Puerto Rico

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Report: Energy Company in Puerto Rico Jacking Up the Tab

Contractors for Whitefish Energy making up to $100 an hour, but Whitefish is billing $319

(Newser) - Called an "unusual" arrangement right from the start, a Montana energy company working in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria is now raising eyebrows even higher. The New York Times reports Florida linemen hired as contractors by Whitefish Energy are making up to $100 an hour with double time, which,...

FEMA Wants to Airlift Displaced Puerto Ricans to NY, Florida

But logistics are still an issue for temporary relocation, and most don't want to leave

(Newser) - Florida and New York could soon see an influx of temporary new residents, reports CNN , as FEMA works with those two states to let Puerto Rican hurricane survivors relocate to the US mainland. At the top of the list would be the 3,000 or so people stuck in shelters...

TJ Maxx Wins Praise Over Decision in Puerto Rico

Parent chain TJX is paying workers even though stores are shuttered

(Newser) - Some employees of the chain that owns TJ Maxx in Puerto Rico haven't worked in weeks because of Hurricane Maria, but that doesn't mean they've lost their paychecks. Parent company TJX, which also owns Marshalls and HomeGoods, has continued to pay its employees all the while, reports...

Puerto Rico Scraps $300M Contract to Small US Firm

Whitefish Energy only had two employees when Hurricane Maria hit the island

(Newser) - A lucrative but controversial contract awarded to a tiny US company to restore power to Puerto Rico is no more. Puerto Rico pulled the plug on the $300 million deal Sunday, hours after Gov. Ricardo Rossello called for the move, reports the Washington Post . The contract between the Puerto Rico...

Tesla Restores Power at Puerto Rico Children's Hospital

Company builds massive solar array in parking lot

(Newser) - Puerto Rico is still struggling weeks after two powerful hurricanes last month—the territory's Electric Power Authority said Wednesday morning that power service was at 25%—but, thanks to Tesla, electricity has been restored at a San Juan children's hospital. The company used its solar panels and batteries...

Firm With 2 Full-Time Workers Lands $300M Puerto Rico Deal

Tiny Whitefish Energy happens to be financed by a big supporter of President Trump

(Newser) - A tiny for-profit company out of Montana has landed a $300 million contract to help get the power back on in Puerto Rico, reports the Spokesman-Review . How tiny? Whitefish Energy had just two full-time employees on the day Hurricane Maria slammed into the island. However, the company suggests that figure...

What New York Is Doing for College-Age Maria Victims

Tuition help being offered to displaced students at 64 state universities

(Newser) - Mainland US universities are offering a helping hand to students in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands affected by Hurricane Maria. Some schools are granting students discounted tuition at the rate for in-state residents; others are waiving tuition altogether for a semester, NPR reports. Tuition help is being offered...

Experimental Balloons Restore Internet in Puerto Rico

Google parent launches 'Project Loon'

(Newser) - Google's parent Alphabet Inc. says its stratospheric balloons are now delivering the Internet to remote areas of Puerto Rico where cellphone towers were knocked out by Hurricane Maria. Two of the search giant's "Project Loon" balloons are already over the country enabling texts, emails, and basic web...

Trump Has Officially Rated His Response to Puerto Rico

'I'd say it was a 10'

(Newser) - On Thursday, President Trump gave himself perfect marks for the federal government's response to the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico, USA Today reports. "I'd say it was a 10," Trump told reporters during a meeting with Gov. Ricardo Rossello of Puerto Rico. According to the Washington ...

Hospital Ship Sits Off Puerto Rico, Mostly Empty

Red tape, general confusion preventing hurricane victims from being treated on USNS Comfort

(Newser) - After Hurricane Maria, the USNS Comfort was sent to Puerto Rico, where the floating hospital has been idling offshore for almost two weeks. But CNN reports that only 30 or so of the ship's 250 available beds are occupied, and that its surgery facilities, medical staff, and supplies have...

Water for Puerto Ricans Being Pumped From Superfund Site

According to a CNN report

(Newser) - Most of the people waiting in line for water Friday at a well in Puerto Rico were unaware it was coming from a federally designated Superfund site, reports CNN , which made the discovery after reviewing documents and speaking with officials. With more than 35% of residents still lacking water three...

Trump Talks Pulling FEMA Amid Struggle to Help Puerto Rico

Chuck Schumer says FEMA's work is 'not even close to done'

(Newser) - President Trump is warning that hurricane relief for Puerto Rico has an end date even as federal officials acknowledge a massive food shortage on the island three weeks after Hurricane Maria. "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult...

Zuckerberg Apologizes for VR Trip to Puerto Rico

Facebook CEO's demonstration of Spaces tool was widely panned

(Newser) - Well, that didn't take long. Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for a virtual reality promotion featuring Puerto Rico that was almost unanimously condemned as tone deaf , reports CNET . In a video on Tuesday, Zuckerberg and another Facebook exec demonstrated how the new VR tool called Spaces works, allowing the pair...

Mark Zuckerberg Shows How Not to Promote a New Product

Facebook CEO intros Spaces app by 'teleporting' to hurricane-destroyed Puerto Rico

(Newser) - Mark Zuckerberg was excited to show off the new Facebook Spaces app Monday, a virtual-reality product that allows cartoon versions of yourself to wander in faraway places, so he decided to demonstrate with a "magical" tour—of hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico. "There's a lot of people who are...

Trump Claims He Invented the Term 'Fake'

He defends throwing paper towels in Puerto Rico

(Newser) - President Trump defended his throwing of paper towels to Puerto Rican hurricane victims in a weekend interview on a Christian network—and claimed to have invented the term "fake." The towel-throwing, which San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz described as "terrible and abominable," was simply a...

Another Hurricane Maria Victim: Monkey Island

It's one of the world's most important sites for primate research

(Newser) - As thousands of troops and government workers struggle to restore normal life to Puerto Rico, a small group of scientists is racing to save more than 1,000 monkeys whose brains may contain clues to some of the most important mysteries of the human mind. One of the first places...

Trump Called Her 'Nasty.' This Is Her Response

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz wears T-shirt with that very word during TV interview

(Newser) - The back-and-forth between President Trump and Carmen Yulin Cruz continues. The San Juan mayor gave a TV interview Wednesday to offer an update in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and she sported an instantly noticeable wardrobe choice: a black T-shirt with the word "NASTY" sprawled across it in white...

San Juan Mayor: Trump Tossing Towels Was 'Terrible'

And 'abominable,' says Carmen Yulin Cruz

(Newser) - There's no love lost between San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz and President Trump, and that situation wasn't much changed following the president's trip to Puerto Rico on Tuesday. Cruz, you'll recall, lashed out last Thursday against the administration's categorization of federal relief efforts as...

Trump Pledges to 'Wipe Out' Puerto Rico Debt. There's a 'But'

It's not clear whether the federal government can do that

(Newser) - President Trump generated headlines with his comments in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, but his most surprising remark seems to have come afterward in an interview with Fox News . “You know, they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street, and we’re going to have to...

Trump to Puerto Rico: You've Thrown Budget 'Out of Whack'

'And that's fine,' he says

(Newser) - "Every death is a horror," President Trump said Tuesday while meeting with local and federal officials at Muniz Air National Guard Base in Puerto Rico, but other remarks he made weren't quite so heavy. While discussing his administration's response to the devastation on the island, he...

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