Source: Andrey Camacho Jimenez, PZNoticias After five years and three trials, the fate of United States citizen Ann Patton Bender has been decided in Costa Rica. She was found innocent of all charges, and is free to go on with her life and attempt to pursue the lawyer whom she claims absconded with her fortune. In her last statement before the judges at her final hearing on Friday, Septe...

Source: Flickr Commons San Jose, Sep 7 (EFE).- The body of an 85-year-old Cuban-American man was found inside a barrel over the weekend at his house in southern Costa Rica, the Judicial Investigations Agency said. The victim, identified only by the last name of Machado, lived in Coloradito de Corredores, a town in Puntarenas province, near the border with Panama. Machado lived alone and ...

Source; US CBP MIAMI, September 4, 2015 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at Miami’s seaport intercepted an unusual pest identified as Hesus flaviventris Burmeister during an inspection of a container of pineapples from Costa Rica. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that this marks the first interception of this pest in the United States. Hesus...

Source: Andrey Camacho Jimenez, PZNoticias September 4, 2015, Perez Zeledon – Final arguments were heard today in the case of United States expat Ann Patton Bender, who is accused of killing her multi-millionaire husband in 2010 at their mansion Boracayan del Sur, in the Perez Zeledon municipality of Costa Rica. John Felix Bender was shot in the back of his head and died immediately. The prose...

Source: Andrea Calderon Facebook Andrea Calderon, a 26-year old model and television presenter of a popular youth series in Costa Rica, is currently the subject of active discourse on social media circles. According to a recent news report filed by entertainment reporter Angie Guerrero of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, a set of photos showing the TV host naked along with two colleagues is g...

Wikimedia Commons ITV Press Release - Seven years ago, Stephen Fry travelled through all fifty states of the USA in a black cab. But he’s always been fascinated by events south of the border, so now, in this brand new four-part series, he embarks on an adventure into America’s backyard. Travelling through Mexico and the entire Central American isthmus, to the Panamanian border with South Am...

Source: OPCW OPCW Media Release - The Second Advanced Regional Assistance-and-Protection Course on Chemical Emergency Response for States Parties in Latin America and the Caribbean was held from 3 to 7 August in San José, Costa Rica. The course was co-organized by the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Costa Rican National Author...

Pixabay Commons More than 500,000 personal records managed by La Caja, the national public health and social security system of Costa Rica, were compromised by a network intrusion perpetrated by nefarious hackers. According to a news report filed by Lady Rojas for online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, officials from La Caja have identified the attackers, who are associates of a financial firm that...

Ann Patton Bender uses a cane to arrive in court. Source: Carol Vaughn September 4, 2015, San Isidro de El General - Final arguments will be heard in the murder trial of Ann Patton Bender on Friday, September 4th, 2015, beginning at 7:30 AM, in the Poder Judicial Courthouse in San Isidro de El General, Perez Zeledon. The trial is public and open to all interested parties. Ann Bender stands ...

Today, August 31st, Costa Rica celebrates Afro Costa Rican Day, and one of the first activities that many Ticos will undertake this morning will consist of enjoying the most iconic dish of this country. It so happens that gallo pinto, a delicious breakfast that masterfully combines day-old rice and beans with fresh vegetables and spices, is a meal that we owe to Afro Caribbean immigrants in the fi...

Source: OIJ Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) raided two bars and arrested two male suspects under suspicion of operating underground brothels. The arrests and raids took place earlier this week in Guapiles, province of Limon, and Cartago, the former capital city of Costa Rica. The two men arrested are brothers aged 56 and 65. According to an official...

Wikimedia Commons Svalbard, Norway – Crop Trust Press Release – Varieties of one of the world’s most important staple crops will be stored for perpetuity deep in the Arctic ice today. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is joining scientific experts and delegations from Peru, Costa Rica and Norway to witness a ceremony h...

When President Luis Guillermo Solis was on the campaign trail against former candidate Johnny Araya from the majority National Liberation Party (Spanish initials: PLN), he presented a single pronouncement on the topic of immigration: He strongly believed that employers should be responsible for handling the required paperwork to assist foreign workers get the proper visa in Costa Rica. More tha...

Source: U.S. Embassy Officers from the National Coast Guard Service of Costa Rica recently arrested a fugitive tour operator who was wanted on a murder charge. According to official press release CP-1518-2015 from the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), the arrest took place in the coastal community of Quepos earlier this week. The MSP press release explains that officers assigned to the Coa...

A corporate officer from Banco Popular, one of the major banks that enjoy fiscal support and backing from the government of Costa Rica, has been accused of defrauding an elderly expat with a convoluted scheme to slip away with about $200,000. The officer has been identified as a woman who goes by the last name of Barahona, and her father has also been implicated in this alleged swindle. Accordi...

Wikimedia Commons Two nursing professionals were found dead inside a vehicle parked in front of Playa Uvita, located in the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica. According to a news report filed by Daniel Chinchilla Salazar of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the deceased have been identified as Jonathan Granados Ureña and Fiorella Castro Flores. Preliminary reports by forensic agents from the Off...

Here are eight things you probably did not know about oral health and dental care in Costa Rica: The prevalence of caries in preschool age children in Costa Rica is 43.7 percent, slightly lower than in the United States; however, early caries is a health condition that is more likely to be found in rural areas. The use of fillings to treat cavities (caries) dates back to pre-Columbian, Meso...

By Maria Jose Brenes San Jose, Aug 20 (EFE).- The plight of a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle that biologists in Costa Rica rid of a plastic straw stuck in its nose highlights the need to reduce the use of the synthetic material, since 8 million tons of plastics are dumped in the oceans each year, biologist Nathan Robinson told EFE. Robinson and Christine Figgener, of the Leatherback Trust, posted ...

Source: Flickr Commons A male doctor employed by La Caja, Costa Rica's public healthcare system, is currently taking safety precautions after being accused of rape by the wife of an inmate serving a prison sentence at La Reforma, the nation's largest correctional facility. According to a report filed by Manuel Estrada of daily tabloid Diario Extra, a woman by the last name of Zeledon has filed ...

Source: Zoo Ave An infamous case about cruelty against wildlife in Costa Rica will be the subject of a future documentary, which will be produced in association with the Discovery Channel cable television network.   The heartbreaking history of “Grecia,” a juvenile toucan that lost most of its upper beak after a savage attack by a group of youths in Costa Rica, has drawn lots of att...

Night vision imaging of a previous Turrialba eruption Earth scientists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI) reported a new eruption at the Turrialba volcano, located in the province of Cartago. The geologic event was detected at 1:46 am on Saturday, and it took place after a period of relative calm for this colossus, which had been very a...

Department of Justice Press Release -- A U.S. citizen charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities based in Costa Rica was sentenced to prison today in Miami, the Justice Department announced. John White, aka Gregory Garrett, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz of the Southern District of Florida to serve 70 months in prison ...

San Jose, Aug 13 (EFE).- Clean energy sources were used to generate 100 percent of the electricity in Costa Rica for 94 straight days, breaking the old record of 75 days set between January and March of this year, the state-owned Costa Rican Electricity Institute, or ICE, said. No fossil fuels were burned between May 8 and Aug. 9 to generate electricity, cementing Costa Rica's "world leadership...

Source: OIJ Agents from the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) are currently looking for two female tourists in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. According to a wire report published by online news daily CRHoy.com, the two women were last seen two nights ago at bar in the downtown district of Limon. One of the tourists has been identified with a last name of Martine...

Uvita, Costa Rica (PRWEB) August 12, 2015 -- Bodhi Surf School, a community-engaged surf and yoga camp in Uvita, Costa Rica, is proud to announce its 2015 My Ocean Guardian Journey Contest. The contest is an environmental essay and photo contest that aims to recognize individual actions that promote conservation and impact-reduction; moreover, it aims to give momentum to the grassroots movement to...

2U.S. Department of Justice Press Release - A California woman was sentenced to 130 months in prison for her role in a half-million dollar Costa Rica-based “sweepstakes fraud” scheme that victimized hundreds of U.S. residents. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of Nor...

Source: UNED During a press conference that followed the delivery of a report to the United Nations, the Ombudsman of Costa Rica openly stated that our country is racist. Ombudsman Montserrat Solano explained that Costa Rica has improved in terms of racial equality, but she also added that there is a great deal of denial among many spheres of society, and that those who are the most affecte...

Ann Maxine Patton, the US woman accused of killing her wealthy husband John Felix Bender on January 8th, 2010, is scheduled to begin her third murder trial at 8 a.m. Monday morning. The trial will take place at the Perez Zeledon Criminal Court and is expected to last at least one week. The same court dropped charges against Patton in January 2013 following her first murder trial, deciding it...

Immigration officers stationed at the Peñas Blancas border crossing checkpoint between Costa Rica and Nicaragua detained a male traveler from the United States on Thursday. According to a news report broadcast by national television network Teletica Channel 7, the 30-year old man was coming from Nicaragua in what seemed to be a “visa run” to extend his status as a perpetual tourist. The U.S. ma...

Pixabay Public Domain For many children in Costa Rica and around the world, the first dental appointment is an event fraught with anxiety and fear, but it does not need to be that way. Dental care experiences can be turned into positive experiences for a child, but this requires the collaboration of parents and dentists. A child's fright of a dental visit is not unfounded; it is essentially...

Source: Christopher Gillette Facebook The charismatic biologist and wildlife photographer Christopher Gillette is currently on his sixth visit to Costa Rica. Mr. Gillette, better known as Crocodile Chris, has appeared on various television programs broadcast by the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, History, and E! Entertainment. According to a report by Teletica Channel 7 News, Mr. Gillette a...

Miss Costa Rica 2015 Brenda Castro Thus far in 2015, judges at beauty pageants in Costa Rica have been swooned by contestants from the Caribbean region. Earlier this year, The Costa Rica Star reported on the crowning of Shakira McDonald, an Afro-Costa Rican beauty queen who is currently Mrs. Costa Rica. Last night, television network Teletica (Channel 7) aired the grand finale of Miss Costa Ri...

Source: Flickr Commons A woman who has not yet been identified is believed to be the seventh victim of a serial killer who seems to be operating in the southern suburbs of the capital city of Costa Rica. According to metro reporter Manuel Estrada of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the latest victim was found naked and bruised in an empty lot in the Sagrada Familia district, a working-class neig...

United States Department of Justice Press Release -- An Ohio man was convicted yesterday after a two-day jury trial in the Western District of North Carolina for his role in a Costa Rican telemarketing scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose of the Western District of North Carolina made ...

Flickr Commons The most iconic brand of sporting equipment in Major League Baseball (MLB) will trim down its operations in Costa Rica. Rawlings, the official provider of baseballs to the MLB since the late 1970s, has announced that it will shut down its uniform manufacturing operations in Costa Rica and will move them to El Salvador, where cheaper labor and lower overhead expenses await. Ac...

For many decades, hundreds of military veterans from the United States have made Costa Rica their second home, and many of them have experienced the horrors of war. In Costa Rica, they hope to start a new life and alleviate their traumatic combat experience; this is a primary goal that they hope to accomplish even if they do not intend to live out the rest of their lives in our country. Costa ...

A replica of La Negrita. Source: Flickr Comons At the Romeria, a very important Roman Catholic pilgrimage in Costa Rica that takes place every year, Red Cross medical personnel have treated 397 faithful pilgrims over the last couple of days. According to a news report filed by Jason Torres for online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, 267 cases are related to heat exhaustion, dehydration, respirato...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Jul 30 (EFE).- On Friday, July 31, a rare so-called "blue moon" will be seen in the sky, an event that occurs only once every three years or so and which will not recur until January 2018. As the U.S. Naval Observatory says on its Web page, a so-called "blue moon" is a second full moon within the same calendar month. Each lunar cycle between full moons lasts...

Story by Lt.j.g. Victoria Einbinder, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. Fourth Fleet MAYPORT, Fla. - More than 75 military personnel, including 54 members of partner-nation navies, assembled July 27 on Naval Station Mayport for PANAMAX 2015, an exercise aimed at developing strong working relationships between multinational forces to ensure the defense of the Panama Canal. The exer...

Wikimedia Commons A recent investigation by a tabloid publication in Costa Rica into a club drug used to facilitate anal intercourse has attracted the attention of public health officials. According to a news report filed by Daniel Chinchilla Salazar of daily tabloid Diario Extra, the Ministry of Public Health is preparing to shut down sex shops and other establishments in Costa Rica that sell...