Puerto Rico News Digest For January 15, 2016

GOV'T TO MAKE BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS

From News Is My Business:

"The government of Puerto Rico is making budget adjustments amoun-
ting to some $254 million, which is about half of the shortfall in revenue
collections the Treasury Department anticipated late last year. In a news
conference at La Fortaleza, Luis Cruz, executive director of the Office
of Management and Budget, confirmed a reduction in the budgets for
agencies offering health, security and education services. The govern-
ment will also not be making payments to the Commonwealth retire-
ment system and will clawback about $119 million in revenue that was
supposed to be directed for payments on the Puerto Rico Infrastructure
Financing Authority debt..."

MAYOR OF GUAYANILLA RESIGNS

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Guayanilla Mayor Edgardo Arlequín Vélez finally resigned his post after
being suspended on March 6, 2015 and less than a month after being sen-
tenced to four years in prison for sexual misconduct and using his post for
benefits, according to Inter News Service. Popular Democratic Party (PDP)
spokesman Ángel Raúl Matos said the resignation will become final once
the municipal legislature formally accepts it..."

COCAINE FOUND IN BUSHES IN ISABELA BEACH

From Military.Com:

"Federal authorities announced Monday that they discovered more than
$4 million worth of cocaine stashed in bushes along Puerto Rico's north
coast as they find more drug shipments but with smaller payloads in the
U.S. Caribbean. Some 340 pounds (154 kilograms) of cocaine were found
at a popular beach in the town of Isabela, according to U.S. Customs and
Border Protection. One man was arrested. It's one of the largest seizures in
recent months..."

PUERTO RICANS WIN POWERBALL PRIZES

From Caribbean Business:

"In Puerto Rico, the winning tickets for four $100,00 prizes were purcha-
sed at La Borinqueña in Caguas, La Milagrosa store in Camuy and the
other two in Plaza Loíza del Norte Shopping Center in San Juan, said
Armando Pérez Cruz, assistant director at the Electronic Lottery of Pu-
erto Rico. The winners of the $50,000 prizes made their plays at Cabre-
ra Services Station in San Juan and the San Gabriel Pharmacy in Caro-
lina..."

CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER DROWNS IN DORADO

From Yahoo! News:

"Authorities in Puerto Rico say a cruise ship passenger from California
has drowned along the U.S. territory's north coast amid rough seas. Au-
thorities say the 71-year-old from Angeles was swept away Thursday
along with his brother-in-law in the popular beach town of Dorado..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For January 11, 2016

LAST PR LEGISLATIVE SESSION BEGINS

From Caribbean Business:

"The seventh and last ordinary session of the Puerto Rico Legislature for
the 2012 to 2016 term begins Monday at 1 p.m., with both the House of Re-
presentatives and the Senate having left several measures on the table.  Am-
ong these is the controversial legislation to restructure the Puerto Rico Elec-
tric Power Authority (Prepa), which had been expected to be addressed in an
extraordinary session that did not materialize. Senate President Eduardo Bha-
tia and Rep. Jesús Santa have both said the measure will  be considered this
month..."

PIERLUISI URGES STATEHOOD VOTE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Resident Commissioner and New Progressive Party (NPP) gubernatorial can-
didate Pedro Pierluisi is calling on new Popular Democratic Party (PDP) Pre-
sident and gubernatorial candidate David Bernier to push for an up or down vo-
te on statehood. “I invite you to review the [friend of the court brief] presented
by the Department of Justice of the United States in the case People vs. Sánchez,
before the Supreme Court of  the United States,” Pierluisi said in a letter dated
Jan. 5. “In a crystal clear manner the federal Department of Justice exposes how
the Constitution of the Free Associated State is not a sovereign status, nor does
it change the territorial status of the island...”

LAW TO BOOST GOV'T BUYS FROM SMALL BIZ

From News Is My Business:

"A bill amending Law 62 of 2014 calling for an increase in government pur-
chases from local small and mid-sized businesses from 20 percent to 30 per-
cent starting this year has been signed into law, House Speaker Jaime Perelló
announced. The bill also included amendments to facilitate and streamline
permits processes for the sector..."

POWERBALL JACKPOT KEEPS GROWING

From NBC News:

"The ever-surging Powerball jackpot has grown to a record $1.3 billion after
Saturday night's drawing which had no bigger winner. But should you wind
up with the winning jackpot in Wednesday's record-breaking draw, odds are
good that you won't be able to hold on to your anonymity. With Powerball ti-
ckets sold in 44 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico, all but six states require lottery winners to come forward
publicly..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For April 20, 2015

LEGISLATORS LOOK TO LOWER IVA RATE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Lawmakers at the island House of Representatives on Thursday continued
fine-tuning the proposed Tax Reform with the goal of incorporating mea-
sures that would help reduce the value-added tax to a rate lower than
the original 16 percent. The STAR learned that lawmakers were evaluating
how much money a proposed tax on soft drinks would produce as well as
the proposed 6 percent tax on megastores’ transfer pricing. “We are eva-
luating to see if the [value-added] tax can be reduced as much as possi-
ble,” one lawmaker said. The House is evaluating reducing the proposed
value-added tax (IVA by its Spanish acronym) to between 12 percent and
14 percent and creating a reduced sales and use tax for businessto-busi-
ness transactions.

PR BIRTH CERTIFICATES SOLD TO IMMIGRANTS

From The Bradenton Herald:

Over the last 12 months, half a dozen cases have popped up in Miami federal
court involving defendants who have illegally procured Puerto Rican birth
certificates to obtain passports or driver licenses. A State Department
spokeswoman said she was going to look into the matter, but ultimately did
not respond to an email query from el Nuevo Herald. A spokesman for the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration also did not
respond to an email query from el Nuevo Herald. When the Puerto Rican birth
certificate law was enacted in December 2013, officials in San Juan said it
was a tool to combat widespread identity theft on the island.

POWERBALL JACKPOT SOLD IN PUERTO RICO

From Caribbean Business:

Saturday’s winning Powerball numbers were on a ticket sold in Puerto Rico.
It was bought in Sabana Grande’s Rodríguez Supermarket, and the holder
will be entitled to the $50 million jackpot, meaning he or she can collect
the winnings in a lump sum of $26.8 million after taxes or 30 annual pay-
ments starting Monday. The Powerball winning numbers were 13-22-23-29 -31;
the red Power number, 17; and the Power Play number, 3.

TAUBMAN INCREASES MALL OF SJ OWNERSHIP

From News Is My Business:

Taubman Centers Inc. announced the acquisition of an additional 15 percent
interest in The Mall of San Juan, pushing its ownership in the recently
opened center to 95 percent. The additional interest was acquired at cost,
while New Century Development Inc. will retain the remaining 5 percent
interest in the project, the company said.

PR NEW LUNG CANCER LOWER THAN US

From Outbreak News Today:

Puerto Rico has the lowest incidence rate of new lung cancer compared 

with all other races and ethnic groups in the United States, according 

to a study published last week in the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  The report also 

shows that Puerto Rico has a lower incidence rate of female breast 

cancer compared with U.S. non-Hispanic white and black women.