Monday Apr 10, 2023

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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 edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Fiscal board’s civil service reform strategy includes $45 million for select salary increases

By THE STAR STAFF

Following a pilot project, the Financial Oversight and Management Board has provided a strategy to implement a government-wide civil service reform (CSR), including the addition of $45 million annually starting in 2024 to expand a uniform remuneration plan (URP), according to the recent 2023 certified fiscal plan.

In April 2022, the oversight board announced that it had collaborated with the island Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on a pilot program that enabled Treasury and OMB workers to earn a market-based salary for the first time.

The prior 2022 certified fiscal plan allocated $99.6 million for the implementation of the new URP contingent upon the successful completion of the pilot CSR and robust planning of a government-wide implementation of the reform. The $99.6 million remuneration plan budget allocation includes $16.6 million, or 20% more than the initial $83 million remuneration plan budget request submitted by the government in 2021, to ensure enough funds were available to bring all incumbent government employees to market competitive salary rates.

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The release of the $45 million in funds is contingent upon the government meeting government-wide implementation planning and preparation deliverables, milestones and objectives in a timely manner.

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workforce infrastructure that is necessary for the dissemination and expansion of CSR throughout government, according to the report.

An agreement was reached to apply salary adjustments in two phases. The oversight board approved the release of the $144.3 million for the first phase of salary adjustments, which went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year, impacting 53% of the more than 22,000 UPR employees and bringing the current salary of incumbent employees to the minimum of their respective new salary scales and employees with “hot jobs” to the midpoint of the scales.

“Phase 2 salary adjustments, pending the Government establishing urgency required for compliance of all remaining government-wide implementation planning and preparation and implementation deliverables, will be implemented in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and will bring incumbent employees to 90% of the midpoint of their scales and employees with ‘hot jobs’ to 110% of the midpoint of the scales,” the report notes.

Separately, the 2023 Certified Fiscal Plan includes $42 million annually beginning in FY 2024 for salary increases for the Department of Justice employees, executive branch employees, and judicial branch employees and judges if certain conditions are met.

For the CSR to be successful and lasting, the government must frequently revise and review its compensation policies, the fiscal plan says.

“This two-phase implementation approach will serve as an incentive to continue the work of the reform and further cement its sustainability, while keeping the commitment to pay at market competitive salary rates,” the fiscal plan notes.

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While the oversight board and the government had agreed to paying incumbent central government employees at market competitive rates, after conducting the market-based benchmarking analysis, placing all employees in the new salary structure based on their new job classification, and calculating the budgetary impact, it was found that adjusting employees’ current salaries to the competitive range (90% of salary scale midpoint) and employees in “hot jobs” to 110% of salary scale midpoint, has a cost of some $144.3 million, the plan report says.

“The $144.3 million budgeted therefore allows for incumbent employees to be brought to the minimum of the new salary scales (not 90% of midpoint), and ‘hot jobs’ to the midpoint of the new scales (not 110% of midpoint),” the report says.

Further work is required for scaling CSR and establishing the technological, organizational and

The Financial Oversight and Management Board approved the release of the $144.3 million for the first of two phases of salary adjustments, which went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year, impacting 53% of the more than 22,000 uniform remuneration plan employees.

Legislators vow to evaluate 67 bills that address tax reform

By THE STAR STAFF

Speaker of the House of Representatives Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez and House Finance and Budget Committee Chairman Jesús Santa Rodríguez announced on Sunday, after the Financial Oversight and Management Board approved the commonwealth government’s latest fiscal plan last week, that they will approve the evaluation of the 67 legislative measures, from all delegations, including those proposed by Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, aimed at reforming the island’s tax system.

As part of the analysis, the legislators sent a request for information to Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC by its Spanish acronym) Secretary Manuel Cidre Miranda, in which they asked him to certify the cost-benefit of investment, if any, that the incentives granted under Law 60-2019 (Incentive Code) have demonstrated during the past three years.

“In this phase, we are focused on reviewing the decrees, incentives, subsidies, reimbursements and tax or financial benefits granted by the Government of Puerto Rico,” reads the letter signed by Hernández Montañez and Santa Rodríguez, who granted three working days for the head of the DDEC to provide the requested data.

“To truly pass legislation that eases the tax burden on

Puerto Ricans, we need tax data that is admissible through PROMESA [the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act],” the legislators said in a written statement. “Given this reality, we call on the Treasury secretary, Francisco Parés Alicea, to certify the fiscal impact

of the 67 measures filed to effectively amend our Internal Revenue Code.”

For his part, Santa Rodríguez said that “genuinely, there is an environment in the House to legislate a broad and holistic reform of our entire tax system, including contributions on income, real estate, taxes and the Sales and Use Tax (IVU).”

“In addition, we will continue to evaluate in the legislative process Senate Bill 802, which seeks the creation of a legal framework to publish tax expenditure reports, to accurately evaluate the cost and return on investment of tax incentives and credits,” Santa Rodríguez noted.

Hernández Montañez and Santa Rodríguez announced that starting April 19, they will begin a series of meetings, with all sectors, in search of points of agreement and viable alternatives. Likewise, they made a call for unity in which they stated that “the commitment has to be broad and for this reason, we will include in the process the trust professionals recommended by both the Governor, and the Municipal Revenue Collections Center (CRIM), as well as the FOMB [Financial Oversight and Management Board].”

The legislators also indicated that they will take advantage of the process of reforming the tax system to standardize and simplify all current documentation, reports and payrolls.

Lawmaker asks governor, fiscal board to boost funding for municipal police

By THE STAR STAFF

At-large Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz González asked Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the Financial Oversight and Management Board on Sunday to identify and assign a special allocation of funds in the recently certified Fiscal Plan that guarantees that the island’s municipalities have the necessary funds to address security issues, and hire and equip municipal police.

“Over the past few weeks, the rise in crime has dominated the news. The security of all citizens is an essential service and must be a priority for this and any government,” the legislator said. “For this reason, we are requesting that, as has been done with other essential services, a special allocation of funds be identified and allocated in the country’s fiscal plan to ensure that municipalities have the necessary resources to hire and equip municipal police officers who maintain security in their municipalities.”

By provision of the federal Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), budget allocations are made year after year by the oversight board. The approved budget for 2023 expresses support for the allocation of additional funds for the municipalities and the continuity of the essential services they offer, but, in Ortiz González’s opinion, despite the relief they received through the special funds for garbage collection and road repair provided by the Debt Adjustment Plan Enabling Law, Law 52-2021, the budgetary situation in the municipalities continues to be a precarious and worrying one.

“We are concerned about the lack of funds allocated for the municipal police, added to the lack of personnel and resources, and bureaucracy at the DSP [Public Safety Department], which has plunged the Puerto Rico Police Bureau into a hole. The finances of many of the smaller municipalities are

affected by the oversight board’s cutting of the Equalization Fund,” Ortiz González said. “We recognize the fiscal crisis that we continue to go through at the island level; however, we consider it essential that resources be allocated where they are needed. The municipal police have always been a helping hand of the state government, who are the ones who have the primary responsibility to address the needs of these public officials who risk their lives on a daily basis.”

The legislator, through a letter, suggested that the funds can come from new industries in favor of the Puerto Rico police and the municipalities, as well as from the General Fund, or from special funds among which he mentioned the Municipal One-Time Economic Support or the Emergency Reserve. In addition to those, the fiscal plan mentioned other initiatives aimed at assisting municipalities such as the Fund for Solid Waste Collection, the temporary reduction in the payment of the Health Card, the Municipal Consolidation Fund and the fund for the maintenance of schools and roads.

“The fiscal crisis that the island is going through should not be an obstacle to guaranteeing the entire population access to essential security and protection services, “ Ortiz González said. “For this reason, we are asking fiscal entities to identify greater resources so that municipalities can reinforce their municipal security teams, offer greater security to Puerto Ricans and thus guarantee the provision of essential services.”

Speaker of the House of Representatives Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez and House Finance and Budget Committee Chairman Jesús Santa Rodríguez

Rep. Jesús Manuel Ortiz González

A million island families stand to attain high-speed internet access thanks to federal allocation

By THE STAR STAFF

Afederal allocation of $740,000 to the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Subsidy Program (ACP) will allow some one million eligible families to have high-speed internet, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia announced over the weekend.

The approval of additional funds from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) comes after Puerto Rico became the fifth jurisdiction in the United States to administer the funds available for the ACP program favorably.

“As part of the public policy of my administration, one of the priorities is the technology and the digitization of government services, as well as that every citizen on the island has access to high-speed internet,” the governor said in written remarks. “This translates into more people being able to quickly and securely access the internet, performing multiple tasks, with better technology, which at the end of the day results in savings in infrastructure, time, and better quality of life.”

Assistant Secretary of Government Innovation, Infor-

mation, Data and Technology Enrique Völckers Nin, who also is the executive director of the broadband program, said “the main mission is to facilitate promotion and knowledge so that more eligible people can benefit from the Affordable Connectivity Program, through which the FCC subsidizes families and individuals to pay for high-speed internet services so that they can access their work, education, health services, among other services.”

Völckers Nin highlighted the importance of the allocation to close the high-speed internet accessibility gap in the island’s 78 municipalities.

For the assignment, Puerto Rico was measured against other states, cities, universities, nonprofit organizations and community institutions in the United States. As detailed by the FCC when announcing the selected proposals, 350 applications for subsidies for developing high-speed internet projects were evaluated.

The proposals were evaluated through a process that included merit reviews in determining the project quality, activities and budget, and risk reviews to ascertain an applicant’s fiscal stability, including the quality of management systems,

grant performance history, and audit reports and findings.

In total, the FCC assigned some $66 million for the project, including that achieved by Puerto Rico. With the budget allocation, the federal agency seeks to recruit partners or collaborators to serve as reliable messengers among citizens to implement innovative strategies that allow them to access high-speed internet.

The Puerto Rico government presented its proposal through the Office of Management and Budget, which manages the funds.

Völckers Nin urged Puerto Rico residents who still do not have a subsidy to pay their internet bills to visit the official White House website and complete the eligibility form for ACP through http://getinternet.gov/. Information is available in Spanish and English.

“Puerto Rico is the fifth jurisdiction in the United States with the highest use of the Affordable Connectivity Reach Subsidy Program,” Pierluisi said. “However, we have not yet reached half of those who could benefit on the island. With this subsidy, we can impact more than a million families that qualify for this aid.”

More than 50 hospitals participate in enhanced communication project

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Hospitals Association announced Sunday that more than 50 hospitals are currently participating in the relaunch of the “QIP” project, an initiative that allows medical teams to directly communicate necessary information and key points of projects that they discuss day by day.

QIP offers the opportunity for live participation and discussion, in particular on matters related to maintaining the quality of services at the high levels expected of a hospital institution.

“The QIP Project, previously known as ‘Innovation Network for Hospital Improvements,’ is a working tool that involves the participation of some 50 hospitals on the island, all members of the Puerto Rico Hospitals Association. As a significant element, the initiative seeks to involve insurers simultaneously,” said Pedro González, executive vice president of the Puerto Rico Hospitals Association. “There is no doubt that this relaunch of the quality program promoted by our organization includes an intense program of services that allows, at the same time, providing continuity to the new trends in terms of requirements of the accrediting agencies, compliance with the quality indicators of the insurers and, not least, the use and integration of technology as a tool to maintain high quality in the services provided in our hospital institutions.”

“The application of these programs allows hospitals to implement evidence-based practices, with a focus on prevention, whose results produce the reduction of adverse events,” he added. “It is important to announce that the new phase of the project will last three years.”

The HIIN Project (Hospital Improvement Innovation Network) emerged in 2017 and lasted until 2020, with the purpose

of continuing and promoting learning, as well as the use of best practices and the dissemination of information among participating hospitals. It was sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

“The results offered, for the end of 2020, present amazing positive results, evidenced with ‘data’ demonstrating that teamwork allows the establishment or strengthening of a safety culture, above all, significant improvements in events that may affect both patients and the institution itself,” González continued. “For example, the results from the year 2020 show an

improvement of 70% in cases of postoperative venous thromboembolism. Hospital-acquired infections showed a 52% drop, adverse events related to medication administration reflected a decrease of 31%, pneumonia associated with events related to mechanical ventilators showed an improvement of 31%, infections in surgical wounds showed a decrease of 27% and falls with damage in the hospital were reduced by 20%.”

The organization announced that it will continue to hold events that allow the discussion and promotion of alliances with medical teams, organizations and their leaders to promote the reduction of harm to patients through the implementation of effective evidence-based practices in hospitals in Puerto Rico. It was also noted that the main objective is to implement prevention practices, based on no harm to patients, and validate or show their effectiveness with robust data that helps demonstrate the combined efforts of the human teams working in hospitals.

Pedro González, executive vice president of the Puerto Rico Hospitals Association

Puerto Rican player wins Street Fighter title in sweep at prestigious tourney

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

Puerto Rico’s Ricardo Román, popularly known in the gaming world as MonoPR, won the prestigious DreamHack San Diego tournament, held over the weekend in California.

The young man, a member of the Puerto Rico-based Red Rooster Team, won the match without losing a single set by beating a series of well-known players: GilbsSkills, WeebTresh,

Jazdero, Stupendous, Dreaddragon and Cory Bell. With his perfect performance, Román took the trophy and a $1,000 prize.

“I feel happy and well-motivated to continue growing in this world of gaming, representing Puerto Rico,” Román said. “I appreciate the support of my Red Rooster team. We will continue to reap successes.”

MonoPR is among 64 high-profile players who entered the tournament in the Street Fighter 5 category. Román has had a successful season in which he has achieved notable vic-

tories and merits, such as being the first player from Puerto Rico to access the Capcom Cup.

Earlier this month Román ranked in the Top 8 in the competitive Evolution Championship Series, also known as EVO, reaching number five out of 1,797 players. That tournament was held at Tokyo Big Sight, the International Exhibition Center in Japan.

With his exceptional run, MonoPR is on track to achieve a high ranking in the 6th worldwide edition of Street Fighter, which will premiere in June.

DACO warns of fraud scheme involving phony ‘PayPal’ emails

By THE STAR STAFF

Designated

Consumer Affairs (DACO)

Secretary Hiram Torres Montalvo alerted island consumers on Sunday about a fraud scheme involving fake emails from the instant payment application PayPal.

“In recent days, our staff identified a new scheme to defraud the consumer through alleged payments to the PayPal service,” Torres Montalvo said in a written statement. “The emails associated with this illicit activity detail that they have received a payment of $200 from a person and that, to access those funds, the recipient has to change his account from ‘personal to

commercial’ and for this he needs to send the recipient half of what was sent, in this case

$100. It is important that the consumer knows that the original money was never sent and that this ‘email’ is only to defraud the recipient.”

Designated Consumer Affairs Secretary

Hiram Torres Montalvo

“The email that is linked to this scheme is a very sophisticated one. It seems real because it hides the recipient and contains all the logos and other characteristics of those sent by the PayPal company,” the DACO chief added. “However, despite the fact that the ‘email’ indicates the sending and alleges that it cannot activate the funds until changing the account to a business [account], if the consumer enters his PayPal system, he can see that there is no movement, so that is another way to detect this model of fraud.”

“The purpose of these fraud schemes is to acquire the personal data of the victims to then be used in criminal activity,” Torres Montalvo said. “These emails are often filtered by the security systems of devices and are flagged as ‘spam;’ however, some … go directly to the ‘Inbox.’ Our appeal is that you evaluate these emails and their content very carefully before acting on them.”

Torres Montalvo invited consumers who have received such an email to contact DACO through the agency’s pages on the social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as the agency’s internet portal: www. daco.pr.gov.

BMA Group hired to perform talent acquisition services for fiscal board

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico has hired BMA Group to provide talent acquisition services for jobs announced by the federally appointed entity, according to the contract posted on the board’s website.

The contract runs from March 1 to June 30 of this year.

The firm will source potential candidates

to ensure they meet education, job experience and interest requirements. It will also screen their motivational fit at a functional, cultural and geographical level.

In order to select the best talent, the contractor will carry out recruitment activities, identification and analysis of potential candidates to determine who has the competencies required by the oversight board, according to the services agreement.

The contractor will conduct a behavioral

interview for potential candidates to determine proficiency in required competencies and present candidates to the board through their resume or video interview.

“Contractor will negotiate a formal offer with those candidates selected by the FOMB,” the contract noted.

BMA will charge a fixed fee of 20% of the selected candidate’s annual salary, but may also charge for additional tests, such as social media checks, background criminal checks, social security validation, education confirmation and employment verification. The contractor must submit its invoice by the 10th day of each month. Payment will be made in 30 days from receipt of invoice, according to the service contract.

Previously, the oversight board in February hired the law firm Holland & Knight to render

services from time to time in connection with government affairs efforts in Washington, D.C.

Those services include working closely with the board and its advisers to promote federal legislative action and administrative policies to stimulate economic growth in Puerto Rico; supporting outreach efforts related to Republican and Democratic members of Congress, and Washington-based think tanks, associations and interest groups; monitoring relevant federal legislation, congressional hearings, agency hearings, and meetings of interest to the board; and working with the board and senior staff to prepare for any congressional or administrative hearing or rulemaking proceeding.

The Holland & Knight contract is for a fixed fee of $55,000 per month, subject to the maximum charge of $275,000.

Ricardo Román, aka MonoPR

Fed up with mayhem, Miami Beach wants to tame spring break for good

By PATRICIA MAZZEI

After two fatal shootings on Ocean Drive over a March weekend, Miami Beach leaders followed their recent playbook for dealing with raucous spring break crowds: a state of emergency, a midnight curfew and limited liquor sales.

Then, in a new and drastic step, the city commissioners announced a curfew for 2024, a full year in advance, and declared spring break on the sun-kissed streets of Miami Beach to be over.

“Miami Beach is shutting the door on spring break, once and for all,” Alex Fernandez, a city commissioner who sponsored a series of 2024 measures, said before the vote.

The decision, in the middle of the March and April season that is the most profitable time of the year for local businesses, has caused both relief and consternation over the possible loss of the throngs of visitors that have grown to overwhelm the city’s police and other public services — and of the money that those visitors spend on hotel rooms, nightclub cover charges and boozy cocktails.

Miami Beach both loves and hates its tourists, a conflicting sentiment that has long plagued officials as the city has evolved from a cocaine cowboy den in the 1980s to a high-fashion Riviera in the 1990s to what it is today: a glittering playground for affluent families making a home, foreigners chasing the sun and young American visitors who come looking for a good time. Some people, including the city’s mayor, want the partyers gone for good.

If Miami Beach is to be rebranded as less of a spring break destination and more of an arts, culture and health and wellness hub, some owners of bars, nightclubs and liquor stores worry that they will lose business. And some residents and officials fear losing the diversity and laid-back vibe that make Miami Beach Miami Beach.

“What we’re seeing is panic-stricken politicians who feel the need to do something,” Ricky Arriola, a city commissioner who voted against the 2024 curfew, said in an interview. “The heavy hand of government is being imposed on residents, our visitors and businesses, rather than doing the hard work of coming up with really strategic alternatives.”

Similar frictions between residents and

visitors have afflicted other popular Florida spring break locales like Panama City Beach. Over time, Fort Lauderdale and other cities have pushed spring breakers out, in part by raising hotel rates and changing zoning laws to turn dive bars into more upscale establishments.

Miami Beach has been wrestling with its reputation as a party town. A judge recently upheld an ordinance imposing a partial 2 a.m. cutoff on alcohol sales for a South Beach neighborhood known as South of Fifth, now full of glimmering condos. The law had been challenged by Story, a nightclub that argued it could not survive if it could no longer sell alcohol until 5 a.m.

Patience has worn thin as spring break revelers, often partying with alcohol or drugs, have packed a roughly 10-block stretch of South Beach along the Atlantic oceanfront each season, leading to unpredictable situations that sometimes turn violent because so many people have guns, according to city leaders, police officers and business owners.

The two deadly incidents this year took place over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, typically one of the busiest of the season. After the second, the city briefly imposed a midnight curfew.

Last year, two shootings on Ocean Drive led the city to set a midnight curfew. In 2021, Miami Beach made headlines when, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, the city marketed itself to visitors even though many nightclubs remained closed, leading to raucous street parties. Officials responded that year by imposing an 8 p.m. curfew.

The rowdy behavior in the streets and the curfews that result have hurt businesses year after year, said Joshua Wallack, the chief operating officer of Mango’s Tropical Cafe, an Ocean Drive institution for more than 30 years.

“When they go from a dangerous situation to complete lockdown, there is no business,” he said. “We’re just caught in the wake of how they handle it. The service industry and the hospitality industry, they get completely obliterated because it goes from having complete chaos to nothing.”

In the past, civil rights activists have complained about the city police department’s use of military-style vehicles, pepper balls and forceful crowd control tactics during spring break, which attracts many Black visitors to a

city whose resident population is largely white. Glendon Hall, chair of the Miami Beach Black Affairs Advisory Committee, which was created two years ago, was embedded with police officers and the city’s “goodwill ambassadors” during spring break last month. He said in a statement that was read at a meeting Tuesday that he was pleased with how law enforcement handled the “massive crowds” this year and that there had been no major complaints from civil rights groups.

The Miami Beach Police Department made 573 arrests in March, a slight drop from 615 arrests in March 2022, according to Officer Ernesto Rodriguez, a department spokesperson. Police officers seized more than 100 guns this year, he added.

Still, most everyone in city leadership seems to agree that the chaotic spring break crowds have become too much. But when it comes to what to do about them, views differ.

Mayor Dan Gelber said spring break “doesn’t fit with a city that has so many residents.”

“South Beach has bars and restaurants,” he said, “but

it also has elementary schools and churches and synagogues.” Some local residents and visitors who spend lavishly often avoid the city during spring break.

Some commissioners like Fernandez have said they want to keep spring breakers but not “lawbreakers” who follow them into the city.

“The worst thing that we can do is continue doing the same thing we’ve done now for several years in a row, which is knowing that we’re going to have an overcrowding of our city and waiting until the violent situation occurs — until the death occurs — to react,” he said in an interview. “It’s better to get ahead of the situation and impose the curfew and the restrictions now.”

From left, Chandler Robinson, Sam Fisher and Alexis Illes play slam ball on South Beach in Miami Beach, Fla. on Friday, March 31, 2023, while vacationing from Orlando, Fla. After a series of violent incidents, the city is moving to pre-empt late-night partying, but businesses worry about crimping their most profitable tourism season.

With dueling rulings, abortion bill cases appear headed to the Supreme Court

FDA by 18 Democratic attorneys general, challenged restrictions that the agency imposes on the prescribing and dispensing of mifepristone. The judge in the case, Thomas Rice, an appointee of President Barack Obama, did not lift the existing restrictions in his ruling Friday but did order the FDA not to do anything to limit current access to mifepristone.

Typically, parties to cases will wait for an appeals court ruling before seeking emergency review from the Supreme Court, Vladeck said. But the Justice Department could ask the highest court to examine the case even sooner.

“Formally, the Supreme Court can step in literally the moment DOJ files an appeal in the 5th Circuit,” he said.

over the objection of the FDA and that such a ruling could open the door to legal challenges against other drugs, such as vaccines, morning-after pills and other medications at the center of controversial issues. The ruling could also undermine the confidence that pharmaceutical companies place in the agency and influence the companies’ decisions about which drugs to develop and market, experts said.

Because of those broader implications for federal authority and commercial interests, some legal experts said that all six conservative justices on the Supreme Court might not automatically uphold an order that would undercut the FDA’s authority.

By ABBIE VAN SICKLE and PAM BELLUCK

The dramatic dueling rulings by two federal district judges late last week about access to a widely used abortion pill set up a lower court conflict that legal experts say will almost certainly send the dispute to the Supreme Court.

“It really turbocharges the imperative for the Supreme Court to step in and to do so sooner rather than later,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary ruling Friday invalidating the

Food and Drug Administration’s 23-yearold approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, which could make it more difficult for patients across the country to access the medication. Less than an hour later, a federal judge in Washington state issued a ruling in another case that contradicted the Texas judge by ordering the FDA to make no changes to the availability of the drug in the 18 states involved in that suit.

For now, mifepristone continues to be available. The Texas judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of President Donald Trump, stayed his order for seven days to allow the FDA time to seek intervention from an appeals court. But “the two decisions are in conflict and the conflict between them is not sustainable,” said Samuel L. Bray, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.

The Justice Department has already filed a notice that it is appealing the Texas ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

The department has not yet said whether it will file an appeal in the Washington state case. That lawsuit, filed against the

As startling as the two rulings are, legal experts said dueling injunctions were not unheard of and that the courts were able to handle them. “Our judicial system, the way it’s set up, it expects there will be conflicts with courts,” said Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

When a direct conflict arises, courts can look for ways to narrow injunctions or for other solutions so that a party is not put into an impossible situation, she said. She cited a conflict in Florida over buffer zones at abortion clinics — areas kept clear from anti-abortion protesters to allow for unimpeded access by patients and doctors.

In 1993, an injunction was issued in Florida to protect the Aware Woman Center for Choice — one of dozens of similar injunctions issued by state and local judges as abortion clinic operators sought help on how to deal with protests. In the fall of 1993, within weeks of each other, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the injunction and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, struck it down.

The Supreme Court took the case and upheld the core of the Florida state court injunction.

If the Texas case reaches the Supreme Court, it could have implications far beyond access to abortion pills. The court could be asked to consider the effects of the Texas ruling not only for abortion but also for the FDA’s authority to approve and regulate other drugs.

Legal experts said Kacsmaryk’s decision appeared to be the first time a court had ordered a drug’s approval to be revoked

Ameet Sarpatwari, a lawyer and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that at least a couple of the conservative justices had judicial track records that suggested they might reject the Texas ruling because of “the sort of incredible disturbance of a district judge’s national injunction coupled with the extreme volatility that that’s going to lead to in the pharmaceutical market.”

The Texas case has drawn additional scrutiny because it was filed in Amarillo, a single-judge division overseen by Kacsmaryk. The judge has written critically about Roe v. Wade and has long supported conservative causes, including working for a conservative legal organization and serving on the board of an organization that seeks to offer pregnant women alternatives to abortion.

Concerns about Kacsmaryk’s personal views on abortion playing a role in the case were heightened by the language in his ruling Friday, legal experts said.

“This does not read like a judicial opinion, it reads like an activist complaint,” Sarpatwari said. “There were several ways in which Judge Kacsmaryk could have come to the same outcome without this degree of vitriol and this reassessment of every action that the FDA took.”

In his ruling, the judge often used the language of the anti-abortion movement. Mifepristone “ultimately starves the unborn human until death,” Kacsmaryk wrote. He added that the FDA mandated “a two-step drug regimen: mifepristone to kill the unborn human, followed by misoprostol to induce cramping and contractions to expel the unborn human from the mother’s womb.”

Protesters gather in support of women’s right to access the abortion medication mifepristone, in Amarillo, Texas, Feb. 11, 2023. Democrats and abortion-rights leaders said a Texas judge’s ruling invalidating the FDA’s decades-long approval of mifepristone could be a catastrophe.

The US built a European-style welfare state. It’s largely over.

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and ALICIA PARLAPIANO

In the early, panicked days of the pandemic, the U.S. government did something that was previously unimaginable. It transformed itself, within weeks, into something akin to a European-style welfare state.

Congress rapidly fortified the social safety net, making it much stronger than at any point. It made policies such as Medicaid and food stamps more generous. It created new federal benefits including paid sick and caregiving leave, and free school lunches. And it made some pandemic benefits, such as stimulus checks and child allowances, nearly universal. The government is estimated to have spent about $5 trillion helping individuals and businesses since March 2020.

Since then, most of it has been disbanded. Last week, Medicaid began unenrolling an estimated 15 million Americans who were guaranteed coverage during the pandemic, one of the longest-lasting benefits. The previous week marked the end of higher SNAP benefits, or food stamps; most recipients will now receive between $95 and $250 less each month. A few policies — including rental assistance, child care grants and more generous health insurance credits — will not expire until next year or the year after. But for the most part, the pandemic-era American welfare state is over.

This was by design: The policies were created as a response to the crisis and wound down as the acute phase of the pandemic ended and the economy reopened. Efforts to extend certain programs — or to formally create a more generous safety net, as President Joe Biden laid out in his large social spending bill — have failed.

There has been little political will to make policies permanent because they did not emerge from a deeper shift in how Americans view the role of government or the rights of citizens, said Sheri Berman, a political science professor at Barnard College who has studied social democracies.

“The set of goals — protecting people from the downsides of unemployment, helping families with children and ensuring access to health care — are totally accepted in Western Europe,” she said. During the pandemic, she added, “we looked more like that, in our own patchwork way.”

“But people did not have an ideological conversion, a new view of what

American citizenship could be,” she said. Rather, it was a recognition that during the crisis, “without these things, the entire system could go under.”

Yet the country’s brief flirtation with a much more generous safety net left its mark, researchers said.

Last month, North Carolina opted to expand Medicaid, following other states that had reversed their opposition since 2020. Some Republicans have joined Democrats in proposing policies such as a child tax credit or paid family leave. A few of the new benefits, originally temporary, have become lasting, including the option for states to extend Medicaid for 12 months postpartum; an increase in the maximum SNAP allotment; and summer grocery money for school-age children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch during the school year.

None of these represent big, structural change, the way that other large-scale crises have reordered societies throughout history. But they suggest that pandemic policies may have made way for incremental changes in the role of government in supporting people during hard times, Berman said, by showing what is possible.

“I’m not making the argument that we have a budding Western European welfare state, but I also don’t think we’ve gone entirely backward on some of these issues,” she said. “And I’d expect in the next election for a lot of these issues to be more prominent.”

The United States has historically been opposed to the large government programs and high tax rates seen in much of Europe. As a result, it is unusual among its peers in not providing universal health care, entitlements for children and generous cash assistance to the poor, said Robert A. Moffitt, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins. The benefits it does provide are narrower, vary by state and have more restrictions on who qualifies.

Political polarization and congressional gridlock have made a permanent expansion of social benefits more difficult. So has the current economic climate, with high inflation and interest rates. While Republicans argue that the increases in government spending during the pandemic fueled inflation, people in the Biden administration have countered that other factors have played a bigger role, including the oil shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and pandemic-related challenges such as supply chain tangles and shifts in what Americans

have wanted to buy.

“The politics of trying to make these programs permanent just isn’t there today, not to mention budget constraints,” said Samuel Hammond, an economist at the

Lincoln Network, a right-leaning think tank. “The macro environment has turned in a way that has sort of reaffirmed the fiscal conservatives.”

At the same time, there is a growing divide on the right between conservatives who want to limit government spending and encourage work and social conservatives who are open to spending on families. This has hastened as the party has gained working-class supporters, and as some Republicans have emphasized family policies in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that ended the national right to abortion.

Unemployment insurance is one area in which some experts would like to see changes become permanent. More than 15 million people who are not typically covered — including part-time workers, independent contractors and the self-employed — were covered for a year and a half.

Another is support for families with young children. The expanded child tax credit — given monthly for half a year so families did not have to wait until tax time — reduced child poverty by one-third.

A third is health insurance access. A policy decreasing health insurance prices for people who buy their own coverage and making it free for the lowest earners is one reason the uninsured rate has dropped to a record low of 8%, and Congress has extended the subsidies through 2025.

“We allow working conditions, and have a set of public benefits around people, that allow an enormous amount of instability and insecurity,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank. “What we did show is we actually can help people stabilize their situations quite a bit if we’re willing to provide assistance.”

A much more generous safety net was rapidly constructed as the pandemic began in 2020, but most of the programs have ended, or will soon.

EPA is said to propose rules meant to drive up electric car sales tenfold

By CORAL DAVENPORT

The Biden administration is planning some of the most stringent auto pollution limits in the world, designed to ensure that allelectric cars make up as much as 67% of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032, according to two people familiar with the matter.

That would represent a quantum leap for the United States — where just 5.8% of vehicles sold last year were all-electric — and would exceed President Joe Biden’s earlier ambitions to have all-electric cars account for half of those sold here by 2030.

It would be the federal government’s most aggressive climate regulation and would propel the United States to the front of the global effort to slash greenhouse gases generated by cars, a major driver of climate change. The European Union has enacted vehicle emissions standards that are expected to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. Canada and Britain have proposed standards similar to the European model.

At the same time, the proposed regulation would pose a significant challenge for automakers. Nearly every major car company has invested heavily in electric vehicles, but few have committed to the levels envisioned by the Biden administration. And many have faced supply chain problems that have held up production. Even manufacturers that are enthusiastic about electric models are unsure whether consumers will buy enough of them to make up the majority of new car sales within a decade.

The action from the Environmental Protection Agency is likely to hearten climate activists, who are angry over the Biden administration’s recent decision to approve an enormous oil drilling project on federal land in Alaska. Some in the administration argue that speeding up a transition to renewable energy, with most Americans driving electric vehicles, would lessen demand for oil drilled in Alaska or elsewhere.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan is expected to announce the proposed limits on tailpipe emissions Wednesday in Detroit. The requirements would be intended to ensure that electric cars represent between 54% and 60% of all new cars sold in the United States by 2030, with that figure rising to 64% to 67% of new car sales by 2032, according to the people familiar with the details, who spoke on condi-

tion of anonymity because the information had not been made public.

Rapidly speeding up the adoption of electric vehicles would require other significant changes, including the construction of millions of electric vehicle charging stations, an overhaul of electric grids to accommodate the power needs of those chargers and securing supplies of minerals and other materials needed for batteries.

The proposed regulation, which would go through a public comment period and could be altered by the government before becoming final, is sure to be met with legal challenges. It could also become an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, as a future administration could undo or weaken it.

“This is a massive undertaking,” said John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large U.S. and foreign automakers. “It is nothing short of a complete transformation of the automotive industrial base and the automotive market.”

In a statement released Friday night, Maria Michalos, a spokesperson for the EPA, did not confirm the new targets but said the agency was working on new standards as directed by the president to “accelerate the transition to a

zero-emissions transportation future, protecting people and the planet.”

The new regulations would come on the heels of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which has helped stoke demand for electric vehicles by providing up to $7,500 in tax incentives for car buyers as well as billions in incentives for battery manufacturing and critical mineral processing and mining.

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gases generated by the United States, the second biggest polluter on the planet behind China. Rapidly replacing gasolineburning cars with electric models would help Biden achieve his pledge to cut the country’s emissions in half by 2030 and effectively eliminate them by the middle of the century.

The proposed auto emissions rule is even more demanding than the target laid out by Biden in a White House speech in 2021. Speaking on the South Lawn and surrounded by a line of electric vehicles, including a Ford F-150 Lightning, a Chevrolet Bolt EV and a Jeep Wrangler, Biden issued an executive order calling for federal policies to ensure that half of new cars sold would be all-electric by 2030.

“There’s a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen, a future of the automo -

bile industry that is electric — battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric,” Biden said at the time.

The proposed rule would not mandate that electric vehicles make up a certain number or percentage of sales. Instead, it would require that automakers make sure the total number of vehicles they sell each year did not exceed a certain emissions limit. That limit would be so strict that it would force carmakers to ensure that two thirds of the vehicles they sold were all-electric by 2032, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Experts say the proposed regulation would synchronize federal action with a move by California to ban the sale of new gasolinepowered cars after 2035. Even manufacturers that chafe against regulations say that they would prefer to deal with one set of rules, rather than meet specifications from California that differ from federal requirements.

But plenty of hurdles remain for a smooth transition to electric vehicles. One of the biggest is the need for millions of electric vehicle charging stations. Experts say it will not be possible for electric vehicles to go from niche to mainstream without making electric charging stations as ubiquitous as corner gas stations. A 2021 infrastructure law provided $7.5 billion to build a network of about 500,000 charging stations along federal highways, but a January report from S&P Global concluded that millions were needed.

The transformation could also spell economic dislocation for American autoworkers, as electric vehicles require fewer than half as many laborers to build as gasoline-powered cars.

“We’ve dealt with the loss of jobs before through technology, but when you talk about the speed of this, it’s hard to fathom that we won’t lose jobs,” Mark DePaoli, a leader of United Auto Workers Local 600, said in a recent interview at the union headquarters near the Ford Rouge manufacturing plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Job losses in the auto industry could have political consequences for Biden, who will need voters in industrialized states such as Michigan and Ohio if he chooses to run for a second term. As they have worked on the new regulation, administration officials have held weekly telephone calls with union leaders to try to reassure them.

President Joe Biden speaks at General Motors’ Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit on Nov. 17, 2021. The Biden administration is planning some of the most stringent auto pollution limits in the world, designed to ensure that all-electric cars make up as much as 67 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032.

US inflation data to test market’s bets on future Fed easing

Aclosely watched U.S. inflation report this week could help settle one of Wall Street’s most pressing questions: whether the market has correctly pegged the near-term trajectory for interest rates.

Following last month’s banking crisis, investors have become more convinced the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the second half to ward off an economic downturn. Such bets have pushed bond yields lower, supporting the giant tech and growth stocks that hold sway over broad equity indexes. The S&P 500 (.SPX) has gained 6.9% so far in 2023.

But the central bank’s more restrictive rate outlook sees borrowing costs remaining around current levels through 2023. That view could gain support if next week’s inflation reading shows a strong rise in consumer prices even after aggressive Fed rate hikes over the past year.

“If (CPI) comes in hot, investors will start to price interest rates closer to where the Fed is and likely pressure asset prices,” said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The firm is recommending clients slightly underweight equities, expecting interest rate hikes to hit consumer spending and corporate profits.

U.S. employment data for March, released Friday, showed signs of persistent labor market tightness that could prompt the Fed to hike rates again next month.

Recession worries are mounting, with investors betting the tumult in the banking system sparked by the March collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will tighten credit conditions and hurt growth.

In the bond market, the Fed’s preferred recession indicator plunged to fresh lows in the past week, bolstering the case for those who believe the central bank will soon need to cut rates. The measure compares the current implied forward rate on Treasury bills 18 months from now with the current yield on a three-month Treasury bill.

Pricing in futures markets shows investors betting that central bank easing later this year will drop the fed funds rate from 4.75% to 5% currently to around 4.3% by year-end. Yet projections from Fed policymakers show that most expect no rate cuts until 2024.

“Financial markets and the Federal Reserve are reading from two different playbooks,” strategists at LPL Research said in a note earlier this week.

Bets on a more dovish Fed have boosted tech and growth stocks, whose future profits are discounted less when interest rates fall. The S&P 500 technology sector (.SPLRCT) has surged 6.7% since March 8, more than twice the gain for the overall index over that time.

Economists polled by Reuters expect March data, due April 12, to show the consumer price index climbed by 5.2% on an annual basis, down from 6% the prior month.

Markets will also watch first-quarter earnings, which start in the coming week with major banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup due on Friday. Analysts expect

S&P 500 earnings to fall 5.2% in the first quarter from the year-ago period, I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv showed.

For some investors, the Fed’s recent interventions to stabilize the banking system may have revived hopes of a so-called Fed-put, said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, referring to expectations that the central bank will take action if stocks fall too deeply, even though it has no mandate to maintain asset prices.

“If the Fed was trying to protect investors, one way would be to cut rates,” Hackett said. “They haven’t done

so yet, but the market is betting that they will, rightfully or wrongfully.”

Still, a recession could pressure stock prices, even if it forces the Fed to cut rates sooner. Some investors worry that stock prices have not accounted for a drop in valuations and corporate earnings that would occur during a sharp slowdown.

“One only needs to look back to 2001 or 2008 to see that a shift in Fed policy alone is not always enough to stop an economy on a downward trajectory or start a new bull market,” wrote Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services, in a note earlier this week.

“Our view is the market is now baking in a lot of good news and leaving little margin for error,” he said.

Leaked documents reveal depth of US spy efforts and Russia’s military struggles

By JULIAN E. BARNES, HELENE COOPER, THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF, MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ AND ERIC SCHMITT

Atrove of leaked Pentagon documents reveals how deeply Russia’s security and intelligence services have been penetrated by the United States, demonstrating Washington’s ability to warn Ukraine about planned strikes and providing an assessment of the strength of Moscow’s war machine.

The documents portray a battered Russian military that is struggling in its war in Ukraine and a military apparatus that is deeply compromised. They contain daily real-time warnings to U.S. intelligence agencies on the timing of Moscow’s strikes and even its specific targets. Such intelligence has allowed the United States to pass on to Ukraine crucial information on how to defend itself.

The leak, the source of which remains unknown, also reveals the American assessment of a Ukrainian military that is itself in dire straits. The leaked material, from late February and early March but found on social media sites in recent days, outlines critical shortages of air defense munitions and discusses the gains being made by Russian troops around the eastern city of Bakhmut.

The intelligence reports seem to indicate that the United States is also spying on Ukraine’s top military and political leaders, a reflection of Washington’s struggle to get a clear view of Ukraine’s fighting strategies.

The new documents appear to show that America’s understanding of Russian planning remains extensive and that the United States is able to warn its allies about Moscow’s future operations.

The material reinforces an idea that intelligence officials have long acknowledged: The United States has a clearer understanding of Russian military operations than it does of Ukrainian planning. Intelligence collection is often difficult and sometimes wrong, but the trove of documents offers perhaps the most complete picture yet of the inner workings of the largest land war in Europe in decades.

The leak has the potential to do real damage to Ukraine’s war effort by exposing which Russian agencies the United States knows the most about, giving Moscow a potential opportunity to cut off the sources of information. Current and former officials say it is too soon to know the extent of the damage, but if Russia is able to determine how the United States collects its information and cuts

off that flow, it may have an effect on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The leak has complicated relations with allied countries and raised doubts about America’s ability to keep its secrets. After reviewing the documents, a senior Western intelligence official said the release of the material was painful and suggested that it could curb intelligence sharing. For various agencies to provide material to each other, the official said, requires trust and assurances that certain sensitive information will be kept secret.

The documents could also hurt diplomatic ties in other ways. The newly revealed intelligence documents also make plain that the United States is not spying just on Russia, but also on its allies. While that will hardly surprise officials of those countries, making such eavesdropping public always hampers relations with key partners, such as South Korea, whose help is needed to supply Ukraine with weaponry.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he expected Biden administration officials to brief lawmakers on the matter when Congress returned to session next week.

“It seems like a massive counterintelligence problem, the fact that this trove of documents was leaked,” he said. “We are talking about things that could damage our national security and CIA efforts in Europe and around the world.”

Analysts say the size of the trove is likely about 100 pages. Reporters from The New York Times have reviewed more than 50 of those pages.

The documents appeared online as hastily taken photographs of pieces of paper sitting atop what appears to be a hunting magazine. Former officials who have reviewed the material say it appears likely that a classified briefing was folded, placed in a pocket, then taken out of a secure area to be photographed.

Senior U.S. officials said an inquiry, launched Friday by the FBI, would try to move swiftly to determine the source of the leak. The officials acknowledged that the documents appear to be legitimate intelligence and operational briefs compiled by the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, using reports from the government’s intelligence community, but that at least one had been modified from the original at some later point.

Much of the information in the documents tracks with public disclosures officials have made but in many cases contains more detail. One document reports the Russians have suffered 189,500 to 223,000 casualties, including up to 43,000 killed in action. U.S. officials have previously estimated Russian losses at about 200,000 soldiers. While U.S. officials are more circumspect in describing Ukrainian losses, they have said there have been about 100,000. The leaked document says that as of February, Ukraine had suffered 124,500 to 131,000 casualties, with up to 17,500 killed in action.

Intelligence officials have repeatedly insisted that their casualty numbers are offered with “low confidence,” meaning that they are at best rough estimates. The document also notes the low confidence assessment and further says that the United States is trying to revise how it assesses the combat power of the Russian military and its ability to sustain future operations.

Ukrainian officials continue to insist the documents are altered or faked. In a statement on Telegram, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said that the leaks were meant to sow distrust between Ukraine’s partners.

Another entry talks about an information campaign being planned by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence unit, in Africa trying to shape public opinion against the United States and “promote Russian foreign policy.”

While some of the intelligence briefs offer analysis and broad warnings of Russian plans, others are the kind of actionable information that Ukraine could use to defend itself. One entry talks about the Russian Defense Ministry formulating plans to conduct missile

strikes on Ukraine’s forces at specific sites in Odesa and Mykolaiv on March 3, an attack that the U.S. intelligence agencies believed would be designed to destroy a drone storage area, an air defense gun and kill Ukrainian soldiers.

In late March, Russia claimed it had destroyed a hangar containing Ukrainian drones near Odesa. Also in late March, independent military analysts said Russia attacked Mykolaiv and other Ukrainian cities, but called the shelling routine. It is unclear if the warnings provided by the United States enabled the Ukrainians to take steps to mitigate the damage caused by the attacks.

Still another entry discusses a report in February disseminated by Russia’s National Defense Command Center about the “decreased combat capability” of Russia’s forces in Eastern Ukraine.

While the documents were compiled by the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, they contain intelligence from many agencies, including the National Security Agency, the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and the CIA. Some of the material is labeled as having been collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, noting that its further distribution is not allowed without the permission of the attorney general.

One section of the documents is categorized as coming from a CIA daily intelligence update. The material in that section reveals not just who the CIA is spying on but some details on how. One intelligence report, for example, demonstrates that the CIA is using intercepted communications to spy on discussions inside Russia’s Defense Ministry.

Another CIA assessment drawing on intercepts, reported that in early to mid-February, senior leaders of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign spy agency, advocated for Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest judicial reforms proposed by Israel’s new government. Senior Israeli defense officials denied the assessment’s findings, and The New York Times was unable to independently verify them.

The proposed changes have generated massive public protests and prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the proposal.

The first tranche of documents appeared to have been posted in early March on Discord, a social media chat platform popular with video gamers, according to Aric Toler, an analyst at Bellingcat, the Dutch investigative site.

Ukrainian soldiers scan the horizon for Russian troops in southern Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, April 7, 2023. A trove of leaked Pentagon documents, exposed on social media sites, reveals the depleted Russian military’s struggle in Ukraine.

The

US sends attack submarine to Middle East as tensions rise between Iran and Israel

By FARNAZ FASSIHI, RONEN BERGMAN and ERIC SCHMITT

The U.S. Navy said over the weekend that it had deployed a guided missile submarine to the Middle East, a day after the U.S. 5th Fleet and its partners released a warning advising all ships to proceed with caution after tensions escalated between Iran and Israel, according to a Navy spokesperson.

U.S. military and Israeli intelligence agencies said the aerospace force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was preparing a drone attack against Israeli-owned civilian merchant vessels sailing in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, according to two Western senior intelligence officials with knowledge of the threats who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

An Iranian political strategist close to the Guard said Iran was considering attacks on Israeli-owned ships in the region as one means of retaliating against Israeli airstrikes in Syria that killed two members of the Guard in March.

U.S. officials said the deployment of the submarine, the USS Florida, was meant to deter Iran and maintain the stability of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, in which millions of dollars in commercial goods, oil and gas are transported every day.

The Florida, which has the capacity to carry 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, entered the region Thursday and began transiting the Suez Canal on Friday, according to a Navy spokesperson.

“Recent events, including the strikes in Syria and public

threats made by Iran against merchant vessels, prompted us to remind regional mariners to remain vigilant,” said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain.

The public statement announcing the location and presence of the submarine was highly unusual because the U.S. military does not typically acknowledge the presence of its submarines anywhere, unlike ships and planes, which can be tracked.

In another sign of tensions rising in the region, the Pentagon this past week announced it was extending the tour of the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush in the eastern Mediterranean and speeding up the deployment of Air Force A-10 attack planes to a base in the Middle East.

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a yearslong shadow war that has extended to land, air, cyber and sea. They have been targeting each other’s ships in open waters since March 2021.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke Saturday with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, according to a spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

In a statement Saturday, the ministry called Iran “the greatest destabilizing force in the region.”

“As Israel faces a range of attacks on all fronts,” the statement added, “our defense establishment is prepared and we will not tolerate any threat to our citizens and troops.”

Israel intensified its airstrikes on Iran-affiliated targets in Syria in March, killing two Iranian Guard members, including the commander of a cyber unit. Iran declared the two men martyrs and held a public funeral procession for them, and senior

military commanders vowed to take revenge against Israel.

“The Zionist regime will undoubtedly receive a response for this crime,” the Guard said in a statement announcing the men’s deaths. The spokesperson of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, said Sunday that Iran reserves the right to respond to the killing of its troops by Israel “at the right time and the right place.”

By Wednesday, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operation, which monitors maritime security, had issued an “increased threat” warning to all vessels transiting the northern Indian Ocean because it had detected unusual activity.

By Thursday, the U.S. 5th Fleet had warned Israel’s defense establishment about an imminent threat from Iran against Israeli ships and said the Guard was in a position to strike, according to two Western intelligence officials.

Israeli shipping companies were warned by the U.S. 5th Fleet on Thursday, according to a senior employee of an Israeli shipping company who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the record. Past Iranian attacks on commercial vessels, he said, had been carried out against ships that previously belonged to Israelis, or that were only partially owned by Israelis, in what appeared to be cases of misidentification.

Israeli ships were advised to turn off their transponders, sail as close as possible to the coast of Oman and away from the Iranian coast, and to routinely report their whereabouts and any suspicious activity.

Tensions in the Middle East have flared the past few weeks on multiple fronts, including strikes and counterstrikes in Syria and clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinian militias with fighters in Lebanon.

Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon and in Gaza on Friday in response to an unusually heavy rocket barrage from Lebanon that the Israeli military blamed on a branch of Gaza-based Palestinian militia Hamas. The rocket attacks came in response to clashes between Arab worshippers and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem the day before.

A senior U.S. military official said the deployment of the submarine to the region was significant because it marked the first time in 19 months that U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East and some nearby regions, has taken operational control of a U.S. attack submarine. Usually, submarines transit the Middle East region, but the Navy’s public statement suggested this one would remain in the area for a while.

Mourners reach out to touch the flag-draped coffin of Milad Heidari, one of two members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Syria last week, in Tehran on Tuesday morning, April 4, 2023.

With Russia’s exit, Norway becomes Europe’s energy champion

2022, according to government estimates — about $100 billion more than in 2021.

That money flows into a $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund formally called the Government Pension Fund Global but known to many as the oil fund. It holds, on average, 1.5% of 9,000 listed companies worldwide, and the government can tap its expected annual earnings to finance almost 20% of the state budget. This arrangement helps shield the Norwegian economy, which grew 3.3% in 2022, from the ups and downs of oil and gas prices.

But whether the Norwegian industry’s bumper profits will continue is another question. European gas prices have been falling for months, and are now around one-eighth of the peak they hit last summer. And the war may actually accelerate the continent’s shift from gas to renewable energy that was underway before the invasion.

The riches earned since the fighting started have angered some Norwegians. “We consider that profit as war profits,” said Rasmus Hansson, a member of parliament from the Green Party. He suggested that the money should be invested in a fund to aid Ukraine and other countries affected by the war.

Producing oil and gas, as well as large amounts of hydropower, did not protect Norwegians from the soaring electric costs that hit most Europeans last year, because its markets are closely linked to its neighbors’.

“It was four times as expensive as a normal year,” said Svein W. Kristiansen, an owner of Smed T. Kristiansen, a family firm in Stavanger that makes parts for oil installations and offshore wind farms.

By STANLEY REED

The new front line for Europe’s energy security is a modest office building overlooking a fjord in Stavanger. Inside, a company called Petoro oversees three dozen of the largest oil and natural gas fields in Europe, on Norway’s petroleum-rich continental shelf.

These operations — in Norwegian waters marked by massive offshore platforms and wells snaking thousands of feet below the surface — have been instrumental in helping Europe heat its homes and generate electricity since the onset of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

As Russia throttled back natural gas exports last year, Norway dialed them up, and it is now Europe’s main supplier of the fuel. Norway is also feeding greater quantities of oil to its neighbors, replacing embargoed Russian oil.

“The war and the whole energy situation has demonstrated that Norwegian energy is extremely important for Europe,” said Kristin Fejerskov Kragseth, the CEO of Petoro, a state-owned company that manages Norway’s petroleum holdings. “We were always important,” she added, “but maybe we didn’t realize it.”

The significance of this elevated status is not lost on Norway, a nation of 5.5 million people, where energy represents about a third of economic output and where, not unlike Saudi Arabia, the government owns not only the oil and gas fields but also large stakes in companies extracting them. By increasing demand for this energy, the war in Ukraine has helped add about

$100 billion to Norway’s oil and gas earnings.

Many in Norway have mixed feelings about this reliance on fossil fuels, and tensions over climate change and further exploring for petroleum dominated the last national election, in 2021. But the sudden importance of energy supplies appears to have given rise to a consensus that the country should continue, at least for a few years, producing robust amounts of petroleum.

The war “has changed the political sentiment,” said Ulf Sverdrup, the director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, a research organization. “Basically, Europe said: ‘Hey! We need your energy.’”

Norway was already producing a high volume of gas, shipping it through undersea pipelines to northern Europe, but the government authorized additional output. Energy companies made adjustments that increased gas production at the expense of oil. The result was an 8% increase in gas production last year, which made Norway the source of about one-third of the gas consumed in Europe.

“We really kind of stepped up in terms of turning every stone,” said Anders Opedal, the CEO of Equinor, Norway’s statecontrolled energy producer.

Norway has reaped handsome financial rewards for coming to Europe’s aid. Just as energy companies like Shell and BP pulled in record profits last year, Petoro earned about $50 billion in 2022, almost three times what it made in 2021, and Equinor reported record adjusted earnings of $75 billion. Revenues from oil and gas contributed $125 billion to the Norwegian state in

Norway should be able to maintain its high gas flows to Europe in the coming years. In 2020, the government put into effect temporary tax changes to ensure that the pandemic did not halt investment in the industry. These incentives have led to a burst of new drilling and development, worth an estimated $43 billion.

An oil and gas company based outside Oslo, Aker BP, plans to invest $19 billion to increase output by a third by 2028. “We are drilling exploration wells all the time,” said Karl Johnny Hersvik, the CEO.

It is doubtful, though, that Norway can supply significantly more gas to Europe. The network of pipelines feeding Norwegian gas to the continent has little additional capacity.

“We are running as much as we can and as hard as we can,” Hersvik said. The case for building additional pipelines to Europe is weak, he said, because around 20 years of operation would be needed to recoup the investment cost. “I sincerely hope we have solved this problem before that,” he said, referring to the war in Ukraine.

Pressures for Norway to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and curb the oil and gas industry are not likely to go away. Hansson, the Green Party legislator, said he thought Norway should phase out fossil fuels by around 2035 to safeguard the climate.

Environmental groups concede that natural gas production is needed because of the war, but they say the government should not use the energy crunch as leverage to develop new oil and gas fields that would produce fossil fuels for many years.

“Norway is locking Europe into what is really a problem for the climate,” said Frode Pleym, the head of Greenpeace in Norway.

The headquarters of Equinor, Norway’s state-controlled energy producer, in Oslo, Norway, on March 10, 2023. The company reported adjusted earnings of $75 billion last year, a record.

The arrest of Evan Gershkovich is further evidence of Putin’s brutality

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Russia has a rich history of imprisoning people on bogus charges for no purpose other than to help keep a dictator in power. At the peak of the Stalinist purges, when millions were swept into the Gulag, the secret police nevertheless insisted on giving a veneer of legality to the dragnet with formal charges, witnesses, mug shots and trials. As Nadezhda Mandelstam, wife of the great Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, recalled in her memoir, “We never asked, on hearing about the latest arrest, ‘What was he arrested for?’” The official crime was never the real reason.

In his drive to consolidate power, silence opposition and lash out at the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn on many of the techniques of the Soviet secret police in which he was reared. Once again, people are being arrested and imprisoned not because they committed a crime but because they got in Putin’s hair, or he needed a hostage, or he wanted to send a signal. Alexei Navalny and Vladimir KaraMurza, two prominent Russian dissidents, are imprisoned because they opposed Putin.

An American, Evan Gershkovich, a 31-year-old reporter for The Wall Street Journal, has been detained since late March to demonstrate Putin’s disdain for the West and its democratic institutions.

An accomplished and widely respected journalist, Gershkovich was seized by the FSB, the Russian successor to the

Soviet KGB, in Yekaterinburg on March 29 and has been accused — with no evidence provided — of espionage, a grave charge that carries a prison term of up to 20 years. It was last known to be used against an American reporter in the Soviet era, in 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff of U.S. News & World Report was arrested and accused of the same charge, which he denied, only to be swapped within weeks for an employee of the Soviet mission to the United Nations.

Hopefully, Gershkovich will be released as speedily. Brittney Griner, an American professional basketball player, spent almost 10 months in a Russian prison on drug smuggling charges before being swapped for a Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout. In Gershkovich’s case, his arrest followed the indictment of an alleged Russian spy who posed as a Brazilian and reportedly entered an American university with that identity, although there has been no indication so far that the Russians are looking to swap for him.

In the years since Daniloff’s ordeal, hostage-taking in foreign countries has increased so much that the United States government has created an office, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, to focus on the release of Americans classified as “wrongfully detained” in foreign countries.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he has “no doubt” Gershkovich was wrongfully detained; an official determination of “wrongful detention” is pending. The White House made clear that his release is a priority for President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration should also continue to do everything in its power to obtain the release of two other Americans in custody: Paul Whelan, a former Marine with U.S., British, Canadian and Irish citizenship, has been detained in Russia since December 2018. Marc Fogel, a teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, was arrested in August 2021 and sentenced to 14 years in prison after Russian

customs officials discovered a small amount of marijuana in his luggage. (Fogel said the marijuana had been prescribed by doctors in the United States.)

The Kremlin’s readiness to seize an accredited journalist as a hostage demonstrates again why the United States and its allies need to stand firm to block Putin’s designs on Ukraine. Ukraine has chosen to be part of a Europe that is stable, peaceful and governed according to rules and law. Putin would supplant that with fear and force.

To achieve his ends, he has violated all accepted norms against targeting noncombatants, including countless attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and the abduction of children in Ukraine. Within Russia, Putin has declared criticism of his government or his war to be tantamount to treason and has deemed that any person or organization with any ties abroad can be labeled a “foreign agent,” which in KGB-speak often means enemy.

Putin has now added to these repressions the detention of a foreign reporter, one of many, including from this newspaper, who have bravely documented his wrongdoing. Gershkovich, who was a news assistant for the Times earlier in his career, is a skilled journalist with native fluency in Russian and empathy for the country from which his parents emigrated. He has written broadly in recent months for The Wall Street Journal about the war and its impact on Russians — including the heavy toll on soldiers from Pskov and the quiet acts of resistance at the site of a Ukrainian poet’s statue.

We join our colleagues in expressing outrage at Gershkovich’s detention and in demanding his immediate release.

POR EL STAR STAFF

AGUADA – El alcalde de Aguada, Christian Cortés Feliciano, anunció que su municipio será la sede de la Copa 30 aniversario de la Asociación de Caballistas PRO-PASO, a celebrarse el próximo sábado 15 y domingo 16 de abril desde las 10:00 am en el Picadero Municipal de Aguada. “Este es un evento único donde recibiremos caballistas de todo Puerto Rico para honrar este deporte único en el mundo. Nuestro Picadero Municipal está listo para este gran evento donde particularmente invitamos a los que quieran conocer las particularidades del caballo de paso fino”.

Recientemente, Aguada también recibió un gran grupo de fanáticos del deporte del paso fino para la celebración del 80 aniversario de la fundación de la Federación del Paso Fino Puertorriqueño. En el evento celebrado en el Picadero Municipal de Aguada, el Alcalde recibió un reconocimiento por parte de los organizadores por su decidido apoyo a este deporte que tanta gloria le ha dado a Puerto Rico.

“Para nosotros en el Municipio de Aguada la pro-

moción del deporte es vital. En el caso del caballo de paso fino, es un deporte que es patrimonio nacional y cultural de nuestro pueblo”, señaló Cortés Feliciano.

Cuenta la historia que originalmente, los caballos de paso fino se utilizaban para recorrer distancias cortas en terrenos escarpados. No se sabe a ciencia cierta desde cuándo se llevan a cabo carreras de paso fino, pero existen relatos de finales de la década de 1790 que describen el caminar particular de los caballos puertorriqueños.

Ya desde inicios del siglo XIX, se celebraban competencias de paso fino en varios puntos de la Isla. En el sector Carreras de San Juan, se efectuaban grandes eventos durante el Día de San Juan, donde los dueños de caballos de paso fino enviaban sus mejores ejemplares para exhibición.

En la zona oeste, Aguada se ha convertido en un destacado polo de todo tipo de actividades deportivas de la región, por ubicación privilegiada, su historial y el apoyo constante del Municipio a los eventos que se organizan constantemente. Particularmente importante es la celebración del Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico, donde cada 19 de noviembre son miles los caballistas que se encuentran en Aguada para la celebración.

Actualización del servicio de agua potable para clientes en sectores de Dorado y Vega Alta

POR CYBERNEWS

TOA ALTA – El director ejecutivo de la Región Norte de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA), José Rivera Ortiz, actualizó el sábado, la información sobre el estatus del servicio de agua potable para clientes en sectores de Dorado y Vega Alta que se suplen del sistema de la estación de bombas San Juan Cement.

“Durante la tarde de hoy, como resultado de la inspección en curso a la red de distribución de la estación de bombas San Juan Cement, se identificó una avería en una línea de 12 pulgadas de diámetro en

el área de Golden Hills en Dorado. Nuestro personal se encuentra en el área trabajando con maquinaria y equipos especializados para reparar dicha tubería que forma parte del sistema de la estación San Juan Cement. Informamos a nuestros clientes que en la Autoridad seguimos trabajando para restablecer el servicio de agua potable a la mayor brevedad para los sectores afectados en Dorado y Vega Alta”, explicó Rivera Ortiz en comunicación escrita.

Para completar de manera efectiva la reparación, la interconexión del superacueductos hacia Vega Alta estará fuera de operación. Mientras culminan los trabajos de reparación, clientes en sectores de Vega Alta y Do-

rado continuarán experimentando interrupción en su servicio de agua potable. De la misma forma, sectores adicionales pudieran ver afectado su servicio en ambos municipios mientras transcurren las labores.

Como medida de mitigación, en conjunto con las oficinas municipales para el manejo de emergencias de Dorado y Vega Alta, se mantiene el acarreo de agua potable en camiones cisterna por los sectores afectados.

“Exhortamos a nuestros clientes a hervir el agua potable para consumo por al menos tres minutos una vez restablecido el servicio de agua potable”, concluyó el funcionario.

SAN JUAN – Las unidades aéreas y de superficie de la Guardia Costera suspendieron el viernes pasado, una búsqueda de cuatro días a las 7:03 de la noche, a la espera de nuevos desarrollos, para un navegante que desapareció el martes por la noche luego de que un barco naufragara cerca de Culebra.

El desaparecido es Roy Moreno Negrón, de 30 años,

a quien se escuchó por última vez durante una llamada con los vigilantes del Sector de la Guardia Costera de San Juan mientras informaba sobre un peligro en el que su embarcación Aquasport de 17 pies se estaba hundiendo. Moreno informó tener un chaleco salvavidas.

“Mi corazón está con la familia y los seres queridos de Roy Moreno Negrón con la esperanza de que encuentren fuerza y cierre durante este momento tan difícil”, dijo el Capitán José Díaz, comandante del Sec-

tor San Juan en declaraciones escritas. “Suspender una búsqueda activa es una de las decisiones más difíciles de tomar para un Comandante de Sector. Nuestros coordinadores de la misión de búsqueda y rescate, las unidades aéreas y de superficie y los socorristas de las agencias asociadas hacen todo lo posible para salvar vidas. Desafortunadamente, suspendemos la búsqueda después de cuatro días de búsqueda y no tenemos señales de Roy”, añadió.

Aguada se posiciona como capital del deporte de paso fino en Puerto Rico, invitan a gran evento el próximo fin de semana

La Guardia Costera suspende la búsqueda del navegante que desapareció tras el naufragio de un barco cerca de Culebra

After Marvel blockbuster, Indigenous actress holds fast to Maya roots

By JULIA LIEBLICH

For her big underwater scene in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Guatemalan actress María Mercedes Coroy had to hold her breath as her character, Princess Fen, gives birth in a hazy ocean world to a winged serpent son.

She emerges from the watery depths as a rarity even in Marvel’s fantastical universe: a female Maya superhero.

The day after filming her final scene in Los Angeles, Coroy, rather than hanging out in Hollywood, headed home to Santa María de Jesús, a Kaqchikel Maya town of about 22,000 at the base of a volcano in Guatemala. By nightfall, she was curled up in bed in her family’s bright-pink cinder-block house with vegetables growing in the backyard.

“I felt like my bed was hugging me,” said Coroy, 28, one of nine siblings in a family of farmers and vendors.

The next morning, she resumed her usual life. She and her mother put on their handwoven huipiles, or blouses, and cortes, or skirts, to catch the 5:30 bus to the small city of Escuintla to sell produce in the bustling market, a job she started after fifth grade when she had to drop out of school to help her parents.

Some days, she walks two hours with a mule to the family farm to cultivate cabbage and pumpkins. In her spare time, she weaves colorful huipiles with motifs of birds and flowers on a backstrap loom.

“People ask me what I do after filming,” said Coroy, who is working on her third Guatemalan movie after appearing in two in the United States. “I go back to normal.”

Coroy represents a new generation of Maya actors determined to hone their craft while holding onto their customs and helping expose a legacy of discrimination against Guatemala’s Indigenous population.

Although she said she enjoys acting in the United States — and posing in a pink-andblue huipil at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards — she is more interested in her own country’s burgeoning film industry.

But whether she’s working in her homeland or Hollywood, acting can be draining, and she relies on Santa María de Jesús to recharge her.

“I love my life, but filming is physically demanding,” Coroy said, relaxing on a bench in Santa María’s central park. “This is my community.”

Coroy’s first role was the lead in a school play production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Santa María de Jesus has long been locally famous for its street theater, and a decade ago, Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante came to town to prepare for his first feature film, “Ixcanul” (“Volcano”). He wanted to tell a story of Maya women that addressed issues such as endemic poverty and inequities in education and health care, and he was determined to cast Maya actors speaking the Indigenous language of Kaqchikel.

Bustamante initially put up a sign in the town’s central park: “Casting Here.” No one showed up. A few days later he posted: “Work Here.” He was overwhelmed with prospective actors.

Coroy missed the audition. But a friend put her in touch with the director the next day.

“He told me I was the only person who looked him in the eye,” she said. When he offered her the lead, she balked. “I had no experience. I was afraid I would ruin the movie.”

But he persuaded her to join the cast. For the next several months, they trained at the country’s first film academy, founded by Bustamente.

“When we began filming, they were no

longer amateur actors,” Bustamente said. “Ixcanul,” which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, focuses on a poor family in the mountains that arranges for the daughter to marry a plantation overseer. The daughter secretly gets involved with a young man — a drunk and a dreamer — who promises to take her with him to the United States. But he leaves without her and she finds herself pregnant

while still engaged to the other man.

After she gives birth in a hospital, a staff member tells her that her baby has died. When the young woman finds out later that her child had lived and had possibly been sold for adoption, grief consumes her.

“Quiet and fearless,” Los Angeles-based film critic Manuel Betancourt wrote of Coroy’s understated performance, which revealed anguish behind a still face.

She has recently begun delving into Maya spirituality. Her grandmother was a natural healer who taught her about the curative properties or herbal teas and flowers. Although she worships in a Catholic church, she also studies with an Indigenous spiritual teacher and reads the Maya creation story, the Popol Vuh.

Central to Maya religion is Maximón, a trickster deity both benevolent and hedonistic. In ceremonies, adherents smoke and drink in front of his wooden figure in the hopes he will hear their entreaties. Coroy attends ceremonies without imbibing, she said.

“I respect Maximón,” she said. “I have connected with him in dreams. He said, ‘You neither speak well of me nor poorly, so I will protect you.’”

Although she’s famous enough in Guatemala that people in the colonial tourist city of Antigua, a UNESCO World heritage site, approach her politely for autographs, her neighbors in Santa María avoid singling her out. Walking in the town’s park, she might as well be any other vendor.

“There’s no movie star culture here,” Coroy said. “There are no paparazzi.”

Guatemalan actress María Mercedes Coroy, who plays Princess Fen in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” in her hometown of Santa María De Jesús, Guatemala, Feb. 3, 2023. After filming her part in the film, in which she gives birth in a hazy ocean world to a winged serpent son, María Mercedes Coroy returned to her “normal” life of farming and trading in a Guatemalan town at the base of a volcano.

The San Juan Daily Star Monday, April 10, 2023 17

María Mercedes Coroy, in back at the market in her hometown of Santa María De Jesús, Guatemala, Feb. 3, 2023.

Seeing the world through kids’ eyes

By DEREK M. NORMAN

Riding atop his father’s shoulders, Villum Vejlin Sogaard arrived at the gate to board the ferry departing from lower Manhattan like a miniature, triumphant explorer.

His eyes darted from the downtown skyline to souvenir vendors to fellow tourists with tickets in hand. It was the 6-yearold’s first time in the United States and he was about to see one of the country’s iconic landmarks: the Statue of Liberty.

“I think it’s a must-see when you’re in the city,” said Simon Vejlin Sogaard, Villum’s father, who had traveled with several other family members from their home in Denmark. “It’s a great piece of history. And it was actually even more interesting to know the history behind the statue and what it stands for — which, I think, is more important.”

Villum was perhaps too young to appreciate, as his father did, what the statue represents. Instead, when he reached Liberty Island and made his way up the steps to cast his eyes on the giant green woman, her arm extended with a torch, he was awed mainly by her sheer scale.

The differences in the perspectives of Vejlin Sogaard and his young son are emblematic of what many families experience while vacationing, and they raise questions frequently asked by parents around the world: Do young children benefit from traveling to new places? If so, how? Do they find value in seeing historical landmarks and museums? And how might a trip through a child’s eyes differ from their parents’ perspective?

We set out to learn just that.

This year, The New York Times dispatched a team of reporters to popular tourist landmarks in several cities across the world, from Washington to Bangkok. At each location, a parent and child were both given disposable cameras and were tasked with taking photographs of what they each found most interesting. Their photographs offered us some insights into what caught their eyes.

“Culture. Knowing things from history. New experiences.” These were some of the things Maria Segura wanted her children to take away from their visit to

the Colosseum in Rome. Her husband, Alberto, hoped a trip would increase their curiosity and thirst for knowledge. They had brought their three children with them from their home in Madrid.

“I like a lot of history,” said Julia, the Seguras’ 10-year-old daughter, whose expectations seemed to align with those of her parents. “It’s for understanding the present.”

Unlike her mother, though, who photographed sweeping views of the reddish brown stone and concrete that encircled the ancient amphitheater, Julia was drawn to a miniature model of the site inside the museum. In fact, she was among several children interviewed there who identified the model, a dollhouse-like replica, as their favorite part of the trip.

What did her 6-year-old brother, David, like the most? “All of it,” he said.

“Nothing in particular. Wait, the model.

I liked the model, too. And the sea gulls.”

Their younger sister, Iria, didn’t have an opinion — not because she was only 3, but because she spent most of the trip in her stroller, asleep.

Even according to historians, appre ciating the formal lessons of the past isn’t the most important thing to be gained from traveling.

“It is not all about rather dreary les sons in history,” Mary Beard, a British scholar and author of “SPQR: A History of

Ancient Rome,” wrote in an email, tightening her lens specifically on museums. “The great thing about museums for kids (and grown-ups) is that they are places of wonder, shock, puzzlement. One of my own earliest memories is wonderment at a 3,500-year-old piece of Egyptian cake in the British Museum.”

“I sometimes get a terrible sinking feeling when I see parents feeling that they have to make a visit to a museum a long history lesson,” she added. “Well occasionally that can be useful, I guess. But really, going to a museum is about learning to think differently.”

That was partly the approach taken by two families from Denmark who were also visiting the Colosseum. Hien Nguyen, one of

the mothers, recently watched the movie “Gladiator” with her children and was excited to show them the Colosseum in real life. “We wanted the kids to see things very ancient, to see how old humanity is,” she said, adding that she was happy that her children could experience the place for themselves.

“We believe that building experience is more important for kids than giving them, you know, stuff,” Nguyen said.

There is a beauty in the simplicity of what fascinates a child. So while adults might marvel at the magnificence of a mosaic that has kept its color for centuries, a child’s interest could be drawn elsewhere, to things seemingly more trivial.

Claudia Vermeer was traveling with her two daughters, Emma, 12, and Sophie, 10. Their home was in Germany, but they were on their seventh month of a trip that had taken them around the world.

Family members had finally reached Thailand, the 11th country they had visited on their tour, and were exploring Wat Pho, one of several sprawling royal temples on the Chao Phraya River in the heart of Bangkok. The site is famous for its many stupas, statues and a gleaming, golden 151-foot-long reclining Buddha statue.

Vermeer was continually surprised at how different her perspective was from her daughters’, she said.

“They see what I wouldn’t see, and they experience things differently,” Vermeer said. “In general, I want to open their horizons and make them tolerant people.”

Back in New York City, after returning from Liberty Island, Villum, the 6-year-old boy from Denmark, had transformed from an energetic and curious child, propped on his father’s shoulders, to a weary and quiet boy, standing between family members and waiting for someone to declare that the day was over.

By the looks of the pictures he took that day, it’s clear what had happened: He most likely spent a good portion of his energy at Liberty Island trying to peek over the walls and rails that were too tall for him to easily see over.

de conformidad con el Contrato Hipotecario. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma, la cantidad de $89,281.18 sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar, en la que servirá como tipo mínimo, dos terceras (2/3) partes del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $59,520.79. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el día 23 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $44,640.59. El Alguacil que suscribe hizo constar que toda licitación deberá hacerse para pagar su importe en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América, de acuerdo con la Ley y de acuerdo con lo anunciado en este Aviso de Subasta. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables. Se entiende que todo licitador que comparezca a la subasta señalada en este caso acepta como bastante la titulación que da base a la misma. Se entiende que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si la hubiere al crédito que da base a esta ejecución continuará subsistente, entendiéndose, además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de estos, sin destinarse a su extinción cualquier parte del remanente del precio de licitación. La propiedad para ejecutar será adquirida libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Vendida o adjudicada la finca o derecho hipotecado y consignado el precio correspondiente, en esa misma fecha o fecha posterior, el alguacil que celebró la subasta procederá a

otorgar la correspondiente escritura pública de traspaso en representación del dueño o titular de los bienes hipotecados, ante el notario que elija el adjudicatario o comprador, quien deberá abonar el importe de tal escritura. El alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la confirmación de la venta o adjudicación. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS LICITADORES Y DEL PUBLICO EN GENERAL y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley, expido el presente Edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, hoy 24 de marzo de 2023.

Maribel Lanzar Velázquez, Alguacil Placa #735, Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Sala De Bayamón.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE PONCE LUNA

PERFORMANCE II, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS

ANGEL RODRIGUEZ

MELENDEZ COMPUESTA

POR IVETTE RODRÍGUEZ

MATOS, ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ MATOS, IVÁN RODRÍGUEZ

MATOS, LUIS A. RODRÍGUEZ MATOS Y JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LUIS ÁNGEL

RODRÍGUEZ MELÉNDEZ Y ADMINISTRACIÓN

PARA EL SUSTENTO DE MENORES Y CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: YU2022CV00439.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO E

INTERPELACIÓN POR EDIC-

TO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE LOS

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: LUIS A. RODRÍGUEZ MATOS, IVÁN

RODRÍGUEZ MATOS Y ENRIQUE RODRÍGUEZ

MATOS POR SI Y COMO HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS

ÁNGEL RODRÍGUEZ

MELÉNDEZ. POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda. Marjaliisa Colon Villanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732; Teléfono: 787843-4168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de ejecución de y cobro de dinero bajo el número mencionado en el epígrafe. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que la parte Demandada incurrió en el incumplimiento del Contrato de Hipoteca, al no poder pagar las mensualidades vencidas correspondientes a los meses de enero del 2022 hasta el presente, más los cargos por demora correspondientes. Además, adeuda a la parte demandante las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en que incurra el tenedor del pagaré en este litigio. De acuerdo con dicho Contrato de Garantía Hipotecaria la parte Demandante declaró vencida la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a la suma de $50,985.81 de balance de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma al 5.50% anual desde el día diciembre de 2021 de así como todos aquellos créditos y sumas que surjan de la faz de la obligación hipotecaria y de la hipoteca que la garantiza, incluyendo $5,411.95 pactado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La parte Demandante presentó para su inscripción en el Registro de la Propiedad correspondiente, un AVISO DE PLEITO PENDIENTE (“Lis Pendens”) sobre la propiedad objeto de esta acción cuya propiedad es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número “A” guión dos (A-2) en el plano de inscripción del Proyecto UM guión dos guión treinta y dos (UM-2-32) denominado Residencial Bacó, radicado en el Barrio Montalva del término municipal de Guánica, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de QUINIENTOS TRES METROS CUADRADOS CON VEINTISEIS CENTESIMAS DE METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar “A” guión uno (A1), distancia de cuarenta punto cero seis (40.06) metros: por el SUR, con la calle “A”, distancia de veinticinco (25) metros con veinticinco (25) centímetros: por el ESTE, con la calle “F”, distancia de doce (12) metros con cuarenta y siete (47)

centímetros, más un arco de cinco (5) metros con cincuenta y cuatro (54) centímetros; y por el OESTE, con terrenos de Juan A. Tió. distancia de dieciséis (16) metros con noventa y nueve (99) centímetros. Inscrita Ja hipoteca aJ folio 133vto del tomo 1 87 de Guánica, inscripción 7a de la finca 2991, del Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán e inscrita la modificación al sistema Karibe de Guánica, con fecha 21 de febrero de 2018, inscripción octava. SE LES APERCIBE que. de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del término aquí dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Además, como miembro de la Sucesión de LUIS ANGEL RODRIGUEZ MELENDEZ se ha presentado una solicitud de interpelación judicial para que sirva en el término de treinta (30) días aceptar o repudiar la herencia. Se le apercibe que si no compareciera usted a expresarse dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto en torno a la aceptación o repudiación de la herencia, se presumirá que han aceptado a beneficio de inventario la herencia del LUIS ANGEL RODRIGUEZ MELENDEZ y por consiguiente, responderán por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone del Código Civil de Puerto Rico. En Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 31 de marzo de 2023. Carmen G. Tirú, Secretaria. Mariely Félix Rivera, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR DDR ISABELA LLC, S.E.

Demandante V. FRD IMPORTS, INC; FRANCISCO F. RAMOS DOMÍNGUEZ Y ALEXANDRA SOLER VÁZQUEZ

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV10674.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: ALEXANDRA SOLER VÁZQUEZ. DIRECCIONES

CONOCIDAS: PRONTITO MALL CARR 172; VILLAGE DEL REY, LOCAL9, CAGUAS, P.R. 00725; HC-06 BOX 74445, CAGUAS, P.R. 00725 Y URB. LAKE VIEW, CALLE DRIVE D-1, CAGUAS, PR, 00725.

Por la presente se le notifica

que se ha radicado en su contra una Demanda de Cobro de Dinero. Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a: Lcdo. Roberto A. Cámara Fuertes R.U.A. Núm. 13,556

Email: rcamara@ferraiuoli.com

Lcda. Elizabeth Villagrasa Flores

R.U.A. Núm. 16,877

Email: evillagrasa@ferraiuoli.com

FERRAIUOLI, LLC

P.O. Box 195168

San Juan, PR 00919-5168

Tel: 787-766-7000 Abogados de la parte demandante, con copia de respuesta a la Demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto Usted deberá presentar alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el sello del Tribunal. DADO hoy en Caguas, Puerto Rico, 3 de abril de 2023. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. Katherine Carrasquillo Hernández, Sub-Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA MUNICIPAL DE CAGUAS FIRST BANK PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. BANCO POPULAR PUERTO RICO; FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION COMO SUCESOR EN DERECHOS DE SANA MORTGAGE CORPORATION; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES CON INTERES

Demandado(a)

Civil: CG2023CV00140. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE (PERSONAS DESCONIDAS CON POSIBLE INTERES). (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 28 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los

términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023.

En Caguas, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. Lisilda Martínez Agosto, Secretaria. Sandra J. Trinidad Cañuelas, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN BPP RETAIL PROPERTIES LLC

Demandante V. ALSTON & BIRD LLC, JOHN DOE & RICHARD ROE

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2023CV00490. Sala: 402. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: ALSTON & BIRD, LLC; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 3 de abril de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. LCDA. LAURA

I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETA-

RIA. AMALYN FIGUEROA NIEVES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA

SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA

607-609

CONDADO ST., LLC.

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE AMEDE CHARDÓN VÁZQUEZ, COMPUESTA POR

FREDERIC CHARDÓN

DUBOS, FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL

Y SUTANA DE TAL; SUCESIÓN DE YVELINE

DUBOS NOCCIOLINI, COMPUESTA POR

FREDERIC CHARDÓN

DUBOS, KRISTIANNE CHARDÓN QUIÑONES, FREDERIC E. CHARDÓN

QUIÑONES, MÍA SARA CHARDÓN QUIÑONES, REBECA SÁNCHEZ DE LARACUENTE

Demandado(a)

Civil: SJ2022CV00712. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: SUCESIÓN DE AMEDE CHARDÓN

VAZQUEZ COMPUESTA

POR FULANO DE TAL; FULANA DE TAL; SUTANO DE TAL

Y SUTANA DE TAL;

DIRECCIÓN: URB.

VALLE ARRIBA BD13

CALLE NARANJO, CAROLINA PR 00983; SUCESIÓN DE YVELINE

DUBOS NOCCIOLINI COMPUESTA POR

KRISTIANNE CHARDON QUIÑONES; FREDERIC E. CHARDÓN QUIÑONES; DIRECCIÓN: 770 CALLE

URANETA SAN JUAN PR 00924, 1112 KINAU ST # 303 HONOLULU, HL96814, CARR. 110 KM 20.9 BO ACEITUA, MOCA PR 00676. MÍA

SARA CHARDÓN

QUIÑONES. DIRECCIÓN: 770 CALLE URANETA

SAN JUAN, PR 00924; REBECA SÁNCHEZ DE LARACUENTE; DIRECCIÓN POSTAL - PO

BOX 4953 CAROLINA, PR 00984; 719 CALLE

CALAIS CAROLINA, PR 00982. P/C LCDO.

ALEJANDRO BELLVER

ESPINOSA. LCDA. ANA M. DESEDA BELAVAL.

CONO. EL CENTRO I SUITE 801, 500 MUÑOZ RIVERA AVE., SAN JUAN,PR

00918.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 29 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 3 de abril de 2023. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, el 3 de abril de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. ARLENE GUZMÁN PABÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS ORIENTAL BANK Demandante Vs BAXTER CREDIT UNION; JOHN DOE, RICHARD ROE Demandado(a) Civil Núm.: CG2023CV00410. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE. (Nombre de las partes a las que se les notifica la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir

con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; lo créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $7,417.50. Además, La Sucesión de Miguel Antonio Rivera Crespo se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $7,417.50 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $7,417.50 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley. Por razón de dicho incumplimiento, y al amparo del derecho que le confiere el Pagaré, el demandante ha declarado tales sumas vencidas, líquidas y exigibles en su totalidad. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al Procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO

JUDICIAL DE CAMUY, SALA

SUPERIOR durante las hora laborables. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación del inmueble y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio de remate. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores desconocidos, no inscritos o presentados que sus acreedores de cargos o derechos rea les que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños, poseedores, tenedores de o interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor que se celebrarán las subastas en las fechas, horas y sitios señalados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o se les invita a satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, otros cargos y las costas y honorarios de abogado asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad objeto de ejecución y descrita anteriormente se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores una vez el Honorable Tribunal expida la correspondiente Orden de Confirmación de Venta Judicial. Y para conocimiento de licitadores del público en general se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley por espacio de dos semanas en tres sitios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto

será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subasta bajo mi firma en el Tribunal en Camuy, Puerto Rico, hoy día 31 de marzo de 2023. WILFREDO

OLMO SALAZAR, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. LUIS E. ROMÁN CARRERO, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAMUS, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADA JETHRO

WICKENDEN - RIVERA

Demandante Vs. BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandado (a)

Civil Núm.: AU2023CV00076.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO.

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 31 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 4 de abril de 2023. En Aguada, Puerto Rico, el 4 de abril de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES

PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. ERIKA I. CRUZ PÉREZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

WANDA I

Caso: FBCI201700084. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA

60. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. WANDA ALGARÍN NEGRÓN. EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 20 de marzo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 03 de abril de 2023. lic. fontán Lozada, melvyn e. melvynfontan@gmail.com. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 03 de abril de 2023. Lcda. Marilyn Aponte Rodríguez, Secretaria. Solmarie Montero Castro, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE LARES

FIRST AMERICAN TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY

Demandante Vs. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA ACTUANDO POR CONDUCTO DE LA ADMINISTRACION DE HOGARES DE AGRICULTORES

[-UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)]; E.M.I. EQUITY

MORTGAGE, INC;

FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO MAS CUAL

Demandados

Civil Núm.: LR2023CV00088.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE HIPOTECA REPRESENTADA

POR PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO. EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO MAS CUAL. Se emplaza y notifica a ustedes que se ha presentado una demanda en este caso, en la cual

en síntesis, la parte demandante alega que se extravió un pagare hipotecario que estaban en poder de “E.M.I. Equity Mortgage, Inc”, y solicita que se ordene la cancelación de la hipoteca que lo garantiza. El pagaré fue librado por el Sr. Ángel Luis Hernández Otaño, t/c/c Ángel L. Hernández Otaño, Ángel Luis Hernández y como Ángel Hernández Otaño, y su esposa, la Sra. Nilsa Iris Martínez Mercado, a favor de “Estados Unidos de América actuando por conducto de la Administración De Hogares de Agricultores”

[-“United States Department of Agriculture” t/c/c USDA-], o a su orden, por la suma de $31,870.00, más intereses y créditos accesorios, vencedera en 33 años, según consta de la escritura #98, otorgada en Lares, Puerto Rico, el día 5 de junio 1985, ante el Notario Público Ramón Rafael Lugo Beauchamp. La referida escritura se encuentra inscrita al folio 262 vuelto del tomo 251 de Lares, del Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Utuado, finca #13,212, inscripción 2da. Pueden ver la demanda en su totalidad en este Tribunal. El Abogado de la Parte Demandante lo es: Raúl J. Tous Bobonis, Edificio La Electrónica, 1608 Calle Bori, Suite 205, San Juan, PR 00927-6112, teléfonos 751-8834\3824, a quien deberá notificar la contestación de la demanda dentro de los próximos 30 días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto.

Por la presente se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los próximos 30 días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto.

Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Se le apercibe que si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Dado bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal y por Orden del mismo hoy 4 de abril de 2023. Diane Álvarez Villanueva, Secretaria Regional. Marillian Pérez Rivera, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

CASCADE FUNDING

MORTGAGE TRUST AB1

Demandante Vs. JOSE FRANCISCO MILLS MARTINEZ T/C/C JOSE F. MILLS MARTINEZ T/C/C JOSE F. MILLS-MARTINEZ T/C/C JOSE F. MILLS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV00557.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 3 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Family unit number four hundred four (404) of Baldorioty Plaza Condominium number two hundred twelve (212) of south Marginal Street Baldorioty de Castro Avenue, corner of Diez de Andino Street, Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico, which family unit is located in the Fourth Floor with its balcony facing Diez de Andino Street. It is an irregular rectangular shaped apartment measuring thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”), equivalent to eleven point thirty (11.30) meters long by thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”), equivalent to eleven point thirty (11.30) meters width making a total area of one thousand sixty nine point zero one (1069.010) square feet, equivalent to one hundred eight point sixty four (108.64) square meters, as specialty shown in exhibit B dash four hundred four (B-404) of the deed. Its boundaries are as follows: North, thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”), equivalent to eleven point thirty (11.30) meters with exterior and interior common elements of the building such as concrete bearing walls and interior proper elements of the apartment such as block, partition walls separating it from apartment four hundred three (403) and entrance doorway separating it

from and leading to restricted common hallway; South, thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”), equivalent to eleven point thirty (11.30) meters with interior and exterior common elements of the building such as concrete bearing walls window and exterior proper elements of the apartment such as block partition walls and balcony concrete railing separating it from the exterior; facing parking ramp entrance, East, thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”)equivalent to eleven point thirty (11.30) meters with exterior common elements of the building such as window walls and exterior proper elements of the building such as block partition wall and balcony concrete railing separating in front the exterior, Diez de Andino Street, West, thirty seven feet two inches (37’2”), equivalent to eleven point thirty one (11.31) meters with exterior common elements of the building such as concrete bearing walls and windows and exterior proper elements of the apartment such as block partition walls separating it from the exterior parking area. The main entrance door is on the South side and communicates with the restricted common hallways if the fourth floor. This unit has a percentage of point eight thousand one hundred percent (.8100%) in the common elements and twenty five percent (25%) in the common limited. This family unit contains the following rooms and subdivision a porch living-dining room, foyer coat closet, linen closet, utility closet, kitchen, pantry, secondary bash, hall bedroom, one

(1) master bathroom, master bedroom, closet, utility closet a master bedroom & bedroom, two (2) linen closet and two

(2) bedroom. Finca número

18,212, inscrita al folio 56 del tomo 499 de Santurce Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección I. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 57 del tomo 1,141 de Santurce Norte, finca número

18,212, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección I, inscripción 9ª. Propiedad localizada en: 212 CALLE DIEZ DE ANDINO, COND. BALDORIOTY PLAZA APT 404, SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO 00912. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $234,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 13 de marzo de 2096. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la pro-

piedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $234,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 10 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $156,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $117,000.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, el 17 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $85,273.06 de principal, más los intereses a razón de 5.560% anual hasta su total y completo pago, contribuciones, recargos y primas de seguro adeudados y los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $23,400.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy 21 de marzo de 2023. EDWIN

E. LÓPEZ MULERO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE. BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO Y SUN

WEST MORTGAGE

COMPANY, INC. COMO

AGENTE DE SERVICIO DEMANDANTE VS. CARMEN LOURDES VILLARINI GONZÁLEZ

T/C/C CARMEN L. VILLARINI GONZÁLEZ; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: PO2022CV03431. SOBRE: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (IN REM). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS.

A: CARMEN LOURDES

VILLARINI GONZÁLEZ

T/C/C CARMEN L. VILLARINI GONZÁLEZ

Urb. Jardines del Caribe

H-67 Calle 7

Ponce, PR 00728

Dirección postal: Urb. Jardines del Caribe 110 Calle 7 Ponce, PR 00728

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramaiudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS

RÚA NÚM.: 11416

PO BOX 3908, GUAYNABO, PR 00970

ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com En Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 31 de marzo de 2023. Carmen G Tiru, Secretaria. Mariel Felix Rivera, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal.

Grinding his way to international stardom

By BRAD LEFTON

Five Japanese reporters accompanied by still and broadcast cameras covered baseball’s opening day in St. Louis. Curiously, the only player on either team who was born in Japan was pitcher Yusei Kikuchi of the Toronto Blue Jays, whose first start would not come until the next series.

Instead, the Japanese contingent was there to document the season debut of Lars Nootbaar, a St. Louis Cardinals outfielder with a Dutch last name who was born in Southern California.

Nootbaar, who impressed many with his play for St. Louis last season, became an unlikely international star thanks to the World Baseball Classic. His mother is Japanese — she came to the United States for college and met her future husband here — and her passport qualified her son to represent Japan at the tournament. That made him the first player born outside Japan to be selected for the national team.

Nootbaar, 25, gave Japanese fans plenty of reasons to cheer. He led off and started in center field in each of Japan’s seven games. He reached base 14 times in 33 plate appearances, scored seven runs, and stole two bases. He also made a pair of highlight-reel catches in the early rounds before knocking in the run that put Japan ahead for good in its dramatic 3-2 win over the United States for the championship.

The performance did not surprise anyone back in St. Louis, where Nootbaar started slowly last season but came on strong as things heated up, batting .294 with power and patience in July and August before cooling down some in September. He came into this season as a versatile regular in the team’s outfield, though he was quickly put on the 10-day injured list with a bruised thumb. He is expected to return in the next week.

The Cardinals, who went 2-4 in their opening homestand, could use his energy and enthusiasm. Those were the traits, after all, that led to Nootbaar landing on Japan’s roster in the first place, according to manager Hideki Kuriyama.

“Center field was an area of need for us, and as I explored our options, I fell in love with this guy from the moment I first talked to him,” Kuriyama said in his

first national appearance after returning to Tokyo following the tournament. “I knew right away he would be the right fit.”

Kuriyama said he believed that Nootbaar would help the team’s mood and that a language barrier would not be an issue.

“I think his overall demeanor moved fans and teammates alike,” Kuriyama said.

Japanese fans took to Nootbaar immediately. He embraced the nickname Tacchan, an affectionate play on the Japanese portion of his middle name, Taylor-Tatsuji. And he helped bring some American baseball style to the team by routinely celebrating hits with a move popular among Cardinals players where they mimic twisting a pepper mill after “grinding out a hit.” The pepper mill gesture became a surprising symbol of Japan’s championship run.

The move proved wildly popular among Japanese fans and amateur players, though it landed one high schooler who imitated it in trouble. After reaching first base on an error during Japan’s high school baseball tournament, the player did the gesture, drawing an official reprimand.

“We understand players’ desire to enjoy the game, but we ask you to enjoy it through your play,” the Japan High School Baseball Federation said in a statement.

For Nootbaar, joining Team Japan was an unlikely dream come true. When he was 9 years old, while playing Little League Baseball in El Segundo, California, he declared on video that he wanted to represent Japan someday.

Nootbaar, who speaks little Japanese and had not visited the country since he was 6, knew going into the tournament that one player held the key to a smooth transition: Yu Darvish.

At 36, Darvish was the team’s senior player, a significant detail in a hierarchical culture. Nootbaar admits he was nervous when he unexpectedly encountered Darvish a day before being introduced to the rest of the team.

“I had just arrived in Japan, and the idea was to take it easy, crash early and meet the team at the ballpark the next day,” Nootbaar said. “I was eating in the team food room at the hotel when the door opened, and in walked Yu Darvish. I was so nervous, like almost shaking. This isn’t how I expected to meet him, but he was so nice and put me at ease right away.”

He added of Darvish: “He said the

goal was to make me comfortable so I could play my game and anything I needed, I should feel free to ask him.”

After three weeks under Darvish’s leadership, Nootbaar said he was convinced that their early meeting was no coincidence.

“I think he sought me out,” Nootbaar said while discussing Darvish and his role with the team compared to the one held by Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way superstar.

“So much attention is given to Shohei, and rightly so, because he’s such an incredible player,” Nootbaar said. “But Darvish deserves the credit for bringing us together and leading us. He understood his role and gave the younger pitchers so much confidence and taught them so much.”

Ohtani’s impact largely came on the field, where he was named the MVP of the tournament. Being around such a player was intimidating for Nootbaar, he said, even though he plays with superstars like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt in St. Louis.

“We hit together in the indoor cage,” Nootbaar said of Ohtani. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like it.’”

Nootbaar found himself even more impressed with the dramatic way Ohtani closed out Japan’s championship. Having started the game at designated hitter, Ohtani came out of the bullpen as the closer in the ninth inning. After Ohtani recorded two quick outs, his teammate with the Angels, Mike Trout, stepped to the plate. Nootbaar looked on from left field as Ohtani fanned the three-time winner of the MVP award with a 2-2 slider.

“The movement was ridiculous,” Nootbaar said. “Obviously, you know, the fastball is fast, but the slider movement is ridiculous.

“He really is different from everybody else.”

When the team headed home after 20 days together spent on two different continents, Ohtani presented Nootbaar with a luxury watch from Japan. It came with one condition: Nootbaar has to give it back if he does not play for Japan at the next WBC in 2026.

“He won’t be getting the watch back because there’s no other team I would consider playing for,” Nootbaar said. “If they ask me again, I would absolutely love to play for Japan.”

Lars Nootbaar celebrated hits in the World Baseball Classic by mimicking the use of a pepper mill. The gesture caught on in Japan.

Both Citi Field — and the Mets — look slick in victory over Marlins

the end of April, which is really just as well. The Mets need him and their other $43.3 million-per-year veteran, Max Scherzer, to be strong and sturdy in October. The next six months are a preamble, and Friday was encouraging: a 9-3 victory over the sloppy Miami Marlins.

This was baseball in the pitch-clock era: Even with 18 strikeouts, 16 walks and 11 pitchers, the game lasted only 3 hours and 1 minute. In recent years, it would have been interminable.

“The ball’s slick this time of year; we saw it from the other side,” said the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo, who did his sprint-to-firston-a-walk routine four times. “But Tylor was able to fill up the zone, get strikes and get them to chase.”

cording their first hit — an infield single by Daniel Vogelbach, the designated hitter — but soon the home runs were flying: Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso. As adventurous as the Mets’ seasons usually are, they tend to start smoothly: The team is now 41-21 in home openers, including 11-4 at Citi Field.

This opener came with a preview of coming attractions, if only in the introductions. Because of a calf injury to catcher Omar Narvaez, the Mets promoted Francisco Alvarez, their top prospect, Friday morning. Alvarez, 21, will see time behind the plate, but Tomás Nido seems likely to get more starts.

By TYLER KEPNER

Perched atop the New York Mets’ bench, back to the wall of the home dugout, Steven Cohen peered through the cameras and notepads in front of him Friday morning. His new scoreboard was out there, 17,400 square feet of LED brilliance, practically a sixth borough of New York City. Every king needs a castle befitting his stature, and Cohen, baseball’s wealthiest owner, is having fun with Citi Field.

“What I want to do is create a master plan,” Cohen said on the eve of the Mets’ home opener. “I don’t want to create a renovation of the stadium where everything doesn’t really tie together.”

Cohen has remade the Mets into a luxury brand, so of course they now have the largest scoreboard in the majors. The team’s record payroll — roughly $370 million, plus another $100 million or so in luxury taxes — has coincided with a spiffier ballpark, with new flourishes big and small: a 100seat, field-level club in right; a tequila bar above center; a disc honoring Bob Murphy, the Hall of Fame Mets broadcaster, on the roof above left.

The World Series flags have been redesigned, too: The two championship banners are still white, but the three National League banners are now blue. The only ode to last season is a 2022 notation on an “NL Wild Card” placard above section 504.

Last season’s swift playoff exit, after 101 regular-season victories, was not part of Cohen’s master plan. Neither was the presence of Tylor Megill on the mound for the home opener; a free-agent prize, Justin Verlander, was lined up for the task, but shoulder inflammation has limited him to playing catch.

“Very mild,” Verlander said of the injury, “but I do still feel a teeny bit of something.”

Verlander expects to be back before

Megill was scheduled to be the ace for Class AAA Syracuse until Verlander’s late-March setback. He was 4-0 in five starts last April but never won again, his season sidetracked by shoulder strain. Now he has two of the Mets’ four victories — and a little more luck.

In the fourth inning Friday, a comebacker from Jean Segura caromed off Megill and into right field for a single. Thankfully, Megill said later, the ball struck him in the perfect spot — the top of the foot — and he stayed in to blank Miami for six innings, saving his only curveball for a final-pitch strikeout of Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The Mets had seven walks before re-

“It’s kind of like a backup quarterback that gets drafted out of college,” manager Buck Showalter said of Alvarez. “Everybody knows he’s going to be a really good player, but the time he spends as a backup is very valuable, too. Tomás is pretty good.”

Nido led off the fourth with a single and rumbled home from second on Alonso’s single to left. Every Met in the lineup — except for third baseman Eduardo Escobar — reached base via hit or walk, and while the weather was raw and gusty, the day delivered what the 43,590 fans wanted.

The only downer, alas, was the Mets’ tacky new advertising patch, which is not quite the size of the scoreboard, but close. Cohen would not say how much money the Mets are getting for selling sleeve space to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, but he conceded that their red-and-white colors must go.

“I had an email exchange with the CEO, Steve Corwin, and we agreed to change the patch already,” Cohen said. “They’re Phillie colors, and he and I agreed that it should be more Met-appropriate.”

For now — and, really, in any iteration — the patch is a stain on the Mets’ otherwise clean, sharp home jersey. You might call it a pimple, the word Lindor used when asked for his thoughts on the scoreboard. With such an enormous screen to beam his face to the crowd, Lindor explained, he’ll have to take better care of his skin.

“I’ve got to eat less chocolate now,” he said, smiling as he held his 2-year-old daughter, Kalina, who was eating a chocolate ice cream bar.

Lindor stole a lick and laughed. On a day for a happy homecoming, a small indulgence was just fine.

New York Mets fans at the team’s home opener against the Miami Marlins, at Citi Field.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor celebrates his home run against the Florida Marlins during the home opener at Citi Field in Queens on Friday, April 7, 2023. The Mets got back to a 4-4 record with a 9-3 win on Friday.

Sudoku

How to Play:

Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9.

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

The Moon forges edgy ties, so you may be making something more complicated than it needs to be. You’ll be fired up and ready to go, then a short while later you’ll have talked yourself out of it. And yet with a dynamic and very positive aspect showing up in your sign soon, this isn’t the time to give up. It may seem be a bit dauting now, but you’ll rise to the occasion, Aries.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

It’s a day for finishing what you’ve begun, as that way you can take advantage of sterling opportunities that may show up in a day or so. They won’t be obvious, Taurus. You’ll have to trust your intuition to lead you to them. If you do, you’ll be handsomely rewarded. On a social note, a friend may seem more aloof than usual. Try not to take it personally though.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

You may have a brilliant idea, but with so much to contend with, it might seem an uphill task to do anything about it. If you can team up with another Gemini, you’ll have double the chance of moving mountains. And if you delegate some of your responsibilities, you’ll have so much more time for other ideas and projects. If it’s something you’ll enjoy, embrace it wholeheartedly.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

You may be fired up, but until you get to grips with your thoughts, you could decide to hold back and wait until you’re more qualified or feel ready. You’ll never feel any more ready than you are now, Cancer. You may be nervous about moving out of your comfort zone, but who isn’t! You don’t have to go to extremes, just take things one step at a time and you’ll soon be flying ahead.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

The Moon’s ties to Pluto and Saturn, can give the impression that things could be difficult. They’ll only turn out that way if you expect them to. Another winning blend of energies suggests a very different outcome when you trust in yourself and are willing to push through obstacles to accomplish your goal. There may be some hiccups, but with an upbeat perspective you’ll win.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Have a lot on your plate? It’s the way you tackle it that counts. With Pluto now in your lifestyle zone, your workaholic tendencies could be emphasized. Avoid becoming too driven. The more you cut back your to-do list, the easier life can be. If you feel you should do something and don’t want to, then don’t be too rigid. Relax, and you’ll be much more productive, Virgo.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

As the Moon angles towards prudent Saturn, you may be tempted to put yourself last today and to put others first. This could see you dashing around trying to juggle chores and tasks, and bending yourself into a pretzel to please others. Forget it, Libra! Instead, organize others to help so that you can have some time to do your own thing. Be kinder to yourself, don’t force the pace.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

You may have a compelling reason to spend money, but feel bad about going ahead. The Moon’s angle with Pluto could ramp-up the emotion associated with an item. And if it’s an investment, then you’ll be even more interested. And yet as the Moon converses with cautious Saturn, you may get cold feet about going ahead. Trust your gut on this, Scorpio.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

The Moon swings into your sign from today, and lines up with simmering Pluto in your communication zone, which suggests you’ll have plenty to say. Your words will have power, and keen insights mean you can aim a comment like a dart and cause chaos. And you might not even realize you’re doing this, Archer. A pause for thought will save you a lot of hassle.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Ready to make a commitment to something or someone? If you’re serious about it and want to get results, then go for it, Capricorn. And yet the Sagittarius Moon could find you in a fickle mood and likely to change your mind. Give it a few days, and then take stock. You might have a moment of madness that you’ll regret, so bide your time and see how it goes.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Friends could be very persuasive, especially when it comes to spending money. Someone can be keen for you to join a club that comes with a pricy membership. Or they might invite you on a group outing that isn’t cheap. With Saturn in the mix, you will have reservations about whether it is worth it or not. Yet if there are perks that you won’t get any other why, you may say “yes”.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

You might have your serious face on, but underneath you may be ready to make a radical move that can bring the joy flooding back into your life. As the Moon angles towards Saturn in your sign, perhaps you’re involved in finalizing something and making it formal. This could be the gateway to freedom and something fresh. Change is in the air, and you’ll be ready to embrace it.

Speed Bump