Puerto Ricans say US relief efforts failing them

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Trump administration declared Thursday that its relief efforts in Puerto Rico are succeeding, but people on the island said help was scarce and disorganized while food supplies dwindled in some remote towns eight days after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory of 3.4 million people.

President Donald Trump cleared the way for more supplies to head to Puerto Rico by issuing a 10-day waiver of federal restrictions on foreign ships delivering cargo to the island. And House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief account would get a $6.7 billion boost by the end of the week.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke declared that "the relief effort is under control."

"It is really a good news story, in terms of our ability to reach people," she told reporters in the White House driveway.

Outside the capital, San Juan, people said that was far from the truth.

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Job in jeopardy, HHS chief promises to repay charter costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting to keep his job, health secretary Tom Price said Thursday he'd write a personal check to reimburse taxpayers for his travel on charter flights taken on government business and pledged to fly commercial — "no exceptions."

The repayment — $51,887.31, according to Price's office — covered only the secretary's seat. Price did not address the overall cost of the flights, which could amount to several hundred thousand dollars and is under investigation.

"I regret the concerns this has raised regarding the use of taxpayer dollars," Price said in a statement. "I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer." His mea culpa came a day after a public rebuke from President Donald Trump.

A former congressman from Georgia regarded as a conservative policy expert, Price said he hopes to keep his Cabinet seat. At the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wouldn't go that far.

"We're going to conduct a full review and we'll see what happens," Sanders told reporters. Travel by other top officials is also attracting scrutiny.

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10 Things to Know for Friday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. TRUMP CLEARS WAY FOR INCREASED AID TO PUERTO RICO

On the island, food and water remain scarce, and a growing number of people decry the federal response as an uncoordinated mess.

2. TWITTER EXECS' PERFORMANCE PANNED

The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee says a closed-door presentation by executives suggests the company doesn't understand the seriousness of his panel's investigation into Russian election interference.

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Stories from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Last week Puerto Ricans hunkered down as Hurricane Maria raked the length of the island, killing at least 16 people, wrecking the electricity grid and grinding up homes, businesses, roads and farms.

After the storm passed, islanders set about digging out from the mud and debris slung by worst storm to hit the island in nearly a decade. They went in search of basic necessities: water, food, gas for a generator, a cellphone signal or a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect with relatives.

All of that remains in very short supply a week later, and now many are wondering how long it will take for life to return to normal in the U.S. territory of 3.4 million.

Here are the stories of some of those who lived through the storm and are struggling in its aftermath:

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How tax-cut plan could benefit Trump and wealthy staffers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House insisted Thursday that the tax cuts President Donald Trump has proposed wouldn't benefit the rich. But the blueprint suggests that wealthy Americans, including several in Trump's administration, would likely enjoy a financial windfall.

Much of their income tends to come from investments and business profits, which stand to benefit from the proposed tax changes.

The president's claim that rich Americans like him would actually pay more under his plan rests largely on how he's keeping score of a plan still short on key specifics. Speaking in Indiana on Wednesday, Trump said he expected that wealthy taxpayers might phone him to complain but that he'd rebuff them.

"They can call me all they want — not going to help," the president said. "I'm doing the right thing, and it's not good for me, believe me."

Voters will have to take Trump as his word that his tax bill would rise under his plan, because the president has broken a decades-long tradition among presidents by refusing to release his tax returns.

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Dakota Access developer gives $15M toward security costs

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The builder of the Dakota Access pipeline sent North Dakota $15 million on Thursday to help pay law enforcement bills related to months of sometimes violent protests over the project's construction.

Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners has wired the money, said Mike Nowatzki, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum. Company investors also contributed, he said.

The $3.8 billion pipeline began moving oil from North Dakota to a distribution point in Illinois in June. The project is still being contested in federal court by American Indian tribes who fear a leak could endanger their water supply, and protests from August to February resulted in a large-scale police response and more than 700 arrests.

The state has arranged for a bank credit line of up to $43 million to cover policing costs, including $5 million just added this week. Maj. Gen. Alan Dohrmann, who heads the North Dakota National Guard, has said costs shouldn't go past that figure.

Burgum said in a statement he was grateful for the contribution.

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Was Hefner oppressor or liberator? Women debate his legacy

Oppressor or liberator? Feminist in a silk robe, or pipe-smoking exploiter? Opinions were flying a day after Hugh Hefner's death over just what he did — and didn't do — for women.

On one side, there were those who saw Hefner's dressing women in bunny costumes with cottontails on their rears, or displaying them nude in his magazine with a staple in their navels, as simple subjugation of females, no matter how slick and smooth the packaging. On the other were those who felt the Playboy founder was actually at the forefront of the sexual revolution, bringing sexuality into the mainstream and advancing the cause of feminism with his stand on social issues, especially abortion rights.

"I think it's disgusting," said feminist author Susan Brownmiller, of the praise she'd been seeing on social media since Hefner's death Wednesday at age 91. "Even some of my Facebook friends are hewing to the notion that, gee whiz, he supported abortion, he supported civil rights ... Yes he was for abortion, (because) if you convince your girlfriend to get an abortion because she got pregnant, you don't have to think about marrying her! I mean, that was his point."

Most offensive to Brownmiller was what she called Hefner's equating the word "feminist" with "anti-sex."

"It wasn't that we were opposed to a liberation of sexual morality," she said, "but the idea that he would make women into little bunnies, rabbits, with those ears ... That was the horror of it." It was Brownmiller, in fact, who confronted Hefner nearly a half-century ago on Dick Cavett's talk show, saying to his face, "Hugh Hefner is my enemy." As a startled Hefner fiddled with his pipe, she added: "The day that you are willing to come out here with a cottontail attached to YOUR rear end..." The audience roared.

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Indonesia volcano may erupt explosively or menace for weeks

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — Experts say a suddenly active volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali is more likely to erupt than not.

But because every volcano has its own unique characteristics, scientists can't predict when that will be with total certainty. It could erupt suddenly or continue for weeks at its current menacing level of seismic activity.

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WHAT'S LED TO ERUPTION WARNINGS?

The slow movement of the tectonic plates that make up the planet's surface carries massive quantities of rock deep into the earth, where they melt. As this molten magma rises, pressure increases inside a sealed chamber beneath the mountain until it explodes.

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Illinois governor agrees to allow Medicaid for abortions

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner ended months of speculation Thursday and signed legislation allowing state health insurance and Medicaid coverage for abortions, a reversal of the first-term Republican's stance on the proposal last spring.

The Legislature, which is run by Democrats, approved the measure in May but delayed sending it to Rauner until Monday, in part because he has wavered on where he stands. As a candidate, Rauner supported expanding coverage for abortions, but in April said he opposed the legislation and Illinois should focus on economic issues.

Rauner's final word came at a news conference Thursday before signing the bill privately. He said while he'd talked to advocates on both sides, he always supported abortion rights and had to take action "consistent" with his views.

"The passions, the emotions, the sentiments on both sides of these issues are very powerful. I respect them very much," Rauner said. "I believe that a woman living with limited financial means should not be put in a position where she has to choose something different than a woman of higher income would be able to choose."

The law takes effect immediately.

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Climber: Rock fall strikes Yosemite for a second day

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A massive new rock fall hit Yosemite National Park on Thursday, cracking with a thundering roar off the El Capitan rock formation, injuring one person and sending huge plumes of white dust surging through the valley floor below.

The slide came a day after a giant slab of granite plunged from the same formation, killing a British man on a hiking and climbing visit and injuring his wife.

Climber Ryan Sheridan had just reached the top of El Capitan, a 7,569-foot (2,307-meter) formation, when the rock let loose below him Thursday.

"There was so much smoke and debris," he said by cellphone. "It filled the entire valley with smoke."

"It was in the same location of the previous rock fall. A larger rock fall let loose, easily three times the size," Sheridan said.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017