Very Special Guests: President Oscar Arias yesterday received some of Costa Rica's special athletes at his home in the western suburb of Rohrmoser yesterday after they returned victorious from the Special Olympics in Shanghai, China.

Using satellite technology, National Police arrested two alleged armed robbers Sunday night after they stole a car and robbed a house in Sabanilla, east of San José, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Jacques Sagot Piano Recital
8 p.m., National Theater, San José, Ave. 2, Calle 3/5.

Speakers' Forum
Talk by clinical psychologist and author Sharon Mijares on “Power Such as the World has Never Known,” the role of women in global transformation, 7-8:30 p.m., Big Mike's, Escazú. Info: 289-6333, 289-6087.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Drivers take note: parts of the Inter-American Highway are blocked because of damage caused by recent landslides and floods. Workers are trying to clear these areas but do not yet know when they will be back to normal, said Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) spokesman Danny Villalobos.

One blocked area begins at kilometer 81 of the northern stretch of the Inter-American Highway near La Colina, between the northwestern coffee towns of San Ramón and Palmares. The road is blocked for about 21 kilometers.

On the southern stretch of the Inter-American Highway in the central Pacific, the road around kilometer 100 near Minas de Esparza, is also closed, as is kilometer 34, known as La Cangreja, on the road to the Southern Zone canton of Pérez Zeledón.

Floods also hit more than 20 communities in the northwestern Guanacaste province Sunday, including the cantons of Nandayure, Hojancha, Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Carrillo, La Cruz and Liberia. Residents whose homes were damaged headed to about 20 temporary shelters set up by the National Emergency Commission (CNE) in Guanacaste, as well as in Santa Ana, west of San José, where floods washed out several homes.

With medals around their necks and beaming smiles on their faces, Costa Rica's 60 young special athletes were welcomed back home Sunday night after their victorious competition last week in the Special Olympics in Shanghai, China.

These young people won 67 medals in various sports. After a long trip home made longer by inclement weather, they got back to Costa Rica at midnight Sunday. A large gathering of supporters holding signs and balloons gathered at Juan Santamaría International Airport, northwest of San José, to cheer for them as they walked out.

President Oscar Arias yesterday invited them to his house in Rohrmoser, west of San José, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

“I never had any doubt that you would win many medals and competitions in China. Every time I saw the news of how well you were doing there, I thought of all the difficulties you have encountered in your lives that allowed you to be the fastest, strongest, bravest in the Olympics,” he told them.

“Every time I feel tired, every time I feel like giving up, I'm going to think of you, my friends... the special athletes, and I'm never going to give in,” he said.

-Tico Times

Using satellite technology, National Police arrested two alleged armed robbers Sunday night after they stole a car and robbed a house in Sabanilla, east of San José, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

A man identified by the last name Mena called the police after he came home to discover two men with guns inside his house. They threatened him and locked him and his family in a bathroom and proceeded to take an SUV, jewelry and a safe.

The SUV, a 2007 Mitsubishi Montero Sport, had an anti-theft satellite device that allowed police to locate it in San Sebastián, south of San José.

National Police intercepted the car in nearby Desamparados and arrested two suspects identified by the last names Castro and Mora, who were carrying 38-caliber guns and wearing bullet-proof vests.

Police did not find any of the stolen items in the car and suspect the alleged robbers deposited them elsewhere. Judicial Investigation Police are looking further into the case.