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Gala dance
In honor of President Laura Chinchilla, July 16, 7 p.m., Club Unión, San José, 2257-1555.

Folklore concerts
Los de la Bajura, July 16-17, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro.

Ménage à Trois
Comedy, through Aug. 8, Sat.-Sun., 8 p.m., Variedades Theater, Ca. 5, Av. Ctrl./1, 2222-6108.

Latin fusion concert
With Luis Cambronero, Luis Porras, José Martin Rodríguez, July 16, 7 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center, Barrio Escalante, El Farolito.

Gardening and Environment Fair
Including music, food and products sales, July 17-18, Botanical Orchid Garden, La Garita, Alajuela, 1 km. south-east from La Fiesta del Maíz Restaurant, 2487-8095.

Guadalupe Urbina, music and art
Guanacaste-born folk singer and artist, including breakfast, a morning concert and opening of her art exhibit, July 17, 9:30 a.m., Hidden Garden Art Gallery, Highway 21, 5 km. west of the Liberia International Airport, Guanacaste, ggolojuch@gmail.com.

“Alrededor del Mundo”
Free recital by Amici Per la Opera, July 17, 7 p.m., La Comandancia, Plaza Liberia, Liberia, Guanacaste, 8839-3746.

Dance Workshop “Bailamelo”
Dictated by Ana Laura Vargas, July 17, 10 a.m.-noon, Museums of the Central Bank, underneath Plaza de la Cultura.

Culture Fair Tierra Blanca 2010
Including live concerts, storytelling shows, dance shows, exhibits, food, July 18, 10 a.m., Tierra Blanca, Cartago. Info: 2592-3070.

La voz
Play written by Carmen Naranjo, Drama, through Aug. 1, Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 5 p.m., Teatro 1887, CENAC. Info: 2257-5524, 8371-4221.

Walter Ferguson Culture and Environment Festival
Music, poetry, dance, theater, arts workshops, through July 18, Cahuita, Limón, http://adic.soy.es/.

Dean Blanchard's shrimping company used to account for about 10 percent of the U.S. shrimp supply. Now, due to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, that number's down to zero. The Grand Isle, Louisianan-based Dean Blanchard Seafood can no longer operate due to oil mucking up and polluting the places his boats used to trawl. Since the oil spill forced him to shut down operations, Blanchard estimated he's lost about $50 million.

In a few weeks, Blanchard will be boarding a plane headed to Costa Rica. He hopes that's where he can start rebuilding his shrimping enterprise.

"I like it (in Louisiana )," Blanchard said. "If I can't live here then I got to find a place. I got no choice."

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has displaced numerous businesses around the gulf. The accident spilled an estimated 150 million gallons of oil in the ocean. Some of those displaced look to relocate in Costa Rica, with the country's abundance of shorelines and sea life.

Barry Chudwick, co-founder of luxury vacation rental company Del Pacifico in Esterillos, on Costa Rica's central Pacific coast, said he's talked to dozens of investors from sportfishers in the southeast United States, who are looking to buy lots or condos in Costa Rica.

"There will be long-term damage done to the ecosystem and sportfishing is a major driver in the high-end luxury market," Chudwick said. "And as we say, 'big fish bring big boats, which bring big bucks.'"

Sam Merkin, who co-runs a company that sets up sportfishing trips called Quepos Sailfishing, said he's noticed an increase in fishermen from affected areas like Mississippi and Louisiana taking the fishing expeditions.

The company has received 20 to 25 calls over the last two-and-a-half months from fishermen in areas along the U.S. gulf coast.

"We have people that are anglers that probably weren't planning on coming," Merkin said.

Blanchard, the former shrimp baron, said he's always wanted to travel down to Costa Rica. The oil spill has given him a monumental excuse to finally make the trip.

"We pretty much done here," Blanchard said. "It looks like they've given us the death penalty."

See next week's issue of The Tico Times for more on this story.

The Colegio Montebello in Heredia geared up for the return of students and teachers this week during a midyear vacation that was marred by the killing of Nancy Chaverri, the school principal, by a 17-year-old student the day before the July break began.

Mauricio Arce, the school's administrative director, told The Tico Times psychological intervention for students and teachers alike is underway, as is a comprehensive violence prevention plan for the school.

The incident sparked national concern over violence in schools, as educators across Costa Rica met to discuss how to prevent this type of incident in the future.

“We are doing some things, but we have to be doing more,” President Laura Chinchilla said. “We need a more ambitious program to confront violence in schools.”

President Laura Chinchilla, who visited the principal's family after the shooting, offered her condolences on the social network Facebook.com writing, “We share the pain with all of Costa Rica regarding the death of Nancy. (We extend) our condolences to (her husband) Javier and her two beautiful sons, Jiancarlo and Luis Diego. We are with you.”

As this year's two-week public school vacation comes to a close, Freddy Román, a Red Cross, said his agency is bolstering road and water safety efforts this weekend to prevent any further accidents.

Whereas drownings are down from the average of the nine typical of July vacations to around five this year, deaths to firearms and other weapons saw a leap, in what Roman saw as a troubling tendency towards viewing violence as “normal.”

Roman said violence can increase during vacations when people tend to drink and use drugs more, and also due to the stress of being off work and school schedules and families spending more time together. However, the 39-person death toll thus far in the vacation (July 3-15), is in keeping with the country's average of three deaths per day to all causes and no major accidents were reported, said Román. For this weekend, he recommends driving cautiously on return trips, using seat belts and child seats, and taking along medications and staying hydrated on long trips.

Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla and Health Minister María Luisa Avila signed the new Integral Waste Management Law Thursday.

“We now have clear rules for how to manage the solid waste problem,” Chinchilla said. “We also have something that is very important in public politics – a clear rector en the hands of the Health Ministry.”

The law passed unanimously in the Legislative Assembly on May 25 and its regulations will be put into place over the next 10 years.

The new law establishes a national recycling program to be under the supervision of the Health Ministry. The ministry will be in charge of assuring that municipalities begin to “guarantee selective waste collection services” and that the townships keep public spaces and waterways trash free.

The ministry will also help enforce a series of rules and sanctions for the improper disposal of waste.

“We are going to continue to work to eradicate many of the waste problems that, today, still affect us,” Chinchilla said.