Book fair
Books and cultural activities, Oct. 27-30, Paraninfo, UNED, road to Sabanilla.

2009 AASCA Coed Basketball Tournament
Eight schools from four Central American countries, through Oct. 27, Marian Baker School, San Ramón de Tres Ríos, 2273-0024, bheigold@mbs.ed.cr.

Garden Club of Heredia conference
Oct. 27, 7 p.m., Casa de la Cultura Alfredo González, Heredia, north side of main church.

Tango Essence”
Argentine tango show, Oct. 27-28, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar, www.mundoticket.com.

By Chrissie Long
Tico Times Staff | clong@ticotimes.net

Four days after a bridge gave way killing five people, the head of Costa Rica's Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) submitted her resignation Monday.

In a three-page speech, Karla González said, “I am moved by a deep sadness and sense of compassion for the families and communities who had to be apart from their loved ones this weekend. I cannot say anything more to soothe them in their feelings of pain.

“Moreover, I sympathize with their feelings of anger against the state and against the Public Works and Transport Ministry that failed them…. It's in respect to this feeling that I present my resignation as a representative of the ministry, the state and a system that failed them.”

Her resignation came as a shock to President Oscar Arias who backed González against calls for her to step down.

“For many years, MOPT never had the resources to improve our infrastructure,” Arias said. “But this government has quintupled (spending). We have done in three and a half years what was not done in 30. Without a doubt, we have to accept that resources are not sufficient to attend to all our needs in roads, bridges and airports.”

But documents circulated over the weekend that proved MOPT did have the money allocated to replace the bridge over Río Tárcoles, but never acted on it.

“The expropriations are not an excuse. Everything, absolutely everything was ready for bidding and financing the work,” said Marvin Rojas, a legislator with the Citizen Action Party, in a statement.

The accident happened at 6:25 a.m. Thursday, when one of the cables of a wooden suspension bridge snapped under the weight of a full school bus. The bus, which was traveling from Turrubares to Orotina, fell six meters into the water.

Without much more than a kiss hello, the rainy season is on its way out.

The transition to the dry season has begun on schedule this week, despite previous predictions of an early end to Costa Rica's unusually dry rainy season, according to the National Meteorology Institute (IMN). Meteorologists project that the duration of the changeover period will be “normal” in the Central Valley and on the Pacific side.

The dry season will begin between Nov. 7-11 in the northern Pacific, between Nov. 12-16 in the Central Valley, between Dec. 12-16 in the central Pacific and between Jan. 1-5 in the Southern Pacific.

On the Caribbean coast, the IMN forecasts 10 to 20 percent more rain than normal for the months of November and December.

October data has yet to be calculated, but earlier predictions indicated a drier-than-average October in the Central Valley and the Pacific – up to 40 percent less rain in some regions – due to the presence of El Niño in the Caribbean Ocean. Meteorologists believe that these predictions will prove to be accurate.

Eight years after Costa Rican radio journalist Parmenio Medina was gunned down outside his Heredia home and by two men in a passing Nissan, his story will be told in a book appearing on shelves this week.

Two reporters, who followed Medina's three-year-long court proceeding, will be presenting the book “La hora del Compadre. El asesinato de Parmenio Medina” (The Hour of the Compadre: The Murder of Parmenio Medina ) – a fictional story based on Medina's murder – Tuesday night in the eastern San José neighborhood of Curridabat.

Medina was a 62-year-old investigative reporter and popular satirist for the radio program La Patada, who uncovered a series of financial irregularities at the once-popular religious radio station, Radio María.

Through his research, he learned the station's host, Father Minor Calvo, was involved in a $3 million scam whereby he convinced listeners to make donations to worthy causes, when in fact the money allegedly was lining his pockets and those of his business partner, Omar Chaves. They spent listeners' money on lavish cruises, housekeepers, fine clothes and dining, as well as favors for family and friends.

Calvo was convicted in December 2007 for aggravated fraud, but later acquitted of murder charges in the Medina case. He remains on parole for fraud.

Chaves wasn't as lucky. He continues to serve time for fraud and murder.

“The story of Parmenio Medina is one that needs to be recorded,” said one of the authors and former colleague of Medina, José Alberto Gatgens. He co-wrote the book with Otto Vargas, a reporter with the daily La Nación. “This is a loose history of what happened … We don't know what happened, but what we tried to do was picture a reality.”

The authors will be at Librería Universal at the Multiplaza del Este shopping mall in Curridabat 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to sign books and answer questions.