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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Puerto Rico News Digest For December 31, 2014


METEOR SIGHTING MAY HAVE BEEN ROCKET



















El Nuevo Dia is reporting today that the Astronomical Society of the
Caribbean has advised that the "meteor" sighted over Puerto Rico early
in the morning of December 28th may have actually been a part or
parts from a man-made rocket. The flying object -- which was observed 
by several witnesses moving slowly from the southwest towards the
east/northeast -- may have been a stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which
had been launched to put an Asian satellite into orbit. The rocket parts 
had subsequently been orbiting Earth and eventually lost altitude, 
according to Dr. Roger Thompson of the Center For Orbital and Space
Junk Reentry Studies. The seemingly flaming object was observed
for about 44 seconds. 


PDP SENATOR SEEKS TO HIKE MINIMUM WAGE


Popular Democratic Party Sentator Cirilo Tirado has pushed for 
legislation to increase Puerto Rico's minimum wage from $7.25 
to $15 an hour, as several US states and the  District of Columbia 
are poised to see minimum wage hikes come into  effect tomorrow. 
The project has so far received little attention in the legislature, 
but Sen. Tirado hopes it can move forward after the start of the next 
legislative session, according to El Vocero. The proposed increase
has seen considerable opposition from business groups, who claim 
that such an increase will lead to a loss of jobs. Proponents of the hike 
believe that such a boost would help the island's economy, as minimum 
wage earners are very likely to spend any extra income they receive,
putting the money back into the economy.


MURDERS AT FIFTEEN YEAR LOW



Murders in Puerto Rico at the close of 2014 numbered 680, the lowest 
figure since 2000 and a drop of 23 percent compared with the year 
before, something that police attribute to better crime detection and 
citizens' cooperation.

The chief of the Puerto Rico Police Department, Jose Caldero, said 
Tuesday in a statement to Efe that the reasons for the significant 
decline in the number of murders are to be found in those two points 
plus the commitment of all the cops on the force.

"The crime rate continues to drop as we get better at arresting 
criminals, dismantling their organizations and taking them to court. 
These achievements are thanks to the commitment of our police 
officers together with the Department of Justice and its team of 
prosecutors," Caldero said.


MORE CHIKUNGUNYA CASES REPORTED



Nearly all of the additional 25,000 or so chikungunya cases in 
the Americas can be attributed to just a handful of countries, 
according to new data from the Pan American Health Organization 
(PAHO) Monday.

Puerto Rico continues their steady increase in chikungunya cases 
reporting another 1,661 cases putting the island country’s total 
over 24,000. In total for the Western Hemisphere, there has been 
1,071,696 suspected and confirmed locally acquired chikungunya 
cases in the past 12 months.


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