Tuesday Apr 11, 2023

The San Juan Star

New Mexico Is Losing a Form of Spanish Spoken Nowhere Else

Call to Governor: Help Stop the Bleeding in Towns

Mayors Assn. Says Slashed Funding in Fiscal Plan Will Force Municipalities to Cut Essential Services This Summer

P3

Inflated Food Prices

Stressed in Appeal to Pass Tax Relief Legislation

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL

Police: Shooting at Guayama Business Leaves 3 Dead

GOOD MORNING April

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.

Mayors Assn: Gutted funding in fiscal plan will force towns to cut essential services this summer

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Mayors Association President Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz warned Monday that further reductions in funding to municipalities, as contained in the 2023 Fiscal Plan, will force them to cut essential services in July.

“If this continues, dozens of municipalities would have to eliminate services such as garbage collection, public safety, emergency management, and sports, cultural, and health initiatives, at the beginning of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, on July 1 of this year,” Hernández Ortiz said.

The entire island must be clear, the Mayors Association president said, that Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia did not fulfill his promise to maintain the allocation of the Equalization Fund, or create the Essential Services Fund, nor has he paid a penny for health services.

“This represents close to $500 million,” said Hernández Ortiz, who is the mayor of Villalba. “We ask the governor to act on his word concerning ASES [the Spanish acronym for the Health Insurance Administration], as well as the allocation of $1 million for all the municipalities to continue post-Hurricane Fiona recovery work.”

The Mayors Association groups mayors affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party.

The assembled mayors formally requested a meeting with the governor as a matter of urgency.

Hernández Ortiz asked central government officials

to set aside $150 million of about $300 million approved in the Fiscal Plan, which has not been distributed, to guarantee essential services for the next five years so that towns can carry out structural changes, and for the creation of new collection alternatives to replace the $350 million that has already been taken away from the 78 municipalities.

“While all this was happening, the municipalities paid the bondholders one year in advance,” he said. “That is a reality that not everyone knows. The municipalities have made great adjustments in all sectors.”

The Mayors Association membership also insisted that the government begin to decentralize, starting, for example, with education, medical emergencies and roads.

“Everyone in Puerto Rico accepts that the municipalities are the first line of service to the population, not only in times of emergency but also throughout the year,” Hernández Ortiz said. “However, for years, the state government and the fiscal oversight board have been cutting our funds from many items. They have already exceeded $350 million in cuts. With this new fiscal year, they intend to shut down municipalities and eliminate services to the citizenry.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Oversight and Management Board on Monday authorized municipalities to access the Emergency Reserve to deal with the weekend flooding in many towns caused by heavy rain, including in the island’s eastern region.

Mayors Association President and Villalba Mayor Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz

Rep. Méndez stresses inflated food prices in call to pass tax relief bill

By THE STAR STAFF

In an attempt to alleviate the effects of inflation, particularly with the price of food, which exceeds 10%, the New Progressive Party minority leader in the House of Representatives, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, urged the approval of House Bill (HB) 1576, which establishes tax adjustments to alleviate the increase in the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

“Every day we see how the increase in COLA affects the quality of life of our people,” the legislator said. “HB 1576, an administration initiative filed by our delegation, the Popular Democratic Party and Representative Luis Raul Torres on January 5, provides real relief to the people in the face of the high prices we are seeing, particularly in food and transportation. All the municipalities of Puerto Rico will be positively impacted with the approval of this measure, so we reiterate our request that it be addressed with urgency.”

The measure amends Puerto Rico’s Internal Revenue Code to include, for the first time in modern history, tax adjustments to alleviate the increase in the cost of living

present

By THE STAR STAFF

Without clarifying whether there will be legislation, Dignity Project Sen. Joanne Rodríguez Veve said Monday she will present a proposal to fill the women’s advocate position with a candidate who can “really meet the needs” and “can represent the vast majority of women.”

Vilmarie Rivera Sierra opted to have her name withdrawn a couple of weeks ago as a nominee for women’s advocate, arguing that she felt violated by the confirmation process. Rodríguez Veve lamented her remarks and stressed that, despite their differences, they maintained a good relationship during the nomination process.

“In the next few days, I will be presenting […] a proposal that would broaden the possibilities of finding a better candidate to assume that position,” Rodríguez Veve said in a radio interview. “I will share details over the next

few days. […] I will be presenting an alternative.”

Likewise, she criticized Rivera Sierra for showing that she could not assume “categorical positions” regarding issues such as education, the participation of trans women in women’s sports teams, or the scenario in which a trans woman who commits a crime has to go to jail.

She also rejected the candidate’s support for a gender perspective approach.

“The approach that she publicly communicated to direct the Office [of the Women’s Advocate], which is the approach with a gender perspective, is an approach that has failed and is not really going to bring the results that we are all hoping for the benefit of women,” the senator said.

Rodríguez Veve reiterated that the gender perspective approach, which supports implementing inclusive language, is unconstitutional.

“In my opinion, this requirement [of gender perspective] is unconstitutional [...] because it seems to me that it

and to change mortgage interest deduction limits, as well as contributions to individual retirement systems and contributions to educational accounts. In addition, it increases the deduction for dependents, among other benefits.

“The implementation of this inflation relief program represents a cost of $67 million, according to studies by the Treasury Department itself,” Méndez Nuñez said, while noting the work of Rep. Joel Franqui Atiles in quantifying the bill’s benefits. “I am convinced that it is more than achievable and that the Financial Oversight and Management Board will have no qualms, because we have excess collections; what we have to do is approve the measure now.”

The current inflation rate for food products stands at 10.2%, one of the highest in the island’s history. Inflation is defined as an increase in the prices of goods and services whereby the purchasing power of the dollar is weakened.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index on transportation is at 127.44%, one of the highest rates in the past 25 years.

discriminates based on religious beliefs and, furthermore, political beliefs,” she said.

Police: At least 3 dead in shooting at Guayama business

By THE STAR STAFF

olice Bureau agents assigned to the District of Guayama were alerted at 4:08 p.m. on Monday that five people had been wounded by gunfire, three of whom died, in a shooting at a business on highway PR-179, kilometer 2.7 in the Guamaní neighborhood of Guayama.

According to the preliminary information available at press time, the police received a call through the 9-1-1 Emergency System reporting the incident. Upon arrival, officers found several wounded gunshot victims, including three in more serious condition who died from their wounds.

The other two injured were transported to a hospital to receive medical assistance. Their condition was unknown

at press time.

Personnel from the Homicide Division of the Guayama Criminal Investigation Corps, along with the prosecutor on duty, were to take charge of the investigation. The incident marked the second multiple slaying in Puerto Rico so far this year. The first occurred in the Jardines de Cataño residential complex on Feb. 20.

Rep. Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez

Sen. Joanne Rodríguez Veve

Senator to

‘proposal’ for finding a ‘better candidate’ for women’s advocate

Renowned actor Yoyo Boing, 93, working on educational/tourism project for island west

By THE STAR STAFF

The renowned actor Luis Antonio Rivera, better known as Yoyo Boing, has joined Mayagüez District Sen. Ada García Montes in an educational and tourism project for the west of the island that they hope to launch before the end of the year.

The project seeks to present different icons of each of the 12 municipalities that form the Senate district that García Montes represents, in order to promote tourism in the region in an entertaining and educational way.

“Starting a new project always fills me with enthusiasm, even more when through it the values, customs and traditions that characterize us as a people are highlighted,” said Yoyo Boing, who turned 93 last Sunday. “I thank Senator Ada García and Senate President José Luis Dalmau for this opportunity to continue to serve and entertain the people. It is a source of pride and an honor to be part of this work team.”

At least 12 educational capsules of culture and tourism on topics of interest to all the municipalities in the Mayagüez-Aguadilla District are part of the project, which focuses on creating tourist reviews whereby the natural resources of each town are highlighted, along with notable historical

data, information on gastronomic offerings and the relevant tourism offer in general.

“I am excited about this new project that I can share with the renowned and talented actor and comedian, Yoyo Boing, who at 93 years old still radiates energy and desire to contribute to his country,” García Montes said. “Nourishing ourselves with his wisdom and experience will be enriching for this project, which includes reviews of touristic value of each of the municipalities that comprise the District of Mayagüez.”

“It is a project that will become an essential resource for both the educational system in the west and Puerto Rico, as well as for the tourism development of the region,” she added.

The senator, who also chairs the Senate Education, Tourism and Culture Committee, praised Yoyo Boing’s experience in radio, television and theater, experience to which he adds his career and active participation in the programs “Desde mi pueblo” and “Puertorriqueñísimo.”

“These life experiences are key to the development of the project that we hope to present in a few months, both to the west and to all of Puerto Rico,” García Montes said. “Talking to Yoyo is to learn more about the elements that characterize each of the 78 municipalities of our island. I am sure that the result of our effort will benefit the west and Puerto Rico.”

Carolina area lawmakers call on mayor to take immediate action on flooding

By THE STAR STAFF \

Carolina District Sen. Marissa “Marissita” Jiménez Santoni and Rep. Wanda del Valle Correa demanded Monday that Carolina Mayor José Aponte Dalmau join them in seeking an immediate solution “to the serious problem of flooding that the residents of the Cacao neighborhood of the municipality have experienced for years.”

“This headache is nothing new in the area, but it began to get worse from 2021 to now,” Jiménez Santoni said. “At that time, we made countless efforts with the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and even with the National Guard, but we needed the mayor’s endorsement to tackle the situation, starting with a cleanup in which improvements [funded] by FEMA were to be carried out. However, he [Aponte Dalmau] was totally opposed to meeting with us and making any kind of official arrangements. … And today we see what is happening again -- water everywhere.”

“More than a year ago, Sen. Marissita Jiménez and yours truly asked the mayor for help with this critical case,” del Valle said. “… In fact, the National Guard was willing to fix the situation, but the municipality never responded.”

“Today again, together with Sen. Marissita Jiménez, we make a public call to the mayor to correct, once and for all, this unfortunate situation,” she added. “It was the

municipality itself that covered one of the pipes and led to all this.”

Del Valle also pointed out that “19 months after written communications with the municipality, absolutely nothing has happened.”

“The problem has slept the sleep of the righteous!” she said. “The saddest thing is that, according to the National Weather Service, it will continue to rain heavily in the eastern region of Puerto Rico.”

Sen. Ada García Montes and noted actor Luis Antonio Rivera, better known as Yoyo Boing

Heavy rain over the weekend exacerbated a longstanding problem with flooding in the Cacao neighborhood of Carolina.

Investment adviser in Mayagüez fraud scheme settles SEC complaint

By THE STAR STAFF

A64-year-old investment adviser who participated in a group scheme to defraud $9 million from the municipality of Mayagüez has settled a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a recent filing.

From at least 2016 through 2018, Roberto Mejill-Tellado, sometimes referred to in the filing as the respondent, was contracted by the City of Mayagüez as a consultant and financial adviser through his company Premier Investment and Financial Services Group LLC.

For a fee, he acted as an unregistered investment adviser within the meaning of the Advisers Act by, among other things, providing investment advice regarding investments in securities to the city and Mayagüez Economic Development Inc. (MEDI), a Puerto Rico municipal enterprise. Mejill-Tellado has never been registered with the SEC in any capacity, according to the filing.

On June 13, 2022, Mejill-Tellado pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from a specified unlawful activity in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957 before the United States District

Court for the District of Puerto Rico, in United States v. Roberto Mejill-Tellado. He is awaiting sentencing.

In his guilty plea, Mejill-Tellado stipulated that from on or about March 2016 to on or about June 2018, he conspired with others to defraud the Municipality of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and MEDI to obtain money and property by means of

materially false and misleading statements involving the city’s funds.

Mejill-Tellado has submitted an offer of settlement which the SEC has determined to accept, according to an April 4 filing.

Accordingly, the SEC ordered that he be, and hereby is barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, municipal advisor, transfer agent, or nationally recognized statistical rating organization; and any reapplication for association by the respondent will be subject to the applicable laws and regulations governing the reentry process, and reentry may be conditioned upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, compliance with the commission’s order and payment of any or all of the following: any disgorgement or civil penalties ordered by a court against the respondent in any action brought by the commission; any disgorgement amounts ordered against the respondent for which the commission waived payment; any arbitration award related to the conduct that served as the basis for the commission order; and any self-regulatory organization arbitration award to a customer, whether or not related to the conduct that served as the basis for the commission order; and any restitution order by a self-regulatory organization, whether or not related to the conduct that served as the basis for the commission order, the filing reads.

Cousins of governor slated to enter guilty pleas at hearing in federal court Thursday

By THE STAR STAFF

Walter and Eduardo Pierluisi Isern, cousins of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, are appearing at a hearing Thursday to plead guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Camille Vélez Rivé on unspecified charges, according to the electronic calendar of the U.S. District Court in San Juan.

The hearing, which is subject to change, is to plead guilty by filing a motion for “information” and relief from being accused through a statement that a federal grand jury can issue.

Accordingly, Walter Pierluisi Isern is represented by attorneys Eduardo Ferrer and Osvaldo Carlo, while María Domínguez and Javier Micheo are representing Eduardo

Pierluisi Isern.

Federal officials from the FBI and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last year executed a search warrant for the facilities of American Management and Administration Corp., owned by the Pierluisi Isern brothers. Federal authorities also seized the brothers’ cell phones, and executed a search warrant at Eduardo Pierluisi Isern’s residence.

Since its incorporation in 1995, American Management and Administration Corp. has had contracts for public housing administration in some 34 municipalities in Puerto Rico. Those contracts reportedly were canceled.

At the time, it was reported that officials were investigating possible acts of bribery and false statements.

More than 28,600 tickets issued during Holy Week; 112 arrested for drunk driving

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s Traffic Division announced Monday that during Holy Week more than 28,610 tickets were issued for administrative offenses and 112 arrests were made involving drivers who drove under the influence of alcohol.

Lt. Elvin Zeno, the Police Bureau’s traffic chief, shared in a written statement that as a result of patrolling throughout the week, 28 arrests were also made for controlled substances, as well as four other arrests for violations

of the Weapons and Controlled Substances Act, illegal appropriation, for stolen vehicles and for obstruction of justice.

He added that five interventions were carried out with minors, two for drunkenness and three for controlled substances. The police also intervened with 83 unauthorized drivers, while some 20 vehicles were confiscated and another was recovered.

Meanwhile, a fatal accident was reported over the weekend on highway PR-5, kilometer 22.9 in Naranjito. So far this year, 76 fatal crashes have been reported.

According to a Police Bureau report, 28 arrests were made for controlled substances during Holy Week, as well as four other arrests for violations of the Weapons and Controlled Substances Act, illegal appropriation, auto theft and obstruction of justice.

A former investment adviser with the city of Mayagüez and other island municipalities has reportedly settled a complaint with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, according to an April 4 filing.

U.S. District Court Judge Camille Vélez Rivé

Will North Carolina be the ‘beginning of the end’ of the Medicaid expansion fight?

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

People who watch politics in North Carolina say that Phil Berger, a Republican who calls himself a fiscal conservative and a “social traditionalist,” is the most powerful man in the state. For years, as the top Republican in the state Senate, he blocked North Carolina from expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

But in a sunny outdoor ceremony at the governor’s mansion late last month, with the dogwoods blooming in a sign of spring, Berger looked on with pride as Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed Medicaid expansion into law. State officials estimate that the expansion will cover more than 600,000 North Carolinians.

Thirteen years after the adoption of the Affordable Care Act under President Barack Obama, Republicans are abandoning their opposition to Medicaid expansion. Lingering reservations about the welfare state and the cost of expansion are giving way to arguments about Medicaid as an engine for economic growth and a lifeline for struggling hospitals.

Berger cites a string of reasons for his change of heart: North Carolina, where the Legislature is controlled by Republicans, revamped its Medicaid program into one that relies on managed care, which made it financially stable. New federal incentives made expansion difficult to resist. Hospitals, which stand to benefit from Medicaid reimbursement, will pick up 10% of the cost of the new program — ordinarily paid by states — and the federal government will pay the rest. Most North Carolinians who will benefit have jobs.

“I felt that I had a certain responsibility — that if the reasons that I had articulated for 10 years no longer exist, then I had a responsibility to be honest with myself and be honest with other people about that,” Berger said in an interview. “And so I talked to my members, and I told them where I was — and why.”

Ten states remain where Republicans have refused to expand Medicaid, most of them in the South, leaving an estimated 1.9 million uninsured adults in the so-called coverage gap. Too poor to qualify for subsidized private insurance through the Affordable Care Act but ineligible for traditional Medicaid, they are forced to get by with patchwork charity care or skip care altogether. They are disproportionately people of color.

Nationally, the coverage gap is expected to grow in the coming months because of the end of a pandemic-era policy that provided states with additional funding in exchange for guaranteeing that recipients of Medicaid would not lose coverage.

Since 2017, voters in seven states — most recently South Dakota — have approved ballot measures to expand Medicaid, despite long-standing Republican objections. Now the question is whether North Carolina will be a turning point.

State Rep. Donny Lambeth, a North Carolina Republican who pushed for Medicaid expansion, said Republican lawmakers in Tennessee had reached out to him, “curious as to how we did this.” Backers of expansion are looking toward Alabama, where Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, can act without legislative approval.

“This is the beginning of the end of the Medicaid expansion story,” said Lawrence O. Gostin, an expert in public health law at Georgetown University. Noting North Carolina’s place as a traditionally conservative state in the South, he added, “The

recognition that even the state’s Republican Legislature would sign onto Medicaid expansion will begin to chip away at the reluctance by conservative states.”

For Penelope Wingard, 59, who worked with children who have behavioral disabilities until she became sick with breast cancer in 2013, the Republicans’ turnabout is life changing. Wingard lost Medicaid when she finished radiation treatment and is now uninsured; she stitched together charity care when she needed eye surgery, racking up $50,000 in medical debt. She turned to advocacy, sharing her experience, but it was painful, she said.

“I’m proud that I didn’t give up,” said Wingard, who lives in Charlotte. “I wanted to give up. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I was just so angry. But today I can say I’ve been crying all day, tears of happiness, because I never thought this would happen in North Carolina.”

Years of advocacy

North Carolina Republicans did not change their views on Medicaid overnight. The story of how they got from no to yes is one of intense patient advocacy, smart messaging, shifting politics, a determined Democratic governor and a handful of maverick Republicans. Support from local officials and sheriffs, as well as eager hospital executives, also played a role, as did Obama’s fading presence.

“If they had some kind of ACA hangover, my guess is it has probably worn off,” Steve Lawler, president and CEO of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, a trade group for hospitals, said of Republican lawmakers.

Progressives set the table for expansion, partly by helping to elect Cooper, said the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, a prominent civil rights leader and longtime pastor in North Carolina. He described Berger as “a very regressive force” in state politics.

“They didn’t just change,” Barber said of Republican lawmakers. “They were forced to change.”

In addition to its creation of marketplaces for buying private insurance, the Affordable Care Act required states to expand Medicaid to cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level — currently about $41,000 for a family of four. The program was drawn up to be a good deal for states, with the federal govern-

ment picking up all of the costs at first and then eventually paying for 90% of them, a higher share than for traditional Medicaid. But conservative state officials balked, saying they did not trust the federal government to live up to its end of the bargain and did not want to contribute to what they saw as the welfare state. A group of states sued, claiming in part that forcing states to expand Medicaid was unconstitutional. In 2012, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act but ruled that states could not be required to adopt expansion.

A Republican reversal

The early push for Medicaid expansion in North Carolina came from the political left, led by the North Carolina Justice Center, a progressive research and advocacy group, which enlisted Wingard and others to tell their stories. But Peg O’Connell, a longtime health policy consultant, said backers needed a less liberal look. She helped found a new group, Care4Carolina, to take the lead.

“The most important thing we did,” she said, was to ditch the phrase “Medicaid expansion” and replace it with “closing the coverage gap” — a message that conservatives could embrace. She knew it had worked when a Republican lawmaker told her, without a trace of irony, “I will never vote for Medicaid expansion, but I will vote to close the coverage gap.”

Cooper called for expanding Medicaid when he ran for governor in 2016, and upon taking office the next year, he tried to fulfill that goal by working with the outgoing Obama administration. That did not sit well with Berger and the speaker of North Carolina’s House of Representatives, Tim Moore, a Republican.

“They immediately sued me in federal court to stop me,” Cooper said. “And we could have set it aside at that point, but we persisted, and that’s because we knew it was too important.”

But in the House, Lambeth and a small group of colleagues were at work on legislation. They looked at Indiana, which had expanded when Mike Pence, the former vice president, was governor. They examined Ohio and later invited John Kasich, a Republican who oversaw that state’s expansion when he was governor, to speak.

Lambeth took “a lot of grief” from fellow Republicans, he said. But he found an ally in a Republican state senator, Kevin Corbin, who was in the insurance industry and tired of being unable to help working people.

“We’d see it all the time,” Corbin said. “A 27-year-old single mother comes in. She has two children and she makes $15 an hour. Her kids are already on Medicaid; she doesn’t have insurance. So I give her a quote and it’s $600 a month, and she’s not going to do that because she has to pay rent.”

By 2020, research was confirming what backers of Medicaid expansion had been saying; health outcomes were better in expansion states. Cooper tried to build bipartisan support by partnering with Republican county commissioners and sheriffs who backed expansion. After President Joe Biden took office in 2021, Congress passed a coronavirus relief package that offered states additional financial incentives to expand.

But the most important thing that happened, people in the state agree, is that Berger changed his mind. That opened the door for other Republicans to fall in line.

“It’s like Nixon going to China,” O’Connell said.

Sen. Phil Berger, the top Republican in the State Senate, center, applauds as Gov. Roy Cooper speaks during a bill signing to expand Medicaid coverage at the North Carolina Executive Mansion in downtown Raleigh, N.C., on March 27, 2023.

New Mexico is losing a form of Spanish spoken nowhere else on Earth

While the dialect’s speakers can generally hold a conversation with someone from any of the countries where Spanish is the majority language, those still proficient in New Mexican Spanish can also sound considerably different. (Linguists often call the dialect Traditional New Mexican Spanish or the Spanish Dialect of the Upper Rio Grande Region, drawing a contrast with the more Mexican-influenced Spanish of southern New Mexico.)

In the places where it took root, in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, speakers use words like ratón volador (flying mouse) for bat instead of murciélago, as in standard Spanish, and gallina de la sierra (mountain chicken) for turkey instead of pavo or guajalote.

They incorporated Indigenous words like chimal (shield) from Náhuatl, chimayó (obsidian flake) from Tewa and cíbolo (buffalo) from Zuñi, as well as bisnes (business), crismes (Christmas), sanamagón (son of a gun) and many others from English.

Speakers conjugate creatively, employing unusual verb endings, and tend to aspirate the “s” sound in many words, making it similar to the “h” in English (or the “j” in Spanish). For instance, they might say “No je donde está la caja” (I don’t know where the house is) instead of the standard “No sé donde está la casa.”

Economic forces have fueled an exodus from the aging northern villages made up of crumbling adobe homes. Other threats — such as the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history, which tore through the state’s Hispanic heartland a year ago, and the worst megadrought since before the Spanish settled here — have revealed the fragility of these traditional outposts to extreme weather exacerbated by climate change.

Despite the hardships, there are still some in the region trying to provide the dialect a lifeline.

By SIMON ROMERO

When the old regulars gather at Cynthia Rael-Vigil’s coffee shop in Questa, a village nestled in the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, they sip lattes and lavender lemonade and gossip in Spanish.

Someone from Mexico City or Madrid sitting at the next table could be hard-pressed to follow their rare dialect. But Spanish speakers from four centuries ago might have recognized the unusual verb conjugations — if not the unorthodox pronunciations and words drawn from English and languages indigenous to North America.

For more than 400 years, these mountains have cradled a form of Spanish that today exists nowhere else on Earth. Even after the absorption of their lands into the United States in the 19th century, generations of speakers somehow kept the dialect alive, through poetry and song and the everyday exchanges on the streets of Hispanic enclaves scattered throughout the region.

Even just a few decades ago, the New Mexican dialect remained at the forefront of Spanish-language media in the United States, featured on television programs like the nationally syndicated 1960s “Val de la O” variety show. Balladeers like Al Hurricane nurtured the dialect in their songs. But such fixtures, along with the dazzling array of Spanish-language newspapers that once flourished in northern New Mexico, have largely faded.

Spots like Rael-Vigil’s coffee shop, where the dialect’s melodic sounds can still occasionally be heard, are few and far between. In places like Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city,

the dialect is being eclipsed by the Spanish of a new wave of migrants, particularly from the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico.

At the same time, there are questions about whether the rural communities that nurtured New Mexican Spanish for centuries can themselves last much longer in the face of myriad economic, cultural and climate challenges.

“Our unique Spanish is at real risk of dying out,” said Rael-Vigil, 68, who traces her ancestry to a member of the 1598 expedition that claimed New Mexico as one of the Spanish empire’s most remote domains. “Once a treasure like this is lost, I don’t think we realize, it’s lost forever.”

Those speaking New Mexican Spanish in Questa, a village of about 1,700 near the state line with Colorado, tend to be in their 50s or older. Even in her own family, Rael-Vigil sees the language slipping away; her 11-year-old grandson speaks almost no Spanish of any dialect.

“He has no interest,” she said. “Kids his age master the internet; that’s all in English. I sometimes wonder, did my generation not do our part to keep the language alive?”

I grew up in an old adobe home in Ribera, a village near the Pecos River, speaking some New Mexican Spanish — enough to get by, though not as splendidly as some classmates. Some of my earliest memories involve listening to my grandmother as she chatted in the dialect while flipping tortillas with her fingers on a wood stove.

Despite being born in New Mexico and spending nearly her entire life in the state, my grandmother spoke hardly any English. She is gone now, and with her and those of her generation, the region is losing a linguistic treasure trove harkening back centuries.

Julie Chacon, executive director of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area, an organization in Alamosa, Colorado, grew up speaking New Mexican Spanish in the nearby village of Capulín, where it had spread across the state line to southern Colorado in the 19th century. She is now collecting oral histories from viejitos (old ones), assembling workbooks to teach the dialect, and running a heritage camp for children.

Daniel Lee Gallegos and his band Sangre Joven of Las Vegas, New Mexico, hold jam sessions on Facebook for the nuevomexicano diaspora, and Carlos Medina, a comedian and musician, revels in the dialect’s playful creativity.

“The language absolutely will survive,” said Larry Torres, a linguist who writes a bilingual column for The Taos News and Santa Fe New Mexican. “It may not be the same language that our ancestors recognized, but we’re using a form of 15th century Spanish with 21st century English.”

Others are not so sanguine about the dialect’s chances of survival, at least not in the form in which it has been recognizable for centuries.

Mark Waltermire, a linguistics professor at New Mexico State University, said he expected New Mexican Spanish to survive for at least two more decades, if only because there are people in their 50s who still speak it.

Beyond that time frame, however, he said it is hard to see a path forward for the dialect — which does not mean Spanish will disappear from New Mexico. “It’s just being replaced,” he said, citing the arrival of new immigrants from Mexico, “with a different kind of Spanish.”

Larry Torres, center, a linguist and newspaper columnist, who is also a deacon at Holy Trinity Parish church in Arroyo Seco, N.M., Feb. 26, 2023. A dialect from the state’s earliest Spanish-speaking settlers has endured for over 400 years in the state’s remote mountain villages.

Abortion ruling could undermine the FDA’s drug-approval authority

By CHRISTINA JEWETT and PAM BELLUCK

Afederal judge’s ruling to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding approval of the abortion pill mifepristone poses threats to the U.S. government’s regulatory authority that could go far beyond one drug, legal experts say.

The decision by a Texas judge appears to be the first time a court has moved toward ordering removal of an approved drug from the market over the objection of the FDA.

If the initial ruling, a preliminary injunction issued Friday, withstood appeals, it could open the door to lawsuits to contest approvals or regulatory decisions related to other medications. And if upheld, the Texas decision would shake the very framework of the pharmaceutical industry’s reliance on the FDA’s pathways for developing new drugs, legal experts said.

“This is a frontal assault on the legitimacy of the FDA and their discretion to make science-based decisions and gold standard approval processes,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “It ultimately takes us on an extraordinarily dangerous path for FDA as an agency, and for science-based public health decision-making more broadly.”

In the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938, Congress gave the FDA overarching authority to determine whether drugs are safe and effective. Drug companies must conduct a series of animal studies and human clinical trials that can take years and millions of dollars to provide enough evidence to the agency that a drug is a safe and effective treatment for a disease or a medical condition.

For nearly a century, courts have usually deferred to the federal agency’s scientific expertise and oversight. Yet, the use and approval of a wide array of medications have increasingly become the focus of political rifts and state-level disputes over such disparate issues as the opioid crisis, COVID-19 vaccines and gender-related treatments.

Now, the ruling in the Texas case and a contradictory ruling the same day by another federal judge in a separate case in Washington state have thrust the issue of FDA authority into the spotlight as never before, and the issue is almost certain to land before the Supreme Court.

“If this ruling were to stand, then there will be virtually no prescription approved by

the FDA that would be safe from these kinds of political, ideological attacks,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday night about the Texas decision.

The powerful pharmaceutical industry has not officially weighed in on the Texas ruling or indicated whether it will file briefs in support of the FDA. In a statement, Priscilla VanderVeer, vice president of public affairs for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, echoed others in referring to the FDA as the gold standard for drug approvals.

“While PhRMA and our members are not a party to this litigation, our focus is on ensuring a policy environment that supports the agency’s ability to regulate and provides access to FDA-approved medicines,” VanderVeer said.

Mifepristone is the first pill in the twodrug medication abortion regimen.

The plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit are also targeting the second drug, misoprostol, which is approved for other medical conditions but used off-label for abortion. A spokesperson for Pfizer, which makes a small percentage of the misoprostol sold in the United States, said it did not support off-label use of any of its medicines and declined to comment about whether the company would submit a court brief supporting the FDA.

But she said that “the agency serves a critical role in the U.S. public health system — bringing new medicines to patients and conducting ongoing safety reviews that support the continued use of them — that must be maintained.”

In the Texas case, which was filed by a consortium of anti-abortion groups, the judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, declared the FDA’s approval of mifepristone in 2000 to be invalid. Kacsmaryk, who has affiliations with conservative Christian organizations and has written critically

of Roe v. Wade, stayed his injunction for seven days to allow the FDA to appeal to a higher court. So, for now, mifepristone remains available.

In the Washington state case, Democratic attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia challenged extra restrictions that the FDA imposes on mifepristone. In a preliminary injunction, Judge Thomas Rice of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington ordered the FDA not to limit the drug’s availability in those jurisdictions, which make up a majority of the states where abortion remains legal.

The Justice Department, which is representing the FDA, immediately said it would appeal the Texas injunction to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In response to the Texas ruling, the FDA said its “approval was based on the best available science and done in accordance with the laws that govern our work.”

The agency added: “FDA stands behind its determination that mifepristone is safe and effective under its approved conditions of use for medical termination of early pregnancy, and believes patients should have access to FDA-approved medications.”

Upending the FDA’s authority could be disruptive to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, which banks on a yearslong window of drug sales as it funds the risky and expensive process of drug discovery, said I. Glenn Cohen, a Harvard Law School professor and bioethics expert.

“If your approval can be withdrawn at a moment’s notice by a single judge,” said Cohen, an author of a brief supporting the FDA, “it’s really kind of a scary thing.”

The federal courthouse where a hearing occurred last month in the lawsuit challenging the abortion pill, in Amarillo, Texas, March 15, 2023. Legal scholars say the ruling by a Texas judge, if upheld, could spur disputes over many medications and upend the drug industry’s reliance on the agency.

How AI and DNA are unlocking the mysteries of global supply chains

By ANA SWANSON

At a cotton gin in the San Joaquin Valley, in California, a boxy machine helps to spray a fine mist containing billions of molecules of DNA onto freshly cleaned Pima cotton.

That DNA will act as a kind of minuscule bar code, nestling amid the puffy fibers as they are shuttled to factories in India. There, the cotton will be spun into yarn and woven into bedsheets, before landing on the shelves of Costco stores in the United States. At any time, Costco can test for the DNA’s presence to ensure that its American-grown cotton hasn’t been replaced with cheaper materials — like cotton from the Xinjiang region of China, which is banned in the United States because of its ties to forced labor.

Amid growing concern about opacity and abuses in global supply chains, companies and government officials are increasingly turning to technologies like DNA tracking, artificial intelligence and blockchains to try to trace raw materials from the source to the store.

Companies in the United States are now subject to new rules that require firms to prove their goods are made without forced labor, or face having them seized at the border. U.S. customs officials said in March that they had already detained nearly $1 billion worth of shipments coming into the United States that were suspected of having some ties to Xinjiang. Products from the region have been banned since June 2022.

Customers are also demanding proof that expensive, high-end products — like conflict-free diamonds, organic cotton, sushigrade tuna or Manuka honey — are genuine, and produced in ethically and environmentally sustainable ways.

That has forced a new reality on companies that have long relied on a tangle of global factories to source their goods. More than ever before, companies must be able to explain where their products really come from.

The task may seem straightforward, but it can be surprisingly tricky. That’s because the international supply chains that companies have built in recent decades to cut costs and diversify their product offerings have grown astonishingly complex. Since 2000, the value of intermediate goods used to make products that are traded internationally has tripled, driven partly by China’s booming factories.

A large, multinational company may buy

Cotton samples being tested at Applied DNA Sciences to determine their origins, at the Long Island High Technology Incubator in Stony Brook, N.Y. on March 10, 2023. More than ever before, companies must be able to explain where their products really come from.

parts, materials or services from thousands of suppliers around the world. One of the largest such companies, Procter & Gamble, which owns brands like Tide, Crest and Pampers, has nearly 50,000 direct suppliers. Each of those suppliers may, in turn, rely on hundreds of other companies for the parts used to make its product — and so on, for many levels up the supply chain.

Given these challenges, some companies are turning to alternative methods, not all proven, to try to inspect their supply chains.

Some companies — like the one that sprays the DNA mist onto cotton, Applied DNA Sciences — are using scientific processes to tag or test a physical attribute of the good itself, to figure out where it has traveled on its path from factories to consumer.

Applied DNA has used its synthetic DNA tags, each just a billionth of the size of a grain of sugar, to track microcircuits produced for the Department of Defense, trace cannabis supply chains to ensure the product’s purity and even to mist robbers in Sweden who attempted to steal cash from ATMs, leading to

multiple arrests.

MeiLin Wan, the vice president for textiles at Applied DNA, said the new regulations were creating a “tipping point for real transparency.”

“There definitely is a lot more interest,” she added.

The cotton industry was one of the earliest adopters of tracing technologies, in part because of previous transgressions. In the mid-2010s, Target, Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond faced expensive product recalls or lawsuits after the “Egyptian cotton” sheets they sold turned out to have been made with cotton from elsewhere. A New York Times investigation last year documented that the “organic cotton” industry was also rife with fraud.

In addition to the DNA mist it applies as a marker, Applied DNA can figure out where cotton comes from by sequencing the DNA of the cotton itself, or analyzing its isotopes, which are variations in the carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms in the cotton. Differences in rainfall, latitude, temperature and soil conditions mean these atoms vary slightly across regions of the world, allowing researchers to map where the cotton in a pair of socks or bath towel has come from.

Other companies are using databases or artificial intelligence to comb through vast supplier networks for distant links to banned entities, or to detect unusual trade patterns that indicate fraud — investigations that could take years to carry out without computing power.

Sayari, a corporate risk intelligence provider that has developed a platform combining data from billions of public records issued globally, is one of those companies. The service is now used by U.S. customs agents as well as private companies. On a recent Tuesday, Jessica Abell, the vice president of solutions at Sayari, ran the supplier list of a major U.S. retailer through the platform and watched as dozens of tiny red flags appeared next to the names of distant companies.

“We’re flagging not only the Chinese companies that are in Xinjiang, but then we’re also automatically exploring their commercial networks and flagging the companies that are directly connected to it,” Abell said. It is up to the companies to decide what, if anything, to do about their exposure.

Studies have found that most companies have surprisingly little visibility into the upper reaches of their supply chains, because they lack either the resources or the incentives to

investigate. In a 2022 survey by McKinsey & Co., 45% of respondents said they had no visibility at all into their supply chain beyond their immediate suppliers.

But staying in the dark is no longer feasible for companies, particularly those in the United States, after the congressionally imposed ban on importing products from Xinjiang — where 100,000 ethnic minorities are presumed by the U.S. government to be working in conditions of forced labor — went into effect last year.

Having a full picture of their supply chains can offer companies other benefits, like helping them recall faulty products or reduce costs. The information is increasingly needed to estimate how much carbon dioxide is actually emitted in the production of a good, or to satisfy other government rules that require products to be sourced from particular places — such as the Biden administration’s new rules on electric vehicle tax credits.

Executives at these technology companies say they envision a future, perhaps within the next decade, in which most supply chains are fully traceable, an outgrowth of both tougher government regulations and the wider adoption of technologies.

“It’s eminently doable,” said Leonardo Bonanni, the chief executive of Sourcemap, which has helped companies like the chocolate maker Mars map out their supply chains. “If you want access to the U.S. market for your goods, it’s a small price to pay, frankly.”

Others express skepticism about the limitations of these technologies, including their cost. While Applied DNA’s technology, for example, adds only 5 to 7 cents to the price of a finished piece of apparel, that may be significant for retailers competing on thin margins.

And some express concerns about accuracy, including, for example, databases that may flag companies incorrectly. Investigators still need to be on the ground locally, they say, speaking with workers and remaining alert for signs of forced or child labor that may not show up in digital records.

Justin Dillon, chief executive of FRDM, a software company that helps organizations map their supply chains, said there was “a lot of angst, a lot of confusion” among companies trying to satisfy the government’s new requirements.

Importers are “looking for boxes to check,” he said. “And transparency in supply chains is as much an art as it is a science. It’s kind of never done.”

Global Money Market Funds Witness Inflows for Sixth Straight Week

Global money market funds continued to attract strong inflows in cautious trade in the week ended April 5 as a raft of economic data during the week signalled weakening in the U.S. manufacturing activity and a cooling in the labor market.

Funds in the global money market saw purchases worth a net $61.91 billion, that marked a sixth consecutive week of net inflows, data from Refinitiv Lipper showed. Investors also purchased a net $3.38 billion worth of government bond funds.

The U.S., European and Asian money market funds obtained inflows worth $42.51 billion, $25.62 billion and $280 million, respectively.

Riskier equity funds, meanwhile, witnessed $8.37 billion worth of outflows after $17.99 billion net selling in the previous week.

Financials and healthcare sector funds logged outflows of $1.54 billion and $979 million, respectively, although tech received $616 million worth of inflows.

Meanwhile, global bond funds drew $15.16 billion worth of inflows, the biggest amount since July 2021.

Investors purchased $5.26 billion worth of high yield and $1.71 billion worth of target maturity bond funds, but sold $1.15 billion worth of short-term bond funds.

Among commodities, precious metal funds received $685 million in a fourth successive week of net buying, while energy funds saw a marginal $68 million worth of net selling after two weeks of inflows in a row.

Data for 23,935 emerging market funds showed equity and bond funds, both obtained a second weekly inflow, amounting $397 million and $412 million, respectively.

Recession fears have surged in recent weeks, with investors worried the tumult in the banking system sparked by the March collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will tighten credit conditions and hurt growth.

The Fed - which has embarked on one of its most aggressive rate hiking cycles in decades to defeat inflation over the past year - has forecast borrowing costs will remain around current levels to the end of 2023. But market participants believe tighter monetary policy is already starting to hurt growth and are betting on rate cuts later this year.

When looking at that curve inversion in light of recent declines in economic indicators and money supply, “it’s not hard to see why markets may be increasingly thinking ‘policy error’ when reading about further rate hikes,” Citi’s analysts said.

Continuing its inflation-fighting campaign, the Fed last month raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, though it indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs after the banking turmoil.

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Some Fed officials have recently argued for more hikes, with St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying on Thursday that the Fed should stick to raising interest rates to lower inflation while the labor market remains strong. Money market investors, however, on Thursday were largely betting the Fed would have cut rates by about 70 basis points by December, from the current 4.75%-5% range. “All this tightening of financial conditions, with the Fed raising rates significantly, now it’s

morphing into maybe a little bit of a credit tightening,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global. “Our conviction level down the road is that rates are going to be lower,” he said.

Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes were up in early trading, with a 1.3% rise in tech stocks making them the biggest gainers.

Qualcomm Inc and Advanced Micro Devices Inc climbed 4.5% and 7%, respectively, after Barclays upgraded their stocks to “overweight” from “equal-weight”.

Western Digital Corp jumped 6% on a report that the memory chipmaker cof 11.1 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Russia adopts ‘scorched earth’ tactics in Bakhmut, Ukrainian commander says

By MATTHEW MPOKE BIGG

Russian forces are using scorched-earth tactics in their attempt to capture the battered city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, using airstrikes and artillery fire to destroy any buildings and positions held by the city’s Ukrainian defenders, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said Monday.

Ukrainian forces are under severe pressure in the city, which is already mostly in ruins, as fires sweep through buildings and soldiers fight in block-by-block combat. In recent weeks, Russia has advanced in villages to the north and south of Bakhmut and fought fierce battles in the city center itself. But after visiting one of “the hottest areas of the front line” in Bakhmut, the Ukrainian commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said that while the situation is difficult for Kyiv’s forces, it remains under control.

“The enemy has switched to so-called Syrian scorchedearth tactics,” he said, according to a statement from the Ukrainian military’s media center, referring to Russia’s intervention in that country’s civil war. “They are destroying buildings and positions with airstrikes and artillery fire. The defense of Bakhmut continues. The situation is difficult, but under control.”

The commander visited the city Sunday, the statement said.

Russia has been a dominant military force in Syria since 2015, when President Vladimir Putin sent several thousand Russian troops and aircraft into the country, destroying towns and cities with airstrikes and turning the tide of the Syrian civil war in the Assad regime’s favor.

The battle for Bakhmut is one of the longest-running and most lethal of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia’s assault on the city in the Donetsk region began last summer and has since taken on a symbolic significance for both sides that goes beyond its immediate strategic value. Both sides have poured in troops and sustained high numbers of casualties, though military experts say that casualties have been higher for Russian forces than for Ukrainian.

Syrsky said that the fighting had effectively exhausted the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin. As a result, Russian military commanders were now deploying large numbers of special forces and airborne assault units in the fight for Bakhmut, he said. The claims have not been independently verified.

A cache of leaked Pentagon documents circulating online portrays the Russian military as running out of steam,

short on men and equipment and facing a stalemate. But Wagner — known for its skill on the battlefield, its army of former prisoners and its murder of at least one perceived traitor with a sledgehammer — remains a potent force, the documents say.

Signs of setbacks for Ukraine’s forces point to losses of most of the city of Bakhmut. Last week, Wagner forces raised a flag over the ruins of the City Hall.

As Russian forces have slowly advanced on Bakhmut’s outskirts, Ukrainian military officials said their forces had managed to fend off Russian attempts to take or damage two key access roads, the T504 highway and a route known as the 506.

Six weeks after the start of a Ukrainian operation to reinforce supply lines outside Bakhmut and protect the roads, Ukrainian military officials said they had thwarted, at least for now, a Russian effort to sever those roads and surround the city.

Ukrainian commanders decided to reinforce the defenses of the roads rather than retreat, according to the leaked documents. Ukraine’s army deployed many soldiers to the fight for Bakhmut that it had hoped to hold in reserve for a counteroffensive anticipated in the coming weeks or months, and its forces have sustained heavy casualties.

Poland’s prime minister said Monday that his government would ask Germany for permission to send Germanmade tanks to Ukraine but insisted that whether Berlin approved or not, the Polish government would build a coalition of nations willing to donate some of Europe’s most advanced weaponry.

“We’ll ask for permiss

In effort to court Russia’s friends, Ukraine invites India’s prime minister to Kyiv

By MUJIB MASHAL

Asenior Ukrainian official visiting New Delhi invited India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to visit Ukraine and urged India, an ally of Russia, to play a more active role in trying to resolve the conflict.

Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister and the most senior official to visit New Delhi since the war began, implored India to “not escape discussion about Ukraine” and to intensify its political dialogue at the highest levels.

“We believe that India should be engaged and involved in the Ukraine issue to a greater extent,” Dzhaparova said in an interview with the CNBC-TV18 news channel. Modi did not immediately respond to the invitation to visit Ukraine and see the impact of the war firsthand.

India is one of several Russian allies that has tried to walk a middle path after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, avoiding outright condemnation of the Russian aggression while also urging dialogue to end the conflict. Ukraine, for its part, has been courting some of those allies, including China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in an attempt to halt any additional support for Russia’s war effort and, potentially, find

an effective negotiator who could help end the conflict.

India’s ties with Russia run deep. For decades, Russia was a reliable source for cheap weapons when the United States was still cold toward India. After Russia invaded Ukraine, as the United States and Europe imposed sanctions on Russia and reduced their reliance on Russian oil, India exploited that opening to purchase more cheap Russian oil, an outlay that is helping Russian President Vladimir Putin finance the conflict.

Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration at India’s oil purchases. Last fall, Ukraine’s foreign minister said “the discount has to be paid by Ukrainian blood.”

During her visit, Dzhaparova took a softer approach.

“We are not in the position of instructing India in its economic ties with other countries,” she said in response to reporter questions after meeting with her Indian counterpart. “We only think that it is crucial to diversify all the resources, not just energy but also military resources.”

The conflict is overshadowing India’s presidency of the Group of 20 as it tries to get the world’s largest economies to agree on an ambitious development agenda. Last month, Amitabh Kant, India’s chief coordinator for the Group of 20, urged Europe to “find a solution” to the war, saying

the world had to move on because the conflict was holding down the poorest in a particularly difficult post-COVID period.

Dzhaparova used the same argument to urge India to engage more, saying the war had broader ramifications beyond Europe.

A Ukrainian soldier last week at a front line position in southern Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

Ukranian soldiers in the strategic port city of Odessa, as they continued to anticipate and prepare for a Russian attack.

What do leaked US intelligence reports say? Here is a quick guide.

By ERIC NAGOURNEY

Leak or hack? Information or disinformation? A coup for Russia or a ploy by the United States?

Days after U.S. intelligence documents, some marked “top secret,” were found circulating on social media, questions remain about how dozens of pages from Pentagon briefings became public and how much stock to put in them.

Here is what we know about the documents.

Are the documents real?

Yes, officials say — at least, for the most part.

U.S. officials are alarmed at the exposure of secret information, and the FBI is working to determine the source of the leak.

Some of the documents appear to have been altered, officials say. It is unclear who doctored the reports or why they did so. Whatever the reason, some of the material, military analysts, say, overstates U.S. estimates of Ukrainian war dead and understates how many Russian troops have been killed since Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor last year.

Where did the materials come from?

The evidence that this is a leak, and not a hack, appears strong.

The material may be popping up Whaca-Mole style on platforms such as Twitter, 4chan and the Telegram messaging app — to say nothing of a Discord channel dedicated to the video game Minecraft — but what is being circulated are photographs of printed briefing reports.

They look like 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 that a classified briefing was folded up, placed in a pocket and then taken out of a secure area to be photographed.

Some documents were specifically marked for U.S. eyes only, increasing the likelihood that an American official leaked the information.

What did we learn about the war in Ukraine?

Although the documents may not fundamentally alter the understanding of what is happening on the battlefield, they may offer insights — or at least tantalizing clues — to the trained eye of a Russian war planner.

The documents do not contain specific battle plans, including about the Ukrainian counteroffensive expected in the next month or so. But they detail secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian mili-

tary before that offensive.

They also suggest that Ukrainian forces are in more dire straits than their government has acknowledged publicly.

—Without an influx of munitions, the documents show, the air defense system that has keep the Russian Air Force at bay may soon collapse, allowing President Vladimir Putin to unleash his fighter jets in ways that could change the course of the war.

And the mere fact that the materials leaked — and in particular the confirmation they offered that the U.S. government spies on allies and adversaries alike — may prove damaging to the generally unified coalition that has emerged to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. It may also make allies think twice about sharing sensitive information.

Has the U.S. penetrated Russian intelligence?

The leaked Pentagon documents reveal how deeply the United States has burrowed into Russia’s security and intelligence services, allowing Washington to warn Ukraine about planned strikes and gain insight into the strength of Moscow’s war machine.

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.

The military apparatus is so deeply compromised, the documents suggest, that American intelligence has been able to obtain daily real-time warnings on the timing of Moscow’s strikes and even its specific targets.

That may change.

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.

Disinformation? If so, whose?

Officials in Washington have described the documents’ release as a major intelligence breach, but in Kyiv and Moscow, there is agreement on two things: The information is suspect, and the goal is subterfuge. They just don’t agree on who is behind it.

In a statement to The New York Times, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the documents were filled with “fictional information.”

“There is not the smallest doubt that this is yet another element of hybrid warfare,” he said. “Russia is trying to influence Ukrainian society, sow fear, panic, mistrust and doubt. It’s typical behavior.”

The goal, Ukrainians say, is to undercut the coming counteroffensive.

In Russia, pro-war military bloggers also pointed to the Ukrainian counteroffensive — but drew a different conclusion.

A post on Grey Zone, a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner militia, said: “We should not exclude the high probability that such a leak of classified information at the exact moment of the intensification of hostilities, and after the fact of the accomplished events displayed in the documents, is disinformation of Western intelligence in order to mislead our command to identify the enemy’s strategy in the upcoming counteroffensive.”

In other Russian Telegram channels, prominent voices say the original documents showed higher Russian losses, part of a “Western influence” operation intended to “to instill

poor morale in Russia and Russian forces,” according to the head of a British firm that tracks disinformation.

What other countries are named?

The leak appears to go well beyond classified material on Ukraine. Security analysts who have reviewed the documents on social media sites say the growing trove also includes sensitive briefing material on Canada, China, Israel and South Korea, in addition to the IndoPacific military theater and the Middle East.

Among the disclosures:

— A hacking group under the guidance of Russia’s Federal Security Service may have compromised a Canadian gas pipeline company in February and caused damage to its infrastructure.

— A Pentagon assessment concluded that the leadership of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, had encouraged the agency’s staff and Israeli citizens to participate in anti-government protests that roiled the country in March. Israel officials disputed the report.

— Officials in South Korea, a key American ally, torn between pressure from Washington to help supply ammunition to Ukraine and its official policy of not providing lethal weapons to countries at war, feared that the United States might divert South Korean arms to Kyiv.

— The Russian military may be flailing, but the private Wagner mercenary group — led by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin o — is flourishing in much of the world. Wagner is working to thwart U.S. interests in Africa and has explored branching out to Haiti, right under the nose of the United States.

— To brace for the introduction of advanced NATO-supplied tanks on Ukraine’s battlefields, Russian forces are preparing to pay a bonus to troops who damage or destroy one.

— One of the documents lays out a U.S. assessment of scenarios that could lead Israel to provide weapons to Ukraine, in contravention of current Israeli policy.

— U.S. officials prepared a dire assessment of one of the longest-running battles of the war, in Bakhmut.

The Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 7, 2021.

APARTAMENTOS EQUIPADOS CON NEVERA, ESTUFA Y CALENTADOR. CONTROL DE ACCESO, LAVANDERIA, ELEVADOR.

El Salvador decimated its ruthless gangs. But at what cost?

By NATALIE KITROEFF

When the MS-13 gang ran the neighborhood of Las Margaritas, one of its strongholds in El Salvador, there were rules you had to follow to stay alive.

You couldn’t wear the number eight because it was associated with the rival 18th Street gang. You couldn’t wear the brand of sneakers the gangsters wore. And you could not, under any circumstances, call the police.

“People couldn’t complain to the police because of what the boys would say,” said Sandra Elizabeth Inglés, a longtime resident, referring to the gang members. “They became the authority in this system.”

El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, was once known as the hemisphere’s murder capital — with one of the highest homicide rates anywhere in the world outside of a war zone.

But in the year since the government declared a state of emergency to quell gang violence, deploying the military onto the streets in force, the nation has undergone a remarkable transformation.

Now, children play soccer late into the evening on fields that were gang turf. Inglés gathers soil for her plants next to an abandoned building that residents say was used for gang killings.

Homicides plunged. Extortion payments imposed by gangs on businesses and residents, once an economy unto itself, also declined, analysts said.

“You can walk freely,” Inglés said. “So much has changed.”

El Faro, El Salvador’s leading news outlet, surveyed the country earlier this year and delivered a stunning assessment: The gangs largely “do not exist.”

But that achievement, critics say, has come at an incalculable price: mass arrests that swept up thousands of innocent people, the erosion of civil liberties and the country’s descent into an increasingly autocratic police state.

Most Salvadorans appear willing to accept that deal. Fed up with the gangs that terrorized them and forced so many to flee to the United States, the vast majority of people here support the measures and the president behind them. surveys suggest.

With approval ratings around 90%, El Salvador’s president, 41-year-old Nayib Bukele, has become one of the world’s most popular leaders and has earned fans across the Western Hemisphere.

Hondurans chanted Bukele’s name and cheered him at the inauguration last year of their president. One survey showed that people in Ecuador, where violence is rising, think more highly of Bukele than of their own leaders.

As politicians from Mexico to Guatemala vow to emulate Bukele’s iron-fisted approach, critics have grown concerned that the country could become a model for a dangerous bargain: sacrificing civil liberties for safety.

“I remain incredibly pessimistic about what this means for the future of democracy in the region,” said Christine Wade, an El Salvador expert at Washington College in Maryland. “The risk is that this becomes a popular model for other politicians to say, ‘well we could be providing you more security in exchange for you giving up some of your rights.’”

The Salvadoran government has arrested more than 65,000 people over the past year, including children as young as 12, more than doubling the total prison population. By the government’s own count, more than 5,000 people with no connection to gangs were put behind bars, and eventually released. At least 90 people died in custody, the government has said.

Human rights groups have documented mass arbitrary arrests, as well as extreme overcrowding in prisons and reports of torture by guards.

El Salvador’s vice president, Felix Ulloa, said in an interview that reports of abuse by authorities were being investigated and that the innocent people who had been arrested were being released.

“There’s a margin of error,” he said, defending what he called an “almost surgically impeccable” strategy.

“People can go out, they buy things, go to the movies, to the beach, they see soccer games,” he said. “We’ve given people back their liberty.”

In what were once some of the most dangerous parts of the country, abandoned houses that belonged to gang members are being renovated and reoccupied by new tenants.

On the streets of Las Margaritas, a neighborhood in the once horrifically violent municipality of Soyapango, in the center of the country, cars now park without the owners’ paying $10 a month to the gang extortionists.

Before the crackdown, no one visited the municipality’s major outdoor market, without permission from gang henchmen, vendors said. Now it overflows with whoever wants to be there.

When Inglés used to tell people where she lived — on a dead-end street in Las Margaritas — they would gasp.

“They would say, ‘ay, no, you live in Vietnam!’” recalls Inglés, ladling mango juice into a bag for a young boy at the stand she runs outside her home.

She used to stare across the street at graffiti that said “see, hear and shut up,” Inglés said, a phrase used by the gang to intimidate residents into keeping quiet about its crimes.

Inglés says she learned to keep her head down: “The fewer things you saw, the fewer problems you had.” An image of a bird was recently painted over the graffiti.

Juan Hernández, 41, had not set foot on a soccer field blocks from his house in 10 years.

“It was turf,” he said, meaning gang territory. “You’d get hit by the bullets left and right.”

Now he’s using the field to teach his 12-year-old son to play. “He tells me I want to learn how, I tell him, let’s go,” Hernández said.

The catalyst for the new reality emerging in El Salvador was a weekend rampage by criminals in March of last year that left more than 80 dead.

U.S. officials have said that long before the crackdown, Bukele’s administration negotiated a deal with gang leaders to lower homicides in exchange for benefits including better prison conditions.

Many analysts believed the spike in violence was a sign of a breakdown in the purported pact; Bukele has denied making any such agreement.

After the March killings, El Salvador’s ruling party-controlled legislature declared a state of emergency. The military flooded gang areas across the country, rounding up 13,000 people within a few weeks.

One of them was Morena Guadalupe de Sandoval’s son, whom she says she has not seen or spoken to since he was arrested on his way home from work in the capital about a year ago. She says the authorities have accused him of being part of a criminal group, something she denies.

Every three months she visits the Izalco prison where she says her son Jonathan González López is being held, a facility in the west of the country where torture has been reported. She begs for information about him. Sometimes she takes his wife, and their 2-year-old son.

The most she ever hears is that he’s still locked up.

“Depression sets in,” de Sandoval said. “I get in a bad state when I think about how I can’t see him and I can’t talk to him.”

Sandra Elizabeth Inglés at her juice stand, not far from her home in Las Margaritas. She said gang members were once the authority in the town.

Biden’s trip to Northern Ireland and the power of diplomacy

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

President Joe Biden and Bill Clinton will be among a bevy of Irish, British and American leaders traveling to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the April 10, 1998, signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The landmark peace accord ended the 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as “the troubles.”

The deal, in which American mediators played a central role, is worthy of celebration. It won a Nobel Peace Prize for two negotiators from Northern Ireland, and it stands as a paradigm for resolving seemingly intractable sectarian conflicts. Political violence has been relatively rare on the Irish island since it was signed: The border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, once pockmarked with watchtowers and roadblocks, is almost undetectable, and downtown Belfast, a battlefield during the troubles, could now be the hip center of any European capital. Public opinion in both North and South overwhelmingly supports the agreement.

But the old sectarian differences fester. Despite surveys that consistently indicate support for integration, Protestants and Catholics still live largely apart. Even if they are no longer fighting, their schools and neighborhoods remain mostly segregated.

The problems have become more complicated since

Britain opted out of the European Union in 2016, leaving Northern Ireland in limbo. The Assembly and Executive that comprise the power-sharing government, one of the primary products of the Good Friday Agreement, have not been functioning for months because of the main unionist party’s dissatisfaction with the final Brexit trading arrangements.

In fact, the Assembly and Executive — the devolved legislature and the committee that runs the devolved government of Northern Ireland, which require active participation by both unionists and nationalists — have been unable to operate for much of the time they’ve been in existence, leaving the business of government to civil servants for long stretches.

At the heart of the matter, according to political scientists, is that the Good Friday Agreement was focused largely on ending the bloodshed, and less on efforts to integrate the warring communities — the largely Protestant unionists who wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, and the Irish nationalists, most of them Catholics, who would prefer union with the republic to the south.

The Good Friday Agreement did not, and could not, apportion blame for the troubles, in which, as in so many such conflicts, one side’s terrorist is the other’s hero. The best it could do was to call for “sensitivity” in dealing with deep-seated cultural and symbolic differences, like flags, language, sectarian commemorations or handling the past.

Attitudes are changing, especially among the young, but slowly. Some public opinion polls in Northern Ireland have tracked a steady rise in support for Irish unification, especially since Brexit, and more people identify as neither nationalist or unionist than identify with either of those groups. Yet identification with their cause remains strong among those who still identify as nationalist or unionist.

Brexit — Britain’s break with the EU — fanned the old flames by threatening the unionists’ geographic links to Britain and the nationalists’ insistence on an open border between North and South. Brexit potentially meant an end to the free movement of goods between the United Kingdom, of which Northern Ireland was a part, and Ireland, a proud member of the European Union. Reimposing a hard land border was ruled out by all sides, leading to an arrangement to introduce checks on British goods entering Northern Irish ports.

Unionists protested that arrangement fiercely, and in February, the new British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, agreed with the EU to soften the terms by creating a “green lane,” without any controls, on British goods destined solely for Northern Ireland. The Windsor Framework, as it is known, easily passed in the British Parliament. But Northern Ireland’s main Protestant party, the conservative Democratic Unionist Party, or DUP, has refused to accept the deal and return to the power-sharing Assembly. That is where things stand today.

It’s not clear that there is any arrangement that the DUP

— which opposed the original Good Friday Agreement, supported Brexit and continues to staunchly champion all the old unionist causes — would agree to. Basically, the only choice is whether trade controls are to be on land or at sea, and there’s not much more that either London or Brussels can do.

The hope among more moderate Northern Irish is that Biden’s visit to Belfast might persuade Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, to relent. Biden is expected to be accompanied by Joe Kennedy III, his special economic envoy to Northern Ireland, whose presence signals the promise of U.S. investment in the economically struggling North.

Despite the current political stalemate, the president is right to join all sides in commemorating that remarkable achievement 25 years ago, and the proud role the United States played in it. It stands as an example of what diplomacy and careful, principled negotiation is capable of achieving.

The agreement ended a bitter and cruel sectarian war that had come to seem intractable after three decades and the loss of some 3,600 lives, most of them civilian. And the key elements of the agreement — the principle of consent, power-sharing and democratic institutions — have stood the test of time and remain a model for other nations rent by internal discord. The Northern Irish know this: A recent poll found that 69% of them believe that the Good Friday Agreement is the best basis for governing Northern Ireland, even while 55% think it could be reformed in some way.

Yes, there is much work that needs to be done to realize the full promise of the Good Friday Agreement and to bring down all the walls, figurative and physical, between the people of Northern Ireland. But that is not a sign of failure; it is a lesson that a peace agreement is never final, and needs regular renewal to endure.

POR EL STAR STAFF

E L CAPITOLIO – La Comisión de Asuntos de la Mujer de la Cámara de Representantes inició hoy, lunes, una investigación sobre las necesidades y retos que enfrenta la Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres (OPM), principalmente, en la limitación de recursos económicos y personal requerido.

Aunque se excusó de comparecer a la vista pública, la procuradora de las Mujeres interina, Madeline Bermúdez, envió a la comisión acameral un memorial explicativo en el cual manifestó que el presupuesto que recibe la OPM está “muy por debajo” del asignado a otras entidades públicas “con funciones y obligaciones significativamente menores en cantidad, complejidad e importancia”.

“No creemos que alguna otra agencia fiscalizadora del Gobierno de Puerto Rico tenga una cantidad y complejidad similar de funciones y obligaciones. Sin embargo, la Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres es una de las agencias que menor presupuesto tiene en todo el Gobierno de Puerto Rico”, aseguró la licenciada.

ción cuasi judicial.

No obstante, a partir del año fiscal 2017-2018, se observó durante cuatro años consecutivos una tendencia negativa en la asignación presupuestaria que violentó el Artículo 23 de la Ley 20, el cual establece que “el presupuesto anual asignado a la Oficina nunca podrá ser menor al asignado el año anterior”.

De acuerdo con Bermúdez, fue a partir del año fiscal 2021-2022, que se revirtió esta tendencia de reducción

presupuestaria con un aumento de 18% con respecto al año anterior. El presupuesto aprobado para el año fiscal 2021-2022 fue de $5.5 millones, mientras que para el año fiscal 2022-2023 aumentó en un 27% con una asignación de $7 millones.

La Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto (OGP) informó durante la audiencia pública que, al momento, la OPM cuenta con una asignación dentro del presupuesto vigente de $4.3 millones.

A raíz de la orden ejecutiva que decretó un estado de emergencia por violencia de género, tanto el Ejecutivo como la Asamblea Legislativa han realizado asignaciones especiales de fondos adicionales para que la OPM pueda ejercer sus funciones en la lucha contra la violencia de género.

A la vista pública comparecieron las representantes Wanda del Valle, Mariana Nogales, Lisie Burgos, quienes junto a la presidenta de la comisión, Jocelyne Rodríguez Negrón, reclamaron la necesidad de que la OPM cuente con un mayor presupuesto para el próximo año fiscal con el fin de llenar las 48 plazas vacantes que aún tiene la agencia.

Bermúdez detalló que la OPM ejerce un total de 150 funciones “específicas” que debe realizar para cumplir con la política pública promulgada en la ley orgánica de la agencia (Ley 20 de 2001). Entre ellas, la agencia tiene cinco funciones medulares que abarcan la educación, investigación, fiscalización, reglamentación y adjudica-

Rechazan una APP para el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mercedita

“Necesitamos, ciertamente, que podamos sentarnos, delinear un plan para que la Procuradora pueda tener los recursos que necesita. Es vital en el momento que estamos atravesando en nuestro país donde la violencia doméstica se ha disparado de sobremanera”, expresó Rodríguez Negrón. POR CYBERNEWS

CAPITOLIO – La Comisión Conjunta para las Alianzas Público-Privadas atendió el lunes, en vista pública el Proyecto de la Cámara (PC) 1617, que persigue transferir a la Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce los bienes del Aeropuerto Internacional de Mercedita, para que, en colaboración con la administración local del ayuntamiento, realicen un proceso competitivo en búsqueda de un operador bajo un modelo de alianza público-privada.

La pieza legislativa fue cuestionada por la Autoridad para las Alianzas Público-Privadas de Puerto Rico (AAPP) y la Asociación de Hoteles y Turismo de Puerto Rico (PRHTA). Por otro lado, recibió el apoyo del alcalde de Ponce, Luis Irizarry Pabón, la Cámara de Comercio del Sur y la Autoridad del Puerto de Ponce.

El director ejecutivo de la AAPP, Fermín Fontanés Gómez estableció que según un estudio liderado por su agencia “no es viable que se cree una AAPP únicamente para Ponce. Entendemos, según los hallazgos que

hemos recopilado en el estudio, que una AAPP sería posible si se considera agrupar en la administración a todos los aeropuertos regionales de la isla.”.

Actualmente, en la isla operan nueve aeropuertos regionales en los municipios de Ponce, Arecibo, Aguadilla, Ceiba, Culebra, Vieques, Mayagüez y San Juan.

Fontanés Gómez indicó también que “lo que demuestra el estudio comisionado por la AAPP, en la base preliminar, es que dado la situación económica de la Autoridad de los Puertos, en muchos de estos aeropuertos individuales y conjunto, el proyecto no se presta en este momento para una Alianza Público Privada similar a la del aeropuerto Luis Muñoz Marín, sino que la condición va más atada a que se tiene que buscar un operador que optimice esa operación a corto plazo para poder hacer las mejoras que se necesitan antes de moverse a una APP”.

A preguntas del representante Domingo Torres García, quien estuvo a cargo de presidir los trabajos de la vista pública, Fontanés Gómez señaló que los principales desafíos y riesgos de establecer una APP de los aero-

puertos regionales “es que muchos de estos no generan dinero. La realidad es que muchos de estos aeropuertos requieren una inversión del gobierno…lo que se busca es maximizar los que actualmente dependen económicamente de ingresos de otros aeropuertos, como el de Ponce y Aguadilla, para que produzcan sus propios ingresos y sea posible una APP funcional”.

Al mismo tiempo, el director ejecutivo de la AAPP se mostró disponible “para apoyar la misión del proyecto en cualquier tema sobre alianzas que beneficien al país”.

OPM denuncia ser una de las agencias con menor presupuesto en todo el gobierno

At 81, Ann-Margret is finally living her rock ’n’ roll dream

By JIM FARBER

Ann-Margret has always spoken in a voice that falls somewhere between a purr and a coo. But at her home on a recent rainy day in Los Angeles, she broke up her usual gauzy tones with deep and gutsy growls. “One, two, three o’clock rock!!!” she half-bellowed and half-yelled over a video chat, echoing the opening line from “Rock Around the Clock,” Bill Haley’s raucous 1954 smash.

A few minutes later, she snarled through the opening salvo of “Splish Splash,” the highly caffeinated 1958 hit by Bobby Darin, only to follow it with the outburst, “I love rock ’n’ roll!” Her tone was far more Joan Jett than Kim McAfee, the sprightly character she played in “Bye Bye Birdie,” the movie that simultaneously made her a household name and the hottest pinup of 1963.

Ann-Margret — pronounced as one name, not two — has always been rock ’n’ roll adjacent, though that’s rarely talked about today given her long and varied career as an actress and a singer of lounge classics. She co-starred with Elvis Presley in one of his most beloved films, “Viva Las Vegas,” provided a flirty foil to a character meant to affectionately send him up in “Birdie,” and had a personal relationship with him of varying descriptions.

She also commanded a lead singing role in Ken Russell’s gaudy movie version of the Who’s rock opera, “Tommy,” and earned a Grammy nomination for best new artist in 1962 after scoring a Top 20 hit with “I Just Don’t Understand,” one of the first recordings to feature a fuzz-toned guitar. Her song inspired a Beatles cover on the BBC two years later, and in 2014, the band Spoon recorded a version of her take, not the Fab Four’s.

Yet it’s only now, at the improbable age of 81, that Ann-Margret is getting the chance to assert herself as a full-on rock ’n’ roll goddess — if a winking one. On April 14 she was set to release “Born to Be Wild,” the first album in the star’s career of 60-plus years to focus squarely on rock standards, all of which she handpicked, including Steppenwolf’s biker anthem referenced in the title and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which Elvis famously gyrated through in his own version.

A host of legit rockers leaped at the

chance to support her in this lark of a project, including “Tommy” creator Pete Townshend, who sang and played whiplash guitar on her version of the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love”; Steve Cropper, who added Memphis cred to “Son of a Preacher Man”; and Joe Perry, who shot stinging solos into her take on “Rock Around the Clock.” The album also features cameos from peers like Cliff Richard (82) and Pat Boone (88).

“What she has done is extraordinary,” Townshend said by phone from London, adding an expletive for emphasis. “She picked up the silver thread that links her to the very genesis of rock ’n’ roll history. There’s a mischievousness to that, a light touch that’s perhaps necessary but also real.”

Townshend compared receiving the invitation to play on her album with the time in 1993 when he “was summoned to play with the Ramones. You know you won’t say no,” he added.

From the dining room of the Benedict Canyon home where she has lived since 1968, Ann-Margret said she’d long harbored hopes of making a record like “Born to Be Wild.”

“Deep inside I’ve wanted to do this kind of album forever,” she explained. She alluded to her outfit — a black sweater,

tight leggings and leather boots that rose past the knee: “This is what I’ve been wearing since I first came to Los Angeles. This is what I’m comfortable in.”

She’s just as comfortable with language that dates from the ’50s, peppering her speech with words like “gadzooks” and “egad.” Looking youthful with her trademark auburn sweep of hair, Ann-Margret has also retained the coquettish character that first made her a star, giggling often when she speaks and never giving away more than she wants to. It was her original image more than her music that inspired Brian Perera, head of Cleopatra Records, which specializes in projects of a historical nature, to propose the album to her.

“When you look at vintage photos of her, she’s wearing a leather jacket and riding a motorcycle, so the thought of her doing a rock ’n’ roll record really fit,” he said in an interview.

The “Born to Be Wild” album cover drives that home. It reproduces a 1967 poster created for her first Vegas show that finds her in a form-fitting jumpsuit while straddling a Triumph Tiger motorcycle.

“I don’t think I can get into that jumpsuit today,” she said, and laughed. “But I can sure try!”

Ann-Margret has always been hot for motorcycles. Her father and uncle rode

them when she was a child in Sweden, and when she saw Marlon Brando straddle one in “The Wild One,” “that was it. I had to have one,” she said. “I didn’t know many women who rode bikes back then.”

She still rides a Harley specially designed for her in lavender. It makes a perfect complement to her Cadillac, finished in her favorite shade, “hot pink!”

Boone, who played Ann-Margret’s love interest in the 1963 musical “State Fair,” was at first taken aback by the song she chose for their duet, “Teach Me Tonight,” which he called “a love scene in a song.”

“I thought, ‘What am I doing singing this?’” Boone said. “I’m 87 at that point and she’s got to be 80. I had to do it humorously.”

So he ad-libbed the lines “I think we just wrote an octogenarian love song” and “I’ll have to turn up my hearing aid.” For the record, “I don’t wear hearing aids,” Boone added with a laugh.

More saucy wit appears in a song Ann-Margret chose from her Vegas act, “Somebody’s in My Orchard,” which includes lines like “Somebody digs my fig trees/ Somebody loves their juice.”

“Oh, to see people’s faces when they finally realize what I’m singing about,” she said mischievously.

Despite all the album’s humor, Paul Shaffer, who played piano on “The Great Pretender,” insists that her Vegas-style approach to music isn’t just camp.

“She delivers the goods,” he said.

When comparing her with young female entertainers like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato, he added, “Aren’t they really doing Ann-Margret’s act?”

The only time she turned sad in our talk was when mentioning her husband, actor Roger Smith, who served as her manager for much of their 50-year relationship and who died in 2017. Last year, she also lost her old friend and “Bye Bye Birdie” co-star Bobby Rydell, who died before he could finish a track he started for the album. Small wonder, when asked about how she feels about her upcoming 82nd birthday, she said, “I’m just happy to be alive. I have the same friends I’ve had for 60 years, and I feel the way I felt when I first met them.”

Singing has the same effect: “I feel the way I felt when I was 10 years old whenever the music plays.”

The San Juan Daily Star

April 11, 2023

Why

By HANNAH SEO

The inside of your mouth is the perfect place for bacteria to thrive: It’s dark, it’s warm, it’s wet and the foods and drinks you consume provide nutrients for them to eat.

But when the harmful bacteria build up around your teeth and gums, you’re at risk of developing periodontal (or gum) disease, experts say, which is an infection and inflammation in the gums and bone that surround your teeth.

And such conditions in your mouth may influence the rest of your body, said Kimberly Bray, a professor of dental hygiene at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

A growing yet limited body of research, for instance, has found that periodontal disease is associated with a range of health conditions including diabetes, heart disease, respiratory infections and dementia.

Exactly how oral bacteria affect your overall health is still poorly understood, Bray said, since the existing research is limited and no studies have established causeand-effect.

But some conditions are more associated with oral health than others, experts say. Here is what we know.

The Health Issues Linked With Oral Health

About 47% of people ages 30 and older in the United States have some form of periodontal disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In its early stages, called gingivitis, the gums may become swollen, red or tender and may bleed easily. If left untreated, gingivitis may escalate to periodontitis, a more serious form of the disease where gums can recede, bone can be lost, and teeth may become loose or even fall out.

With periodontitis, bacteria and their toxic byproducts can move from the surface of the gums and teeth and into the bloodstream, where they can spread to different organs, said Ananda P. Dasanayake, a professor of epidemiology at the New York University College of Dentistry.

This can happen during a dental cleaning or flossing, or if you have a cut or wound inside your mouth, he said.

If you have inflammation in the mouth that is untreated, some of the proteins responsible for that inflammation can spread throughout the body, Bray said, and potentially damage other organs.

Diabetes

Of all the associations between oral health and disease, the one with the most evidence is between periodontal disease and diabetes, Bray said. And the two conditions seem to have a two-way relationship, she added: Periodontal disease seems to increase the risk for diabetes, and vice versa.

Researchers have yet to understand exactly how this might work, but in one review published in 2017, researchers wrote that the systemic inflammation caused by periodontal disease may worsen the body’s ability to signal for

health

sociated with higher levels of inflammatory proteins in the blood that have been linked with poor heart health. Some research also suggests that better oral hygiene practices are linked with lower rates of heart disease.

Pregnancy complications

A number of studies and reviews have found associations between severe periodontal disease and preterm, low birth weight babies, Dasanayake said. Though more research is needed to confirm the link.

In a 2019 review, researchers found that treating periodontal disease during pregnancy improved birth weight and reduced the risk of preterm birth and the death of the fetus or newborn.

and respond to insulin.

In another study, published in April, scientists found that diabetics who were treated for periodontal disease saw their overall health care costs decrease by 12% to 14%.

“You treat periodontal disease, you improve the diabetes,” Dasanayake said.

Pneumonia

If large amounts of bacteria from the mouth are inhaled and settle in the lungs, that can result in bacterial aspiration pneumonia, said Dr. Frank Scannapieco, a professor of oral biology at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.

This phenomenon has been observed mainly in patients who are hospitalized or older adults in nursing homes, and is a concern for those who can’t floss or brush their teeth on their own, said Dr. Martinna Bertolini, an assistant professor of dental medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine.

Preventive dental care such as with professional teeth cleanings, or periodontal treatments like antibiotic therapy, can lower the risk of developing this kind of pneumonia, Scannapieco said.

Cardiovascular disease

In a report published in 2020, an international team of experts concluded that there is a significant link between periodontitis and heart attack, stroke, plaque buildup in the arteries, and other cardiovascular conditions.

While researchers haven’t determined how poor oral health might lead to worse heart health, some evidence suggests that periodontal bacteria from the mouth may travel to the arteries in vascular disease patients, potentially playing a role in the development of the disease.

And a 2012 statement from the American Heart Association noted that inflammation in the gums has been as-

And in a 2009 study, researchers found that oral bacteria could travel to the placenta — potentially playing a role in chorioamnionitis, a serious infection of the placenta and amniotic fluid that could lead to an early delivery, or even cause life-threatening complications if left untreated. Research also suggests that bacteria from your mouth may activate immune cells that circulate in the blood, causing inflammation in the womb that could distress the placenta and fetal tissues.

There is long-standing research that periodontitis may induce preterm birth in animals like mice, and that treating these infections can protect against low birth weights and preterm birth.

Dementia

Researchers have been increasingly interested in the role of oral health in dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, Scannapieco said.

“Bacteria that are found in the mouth actually have been identified in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer’s,” he said, implying a potential role for them in the disease.

In a recent review, scientists noted that oral bacteria — especially those related to periodontitis — could either affect the brain directly via “infection of the central nervous system,” or indirectly by inducing “chronic systemic inflammation” that reaches the brain.

However, there’s no evidence that oral bacteria alone could cause Alzheimer’s, the review authors wrote. Rather, periodontal disease is just one “risk factor” among many for people who are predisposed to Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

Other conditions

Oral bacteria have also been robustly linked with a number of other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, Bray said. And emerging research is starting to link oral bacteria with kidney and liver disease, as well as colorectal and breast cancers.

What you can do

The best way to maintain good oral health is to follow the classic dental care advice, including brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing every day, Scannapieco said.

Gum disease has been associated with a range of health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, dementia and more.

oral hygiene is crucial to your overall

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESION DE VICTOR

LUIS GARCIA RIOS Y SUCESION DE CARMEN

TURULL COLON T/C/C

CARMEN TRUREL

COLON AMBAS

COMPUESTA POR

CARLOS LUIS GARCIA

TURULL. SECRETARIO

DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DEL ESTADO

LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO

Y SECRETARIO DE JUSTICIA DEL ESTADO

LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2019CV06258. (506). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, EDWIN E. LÓPEZ MULERO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, Alguacil de la División de Subastas del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, a la demandada y al público en general, les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso, por el Secretario del Tribunal, con fecha 6 de marzo de 2023 y para satisfacer la Sentencia por la cantidad de $79,828.32 de principal; dictada en el caso de epígrafe el 13 de diciembre de 2022, notificada y archivada en autos el 16 de diciembre de 2022 y publicada mediante edicto el día 21 de diciembre de 2022, en el periódico “The San Juan Daily Star”; procederé a vender en pública subasta, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, todo derecho, título e interés que haya tenido, tenga o pueda tener la deudora demandada en cuanto a la propiedad localizada en el: Municipio de San Juan, Puerto Rico, los bienes inmuebles se describen a continuación: Road 176 Km 10.6, Cupey Alto Ward, San Juan, PR 00931. RÚSTICA: Parcel of land located in the Cupey ward of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with an area content of one thousand seven hundred and five square meters and five hundred seven square millimeters; bounded on the North, in a distance of 51.58 meters by State Road #176;

on the South, in a distance of 49.99 meters by the remanent of the main farm from which it was segregated; on the East, in a distance of 40.32 meters by the remanent of the main farm from which it was segregated; on the East, in a distance of 40.32 meters by property of Carlos Gonz1lez and on the West, in a distance of 33.48 meters by the remanent of the main farm from which of was segregated. On this lot there is a reinforced concrete house designed for residential purposes. Consta inscrita al folio 241 del tomo 291 de Monacillos, finca 9,385 Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección IV. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, cuyas cantidades ascienden a $79,828.32 de principal, 13.5% de intereses, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda; $795.97 de cargos por demora, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda; más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $100,000.00 para la propiedad descrita. Si no produjere remate o adjudicación la primera subasta, se procederá a una segunda subasta y servirá de tipo mínimo la cantidad de $66,666.66. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en esta segunda subasta, se procederá a una tercera subasta, en ésta el tipo mínimo será la cantidad de $50,000.00. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse a opción del demandante. Para el lote descrito, la PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 8 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 15 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 22 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta o subastas antes indicadas se llevarán a efecto en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan. De Estudio de Título realizado no surgen gravámenes preferentes ni posteriores que deban ser cancelados. Se le advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación

en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, giro postal o cheque de gerente a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete

(7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres

(3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere al crédito de ejecutante, continuarán subsiguientes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores, previa orden judicial dirigida al Registrador de la Propiedad de la sección correspondiente para la cancelación de aquellos posteriores. Y para conocimiento de la demandada, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 27 de marzo de 2023. EDWIN E. LÓPEZ MULERO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA.

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs.

MARIA ESTHER BENITEZ

MALDONADO Tcc MARIA

E. BENITEZ MALDONADO

Parte Demandada

CIVIL NUM. CA2021CV03583.

SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HI-

POTECA POR LA VIA ORDI-

NARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. ANUNCIO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que los autos y documentos del caso de epígrafe estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables y que venderá en pública subasta al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $141,185.07 de balance principal, el cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $136,615.03 y un principal diferido por la suma de $4,570.04, más los intereses calculados sobre la suma de $136,615.03, a razón de 6.00% annual, desde el primero de octubre de 2016, más las primas de seguro hipotecario y riego, recargos por demora computados al 3% sobre cada mensualidad adeudada; más la suma estipulada de $14,954.40 para honorarios de abogado pactada en la escritura de hipoteca; y cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquiera concepto legal se devenguen hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Villa Carolina, marcada con el número catorce (14) de la manzana ciento treinta y cinco (135), con un área superficial de trescientos treinta (330.00) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en trece punto setenta y cinco (13.75) metros, con la calle numero cuatrocientos cuatro (404); por el Sur, en trece punto setenta y cinco (13.75) metros, con el solar numero once (11); por el Este, en veinticuatro (24.00) metros, con el solar numero trece (13); y por el Oeste, en veinticuatro (24.00) metros, con el solar número quince (15). Enclava edificación. Inscrita al folio doscientos cincuenta y tres (253) del tomo novecientos treinta y cinco (935) de Carolina, finca número veintisiete mil novecientos setenta y ocho (27,978) Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección II. Dirección Física: 135-14 404 Calle 404, Carolina, Puerto Rico 00985-4005. La primera subasta se llevará a cabo el día 5 de mayo de 2023 a las 9:30 de la mañana, y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $149,544.02 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subas-

tado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una segunda subasta el día 12 de mayo de 2023, a las 9:30 de la mañana, y el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $99,696.01. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una terce99,696.01ra subasta el día 19 de mayo de 2023, a las 9:30 de la mañana y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $74,772.01. El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipotecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los 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, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, 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 entonces subrogados

en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. (Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Carolina, Puerto Rico a 27 de marzo de 2023. HÉCTOR L.

PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE RAFAEL SANTA VÉLEZ; SUCESIÓN DE ÁNGEL RAFAEL SANTA CARRASQUILLO; “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE RAFAEL SANTA VÉLEZ; “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ÁNGEL RAFAEL SANTA CARRASQUILLO; ANA HILDA VÉLEZ DENIS, COMO DUEÑA REGISTRAL; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (C.R.I.M.)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV04754.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS,

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 14 de marzo de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar de la Urbanización Eleanor Roosevelt, radicado en el Barrio Hato Rey del término Municipal de Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, compuesto de un área superficial de ciento cuarenta metros cuadrados y veinticinco centímetros y veinticinco centésimas de otro, equivalente a un área, cuarenta centiáreas, y veinticinco centésimas de otra, en colindancia por el NORTE, con solar número cuarentisiete de la Calle O, en distancia de ocho metros y cincuenta centímetros; por el SUR, con la calle número cuatro, en una distancia de ocho metros y cincuenta centímetros; y por el OESTE, con el solar número treinticuatro de la calle número cuatro, en una distancia de dieciséis metros y cincuenta centímetros; y por el ESTE, con el solar número treinta de la calle número cuatro, en una distancia de dieciséis metros y sesenticinco centímetros de la cual siete metros y treintisiete centímetros, es la longitud del eje de la planta de una pared medianera de seis pulgadas de ancho, sobre la cual se estableció la servidumbre. Dentro del predio antes descrito se encuentra enclavado un edificio de hormigón reforzado y dividido en dos viviendas residenciales marcados con los número treinta y dos de la calle cuatro consistente de una sala-comedor, dos cuartos dormitorios, cuarto de baño y cocina. Estas dos viviendas están separadas una de la otra por una pared medianera de concreto reforzado de siete metros y treinta centímetros de largo y seis pulgadas de ancho y corriendo de Norte a Sur. Se establece servidumbre de uso sobre la pared medianera antes descrita a favor de los dos niveles que componen el edificio. Es el remanente de esta finca según inscripción 2da. Inscrita en la finca número

6,420A, al folio 80 del tomo 345 de Río Piedras Norte. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de San Juan. La propiedad ubica, según pagaré, en: 305 R. Ramos St., Eleonor Roosevelt Dev., Hato Rey, San Juan, Puerto Rico. El producto de la subasta se destinará a

satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 26 de enero de 2023, notificada el 30 de enero de 2023, y publicada en periódico de circulación general, The San Daily Star”, el 1 de febrero de 2023 en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $32,167.89 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 7% desde el 1ro de noviembre de 2021; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $7,300.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente (“Sentencia”). La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. LA PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 4 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $73,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 11 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $48,666.66, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 18 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina / Sala de Alguaciles de Subastas del Tribunal, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $36,500.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como

dado de la hipoteca y se llevará a efecto por un precio mínimo de $339,150.00 y su producto servirá a la demandante como abono al importe de la Sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a $335,709.38 de principal de la primera hipoteca, más los intereses devengados a razón del 7% anual, más la suma de $33,915.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado establecidos en la sentencia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. Todo licitador deberá asumir la parte proporcional de la carga que afecta la propiedad así subastada. Si se declarare desierta la subasta señalada, la misma será NUEVAMENTE

CELEBRADA EL NUEVE (9) DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS DIEZ Y TREINTA DE LA MAÑANA (10:30 AM) en el mismo lugar antes señalado por la suma de $226,100.00, equivalente a 2/3 partes del tipo mínimo original pactado para la hipoteca. A su vez, de declararse desierta dicha segunda subasta, la misma será celebrada por TERCERA Y ÚLTIMA VEZ el DIECISÉIS (16) DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS DIEZ Y TREINTA DE LA MAÑANA (10:30 AM) en el mismo lugar antes señalado por la suma de $169,575.00, equivalente a la 1/2 parte del tipo mínimo original pactado para la hipoteca. No obstante, si se declarare desierta la tercera subasta se dará por terminado el proceso y se podrá adjudicar el inmueble a la parte demandante, conforme lo dispuesto en el Artículo 104 de la Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmobiliaria de 2015. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de éstos sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Que la propiedad objeto de ejecución está afecta a los siguientes gravámenes preferentes: Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la cantidad de $160,000.00, con intereses al 8.75% anual, vencedero a la presentación, según la Escritura número 149, otorgada en Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico el día 15 de junio de 1994 ante el Notario Público Juan Rivera Torres, la cual consta inscrita al folio doscientos setenta y nueve (279) del tomo mil ciento cincuenta y siete (1,157) de Caguas, finca número dieciséis mil seiscientos setenta y ocho (16,678), inscripción décimo sexta, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección Primera. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscri-

tos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargos o derechos reales que hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca del actor y a los dueños poseedores tenedores o de interesados en títulos transmisibles por endoso o al portador garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito del actor y con los cuales no hubiese tenido efecto la notificación personal del escrito inicial y del Mandamiento del requerimiento de pago, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les conviniere o satisficiera antes del remate el importe del crédito de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría de este tribunal, pudiendo ser revisados por cualquier parte durante horas laborables. Y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley en un periódico de los de mayor circulación, y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y del público en general, y para conocimiento del Departamento de Hacienda y/o al Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM) que pueda tener algún crédito por concepto de contribuciones territoriales o de cualquier otra índole, y para su publicación además, en los sitios públicos de costumbre, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Caguas, hoy 29 de de marzo de 2023. ALEJANDRO URBINA ROQUE, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #997, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

SUCESIÓN DE MAGDALY

MARTÍN PÉREZ T/C/C

MADGALY MARTÍN

PÉREZ COMPUESTA

SUS HEREDEROS CONOCIDOS COMO

VILMA IBÁÑEZ MARTÍN, DIANA IBÁÑEZ MARTÍN

E IRÁN RODRÍGUEZ

MARTÍN; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL

COMO HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS Y/O

PARTES CON INTERÉS

EN DICHA SUCESIÓN Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2022CV06264. Sala: 502. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (IN REM). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: DIANA IBÁÑEZ MARTÍN COMO HEREDERA CONOCIDA DE LA SUCESION DE MAGDALY MARTIN PEREZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE DICHA SUCESIÓN. URB RESIDENCIAS DE MONTE VERDE, F-5 CALLE 6, TOA ALTA PR 00953; DIRECCIÓN POSTAL:

404 BUNKER CIRCLE SANDSTONE VIRGINIA 23150.

(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 03 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 05 de abril de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 05 de abril de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. SANDRA I. BÁEZ HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. WILLIAM LESPIER VÉLEZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: JD2022CV00364.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDIC-

TO.

VÉLEZ - URB LEVITTOWN 1659 PASEO DORADO TOA BAJA, PUERTO RICO 00949-3921 / HC 4 BOX 7196 JUANA DÍAZ, PUERTO RICO 007959782.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (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), la 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 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 sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. José F. Aguilar Vélez cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección jose.aguilar@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO

MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 22 de febrero de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 22 de febrero de 2023. LCDA.

LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. NEREIDA QUILES SANTANA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE HUMACAO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC

COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. JAVIER PÉREZ DÁVILA

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: HU2022CV01364.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: JAVIER PÉREZ DÁVILA

- URB VERDE MAR 516

CALLE AMAZONITA

PUNTA SANTIAGO, PUERTO RICO 007412205 / URB VERDE MAR 516 CALLE 16 PUNTA SANTIAGO, PUERTO RICO 00791.

conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (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), la 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 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 sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. José F. Aguilar Vélez cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección jose. aguilar@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law. com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Humacao, Puerto Rico, hoy día 22 de febrero de 2023. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 22 de febrero de 2023. IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. ARSENIA MARTÍNEZ SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAMUY WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIETY, FSB, AS TRUSTEE OF FINANCE OF AMERICA

STRUCTURED SECURITIES

ACQUISITION TRUST

2018-HB1

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ MARTE T/C/C

TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ

COMPUESTA POR EDITH

DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ COMPUESTA FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados Civil Núm.: CM2018CV00318. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ MARTE T/C/C TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ COMPUESTA POR EDITH LILLIAN HERNÁNDEZ, CARMEN HERNÁNDEZ, OMAYRA HERNÁNDEZ, MADELINE HERNÁNDEZ, JUAN CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE AIXA D. HERNÁNDEZ MÉNDEZ COMPUESTA

A: WILLIAM LESPIER

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que

LILLIAN HERNÁNDEZ, CARMEN HERNÁNDEZ, OMAYRA HERNÁNDEZ, MADELINE HERNÁNDEZ, JUAN CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE AIXA D. HERNÁNDEZ MÉNDEZ COMPUESTA POR ISRAEL NIEVES VÉLEZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS

POR ISRAEL NIEVES VÉLEZ, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESIÓN DE TOMÁS HERNÁNDEZ COMPUESTA FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO MIEMBROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA. Yo, LUIS E. ROMÁN CARRERO, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 3 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Camuy, Camuy, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y

cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 27 de abril de 2022. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 10 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 17 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Camuy, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 8 de febrero de 2023, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Solar número nueve localizado en el Barrio Puente del término municipal de Camuy, Puerto Rico, compuesta de cuatrocientos noventiocho punto siete mil quinientos veinticinco metros cuadrados (498.7525). En lindes al NORTE, Solar número diez; SUR y ESTE, finca principal propiedad de Rafael Maldonado; y OESTE, faja de terreno dedicado a Uso Público. Finca número 7,283 inscrita al folio 240 del tomo 140 de Camuy. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Arecibo. Dirección de la Propiedad: Lot 9 PR 119 Km 1.0 Int Puente Ward, Camuy PR 00627. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: de $52,471.96, por concepto de balance principal del préstamo con interés al 5.060% anual, cual acumulan a un total de $68,380.09, equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 379 otorgada el día 29 de octubre de 2015, San Juan, Puerto Rico, ante el No-

tario Público Alejandro J. Mues Arias y consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Camuy, finca número 7,283, Registro de la Propiedad de Camuy, Sección II de Arecibo. 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 cargos o derechos reales 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. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $120,000.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $80,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $60,000.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, 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 del 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. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta podrá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso.

La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Si el producto de la venta fuere insuficiente para satisfacer la cantidad reclamada, se procederá a la ejecución de la sentencia en contra de la parte demandada por el remanente de las sumas no satisfechas, mediante embargo y venta en ejecución de cualesquiera otros bienes propiedad de la parte demandada en cantidad suficiente para dejar cubierta y totalmente satisfecha a la parte demandante cualquier deficiencia o parte insoluta de la sentencia dictada a su favor según dispuesto en la sentencia dictada en este caso. Se dispone, conforme con la sentencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. De ser ello necesario, el Alguacil podrá diligenciar el Acta de Subasta que se expida en horas laborales, de día, los 5 días de la semana y podrá romper cualquier cerradura o candado que dé acceso al inmueble objeto de este desalojo. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete

(7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres

(3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Camuy, Puerto Rico, a 15 de febrero de 2023. Wilfredo Olmo Salazar, Alguacil Regional. Luis E. Román Carrero, Alguacil Del Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Sala De Camuy.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE UTUADO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

LA SUCESIÓN DE JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO

TORRES T/C/C JOSÉ A.

SANTIAGO T/C/C JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO

COMPUESTA POR JOSÉ LUIS SANTIAGO PÉREZ, ELIZABETH SANTIAGO PÉREZ, BRENDA ANETTE SANTIAGO

PÉREZ, FULANO Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS, AMARILIS CUEVAS IRIZARRY, EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm.: UT2022CV00151.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOSÉ LUIS SANTIAGO PÉREZ, ELIZABETH SANTIAGO PÉREZ, BRENDA ANETTE SANTIAGO PÉREZ, COMO MIEMBROS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO

TORRES (T/C/C JOSÉ A.

SANTIAGO T/C/C JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO), FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO

TORRES (T/C/C JOSÉ A.

SANTIAGO T/C/C JOSÉ

ALBERTO SANTIAGO).

(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 15 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 Utuado, Puerto Rico, el 4 de abril de 2023. DIANE

ÁLVAREZ VILLANUEVA, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. BRENDA L.

DE JESÚS VÉLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. JEAN FANNIE AYERS BRUSTER, POR SI Y EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA DE LA SUCESION DE IVAN ORDONET CACERES ORTIZ; LA SUCESION DE IVAN ORDONET CACERES ORTIZ

COMPUESTA CARMEN CACERES AYERS; FULANO Y FULANA DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV00600.

Sala: 403. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA).

EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONSTAR: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR, , en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América el día 11 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en la Oficina del Alguacil de Subastas, sita en el cuarto piso del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en: RB-16-2 CALLE PLAZA 4, URBANIZACION MARINA BAHIA, CATAÑO, PR 00962 y que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Parcela de terreno identificada como el Solar número 16 del Bloque RB de la Urbanización Marina Bahía, radicada en el Barrio Palmas, del término municipal de Cataño, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de 349.371 metros cuadrados, y en lindes por el NORTE, en 22.00 metros, con el Solar número 15; por el SUR, en 18.50 metros, con la Calle número 2; por el ESTE, en 12.50 metros, y una distancia en arco de 5.498 metros, con Court número 4; y por el OESTE, en 16.00 metros, con el Solar número 17. En dicho solar enclava una casa de concreto diseñada para una familia. La propiedad antes relacionada consta inscrita al Folio 70 del Tomo 141 de Cataño, finca número 6,695, Registro

de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Cuarta. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dispuesto en la Escritura de Hipoteca, es decir la suma de $206,600.00. Si no hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 18 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $137,733.33. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 25 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA. Para la tercera subasta servirá de tipo mínimo la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para el caso de ejecución, o sea, la suma de $103,300.00. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura de hipoteca número 282 otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 20 de agosto de 2010, ante la Notario Wanda M. Moreno Lugo, Folio 211 del Tomo 183 de Cataño, finca número 6,695, inscripción 9na. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer al Demandante total o parcialmente según sea el caso el importe de la Sentencia que ha obtenido contra la parte demandada ascendente a la suma de$172,473.56 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de mayo de 2019, más intereses al tipo pactado de 4.50% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además, Jean Fannie Ayers Bruster, por sí y en la cuota viudal usufructuaria de la Succesión de Iván Ordonet Cáceres Ayers y La Sucesión de Iván Ordonet Cáceres Ayers adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equivalentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $20,660.00.

Además, Jean Fannie Ayers Bruster, por sí y en la cuota viudal usufructuaria de la Succesión de Iván Ordonet Cáceres Ayers y La Sucesión de Iván Ordonet Cáceres Ayers se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $20,660.00 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $20,660.00 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley. 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 BAYAMON, SALA SUPERIOR durante las horas 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 conocidos y desconocidos que tengan inscritos, no inscritos, presentados y/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 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 Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 5 de abril de 2023. Maribel Lanzar Velázquez, Alguacil Placa #735, Alguacil De Subastas, Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Centro Judicial De Bayamón, Sala Superior.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

FINANCE OF AMERICA

REVERSE, LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE RAQUEL MONTEAGUDO PEÑA

T/C/C RAQUEL HERMINIA DE LA CARIDAD MONTEAGUDO DÍAZ

T/C/C RAQUEL HERMINIA DE LA CARIDAD

MONTEAGUDO Y DÍAZ T/C/C RAQUEL MONTEAGUDO

DÍAZ T/C/C RAQUEL

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

RAQUEL PENA T/C/C

RAQUEL H. PENA

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

RAQUEL HERMINIA

MONTEAGUDO DÍAZ

T/C/C RAQUEL PEÑA

COMPUESTA POR

ROBERTO PEÑA

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

ROBERTO PEÑA

T/C/C ROBERTO MONTEAGUDO, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLE HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES MUNICIPALES; OFICINA DE HERENCIA Y DONACIONES DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA Demandados

Civil Núm.: CD2016-480. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE RAQUEL MONTEAGUDO

PEÑA T/C/C RAQUEL HERMINIA DE LA CARIDAD MONTEAGUDO

DÍAZ T/C/C RAQUEL HERMINIA DE LA CARIDAD MONTEAGUDO

Y DÍAZ T/C/C RAQUEL

MONTEAGUDO

DÍAZ T/C/C RAQUEL

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

RAQUEL PENA T/C/C

RAQUEL H. PENA

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

RAQUEL HERMINIA

MONTEAGUDO DÍAZ

T/C/C RAQUEL PEÑA

COMPUESTA POR

ROBERTO PEÑA

MONTEAGUDO T/C/C

ROBERTO PEÑA

T/C/C ROBERTO MONTEAGUDO,

FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLE HEREDEROS DE NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS, CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES

Y

DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO; Y A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA.

Yo, LUIS E. ROMÁN CARRERO, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, a los demandados, acreedores y al público en general con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, por la presente CERTIFICO, ANUNCIO y HAGO CONSTAR: Que el día 3 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Camuy, Camuy, Puerto Rico, procederé a vender en Pública Subasta, al mejor postor, la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, la cual se notificó y archivó en autos el día 1 de septiembre de 2016. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 10 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA; y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 17 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que ha sido liberado por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Camuy, en el caso de epígrafe con fecha de 11 de noviembre de 2022, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad ubicado en: PR 119 km 5.6 Int Puente Wd. Camuy PR 0627, y que se describe a continuación: RUSTICA: Predio de terreno localizado en el Barrio Puente Sector Zarza de Camuy, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de quinientos setenta y cuatros metros cuadrados (574.00 m.c.), en lindes: por el NORTE, con Gilberto Ortiz; por el SUR, con Miguel Atiles; por el ESTE, con carretera municipal; y por el OESTE, con

el remanente de la finca principal. Finca número 12,607B, inscrita al folio 91 del tomo 238 de Camuy, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Arecibo. La subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer, hasta donde alcance, el importe de las cantidades adeudadas a la parte demandante conforme a la sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: $70,118.85, incluyendo intereses y otros gastos acumulados hasta el 31 de mayo de 2016, y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón del 5.060% por ciento anual, hasta su completo pago; más la cantidad de $11,250.00, equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original pactada, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados hasta la fecha en que se pague la deuda; más cualquiera suma de dinero por concepto de contribuciones, primas de seguro hipotecario y riesgo, así como cualesquiera otras sumas pactadas en la escritura de hipoteca, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La hipoteca a ejecutarse en el caso de epígrafe fue constituida mediante la escritura número 130, otorgada el día 15 de abril de 2013, San Juan, Puerto Rico, ante el Notario Público Zoila Espinosa Vaquer y consta inscrita tomo Karibe de Camuy, finca número 12607B, Registro de la Propiedad de Camuy, Sección II de Arecibo. 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 cargos o derechos reales 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. Entiéndase: Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $112,500.00, con intereses al 5.060% anual, vencedero el día 24 de diciembre de 2081 constituida mediante la escritura número 131, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 15 de abril de 2013, ante el notario Zoila Espinosa Vaquer, e inscrita al Tomo Karibe de Camuy finca 12607B inscripción 7ma. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la

MUNICIPALES; OFICINA DE HERENCIA

DONACIONES

A case of the disappearing waves

By MICHAEL ADNO

As a kid, Zander Morton grew up surfing some of the most storied waves in the American South.

Middles and Blowhole, as locals called the two surf spots inside Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, took the Atlantic’s energy and formed consistent, world-class waves that generations of surfers in St. Johns County in the 1990s grew up riding — a rare thing for Florida. Surfers such as Morton talk about those waves with a reverence usually reserved for deities.

But they only do so in the past tense: The waves disappeared at the turn of the 21st century, almost overnight.

They are among the many surf breaks that have now vanished, an illustration of just how quickly terrain can change, if not disappear entirely, because of a complicated set of factors that affect waves: Deepwater canyons, shifting sand and human intervention along the beach in the forms of jetties, piers or engineering projects.

Like almost everything in St. Augustine’s history, the remarkable waves on that stretch of beach, which became popular in the 1960s, were ensconced in origin myths. Most people credit the interplay between storms that molded an ever-changing set of islands, work done by the Army Corps of Engineers, and bathymetry for creating two of the best waves on the East Coast.

“It was a destination,” said Walter Coker, a photojournalist who lived in St. Augustine for more than three decades and began surfing those waves in the 1970s. “There’s only a handful of spots in Florida that have that kind of status.”

In the past few decades, surfers such as Morton and Coker have watched as the coastline in north Florida has changed. The fast-acting effects of erosion, powerful storms and rising sea levels have become intimately familiar to them.

That knowledge — unique to local surfers — has become indispensable to those who are forming a record of what was.

“No one knows that tiny patch of coast better than they do,” Dan Reineman, an assistant professor of environmental science and resource management at California State University Channel Islands, said of local surfers. The anecdotal evidence collected from surfers has become increasingly precious data for researchers, he said.

In 2017, Reineman and his colleagues published a study in which more than 1,000

local surfers estimated how rising sea levels might impact California surf spots by the year 2100. Only a few spots were predicted to improve, and many places along California’s coast, the study showed, might actually be able to adapt. Of the 105 surf breaks that the study analyzed, more than one-third were deemed vulnerable to sea-level rise, meaning that some waves would disappear completely.

“What I find alarming, from the perspective of surfing, is how coastal communities react to changing coastal conditions,” Reineman said. “We choke off sand supplies, plug up watersheds, dam rivers. We are changing the coast’s ability to adapt as sea level rises.”

In a place such as Florida, where the barrier islands have long bowed under the weight of unfettered development, there is little that can be done aside from fortifying the shoreline with sea walls, jetties or, as many communities prefer, periodic beach renourishment. According to tide tables and the data collected by Reineman in Florida, most of the popular surf spots throughout the state would drown with just a foot of sea-level rise.

Ever since Middles and Blowhole disappeared, Morton and Coker have wondered whether it was the dredging of outer sandbars, sea-level rise or something else that destroyed those surf spots. In 2001, the Army Corps took sand from the St. Augustine inlet and dumped it along the coast to prevent homes from falling into the Atlantic. “Those sandbars were gone,” Coker said. “The place has never been the same since.”

Since the mid-’80s, as dune lines have washed away throughout St. Johns County, Al Sandrik has watched, both as a surfer and as the National Weather Service’s warning coordination meteorologist in Jacksonville, Florida. “There’s no doubt we’re seeing more significant beach erosion, and it’s threatening more structures,” he said.

He pointed to the southern part of the county, where a former inlet has breached from the Summer Haven River into the Atlantic at least seven times in the past six years, leaving residents listless while the county spends millions of dollars to try to renourish the fragile sandspit.

East Coast surfers used to look forward to hurricane season the way skiers pray for snow. As faraway storms formed off Cape Verde, they knew some of the best waves of the year were on their way, with little chance of hurricane winds or the damage they cause. In St. Augustine, a storm in the Atlantic often ensured that Middles and Blowhole would come alive when a swell arrived.

But in the past decade, local surfers have come to dread the hurricane season.

In St. Augustine, they reel off the names of hurricanes from memory. In 1960, there was Donna. In 1999, it was Floyd. But the threat of a direct hit seemed distant at best. Then, in 2016, Hurricane Matthew buzzed the coast, flooding thousands of homes in St. Johns County. “St. Augustine never flooded,” recalled Morton, who grew up there. “That wasn’t something we thought about.”

In 2017, just 11 months after Matthew, Hurricane Irma flooded places that had previously been bone dry. And then in September 2022, residents added Hurricane Ian to the list of storms as it lashed the entire state.

Last year, as hurricane season ended and the air turned cool, the area where Blowhole and Middles once drew thousands of surfers was in some ways returning to its former self. As the dunes grew, the beach did, too. Soon, well-formed sandbars were taking shape while other parts of the county were eroding just as quickly.

In June, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection deemed just under half of St. Johns County’s coastline critically endangered. Since 2001, local, state and federal agencies have spent more than $125 million on projects to address erosion, including the renourishment of St. Augustine Beach and attempts to restore the Summer Haven river.

Before Hurricane Matthew, Coker remembered the sense of excitement he once felt as forecasters named storms in the Atlantic. He could close his eyes and see a set of waves marching in toward the beach. And as the afternoon rains returned along with the humidity by the first day of June, the opening of hurricane season meant good waves were not far away.

But after his home flooded during Matthew, and again during Irma, his excitement turned to a sense of dread as the names were unveiled. He didn’t care whether there would be a good window of surf. He just didn’t want to go through the destruction of his home again.

A surfer walked on the rocks revealed by erosion at the edge of Anastasia State Park.

Jon Rahm wins his first Masters

By ALAN BLINDER

It was early for a debacle at the Masters Tournament — the first hole of the first round — but Thursday morning, Jon Rahm’s internal speedometer had seemingly vanished. Accustomed to calibrating his putts just so, Rahm found his speed off, his ball sliding long and escaping right, before logging a double bogey.

“Well,” Rahm thought as he headed to Augusta National Golf Club’s next tee, “I miss, I miss, I miss, I make,” paraphrasing Seve Ballesteros, the greatest Spanish golfer of all and himself a victim of a Masters putting misadventure. Rahm considered something else, too: Unlike Ballesteros, he had 71 holes to recover.

He most certainly did.

Rahm, the towering Spaniard who dominated the PGA Tour in 2023’s first months, won the Masters on Sunday in Augusta, Georgia, overcoming days of punishing humidity, plunging temperatures, green-saturating rains and treetoppling winds, as well as that Thursday mess on No. 1, to claim his second career major championship. His victory, beneath an eggshell blue sky, came after he began the final round trailing Brooks Koepka, a four-time major winner who missed the Masters cut last April, by two strokes.

Rahm ultimately won by four strokes, 12 under par for the tournament.

“I’m looking at the scores, and I still think I have a couple more holes left to win,” Rahm said. “Can’t really say anything else. This one was for Seve. He was up there helping, and help he did.”

Rahm’s win kept at bay, at least for this month, a premier ambition of LIV Golf, the second-year league that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund bankrolled and then watched split men’s professional golf into embittered factions. Koepka has been one of the rebel cir-

cuit’s headliners and won a LIV event in Florida last week. Following it with a victory at Augusta National would have marked the first time a golfer had earned a major title as a LIV player. The league’s next chance will come in mid-May, at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, near Rochester, New York.

But Rahm methodically extinguished the league’s 2023 bid in Augusta, where the 88-player field included 18 LIV golfers. Although the league had a robust showing behind Koepka and Phil Mickelson, whose sensational Sunday outing at 7 under eventually vaulted him into a tie for second with Koepka, the tournament ended with Rahm, a PGA Tour stalwart, poised to select the menu for next year’s dinner of Masters champions.

Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner, will presumably be there, too. Koepka will not, even after finishing the first three rounds with at least a share of a lead, showing a consistency — until it disappeared — that was all the more remarkable given the meteorological and scheduling turmoil.

“I led for three rounds, and just didn’t do it on the last day,” Koepka said. “That’s it, plain and simple.”

When Koepka made bogey on the sixth hole Sunday, after a drive past the green, a chip that zipped well past the pin and a par putt that scooted just past the hole, he also surrendered the lead.

The par-5 eighth hole was a place where either man could gain ground: Both had made eagle there during the tournament. Koepka’s Sunday afternoon tee shot, though, came to rest on a stretch of pine straw, forcing a punch-out onto the fairway. Rahm guided his third shot onto the green, positioning him for a tap-in birdie that grew his advantage to two strokes.

But there were charges toward the top of the leaderboard playing out else -

where among the pines. When Koepka and Rahm each made bogey at No. 9, a cluster of aspiring contenders hovered much nearer than they had hours earlier. Rahm stood at 10 under, and Koepka at 8 under, tied with Jordan Spieth, who started the round at 1 under. Another five players — Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Russell Henley, Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay — were at 6 under or 7 under.

The gap between Rahm and Koepka stayed at two strokes until the 12th hole, that wondrously botanical landmark in the heart of Amen Corner. The hole, a 155-yard par-3, is the shortest test at Augusta National. Koepka lifted his tee shot high, and then it plunged toward the turf just behind the green, though he avoided the bunker. His second shot did not quite reach the green, and his third cruised to the right and beyond the pin. He made a putt for bogey.

That put Mickelson, 52, already done with his round, in a solo second place.

Koepka birdied the 13th hole to pull even with Mickelson, but Rahm preserved his three-stroke advantage with a birdie, his first since No. 8.

It did not last — because Rahm’s lead swelled to five strokes on the next hole. Rahm’s second shot, from near the tree line, plunked onto the green and then rolled in something approximating a semicircle until it stopped near the cup, setting up a putt for birdie. Koepka’s second shot also reached the green, but it rolled farther from the pin. A long try for birdie missed, and a much shorter one for par lipped out, sticking Koepka with a bogey, his fifth of the round.

He came close to making a putt for eagle at the 15th before settling for a birdie there.

Rahm led by four strokes with three holes to play. Koepka cut it to three with a majestic birdie after his tee shot cleared

the water at No. 16, but his comeback possibilities were still narrowing quickly. It did not help that his ball, on his second shot at the 17th hole, went from a shadowed patch of east Georgia mud to where some spectators were sitting. He had made bogey on the hole near the end of the third round; he carded another as the tournament drew toward its conclusion, pushing Rahm’s advantage back to four strokes.

Rahm, whose lone major victory had been at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, was virtually assured of a green jacket and, some months from now, a Masters trophy engraved with the signatures of every man he beat.

Once he made his tournament-ending par putt on the 18th green surrounded by a thick, roaring gallery, he jubilantly lifted his arms skyward, clenched his fists and then briefly covered his face with his hands. He plucked his ball from the cup and tipped his hat.

“Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole,” he said.

Even by the standards of a star who first reached the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2020, Rahm has played especially well in recent months. In November, he won the DP World Tour Championship by two strokes. In January, he won two PGA Tour events, both with scores of 27 under par, and he captured the Genesis Invitational title in February.

He stumbled in March, with a tie for 39th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational; a withdrawal from The Players Championship with a stomach illness; and a mediocre showing at a World Golf Championships match play tournament. But he insisted he was an unbothered “week-toweek guy,” content to play one event to the next without becoming all that mentally hemmed in by his booms or busts.

Rahm, playing his shot from the fourth tee, had two birdies on the front nine in the final round.

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

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Don’t be too quick off the mark, unless you’re sure you’ve covered all the ground. The current line-up can find you excited about a project or idea. Want it to be a success? The cosmos encourages you to think out of the box and be innovative. Today’s edgy Moon/Uranus link, combines the wonder of a new discovery with the ability to turn it into a workable plan, Aries.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

You may be on a mission to impress, but whatever your reasons for wanting this, allow some of your natural warmth and easy-going personality into the equation. What you don’t want to do is act like a robot, delivering your views or ideas mechanically. Inject some passion and energy as well as novel insights into the mix, and you’ll easily twist others around your little finger.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Talkative Mercury in a private zone can find you quieter than usual, and perhaps attracting a stream of people who need a shoulder to cry on. As this lively planet is also in steadying Taurus, you’ll give out just the right vibe and comforting advice to make others feel better. But what about you? You might prefer to potter and do your own thing. It’s time to relax and recharge.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Is there something happening that you’re hoping will just go away? If so, the current line-up suggests it’s wise to address it, otherwise it will linger on for some time to come. If you’re imagining the worstcase scenario, then you’ll likely put off acting on it indefinitely. Prepare to be surprised, as the thing you most dread might not happen, but something much better could.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

The desire to give in to temptation could be strong, especially as an awkward Moon/Uranus angle can make it seem highly desirable. If you’re looking for a quick fix to help you escape your daily routine, then be careful what you choose. You’ll be much better off if you opt for some self-care or a little pampering, rather than do something that seems like fun, but that you may regret, Leo.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Talkative Mercury in your sector of discovery, encourages a fascination with people and places that have a timeless and soothing appeal. If you’re ready to book a vacation, you may be drawn to out of the way areas where little has changed, and life is much the same as it has been for decades. If the idea of a relaxing break is on your mind, perhaps you should book it, Virgo.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

The Moon’s awkward angle to Uranus, suggests that discussing an issue that you’ve kept to yourself could be extremely liberating. The Moon in open-minded Sagittarius, encourages you to speak your mind and not to worry about how you put yourself across. If you’ve been holding in anger or other feelings, it’s time to let it out. A heart-to-heart chat could work wonders.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

You may be too impatient and restless to tackle detailed tasks, which is why you might be looking for something more interesting to capture your attention. The Moon in your shopping zone, suggests you’ll get great enjoyment from looking at items and comparing prices, but you could also spend on impulse. And yet something bought in haste can be a winner.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

While you’re always on the lookout for new adventures, Mercury in practical Taurus can turn your attention to more mundane matters. If you’ve been putting off those tiresome but necessary jobs, this is a good time to tackle them. You don’t have to do them all at once, just make a start and the momentum will gradually build. Once they’re over, you can do whatever you want.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

The Moon in a secluded zone could inspire you to enjoy some quiet time, which might help you get your bearings. Still, its link to Uranus in your leisure zone, can find you restless and keen to do something different. So, if someone invites you to an exhibition, concert or out for a meal, you’ll likely jump at the chance. Even if you hesitate, you’ll be easily persuaded, Capricorn.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

A meeting or gathering at your place could be quite an occasion. Even if there are only two or three people, you might find out something that rocks your world. This can be a day of surprises that pave the way for some fascinating possibilities. And while you may hesitate to act too fast, someone’s prophetic words could encourage you to make that move right now.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Putting the right message out into the world at the right time could mean you get noticed, and that people start paying attention to what you have to say. Even you might be shocked at the way a social media offering gets around. A conversation may have much the same effect Pisces, as your words can stir up something in another that leads to a winning collaboration.

Speed Bump