2009 – Page 39

III Dominican Republic Global Film Festival 2009 opens today at the National Theater and will run through 22 November. Organized by the Dominican Republic Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (Funglode) it is about global issues and personal stories. World reknown figures have come for the event, including the legendary Omar Shariff. http://www.drglobalfilmfestival.org/drgff2009/default_en.asp For more …

Read more…

There have been slight changes to the standings but the Toros continue playing outstanding ball. They have proved to be one of the many surprises of the year. The Escogido are now looking like a real championship contender, with fans hoping that this is fact “the Year of the Reds”. There have been some stunners …

Read more…

The National Development Council (CND), chaired by President Leonel Fernandez, has approved a RD$378.9 billion budget for 2010. This budget exceeds its 2009 predecessor by RD$50 billion, despite the fact that the government has been running at a budgetary deficit from what was estimated for 2009 and the revenues that have actually been collected. 2010 …

Read more…

The DR’s new constitution has been approved by legislators. Reinaldo Pared Perez, president of the Senate and the National Revisory Assembly, said he is proud of the work that was done and claims it is more advanced than the Constitution that was passed in 1963 under then-President Juan Bosch, founder of the ruling party. Legislators …

Read more…

The Sobeida Feliz case has become so intriguing, providing fodder for the tabloids and the imagination, that it has distracted attention from the wider case involving her alleged lover, fugitive drug baron Jose Figueroa Agosto (sentenced to 209 years in Puerto Rico on drug trafficking charges) and US$4.6 million found in a luxury SUV in …

Read more…

Hoy newspaper’s Claudio Acosta speculates that elements with great influence in government may not want Sobeida Feliz to be questioned by the authorities. He writes that Feliz disappeared after her release on bail after having been found in possession of US$4.6 million in a luxury SUV and linked to drug trafficker Jose Figueroa Agosto, a …

Read more…

It is common for companies to provide after-work activities and equipment for their employees, as a way to raise worker morale. But a move by the Brazilian firm Odebrecht, the leader of construction on the Duarte Corridor series of overpasses, has caused a stir. The company has built a 1,000 square foot outdoor soccer field …

Read more…

Today is the last day of the 15-day grace period the energy distribution companies and the Superintendence of Electricity granted non-paying consumers to pay their outstanding bills and/or standardize their situations, or face public embarrassment with the publication of their names in the newspapers. It is expected that they will carry out the threat and …

Read more…

An op-ed piece in today’s Hoy highlights the fact that many government departments do not pay for their electricity service. Rafael Perez writes that we always hear government electricity authorities saying: “Most here do not pay for the electricity service” and “we have to increase the rates to improve the service.” But he wonders out …

Read more…

Today is the last chance for car owners to get their marbete stickers without paying a penalty fee. But as is the usual case in the DR, many drivers have waited until the last minute to get their car situation in order. Car owners wishing to obtain their stickers can expect long lines at banks. …

Read more…