Puerto Rico News Digest For July 15, 2017

WHO'S THE REAL ANIMAL?

Crazed dog-killer murders pooch in middle of road

File photo

Toa Alta resident David Mercedes, age 20, sits in jail after chasing a neighbor's pitbull which had entered his property out onto the street and brutally killing the dog. The pooch succumbed to injuries caused by a heavy wooden object which the disturbed perpetrator used to beat it over the head several times. Responding Toa Alta police were shocked at the scene when they arrived to investigate. The violent dog-hater remains at the Bayamón jail after having failed to pay a $10,000 bond.

AIBONITO, NOT SO BONITO...MAN SHOT TO DEATH 

Joseph Rosario Rivera, age 29, fell victim to a drive-by shooting near the entrance to the Las Flores neighborhood of Aibonito, on Road PR-722, on Thursday night. At about 10:35 that night, mulitple individuals with firearms shot at Rivera from inside the car, striking him several times. A good samaritan drove the victim to a local hospital, where he died. The bloody incident has been tallied as the 352nd murder in Puerto Rico for 2017, seven less than at this time last year.

PIP LAWMAKERS: STOP DUMPING TOXIC COAL ASH!

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Legislators Juan Dalmau Ramírez and Denis Márquez Lebrón of the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) announced  Thursday the introduction of steps in the island Senate and House to stop the dumping of toxic coal ash and remedy the ineffectiveness of Law 40 of 2017..."

SENATE PRESIDENT TO FOCUS ON MUNICIPALITIES

From Caribbean Business:

"Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz has defined the course of the upcoming legislative session by pointing out that his priority, as of August, will be to address the fiscal and structural challenges of Puerto Rico’s  78 municipalities..."

RICH PEOPLE RUSH IN TO PICK PUERTO RICO'S BONES

From Bloomberg:

"Distressed-mortgage investors are descending on troubled Puerto Rico. There are big names among them: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Perella Weinberg Partners and TPG Capital. What’s luring them is the opportunity to scoop up home loans and foreclosed properties for pennies on the dollar..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For June 20, 2017

CANNABIS DISPENSARY OPENS IN OCEAN PARK

From News Is My Business:

"A new health and wellness alternative, the b.well Healing Center, opened its doors in the area of  Condado and Ocean Park becoming the first medical cannabis dispensary in San Juan. The facility,  which entailed a $300,000 investment, will offer medicinal cannabis treatments..."

GOVERNOR SEEKS TO CUT ELECTORAL FUND MONEY

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares announced Monday that he sent a bill to the Legislative Assembly that eliminates the governmental contribution to the Electoral Fund, from which the political parties draw monies to pay administrative expenses..."

SENATE TO CONSIDER GENDER EQUALITY IN SCHOOLS

From Caribbean Business:

"Despite opposition from New Progressive Party (NPP) senators to the bill that proposes to implement  education with gender perspective in Puerto Rico’s public school system, the bill will be voted on  this week, Senate Majority Leader Carmelo Ríos said..."

PR DECLARES HOMESCHOOLING A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

From HSLDA:

"Puerto Rico is now the first among U.S. states and territories to recognize homeschooling as a fundamental right, thanks to a law signed by Governor Ricardo Rossello Nevares on June 7..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For June 27, 2016

LEW URGES SENATE TO CONSIDER PROMESA

From Caribbean Business:

"U.S. Secretary Jacob Lew has sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch 

Mc Connell regarding the debt crisis in Puerto Rico. Lew says that if H.R. 5278, 

the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (Promesa) 

is not considered, the island’s looming July 1 default could trigger lawsuits that, 

if  “successful, a judge could immediately order Puerto Rico to pay creditors 

over essential services such as health, education, and public safety...”

SJ PRIDE MARCH REMEMBERS ORLANDO VICTIMS

From Fox News Latino:

"Thousands of people turned out on Sunday for the annual Gay Pride March
in San Juan, where special remembrance was paid to the victims of the Orlan-
do nightclub massacre, almost half of whom were of Puerto Rican heritage. "I
lost two friends, two brothers, Martin (Benitez Torees) and Jimmy de Jesus (Ve-
lazquez)," Boriquen Memorial funeral home spokesperson Serbella Tejeda said
after the establishment had offered its services gratis to the families of the 23
Puerto Ricans who died in the shooting at the Pulse nightclub..."

ISLAND GOP BACKS STATUS VOTE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"The Puerto Rico Republican Party approved a resolution supporting the hol-
ding of a referendum on the island’s status issue in which voters will choose
among two decolonization options: statehood or independence, and that it be
held together with the Nov. 8 general elections, local party president Jenniffer
González announced Thursday..."

AGP SUSPENDS INFRASTRUCTURE PAYMENTS

From Reuters:

"Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla late on Friday declared a sus-
pension of any payments on some debt issued by the U.S. territory's infrastruc-
ture financing authority, citing the authority granted under a local emergency de-
bt moratorium law. Garcia Padilla signed an executive order that applies to "cer-
tain Puerto Rico Financing Authority (PRIFA) notes," a statement from the gov-
ernment said..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For June 1, 2016

HURRICANE SEASON STARTS TODAY

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"U.S. government forecasters expect a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season,
after three relatively slow years. But they also say climate conditions that influ-
ence storm development are making it difficult to predict how many hurricanes
and tropical storms will arise over the next six months. The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration’s outlook released late last week called for a
near-normal season with 10 to 16 named storms, with four to eight hurricanes
and one to four “major” ones with winds reaching 111 mph and up..."

SENATE HONORS VETS ON MEMORIAL DAY

From Caribbean Business:

"The Senate received Monday a group of veterans and their families, as well as
officers, to commemorate Memorial Day in a ceremony at a Capitol monument
honoring the fallen in various wars. Sen. Miguel Pereira, chairman of the Judici-
ary, Security and Veterans Committee, hosted the activity and received Col. Mar-
ta Carcana, adjutant general of the National Guard of Puerto Rico, who delivered
a message to attendees. Also attending the ceremony were Jorge Cases, spokes-
man for the Veterans Advocate Office; former Puerto Rico National Guard Adjt.
Gen. Luis González Vale and former San Juan Mayor Héctor Luis Acevedo, who
retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1998..."

OMB: PAYING DEBT COULD MEAN LAYOFFS

From News Is My Business:

"If the government of Puerto Rico were to pay the full amount due next year in
GO debt would require laying off more than 3,400 public workers, among other
adjustments, Luis Cruz, executive director of the Office of Management and Bud-
get, told members of the House Finance Committee during budget hearings Mon-
day. In his testimony, Cruz said the $209 million set aside from the General Fund
will go to cover GO interest payment, but no principal amount, which would total
$1.4 billion next fiscal year..."

SAN JUAN TAXI DRIVERS PROTEST UBER

From Fox News Latino:

"Traffic chaos prevailed in San Juan on Tuesday as taxi drivers and  truckers
protested the arrival in Puerto Rico of Uber, the private ride-hailing service,
which links passengers and drivers via a mobile application. On Tuesday mor-
ning it was difficult to find taxis on the capital streets, while some tourist excur-
sions had to be cancelled when drivers with certain tourist operators refused to
work..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For May 27, 2016

PROMESA ADVANCES TO HOUSE FLOOR

From News Is My Business:

"The PROMESA Act (H.R. 5278), the bill aimed to address Puerto Rico’s
debt crisis, passed in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Wednes-
day with bipartisan support from lawmakers. The final vote tally was 29 in fa-
vor and 10 opposed. Of the 24 Republicans on the Committee that voted, 14 --
or nearly 60 percent — voted “yes.” Of the 16 Democrats on the Committee that
voted, 15 voted “yes” and one voted “present.”..The measure was approved with
amendments that Pierluisi said will “strengthen the bill or are technical  in nature...”

PREPA RATE INCREASE SPARKS OUTRAGE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Puerto Rico’s heavily indebted electric company announced Tuesday that it is
seeking a more than 20 percent increase in the island’s already high power bills,
sparking outrage among many who note the agency faces numerous corruption
allegations. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) said the increa-
se would allow it to keep operating and help boost its dwindling liquidity. Offic-
ials said the additional revenue also would let the company restructure its $9 bill-
ion debt load, reduce its dependence on petroleum and renovate obsolete infras-
tructure..."

SENATE OVERRIDES GOVERNOR'S TAX VETOES

From Caribbean Business:

"The Senate on Thursday agreed to override Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s
veto on the bill that would repeal the hike to the business-to-business (B2B)
tax and the value-added tax (VAT) or IVA in Spanish. The B2B was slated to
go into effect next week. The lawmakers’ decision was made in part because
of a request made by Popular Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate David
Bernier..."

US SWIMMING DUMPS PR OVER ZIKA

From Tribu Magazine:

"Frank Busch, the U.S. national team director, sent out a letter Thursday to all
national team athletes and coaches telling them of the change. The camp will
now be held in Atlanta instead of Puerto Rico in late July. "As part of our prepa-
rations for the Olympic Games this summer, we have been closely monitoring the
current situation with the Zika virus", Busch wrote in his letter, which was obtai-
ned by The Associated Press...The U.S. team is still scheduled to hold a training
camp in San Antonio from July 11-21..."

___________________________________________________________________


The Puerto Rico Monitor will be on break for the Memorial Day holiday until 
Wednesday, June 1st. See you then and have a great weekend.

Puerto Rico News Digest For February 15, 2016

FATHER POISONS DAUGHTERS, ONE DEAD

A 20-year-old man from Fajardo's Puerto Real housing project has turned
himself in to police after allegedly poisoning his 23-month-old twin daugh-
ters, one of whom died Saturday at Caribbean Medical hospital. Doctors in-
formed police that the deceased infant's body also showed signs of abuse.
The father had been estranged from the family but recently returned. Accor-
ding to the girls' mother, he had become abusive, but she had been afraid of
reporting the incidents. The suspect is being held at Fajardo police headquar-
ters and is expected to be charged today.

MAN DIES DURING SKYDIVING ACCIDENT

From Fox News Latino:

"A 58-year-old Chicago man died Saturday morning in a skydiving accident
that occurred when he apparently had problems controlling his parachute af-
terit opened, authorities said. Police say that Gaby Ferraca died Saturday mor-
ning at the 14th annual skydiving festival at the island's Arecibo regional air-
port. Event organizer Jason Gonzalez said the death was the first associated
with the festival in 15 years. Federal Aviation Administration officials, police
and prosecutors are investigating the accident, according to a police report..."

BUS WORKERS: LAYOFFS TO START MONDAY

From Caribbean Business:

The president of the Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA by its Spanish acro-
nym) union, Alexis Merced, said the government will be implementing a plan
for partial layoffs starting Monday. Merced, of the United Workers (Tuama)
union, said AMA will be the first public corporation in which the measure will
be carried out. “This government has consistently said there will be no layoffs.
However, starting next Monday, there will be partial layoffs at AMA when ab-
out 50 workers will have their workday reduced to 20 hours a week,” he claimed.
The measure was notified to the workers in a statement by AMA President Héc-
tor Iván Santos, the labor leader said. “According to Santos’ written expressions,
the measure seeks to send home employees who report to work and AMA says
it has no assignments for them that day,” the union spokesman said..."

PREPA RESTRUCTURING BILL PASSES SENATE

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Gov. Alejandro García Padilla on Thursday lauded the Puerto Rico Senate’s
vote to restructure the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), saying
the measure guarantees that PREPA will not be privatized and will remain in
the hands of the Puerto Rican people. The Senate passed the measure Wednes-
day night in a 16-10 vote. “This bill guarantees the stabilization of the electri-
city bill to the extent that it permits us to...produce energy efficiently, permits
external investment in the production of energy as is the case with [two existing
private energy companies] Ecoeléctrica and AES,” the governor said in a press
conference at La Fortaleza. “And it also guarantees that [PREPA]  continues to
be ours, that there will be no fi rings of public employees and  that there is a
flow of capital to be able to buy fuel and diversify the source of energy...”

Puerto Rico News Digest For October 16, 2015

GOVERNOR IN DC FOR FISCAL MEETINGS 

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"Gov. Alejandro García Padilla left for Washington, D.C. on Wednes-
day to discuss alternatives for helping Puerto Rico deal with its debt,
which as of July was $69.7 billion, including allowing the island to be
covered by the federal bankruptcy law. The Government Development
Bank (GDB) is facing a $354 million debt payment on Dec. 1 and the
commonwealth government is expected to make a huge payment on
its general obligations (GOs) in January. The White House has made
it clear it won’t bail out the  commonwealth and Congress appears not
to be willing to help either. On Oct. 22, the Senate Natural Resources
Committee is slated to evaluate the government’s fi scal state in a hea-
ring that is expected to include options for Congress moving forward..."

CARJACKING RAPIST FOUND GUILTY BY JURY

From US Attorney's Office:

"Carlos Cruz-Rivera, aka “Cano Llorens,” was found guilty on all
counts of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of vio-
lence (carjacking) and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,
announced United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez.
United States District Judge José A. Fusté presided over the trial.
The convict had pled guilty to three counts of carjacking  in the sa-
me accusation on October 6, 2015. On September 9, 2015, a fede-
ral grand jury returned a seven-count superseding indictment char-
ging a Cruz-Rivera with three counts of carjacking, three counts
of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime
of violence, and one count possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon. During the three day trial, the government presented pictu-
res and witness’ testimonies that narrated the criminal incidents
of rape, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery that that the defen-
dant perpetrated against the innocent victims..."

SENATE PASSES EDUCATION REFORM

From Caribbean Business:

"The Puerto Rico Senate approved Bill 1456, authored by the body's
president, Eduardo A. Bhatia, which intends to bring about educa-
tional partnerships to operate public Lider (Spanish acronym for
charter) schools, grant schools greater autonomy and to have more
of the budget’s allocation for education reach the classroom..."

GOVERNOR SUBMITS FISCAL BOARD BILL

From News Is My Business:

"Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla submitted late Thursday to the legis-
lature the bill that will give way to the creation of a five-member fis-
cal oversight board that among other things, will be responsible for
enforcing compliance with approved budgets. The proposed “Fiscal
Responsibility and Economic Revitalization of Puerto Rico Law” es-
tablishes the independent, non-partisan entity will also be responsible
for approving the proposed Economic and Fiscal Growth plan and en-
sure that future Commonwealth and agency budgets comply with the
provisions of that plan..."