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Escazú's got the jazz: Mimes were among the more unusual displays at Wednesday night's invites-only extravaganza at the brand new Jazz Café in Escazú, a suburb southwest of San José. Taking after its namesake, the city's premier live music club across town in San Pedro, Escazú's stage was christened on Ash Wednesday by Costa Rican bands Malpaís and Las Tortugas. Read next Friday's Tico Times for a review of the joint. |
Harmony Reforma | Tico Times |
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| Footage shows violence by Costa Rican police |
A police officer hit locksmith Evans Marín three times in the face during a protest Tuesday outside Congress, according to footage from a security camera. |
| See More... |
Costa Rica's soccer coach on hot
seat for national team's no-win situation |
| Costa Rican press would not let the country's national soccer team manager Hernán Medford off easy for leading the club Wednesday to a 10th non-win in Kingston, Jamaica, in what the media is calling the Ticos' “worst run in history.” |
| See More... |
| Drug Control Police fed up with courts |
| Drug Control Police broke up a criminal ring controlling the crack market in barrio Primero de Mayo de Aserrí and part of San Juan de Dios de Desamparados, both west of San José, for the second time in four years. |
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| Nicaragua festival to fill Granada's streets with prose |
| In what has quickly become an international calendar event each February, the Nicaraguan colonial city of Granada next week will again host the IV annual International Poetry Festival, featuring more than 100 invited poets from 51 countries around the world. |
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Plants at a Glance:
Scallions & Chives |
Common name: Scallion / chive
Spanish name: Cebollina / cebollín
Latin name: Allium cepa var. aggregatum / A. schoenoprasum
Family: Liliaceae
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| Footage shows violence by Costa Rican police |
By Gillian Gillers
Tico Times Staff | ggillers@ticotimes.net
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A police officer hit locksmith Evans Marín three times in the face during a protest Tuesday outside Congress, according to footage from a security camera.
Marín was part of a demonstration against the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA), but he separated from the other protestors to film activity on the boulevard outside Congress. Camera footage shows Marín speaking to two police officers, then following them with his video camera.
One officer then turned toward Marín and hit him with his stick, according to footage. As Marín walked away, the officer hit him twice more in the face. Marín, who apparently made no violent move, clutched his face and sunk to the ground. The other protesters and more police officers then entered the scene and fistfights ensued.
Marín told The Tico Times that the fight started with a verbal spat, when the police officer accused him of “clowning around.” He blacked out after being hit, he said, and the Red Cross took him to Calderón Guardia Hospital.
Libertarian Movement Party (ML) legislator Carlos Gutiérrez wrote to President Oscar Arias yesterday, citing the footage and requesting an investigation of the officer. The Libertarian Movement is a rightwing party that supports CAFTA.
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Costa Rica's soccer coach on hot
seat for national team's no-win situation |
Costa Rican press would not let the country's national soccer team manager Hernán Medford off easy for leading the club Wednesday to a 10th non-win in Kingston, Jamaica, in what the media is calling the Ticos' “worst run in history.”
Damning headlines such as “Triumph a Strange Thing for La Sele” (short for La Selección, the national team), “Oy, How Badly We Play!” and “Fatal Oversight Worsens Bad Streak” hit the newsstands yesterday as payback.
Not that the team – also known as the “Tricolor” – is in a losing streak. Wednesday's match ended in a 1-1 draw, a step up perhaps from Costa Rica's prior friendly that resulted in a 0-0 tie last week in Tehran, Iran.
To be fair, Costa Rica nearly reversed its no-win situation against the team affectionately called the “Reggae Boyz.” Substitute William Sunsing put the Ticos ahead in the 78th minute, kicking a loose ball past goalkeeper Donavan Ricketts, Reuters newswire reported. Their luck dried up when Tyrone Marshall scored past Costa Rica's Ricardo González in 88th minute.
“It was a good start to our campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,” Jamaica's Brazilian coach Rene Simones was quoted by Reuters saying.
Medford could not say the same.
“I'm not happy because we played badly and have to accept that, but you take the good with the bad, and defense is our strength,” said Medford in an interview with Costa Rica's Radio Columbia.
“You (journalists) are going to keep dwelling on the bad,” the Tico coach said.
It's tradition for sports journalists here to lay into the team or teammates themselves, but now some are dwelling on Medford. As head of the national team, said TV channel 7's Everardo Herrera, one of the country's best-known sports commentators, “( Medford's) vision and actions are very limited.”
“He's bowed to the veterans, renounced renovation and showed poor methodology,” Herrera said. “He hasn't been able to tell the difference between a team (playing) in Costa Rica and one competing internationally. … Costa Rica proves to be a very poorly structured, fractured, slow team.”
The team “is heading toward the abyss,” he said. “It's time to make decisions.”
In print, Al Día newspaper said Costa Rica didn't “deserve” to win after “playing so badly.”
The daily La República said Jamaica's goal “put things in their place,” and that “ Costa Rica wasn't ableto beat the Jamaicans and didn't deserve to, either, for being so useless.” |
-Tico Times / ACAN-EFE |
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| Drug Control Police fed up with courts |
By Nick Wilkinson
Tico Times Staff | nwilkinson@ticotimes.net |
Drug Control Police broke up a criminal ring controlling the crack market in barrio Primero de Mayo de Aserrí and part of San Juan de Dios de Desamparados, both west of San José, for the second time in four years.
This time, they are hoping the courts keep the arrestees in prison.
During the operation on Feb. 1, police arrested Corrales, alias “Pilo,” the alleged leader of the ring, and three others: Saborío, alias “Cejas,” a woman named Chamorro, alias “Cosita,” Rodríguez, alias “Tyson,” and Parra, who is Corrales' wife.
Corrales had already been arrested in September 2003, convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. But he appealed his conviction, authorities said, and judges granted him his liberty while the appeal was working its way through the system.
Police say Corrales used his freedom to return to the streets and continue controlling his crack empire, this time through the use of surrogates like those arrested during the recent operation.
In a press release, law enforcement authorities made their displeasure with the criminal courts clear.
“Authorities from the Public Security Ministry hope the actions of the antinarcotics agents contribute to returning the neighbors of Primero de Mayo to a peaceful situation and that the detainees won't be freed so quickly as they have on other occasions,” the release states.
Law enforcement officers alleged Corrales controlled the neighborhood with a gang of thugs that terrorized neighborhood opponents.
Police seized 343,000 colones (almost $700), a nine-millimeter pistol, a portable radio, two computers and 60 grams of crack during the raids. |
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| Nicaragua festival to fill Granada's streets with prose |
By Tim Rogers
Nica Times Staff | trogers@ticotimes.net |
In what has quickly become an international calendar event each February, the Nicaraguan colonial city of Granada next week will again host the IV annual International Poetry Festival, featuring more than 100 invited poets from 51 countries around the world.
Celebrated From Feb. 11 to 17, the festival will pay homage to famed Nicaraguan poet Salomón de la Selva with the slogan “poetry is hope.”
The festival, the city's biggest tourism draw of the year, will feature nightly readings held in the various plazas outside the city's colonial churches, which are lit up brilliantly for the event.
The festival will also feature cultural acts, a book and crafts fair and colorful poetic carnival Feb. 14, when hundreds of poets and artists dress up in costume and parade through town, stopping at street corners and churches to recite poetry.
Read today's print or digital edition of The Nica Times, an eight-page publication of The Tico Times, for more on this story. |
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| Plants at a Glance: Scallions & Chives |
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Common name: Scallion / chive
Spanish name: Cebollina / cebollín
Latin name: Allium cepa var. aggregatum / A. schoenoprasum
Family: Liliaceae
Geo-distribution: Scallions or green dividing onions originated in the Near East; settlers from the Old World introduced them to the neotropics. They are found growing in home gardens from low to high elevations in Costa Rica. Chives, a close relative to scallions, are also well distributed.
Botanical Description: The scallion is noted for its long (up to 60 centimeters), green, hollow leaves, typical of the onions, which arise from numerous bulbs in the soil. These bulbs continually divide as new offshoots. There are many varieties of scallions, some with a red or white paper-like skin surrounding the bulbs. The flowers range in color from violet to white. Chives also come in many varieties and can be distinguished by their smaller (30 cm) green leaves and bulbs.
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| Green Onion: Scallions grow best in rich, fertile soil and full sun. Eating fresh scallions is a good way to prevent many health problems. |
Ed Bernhardt | Tico Times |
Medicinal Uses: Scallions and onions, like garlic, have been used for centuries as both food and medicine. Eating fresh scallions is a good way to prevent health problems. They have been proven effective in reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol, and are known to be a strong antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent.
Onion juice has been shown to inhibit numerous harmful microbes and fungi, including Candida albicans. Traditionally, fresh onion juice has been used to treat upper respiratory infections, including pneumonia, coughs, sore throats and bronchitis. Thrush or yeast infections are also treated with onion juice. Recent research demonstrates that onion juice is also beneficial in aiding asthma, arthritis, cancer, circulatory problems, colds, flu, infections, insomnia, liver disease, sinusitis and ulcers.
Preparation: Adding plenty of fresh onion greens to your diet is an excellent way to help prevent health problems. For treating coughs, colds and flu, blend or extract the juice of several scallions, strain, and mix with 15-30 milliliters of honey in a clean glass container. This is an excellent home remedy for treating children, since the honey hides the pungent taste of the onion juice. Dosage: One to six tablespoons per day. You will also find that blending scallions and orange juice together provides a helpful health drink. Fresh onion juice can also be applied orally on the tongue in cases of yeast infection.
Gardening Notes: Scallions and chives are much easier to grow than the bulb onions you buy at the store. Leading agricultural supply stores offer seeds for planting in flats or cups in prepared potting soil. Though the seeds are slow to germinate and grow, once they are well established they can be transplanted to garden beds or containers with rich, fertile soil located in a sunny area. Three months after planting, the onions will begin to produce new offshoots from the mother plant, which can provide a steady supply for replanting.
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