Sen. Wilmer Reyes Berríos By THE STAR STAFF Guayama District Sen. Wilmer Reyes Berríos on Wednesday accused at-large Sen. Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz of portraying himself as the watchdog of the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) and the current administration, despite having left the Municipality of Villalba, where he had served as mayor, with a critical financial situation that includes a $3.6 million debt with the water utility. Reyes Berríos maintained that

Javier Rúa Jovet, public policy director at the Puerto Rico Solar and Energy Storage Association By THE STAR STAFF Puerto Rico’s solar and energy‑storage advocates are urging regulators to reject a proposal by LUMA Energy that would raise the residential fixed charge from about $4 per month to more than $40.  The Puerto Rico Solar and Energy Storage Association (SESA) and Solar United Neighbors (SUN) filed a motion before the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) opposing the requ

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón By THE STAR STAFF Gov. Jenniffer González Colón urged a federal judge this week to return her lawsuit seeking to invalidate the extension of LUMA Energy’s contract to Puerto Rico’s local courts, arguing that the case centers solely on enforcing commonwealth law and not on political or financial motives. In a filing submitted this past Monday to U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, the governor and the Puerto Rico government said the lawsuit fa

Roberto Viqueira Ríos was a marine biologist and director of the environmental organization Protectores de Cuencas. (Facebook via Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales) By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it will not appeal a Feb. 6 ruling issued by Judge Ángel Llavona Folguera, in which he acquitted a nurse who argued he killed his neighbor, Roberto Viqueira Ríos, in self-defense. The decision against appealing the Pueb

By THE STAR STAFF In response to the most recent cases of sexual exploitation of minors using social networks and online video game platforms, Rep. José Aponte Hernández on Wednesday called an emergency meeting with several agency heads, as well as personnel from the FBI. The purpose of the meeting is to evaluate the protocols for prevention, detection and intervention in cases of sexual approaches by adults to children through electronic means. Those cited would include Fami

Bad Bunny’s casting as the lead in the upcoming film “Porto Rico,” a historical epic centered on the island’s origins, follows his widely praised Super Bowl performance, which attracted more than 128 million viewers. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) By THE STAR STAFF Some 10 days after delivering an all‑Spanish Super Bowl halftime show celebrating his Puerto Rican heritage, global music star Bad Bunny has been cast in the lead role of the upcoming film “Porto Rico,” a historic

The home page of the new digital dashboard for the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Reporting System. By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced on Tuesday the official launch of the digital platform for the Puerto Rico Violent Deaths Reporting System (PRVDRS). The new public and interactive tool facilitates transparent and timely access to data on violent deaths in Puerto Ric

Rep. Elinette González Aguayo, chairwoman of the Committee on Natural Resources in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives By THE STAR STAFF The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) has endorsed House Bill 908, a measure that would impose fines of up to $5,000 on boaters who disregard official warnings during emergency conditions and continue operating recreational vessels or similar vehicles. During a public hearing Tuesday before the Committee on Natura