Puerto Rico News Digest For September 26, 2014

FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL PUERTO RICO

From the National Weather Service in San Juan:

THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS NOW IN EFFECT FOR

* FOR ALL OF PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS.

* FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT

* AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE LOCATED EAST NORTHEAST OF PUERTO
  RICO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE WEST SOUTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE LOCAL
  AREA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS KEEPING INSTABILITY HIGHER THAN
  USUAL. THIS WILL GENERATE STRONG SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
  LAND AREAS IN PUERTO RICO THIS AFTERNOON WITH SOME ACTIVITY IN
  THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. IN ADDITION...TO AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE
  THE STEERING FLOW IS NOW QUITE WEAK SUCH THAT HEAVY RAINFALL IN
  THUNDERSTORMS WOULD GENERATE FLOODING RAINS IN VERY LOCALIZED
  AREAS DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS TODAY AND SATURDAY.

* ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO LONGER A POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING
  TONIGHT THE THREAT REMAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN
  ON SATURDAY.

Pierluisi Confident That He Will Get NPP Nod

Resident Commissioner and New Progressive Party President Pedro

Pierluisi told El Vocero that he is confident of winning his party's 

nomination for the governorship in 2016. Pierluisi said that he "got

more votes" as Resident Commissioner in 2012 than Governor 

Alejandro Garcia Padilla did, and more votes than the statehood option

received in the latest status plebiscite. He also stated that he will not be

attending  the statehood assembly announced by Ricky Rosselló for

October 5th, as he feels the date and the assembly itself are not

appropriate.

Police Carry Out Drug Busts In South

El Nuevo Dia reports that Puerto Rico Police have carried out an

operation in the island's south Friday morning involving several arrest 

and search warrants related to drug crimes. José Juan García, director

of the Police Department's Drug Enforcement Division, said three people

have been arrested so far, and $30,000 worth of cash, weapons and 

drugs have been seized. This follows a similar operation carried out

earlier in the week in Caguas.

Puerto Rico Looking To Join Powerball Lottery

From Caribbean Business:

The Puerto Rico government looks poised to announce that the U.S. 

territory is adding the multi-state, multi-million dollar Powerball 

jackpot to it is electronic lottery options. Treasury Secretary Melba 

Acosta is slated to hold a press conference at agency headquarters 

on Friday to detail a new lottery product.

Powerball is already played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands...Jackpots regularly reach into the hundreds of 

millions of dollars. The odds of matching all six Powerball numbers 

are 1 in about 175 million, according to statistics from the Multi-

State Lottery Association in Iowa.