Hubba & Silica in concert
Drum ‘n' bass, 9:30 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Salsa at El Observatorio
Salsa, merengue, cumbia, every Monday, 9 p.m., El Observatorio, opposite Cine Magaly in Barrio La California.

After a tense win over Canada on Saturday, Costa Rica's under-20 women's soccer team will be heading to the World Cup tournament in Germany in July.

It's the first time in the tournament's six year history that Costa Rican has qualified and they had to beat out two-time champion Canada to do it. Only Mexico and United States from the North American, Caribbean and Central American league (CONCACAF) will accompany Costa Rica to the tournament.

Costa Rica grabbed the 1-0 win over Canada with a free kick taken by Katherine Alvarado in the 19 th minute. The Tica lofted the ball over the head of Canadian keeper Cynthia LeBlanc from 35 meters out. Despite strong pressure from the Canadians throughout the game, they weren't able to sneak the ball passed Costa Rican keeper Priscilla Tapia.

The game came at the end of a 16-game playoff tournament in Guatemala, in which Costa Rica came in third.  Final tallies from the qualifying matches place Costa Rica's Raquel Cedeño as the top scorer (with 10 goals), followed closely by two players from Trinidad and Tobago.

The women's under-20 team is not the only Tico youth team to experience success on the international stage. The men's U-20 team advanced to the World Cup finals in Egypt in October, and managed to hold the Brazilian soccer powerhouse to a 0-1 game.

Costa Rica emergency officials have laid out specific trouble spots in areas surrounding Turrialba Volcano, located about 40 kilometers northeast of San José.The volcan again showed signs of increased activity after its initial ash eruption earlier this month.

A yellow alert – the second of the country's three alert levels – in effect since the mountain began acting up during the first week of January, applies to a 2 km radius from the crater of the volcano, according to a statement issued Friday by the National Emergency Commission (CNE). This zone includes the Turrialba Volcano National Park and communities of El Tigre, Bajo Bonilla, Finca Quemadas and Lechería Tapojo as well as isolated homeswithin this radius.

Experts have indicated that the volcano will continue its phreatic activity, emitting gases and ash, which will affect areas near the crater. Anyone within the 2 km radius included in the yellow alert could experience adverse health effects from breathing the sulfur, helium and carbon dioxide that the volcano has been emitting, the CNE reported.

The areas under green alert, outside the 2 km radius, are far enough away from the volcano that they should not be affected by the gases, but residents should take precautions nonetheless. The green-alert (lowest level alert) zone includes La Central, La Silvia, Espino Blanco, Caridad, Hacienda Volcán, Finca Lechería Muralla, Esperanza, Coliblanco, La Virtud, Cabo de Hacha, Lecheria Quebradillas, Lechería El Roble, San Gerardo, Lechería Santa Teresita, San Rafael de Irazú, Irazú Sur, Finca Volio, Bajo Mora, Penas, Finca Angeles and El Sitio.

Downtown Turrialba and La Suiza de Turrialba are not under alert, according to the latest CNE information.

Agriculture and health officials are expected to visit the area Wednesday to inspect crops and examine the respiratory condition of any locals who might have been affected by the volcano's gases.

Health care works: A project to double the size of San Vicente de Paul Hospital, in Heredia, north of San José, is nearly finished. The hospital will officially open its doors in May, according to government authorities.

Pablo Franceschi | Tico Times

Perhaps honoring a long-standing tradition of outgoing presidents seeking to sway the vote in favor of their party's candidate, President Oscar Arias has been piling up the ribbon-cutting ceremonies before the Feb. 7 presidential election.

On Wednesday, he opened the San José-Caldera Highway, a road connecting the capital to the coast, which has been in the works for more than 30-years. The new highway was expected to reduce travel time to the coast to 45 minutes.

However, heavy traffic caused by motorists clogged the highway this weekend, rendering the journey no less time-consuming, but costlier, than the original route. Transit officials shut the highway on Sunday evening.

On Thursday, Arias attended the opening of a nearly finished initiative to revamp and expand the San Vicente de Paul Hospital in Heredia, north of San José. The $485 million dollar project features 250 new beds, nine operating rooms and a near doubling of the space in the old hospital.

The latest unveiling came Saturday, with the inauguration of four new bridges in the Pacific coast towns of Parrita, Savegre, Hatillo Nuevo and Hatillo Viejo, projects that totaled more than $10 million.

But it was the hospital project, in his hometown of Heredia, which he said is closest to his heart.

“Throughout the past four years of my government, I have seen the birth of many public works,” Arias said at the inauguration of the new San Vicente de Paul, which replaces the old hospital of the same name. “I have inaugurated EBAIS (clinics) … and music schools and community centers.

“But I think none of these works are as close to my heart, as close to my personal history as this new hospital in Heredia. This is the land that watched me grow, the land that taught me all that I know. And the old hospital taught me something I can never forget: the value of the Social Security System.”

The new Heredia hospital is 98 percent complete, and is expected to officially open in May. The new building will benefit a half-million residents of Heredia with the latest technology, top emergency care, radiology and laboratories, according to a statement from the Arias administration.

“It's a privilege to have the best doctors and the best nurses in the country in our public hospitals,” Arias said. “For this reason, when I was a candidate for president, I promised that we would build a new hospital for Heredia…. Finally, we will have a new hospital in Heredia, a dream come true for a people who deserve this and much more.”