Puerto Rico Planning Board President Héctor Morales Martínez (Facebook via Junta de Planificación) By THE STAR STAFF With the island facing one of the most severe droughts in recent decades, the Puerto Rico Planning Board (JP by its initials in Spanish) announced on Wednesday a comprehensive effort to measure the economic fallout across public and private sectors. The study aims to give the government a verified, data‑driven picture of losses, operational disruptions, and ris

Rep. Swanny Enit Vargas Laureano (Facebook via Swanny Enit Vargas Laureano) By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico House of Representatives may investigate the controversial $5.8 billion contract awarded for 400 megawatts (MW) of temporary generation at the Aguirre power complex in Salinas, following a series of irregularities, missed deadlines and allegations of possible fraud surrounding the project, if legislation to that effect is approved. The resolution, filed by Rep. Swanny

By THE STAR STAFF Rangers Corps Commissioner Nelson Cruz said Wednesday that personnel from the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) launched an operation at Icacos Cay off Fajardo to attend to a dolphin that had a diving mask embedded in its body. “In light of this, we have coordinated with the Assistant Secretariat for Conservation and Research and its technical staff of biologists to address this situation urgently,” Cruz said in a written statement. Du

By THE STAR STAFF The tail end of a tropical wave that passed over part of Puerto Rico on Tuesday moved over the entire island on Wednesday and is expected to have left three inches of precipitation throughout the island. “It didn’t leave as much precipitation as Tuesday because it was passing across pretty fast,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ernesto Rodriguez said. Isolated thunderstorms impacted some parts of the island. For the next several days, conditions will