Book fair
Books and cultural shows, through Sunday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Avenida 4 and Central Park.

Shery in concert
Pop singer songwriter, 9 p.m., Latino Rock Café, Barrio La California, 8360-0342, 2235-1045.

Gigi Mercado exhibit
“Bailamos,” oils, opens today and runs through Dec. 19, Sophia Wanamaker Gallery, CCCN, 2207-7554.

‘Techtonic' night in Escazú
Electronic music, part of Mundo Loco music series, Jazz Café, Escazú, 10 p.m., info: 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Jazz jam session
10 p.m., Jazz Café, San José, info: 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

The family of Víctor Arroyo, who was killed in a car crash last month, pressed charges of manslaughter yesterday against the Costa Rican lawmaker who allegedly drove under the influence when he ran into Arroyo.

The suit calls for a payment of $135,000 for damages and emotional distress caused to the family.

Marlen Arroyo, mother of 25-year-old Victor, told reporters she's waiting for Libertarian Movement Party legislator Ovidio Agüero to “pay for what he did.”

Agüero on Nov. 11 renounced his congressional immunity, nine days after hitting Arroyo, who was cycling in the Caribbean province of Limón.

Transit authorities said a Breathalyzer test put Agüero over the drinking limit, coming up at 1.39 grams of alcohol per liter of blood, over the legal limit of 0.49.

The incident occurred just as legislators debated stricter reforms to the Costa Rican Transit Law, including a harder clamp-down on drunken driving.

Park guards Isla del Coco, Costa Rica's famed island and marina national park, are now better equipped to deter illegal fishing in the protected waters.

The Friends of Coco's Island Foundation (FAICO) and Wal-Mart Centroamérica yesterday donated a new 25-foot patrol boat to the guard station located on the island.

The boat, brought down from the United States, is equipped with two 250-horsepower Yamaha motors, 32-mile radar capability, satellite navigation, a shortwave radio and other features, according to a press release from Wal-Mart.

Valued at 30 million colones (about $54,500), the boat was purchased thanks in part to a fundraising campaign launched at Wal-Mart stores Más x Menos, Hípermas, Palí and Maxi Bodega.

The Isla del Coco and national marine park, including the biologically rich waters surrounding the island, lies 365 miles off Costa Rica's Pacific coast. Though few Costa Ricans make the three-day journey to visit the island, it is a source of national pride and was been nominated as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

However, a lack of funding has left park guards often unable to fight off fishing boats from poaching in the park's waters.

In July, when MarViva I, a patrol boat belonging to the ocean conservation organization MarViva, was taken out of service for repairs and the park guards' sole patrol boat, Cocos Patrol, went down with an electrical short, at least 10 commercial fishing boats took advantage of the lull in protection to lay their lines and nets within the park's boundaries (TT, Aug 8).

The new boat, called FAICO II, joins both MarViva I and Cocos Patrol – now operational thanks to 12 million colones (nearly $22,000) in electrical repairs paid for by the foundation – which are back to patrolling the island.

FAICO II will also be used for research and ecotourism.

After days of record rain, the Caribbean is highly vulnerable to dengue and other diseases, health authorities say.

People wading in flooded areas risk contracting leptospirosis, a bacterial disease caused by contact with animal urine. Limón is also the province most susceptible to dengue, a viral disease carried by mosquitoes that lay eggs in pools of rainwater.

“As soon as the water recedes, we will begin to see the full problem in Limón,” said Health Minister María Luisa Avila.

Leptospirosis and dengue have similar symptoms, including high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dengue hemorrhagic fever, a more series form of the disease, can be fatal. While leptospirosis should be treated with antibiotics, there is no medication for dengue. Those infected should rest and drink fluids.

Health officials are now advising people to wear rubber boots to protect cuts from exposure to contaminated water. People should also treat or boil their water before drinking it, said María Ethel Trejos, who works at the ministry.

The Pan American Health Organization (OPS) is seeking a $45,000 donation from a foreign government to help control and prevent disease in Limón, said Andrés Calvo at OPS. He said there is a “high probabil ity ” that the money will come through.

The Health Ministry, the OPS and the National Water and Sewer System (AyA) will decide how to spend the funds. The money could pay for testing drinking water, buying hydration powder for residents, or buying the chemical Abate to kill mosquito larvae, Calvo said.