18th Orchid Expo
Organized by the Alajuela Orchidology Association, through Sunday, Iglesia del Llano, 100 m south, 200 m east of Morera Soto Stadium, Alajuela. Info: 2261-7524.

‘Orfeo y Eurídice, el destierro de la serpiente'
Musical, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, CENAC, avenidas 3 and 5 with calles 11 and 15, info: 2221-2154. 

Día de la Mascarada celebration
10 a.m., Parque Alberto Manuel Brenes, San Ramón, Alajuela.

Reiki open house
Alternative therapy, 5-7 p.m., Casa AMES, Los Yoses, info: 2224-3678.

Halloween at White House Hotel
Haunted house, through Nov. 1, 6-11 p.m.; Halloween party, Texas hold ‘em tournament, Friday, 8 p.m., White House Hotel, San Antonio, Escazú, 600 m south of cemetery, info: 2288-6362, www.whitehousecostarica.com.

Theatre Group Halloween
The Little Theatre Group enacts “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” 1959 Ed Wood movie about aliens, in English, with Halloween party and costume contest, Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Laurence Olivier Theater, next to Sala Garbo, Avenida 2 Calle 28.

Hermosa Halloween
10 p.m., the Backyard Bar, Playa Hermosa, south of Jacó, Puntarenas.

Consorcio in concert
Ballads, 7:30 p.m., Costa Rica Marriott Hotel, San Antonio de Belén; Saturday, 8 p.m., Salón Los Lagos, Grecia, tickets at www.todoticketcr.com.

Baritone Arturo Chacón in concert
Classical, Friday through Sunday, 8 p.m., Teatro Montes de Oca, Edificio Saprissa, opposite Carlos Monge Library, UCR, San Pedro.

Cardamomo and Kingo Lovers in concert
Middle Eastern, reggae, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Malpaís in concert
Costa Rican trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Transformers toy convention
Organized by Children's Museum and TicoBot association, with remote control car races, face painting, LEGO building contests, Transformer sales, Saturday and Sunday, Children's Museum, end of Calle 4, info: 2258-4929.

Caramba circus
10 a.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante, info: 2257-2919.

Four-hand piano concert
By Caggiano Duo, 6 p.m., Etapa Básica, UCR Palmares, Alajuela.

Angelicus Chorale in concert
With Paraíso Orchestra performing Requiem by Costa Rican Composer Berny Siles, 8 p.m., Basílica, Cartago; Vivaldi's Magnificat, Sunday, 7 p.m., Paraíso Church.

The Blind Pig Blues Band in concert
9:30 p.m., Mac's American Bar, 50 m east of Contraloría, Sabana Sur, info: 2228-8473.

Las Tortugas in concert
Classic rock, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Swing en 4 in conert
Jazz, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Jacó Halloween Masquerade Ball
Music by Washington, D.C., funk band Midnight Spaghetti, haunted house, 10 p.m., Doce Lunas Hotel, Jacó, info: 2643-2211, www.docelunas.com.

Beach tennis practice
Demonstration and practice session, 9 a.m.-noon, La Sabana Park, volleyball courts.

Historias Cabécares”
Puppet show, through Nov. 2, Sun., 11 a.m., Eugene O'Neill Theater, CCCN, Los Yoses.

Movement therapy workshop
9 a.m.-1 p.m., Casa AMES, Los Yoses, 300 m. Sur, 100 m. west and 75 m. north of Automercado. Info: 2203-4759.

Angelicus Chorale in concert
Vivaldi's Magnificat, Sunday, 7 p.m., Paraíso Church.

9th International Baroque Music Festival
Santa Ana Church, 11 a.m., EMAI groups, Música Antigua, Sax Quartet, children's and youth orchestras, band and marimba, performing works by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Handel, C.P. Bach, Clarke, Telemann, Pachelbel, Fray Esteban Ponce de León.

Piedades de Santa Ana Church, 6 p.m., Camino Octet and Voices of the Caracas Metropolitan Cathedral, performing works by Manuel de Sumaya and José Angel Lamas.

Haury in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

U.S. agents and Costa Rican police yesterday raided Red Sea/Sentry Global offices in downtown San José, seizing documents in an investigation of a $100 million U.S. fraud scheme, according to wire reports.

The raided offices house branches for the firms Red Sea Management, Sentry Global Trust, Sentry Global Securities and Global Financial Logistics, AFP news agency reported.

The raid is in connection with an FBI sting in New York that led to the arrest of Jonathan R. Curshen, who is the Caribbean island St. Kitts and Nevis' honorary consul to Costa Rica, on fraud allegations in September.

Poverty and unemployment increased in 2008, as the economy slowed and incomes failed to keep up with inflation.

The percentage of households below the poverty line increased to 17.7 percent in July from 16.7 percent the previous year, according to a study released yesterday by the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC).

The study, based on queries of nearly 15,000 households nationwide, shows that about 95,000 more people are below the poverty line in 2008 than last year.

Unemployment also increased to 4.9 percent from 4.6 percent, and extreme poverty increased to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent. Still, poverty and unemployment were at their second-lowest point since 1995.

A household was labeled as “extremely poor” if its income was less than $56 per person per month, the cost of about 42 basic food products. A household was “poor” if its income was less than $122 per person per month, the cost of the food basket plus such necessities as housing, clothing, education and health care.

Víctor Hugo Céspedes, vice president of INEC's board, said he had expected poverty rates to be higher in response to a mere 3.3 percent growth in GDP expected for 2008.

But strong growth in income and employment in 2007 provided a cushion to soften this year's bad economic news.

Still, poverty and unemployment may increase further once this cushion wears down, he said.

The size of the employed workforce grew 1.7 percent in a 12-month period ending in July, down from 5.2 percent the previous year. And real income grew 1.7 percent in the year ending July 2008, down from 14.1 percent the previous year.

Meanwhile, growth in the hotel, restaurant and financial sectors shrank and construction stagnated. The trend could be evidence that the global financial crisis began hitting Costa Rica as early as July, Céspedes said.

Two gunmen shot and killed a woman this week execution-style and critically injured her sister and another woman after the assailants kidnapped the three, all dealers at the White House Hotel's casino.

According to an account in the daily Al Día, the two men were waiting outside of the casino, in San Antonio de Escazú, west of San José, when the three got off work and into Arelis Marín's car just after 1 a.m. After following the car for 200 meters, the men shot at the women's car, forcing them to stop and get into their car.

For the next hour, the two men held the women hostage, taking them on a 50-kilometer tour of the area east and north of San José. They left Escazú and went to an ATM, where they forced Peraza to take out $200 from a bank account, and then took the women to a hotel room.

After leaving the hotel, the men drove around to three different locales, where they made one of the women get out and kneel on the ground. They then shot each point-blank.

They first drove to an empty street in San Antonio de Belén, where they forced Yerlin Marín, 24, out of the car and shot her twice in the head. She died at the site.

The men then drove to San Francisco de Heredia where they shot Peraza in the cheek and chest. At a third location, Arelis Marín suffered shots to the neck and rear. The two survived and are in stable condition, although Peraza lost the use of her right eye. Arelis has checked out of the hospital.

Peraza and Arelis Marín reportedly told police the men tried to rape them.

White House business director Ernesto Solorzano told The Tico Times the establishment is committed to supporting the families involved, saying, “We will collaborate … until whatever end of time needs to happen (to bring the matter to rest).” He also noted that the hotel has beefed up its guards and installed more security cameras.

“(An attack) can happen here; it can happen anywhere. It has happened,” he said.

Police say the two men are suspects in three double murders between June 19 and Aug. 20 in Tibás, Pavas and Alajuelita, reported the daily La Nación. One suspect is believed to be in his 40s, and the other, between 20 and 30 years old. The two were driving a white Nissan Sentra B-13 the night of the murder.

The White House Hotel, a popular spot for expats and foreign tourist, is offering a reward of $12,500 for information leading to an arrest. Witnesses can call the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) at 800-8000-645.

A Costa Rican court has struck down the contentious three-year minimum rule for married couples before they can file for divorce.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the clause is unconstitutional “for violating the principle of a person's autonomy,” according to a court press release.

Sala IV erased the part of Article 48 of the Family Code that says “you must not request (divorce) except after three years of marriage,” the press release said.

Ruling on the case brought by Mariano Castillo, the court also struck down Article 60, which bound couples for two years before they could legally seek separation.