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Waxing electronic: The Belgian remix-happy, rock-infused electronic band, Soulwax, plays in San José tomorrow at 9 p.m. at the warehouse next to PriceSmart in the southeastern Zapote district. |
Courtesy of Soulwax |
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| Cars may be trapped under massive landslide in N.W. Costa Rica |
| Several vehicles were believed to have been trapped yesterday under a massive landslide on Costa Rica's Inter-American Highway near the exit for Chomes, Puntarenas, which is near the turn-off for the popular north-central mountain reserve of Monteverde, the Red Cross said. |
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| Toll to Escazú to cost 325 colones |
| The drive from San José to the southwestern suburb of Escazú will next year cost a bit more. |
| See More... |
| Tico tourism chief named World Tourism Organization president |
| Costa Rica Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides has been named president of the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, the national tourism association said yesterday in a press release. |
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| Court opens door to in vitro fertilization |
| In vitro fertilization, banned in Costa Rica since 2000, is now legal under limited circumstances. |
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Pink Flags Waved
Among Neighbors |
Here's an ornamental that's a big hit in Costa Rica: pink flag (Mussaenda erythrophylla), which locals refer to as moño de señora, literally “lady's hair bun.” |
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Cars may be trapped under
massive landslide in N.W. Costa Rica |
By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net |
Several vehicles were believed to have been trapped yesterday under a massive landslide on Costa Rica's Inter-American Highway near the exit for Chomes, Puntarenas, which is near the turn-off for the popular north-central mountain reserve of Monteverde, the Red Cross said.
Mud and rocks came falling down from the side of the road at 1:30 p.m., said David Picado, of Red Cross' disaster prevention unit. He said reports to the Red Cross said at least three vehicles were trapped, but the number could not be verified yet as workers raced to dig through the wet rubble.
The highway, a major route from the capital to the Pacific port of Puntarenas and Liberia airport and seaside resorts of the northwestern province of Guanacaste, remained closed by evening yesterday.
Weeklong rains, overflowing rivers and flooding have killed at least three people – two in the central Pacific region and one near the north-central region of Monteverde – and forced some 2,100 residents into 37 shelters across Costa Rica, with increased relief efforts in Guanacaste, the central Pacific towns of Parrita and Quepos and the northern canton of Upala, the National Emergency Commission and Red Cross reported.
About 30 cantons from north to south remained on red alert.
The emergency authorities said to take caution driving, particularly across bridges over rivers that are swelling in the rainstorm.
Analysts at the National Meteorological Institute forecast rains could begin to let up tomorrow. |
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| Toll to Escazú to cost 325 colones |
The drive from San José to the southwestern suburb of Escazú will next year cost a bit more.
New tolls slated for May 2009 will charge cars ¢325 (nearly U.S. $0.60) each way, the daily La Nación reported.
The new toll marks an almost four-fold increase from the current ¢75 ($0.13), meant to finance the construction of the highway to the central Pacific port of Caldera, a much awaited project that began in January.
Demolition of the old toll booths began Wednesday, according to the Public Works and Transport Ministry. |
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Tico tourism chief named World
Tourism Organization president |
Costa Rica Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides has been named president of the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency, the national tourism association said yesterday in a press release.
“This naming puts our country on the world stage, because it's the first time a Costa Rican occupies such an important post, as well as for it being the highest-profile … organization in the world tourism sector,” said a release from the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT).
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, the tourism organization has 160 member-countries with which it aims to encourage the implementation of global tourism ethics, to ensure that travel maximizes positive economic, social and cultural effects and minimizes negative impacts on societies and the environment, according to the organization's Web site. |
-Tico Times |
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| Court opens door to in vitro fertilization |
By Gillian Gillers
Tico Times Staff | ggillers@ticotimes.net |
In vitro fertilization, banned in Costa Rica since 2000, is now legal under limited circumstances.
A court ruled this week that the Social Security System (the Caja), which manages Costa Rica's socialized health care system, must offer in vitro treatment to infertile couples.
Still, the court said couples could fertilize just one egg within each reproductive cycle, and they could not destroy, freeze or discard other embryos. Those restrictions could reduce the chances of pregnancy.
Eduardo Doryan, director of the Caja, has pledged to appeal the ruling.
A group of couples is now suing the state for restricting the treatment, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hold a hearing Oct. 28 to decide whether to bring the case before the Inter-American Human Rights Court in San José. |
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Pink Flags Waved Among Neighbors |
Here's an ornamental that's a big hit in Costa Rica: pink flag (Mussaenda erythrophylla), which locals refer to as moño de señora, literally “lady's hair bun.”
It's interesting how plants are distributed through the country in a “grassroots” way. About 10 years ago, this plant was practically nonexistent in Costa Rica. How it arrived here is hard to say; perhaps nursery owners or even a home gardener introduced it. One thing is sure: Costa Ricans love it.
A member of the Rubiaceae family, mussaenda (pronounced mus-SEEN-da) is a native of Africa, but it has been a world-class ornamental in tropical zones around the world for a long time. Coffee, gardenia and ixora are related to the mussaenda. There are two major varieties, red and pink, and several related species. M. glabra is yellow, while M. philippica is white. These two are still sparse in Costa Rica.
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| Hot Pink Flag: Pink flag, known here as moño de señora, is a popular new ornamental in Costa Rica that's often propagated through stem-cutting gifts among neighbors. |
Ed Bernhardt | Tico Times |
All of these plants have unique leaf structures called sepals that surround inconspicuous little flowers. In other words, what appear to be flowers are actually multicolored leaves. Another plant with the same characteristic is the famous poinsettia.
The small flowers don't produce viable seeds, so the main method of propagation is by stem cuttings. These are planted in cups or pots of prepared potting soil and kept moist in the greenhouse or indoors until they root and sprout new foliage.
This brings us back to how these plants became widely dispersed as popular ornamentals. A strong tradition in Costa Rica is the sharing of plants among neighbors. When neighbors or friends visit, it's common to make a gift of seeds, cuttings or offshoots of plants from the garden. Here, they call these gifts hijos, or “children.”
I remember how my gardener became the first proud owner of a pink flag in our neighborhood. He told me he had acquired the cutting from relatives in San Vito, a mountain town in southern Costa Rica; perhaps the plant originated from the famous Wilson Botanical Garden there. At any rate, it wasn't too long before I and most of my neighbors had handsome pink flags in our gardens.
Of course, you'll find these plants in most nurseries across the country – but remember, you may be able to acquire a cutting from a neighbor. Exchanging plants is a great way to bridge cultural differences and keep a close connection with the neighbors. By the way, it's customary to bring a new plant to your neighbor, too.
Pink flag is a hardy bush with few pest or disease problems. It does well in a wide range of soils, provided it has good drainage. Applications of compost fertilizers and natural foliar sprays help keep them growing strong and blooming well, while occasional pruning keeps the bushes from becoming too tall and gangly.
If you're looking for an ornamental to liven up your garden with a touch of pink, mussaenda may be the answer.
For more on tropical home gardening, visit www.thenewdawncenter.info or e-mail Ed at thenewdawncenter@yahoo.com.
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