After installing an extensive network of monitoring stations in Costa Rica, researchers have detected slow slip events (also known as “silent earthquakes”) along a major fault zone beneath the Nicoya Peninsula. These findings are helping scientists understand the full spectrum of motions occurring on the fault and may yield new insights into the events that lead to major earthquakes.
A slow slip event involves the same fault motion as an earthquake, but it happens so slowly that the ground does not shake. It can be detected only with networks of modern instruments that use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to measure precisely the movements of the Earth’s crust over time.
Susan Schwartz, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, leads a team that has installed a permanent network of 13 GPS monitoring stations and 13 seismic stations on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. (more…)
Next week some 3,600 of Costa Rica’s 8,000 inmates will begin the 2009 school course, in which they will be given elementary, high school, university or art classes, the country’s justice minister said Friday.
Viviana Martin said in a communique that “it is very satisfying to see how those deprived of their freedom decide of their own free will to begin studying and use their jail time in such a beneficial way.”
Also to be implemented in 2009 will be the “Eurosocial” program financed by the European Union, through which inmates will receive “artistic training as an alternative to formal education.”
With Eurosocial, “our system is benefited and strengthened, while at the same time we offer the prison population possibilities of education and training that will help them achieve a better quality of life for themselves and their families,” Minister Martin said.
According to official data, in this country there are 26 jails with a total population of 8,000 inmates.
About 75 percent of inmates work or study, according to figures from the Justice Ministry.
Please do tell, are we missing something? According to Bloomberg the price of crude oil fell to the lowest close in the more than seven weeks in New York on concerns of inventories will extend increases as demand drops.
According to Bloomberg the price of crude oil for March delivery fell to us$33.98 a barrel on the New York Stock Exchange, the lowest since December 19 and fifth consecutive daily decline, as oil prices are down 24% this year and 63% from a year ago.
Then, why is it that we are begin asked to pay more for gasoline in Costa Rica?
This morning the country woke up to the first gasoline price hike this year, as the price of a litre of super gasoline jumped ¢16 colones, regular ¢18 and diesel ¢3.
And, to add insult to injury, the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos – regulating authority – is expected to be presented by the state refinery, Recope, a request for another increase of ¢40 colones for a litre of super, ¢30 for regular, however, a drop of ¢11 for diesel fuel will be requested.
Rafael Marquez will not play against Costa Rica on March 28, Mexico’s next World Cup qualifier, and may have to sit out a bit longer as well.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee has opened an investigation against Marquez and his red card against the United States. Marquez might be forced to miss Mexico’s subsequent qualifier, an April 1 date at Honduras.
Carlos Salcido, meanwhile, will also sit out the match against Costa Rica for his yellow card against the United States. Salcido picked up a yellow card for a hard challenge on Jozy Altidore in the waning minutes of the match, moments before Michael Bradley scored his second goal in the United States’ 2-0 victory over Mexico on Wednesday. (more…)
The World Bank has offered to give Costa Rica a us$500 line of credit to face the economic downtown to be used to aid those affected by the international financial crisis.
The vice-president on the international organization, Pamela Coz, met yesterday with Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias and the ministro de Hacienda, Guillermo Zúñiga, at Casa Presidencial to discuss the loan.
Minister Zúñiga said at a press conference yesterday that the repayment terms and interest rates have yet to be negotiated, adding that he is sure it will under “favourable conditions”. (more…)
New Drunk Driving Law Now With Supreme Court Approval.
When Costa Rica’s first drunk driving case went to court this Jan. 22 under the new Transit Law, what was meant to be a victory for the law and the country, turned into a joke as the defendant claimed that the new law was unconstitutional and sent the case to the Supreme Court. Less than a month later, the Supreme Court ruled that the law, which sends drunk drivers to jail or confiscates their cars, is indeed constitutional and still stands.
Transit police had continued to follow the new law while the judgment hung in the air, and all postponed court dates will now be arranged for drunk drivers arrested so far this year. Those who thought they would be getting off easy now must face the full weight of the new law, which is extremely severe compared to the country’s past lack of interest in the sobriety of its drivers.
Supreme Court magistrates ruled that the Transit Law does offer consequences that fit the crime, shooting down the trial lawyer David Hernandez’s claim that it infringes on the principles of proportionality and prejudice. Hernandez tried to claim that those who drive drunk and drive in illegal car races are not harming anyone’s legal rights.
While the argument may seem outrageous, it may very well mirror many sentiments of a culture that has grown up accepting drunk driving due to a lack of enforcement otherwise. The policy had been in the past that driving drunk can only hurt you if you are involved in an accident, and therefore used against you in court. The new law is proactive and will hopefully help to put an end to the mentality that there are no consequences for driving after a night of heavy drinking, and thus end the transit deaths associated with this potentially fatal habit.
The Minister of Transportation Karla Gonzalez noted the severity of the problem of drunk driving and made the Transit Law her priority since she took over the position in 2006. Gonzalez was pleased with the Supreme Court ruling and said “the Court is backing the efforts that we have made to improve the quality of life of so many Costa Ricans”.
Costa Rica and Singapore will begin negotiating a free trade agreement on April 20, the foreign trade ministry announced on Thursday.
The first meeting will be held on April 20-22 in Singapore, the ministry said.
Costa Rica’s trade negotiating panel will have just wrapped up a second round of negotiating on a free trade deal with China on April 14-17.
Foreign Trade Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz said Singapore is “a market that has great possibilities for our industries since it is a country that imports most of its consumer goods and also offers interesting opportunities in the areas of services, innovation and technology.”
Firefighters worked to extinguish flames Wednesday engulfing forest and pastures of the Los Santos Forest Reserve near San Marco de Terrazú, south of San José.
The fire started Tuesday and by Wednesday morning had burned through some 35 hectares. Officials were ready to issue an alert for the canton of Santa María de Dota should the fire spread, the Environment Ministry said.
The hilly terrain and high winds made it difficult to contain the blaze despite efforts by area residents, volunteers and National Forest Fire Commission workers, the ministry said in a press release Wednesday.
National Police were set to fly over the area Wednesday afternoon to assess the damage and begin to investigate what caused the fire.
Action movie star Steven Seagal told Costa Rican President Oscar Arias on Wednesday he wants to help the Central American country build a filmmaking industry to put its dramatic landscapes to use.
Seagal, known for his martial arts roles of the 1980s and ’90s, met Arias in San Jose and offered to use his Hollywood connections to help Costa Rica get started in movie-making.
“Costa Rica has everything — both rain forest and dry climate. What it lacks is an infrastructure to make movies,” Seagal told a news conference. (more…)
The practice of extreme sports in Costa Rica attracts thousands of tourists every year who seek an additional dose of adrenaline.
Thanks to the country’s topography and its variety of landscapes, the opportunities for extreme sports are many: including bungee dumping, rafting, canopy riding, rappelling, windsurfing, diving, mountain biking, kayaking and many more. Whether on land, in the ocean or in the air, visitors can enjoy these outdoor activities all throughout Costa Rica.
According to Costa Rican Tourism Institute Statistics (ICT), while North American tourists are more interested in visiting Pacific coast beaches, Europeans have a preference for extreme sports.
“This is a destination where nature can be enjoyed in comfort, that is, we as a country have kept a balance between the comfort that tourists demand and the ruggedness of ecological and adventure tourism — and that is our strength, which visitors from North America, Europe and the rest of the world want to come and see,” said Tourism Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides.
The 2009 Liberia Civic Festival will offer a wide array of activities, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 5 a.m. with the traditional bombas, or improvised popular poems. Events will go on until Sunday, Feb. 22.
The first day of the festivities, at 7 p.m., the festival’s queen will be crowned, with the coronation ball following at 8 p.m. at the Mario Cañas Ruiz Park featuring the Cédula 5 Band in a show called “A Big Party Night.”
Other cultural activities include presentations by the Sergio Garrido Musical Group and Pastel de Gente, in addition to a traditional parade, horsemen parade (with a special parade for young riders). (more…)
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) assures that it has scrapped its plans for blackouts this summer. The statement came after ICE’s president, Pedro Pablo Quirós, met with the ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo Arias.
“(Blackouts) are only a remote possibility”, said Quirós.
The question of blackouts this summer came after the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) – regulating authority – rejected ICE’s high rate increase, prompting ICE officials to make public their blackout contingency plans.
ICE was seeking a 40% rate hike, while the Aresep approved only a 15% increase, which ICE is appealing. (more…)
Professional freestyle motocross rider Jeremy Lusk died Monday night after receiving a brain injury in a Feb. 7 crash at the X Knights event in San Jose, Costa Rica.Video of the crash shows Lusk completing the initial trick of his run in San Jose’s Saprissa Stadium, but after his launch from a second, smaller ramp, his bike pitched forward while he attempted a landing after a back flip.
His full-face helmet sheared apart on impact with the landing surface and stopped the forward movement of his head as his body flipped over. He had a similar crash in the 2007 X Games but escaped serious injury.
Lusk, 24, was coming off his best season ever: He won a 2008 X Games gold medal in Freestyle and was third in the Freestyle World Championships.
Lusk was rushed to the Calderon Hospital intensive care unit in San Jose, where he was treated for major brain trauma. Doctors there induced a coma to allow swelling of his brain to subside.
His family and friends immediately rushed to Costa Rica on Saturday in hopes of returning Lusk to the U.S. for treatment, but his injuries were too severe. He was pronounced dead at 11:03 p.m. PT Monday.
Freestyle motocross is a spinoff from traditional motocross racing in which riders race around an undulating dirt track.
Freestyle is a judged event in which riders perform tricks on a dirt course with several large launch ramps.
Although injuries are frequent in freestyle, there has never been a fatality in either the X Games or Dew Tour.
“When a professional athlete takes the field of play, whether they’re a bull rider, motocross rider or equestrian, they understand that (death) can happen on any given day to any athlete,” X Games senior vice president Rick Alessandri said.
Alessandri said he was not familiar with the X Knights event but noted that, “Whenever we create an event, the athlete comes first. We look at the quality of the course, the equipment they use and make sure they can do what they intend to do. We always have the best medical help on hand.”
According to the Prayforjeremylusk.blogspot.com website created by his supporters, Lusk died in the presence of his parents, Chuck and Gina Lusk, his wife, Lauren, and her parents.
Mulisha teammates Brian Deegan, Ryan Hagy, Cameron Steele and Erik Apple also were there.
“We know he is performing sick tricks for all those in heaven to crowds greater than we have ever seen,” the website said in a post. “We will miss you Pitbull!”
Funeral arrangements are pending. The Jeremy Lusk Trust Fund has been created through the Athlete Recovery Fund (athleterecoveryfund.com).
Members of the freestyle community are gathering at Oakley headquarters in Foothill Ranch, Calif., tonight for the premier of an action sports film starring Lusk. The event will now be a benefit for the Lusk family.
As many as 40 people a day, most of them women, visit the San José Municipality’s Bolsa de Empleo employment program in search of a new job, according to the program’s coordinator and only employee, Viviana Sánchez.
The Bolsa aims to put employers in touch with qualified employees. These days, however, Sánchez said, a drop in companies’ dem and has made it harder to find a match for would-be workers.
Sánchez said about 170 jobless people sought her help in January alone during the office’s hours of 8 to 11 a.m. Most of them were looking for skilled administrative jobs, she said.
Jeremy Barquero, 25, visited Sánchez’s office Monday, saying he hadn’t found a new job since being let go from HSBC bank in November. “I never thought it would take this long,” he said.
The office is located in the Municipality building on Avenida 10, and can be contacted at 2295-6060 or by e-mail at intermediacionempleo@msj.go.cr.
Motorcyclist Jeremy Lusk remained in intensive care Sunday night after a spectacular accident in the X-Knights competition Saturday in the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa.
Some 22,000 persons watched at the international free style motorcycle competition as one of Lusk’s airborne tricks went awry. Lusk lost control of his motorcycle in the air as he attempted to jump a ramp. The cyclist’s body flipped backwards and he hit the dirt mound becoming unconscious.
The Cruz Roja came to Lusk’s aid, and he went by ambulance to Hospital Calderón Guardia. Doctors are waiting for the swelling in Lusk’s brain to go down, according to the cyclist’s official Web site. (more…)
Enjoy Top 10 Costa Rica for the complete guide on everything you will need to know about Costa Rica, including Real Estate and Investing, Attractions, Traditions, History, Culture, Health, Safety, Hotels, Beaches, Tours, Information, Maps, and Costa Rica's Daily News
Let us know if you would like to share a story about Costa Rica with our readers.
Let us know if you have had a problem in Costa Rica and would like to "Black List" a company that ripped you off.
SEE WHO'S ON THE BLACK LIST HERE
Email us at info@top10costarica.com
Next week some 3,600 of Costa Rica’s 8,000 inmates will begin the 2009 school course, in which they will be given elementary, high school, university or art classes, the country’s justice minister said Friday.
