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Para ver esta página en español, oprima aquí. Tirado To File Appeal For Loubriel Senate Seat… Safety At Fiestas De Calle San Sebastián Encouraged… Acrobatic Scorer… Mercado World's Oldest Man…Efforts Continue To Get Superfund Money For Vieques, Culebra: Their Future Includes Renewable Energy… 3 NPP Reps Back Rossello For Senate Seat… Puerto Ricans Donate Generously To Tsunami Aid… PIP Appeals Aponte Decision
Tirado To File Appeal This Week For Loubriel Senate Seat January 19, 2005 SAN JUAN (AP) – With only hours until the Senate seat for the district of Arecibo is officially vacant, former senator Calvin Tirado on Wednesday confirmed that his lawyers are finishing details on the appeal he will present to the courts. Tirado will challenge the New Progressive Party’s decision to fill the seat left open by the resignation of Victor Loubriel through an election of the Delegates Assembly and not hold a primary. The former legislator, who for a brief time replaced convicted senator Víctor "El Búho" Marrero, said that he does not fear a campaign to discredit him. "They don’t dare. Calvin Tirado is Calvin Tirado …with all his virtues and defects," he said. Officials Encourage Safety At Fiestas De Calle San Sebastián January 19, 2005 SAN JUAN (AP) – The Security Commissioner for the capital, Adalberto Mercado, said a security plan for the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián is ready, and he also announced a new campaign that will urge moderate alcohol consumption. "This year a campaign will be put in place to encourage moderate and responsible alcohol consumption during the festival … bartenders are asked to not serve alcoholic drinks to people that are inebriated and provide information to clients on where they can find a taxi," Mercado said at a press conference. He said he will allow taxi companies that serve Old San Juan to operate temporarily on Norzagaray, Barbosa and Cristo streets. He also said 600 municipal guards will be on patrol. People with coolers or alcoholic beverages from their homes will be denied entrance to San Sebastian Street. The traditional festival begins Thursday and goes until Sunday. Acrobatic Scorer By MICHELLE KAUFMAN January 19, 2005 The leading scorer in ACC play thus far is not an All-American from Duke or Wake Forest. It is a high-flying UM sophomore from Puerto Rico named Guillermo Diaz, who has dazzled with 24.5 points per game and acrobatic moves that are starting to make their way into NBA scouts' notes. Puerto Rican World's Oldest Man: Guinness RNR MIAMI, Jan 18 (AFP) - Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado, at 113, is the oldest man in the world, according to Guinness World Records. Only the world's oldest woman, Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper, 114, has lived more years. Guinness granted Mercado the title Monday. Mercado is also the world's oldest veteran, drafted to fight in the US Army during World War I, although the war ended before his training was completed. Mercado was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, on August 21, 1891. He became the oldest man on January 17. He lives in Isabela, on the northern coast of the Caribbean territory of the United States. British brewer Guinness first published world records in 1955. Efforts Continue To Get Superfund Money For Vieques, Culebra By JOSÉ FERNÁNDEZ COLÓN January 18, 2005 PONCE (AP) – Nineteen months after the Puerto Rican government made a request for the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra to be included on the National Priorities List for Superfund sites because of their contamination, a date for possible approval of the request is still uncertain. The outgoing president of the Environmental Quality Board, Esteban Mujica, said the procedure could be approved as soon as "a few days" or take as long as a few weeks. The official said when he ceased representing Puerto Rico negotiation process with federal agents, in the case of Vieques a decision was still pending on the part of the Navy and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Mujica said the process had been delayed because nobody had been designated as the federal administrator for the EPA for the new term, nor an administrator for Region II, with headquarters in New York, which has jurisdiction over Puerto Rico. In the Culebra case, the Mujica said negotiations are ongoing with the Environmental Quality Board and the U.S. Army for its inclusion on the list. Future Of Vieques, Culebra Includes Renewable Energy By JOSÉ FERNÁNDEZ COLÓN January 18, 2005 PONCE (AP) – Vieques and Culebra, island municipalities that for years were left to lag behind the rest of the island, will be the first Boricua towns whose residents will have renewable electric energy systems and installations to provide their own water. This was announced Monday by the commissioner for Vieques and Culebra, Juan Fernandez, who said the new housing models will contribute to the preservation of the environment. "The need for housing on both islands has been recognized, but it has been indicated that, even the social-interest housing that is built must be oriented, for example, so that in the future they can have installations to provide their own water. It is hope that the houses can generate their own energy," he said. He said future residents of Vieques and Culebra, including social interest residents, will have renewable energy systems which use photovoltaic cells and wind energy. They will also have cisterns to store water. "These are advanced principles, of a futuristic view toward the preservation of the environment and the ecology, as much on Vieques as on Culebra," he said. Three NPP Reps Back Rossello For Senate Seat January 18, 2005 SAN JUAN (AP) – Three New Progressive Party representatives on Tuesday endorsed the defeated candidate for governor, Pedro Rossello, in his efforts to take the vacant Senate seat for the district of Arecibo. The representatives for Arecibo, Héctor Torres, Gabriel Rodríguez and Carlos Molina, all in their first term, called for the leaders of all precincts of Arecibo to participate Tuesday night in the NPP regional assembly, which will be held at 7 p.m. at the Acropolis in Manati. In a press conference at NPP headquarters, the three legislators said "there is no person more prepared to work for the district of Arecibo … than Pedro Rossello." Rodriguez, who was elected for District 13, which includes Ciales, Manatí, Barceloneta, Florida and part of Arecibo, said that "my support is based on the fact that Rossello is the best person to continue fighting for the Legislative Branch, to assure that a plan of action is put in place for the government that the people backed in the elections, the NPP." The directory of the NPP, and specifically the NPP majority caucus in the House, has endorsed Rossello for the position that was opened when Victor Loubriel resigned. Puerto Ricans Donate Generously To Tsunami Aid January 18, 2005 SAN JUAN (AP) – The marketing coordinator for the Puerto Rico chapter of the American Red Cross, Iris Mendez, said the organization has collected more than $200,000 in donations for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami in southeast Asia and Africa, which left at least 162,705 dead. Mendez said donations have been arriving with individuals and companies taking the initiative to send them in, without any requests having been made from the local office. "The people of Puerto Rico have been very generous with support. The response has been excellent," Mendez said. The funds collected on the island will be sent to the international Red Cross response fund. The worldwide organization has calculated $400 million in support tht will be sent to the tsunami victims. PIP Spokesman Files Appeal Against House President Aponte January 18, 2005 SAN JUAN (AP) – Puerto Rican Independence Party Rep. Víctor García San Inocencio announced Tuesday he had filed a legal appeal to order House President Jose Aponte Hernandez to recognize his spokesmanship as a Constitutional right and not as an administrative courtesy that can be revoked. García San Inocencio filed the preliminary appeal in the First Circuit Court in San Juan. "The arbitrary nature and capriciousness can not be the north parliament in the new House of Representatives, and to avoid irreparable damage to the more than 186,000 voters that endorsed us with their vote so that we would have a spokesman in the House is why we today file this appeal in court," he said in a statement. In the request, he asks that the court declare Section 5.1(d) of the House regulations unconstitutional. That establishes his designation to 25 House committees by an administrative decision of the president of the House, Garcia San Inocencio said. "Rule 5.1(d) of the regulations of the House of Representatives violates my right to belong to each and every one of the committees with full rights," he said.
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