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Costa Rican Wins Central American Surf Championship
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
More than 100 surfers from Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Costa Rica took to the waves this weekend at the first Central American Surf Championship at Playa Esterillos, on the central Pacific coast, and the home team captured the winning medal Saturday.
In the Open division, Costa Rica's Federico Pilurzu used his consistently solid technique to win first place, while fellow Costa Rican Lisbeth Vindas captured the medal in the Women's division and Costa Rican Jason Torres, 18, won the Junior division, according to a statement from the Costa Rican Surf Federation.
On a national level, Costa Rica racked up the most points from its surfers' wins, followed by Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama.
Torres, who also placed second in the Open division, told The Tico Times mid-competition that he felt he was “giving it my best” out in Esterillos' characteristically strong waves.
Torres, who won the Pan-American Surf Games in Peru in January, said he began surfing with friends in the central Pacific beach town of Jacó, where he is from.
“I started surfing at first as a hobby, but then I realized it is also a lifestyle,” Torres said. In October, he will travel to Huntington Beach, California to compete in the Junior division of the World Surf Championship.
About 100 spectators stood on the beach's sunny shore to cheer on the surfers, and Max Energy drink offered promotions throughout the event. This first-ever regional surf championship was held in front of Hotel Monterrey del Mar.
U.S. Citizen Accused of Fraud Arrested
Costa Rican police Friday arrested a U.S. citizen identified by the name MacArthur Russell Graham, 41, who is accused of being involved in a $20-million real estate fraud operation in the state of Florida.
Graham was arrested at a hotel in Playa Herradura, on the central Pacific coast, after police raided his room and seized $2 million in $20 bills, a nine-caliber pistol and marijuana.
U.S. police had been searching for Graham all over the world since September 2005, the same month he arrived to Costa Rica, according to the daily La Nación. Here, he used several fake identities and traveled around the country, the daily reported.
Graham is suspected of working with his two brothers, who were arrested by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a few weeks ago, to carry out fraudulent real estate sales in Florida.
Graham was taken to San José, where he remains under police custody and faces extradition to the United States.
Tico Times and ACAN-EFE
Project Promotes Organic Food In Schools
Kids and their parents in three Costa Rican schools are learning about healthy eating and organic foods thanks to the Sustainable Schools Project launched by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in conjunction with the National Organic Agriculture Program (PNAO) and the National Consumer Council (CNC), according to a statement from FAO.
The project is under way at Ildefonso Camacho School, in Aserrí, a mountain town south of San José; República de Haití, in San José, and Instituto Educativo Moderno, in Tres Rios, east of San José. These schools were chosen for their varied urban and rural locations, the statement said.
Children and their parents at these schools will be able to attend organic farmers' markets, video forums and exhibitions and work in organic gardens.
The one-year project's goals are to educate communities about organic agriculture while supporting farmers, opening up new markets and introducing organic foods to school cafeterias, the statement said.
“Although the Education Ministry has declared it will place importance on nutrition, schools have a low food budget, which means nutrition is lacking,” the statement said.
After the project's first year, it will likely be expanded to more schools, and other public and private institutions may also be invited to participate.
-Tico Times
Fuel Prices Increase for 6th Time This Year
Costa Rican gas consumers began paying an average 3% more for gas Saturday, the 6 th hike in gas prices so far this year, according to the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).
This increase brings the price of one liter of super gasoline from $1.08 to $1.12, while regular gas will increase from $1.04 to $1.07. Diesel will maintain its price of $0.74 per liter.
This increase comes just 11 days after the previous one and marks an average 35% increase in gas prices this year.
The National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) attributes gas price increases to escalating crude oil prices on the international market.
-ACAN-EFE
McConaughey Gets Down in C.R.
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Confirming his status as one of Star Watch’s most talked-about stars, actor Matthew McConaughey surfed, rafted, sang and danced his way through a Costa Rican vacation late last month. The curly-haired Texan told a reporter upon his arrival that he wanted privacy, but his exploits made headlines throughout his stay – first on the Caribbean coast near the beach town of Puerto Viejo, then during a river trip on the Pacuare (documented by a photographer from the daily La Nación), and then in Santa Teresa de Malpaís on the southern Nicoya Peninsula. Mending a broken heart after his breakup with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz? Not by the looks of things. Wendy Angulo, owner of the Mar Azul bar in Malpaís, said McConaughey dropped by June 30 at 9 p.m. and danced the night away until 2:30 or 3 a.m., taking to the dance floor with the friends traveling with him as well as women in the bar, more than happy to take People magazine’s 2005 Sexiest Man Alive for a spin.
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McConaughey |
• Sometimes celebrity news here is as much about who’s rumored to be in Costa Rica, but isn’t, as it is about who actually makes the scene. McConaughey was incorrectly rumored to be on vacation here in January, and the same appears to have happened last week with Australian Oscar winner Nicole Kidman. Though Radio Dos reported Kidman, married June 25 to country singer Keith Urban, was headed here for her honeymoon, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reports they spent their post-nuptial days at the St. Regis resort on Bora Bora.
Maybe the star of “The Hours” and “Moulin Rouge” didn’t fancy a run-in with President Oscar Arias, who has publicly declared his admiration for Kidman on various occasions. Local dailies didn’t hesitate to rib Arias on the actress’s marriage; Al Día’s headline read, “¡Se le fue al Presidente!” (roughly translated, “She got away from the President!”).
• Some stars of Costa Rica’s political scene were on display at a U.S. Embassy lunch July 3 to celebrate Independence Day. Second Vice-President Kevin Casas and Foreign Relations Minister Bruno Stagno were among the leaders, from Cabinet members to legislators, who shared a menu including Tex-Mex favorites – perhaps in honor of U.S. Ambassador Mark Langdale, who, like his friend and Commander in Chief, hails from Texas – along with red and white wine. Guests were subject to tight security, correspondent Amanda Roberson told Star Watch.
• The return of the National Soccer Team from the World Cup in Germany – empty-handed, except for two goals against host and eventual semifinalist Germany by star forward Paulo César Wanchope – brought some famous faces to Juan Santamaría International Airport June 21. Former Miss Costa Rica Nancy Soto waited for her boyfriend, Alvaro Saborío, though, according to Al Día, the star player walked right by her, perhaps because of the angry reception some disappointed fans gave the team (TT, June 23).
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