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Friday, June 12, 2015

Puerto Rico News Digest For June 12, 2015


LAWMAKERS HALT VIDEO LOTTERY BILL





















From The San Juan Daily Star:

Two of the Popular Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers who broke rank
with their party to oppose the governor’s original tax reform proposal --
Carlos Vargas and Ángel Matos -- said Wednesday that Treasury Secretary
Juan Zaragoza does not have the legal wherewithal to authorize and imple-
ment the video lottery gaming system. Zaragoza plans to put the system in
place by the first week of July with the goal of generating some $100 million
in revenues. Based on these premises, the lawmakers have filed House Con-
current Resolution 58 in which they “strongly” reject the executive branch’s
claim that the Treasury secretary has the legal power to establish the video
lottery game through regulations.


GOVERNOR AND MCCONNELL DISCUSS BANKRUPTCY


From Caribbean Business:

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla met with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc
Connell, R-Ky., and fellow Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to discuss approval
of HR 870, the measure submitted to the U.S. Congress that seeks to include
the Puerto Rican government under Chapter 9 provisions of the federal bank-
ruptcy code. In addition, the governor promoted the bill to Senate Judiciary
Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-IA.


NEW COMPANY SEEKS TO MARKET LOCAL FOOD


From News Is My Business:

Viandharina, a new agro-industrial company based in Salinas, has opened for
business in the south following a $1.6 million investment in a plant that
seeks to substitute imports of several Puerto Rican food staples, including
sweet and green plantain and breadfruit “tostones.” During a news conference
at the plant located at the former Aguirre sugar plantation, company Presi-
dent René Soto-Torres said the goal is to “cut by 5 percent the importation
of manufactured agricultural products, which mostly come from Central and
South America.” He said close to 2.5 million pounds of frozen “tostones” are
imported monthly, and another $400 million in manufactured agricultural pro-
ducts are imported annually.


NBA STAR BRINGS NEW PRO SOCCER TEAM TO PR


From News West 9:

NBA star Carmelo Anthony announced Thursday that he is bringing a profe-
ssional soccer team to Puerto Rico for the first time in three years. The new
club, called Puerto Rico FC, will begin playing in the Division II North Am-
erican Soccer League in fall 2016. "It is an honor for me to bring back soccer
to Puerto Rico, my beloved island, birthplace of my father," Anthony, who
plays for the New York Knicks, said at a news conference in the U.S. territo-
ry. "To the thousands of fans in Puerto Rico that have been waiting for soccer
to come back, I can promise a world-class organization in a world-class league."


SEA TURTLE NESTS AT PEAK NUMBERS


From Fox News Latino:

The number of leatherback sea turtle nests spotted this year on San Juan's
beaches is the highest on record, thanks to monitoring and conservation e-
fforts by hundreds of residents and volunteers along the shores of Puerto
Rico's capital. So far, 22 leatherback nests have been located, compared to
the record 18 found last year, Deborah Feliciano, a leader of the 7 Quillas
community group, told Efe, citing Department of Natural and Environmen-
tal Resources, or DRNA, figures.


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