Limón National Band Concerts
Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m., Boulevard in front of Edificio Cristal.

Jazz jam session
Jazz Café Trio, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Marley tribute
Reggae band Native Culture & friends pay tribute to the legend, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú.

Children's vacation activities
Today through July 18, Santa Ana Conservation Center , 2256-0012, 2233-6701.

The Education Ministry reversed its decision to close a popular elementary school today after a report showed that the deterioration in the 112-year old building could be easily fixed.

Some 17 columns at  Buenaventura Corrales School  in downtown San José  have corroded, but they can be easily and cheaply repaired, said Roy Acuña, the engineer at the Federated Association of Engineers and Architects.

Education Minister Leonardo Garnier announced last week that he would close the school based on an initial report by the Culture Ministry that showed the columns' deterioration. Parents, students and teachers protested the decision outside the Education Ministry in downtown  San José  Friday.

Repairs could take two to three weeks, Garnier said. Students, who are on vacation until July 18, may have to miss the first week of school, he added. The ministry has not yet calculated the cost of the repairs or decided who will perform them.

Beer drinkers in Costa Rica will have one more bottle to choose from after Guatemala rolls its No. 1 cerveza, Gallo, into the Tico market.

Twist-off bottles of Gallo will be on shelves some time this week, according to a statement from public relations firm Porter Novelli, which represents beer distributor Cervecería Costa Rica.

“Gallo is entering the Costa Rican market to offer our consumers different options from the ones that already exist, always keeping high standards of quality, which characterize the Cervecería Costa Rica portfolio,” Rafael Segovio, Cervecería's marketing manager, said.

It was just another day in Costa Rica: Someone had been burglarized.

But this time, the victim, a U.S. citizen and recent arrival here decided he wanted to do something after having his camera stolen from him last month in Sabana Norte in western San José.

Steve Harrington, owner of a management consulting firm in the United States, decided to conduct a survey to get English-speaking foreigners to detail just how bad they believe the crime problem has become.

“I don't have an axe to grind,” he said. “I just know when I talked to people about how I got hit, there was this huge uproar and rumor mill about all the crimes going on here. I can't tell if it's safe to go to the park at night. Who knows? There's a whole lot of noise and not a lot of facts.”

Harrington, who specializes in data analysis, said his goal is to get the survey formalized by the end of this month with the help of testers. He wants to then leave the survey online for several months to collect data and then give the information away to those interested.

“I want to create a final report and then give away the methodology to use again,” he said.

Questions can be answered anonymously and include sections on crimes committed against participants and what measures communities are taking to defend themselves.

People interested in helping Harrington flesh out his survey can participate at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Dc_2f0joZjdUgjymAhrQOu
Zw_3d_3d. He can also be reached at stevehar11201@gmail.com.