Vacation Workshops
Ages 3-5, 9 a.m.-noon; ages 6-12, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; Night Camping Workshops, Fri.-Sat., Jan. 12-Feb. 5, INBioparque, Santo Domingo, Heredia. Info: 2507-8116, 2516-8107.

Electronic Music
By Pablo León and La Gran Calabaza, with Santos y Zurdo, Jan. 12, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café Escazú, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

National University Workshops
More than 100 classes, including languages, dance, sports, music, theater, crafts, medicinal plants, Jan. 18-30, register Jan. 12-15, UNA, Heredia.

Workshops for seniors
Organized by the Costa Rican Gerontology Association, including yoga, cooking, folklore, music, chess, acting, choir, handcrafting, Jan. 12-15, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., for further information call 2253-1041.

Heavy rainfall and intense winds in Costa Rica's Central Valley and along the Caribbean coast have slashed power lines and forced hundreds of evacuations since Sunday morning. Conditions will remain strong for at least the next two days, meteorologists said, and parts of the country will stay on yellow alert, the middle of the country's three alert levels.

From Sunday through noon Monday, 110 millimeters of rain fell along the Caribbean, causing rivers to swell and some to spill over their banks, according to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN).

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported that the rivers rose and flooded mainly in the Matina canton in the province of Limón, and in Sarapiquí canton in Heredia. The entire province of Limón is under yellow alert, as well as Sarapiquí de Heredia and Costa Rica's Northern Zone.

Floods forced 180 people to abandon their homes in Sarapiquí de Heredia. The CNE evacuated families by boat on Sunday and Monday and took them to shelters in Caño San José and La Guaria.

CNE also evacuated 85 people from B-Line, 24 Millas and Estrada in Matina. Those who do not have family in the area will stay in a shelter in the Catholic Church in B-Line.

Roughly 65 mm of rain fell on Monday afternoon in the Caribbean zone and the IMN is forecasting 100-150 more on Tuesday and Wednesday. Juan Diego Naranjo, a meteorologist, said the heaviest rains will come at night and in the morning, but he said residents can expect rainfall all day long through Thursday.

In the Central Valley, winds were clocked at up to 70 kilometers per hour, Naranjo said, a velocity that will persist through the early hours of Thursday. The gusts have ripped the roofs off 39 homes in Alajuela and Heredia and lacerated power lines throughout the Central Valley and the Caribbean region.

In Limón, residents have reported blackouts in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo.

Naranjo said the cold front will make its way out of the country on Thursday and rains and winds will slow throughout the weekend.

It's been a bad couple of months for the former online gambling site BetOnSports, which ran a large part of its operations from a location in Costa Rica's Mall San Pedro, east of San José.

On Friday, former CEO of the company David Carruthers was sentenced to 33 months in a federal prison after pleading guilty to racketeering charges in a U.S district court in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. In November, the founder of BetOnSports, Gary Kaplan, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for violation of the U.S. Federal Wire Act, which prohibits wire transmissions of foreign commerce earned as a result of betting on sporting events, and in December, BetOnSports was fined $28 million for its illegal operations and failure to pay money owed to U.S. gamblers.

BetOnSports, which was founded in 1995 by Kaplan, became one of the largest online sports gambling Web sites during the early 2000s. In 1997, the company moved operations to Costa Rica and by 2004 employed an estimated 1,700 people at the San Pedro location. During its peak year in 2004, BetOnSports raked in an estimated $1.25 billion with 98 percent of its customers based in the U.S. That year, the company also entered the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM), where it was publicly traded until 2006.

But things turned ugly fast for the online giant, and, after extensive investigation by the U.S. government, the company was indicted in 2006 on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Shortly after the charges, Carruthers was arrested in 2006 and Kaplan in 2007. The company suspended its U.S. operations after Carruthers' arrest and has since folded.

Closing in on two weeks after Massachusetts resident, John Joseph Scibeck, was found dead in Costa Rica, the National Investigation Police (OIJ) have no clues and have named no suspects in what investigators are considering a homicide case, Public Security Ministry officials said on Monday.

Scibeck, 67, arrived in Costa Rica on Dec. 28 and rented a villa in Playa Potrero where he was expected to vacation until March, his son Jonathan Scibeck said. Three days into his stay, Jonathan Scibeck received a phone call from a friend of his father in Costa Rica. His father's body had been found along a barren road at 11 a.m.

Initially, officials believed he had died of natural causes. But a closer examination revealed that he had been choked. OIJ officials said his throat showed “bruises comparable to a strangling.” Examiners did not find any other signs of foul play, officials said. Scibeck's belongings, including his wallet, were still in his pocket and his room at the villa was undisturbed.

A friend in Playa Potrero, Kurt Dommers, told the daily The Boston Globe that he last saw Scibeck eating a plate of fruit at El Castillo, a bar that Dommers owns, in the morning of New Year's Eve.

“He seemed perfect,” Dommers told the Boston daily.

Jonathan Scibeck did not want to comment on the investigation on Monday afternoon, but said he had been in touch with police and investigation officials in Costa Rica. Police officials here said they would send any information about the case to the family as it unfolds.

John Scibeck came alone to Costa Rica and he had visited once before.

“That's how my father was,” Jonathan Scibeck told The Tico Times. “He went everywhere alone. He didn't have a wife or a girlfriend and he liked traveling.”

On Monday afternoon, Jonathan attended his father's wake in Stoughton, Massachusetts and prepared for the funeral to take place on Tuesday evening.

“My father was a friendly guy and he was loved,” Jonathan said. “He left behind two sons that love him dearly and a grandchild on the way.”