NEWS FLASH!!
(Posted Friday at 7 p.m.)

Prosecutor Fernando Vargas told The Tico Times Friday evening that he had formally requested that incarcerated Dundee Ranch Academy owner Narvin Lichfield be given a six-month preventive prison sentence while investigators continue to gather information and testimony from students.

In the event the judge decides to release Lichfield, Vargas has requested bail at $256,000 and a court order impede Lichfield and his Costa Rican wife Flory Alvarado from leaving the country.

Lichfield, meanwhile, abstained from giving a declaration to the judge this afternoon. The judge is expected to rule on the case tonight around 10 p.m.

The Dundee owner was arrested at 9 p.m. Thursday on charges of detaining children against their will, coercion and attempting to obstruct justice by using his international connections to send kids to the WorldWide Association of Specialty Program’s (WWASP) behavior-modification facility in Jamaica.

The Prosecutor’s Office today received its first formal complaint from a former student, alleging he was subject to physical and emotional abuse at the academy.

WWASP president Ken Kay told The Tico Times Friday afternoon that he did not know of any Dundee students being sent to Jamaica, but said he would look into it.

The Prosecutor’s Office last night confiscated documentation and computers from Dundee Ranch’s administrative offices in the Pacific-slope town of Orotina. Investigators today are continuing to interview the remaining students and gather evidence against Lichfield, Vargas explained.

Vargas said that during Thursday’s intervention several mini-buses full of students attempted to leave the facility, claiming they were "going home." Vargas, however, said he began to suspect that Lichfield was attempting to interfere in the investigation when he realized that none of the children being bused off had plane tickets, luggage or their passports, which were found locked in the Dundee office.

The Child Welfare Office (PANI) has intervened in the matter and is present at the academy, but Dundee staff is still in control of the facility, the Prosecutor said.

Kay sent a communiqué to Dundee parents on Friday, saying: "At this point, with the Director no longer at the facility, we feel the students need to move from Dundee."

Kay told The Tico Times Friday afternoon, however, that Dundee was still open and in "good standing" with WWASP. He said he is going to talk with Lichfield as soon as he can to "sort out the facts and assess the plausibility of continuing business in Costa Rica."

Please see The Tico Times Top Story for more on the Dundee controversy.

More Money for War on Poverty
Costa Rica's poverty-relief agency, the Mixed Social Aid Institute (IMAS), announced this week announced a 45% increase in funding from last to fight the war on poverty, IMAS president Silvia Lara said.
(Click for more)

Pre-Colombian Ruins May Reveal New Civilization
TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) -- Archeologists are puzzled by discovery of the ruins of an apparently unknown civilization in eastern Honduras, experts who visited the zone said Monday.
(Click for more)

May 23

Beauty Dog Show
More than 170 dogs from Guatemala, Peru, Mexico and Costa Rica will compete to win the title of the best breed, best of the best, etc. during the weekend at Fercori exhibit hall.

IV Aerobics Championship
Take all your energy and try to win one of the prizes at the competition, Sat., May 24, 4 p.m., at Planet Mall, registration is at 2 p.m. the same day. Info: 821-6332.

El Nica
A Must see! The story of a Nicaraguan who moved to Costa Rica, performed by César Meléndez, Fri.-Sat., May 23-24, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, Av. Ctrl., Ca. Ctrl. Info: 233-5424.

More Money for War on Poverty
By Fabián Borges
Tico Times Staff

Costa Rica's poverty-relief agency, the Mixed Social Aid Institute (IMAS), announced this week announced a 45% increase in funding from last to fight the war on poverty, IMAS president Silvia Lara said.

During the first three months of this year, Lara reported, IMAS collected $4.5 million from increased tax revenue generated by hotels and money collected from duty-free sales at the airport.

The money will use the new funds to finance poverty-relief and small-business assistance programs, she said.

"Fighting poverty requires more than good intentions, it requires resources," Lara explained. "That's what we have been working on over the last year.

"The additional $1.5 million collected during the first trimester will be used to fund social programs and go toward helping the country's neediest population," she said.

The funds, she said, will be focused on two areas: assisting families living in extreme poverty in parts of the country that have not received much government attention in recent years; and strengthening employment, production and education programs all over the country.

"Jobs and employment opportunities are what people expect from this institution," she said. "The people want jobs, not handouts."

Lara said IMAS will use the funds to help teach the poor new skills, provide access to small-business credit, and offer technical and marking assistance to new business ventures.