SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Five people have been killed and one wounded in a shooting outside a bar in downtown Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican police said the incident occurred around midnight Saturday in the town of Comerio, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) southwest of San Juan.

Police said that witnesses saw a group of men pull up in a vehicle and begin firing at a crowd of people. Five men between the ages of 20 and 34 were killed, and a 17-year-old boy was wounded.

Puerto Rico has struggled with a wave of crime since thousands of police officers began calling in sick to protest millions of dollars owed in overtime pay following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Nearly 130 killings have been reported in the U.S. territory since the beginning of the year.</s>Lithograph depicting the U.S. Navy bombardment of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 12, 1898. (Library of Congress)

Naval bombardment of San Juan, Puerto Rico, by ships of the U.S. North American Squadron on May 12, 1898. Rear Admiral William T. Sampson sailed from Havana, Cuba, to San Juan in search of Rear Admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete’s Cádiz Squadron. Sampson’s ships arrived off San Juan in the early morning of May 12 and at 5:20 a.m. commenced a bombardment of Spanish military positions ashore. The American ships made three bombardment circuits. The cruiser Detroit led, followed by the battleships Iowa, Indiana, and New York; the double-turreted monitors Amphitrite and Terror; and the unprotected cruiser Montgomery.

The American warships fired a total of 1,360 shells before they broke off the engagement at 7:45 a.m. The Spanish shore batteries fired only 441 shells in reply. Neither side inflicted much damage on the other. American gunnery was abysmal. A majority of the U.S. shells went long, while others fell short. Probably only 20 percent of the shells hit in the general target area, and many of these failed to explode. In the exchange, the U.S. side suffered some minor damage, 1 man killed, and another 7 wounded. Spanish casualties amounted to 13 killed and perhaps 100 wounded, most of these civilians.

The shelling was controversial, for international law clearly required that noncombatants be warned before such an event, but Sampson claimed that his ships were firing not on the city but on its military installations and thus that no prior notification was required. The shelling made little sense, however. Sampson later justified it as a form of naval reconnaissance to ascertain, as he put it, enemy “positions and strength.” The shelling did serve to provide the American squadron with a baptism of fire. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was not impressed and was also upset that Sampson had placed his ships at risk by shelling shore installations before he had concluded the pressing matter of locating and destroying Cervera’s squadron.

On May 13, Spanish governor-general of Puerto Rico Manuel Macías y Casado and the island press trumpeted the bombardment as the first Spanish victory of the war, and island merchants distributed food and gifts to the Spanish troops. Sampson, meanwhile, took his squadron to Haiti and then on to Key West, Florida, where he arrived on May 18.

Further Reading Mitchell, Donald W. History of the Modern American Navy: From 1883 through Pearl Harbor. New York: Knopf, 1946. Trask, David F. The War with Spain in 1898. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. West, Richard Sedgwick, Jr. Admirals of American Empire: The Combined Story of George Dewey, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Winfield Scott Schley, and William Thomas Sampson. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1948.</s>Puerto Rico is alive. Its music, its people, and their passion make you understand why the tiny island is so proud of who they are and where they've come from.

"It's just the way we're raised. You ask me if I'm American. I'm a US citizen, but I'm Puerto Rican," Adriana Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez and her husband moved back to Puerto Rico from New Orleans right before Hurricane Maria unleashed her wrath.

"Everybody said we were crazy, we should have left. We had no property, no kids. We just go back on a plane and left. But it just didn't feel right. If it's up to me I spend my life here, I have my kids here. So we loved New Orleans, but we just needed to come back and see if there was an opportunity for us here," she said.

Life in San Juan is slowly getting back to normal. The tourists are back in Colon Square where Maria Roena and her husband have been selling pottery for 49 years. The storm her same name couldn't have been more different than the woman's spirit.

"It was a unique experience where God taught us a lot of things," Roena said.

Walk down many streets in the city and it's hard to find remnants of Maria. But you don't have to drive far to see people who feel like they've been forgotten.

"We all lost different things, we all went through different things through the hurricane. But emotionally it was the same for us all," Roena said.

The coastal town of Yabucoa took a direct hit. Their town hall was damaged so badly that officials are using a home for their offices. Deputy Mayor Wanda Castro Toro says many of their residents are still without power.

"When we looked out the window after the hurricane, we saw all the destruction. The roof was flying and the trees were knocked down," Castro Toro said.

Ramona Ramos Sostres is one of the people waiting for the lights to come back on. Her home is unlivable, so she's staying with relatives next door.

"It's really hard to live in those conditions. But we keep surviving till we get used to it," she said.

In small Puerto Rican towns like Yabucoa baseball is king. And Maria did everything she could to dethrone it. Their stadium, which once was the center of the community, has largely been reduced to rubble. While some still try to practice on the field, it will have to be demolished.

The team's board is meeting to brainstorm alternatives because even though there's nothing they could do about, they feel like they've let Yabucoa down.

"There was a lot of suffering and I feel bad. And because Yabucoa stadium is where people gather to share. It's hard," Team owner Hector Tellez told WBTV.

In Yabucoa, 95% of the structures were damaged, according to the deputy mayor and they say they've yet to receive the help they need.

But on the other side of the Island, in the mountains near Ponce, people are working hard to restore a sense of normalcy. More than 200 Duke Energy lineman and support staff have been working for nearly six weeks to restore power and give back something many people have been without for so long now.

Duke is one of more the 30 mainland power companies currently working on the island.

Russell Manning traveled to work in Puerto Rico from Charlotte.

"We take power for granted. Back home we're complaining if we lose power for an hour so to be without power for four or five months is unimaginable," he said.

The conditions the Duke crews are working in are unlike anything they've ever experienced.

"It's very remote. Very mountainous. This whole island is a big mountain. Seems like everywhere we go we're going up or down," Manning said.

Ryan Drake and his team have been working in the Mt. Verde area.

"This particular mountain has about 12 hundred customers. We started a few weeks ago and we're down to the last 100," Drake said.

Nearly every day, the work pauses at noon when many of the crews are treated to lunch by one of the families that now have power again. Duke Energy's Juan Rosado has been amazed by the Puerto Rican gratitude.

"The people are so friendly. They've been nothing but helpful and as use see today, they've really provided more than we could have expected," he said.

But it's nothing new for him. While Rosado is from North Carolina, he feels like he's coming home. His father was born and raised in Ponce.

"It's been a trip of a lifetime. We're working a lot of hours and we're working hard but to be able to come and see where my family started out," he said.

As of February 26, Puerto Rico's power company estimates 95% of their power has been restored. The region Duke Energy is working in is nearly complete. But there are still many people waiting and the US Army Corp of Engineers estimates it could be another two months before 100% of the power is restored.

"You want more for the people still struggling, and it's a thing of - nobody should live like that. No US citizen should go through that," Gonzalez said.

Spend time in Puerto Rico and it won't take you long to realize its people are survivors. They may have been knocked down but Maria was no match for the Puerto Rican Spirit. Just ask Ramona Ramos Sostres as she sits on her porch waiting for the power to turn on once again.

"We just need time," she said. "We are resilient and we're going to get up."</s>About 13.4 percent of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority customers are still without electricity five months after Hurricane Maria ― a situation that Akon feels he could have helped prevent.

During a TMZ interview posted Saturday, the rapper revealed that his philanthropic venture Akon Lighting Africa had proposed to restore power on the island but was turned down by the U.S. government.

“We actually presented a program for Puerto Rico and we got rejected,” Akon told TMZ. “We have the solution for Puerto Rico, clearly. We would’ve had power up in less than 30 days and they rejected us.”

Hurricane Maria plunged Puerto Rico into near darkness in late September, when the deadly storm ravaged the island’s decades-old power grid. The job of restoring power initially went to Whitefish Energy, a small Montana-based firm. That $300 million contract was heavily criticized due to the company’s limited experience, its suspected connections to the Trump administration and a lack of transparency during the contract’s bidding process. The Puerto Rican government canceled the contract in late October.

Akon’s organization says it has brought electricity to people in at least 14 African countries using multiple modes of solar energy ― including solar street lamps, micro-generators, charging stations and home kits.

When asked why his bid to help Puerto Rico was denied, Akon said it was a matter of “politics, special interest and propaganda.”

“They don’t care about the people,” he added. “If that were the case, then they would have allowed us to go in and provide the solution.”</s>Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rosello has been visiting the US mainland, looking for financial support for the island battered by hurricanes last year.

Rosello is pushing for the privatisation of public sector businesses in Puerto Rico, but many are sceptical that it will help.

The track record of privatisation in the wake of disasters spotty and Puerto Rico's history with utility privatisation has many fearing it will be big businesses, not the residents, that benefit from rebuilding.</s>I Could Have Restored Power to Puerto Rico Months Ago

Akon Says He Could Have Turned the Lights Back on in Puerto Rico Months Ago

Akon says his org could have gotten the lights back on in Puerto Rico within 30 days after Hurricane Maria hit, but the government rejected him.

We got Akon Friday night at LAX, and asked about the progress in the Puerto Rican relief effort -- as of this week 83% of its residents have power restored. Akon scoffs, because the country is 5 months into disaster relief and power should have been restored months ago.

His org, Akon Lighting Africa, has brought light to 14 African countries and he says he could have done the same for Puerto Rico, but even in disaster politics reigns supreme.

As for Trump, well ... Akon joins the chorus -- it hard to know what's in his head.</s>SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A week after Hurricane Maria cut across Puerto Rico like a scythe, Noel Cuevas was working at his family’s damaged but still-standing gas station.

Cuevas had been up since well before the crack of dawn, rationing gas and helping armed police maintain order at the station. Now, night had fallen, and because there was no central electric power, almost all of the lights were out. Local residents were getting restless. Panic was in the air

“Can you imagine? Someone waits 10 or 12 hours in line for gas, to fuel their generator, and then they get to the front of the line and they’re told there is no more gas?” Cuevas recalled. “People were afraid of dying in hospitals because the machines were not operating, because there was no power. People came to me, crying, begging. It was terrible. It was the worst thing that ever happened in our history.”

Cuevas grew up in Camuy, a charming, northwestern coastal city of about 35,000 people. It’s a tourist destination, known as “La Ciudad Romántica” (romantic city). The hurricane didn’t hit Camuy as hard as some areas, but Camuy still felt its wrath.

Cuevas, 26, an outfield prospect in the Rockies organization, mourns for his homeland. He only has an outside shot of making the club’s opening-day roster, but he came to spring training eager to tell his story, because he wants his people’s voice heard.

“I can tell you about all that I saw, and all that I heard, but it won’t do justice to what the people of Puerto Rico went through, and are still going through,” an emotional Cuevas said from inside the Rockies clubhouse at Salt River Fields. “It should never have come to this. When the hurricane came through, it showed just how bad our infrastructure was. It should have been taking care of long before the hurricane hit. It has to be taken care of now.”

Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm packing 155-mph winds, ripped through the heart of the Caribbean island Sept. 20. It destroyed thousands of homes and left much of the island without electricity or clean water for months.

The exact death toll remains in question. On Thursday, the government of Puerto Rico enlisted George Washington University to review the deaths that followed the hurricane. The official death toll stands at 64, but reports from various news organizations suggest the actual number may be significantly higher, perhaps more than 1,000.

Five months after the storm crippled the island, winds of despair still touch many of its 3.4 million citizens. Last week, Puerto Rico’s Department of health reported that the number of people who have reportedly tried to kill themselves since Hurricane Maria hit had more than tripled. From November through January, a crisis hotline run received 3,050 calls from people who said they had attempted suicide.

As of last week, about 99 percent of the customers in Puerto Rico had running water, but more 400,000 residents still didn’t have electricity, according to Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At the end of January, official aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was “officially shut off” because of the progress made restoring power and basic services to the island. That decision brought the ire of many, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

“There are still a lot of people that wonder why are we giving foreign aid to Puerto Rico,” Rubio said on the floor of the senate. “You have to remind them, Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its residents are U.S. citizens.”

The federal government finally heeded the wake-up call. Earlier this month, when a $400 billion funding bill was passed to keep the government running, Puerto Rico, along with the United States Virgin Islands, were granted major funding, including $4.8 billion to replenish Medicaid funds, $2 billion to restore the devastated power grid and $9 billion for housing and urban development projects.

But, according to the New York Times, the funding fell “tens of billions of dollars short of what Puerto Rico says it needs to come back from the devastating storm.” Last fall, Puerto Rico estimated it would need $94.4 billion to rebuild the island and make its infrastructure more resilient to future natural disasters.

Cuevas, and his younger brothers, Christian and Ricardo, grew up “comfortable” in an upper-middle class section of Camuy. His father, Noel Sr., owns a number of gas stations. All but one of them was destroyed by the hurricane.

“It was life changing,” Cuevas recalled. “What I saw, the morning after, was like something I would only see in a horror movie. There was not a tree left standing up. There was not a light pole left standing up. It was like a giant lawn mower just ripped out all of the trees.

“You’d drive by houses and the only thing left standing were toilets — sitting there all by themselves. It was tough seeing all the people I know so well lose everything. A lot of them left for the mainland and they aren’t coming back.”

Cuevas, a powerfully built, 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-hander, was drafted by the Dodgers in 2010 and sent to the Rockies following the 2014 season as the player to be named in a trade for pitcher Juan Nicasio. Cuevas hit .312 with 15 home runs and 79 RBIs at Triple-A Albuquerque last year. He planned to play winter baseball in Puerto Rico, tuning up for spring training, but the hurricane destroyed the baseball fields.

So, after his family’s life normalized, to a certain extent, he went to Mexico. managing to play in 47 games. But even now, as the Rockies open their Cactus League season, Cuevas phones home nearly every day to check in with his mom, Enid.

“She lost her power again the other day … they still get a lot of blackouts back home, but she’s doing better,” Cuevas said.

The outfielder calls Hurricane Maria “life changing.” He and his brothers hauled water up from the nearby ocean to fill toilets. When water service was finally restored, it was contaminated, so Cuevas took showers standing outside his house as rainwater poured out of a broken gutter.

“Living through the hurricane changed my entire perspective,” Cuevas said. “I’d traveled through the Dominican Republic before when I was with the Dodgers, and I saw poverty. But I couldn’t put myself in their shoes, because I had never really been in that situation.

“But then, for the first time in my life, I was asking, ‘Am I going to have to go to bed without eating?’ That changes you.”

During the World Series, Cuevas watched as big-league stars such as the Dodgers’ Kiké Hernandez and the Astros’ Carlos Beltran and Carlos Correa raised awareness for Hurricane Maria. That heartened Cuevas.

“There are a lot of baseball players, like Carlos Beltran, who helped,” Cuevas said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that haven’t been in the big leagues that long, and they’re helping people build a new house. I think that, yes, it’s nice, but I think it’s helps got to come from somewhere else.”

If Cuevas is still angry about what Puerto Rico has endured, he doesn’t show it. Rather, he seeks awareness.

“My home is a beautiful place, and more than that, it’s an American place,” Cuevas said. “And we are U.S. citizens, and I think a lot of people forget that. I don’t want them to ever forget, I want them to remember that we still need help.”

If you are interested in helping the residents of Puerto Rico, here are some organizations to consider giving money to:
• United for Puerto Rico (direct aid and support for Puerto Rico spearheaded by the First Lady of Puerto Rico)
• Hispanic Federation (text Unidos and an amount to 4-144 or visit the website)
• UNICEF (emergency relief and help for children affected)
• Habitat for Humanity (housing and shelter needs)</s>FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017 file photo, the foundation of a heavily damaged house stands amid broken trees in the mountains after the passing of Hurricane Maria in the San Lorenzo neighborhood of Morovis, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's governor Ricardo Rossello said Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018, that experts at George Washington University will lead an in-depth review to determine the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria amid accusations that the U.S. territory has undercounted the toll. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa,File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor announced Thursday that a team of experts at George Washington University will lead an independent, in-depth review to determine the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria amid accusations that the U.S. territory has undercounted the toll.

The team, led by the dean and an epidemiologist of the university's school of public health, expects to have a preliminary report in three months and a final report in one year.

"We will call it as we see it," said Dean Lynn Goldman. "That I promise you."

The administration of Gov. Ricardo Rossello had maintained that 64 people died as a result of the Category 4 hurricane that hit on Sept. 20 with winds of up to 154 mph (248 kph). But critics have said the death toll is much higher, noting that a spike in the number of deaths after the storm was not normal. Puerto Rico recorded an official average of 82 deaths a day in the two weeks before Maria hit. The number increased to 117 a day after the storm pummeled the island in mid-September and then fell below usual in October.

Rossello said his administration wants to rely on the most up-to-date science to get more clarity about the number of victims.

"I want to know the truth," he said. "It's important for those who have lost loved ones."

Goldman said the team will review all deaths from September until the end of February, relying on death certificates in addition to possible funeral home and hospital visits and interviews with family members and doctors. The team also will review mortality records from the past 10 years to calculate possible excess deaths and analyze the process that Puerto Rico used to count victims. She said the type of research her team will be doing could lead to an improved U.S. model for estimating deaths after a disaster.

"Worldwide, these methods are not sufficiently developed," she said, adding that she will be working alongside Puerto Rican officials. "Despite the best efforts of many people to care for people in the aftermath of this disaster...it hasn't always been possible for the records to be kept in a way that they normally are."

Puerto Rico government officials have rejected media reports that suggest hundreds of people died as a direct result of the storm, and Rossello called for a review of the death toll in late December. The current toll includes some of those who died from heart attacks, suicide and respiratory failure, but one report by researchers including the director of applied demography at Pennsylvania State University estimates that there were nearly 500 excess deaths in Puerto Rico in September.

Victims' relatives note the storm left the entire island of 3.3 million people without power, including those in hospitals and nursing homes who relied on respirators and other electric equipment.

The first phase of the review will cost the government $305,000, officials said, adding that the second phase could cost up to $1.1 million and be paid for through grants given that the U.S. territory is mired in an 11-year recession and struggling to restructure a portion of its $73 billion public debt load.

Epidemiologist Carlos Santos warned that the team likely won't have a specific number to offer once their review ends.

"The challenge is reconstructing what happened," he said. "We're taking up a project with several months having gone by."

Santos added that the team will review deaths that occurred outside the U.S. territory to account for the tens of thousands of people who fled for the U.S. mainland after the hurricane and may have died there.</s>A Staten Island man was found dead about a week after he went missing in Puerto Rico, officials said.

Sean Collins, 29, was a lineman for Northline Utilities who went to Puerto Rico as a contractor to help restore power after Hurricane Maria in September.

He came home to New York City in January, but had returned to the island last weekend to visit friends, according to officials.

A missing person’s report was filed when he didn’t catch his flight back to New York, officials said. His body was later found inside his rental car.

It’s not clear how he died, but authorities don’t believe foul play was involved.

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20 and destroyed two-thirds of the power distribution system on the island. Nearly 250,000 customers remain without power more than five months after the Category 4 storm.</s>QUEENSLAND’S disaster experts could be sent to Puerto Rico to help the hurricane-ravaged island get back on its feet.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday met Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello to offer assistance following the devastation wreaked on the US territory by Hurricane Maria, dubbed the region’s worst recorded natural disaster.

Ms Palaszczuk (pictured) said she wanted to ensure Puerto Rico had full access to Queensland Reconstruction Authority and other departmental officials involved in responding to the damage from the Hurricane.

She has also offered to welcome the Governor and a delegation to Queensland so they could see first hand how the state handled disaster management and recovery following disasters such as the 2011 floods, and last year’s Cyclone Debbie.

Mr Rossello accepted that offer at yesterday’s meeting in Washington.

Ms Palaszczuk said she had also offered to deploy Queensland’s disaster experts to Puerto Rico should they be needed.

“I explained the devastating floods in 2011 and how we needed to transform our response and establish a Queensland reconstruction authority,” she said.

“Sadly, Queenslanders have had to endure too many natural disasters, including Cyclone Debbie last year. But it does mean our emergency response and other agencies are well-versed in how to respond to a disaster and in leading the ­recovery.

“I am determined that we help our friends. The Governor understands the experiences we have had, and I believe he is keen to understand what we have done to ensure our practices are the best and our response is comprehensive.”

Ms Palaszczuk is in the US on a 10-day trade missing.
A mass shooting at a bar in the town of Comerio, Puerto Rico, near the capital San Juan, leaves at least five people dead and one other injured.