No Second Round This Election
With only five days before the presidential elections, former president and Nobel Prize winner, Oscar Arias Sanchez, is a definite win and no second round election will be necessary, as occurred in 2002 that saw Abel Pacheco take the presidential chair. Abel Pacheco was elected in a run-off in April 2002 with 58% of the vote.

No Rate Hike Until ICE Compensates Customers: Aresep Rules
Costa Rica's regulator  of public prices and services, the Autoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos (Aresep) has refused to consider allowing the state telecoms monopoly Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) to introduce rates changes until the company compensates customers for an interruption to service that occurred during a 20-day strike in 2003.

Failed Stop Cause of Train Accident Number 7 Yesterday
Surprisingly there haven't been too many accidents between the train and automobiles. And the few have only cause vehicle damage and no fatal injuries.

Higher Gasoline Prices Coming Our Way
Get ready for another gas hike as the Refinadora Costarricense de Petrolelo (Recope) - the state monopoly on gasoline products - has asked for price increase of ¢27 colones for a litre of super and ¢26 colones for a litre of regular gasoline.

Costa Rica Trip to Give Students New
Perspective on Land Preservation
The Costa Rican attitude toward preserving land makes Costa Rica the ideal location for the new study abroad summer program in land use management and environmental ethics, said Dan McCool, director of environmental studies at the University of Utah.

Time For Political Patronages
The political payoffs are just beginning. Some are public, like the appointment of Róger Carvajal, husband of first vice-presidnet, Lineth Saborí0, who was confirmed by the board of directors of the Radiográfica Costarricense S.A. (RACSA), as the new boss beginning February 1.