Happy Father's Day from all of us at The Tico Times. This week brought a mix of the practical and the heavy: fresh detail on the residency backlog that's testing everyone's patience, a small but welcome change for travelers landing in San José, a sad confirmation in a missing-tourist case, and a long-range weather warning worth filing away. Here's what mattered if you live in, invest in, or travel to Costa Rica.

Father's Day lands on the third Sunday of June here, the same weekend as in much of North America, and Ticos tend to mark it with less fanfare than Mother's Day — no mandatory holiday, just a long family lunch, a trip to the beach or a quiet day at home. It's a fitting reminder of the unhurried, family-first rhythm that draws so many of us to Costa Rica in the first place.

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Costa Rican police arrested a man in San Carlos on Friday after authorities said he allegedly made a death threat against President Laura Fernández during her visit to Crucitas in the northern mining area. The suspect, identified by local media only by the surname Ordóñez, was detained in the Zona Norte after a complaint was filed with the Organismo de Investigación Judicial, Costa Rica’s judicial police

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As of this week, opening the Uber app for a pickup at Juan Santamaría International Airport shows a dedicated taxi option, marked in the same orange as the country's official airport cabs. It's the start of a pilot bringing licensed taxi drivers onto the platform — aimed at easing the long lines and limited rideshare access that have long made airport pickup the most friction-filled part of getting around.

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The family of Ashley Nicole Phillips confirmed that a body recovered in the Barú area of Pérez Zeledón is the U.S. hiker who went missing on June 3 near the Nauyaca waterfalls. The case is a sober reminder of how quickly rivers and waterfalls can turn dangerous during the rainy season, even when the weather looks calm at the trailhead.

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The National Meteorological Institute (IMN) says the developing El Niño should peak from October through next March, bringing hotter temperatures and less rain. That's a concern for water supplies in Guanacaste, for agriculture, and for wildfire risk — and worth keeping in mind if you're planning a dry-season trip or managing property here.

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Refugees and asylum seekers now account for about 4.5% of Costa Rica’s population, a sign of how deeply regional displacement has become part of daily life in the country. Most were Nicaraguans, who made up 76% of the total. The figure places Costa Rica among the main host countries in the Americas when measured against the size of its population.

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Costa Rica is moving to give national force to a strategy aimed at reducing one of its most persistent threats to wildlife: electrocution on power lines. The initiative brings together environmental authorities, electricity providers, rescue centers and local communities under a technical guide designed to identify high-risk areas

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