Archive for September, 2006

Excitement in Punta Morales

Saturday, September 30th, 2006

9/29/6
I got an email from Russ yesterday that said “Keep up the good work on the blog.” I think that’s his polite way of telling me that I haven’t posted for a while. I see now that it has been almost a month since my last post.
I have been very busy. I pulled almost all […]

Things look ripe for a new El Niño in Pacific, U.N. forecast says

Friday, September 29th, 2006

Special to A.M. Costa Rica
A weak to moderate El Niño is now likely, persisting into early next year, according to the latest United Nations forecast. The weather pattern periodically disrupts the Pacific area with consequences that can range from increased rainfall and floods in the United States and Peru to drought and brush fires in […]

Citizen Buys Plot Inside San José Municipality Building

Friday, September 29th, 2006

A Costa Rican business owner yesterday took possession of a 150-square-meter lot he recently purchased that is part of the San José Municipality building. Guillermo Sanabria told journalists he is the “new owner” of the lot, which is part of the municipality’s parking lot. He plans to build a new office building on the […]

Police Step in to End Port Protests

Friday, September 29th, 2006

By Blake Schmidt - Tico Times Staff
In the dark of night, the government sent hundreds of National Police to intervene early yesterday morning in a costly slow-motion port worker protest at the nation’s two biggest seaports.
[…]

Immigration in Disarray

Friday, September 29th, 2006

By Katherine Stanley, Tico Times Staff
Foreigners in line at Immigration swap stories about the problem-ridden bureaucracy as if they were war tales. The man who started shaking in fury after losing his long-awaited appointment with officials because he was twice directed to the wrong hour-long line. The people whose papers were lost altogether in the […]

Newsflash: Police Take Over Moín Port

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

More than 250 national police officers took over the Caribbean port of Moín early this morning to put an end to three days of protests by port workers using tortuguismo, or slowing down their productivity to a minimum, to oppose government plans to privatize the port’s management. These protests have cost the government $5 million […]

New highways to start in November, officials say

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The transport minister said Wednesday that construction of the San José-Caldera highway would begin in November at the same time that work begins on reconstructing the San José-San Ramón highway.
The minister is Karla González, and the San José-Caldera route will reduce the travel time from the Central Valley to the […]

Police poised to take over docks at Caribbean ports

Thursday, September 28th, 2006

By Saray Ramírez Vindas
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Police carrying gas masks were in position early today to take over the docks at Limón and Moín on the Caribbean.
Workers there have been engaged in a slowdown and demand that the government promise not to privatize the operations.
Early in the day President Óscar Arias Sánchez said […]

Nemagon payments OK’d by nation’s lawmakers

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asamblea Legislativa voted Tuesday to compensate former banana workers who were injured by their contact with the pesticide Nemagon.
The pesticide, generically dibromocloropropane, can cause sterility and other health problems. It was manufactured by a host of multinational corporations in order to kill a small worm that keeps banana plants […]

Correos de Costa Rica produces vivid reminder of Isla del Coco

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Where can you get a great Costa Rican souvenir for 1,800 colons, a bit more than $3?
The post office, Correos de Costa Rica, is the place. The latest set of stamps to be put on sale honors Parque Nacional Isla del Coco, and it is part of the national parks […]