Patriotic netting stretched over construction scaffolding in Washington on July 4, 2026. (Gregory Halpern/The New York Times) By MICHELLE GOLDBERG Psychologist John Gottman said that nothing is so destructive to a marriage as contempt. Couples can come back from many sorts of conflicts, but not festering disgust — a sense, by one or both people, that the other is beneath them. That’s why, if blue and red America were spouses, the relationship would look hopeless. Call it irre

Hundreds of people line up for donated food in Gary, Ind., Aug. 22, 2026. About 30,000 customers across northern Indiana were still without electricity on Saturday evening, nearly two weeks after thunderstorms flooded neighborhoods and pummeled the region with hurricane-force winds. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times ) By ROBERT CHIARITO, JACK HEALY and AMY GRAFF It was Day 11 without power in Gary, Indiana, and Pierre Ervin was beyond fed up. He could not eat breakfast i

Jonas Julien, fitted with an ankle monitor, gets help from Betsy Director, a volunteer, to fill out a form asking a judge to authorize removal of the device in Springfield, Ohio on Aug. 19, 2026. Following the termination of a legal protection called Temporary Protected Status that allowed 330,000 Haitians to live and work in the United States, the Trump administration has launched an aggressive electronic monitoring campaign centered on the small city. (Maddie McGarvey/The N

By THE STAR STAFF The island House of Representatives will begin an evaluation process for the installation of temporary power generation systems to provide 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the energy grid. Among the initiatives will be a meeting with the heads of the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau, the Public-Private Partnerships Authority and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. There will also be meetings with the directors of Genera Puerto Rico, which manages about 60

Karim del Valle Gregory, vice president of administration at the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, in foreground (Facebook via Acueductospr) By THE STAR STAFF Karim del Valle Gregory, vice president of administration at the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA), said over the weekend that the salary scale increase proposal from the Authentic Independent Union (UIA by its initials in Spanish) exceeds the amount approved by the Financial Oversight and Managem

In addition to tanker trucks, crews of Guaynabo municipal employees were distributing bottled water in the Guaraguao community, one of the hardest-hit areas, on Sunday due to a water service outage caused by a pump failure. The crews will gradually move on to the other affected communities. By THE STAR STAFF Guaynabo Mayor Edward O’Neill Rosa activated the municipal emergency plan on Sunday to assist communities affected by a drinking water service interruption caused by a su

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón By THE STAR STAFF The administration of Gov. Jenniffer González Colón is moving to significantly increase the minimum pension for retired public employees, with legislation that would guarantee a base monthly benefit of $1,000 for tens of thousands of government retirees whose incomes have remained largely stagnant for nearly two decades. House Bill 1399, whose counterpart is Senate Bill 1428, seeks to amend Puerto Rico’s principal retirement sta

Casa Pueblo disputes Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz’s assertion that the island’s electrical grid is “over‑saturated with renewable resources” that are directly tied to rising instability across the system. The organization insists that rooftop solar systems have injected more than 1,200 megawatts into the grid and helped shorten outages. By THE STAR STAFF Casa Pueblo issued a forceful public statement over the weekend, pushing back against Energy Czar Josué Colón Ortiz and ac

Juan Mari Brás after receiving the first certificate of Puerto Rico citizenship, Sept. 14, 2007 (Wikipedia/Government of Puerto Rico) By THE STAR STAFF The Juan Mari Brás Foundation has condemned the Puerto Rico House of Representatives after lawmakers approved House Joint Resolution 348, a measure directing the Department of State to stop issuing Certificates of Puerto Rican Citizenship and to repeal Regulation 7347. The foundation called the move a politically driven attemp