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January 20-22, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star

GOOD MORNING

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January 20-22, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday ediƟon, along with a Weekend EdiƟon to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Oversight Board Favors More Time for Restructuring Talks P

uerto Rico’s federal oversight board said earlier this week it was willing to extend key deadlines that would give the debtladen U.S. territory’s government more time to negotiate restructuring deals with holders of its roughly $70 billion in bonds. In a letter Wednesday to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, the oversight board said it “is favorably inclined” to grant the governor’s request to extend to May 1 from Feb. 15 a freeze on litigation from creditors over missed debt payments. It also said it favored extending until Feb. 28 a deadline for Rosselló to submit a fiscal turnaround plan for the island. Both requests will be taken up formally “later this month,” the board said, and would be conditioned on the government agreeing to turn

INDEX Local Mainland Business InternaƟonal Viewpoint Science Entertaiment

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NoƟcias en Español Legal NoƟces Sports Games Horoscope Cartoons

Gov. Ricardo Rosselló

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over more information about its financial picture and not to take on more short-term liquidity loans. The board said Rosselló’s fiscal plan should aim to generate $4.5 billion annually in new revenues or savings through fiscal 2019. It laid out specific areas the plan should address, including shrinking the size of the government, pension reform and spending reductions in higher education and healthcare, prescriptions strenuously opposed by organized labor, among other island sectors (see related stories on pages 5 and 6). In addition to its nearly $70 billion in debt from myriad public issuers, Puerto Rico is struggling with a 45 percent poverty rate and unemployment that is more than twice the mainland U.S. average. The bipartisan, seven-member oversight board was created under the federal Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, passed by the U.S. Congress last year. It is charged with helping the island manage its finances and navigate its way out of the economic jam, including by negotiating restructuring deals with creditors. PROMESA calls for Puerto Rico’s governor to deliver a fiscal turnaround plan, due on Jan. 28, to serve as a blueprint for the island’s path out of crisis. The law also imposed a freeze on litigation from creditors over debt payments, set to run out on Feb. 15. Rosselló, who won election in November and was sworn in on Jan. 2, asked for the deadline extensions, saying his new administration needed more time to assess the local financial situation and negotiate with creditors. Rosselló has only just now hired lawyers and financial advisers to represent the government in those talks. Failing to reach consensual restructuring deals could push Puerto Rico and its many debt-issuing agencies into a messy and costly bankruptcy-like process under PROMESA.

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The San Juan Daily Star

January 20-22, 2017

Labor Reform Bill Returns to House Following Senate Approval By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

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he Puerto Rico Senate approved in the early morning hours Thursday -- with minority opposition -- the House version of the reform of labor laws, which includes amendments suggested by the House to guarantee the creation of jobs and the protection of workers’ rights. The full Senate endorsed with 20 votes in favor and nine against the bill that establishes the Law of Labor Transformation and Flexibility, which will keep the number of days accumulated annually by each employee for sick days at 12. The legislation was ratified only with the support of the majority New Progressive Party (NPP), in a vote that ended past 1:30 in the morning. The majority of the House was expected later Thursday to reaffirm the version endorsed by the Senate. “We are inviting the private sector to take up the job of generating employment,” said Senate Government Committee the Chairman Miguel Romero in presenting the measure, which he considered essential for economic recovery without impairing the rights of employees. The bill, Romero explained, originally proposed that the worker would accumulate only nine days for sick leave and not 12, as established in the current statute, language that was modified to remain unchanged. As stated in the original text of the measure coming from La Fortaleza, the probation period was set at 18 months. After reviewing its contents, it was stipulated that for those employees protected under the Federal Labor Standard, the

probation period would be 12 months, while for the rest of the workers it would be nine months. Probation can never be more than nine months, but it could be less, as long as there has been an agreement with the employer. Another aspect that was amended in the measure relates to the breastfeeding period that small and midsize enterprises will allow. To that end, the time that mothers have to breastfeed or draw milk for every four hours worked was increased from 15 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the burden of proof in case of unjustified dismissal will continue to fall on the employer. Also, House Bill 451, which created the Law to Address the Economic Crisis of the Government of Puerto Rico, was approved with 19 votes in favor, nine against and one abstention. The law will allow temporary emergency measures necessary to allow the government to continue operating and, therefore, continue offering services to citizens. In addition, it offers the tools to ensure the responsible management of debt and its obligations, while amending the Internal Revenue Code of Puerto Rico from 1994 to extend the validity of arbitration to the acquisition of certain movable property and services. House Bill 451 also provides that every member of a board or governing body of a public corporation shall enjoy the confidence of the governor in order to execute and carry out established public policy. “In order to work with the provisions of PROMESA [the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act], all public instrumentalities must be in tune with the government’s fiscal plan,” said Senate Finance Commit-

Romero Barceló, Berríos Offer Amendments to Status Bill By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

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ormer Gov. Carlos Romero Barceló proposed to hold the status plebiscite on June 4 of this year, and not on May 28 as suggested by the new government of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares. In addition, he requested that the federal government be requested to act immediately to begin a transition process to eliminate the colonial status with a specific timetable extending no later than November 2020, among other amendments to Senate Bill 51. Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) President Rubén Berríos Martínez said meanwhile that “we cannot pass up this opportunity” and submitted amendments to be considered by the Senate Committee on Federal, Political and Economic Relations chaired by Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz. Although Romero Barceló suggested that the date of the plebiscite be postponed by a week, Berríos pointed out that the proposed dates “should not serve as an impediment to reaching consensus agreements and due participation.” The former governor said Congress should be asked “to act quickly” and that the legislative process be approved by the so-called fast-track system.

“After 100 years of being deprived of our right to vote and representing our nation in Congress, four years to approve the admission process and make it reality is more than reasonable,” Romero Barceló said. The measure now establishes that, once the plebiscite is carried out, the federal government must begin the transition process with a schedule that does not run past Dec. 31, 2024. Romero Barceló said the Senate measure contains demands “like no previous bill.” The former governor insisted that the measure is a “claim of equality, standing, and not on our knees” and argued that “an aggressive plebiscite law was needed to help move Congress and the White House.” For his part, Berríos, a former senator, said that no form of colonialism “can be considered as an alternative and to initially group independence and free association as the two modalities of what should properly be titled ‘self sovereignty or Puerto Rican national sovereignty.’” “Enough with the ambivalence,” he said, requesting that independence and free association be grouped as formulas for Puerto Rican national sovereignty. However, the independence party leader stressed that the term “free association” should be “as flexible and inclusive as possible” so that those who defend this option are represented.

tee Chairman Migdalia Padilla in presenting the measure. “The government of Puerto Rico must respond to the fiscal control board for everything that it is doing.” Padilla stressed that another of the most important issues proposed by the legislation is the extension for 10 years of the 4 percent arbitration to foreign corporations contemplated in Law 154 of 2010, which expires in December, and which since enacted has provided for income of close to $1.9 trillion. Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, said that the approval of these projects are part of a set of measures that will create the conditions for the economic recovery of the country. “He who thinks that a single bill is going to result in the magic formula to solve all the problems of Puerto Rico, knows nothing about government or economic matters,” Rivera Schatz said. “It takes a great deal of action to straighten out all the wrongs we have inherited.” The Senate president also responded to those who questioned the amendments to the labor legislation and the quick attention given to the process that concluded with its approval. “The legislation that is being addressed today, which seeks to be one of the pieces to address economic issues, was handled expeditiously, but responsibly,” he said. The legislation was dispatched with a single public hearing in which no labor groups participated. Rivera Schatz also warned that the task of straightening out the economy is a collective effort. “Every Puerto Rican who wants Puerto Rico to stand has to do his part,” he said. Carlos Romero Barceló

“The mute has already begun to speak, but it cannot be ruled out that he begins to talk nonsense if it suits him,” Berríos said. “Then how would the government of Puerto Rico face such an outrage? This Legislature must continue with the plebiscite excluding any colonial alternative.” Rivera Schatz said “between independence and not being [independent], there are no middle points; between being a state and not being one, there are no middle points.” “There will be those who try to ramble and there will be those who think that we depend only on the deaf hearing or [citing Berríos] the mute [speaking],” the Senate president said. “What is not an option is to do nothing. … What we want is for the matter to be resolved and if they do not act, then we act.”

The San Juan Daily Star

January 20-22, 2017

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Union Blasts Fiscal Control Board Proposals for Gov’t By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

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ublic Servants United of Puerto Rico, Council 95 AFSCME (SPUPR by its Spanish initials) on Thursday called the proposals outlined by the federal fiscal control board for the Puerto Rico government “nefarious, radical and savage.” “We are all well aware that the crisis we are experiencing is profound, but the recipe that comes from the fiscal control board is drastic and will ruthlessly bludgeon the people of Puerto Rico,” said Annette González, president of SPUPR. “Their proposals will suffocate the working class of the country, our elderly, children, sick people, disabled, our retirees, the most vulnerable class in our country. The social and humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico will be unprecedented and the economy will collapse even more.” She added that “our government cannot accept this disastrous proposal, it cannot take the side of those who seek to destroy our country, our people.” “As a citizen, and as the representative of thousands of working families

in this country whose annual salary does not reach $22,000 and thousands of retirees, I am outraged by these proposals,” González said. The trade union leader representing more than 13,000 public employees from 10 central government agencies said they are always looking to implement the same solutions, expecting different results. “Privatization, dismissal of employees, reduction of government, elimination of services to the poor and most needy in this country, attacking pensions, always the same,” she said. “The same recipe that we saw with Law 7 and Law 3. And it is not going to work now. This is not the right way and they know it. There is no way to revive the economy by choking off the pockets of workers. If there is no purchasing power, then there is no money moving and only money moving can revive the economy.” González emphasized that it is unacceptable to make a reduction of 30 percent in government payroll. That would mean sending thousands and thousands of parents in the PR public sector to the streets, increasing un-

employment, increasing dependence on government aid, impoverishing Puerto Ricans and destroying public service. The spokeswoman said “continuing to dismiss public employees has a domino effect in our society, public service collapses, unemployment increases, there is no money to consume and the private sector would be hurt even more.” “The government has the obligation to guard and defend the people of Puerto Rico, not the bondholders, not the Employers Coalition, not the big interests that only ensure that their coffers are filled with more money at Annette González the expense of the workers, our retirees and the poor class of Puerto Rico. them to survive.” The government has a duty to defend “A new assault on their livelihood the people from this atrocity before it would mean impoverishing them, is too late and it destroys our people,” breaking their only income, transfershe said. “The bitter medicine they ring responsibility for [the governpropose is worse than the disease and ment’s] actions to others,” she said. the consequences will be devastating The union leader also said cuts to for all.” the health system are “irrational,” addFor the SPUPR, another extreme- ing to the chaos that the federal repeal ly worrying factor is the proposed of Obamacare will bring about. 10 percent reduction in pensions,” “This will have a catastrophic imGonzález said. “Our pensioners cur- pact for thousands of Puerto Ricans, inrently depend on their pension to sur- cluding public employees who receive vive. When they eliminated several this benefit because of the low salaries benefits, the blow was severe for this they receive,” González said. “In Puersector. Most of our pensioners receive to Rico, getting sick will be a luxury pensions so low that they barely allow that we will not be able to afford.”

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January 20-22, 2017

The San Juan Daily Star

García Padilla Raps Fiscal Control Board Guidelines By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

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ormer Gov. Alejandro García Padilla described as “unjustifiable” the guidelines offered by the federal fiscal oversight board to the Puerto Rico government to overcome the island’s economic crisis. “I am dismayed by what the junta proposes for the country in its letter,” the ex-governor said, using the local Spanish term for the federal control board, in reaction to the letter sent to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares by the board imposed by the federal Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) legislation. He added that “although in the letter [the control board] once again validates the fiscal numbers reported by my administration and the magnitude of the economic challenges

we face, the guidelines established to recover from the crisis are unjustifiable.” “It is not acceptable that they condition the extension of the period of paralyzing litigation, which currently protects the services that Puerto Ricans receive, in exchange for more sacrifices,” García Padilla said. “PROMESA offers us the tools to deal with the fiscal crisis, but these tools cannot be used to sink Puerto Rico into the path of austerity and suffering, particularly when the board itself admits that its plan is to divert resources from essential services to pay the bondholders.” The former governor said “Puerto Ricans have already put too much on the table,” while reiterating that islanders are depending on Gov. Rosselló “to defend a plan that follows the principles I set out in October and put first [the interests of] the most vulnerable, including public employees, students of the University of Puerto Rico and pensioners.”

Alejandro García Padilla

Government Establishes Women’s Council By JOHN McPHAUL [email protected]

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nterim Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced signed an executive order on Thursday establishing a new office designated the Women’s Council “to affirm [the government’s] commitment to equality and social justice for women” by adopting new strategies aimed at strengthening women’s development in society. The Women’s Council will be an agency of governmental and multisectoral representation, acting as an advisory body and auxiliary to the governor of Puerto Rico. It will also function as a support network for government agencies, Vázquez Garced said.

The interim governor said the Women’s Council will be responsible for promoting the equitable participation of women in public service, private enterprise and the community. The Council will collaborate with other agencies to ensure compliance with public policies and protective legislation for women, and promote new initiatives in the governor’s Plan for Puerto Rico. “The Plan contains several commitments to address our reality, and the Women’s Council will ensure their implementation,” said acting Chief of Staff Itza García. Vázquez Garced also said the Women’s Council may establish and promote different initiatives with

government, private and community agencies through the development of collaborative agreements, educational and training activities and events, work committees, interactive visits and promoting the development of public-private partnerships, among others. The Women’s Council will be composed of first lady Beatriz Rosselló, female heads of executive branch agencies, female members of the various governing boards of executive agencies, women in positions of leadership in the judicial branch and women in the Legislature, who in turn will convene other women, representing various non-governmental entities so that together they form a multi-sectorial team. Peggy Ann Bliss contributed to this story.

Vieques Women to March in DC Solidarity By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

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group of women and feminists will march Saturday on the offshore island of Vieques in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington, expected to be one of the biggest demonstrations on the National Mall in years. The National Women’s March in Vieques will begin at 11 a.m. in Esperanza at the west end of the Malecón (Tradewinds) and leave for Sun Bay State Park, where it will end with a rally. The march is to “express our values, to embrace diversity and demonstrate respect for women!” said a press release from the organizers. “We join in solidarity with those marching in Wash-

ington, D.C. and around the country, [by supporting] respect for people of all faiths, nationalities, races, sexual orientations, and disabilities,” the statement said. The march in Washington, expected to draw more than 200,000 people, will take place the day after the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, Republican Donald J. Trump, who during his campaign was outspoken in his comments against women as well as Latinos, African-Americans, the disabled, the LGBTT Community and other minority groups. “Let us join together to express our solidarity with each other and move forward empowered by our unity!” the Vieques marchers said in their written statement. Although march organizers stress that the demonstration is not specifically anti-Trump, the event’s website notes that it is in response to harsh rhetoric directed toward women during the presidential campaign.

The Washington event is preceded by a rally at 10 a.m. at Independence Avenue and Third Street SW, near the U.S. Capitol. “As a diverse community, we are marching to demonstrate respect for each other,” the Vieques statement said. “[We] stand united to foster deeper understanding and engage in meaningful conversation around these issues.” At a concluding rally at Sun Bay, marchers will be welcomed by activists Gypsy Córdova, a tax expert, and Carmen Valencia, a coordinator of medical clinics. They will be followed by a moment of silence, live Vieques music, streaming of the Women’s March in Washington, which starts at 1:15 p.m., and a potluck supper. For information, call Claire Nelson 802-345-9584, [email protected] Updates at: http://tinyurl.com/ UpdatesWomensMarch

The San Juan Daily Star

January 20-22, 2017

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Census Finds Rain Could Have Kept Migratory Birds Away By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

showed that almost 50 percent of the island’s bird species are found in estuary-related ecosystems. Torres explained that the diversity scenario responds to the need to

turdays because of the volunteer status of the workers, was begun in the mid-1990s by some 30 volunteers in three locations in the metropolitan area: Piñones State Forest, El Aljibe Las Curías (The Las Curias [Lake] Cistern) in Cupey, and the Estuary Reserve in the Condado Lagoon including nearby Luis Muñoz Rivera Park. Back then, Torres said, the data

know the important habitats for bird conservation. “Continuous data that produce these observations allow us to use the bird population patterns as bioindicators of environmental changes as a response to the success of PEBSJ restoration projects,” she said. Torres said that through the census, they have identified important

habitats for vulnerable species, including la Ciénaga Las Cucharillas, where the West Indian Whistling Duck (chiriría antillana) is found, the Martín Peña Canal, home to the native buzzard (gallinazo nativo), and the Piñones State Forest, where the piping plover (playero melódico) lives. “Because birds are susceptible to ecosystem changes, their presence in the estuary serves as an indicator of the quality of the coastal wetlands,” she said. Last Saturday, volunteers identified about 20 different bird species at each observation point. Laura Fidalgo, PEBSJ flora and fauna researcher and census coordinator, said the hummingbird (zumbador) and reinitas were predominant in Condado, while reinitas, mozambiques and nightingales predominate in Las Curías and the playero (plover) family reigns in Piñones. Starting this year, the avian census, which is also a way to measure the organization’s progress, will be known by the name of environmental advocate Gamaliel Pagán Hernández. For more information contact: Laura L. Fidalgo at tallerestuario@ gmail.com

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he annual task of counting the island’s native birds continues Saturday at the Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation in Trujillo Alto. The goal of the Christmas Bird Census conducted by the San Juan Bay Estuary Program (PEBSJ) is to identify the island’s avian species at three points of that aquatic system, as a way to identify environmental change indicators. Torres said this year’s observations yielded similar data to previous years, identifying 1,778 birds from more than 76 species, including six native species. However, she noted there were fewer birds and fewer migratory species this year, which could be due to humid and rainy conditions of the past two months. Census data from the past two years show that the 10 most common birds in the estuary are: domestic pigeon (paloma doméstica), mozambique, monk parakeet (perico monje), woods warbler (reinita), Zenaida dove (tórtola cardosantera), white-winged

dove (aliblanca), white-breasted kingbird (pitirre), royal tern (charrán real), house sparrow (gorrión doméstico) and brown pelican (pelícano pardo.) The census, often limited to Sa-

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The San Juan Daily Star

January 20-22, 2017

IPRC Gets Young Schoolteacher as New Head By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

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reaking with a time-honored tradition at the venerated Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (IPRC), young Carlos Ruiz Cortés has been unanimously confirmed as executive director. The 31-year-old history teacher at the Free School of Music, whose IPRC debut coincides with one of the island’s most important cultural events -- the San Sebastián Street Festival -- says he is more a street-music guy than a recognized academic figure such as the IPRC has had for years at its helm. Although the city of San Juan and the resident committees are charged with organizing the many San Sebastián music events around the Old City, the IPRC and its new director are responsible for the crafts fair and activities in its headquarters at Ballajá Barracks. Luckily, the transition committee has held several meetings with an eye to keeping the present programs on track as the Ruiz gets his bearings. “I belong to the self-sustaining cultural management school,” he told Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares when he was being considered for the job. “I believe that culture should belong to everyone, not just a few. We are charged with the preservation of our arts and archeology, but it must be promoted through initiatives and projects appropriate to our fiscal reality, things that are lasting and necessary.” One program from the previous administration Ruiz Cortés definitely hopes to preserve is La Campechada, a broad-based arts festival that he hopes to extend to other municipalities. Teacher Knows Best He said there is no one better than a teacher to manage a public agency, because he already “knows the reality” and can do a lot with little or nothing. “Puerto Rico belongs to everyone and today more than ever, we must forget ideological limitations,” he said a few weeks ago, when he was first tapped for the job. “The importance of culture is that it is what unifies us and what we feel proud of and identify with.”

Carlos Ruiz Cortés A new law, signed by former Gov. Alejandro García Padilla, would permit the IPRC to solicit funds and accept donations from non-government sources and organize fundraisers to guarantee the continuity of its programs. Law 189-2016, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture Law -- introduced by former Sen. Antonio Fas Alzamora of the Popular Democratic Party to counteract the IPRC’s constant budget cuts -- would allow the agency to reduce its dependence on government to operate. Donors would be able to take a tax deduction. Former Executive Director Jorge Irizarry, in response to findings of a comptroller’s audit, acknowledged that his budget had not earmarked the funds to repair the works in its collection. The new director, an independentista, said he met Rosselló when they were both members of the group “Boricua, ¡ahora es!” created in 2012 to promote status change through decolonization in favor of independence, statehood and free association. That’s how he got picked to work in the area of culture in the governor’s Plan for Puerto Rico. He said the IPRC’s public policy should be a collaboration among the principal cultural agencies, an approach which never has been tried.

“Culture should be an economic engine for Puerto Rico and a business plan in this direction should be drawn up,” he said. Music Is Key Ruiz Cortés, a graduate of Trujillo Alto public schools, has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus, and is working on his doctorate in history of the Americas at Inter American University. He showed musical ability from childhood and eventually entered the Ernesto Ramos Antonini Free School of Music in San Juan, where he has been teaching, until his appointment. That is why music, especially in the Education Department, would be one of his priorities, he says. “The product Puerto Rico exports most is music, which is something we have never been able to capitalize on,” he noted. “We must look for private funds, federal funds, expand an office of external resources and work with all the existing agencies, using state and municipal resources, all of which we plan to do in the next 100 days.” By executive order, a cultural development board would be created, which would include representatives from institutes of higher learning, such as the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and the School of Fine Arts, in an effort to reach more people, he said. IPRC Board Chairman Lucas Mattei Rodríguez said the new director was named to the position by a unanimous vote of the board of directors, in accordance with Law 89 of 1955. Mattei Rodríguez said Ruiz Cortés has begun to meet with government officials to guarantee the success of the cultural project in the Plan for Puerto Rico. “The new administration will guide the IPRC to return it to its original mission, to conserve, promote, enrich and divulge Puerto Rico’s cultural values and to return majesty to such an honorable institution,” Mattei Rodríguez said.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside, with Adjuntas at 56 F By PEGGY ANN BLISS Special to The STAR [email protected]

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t was colder outside the air-conditioned bedroom Thursday morning than under the covers, many island residents from Levittown to Adjuntas discovered when they went out to pick up the paper. With islandwide temperatures in the 50s and 60s, it was a good time to save on electricity, and for those without airconditioning a rare time to pull out the eiderdown. In the mountains -- at the Adjuntas Experimental Station, for example -- the chill was even more impressive, at 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the bone-chilling climates in many cities and

towns, none of the temperatures established a record. That unequaled event occurred on March 9, 1911 in Aibonito, when the thermometer dipped to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The mercury in San Sebastián repeated the unprecedented feat many years later, on Jan. 24, 1966. Aibonito trailed behind Thursday with 58 degrees Fahrenheit, tying with Arecibo, and Ponce’s Mercedita Airport registered 59. Other towns with morning chill were Vega Baja, 60; Juncos, 61; Trujillo Alto, 62; and Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla, 64. The Guilarte Forest in Adjuntas, where the region’s highest peak is located, tied with Aguadilla. At the weather office, meteorologists shivered in 63 degrees. Other metropolitan area cold spots were Levittown, Toa Baja, with 67 and the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, 68.