gobierno y Administración. Olga Marta Corrales Sánchez, the president of the committee, said that the bill is a consensus, and she hoped that the committee would approve the bill, No. 8487, and send it to the full legislature next week.

The Sala IV constitutional court ordered Escazú to clean up its act after residents complained of too many empty lots piled with garbage and producing sewage.

Lawmakers are expected to vote this morning on the last piece of implementing legislation needed to bring the country into compliance with its promises under the Central American Free Trade Treaty.

It's midnight on a Sunday, and there is a guy in a motorcycle helmet pointing a six-inch knife at my boss. I'm standing a few feet away with my mouth wide open, because even though I have walked home late at night through crime-happy neighborhoods in Colombia, Madrid and that infamous gangster rap stronghold in East Bushwick, Brooklyn, I am only just now witnessing for my first honest-to-God stickup.

People are tired of losing money in Costa Rica. They are fed up with flushing it down the toilet due to the mistakes made by the Registro Nacional and other government entities. They are also disgusted with the bulling around they get from administrative offices.

A government commission reported Sunday that there is enough groundwater in Sardinal to allow for continued construction a controversial pipeline. The information was based on studies conducted by the national water company, the environmental ministry and an agency that studies the risks of construction related to the water industry.

The economy was at center stage Thursday as President Óscar Arias Sánchez outlined the executive branch's commitment to lessen as much as possible negative impacts on the country.

For conservatives in Costa Rica's expat community, the future was not looking rosy after Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Tuesday presidential election.

At the end of the U.S. Embassy's election night party, the sound that filled the room was not cheers or wild applause, but the thud of empty wine bottles being dumped into garbage cans. TV wires taped to the floor with grey masking tape were yanked loose. The giant, flat white screen that projected CNN's announcement that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois had become the president-elect of the United States was hauled down and folded away.

Twin sweeps by the environmental watchdogs resulted in 15 development projects being frozen and 18 more under investigation in the Cantón de Osa.

A special tree here helps scientists assess climate change issue.

Some expats reacted with surprise Monday when they learned about a proposed rewrite of the nation's immigration laws that would mean pensionados and rentistas would need to show a lot more financial depth.

The Arias administration has come up with a rewrite of its proposed immigration law that jacks up financial requirements for pensionados to $2,000 a month and for rentistas to $5,000.

The Parque Nacional Tortuguero, a breeding ground for four species of turtle, receives about 75,000 visits from the creatures each year. However, the park lacks the security needed to face threats from poachers and narcotraffickers operating in the area, according to the manager.

A Canadian-Costa Rican family endured five hours at the hands of home invaders who even pulled a gun on the 82-year-old bedridden grandmother.

The director of the judicial police said Friday evening that his agents have detained two men and a female minor in the murder Tuesday of a hotel casino worker and the shooting of her sister and work companion. This is the case of the three women abducted as they left the White House Hotel casino.

The constitutional court has done away with two marriage rules that have caused pain and suffering for hundreds of expats and Costa Ricans. The rules are those that required a three-year wait after a marriage for the couple to obtain a divorce. A second section, also thrown out, required a two-year wait for a couple to get a legal separation.

A legislative commission Wednesday reported out a proposed law that is designed to attack organized crime. A short time later the Poder Judicial announced that the proposal contains all the revisions sought by Francisco Dall'Anese Ruiz, the nation's chief prosecutor.

Violent crime took center stage again Tuesday after bandits attacked three young women in a car in Escazú, killed one and distributed the victims in three different parts of the western metro area.

Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean are on track to grow at an estimated 23 per cent this year, despite the global financial crisis, according to a report released Monday by the United Nations office for the region.

For many, the sweetest sound is the phrase "I love you." But in October in Costa Rica the three little words that caress the ear is "Dry season's coming."

The organization representing the nation's employers Monday demanded the loosening of credit by the Banco Central and the county's other financial institutions and said that 20,000 workers already had lost their jobs.

So many expats make the same mistakes with domestic workers in Costa Rica. Usually their intentions are good. Nevertheless, from the outset of the work relationship most start it off on the wrong foot, giving workers a reason to go to court. Why should they wait to be fired upon by the domestic staff? They should fix the mistakes. It is easy to do.

Of 16 projects inspected by the nation's environmental watchdogs in the Cantón de Osa, 14 have come under investigation.

America does not cut and run. American finishes what it starts, including efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. American does not sit down with second-rate authoritarian dictators. American does not whimper and beg pardon from the world for being great.

"I show up to my appointment late. It's pouring rain as usual, and it's the last day of my period and I am feeling cranky. I visit Eugene Mc Donald, who graciously agreed to give a demonstration at his Escazú office. He's been licensed in Florida, and the walls of his office are covered in framed certificates. He smiles a lot, gives me three business cards and asks me whether I would like some grape juice."

\Real estate here took another hit this week as Forbes, the U.S. publisher of authoritative business magazines, posted an account of Costa Rican property ownership problems.

The minimum wage employers must pay their workers is going up 7 percent Jan. 1, but the increase is much less than employee negotiators sought. Workers sought more than 16 percent.

The nation's chief prosecutor stepped into the open pit gold mine controversy Tuesday and announced he was opening an investigation against President Óscar Arias Sánchez and the environmental minister.

Government enforcers of environmental laws closed down nine construction sites in the Canton de Osa Monday, and inspections elsewhere are scheduled all this week.

The controversial open pit gold mine in northern Costa Rica has suffered a new setback because the Sala IV constitutional court froze work there to determine if the firm would be allowed to cut down trees.

The environment minister will be among those who overfly the Canton de Osa today to draw attention to what they say is damage to the land.

Is the credit crunch putting a crimp in your lifestyle? Help can be found on most any electric pole in San Jose.

The Sala IV constitutional court in a split vote overturned two key elements of a law designed to protect women in a decision released Thursday.

Long time resident Garfield George Wagner a familiar imposing presence in the Gringo bar circuit is gone. "Field," as he was know by his family, was highly visible for years in the San Jose's Downtown scene. Locals will well remember the immaculately groomed, 6-foot, 4-inch, bigger-than-life guy with the perfect tan, big toothy smile and long blond pony tail.

The judiciary's swift justice process whisked three more individuals through court and onto the streets Wednesday. That followed by a day the first conviction of a criminal under the program. He got out of jail, too.

Two separate but significant cases played out in the Costa Rican courts Tuesday. In one case, five persons who had attacked and fatally injured a man who was ransacking a vehicle each got 20 years in prison for aggravated homicide. The second case was the first of the rapid justice officials promised for persons caught red-handed committing a crime.

After three years of wrestling with contractors, some inconveniently placed mangrove trees, and that infamous Tico attitude towards time, the expat-themed radio station Radio Pacifico Sur is making some waves across San Buenaventura. But owner and DJ Stephen Petretti now has a warning for other aspiring Gringo entrepreneurs: the bureaucratic struggles in Costa Rica are not to be underestimated.

Every expat businessman and developer can identify with the nation's president and his brother, who are now complaining about the obstacles confronted by those who would move the nation ahead.

In an effort to make Costa Rican history come alive for the Youtube generation, the Museo Nacional is now featuring dramatic historical tours of the museum's exhibits, hoping that the interactive field trips will complement what students are learning in the classroom.

After four long years of fighting hard in the courts in Costa Rica, an expat saved his property investment. He thought all hope was lost, but in his case justice prevailed. Last week the expat had what was stolen from him returned: A mortgage fraudulently canceled by property thieves and an attorney gone bad.

Costa Rica's Latin American Idol finalist María José Castillo came in second last night at the end of a two-hour, commercial-filled spectacular on Sony Television..

In a Thursday decision that may set a groundbreaking precedent for other cases involving Internet fraud, a court ruled that the Banco Nacional must pay damages to a man after money was stolen from his bank account via the Internet.

Jordanian King Abdullah II begins Oct. 19 a Latin American visit that will include Costa Rica.

Online gambling operations in Costa Rica have been blindsided by the governor of the U.S. State of Kentucky who is trying to seize control of some 140 Internet domains.

The hockey program at the Castillo Country Club emerged in 1997. El Castillo Knights have since gone on to win a tournament in Cuernavaca, Mexico, received praise from Canadian Ambassador Neil Reider and hosted the Vancouver Flying Pirates.

Lawmakers Monday asked the central government to declare an emergency in the Pérez Zeledón and Buenos Aires regions because of the fungus disease orange rust.

The nation's tax collecting agency just made a change in its rules that will mean more paperwork for businesses and individuals.

However, before the performance — a dance originating from the Santaría religion, originally performed by “Caribbean witches,� as Ms. GRACE Fernández put it — she wanted to remind the audience of a little bit of uncomfortable history.

The country is flying high because María José Castillo will be one of two finalists next week on "Latin American Idol," a television reality show based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Higher taxi fares go into effect Thursday if the plans of the price regulating agency are accurate.

Thanks to Costa Rica's lax immigration policies, waves of mortgage brokers, Wall Street hotshots and bankers are even now getting their travel plans together. Dominical is much more inviting than Club Fed. Tamarindo sure beats the local county lock up.

They say there are no guilty persons in prison. That is never truer than in Costa Rica where those convicted of high crimes can appeal to the court of public opinion via Web pages, radio shows and even pocket calendars.

When it comes to ratifying the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the clock keeps running out on Costa Rica. The country got another break Tuesday when its trading partners agreed to reset the clock and approve another extension.

There were no medals from the 2008 Olympics, the last World Cup soccer effort was a disaster, and the Nobel Prize is a bit dusty. But that is all forgotten because the hopes of Costa Rica are hanging on the sweet sound of a 17-year-old Heredia girl. She is a finalist in "Latin American Idol."