Oh come, they are not *actually* requesting to secede, in fact they are actually going to add a *new* state (Puerto Rico just approved a referendum for statehood)
This happens all the time; Mostly it's the money rich states like Texas and California, grumbling about taxes and sharing their wealth with other, less rich states.
In every place there are some wackos, and in America, even wackos are allowed to file petitions. But that does not mean they will be take seriously.
It's like the mayor of Karachi going to court and asking to secede and make Jinnahpur (which *apparently* MQM was going to do, only not through court...but that's another story for another time); the court will look at the petition, throw it back at his face, and ask him to get out and stop wasting the court's time.
The news media is not reporting this because it's a stupid and pointless news; that's why only crap news sites and blogs (yellow journalism) are posting about it.
So stop getting your hopes up, and start fixing your own mess, lest we face our *own* breakup.