TRAVEL
By Melina I. De Rose and Melina I. De Rose,South Florida Sun-Sentinel | October 26, 2008
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - There's something about firsts, and Santo Domingo, the oldest city of the Americas, boasts many. In the Dominican capital for the first time, I sat in the courtyard of an apartment complex, listening as the neighbors relayed a long list of must-sees: among them, the first street, military fortress and cathedral of the New World. Lucky for me, my friend (and Dominican native) Alex knew where to go and what to do. We had only a long weekend, and had been en route to the car when his neighbors' chatter led us to peek in for a quick hello.
SPORTS
By Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec and Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec,SUN REPORTERS | November 28, 2007
In an attempt to improve an international scouting system widely considered among the worst in Major League Baseball, the Orioles have agreed to an extended lease on a new baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, just east of the island's capital city of Santo Domingo. The facility, which is more than half-completed, will be in Boca Chica, between Santo Domingo and San Pedro de Macoris, where the Orioles currently run a Spartan operation that basically consists of two barracks and a field for 50 players.
TRAVEL
By MICHAEL MARTINEZ and MICHAEL MARTINEZ,SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS | April 30, 2006
PAMPLONA, Spain -- The skies were overcast on that July morning as I made my way through a thick crowd of people on Calle Santo Domingo. I was searching for my new Spanish friends, but everyone was dressed the same - white shirt and pants, red neckerchief, sneakers - and for a moment I began to think I was on my own. Alone among all these faces. But I found them, and then I knew this crazy thing might really happen. I was standing in the street where I would soon be running for my life, holding a rolled-up newspaper in my hand, my feet shifting nervously in the cool air. In a few minutes, a flare was going to be fired into the sky, a corral door would swing open and six bulls weighing 1,000 pounds each would hurtle toward me - toward all of us. We would have to run with every ounce of energy just to stay in front of their horns.
TRAVEL
By LOS ANGELES TIMES | November 27, 2005
Discover the arts of Veracruz, Puebla and Tlaxcala on a cultural tour that begins Jan. 12. The 11-night tour focuses on the art, archaeology and history of the region, east of Mexico City. "We see archaeological sites, and we see a lot of different types of art - from ancient pre-Columbian to cutting-edge," said tour leader Jean Grimm. In Veracruz, the group will tour the fortress of San Juan de Ulza and trace the trail of Hernando Cortes, the Spanish explorer who landed there in 1519.
NEWS
By Carol J. Williams and Carol J. Williams,LOS ANGELES TIMES | May 8, 2005
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - It has been nearly two years since Spanish scientists asked to examine the contents of this Caribbean nation's most celebrated tomb to determine whether the centuries-old bones are those of Christopher Columbus. They've been told yes, no and maybe. The protracted deliberation through two Dominican administrations has deepened suspicions that authorities here don't really want a definitive answer for fear that the mammoth lighthouse mausoleum they've built into a tourist draw isn't the bona fide resting place of the explorer.
NEWS
By Norman Solomon | April 26, 2005
FORTY YEARS AGO, on the morning of April 26, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson spoke with a top State Department official about fast-moving events in the Dominican Republic. A popular rebellion was on the verge of toppling a military junta and restoring the country's democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, to power. "This Bosch is no good," Mr. Johnson said. "He's no good at all," replied Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Mann, who added: "If we don't get a decent government in there, Mr. President, we get another Bosch.