Most tourists that come to Costa Rica want to see the beaches and National Parks, the whole idea of taking a tour through downtown San José may not sound all that appealing, but although the capital city of Costa Rica is not all great, (I don’t think any capital of any country in the world is), it does has beautiful areas, many of them with a historic value that are worth knowing from a cultural p...

By Wendy Anders Jason Noah Feinman barely survived being shot 14 times while pulling out of a bakery parking lot in downtown Escazú on the morning of March 18, 2015. This week he gave testimony via videoconference as the trial of two men suspected of the homicide attempt began in Pavas, a western San José neighborhood, reported La Nación, Costa Rica’s leading Spanish daily. Speaking from ...

By Wendy Anders After a two-year investigation, Costa Rica's Judicial Investigative Agency (OIJ) had enough evidence yesterday to make arrests in San Antonio de Coronado, San José of at least 11 individuals connected with a supposed car theft ring. The group, which OIJ Director Walter Espinoza described in a live press statement today, was found by investigators to be dedicated to stealing p...

By Wendy Anders  Coincidentally, as I sat down to report on this morning's 5.6 magnitude Oklahoma, U.S. quake, I was rocked by the 5.3 magnitude quake that was just registered 15 km north of Domincal, Quepos, in the Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. Over 100 Facebook comments were posted on the Dominical quake in the first 10 minutes after it was posted on the Ovsicori site. It was felt str...

By Wendy Anders Last night at 7:00 pm, during a routine police stop on Route 27 near the exit for Multiplaza Escazú, police detained a white cargo pick-up truck driven by a 29-year-old Colombian national by the last name Betancourt, stated the Security Ministry in a press release this afternoon. Police flagged the pick-up truck when they noticed the driver seemed nervous as he approached the...

Costa Rican Legislator Epzy Campbell Afro descendant parliamentarians and other political leaders of the Americas and the Caribbean are converging in the capital city of Costa Rica to act upon the framework of the International Decade for People of Afro Descent 2015-2024, which was established by the United Nations last year. This meeting has been declared of national interest by President ...

By Wendy Anders Over the past month, leaders from about 20 unions and civic groups have held a series of meetings to define a common agenda to defend the rights of the country’s public sector employees, announced the Communication and Energy Industry Employees Union (ASDEICE). After their third meeting yesterday at the Ambassador Hotel in San José they announced a protest planned for Thursda...

By Wendy Anders Official (red) taxi representatives cancelled a meeting last Tuesday that they had requested with the Public Services Regulatory Agency (Aresep) during the national taxi protest they held Tuesday,  August 9. When Roberto Jiménez Gómez, Costa Rica’s general regulator, called the cancellation “unfortunate,” Rubén Vargas, president of the Costa Rican Taxi Union (UTC) responded w...

By Wendy Anders Source: Wikimedia Commons Wednesday police responded to an alert received on their free anonymous report line, 1176, regarding suspicious activity in a house in San Antonio de Escazú, a mountainous suburb west of San José, according to official sources. The Security Ministry’s anti-drug police reported discovering hydroponic marijuana being cultivated by a 60-year-old U.S...

Source: MSP Twitter Two earthquakes shook Costa Rica on Wednesday morning, prompting the evacuation of at least two public buildings in San Jose. The first seismic event registered a 4.7 magnitude with an epicenter located near San Carlos, a small town in the Tarrazú region of the province of San Jose. That initial earthquake took place at 10:06 in the morning, and it was followed by a 4.6 ...

Source: George Mason University By Kristen Dalton What started as a simple project to gather more instruments for George Mason University students quickly blossomed into a program that provides instruments and arts enrichment programs to underserved elementary and middle school students in Northern Virginia. Eight years ago, George Mason’s own music students needed additional instruments. ...

By Glenys Young, Texas Tech University Texas Tech University officials announced today the start of an exciting new chapter in the university’s growth: an expanded global presence in the form of its new international campus, Texas Tech University Costa Rica. Upon approval of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, the new campus in San José, Costa Rica, will...

By Wendy Anders The bridge over the Virilla River along the main highway leading from San José to Alajuela’s international airport was partially closed last night from 10:00 until 5:00 this morning for repairs. All traffic from Alajuela to San José was completely closed during that time. Thursday night-Friday morning, all traffic from San José-Alajuela on the main highway’s Virilla bridge wi...

By Wendy Anders Real Intercontinental Hotel San Jose, Costa Rica International Living announced it will hold its 2016 Fast–Track Costa Rica; Lifestyle and Opportunity Conference September 22-24 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Escazú, San José. This once-a-year opportunity will provide plenty of information about relocating to Costa Rica, and promises to “deliver everything you need to f...

By Wendy Anders Last week Citi inaugurated two new buildings in Costa Rica, and announced 400 new positions to be filled by the end of this year, stated the company in a press release. New York City-based Citigroup, Inc., or Citi, is a multinational investment banking and financial services corporation suffered huge losses during the global financial crisis of 2008 and received a massive sti...

Illustrative image. (Flickr Commons) A man believed to be responsible for the murder, necrophilia and corpse desecration of two women at a love motel in Costa Rica was arrested just as he was planning to flee to Nicaragua on foot. According to a recent news report filed by Gustavo Retana of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the suspect has been identified by the last names of Núñez Rubí. He check...

By Wendy Anders Merrit Island, Florida resident, Sondra Lynn Payne Elizondo, was found dead in her hotel room in San José, Costa Rica last December. Last week the prime suspect in the case, Alejandro Obando Vega, was ordered three more months in prison by the San José Criminal Court while the case continues to be investigated, reported the judicial branch press office Friday. As previousl...

Stem cells. Wikimedia Commons Global Stem Cells Group hosted a symposium and formal inauguration of Clinica Biomaster, the company’s new stem cell center in Escazú, Costa Rica. Joseph Purita, M.D., head of the Global Stem Cells Group Scientific Advisory Board, was the keynote speaker at the event, held July 15 and 16, 2016. Purita also presented lectures to medical staff at Hospital CIMA and ...

PublicDomainPicture.NetA deranged and dangerous homeless man kept dogs as sexual slaves under a bridge in Costa Rica. According to a recent news report filed by Gustavo Retana of daily tabloid Diario Extra, officers from Fuerza Publica, the national police force of Costa Rica, were alerted to the situation by neighbors who could not sleep at night due to the bloodcurdling howls coming from und...

By Wendy Anders Neighbors in downtown San José’s Otoya neighborhood had their effort to halt construction of a condominium upheld yesterday by Costa Rica’s highest court, reported the Costa Rican digital elmundocr.com. In a unanimous resolution, #2016-009494, the constitutional court found that Condominio City Plaza II does not have certain permits in place and that the building site is loc...

Source: OIJOn Friday afternoon, agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) arrested a 31-year old male expat who is alleged to have run a sexual extortion scheme against his lover. The suspect is from Panama and has been residing in Costa Rica for a few years. A couple of years ago, he met a 35-year old woman with whom he established a romantic and sexual relatio...

Residents of an immigrant community mostly populated by Nicaraguan families in Costa Rica reclaimed a dwelling formerly used as a dangerous "bunker," a crack house or drug den, after a police operation. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Public Security, officers from the Operational Support Group (Spanish initials: GAO) and from other tactical teams were assembled to raid t...

Source: Heineken Despite volatile global markets and growing security issues, organizations continue to leverage global expansion strategies to remain competitive and to grow. Yet, few organizations are prepared for the challenges world events have on their business, including the impact on cost of expatriate packages. Mercer’s 22nd annual Cost of Living Survey finds that factors including ...

By Wendy Anders Since 2009, Costa Rica’s gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans-gender movement has shown its colorful pride on the city’s streets. Today, march organizers on their Facebook site estimated 45,000 flocked downtown to celebrate an increasingly supportive climate in the socially and culturally conservative Catholic nation. In advance of the march, Costa Rica’s Labor and Social Se...

Wikimedia Commons Commuters stuck in traffic during Friday morning in the eastern districts of San Jose were surprised to see a naked man calmly walking down the street and occasionally attempting to direct the flow of traffic. The incident occurred in San Pedro, precisely at the traffic circle that surrounds the Hispanic Heritage Fountain. According to a television report broadcast by nati...

Close up of a Marijuana plant flowering during the final stages of growth. EFE/file San Jose, Costa Rica will be the site of the Latin American Medical Cannabis Conference, July 28-29th at the Crown Plaza Hotel,. Top- level Cannabis industry speakers, from the U.S., Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica will address topics related to the Medical Cannabis field. There will be full translation s...

Source: Fuerza Publica Even after a press conference, questions remain about the escape and subsequent capture of John Wesley Saatio, a registered sex offender from the United States who managed to escape from a detention cell in Costa Rica a couple of days ago. Mr. Saatio was taken into custody by Fuerza Publica officers on foot patrol in San Miguel of Desamparados, not far from the workin...

Source: Fuerza Publica A slippery sex offender and fugitive from the United States is once again on the run in Costa Rica, and allegations of an inside job in this matter have not been answered. The fugitive is known as John Wesley Saatio. As reported by The Costa Rica Star on June 17, Mr. Saatio was arrested as the result of an investigation conducted by by a neighborhood watch group and p...

ALPHARETTA, Ga., June 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- It only took six weeks for the nearly 200 team members of the Scheduling Institute to hit their goal of $20,000 to support an immediate need for the Soup Kitchen in La Carpio, Costa Rica, a far cry from the affluent town of Alpharetta, where the company's headquarters are located. La Carpio is one of the poorest and most dangerous communities in Costa ...

US Embassy in Costa Rica The United States Diplomatic Mission in San Jose is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for the position of Security Escort. This position is open only to United States citizens living in Costa Rica. The position is temporary and will not exceed one year from hire date. All applicants must have the required work and/or residency permits to be eligible for c...

Pixabay Commons UPeace and Veritas University Press Release -  San Jose, Costa Rica. The University for Peace worked alongside the Ombudsperson's Office of Costa Rica at the launch of the Second National Photography Contest, in Commemoration of the World Day of Peace, a day that is celebrated the 21st of September of every year. This event took place at the Roberto Sasso Sasso Auditorium wh...

Costa Rica National Theater Mural. Wikimedia Commons San Jose, May 29 (EFE).- Latin American cultural expression is being threatened by globalization and new technologies, which have serious consequences in that peoples are beginning to lose their separate identities, Silvia Rosa Martinez, a Peruvian expert in Intangible Cultural Heritage said. In an interview with EFE, the executive direct...

Source: Air France French culture is known to be classy and stylish, and these are cultural aspects that certainly apply to travel. Air France, an airline that recently announced new flights to Costa Rica, is taking classy and stylish to a very high level with an actual sleeping suite and even fashionable pajamas that match the decor. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Air Franc...

The Turrialba on May 5. OVSICORI A series of powerful eruptions by the hyperactive Turrialba volcano have left the Central Valley of Costa Rica coated with ultra-fine ash, prompting savvy street merchants to offer surgical masks at busy pedestrian intersections in the capital city. Street sales of surgical masks have been brisk in San Jose ever since the Ministry of Public Health (Spanish i...

Wikimedia Commons The U.S. Mission in San Jose is seeking eligible and qualified applicants for the position of Cashier. OPEN TO: All Interested Candidates POSITION: Cashier, FSN-8; FP-6* OPENING DATE: May 9, 2016 CLOSING DATE: May 26, 2016 WORK HOURS: Fulltime 40 hours/week SALARY: *Not-Ordinarily Resident (NOR): FP-6 US$39,558 annual (Starting salary) * Ordinarily Resident ...

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 11, 2016 - In a recent Bird-X blog post, the company explains how it helped preserve history at the National Theatre of Costa Rica with the installation of its bird shock track system, Avishock™. In April, Fuera Aves PRO, part of the JAMUVI Group of companies, installed 300 meters of Avishock™, on the theatre’s rooftop ledges to stop birds from landing and defecating on ...

SJO on April 27 The second day of the Mother of All Strikes (MOAS) in Costa Rica caused headaches for passengers at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), which serves the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish initials: GAM). Access to SJO via the main highway that connects the airport with San Jose was blocked by MOAS protestors who marched in the vicinity of the San Rafael...

Illustrative image. (Flickr) A 33-year old Canadian tourist passed away in a boutique luxury hotel in the capital city of Costa Rica on Thursday afternoon, and investigators are trying to determine whether foul play may have contributed to his tragic demise. According to a news report filed by Alexander Melendez of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the Canadian man has been identified as Danny Be...

Source: Pixabay Commons Members of a credit card cloning crew arrested in Costa Rica earlier this week reportedly placed skimmers at nude cabarets, among other commercial establishments, where they made off with account information that was ultimately used to make fraudulent purchases and payments. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, a citizen of the United States was one of four...

The gunmen reportedly spent an incredible 25 minutes looting the store. (Image from Eurochronos web site) Four gunmen posing as customers on Friday conducted a brazen armed robbery during business hours of a jewelry store located in the Multiplaza shopping center in Escazu.   According to Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Security (MSP), the four gunmen entered the Eurochronos store, ...