Please add old news from the
Portal:Puerto Rico/News page. Remember to include the month, day, and year of the news.
2007
May
May 5, 2007: Local economists expressed serious concerns over Puerto Rico's economic condition when it was revealed that the
Government's public debt equaled 76% of the island's
gross national product (GNP) in 2006-2007, making it one of the most indebted countries by percentage in the world, even more than the
United States. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 20: The Puerto Rico
Republican Party delegation convenes in
Yauco to elect its Committee members as it prepares for primaries for the 2008 general elections. Among those elected include current
Aguadilla and Yauco mayors Carlos Mendez and Abel Nazario, as well as current House Representative
Jennifer González. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 21: The Puerto Rico Housing Department announces that a new apartment complex slated for
El Condado will be built by real estate magnate
Donald Trump, through one of his companies. The cost of each apartment will range between $1-$6 million. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 25: 6 former members of The Mission of the Virgin Mary of the Well, (Misión de la Virgen del Pozo in Spanish) in
Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico reveal dark secrets of the excomulgated and former
Roman Catholic group, including torture and sexual abuse by its leader Juan Ángel Collado Pinto. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 31: The Puerto Rico Department of Health states that a reduction of 16,000 (25.6%)
smoking adults in Puerto Rico since 2005 could translate into $56 million in future health care savings for the island. (
El Nuevo Día)
June 14:
United Nations special committee on
decolonization calls on US to expedite Puerto Rico's self determination, text also requests General Assembly to consider question. PR press calls the resolution a 'historic one'.(
UN resolution)(
El Nuevo Dia)
June 26: 23-year-old Alex Trujillo, a criminal charged with multiple crimes, including
murder, is sentenced to only 20 years in prison after several irregularities caused the other charges to be dismissed. (
El Nuevo Día)
July
July 11: A federal investigation discovers more than 120 doctors who allegedly received special treatment by the PR Medical Examination Board to grant them licenses without meeting necessary criteria. (
El Nuevo Día)
August 30: A large oil spill is spotted off the coast of
Guanica, stretching to
Cabo Rojo. Emergency work crews from across the island are called to help the clean-up. (
El Nuevo Día)
September
September 12: David Bernier, the P.R. Secretary of Sports, proposes to
Major League Baseball to withdraw Puerto Rico from the
MLB draft, excluding the island from many requirements in order to compete with other Latin American countries. (
MLB.com)
September 19: Orlando José Pérez Jiménez, a Venezuelan Consul, alleges that, after its 4 month shutdown,
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is trying to reestablish its operations and transmissions from Puerto Rico. (
El Universal)
September 21: Ramón Calderón, president of Holsum Puerto Rico, bids $139 million and subsequently acquires
Pueblo Supermarkets of Puerto Rico and its assets in an effort save it from bankruptcy. (
El Nuevo Día)
September 21: Accord Ship Management, an Indian cargo ship operator, is found guilty of
illegally dumping oil waste in Puerto Rico waters, and is fined $1.75 million and banned from U.S. waters and ports for three years. (
Forbes.com)
September 27: Bio Celsius is ordered to pay $2.4 million for the cleaning and proper disposal of more than 4 million pounds of
biomedicalwaste from hospitals and clinics, which had been illegally stored in their facilities for months. (
Forbes.com)
October
October 3: The Puerto Rico Ports Authority decides not to move loose cargo dock operations from the current
San Juan Port to the new
Port of the Americas for at least another 8 years. The transfer proposal had been met with criticisms from the city of San Juan, shipping companies, and dock workers. (
Chron.com)
October 10: A controversial law is passed requiring a stricter dress code for
motorcyclists to improve protection as well as reducing the allowed
blood-alcohol level for riding. With this law, Puerto Rico now has the strictest requirements for motorcycle driving in the United States. (
Associated Press)
October 12: Communities and activists protest the apparent mass killing of
pet animals by a government contractor by throwing them of a 50 ft high bridge in
Barceloneta. They were confiscated from residents in 3
public housing projects, against
HUD and government instructions. (
CNN.com)
November 19: Puerto Rico upsets the United States at the men's
Volleyball World Cup, winning in four sets. It is the first time in 30 years that Puerto Rico has defeated the U.S. (
USA Today.com)
November 29: A 7.4 magnitude
earthquake hits
Martinique, and is felt in various locations in Puerto Rico. Many public and private buildings were evacuated as a precaution, with no damages reported. (
El Nuevo Dia.com)
November 29: A 7.4 magnitude
earthquake hits
Martinique, and is felt in various locations in Puerto Rico. Many public and private buildings were evacuated as a precaution, with no damages reported. (
El Nuevo Dia.com)
January 5: Over 100
cockfights in Puerto Rico are canceled due to the prohibition of various birds from the
Dominican Republic, after discovery of various animals with the
avian flu. The loss from such canceled activities is estimated in the millions. (
Associated Press)
April 16: The
U.S. Treasury on Wednesday said it approved a $1.282 billion economic stimulus payment to
Puerto Rico to be distributed to local residents as "recovery rebates" intended to revive the island's economy. (
Reuters)
September 12: Johnny Rullán is named Puerto Rico's Scretary of Health following Rosa Pérez Perdomo's retirement. (
El Nuevo Día)
September 12: The Association of Agriculture establishes several help centers to gather food and medicine for residents of
Cuba and
Haiti living in areas affected by hurricanes
Gustav and
Ike. (
Primera Hora)
May 26: US President
Barack Obama has chosen
Sonia Sotomayor, a United States Court of Appeals judge, as his first nominee to the United States Supreme Court. (
Wikinews)
July 27, 2010:
Carlos Alberto Torres, former
FALN member, was released from federal custody after being parolled and serving 30 years for seditious conspiracy.
October 6, 2010: The FBI arrests over Eighty-nine Puerto Rico Police Department officers and 44 others in predawn raids as part of Operation Guard Shack, the largest law enforcement corruption investigation in the FBI's history.
October 27, 2010: The U.S. Department of Justice made an announced on October 2010 that GlaxoSmithKline will pay $150 million in criminal fines and $600 million in civil penalties. GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay the $750 million settlement in response to criminal and civil complaints against the company stemming from production of improperly made and adulterated drugs at their subsidiary
SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc in Cidra, Puerto Rico.
March 7, 2011: Hector Martinez, a
Puerto Rican Senator for the district of
Carolina, PR, is found guilty of
bribery and other corruption-related charges. Resigning shortly afterwards, he is the 4th legislator to resign or be expelled under accusations or controversy in the current legislative assembly.
May
May 10, 2011: After 25 years of fugitive status, the
FBI announce the arrest of Norberto González Claudio, accused of participating in the 1983 Wells Fargo depot robbery perpetrated by
Los Macheteros guerilla group, leaving
Víctor Manuel Gerena as the only alleged perpetrator still unaccounted for.
Please add old news from the
Portal:Puerto Rico/News page. Remember to include the month, day, and year of the news.
2007
May
May 5, 2007: Local economists expressed serious concerns over Puerto Rico's economic condition when it was revealed that the
Government's public debt equaled 76% of the island's
gross national product (GNP) in 2006-2007, making it one of the most indebted countries by percentage in the world, even more than the
United States. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 20: The Puerto Rico
Republican Party delegation convenes in
Yauco to elect its Committee members as it prepares for primaries for the 2008 general elections. Among those elected include current
Aguadilla and Yauco mayors Carlos Mendez and Abel Nazario, as well as current House Representative
Jennifer González. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 21: The Puerto Rico Housing Department announces that a new apartment complex slated for
El Condado will be built by real estate magnate
Donald Trump, through one of his companies. The cost of each apartment will range between $1-$6 million. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 25: 6 former members of The Mission of the Virgin Mary of the Well, (Misión de la Virgen del Pozo in Spanish) in
Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico reveal dark secrets of the excomulgated and former
Roman Catholic group, including torture and sexual abuse by its leader Juan Ángel Collado Pinto. (
El Nuevo Día)
May 31: The Puerto Rico Department of Health states that a reduction of 16,000 (25.6%)
smoking adults in Puerto Rico since 2005 could translate into $56 million in future health care savings for the island. (
El Nuevo Día)
June 14:
United Nations special committee on
decolonization calls on US to expedite Puerto Rico's self determination, text also requests General Assembly to consider question. PR press calls the resolution a 'historic one'.(
UN resolution)(
El Nuevo Dia)
June 26: 23-year-old Alex Trujillo, a criminal charged with multiple crimes, including
murder, is sentenced to only 20 years in prison after several irregularities caused the other charges to be dismissed. (
El Nuevo Día)
July
July 11: A federal investigation discovers more than 120 doctors who allegedly received special treatment by the PR Medical Examination Board to grant them licenses without meeting necessary criteria. (
El Nuevo Día)
August 30: A large oil spill is spotted off the coast of
Guanica, stretching to
Cabo Rojo. Emergency work crews from across the island are called to help the clean-up. (
El Nuevo Día)
September
September 12: David Bernier, the P.R. Secretary of Sports, proposes to
Major League Baseball to withdraw Puerto Rico from the
MLB draft, excluding the island from many requirements in order to compete with other Latin American countries. (
MLB.com)
September 19: Orlando José Pérez Jiménez, a Venezuelan Consul, alleges that, after its 4 month shutdown,
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is trying to reestablish its operations and transmissions from Puerto Rico. (
El Universal)
September 21: Ramón Calderón, president of Holsum Puerto Rico, bids $139 million and subsequently acquires
Pueblo Supermarkets of Puerto Rico and its assets in an effort save it from bankruptcy. (
El Nuevo Día)
September 21: Accord Ship Management, an Indian cargo ship operator, is found guilty of
illegally dumping oil waste in Puerto Rico waters, and is fined $1.75 million and banned from U.S. waters and ports for three years. (
Forbes.com)
September 27: Bio Celsius is ordered to pay $2.4 million for the cleaning and proper disposal of more than 4 million pounds of
biomedicalwaste from hospitals and clinics, which had been illegally stored in their facilities for months. (
Forbes.com)
October
October 3: The Puerto Rico Ports Authority decides not to move loose cargo dock operations from the current
San Juan Port to the new
Port of the Americas for at least another 8 years. The transfer proposal had been met with criticisms from the city of San Juan, shipping companies, and dock workers. (
Chron.com)
October 10: A controversial law is passed requiring a stricter dress code for
motorcyclists to improve protection as well as reducing the allowed
blood-alcohol level for riding. With this law, Puerto Rico now has the strictest requirements for motorcycle driving in the United States. (
Associated Press)
October 12: Communities and activists protest the apparent mass killing of
pet animals by a government contractor by throwing them of a 50 ft high bridge in
Barceloneta. They were confiscated from residents in 3
public housing projects, against
HUD and government instructions. (
CNN.com)
November 19: Puerto Rico upsets the United States at the men's
Volleyball World Cup, winning in four sets. It is the first time in 30 years that Puerto Rico has defeated the U.S. (
USA Today.com)
November 29: A 7.4 magnitude
earthquake hits
Martinique, and is felt in various locations in Puerto Rico. Many public and private buildings were evacuated as a precaution, with no damages reported. (
El Nuevo Dia.com)
November 29: A 7.4 magnitude
earthquake hits
Martinique, and is felt in various locations in Puerto Rico. Many public and private buildings were evacuated as a precaution, with no damages reported. (
El Nuevo Dia.com)
January 5: Over 100
cockfights in Puerto Rico are canceled due to the prohibition of various birds from the
Dominican Republic, after discovery of various animals with the
avian flu. The loss from such canceled activities is estimated in the millions. (
Associated Press)
April 16: The
U.S. Treasury on Wednesday said it approved a $1.282 billion economic stimulus payment to
Puerto Rico to be distributed to local residents as "recovery rebates" intended to revive the island's economy. (
Reuters)
September 12: Johnny Rullán is named Puerto Rico's Scretary of Health following Rosa Pérez Perdomo's retirement. (
El Nuevo Día)
September 12: The Association of Agriculture establishes several help centers to gather food and medicine for residents of
Cuba and
Haiti living in areas affected by hurricanes
Gustav and
Ike. (
Primera Hora)
May 26: US President
Barack Obama has chosen
Sonia Sotomayor, a United States Court of Appeals judge, as his first nominee to the United States Supreme Court. (
Wikinews)
July 27, 2010:
Carlos Alberto Torres, former
FALN member, was released from federal custody after being parolled and serving 30 years for seditious conspiracy.
October 6, 2010: The FBI arrests over Eighty-nine Puerto Rico Police Department officers and 44 others in predawn raids as part of Operation Guard Shack, the largest law enforcement corruption investigation in the FBI's history.
October 27, 2010: The U.S. Department of Justice made an announced on October 2010 that GlaxoSmithKline will pay $150 million in criminal fines and $600 million in civil penalties. GlaxoSmithKline agreed to pay the $750 million settlement in response to criminal and civil complaints against the company stemming from production of improperly made and adulterated drugs at their subsidiary
SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc in Cidra, Puerto Rico.
March 7, 2011: Hector Martinez, a
Puerto Rican Senator for the district of
Carolina, PR, is found guilty of
bribery and other corruption-related charges. Resigning shortly afterwards, he is the 4th legislator to resign or be expelled under accusations or controversy in the current legislative assembly.
May
May 10, 2011: After 25 years of fugitive status, the
FBI announce the arrest of Norberto González Claudio, accused of participating in the 1983 Wells Fargo depot robbery perpetrated by
Los Macheteros guerilla group, leaving
Víctor Manuel Gerena as the only alleged perpetrator still unaccounted for.