[ad name=”HTML-68″] SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello last month asked federal taxpayers to shell out $94 billion to pay for the commonwealth’s recovery from Hurricane Maria — then turned around and paid out about $100 million in Christmas bonuses to island government employees. The governor’s aides say the

[ad name=”HTML-68″] ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — “Devastating” was one of the words U.S. Rep. Fred Upton used to describe the hurricane damage he saw over the weekend while visiting the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. “Here we are three months after the storm and there’s still much hardship,” Upton said.

[ad name=”HTML-68″] PERTH AMBOY — U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J. 6th District) met with local advocates and leaders Monday in the city to discuss his Energy and Commerce Committee Delegation weekend trip to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Pallone also sought input and suggestions from the advocates on the ongoing post-Hurricane Maria

SAN JUAN — The U.S. Army has awarded a contract with The Louis Berger Group Inc. to support critically needed temporary electricity for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The $860 million deal, announced last week by the Department of Defense, comes after Puerto

GREASE FACTOR: Gov. Kenneth Mapp did not distance himself from Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo Rossello or his island’s many problems … the result is that we all lose. It is thought to be the first time Mapp was ever out-slimed by a fellow politician. [ad name=”HTML-68″] WASHINGTON — The White

BIG MISTAKE: Gov. Kenneth Mapp did not distance himself, or the territory, from the PREPA Whitefish Scandal that has inflamed the U.S. Congress. Here Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Gov. Ricardo Rossello join hands with Mapp. [ad name=”HTML-68″] WASHINGTON — Puerto Rico’s electric utility on Tuesday defended its decision not

[ad name=”HTML-68″] SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico’s government power company didn’t follow its lawyers’ advice when it agreed to a $300 million grid-construction contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings LLC, according to documents released a House committee probing the now-canceled deal. Documents provided by the public power monopoly known as PREPA

HELPING HAND: Gov. Kenneth Mapp shakes hands with Jason Botel, the U.S. Department of Education’s Acting and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, at Government House. CHRISTIANSTED — About a third of the power on the island of St. Thomas has been restored, Gov. Kenneth Mapp said Monday.

SAN JUAN — Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s hope to have power restored to 95 percent of the island before Christmas is unrealistic given the damage caused by Hurricane Maria, according to the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite said having half the island back online

[ad name=”HTML-68″] WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate is pushing ahead on a $36.5 billion hurricane relief package that would give the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico a much-needed infusion of cash. The measure also would replenish rapidly dwindling emergency disaster accounts and provide $16 billion to permit the financially troubled