By THE STAR STAFF Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has signed Law 26 of 2026, regulating the use and designation of multi-occupancy restrooms in agencies, public corporations, the University of Puerto Rico and municipalities. The measure, House Bill 165, was introduced by Rep. Lisie Burgos Muñiz and co-authored by several legislators. The new law prohibits the installation of inclusive, mixed-gender, or gender-neutral restrooms and requires that multi-occupancy restrooms be sepa

By THE STAR STAFF The Cidra municipal government will bring its services to the eastern-central town’s Bayamón neighborhood this Saturday as part of the “Mayor’s Office Close to You” initiative, an effort to bring municipal programs and services closer to the communities, Mayor Delvis Pagán Clavijo announced Wednesday. The event will take place at the neighborhood sports complex court starting at 10 a.m. “The purpose of this project is to facilitate access to municipal servic

By THE STAR STAFF Pensions for employees of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) will continue to be funded through electricity rates, since no alternative source of funding has been found, Robert Mujica, executive director of Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, said Wednesday. Mujica said using the island’s General Fund to pay for the pensions is not an option. PREPA’s revenues are declining year after year. The options are: not funding the

“That was the message we took to the nation’s capital: the need to identify resources to address situations [involving coastal erosion] like those in Loíza, Arecibo, and parts of San Juan, among others,” said Puerto Rico Senate Vice President Marissa Jiménez Santoni, right foreground. By THE STAR STAFF Puerto Rico Senate Vice President Marissa “Marissita” Jiménez Santoni met this week in Washington with the director of intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. War Department, Bet

The U.S. Coast Guard said response personnel and salvage teams would meet Tuesday to reassess the plan for freeing the still-grounded fuel barge Defiant and make adjustments before a second tugboat-assisted refloating attempt during the next high tide today. By THE STAR STAFF The U.S. Coast Guard reported Tuesday that a tugboat attempted to refloat the barge Defiant at high tide early in the morning and moved it nearly 30 feet from its original grounding position. “In close c

Rosely Hernández, executive director of the Beef Industry Promotion Fund, and Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres Also distributes more than 100 tablets to boost efficiency By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture announced two major initiatives Tuesday aimed at modernizing the island’s agricultural sector, including the rollout of a cattle traceability system and the delivery of more than 100 electronic tablets to agronomists and inspectors. Publ

Municipal Revenue Collections Center Executive Director Javier García Cintrón By THE STAR STAFF Municipal Revenue Collections Center (CRIM by its acronym in Spanish) Executive Director Javier García Cintrón outlined several new initiatives Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Mayors Federation in Gurabo but did not say whether property taxes will be raised. García Cintrón said the agency is advancing projects aimed at improving property tax records and taxpayer services ac

Johnny Rodríguez Ortiz, president of the PREPA Retirees Association By THE STAR STAFF The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) charges customers $1.92 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to fund its Employees Retirement System. However, PREPA only pays out the amount needed each month for its 12,000 pension beneficiaries and keeps the rest, according to Johnny Rodríguez Ortiz, president of PREPA’s Retirees Association. If PREPA contributed the full amount collected, the retiremen