Sewage fouls water in Puerto Rico
Compiled from news services
CAGUAS, Puerto Rico — Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. People without running water are bathing and washing their clothes in contaminated streams, and some islanders have been drinking water from condemned wells.
Nearly a month after the hurricane made landfall, Puerto Rico is only beginning to come to grips with a massive environmental emergency.
With hundreds of thousands still without running water, and 20 of the island’s 51 sewage treatment plants out of service, concerns about contamination and disease are growing.
Third option offered
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians who do not identify as male or female will have a third gender option on driver’s licenses and birth certificates under a bill Gov. Jerry Brown signed.
The bill makes California the first state in the country to offer the third gender marker on birth certificates for nonbinary people who want their documents to match their gender identity. Nonbinary is an umbrella term for people who do not consider themselves strictly male or female, but instead fall outside those gender norms.
Guild ousts Weinstein
LOSANGELES — The Producers Guild of America’s board of directors has voted unanimously to terminate Harvey Weinstein’s membership, the organization announced Monday.
The decision was reached Monday by the PGA’s National Board of Directors and Officers after dozens of women have accused the former mogul of abuse and harassment.
PGA leaders also announced the creation of an anti-sexual harassment task force to research and address sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.
Bribery case proceeds
The corruption case of Sen. Robert Menendez, DN.J., and a friend will go forward after a judge declined to dismiss the charges and said jurors should decide whether prosecutors had met a toughened standard laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court for proving public bribery.
U.S. District Judge William Walls said the case against Mr. Menendez would proceed. Mr. Menendez must decide if he should testify to rebut claims that he took campaign contributions, private jet travel and luxury vacations from Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor, who was seeking his help in disputes with the U.S. and Dominican governments.
Man missing after blast
KENNER, La. — Authorities have suspended the search Monday for a Texas man who disappeared when an oil and gas platform exploded on a lake near New Orleans. Seven people were injured in the Sunday night blast and fire, including three who were in critical condition, authorities said.
The explosion happened on an oil and gas transfer facility in Lake Pontchartrain. The platform was on waters just north of the suburban city of Kenner in Jefferson Parish. The parish sheriff, Joe Lopinto, identified the missing man as Timothy Morrison, 44.