Source: Wikimedia Commons A 76-year old man in Costa Rica was rushed to the hospital after he confronted a dangerous fer-de-lance (Bothrops atrox) snake that had killed its livestock. The incident occurred in Grifo Bajo, a small farming community in the canton of Puriscal, province of San Jose. During his entire life, Porfirio Gomez Quesada has earned his keep as a labriego (family farmer)....

A reader of The Voice of Guanacaste recently wrote in asking if we know of an agency that provides support to victims of violence, because his neighbor had fled to San Jose to escape a violent boyfriend. First, I would like to refer to the impossibility of reconciling in situations of domestic violence, not only in the process of precautionary measures, but also in the other judicial processes ...

7 out of 10 Costa Ricans believe that Ticos are not able to consume alcohol in moderation, is the conclusion of a study by Educalcohol Costa Rica, for the Escuela de Estadística de la Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) - School of Statistics at the University of Costa Rica. Educalcohol Costa Rica project manager, Eugenio Regidor, explained that the purpose of the study was to know the pattern of a...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Every day, reports about incidents of animal abuse in Costa Rica make news headlines and fan the flames of social media discourse and indignation. A stray dog savagely sliced by a machete, sea turtles gutted for their meat, a female sloth hit with rocks, a porcupine cut with knives, sharks being brutally killed for their fins, illegal hunters who shoot down and dis...

The universal health care system of Costa Rica (Caja) has doubled its capacity to give radiation treatments to cancer patients with a new building for treatment at Hospital Mexico. The building cost 9 billion colones, approximately $17.3 million US dollars and includes two new linear accelerators, in addition to the two purchased last year. Cancer, according to the national newspaper La Nacion,...

Hot springs are more than just warm and relaxing pools. These areas have medical and healing properties due to their high mineral content. A group of businessmen who want to develop this concept formed a commission to promote medical hydrology in San Carlos, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure such as hot spring water touristic centers and the natural conditions of the environment. ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A recent feature on the WorldViews Blog of the Washington Post (recently acquired by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com) presents 40 maps of the world that cleverly combine geographic projections with interesting data. The result is fascinating insight into a variety of topics and issues. The Costa Rica Star has looked at five of the 40 maps and found some very inte...

A man in Costa Rica killed his ex-girlfriend and confessed by sending relatives a photo of her body via the smartphone application WhatsApp. This case appears to be a copycat killing, following a similar case recently in Miami. There, a man allegedly killed his wife and then posted a photo and confession on Facebook. The incident is reported to have happened on Saturday in the village of Hua...

In November of last year, several Nosara parents filed a complaint with the Ministry of Health after observing that some children at Serapio López School had stomach problems, allegedly for drinking the water at the institution. With this kind of complaint, the Ministry of Health was responsible for issuing a sanitary order to the Costa Rican Water and Sewage (AyA) Institute to perform the resp...

Source: Wikimedia Commons A teacher at a vocational high school in Costa Rica was wrongfully terminated and must be given his job back despite his addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine. Such was the ruling of “Sala Cuarta,” Costa Rica's Constitutional Chamber, which is the country's highest court. According to a recent news report by online news daily CRHoy, the teacher in question was fir...

The number of cases of Dengue – also known as breakbone fever – in Costa Rica continues to grow, reaching almost 27,000 cases so far this year and health officials fear it could skyrocket in the coming weeks. Dr. Daisy Corrales Díaz, at the Ministry of Health announced last Friday a contingency plan to win the battle. An army of health officials will be visiting the most affected communities...

Paternity law, or father law, is the legal area dealing with establishing or disputing "paternity", the legal relationship between a father and his child. Paternity leave is mandatory in the public sector, ruled Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court on last Friday afternoon. The Court, also known commonly as the Sala IV, said that all public officials are entitled to a paternity leave of eight d...

The number of murders in Costa Rica this year to date is 227, the majority from “sicariato” or “murder for hire” in English. The concern of authorities is not only the increase in murder for hire, but also the increased use of motorcycles by attackers, complicating the process of solving the homicides, due to a fast getaway. The method most applied by hitmen are of two men on a motorcycle,...

Interesting fact, the founder of The Costa Rica Star newspaper attended CDSG for his high school years, definitely one of the best schools in Costa Rica. With the first day of school just 3 days away, we at Country Day School Guanacaste (CDSG) want to take this opportunity to let the community know that our doors are open and we are looking forward to a fantastic school year! We have a won...

In the past year, the Public Force in Nicoya trained about 2000 children to say no to drugs and family violence through a series of discussions, expositions and videos, and this year they hope to reach out to a similar amount of youth, according to Nicoya Police Chief Omar Chavarria. The program has existed in Costa Rica for about 10 years, but wasn’t implemented in this rural area until a year...

The pollution in Costa Rica’s capital city, San José, is a threat to Costa Ricans health, a study by the Laboratorio de Análisis de Calidad de la Universidad Nacional (UNA) – National University´s Quality Analysis Laboratory has mentioned. Harmful particles in the air were recorded at 37 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3), according to the research. The figure is almost double the maximum conta...

Nicoya is on the top of the list of cantons with the highest number of dengue cases in the country. So far in 2013, there have been 2,680 cases in Nicoya canton, 3 of which are hemorrhagic dengue. Health officials now consider the numbers alarming, especially since it seems to be increasing. In the last week, 307 people were diagnosed with dengue fever, which shows a progressive increase in ...

Angie Morelli. Source: GMO Free Vegas Residents of Las Vegas are borrowing a page from Costa Rica's ongoing fight against agro-industrial leviathan Monsanto. Earlier this year, activists in Las Vegas staged one of the largest anti-Monsanto demonstrations seen in the United States, drawing 3,000 supporters and compromising traffic on the world-famous Las Vegas strip. Sin City may seem like a...

It is noon and beneath the blazing sun in Nicoya, a canal flows with water as green as moss, which first appears as a soapy foam and later descends through a cement canal to the Rio Grande. This drainage system has existed for several decades as the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) has discharged residual fluids into the river bed in the Matabuey neighborhood in N...

When he can, Fernando Cordero Arguedas works at odd jobs, but lately caring for his 95-year-old mother has been a full time job since she had a stroke a few months ago. In addition, his 93-year-old uncle has heart problems, and his wife’s four nieces and nephews came to live with them a year ago when their mother lost custody of them. In all, there are 10 mouths to feed in their household in the S...

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Costa Rica was recently recognized by the National Blood Bank for being the most successful organization in obtaining blood donations. During a special ceremony held at the University of Costa Rica in San Jose, Dr. Patricia Contreras praised the work of the church, and said it is the most recognized entity with the most blood donor volunteers in Costa Rica ...

Source: Bomberos de Costa Rica The mission of the Fire Department in Costa Rica is to protect life in situations when property or the environment are threatened by fire or other emergencies. In many occasions, the protection of life includes saving animals from burning flames or from dangerous situations. In two recent instances, firefighters in Costa Rica have filled the life of families with...

Despite the advice to leave pets at home, many romeros decided to take them for a walk, forcing the National Animal Health Service (Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal – Senasa) to attend 16 dogs during pilgrimage from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon. There was one unfortunate dog to have to be detained, abandoned and unable to walk, the rest of the animals attended to were able to complete ...

Epidemiologist and Oncologist Dr. Roy Wong McClure asked the Ministry of Health and the Presidency of the Republic to declare a health emergency in Guanacaste due to the increase of renal failure in sugar industry workers. The oncologist said that figures for 2010 indicated 110 people on dialysis at the Enrique Baltodano hospital of Nicoya, 350 affected in Cañas and similar figures in the canto...

The teamwork of some Nosara residents made it possible to develop an emergency plan in case of natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes and tsunamis, which includes direct communication between Rancho Suizo (in Pelada) and the National Emergencies Commission (CNE) in San Jose along with eight walkie talkie radio phones located at strategic points. Thanks to the work and financial donations ...

Which orange circle is larger? This past Saturday was the final date of the Rompementes (Brain Buster) Tour, a traveling exhibition conceived by Luis Alfonso Dominguez Carballo, Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Sonora. This fun and unique exhibit took place in three cities in Costa Rica: Alajuela, Heredia and San Jose; it previously visited cities in Mexico, El...

Lifeguard Seco Herrera. Source: Facebook Thanks to the quick response of lifeguards, the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) and surf instructors in Jaco Beach, ten teenage tourists lived to enjoy another day in Costa Rica. Such was a recent scene witnessed and described by Captain Richard Barone, a nature conservation activist known as Capi from his blog Capi Writes. According to Capt. Barone, the teena...

H1N1 vaccine is in high demand in Costa Rica. Source: Wikimedia Commons Public health officials in Costa Rica are hard at work to control outbreaks of two dangerous infectious diseases: Dengue fever and H1N1. Both diseases are taxing the resources of La Caja (Costa Rica's system of public health care facilities) and the Ministry of Health, although both entities are confident that the country'...

The Costa Rica Star has published an article in the past about Marijuana usage and culture in Costa Rica. Independent activist, Diego Grooscors, will begin today collecting the 160,000 signatures required to present to the Legislative Assembly a bill to legalize marijuana consumption in Costa Rica. Grooscors explained that the proposal is based on citizen initiatives presented in the past bu...

Source: SENASA Costa Rica The metropolitan intervention unit of the National Animal Health Service (SENASA in Spanish) in Costa Rica recently confiscated 179 gamecocks used by a clandestine fighting ring in San Jeronimo of Moravia, in the northeastern outskirts of San Jose. This action was supported by members of Fuerza Publica, the national police force in Costa Rica. Assorted cockfighting...

Luis is a young Tico who lives in the municipality of Tibas, just north of San Jose. He works as an office clerk and has consumed more than 200 hits (doses) of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD 25) since 2006. In 2011, journalism major Marqo Adrian of the International University of the Americas interviewed Luis for a four-part investigative piece titled Costa Rica Consumes LSD. He described a n...

On July 2, the Ministry of Health declared a health alert due to the increase that the country is experiencing in cases of dengue, which have now reached 15,000, four times more than the same period last year. The Minister of Health, Daisy Corrales, stated that with this warning, they will reinforce health services across the country and strengthen the work of eliminating breeding grounds of th...

How can you help to reduce the number of animals hurt or killed on the streets of Costa Rica by automobiles? Join the 'I Brake For Animals' campaign organized by McKee Project Jaco and place a bumper sticker on your car to let people know that you brake for all of the animals of Costa Rica, including sloths, monkeys, cats, and dogs. Accidents happen, and animals get killed on the roads, and not...

Tip: it's important to note that in remote parts of Costa Rica your best chance of finding anti-venom for a snake bite is at a veterinarian clinic, even for bites that effect humans. Most CCSS medical clinics in remote locations do not have anti-venom. Fer-de-lance pit vipers, known as terciopelos in Costa Rica, are wreaking havoc in many rural areas across the country. Two children are the lat...

Aedes aegypti mosquito, known dengue carrier. In Costa Rica and other countries located in the tropics and subtropics, advisories related to dengue fever are typically issued around this time each year. For this 2013 rainy season, however, Minister of Health Daisy Corrales has added some alarming statistics to go along with her annual advisory: There have been three recent deaths due to de...

On Friday morning, young Sofia McLean and her mother Ivonne Morales were outside the Teletica Channel 7 studios near La Sabana, looking for a new family member. After looking around and carefully discussing the delicate matter, they settled on Kenay -the offspring puppy of a stray mother that was rescued just a couple of months ago. Kenay was lucky. Dozens of other dogs and seven cats awaited ado...

Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed sharing pictures from people on Flickr on our Facebook page as well as natural remedies for day to day things that effect your life around the home here in Costa Rica. Recently we shared an easy to do make at home Mosquito repellent and one of our readers commented on the picture to let us know of another amazing remedy widely available in Costa Rica....

The Costa Rica Star and all of our contributors, photographers, and many of our readers are supporters of The McKee Project here in Costa Rica and around Latin America. In this article below we will outline why The McKee Project is so important to the well being of companion animals across Latin America. If you have a dog or cat, or know someone who has a dog or cat, you will want to read this and...

A B.C. man who suffered a potentially deadly snake bite in Costa Rica that left him weeping tears of blood is recovering in a Vancouver hospital thanks to the quick work of a medical team and an emergency flight to Seattle to pick up an antidote to the venom. Michael Lovatt, a 61-year-old old Sunshine Coast resident, was bitten by a venomous snake earlier this week while walking along a beach a...

Carlos Caiceda Perlaza comes from a coconut plantation family on the Pacific in Colombia where they cultivated and sold coconuts. There, they processed the coconut for its juice and used it to cook shrimp, Carlos recounted. But it was when he came to Costa Rica that coconuts created a nostalgia in him, reminding him of his feelings for his family, and he became curious about what else coconut coul...