2009 Jacó Arts Festival
Concerts, photography, painting and sculpture exhibits, crafts fair, theater, circus, parades and more, through Sunday, Recreational and Ecological Park, Avenida Pastor Díaz, Jacó, Puntarenas.

Orange Fair
Feria de la Naranja, through Sunday, Tabarcia de Mora, 9 km East of Santiago de Puriscal to Tabarcia Entrance, then another 5 km.

Fusión Latina Un Rojo in concert
Reggae, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Plaza del Farolito, Barrio Escalante, 2257-2919.

Son de Tikizia
Salsa, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Peregrino Gris in concert
Celtic music, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Costa Rica International Blues Festival
With Guitar Shorty and Sonny boy Terry and Little Ray Ybarra (Houston, Texas), Robbie Clark and Live Wire (Austin, Texas), The Road Dogs (San Diego, California) and a host more, El Club Cubano, Guachipelín, Escazú, tickets at Mac's American Bar, 2231-3145, Mora Books, 8388-8385, Hotel 1429, 2225-3752, Rock and Roll Bar & Grill, 2282-9613, Bansbach, 2522-7600, www.crbluesfest.com.

‘Canto para hermanos' earthquake fundraiser
Featuring musicians Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, Adrián Goizueta, Humberto Vargas, María Petriz, Feb. 7, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar, Avenida 2, Calle Central/2, 2257-6005.

Tihany Spectacular
Las Vegas-style circus, dance show, 4 p.m., Zapote bull-ring, www.todoticketcr.com.

Photo exhibit by Frank Kainrath
Wine and bocas at opening 6-8 p.m., Hotel Alta, old road between Escazú and Santa Ana, 2249-2481.

Barroque concert
By Syntagma Musicum, 7 p.m., National Theater Foyer.

Costa Rica X Knights Freestyle
Motorcycle exhibition, 7 p.m., Ricardo Saprissa Stadium, Tibás, tickets at Banco Nacional branches, 2211-2000.

Chocolate in concert
Cuban salsa, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Las Tortugas in concert
Classic rock, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Heredia Band in concert
Performing works by Frank Sinatra, Naohiro Iwai, Robert Longfield, and James Barnes among others, Feb. 8, 10 a.m., Heredia Central Park.

Auditions for Netzer Retoño Choir
Performing songs in Spanish, English and Hebrew, 1-3 p.m., Barrio María Auxiliadora, 25 m north of UNA Topography School, Heredia. Info: 2260-9119, 8816-5090, 8371-9373.

Allan Guzmán in concert
10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Some 240 people took refuge in schools, churches and community halls Thursday after overflowing rivers flooded some 15 villages in the Caribbean province of Limón and the Caribbean slope canton of Sarapiquí in Heredia province, which killed a policeman during a rescue effort.

On Wednesday, National Police officer Juan Rafael Castillo, 61, drowned in the Siquirres River while trying to rescue nine people, including five children, trapped by the river's rising water on the Puente Negro bridge, according to the Red Cross.

Rains and 90-kilometer winds slammed the regions this week, obliging CNE to issue a yellow alert, a mid-level precautionary warning.

Road authorities closed National Route 126 at Cartagos-Vara Blanca to cleanup landslides and road damage, the National Roadway Council said Thursday. The route is expected to stay closed until Monday.

The commission also declared a green alert, the lowest level, for Northern Zone cantons of San Carlos, Los Chiles, Upala and Guatuso, also affected by the rain.

A total of eight rivers spilled over their banks, according to the Red Cross, such as the Casa Amarilla and La Estrella rivers in Valle de la Estrella, the Quen and Telire rivers in Sixaola, the Chirripó near National Route 32 in Matina, and the Reventazón, Pacuare and Banano rivers.

Heavy winds also left many residents in the Central Valley without electricity.

After months of construction, the new JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa drew a notable crowd Wednesday, including President Oscar Arias, for its official opening.

The new hotel, at the Hacienda Pinilla Beach Resort in the northwest Guanacaste province, is the 40th JW Marriott property worldwide. JWs are fashioned and furnished to be a cut above traditional Marriotts.

Grupo Poma's Real Hotels & Resorts Division will operate the new Guanacaste lodging, which consists of 310 rooms, 20 of them junior suites, one presidential, and a 25,000-square foot pool, a spa, four restaurants, two bars and executive meeting rooms.

In addition to President Arias, more than 100 guests attended Wednesday's ribbon-cutting event, including U.S. Ambassador Peter Cianchette.

Speaking at the inauguration, Arias connected Costa Rica's effort to overcome the global crisis with the hotel's founder, saying, “Costa Rica is a small country, but it has the right to dream big, the same right that John Willard Marriott had more than 80 years ago.”

The province of Puntarenas celebrated the addition of two high-tech police boats, each worth ¢17 million ($30,900), to its police force Monday. The boats will navigate the rivers and canals of the Nicoya Peninsula and Gulf of Nicoya, stops along international drug trafficking and illegal immigration routes.

The new boats are outfitted with GPS navigation equipment, a computerized motor, as well as a loudspeaker system to communicate with boats under investigation.

The craft given to Puntarenas are two of five planned to be put into use around the country. The other three boats will navigate the rivers and channels of Los Chiles and Sarapiquí, in the north-central region of the country, and Tortuguero and Limón, on the Caribbean.

Nineteen National Police officials received the qualification to pilot the boats after graduating from a 90-hour intensive course, where they learned basic boat maintenance and tide reading, among other skills.

The acquisition of the boats comes as part of the National Police's

“Oleaje de Pacífico” (Pacific swell) operation, which was launched Jan. 14. Prior to that, the Coast Guard carried out such waterway patrols.