Puerto Rico News Digest For January 5, 2015

PR PASSES 24,000 CHIKUNGUNYA CASES

From The San Juan Daily Star:


Nearly all of the additional 25,000 or so chikungunya cases
in the Americas can be attributed to just a handful of countries,
including Puerto Rico, according to new data from the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO). Puerto Rico continues its steady
increase in chikungunya cases, reporting another 1,661 cases and
putting the island country’s total over 24,000. According to
Outbreak, in South America, Colombia continues its surge in cases,
reporting the most signifi cant amount of any country.

PR AMONG TOP DESTINATIONS FOR 2015

From The Columbus Dispatch:


Online travel company Priceline.com — which bases its “hot” list
on advance hotel reservations — has Puerto Rico at the top of its
list of hot 2015 “international” travel destinations, although
the island is a U.S. territory that can be visited without a
passport.

Travelzoo’s Saglie noted that several U.S. airlines have added
flights to Puerto Rico from the mainland, making fares to the
island some of the lowest in the Caribbean.

“I think airlines will continue to add routes from the eastern
U.S.,” he said. “Even in winter, you’re finding fares from the
Midwest under $200 each way. On the cruise side, you’ll pro-
bably see great deals on cruises out of San Juan.”

SAN SEBASTIAN FESTIVAL TO GO ON

From Yahoo! News:


The Committee of the San Sebastian Street Festival filed a
lawsuit Dec. 31, demanding officials leave it in control of the
event that is held in Old San Juan each January. The committee
complains Mayor Carmen Yulin's administration is trying to limit
its involvement in the festival and is replacing traditional
music and dance with more modern and secular presentations.
Yulin says the event will go forward.

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

From Fox News Latino:

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

From Outbreak News Today:

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.