Thursday Apr 13, 2023

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.

Pact delivers $46 million for affordable housing in Martín Peña Channel communities

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and Housing Secretary William Rodríguez Rodríguez announced Wednesday the signing of an agreement with the Caño Martín Peña ENLACE Project Corp. (ENLACE) that grants $46 million in recovery funds to contribute to the development of two affordable housing projects.

The allocation is being provided under the Multisectoral Program for Community Mitigation (MSC by its Spanish initials) of the Community Development Block Grant Mitigation program for the Quisqueya 125 and Barbosa 211 projects. Both plots are located on Quisqueya Avenue in San Juan.

Núñez Mercado said “these funds will allow the development of new housing to continue, which makes the construction of basic infrastructure projects viable, with options for communities to remain intact and do justice to the residents of Caño Martín Peña.”

INDEX

“My commitment to rebuilding and modernizing our infrastructure to provide our people with a more efficient and secure environment is known to all,” Pierluisi said at a press conference accompanied by several representatives of the Martín Peña Channel communities collectively known as the G8. “That particularly includes prioritizing housing projects, as there is a pressing need to increase our stock of affordable housing in Puerto Rico. Today is an important day for the advancement of that priority agenda of my administration to promote the development of decent and affordable housing for our people.”

The Housing secretary noted that “for many years, the community of Caño Martín Peña has been recognized for its self-management and its courage to protect and preserve its community.”

“With this allocation, we contribute so that hundreds of families in this area have access to safe housing and can focus on raising their families,” Rodríguez said.

The governor announced that the agreement establishes that the grant will cover the conceptualization, design and construction of the Quisqueya 125 multifamily housing complex for 115 low- to moderate-income families. Similarly, the Barbosa 211 multifamily housing project is proposed for the former facilities of the General Services Administration at 11 Barbosa Ave. The number of families to benefit from the second project will be defined during the planning and design process that will take place directly after that of Quisqueya 125.

Both projects will include the design and development of recreational and communal elements to promote the livability of the space and the quality of life of the residents. Resilient housing designs will also be incorporated to reduce risks to life and property as a result of possible future natural disasters.

Meanwhile, ENLACE Executive Director Mario

With a budget of $300 million, the MSC Program provides vulnerable communities with the opportunity to carry out a participatory design process with resources provided by the Housing Department. Through the process, community residents are integrated into decision-making about the community elements they would like in the design of their new community. Thus the MSC program has the mission of keeping communities together, so it requires that the community relocation proposals submitted have the support of at least 60% of the residents of the community.

The Caño Martín Peña district has more than 20,000 residents, and consists of eight sectors: Las Monjas, Barrio Obrero-San Ciprián, Barrio Obrero-Marina, Buena Vista-Santurce, Buena Vista-Hato Rey, Parada 27, Israel-Bitumúl and Península de Cantera.

The projects are among the initiatives that the Pierluisi administration has carried out to benefit the G8 communities with federal and commonwealth funds. In August 2021, the governor allocated $130 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for aqueduct and sewer projects in the Caño district and announced the dredging phase of the Puerto Nuevo River.

In January of last year, Pierluisi announced that the U.S. Corps of Engineers (USACE) had approved over $230 million in federal funds from the USACE for improvements to Martín Peña Channel, San Juan Bay and the Culebrinas River, and later unveiled an agreement for the dredging and restoration of the channel.

The $46 million allocation of recovery funds is being provided for the Quisqueya 125 and Barbosa 211 affordable housing construction projects. Both building sites are on Quisqueya Avenue in San Juan.

Governor: Mayor’s legal troubles are a distraction that Ponce doesn’t need

By THE STAR STAFF

Although he did not get to the point of requesting the resignation of Ponce Mayor Luis Irizarry Pabón, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said Wednesday that the mayor’s legal troubles are a distraction and that Ponceños need a full-time mayor.

The Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel accepted a Justice Department recommendation to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Irizarry Pabón for allegedly giving a loan book to municipal employees to pay off campaign debt.

“We are talking about the Justice Department prosecutors understanding that there are probable grounds to believe that crimes were committed. An SIP panel has validated the recommendation,” Pierluisi said. “I see that this, which worries me, is a great distraction for that mayor because it appears to be a severe matter. We’ll see what the appointed special prosecutor decides. My

concern is that the town of Ponce is well cared for. You need a full-time mayor.”

Pierluisi acknowledged that the

matter has yet to reach the courts but expressed concern about how complicated the scenario has become for the

mayor.

Irizarry Pabón issued a statement after the notification from the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel, which he described as a fruitless distraction.

“Today, I received notice from the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel regarding the appointment of a prosecutor to thoroughly investigate the Justice Department referral,” he said. “I have always respected our institutions of law and order. I am confident this investigation will clarify the entire situation indicated and show I have not committed a crime.”

“The Ponceños will not continue to fall into fruitless distractions,” the mayor added. “Meanwhile, I, together with our colleagues from the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce and the legislative teams of the House and Senate, will continue to focus on the work that Ponce needs done to get out of oblivion and leave behind those 12 years that the administration of the New Progressive Party submerged it in.”

63 charged in crackdown on drug trafficking in San Germán

By THE STAR STAFF

Afederal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico has returned a six-count indictment charging 63 individuals with drug trafficking in San Germán, the United States District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Several federal and local law enforcement agencies are in charge of the investigation and completed the filing of charges and arresting processes with the collaboration of additional federal partner agencies. The investigation and the arrest operation are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The indictment came down on April 3.

“This case is a prime example of successful drug interdiction operations that result from collaborative work between federal and state agencies,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “We can remove wrongdoers from the streets and bring stability and peace to our communities when we jointly bring our resources, personnel, and operational expertise to bear against extensive organized crime networks.”

The indictment alleges that from 2015 through April 3 of this year, the defendants were members of a drug trafficking organization that distributed heroin, cocaine base (commonly known as “crack”), cocaine, marijuana, fentanyl, oxycodone (Percocet), and Alprazolam (Xanax) in the Manuel F. Rossy and El Recreo public housing projects in San Germán and areas nearby for significant financial gain and profit. Court documents allege that the defendants acted in different roles to further the goals of the drug trafficking conspiracy, including as leaders, enforcers, runners, sellers and facilitators.

The government also claimed that the co-conspirators conducted drug trafficking transactions at the basketball court of the housing complexes in the presence of minors and used multiple vehicles to transport money, narcotics and firearms. The acts alleged to have been performed in furtherance of the conspiracy included the delivery of heroin, cocaine, crack, marijuana, and prescription pills to clients. According to the indictment, some of the defendants also mixed fentanyl into the heroin sold at the drug points.

The charged conduct included the use of

force, violence and intimidation to maintain control of the drug trafficking operations and intimidate rival gangs. Accordingly, eight defendants were also charged with possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

If convicted, the defendants face a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, in consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other

statutory factors.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau’s Mayagüez Strike Force teamed with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit in the investigation and arrest operations.

Ponce Mayor Luis Irizarry Pabón

United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico W. Stephen Muldrow

LMM airport topped 1 million travelers in March

By THE STAR STAFF

Aerostar Puerto Rico President Jorge Hernández announced Wednesday that Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina saw its highest monthly number of travelers since 2005 with 1,018,896 passengers registered for March.

Hernández noted the record number represents an increase of 85,469 travelers compared to the 918,236 who transited through the airport in March 2022.

The Aerostar chief said the flow of cruise passengers and others traveling on spring break in the United States, along with tourism in general, contributed to the rise recorded last month. He added that Aerostar’s projection is that passenger traffic will increase between 5% and 10% throughout the year, and especially during the summer months.

“The passenger records achieved in calendar year 2022, with 10.3 million, and those recorded in March this year are very positive signs of recovery of the industry,” Hernández said. “The increase in passenger traffic anticipates good prospects for the tourism sector, and also for Puerto Rico, as it represents tourism revenues, job creation and greater economic activity.”

He added that since Aerostar assumed the operation of the island’s main air terminal in 2013, the company

has made a total net investment of $274 million in capital improvements and new services with the aim of attracting more passengers and making the island a more competitive destination. Among the measures, he mentioned the remodeling of Terminal D, the expansion of parking and the creation of a $2.1 million fund to incentivize airlines

to increase their seating capacity.

The traffic drawn to the island in March came mostly from the mainland United States. Places of origin include Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa in Florida, as well as Newark, N.J., Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago and Houston, and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia insisted Wednesday that the imminent federal conviction of his cousins Walter and Eduardo Pierluisi Isern will not affect his re-election campaign or stain his administration.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with my campaigns and my aspirations,” Pierluisi said, pointing out that situations his family is experiencing can occur in any family. “They did support me; sure, they did. Still, as attorney Osvaldo Carlo said, this has nothing to do with my political campaigns.”

Eduardo and Walter Pierluisi and a third individual are expected to plead guilty today to embezzling nearly $4 million in federal funds after allegedly inflating the bills of companies they ran and that were paid by another company, owned by Walter, in charge of managing public housing.

American Management & Administration Corp. began managing public housing in 1995.

“This has nothing to do with me,” the governor said. “My administration did not award contracts here.”

Pierluisi acknowledged that he will be the target of political attacks as a result of his cousins’ case and that they will “stain” his name.

“I am going to defend myself, and I am not going to allow them to hold me responsible for what does not involve me,” he said.

Last year, federal officials from the FBI and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development executed a search warrant at the facilities of American Management and

Administration Corp.

Authorities also seized the brothers’ cell phones, and executed a search warrant at Eduardo Pierluisi’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 have been canceled.

Governor: Cousins’ expected guilty pleas have nothing to do with him or his campaigns

Passenger traffic at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina surpassed a million in March for the highest monthly total in 18 years.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

PR to receive $3 million federal grant to plan clean energy strategy

By THE STAR STAFF

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) announced Wednesday that Puerto Rico will receive $3 million to plan innovative strategies to cut climate pollution and build clean energy economies across the commonwealth.

In March, the EPA announced the availability of the funds, which represent the first funding going to states, local governments, tribes and territories from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program created by the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. Later this year, the EPA will launch a competition for $4.6 billion in funding to implement projects and initiatives included in the plans. Puerto Rico will be eligible to receive that implementation funding because it has opted in to receive the planning grant.

Additionally, the San Juan metropolitan area is among the 57 most populous metropolitan areas in the nation with the opportunity to receive $1 million each to develop regional planning grants with key stakeholders in their area. Lead agencies in these metropolitan areas must submit a notice of intent to participate by April 28. Communities

that do not rank among the most populous areas will have opportunities to partner with their states and neighboring jurisdictions.

“Puerto Rico has signed on to a historic opportunity to invest in planning for ways to reduce climate pollution,

boost renewable energy, create jobs and support communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts,” EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. García said. “The decision to opt into this historic program now is so important because once the planning is completed there is an opportunity this year for even more funding to start implementing the work on the ground. In addition to this funding for all of PR, the San Juan Metropolitan Area also has until April 28 to sign on to receive $1 million for climate planning under this same program.”

Puerto Rico, the 50 states, and the District of Columbia were each eligible to receive $3 million in EPA CPRG planning funds. Puerto Rico will use the funds to augment climate planning in collaboration with municipalities and conduct meaningful engagement with communities, including with overburdened communities.

In 2019, Puerto Rico passed the Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act, which set a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050. The law sets interim goals of 40% renewable energy sources by 2025 and 60% by 2040. Puerto Rico’s participation in the CPRG program will support its ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, establish a reliable and carbon-neutral power grid and ensure all communities equitably benefit in the clean energy transition.

FEMA completes more than 850 site inspections from Fiona recovery

By THE STAR STAFF

Within the Public Assistance (PA) program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has completed more than 851 site inspections throughout Puerto Rico, advancing the island’s recovery from Hurricane Fiona.

That number represents nearly 1,625 facilities and infrastructure items that applicants reported were damaged by the disaster, FEMA said Wednesday.

“Recovery from Hurricane Fiona is advancing at a steady pace, with hundreds of site inspections and follow-up meetings anticipated in the coming weeks,” said Nancy Casper, the federal coordinating officer for Hurricane Fiona. “To keep this momentum and avoid delays in the public assistance process, it is very

important that municipalities, government agencies and nonprofit organizations continue providing information in a timely manner.”

Hundreds of applicants have submitted damage inventory lists to FEMA. More than 12,300 facilities and infrastructure items have been submitted for review. They include 5,783 items from municipalities, 5,926 from government agencies and 624 from private nonprofit organizations, such as houses of worship and community-based organizations. Damage inventory lists will be reviewed to ensure eligibility.

Currently, FEMA has nearly 60 site inspectors, including 15 new recruits from Puerto Rico, who support the site inspections for hurricane-damaged facilities.

The PA program delivery process is complex, with

several phases of review, validation and approval, noted Jorge D. López, PA deputy infrastructure branch director at FEMA.

“The goal is to complete all site inspections by the end of April,” López said.

The program delivery process consists of seven distinct phases, from the preliminary damage assessment conducted after the incident, until the final project reconciliation and closing.

Some phases are concerned with inspecting and documenting damage, others with cost reviews and validation.

During each phase, specialists must analyze data and review documentation to ensure compliance with FEMA procedures, in accordance with federal regulations and program requirements.

Woman to face trial in domestic violence case involving partner, minor

By THE STAR STAFF

San Juan Superior Court Judge Joie Lin Lao Meléndez on Wednesday determined cause for trial for domestic violence against Elianni Bello Gelabert, who was accused of assaulting her partner and an eightyear-old daughter of the injured party on Dec. 30.

The accused woman will face trial for aggravated abuse in violation of article 3.2, subparagraphs (a) and

(d), of the Law for Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention. The provision makes it an offense when ill-treatment is committed in the couple’s home or the place where they are housed, and the ill-treatment is committed in the presence of a minor or minors.

An indictment hearing was scheduled for next Monday at 9:30 a.m. The trial is scheduled to begin on May 17.

The San Juan Prosecutor’s Office requested a prelim-

inary hearing to re-present evidence related to a charge of child abuse against the woman.

“Although the court found cause in two modalities of domestic violence, it did not determine cause for the crime under Law 246 of 2011, but we requested an appeal hearing to present it again because we believe that we have the required evidence to show that the accused also assaulted the minor,” said prosecutor Rebeca Matos Guzmán, who presented the evidence.

EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. García

Leaders in Congress given classified records found at homes of Biden and Trump

By KAROUN DEMIRJIAN and JULIAN E. BARNES

American intelligence agencies have begun providing leaders of the House and Senate access to copies of the classified documents found in the possession of former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, according to U.S. officials.

The materials, which started arriving on Capitol Hill last week, are being shared exclusively with the so-called Gang of Eight, which includes the leaders of both chambers and the chairs and ranking members of the two congressional intelligence committees, who hold the highest-level security clearances in Congress. But it will likely be several weeks, if not longer, before lawmakers are given access to the full complement of documents they are seeking, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the sharing of the documents.

The decision to share the information comes after a concerted bipartisan push spearheaded by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who lead the intelligence panel. They have spent weeks waging both an internal battle and a public campaign demanding the administration share with Congress the substance of classified documents discovered at the homes of Trump, Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.

During a public hearing last month, they repeatedly pressed senior intelligence leaders to provide lawmakers access to the documents, with Warner, the chair, warning that the administration’s stated reasoning for not doing so “does not pass the smell test.”

Until last week, the Justice Department resisted sharing copies of the documents with Congress, citing concerns raised by the special counsels overseeing investigations into how such materials ended up among the personal effects of the current and former presidents. Some in the department had worried that if the documents leaked, it could compromise any potential prosecution, especially if Trump proclaimed that a given piece of intelligence had been declassified.

But lawmakers rejected that position, pointing out that intelligence officials regularly provide the Gang of Eight warnings regarding the most secret operations and intelligence the United States gathers, and there are relatively

American intelligence agencies have begun providing leaders of the House and Senate access to copies of the classified documents found in the possession of former President Donald Trump and President Biden, according to U.S. officials.

few examples of that material making its way into the public.

Several members have also stressed that a special counsel’s investigation does not obviate their oversight responsibilities or the administration’s obligation to share sensitive materials with Capitol Hill. They noted that the Senate Intelligence Committee was briefed about matters related to an investigation by a former special counsel, Robert Mueller, into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election before it had concluded.

Representatives of the lawmakers and Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, declined to comment on the agreement to provide the documents to Congress, which was reported earlier Tuesday by Punchbowl News.

The first tranche of documents consists of mostly less sensitive material, according to officials familiar with its contents who noted that the most highly classified and potentially sensitive papers will likely be provided later.

The administration has not yet offered the Gang of Eight a precise timeline for when members might expect the balance of the materials, the officials added. The first documents were provided last week, though officials said the agreement to send them was reached earlier.

At this juncture, only a very slim subset of people on Capitol Hill have had the opportunity to view the materials provided, as the administration began sharing the documents after senators and House members had departed Washington for a two-week Easter recess.

The Gang of Eight leaders are expected to review the materials once both chambers return to Capitol Hill next week.

Ex-firefighter who threw extinguisher at police at Capitol gets prison time

By LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA

Aretired firefighter who threw a fire extinguisher at a group of police officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has been sentenced to more than four years in prison, federal officials said earlier this week.

Prosecutors said the former firefighter, Robert Sanford, 57, of Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, had struck three police officers in the head with the extinguisher, injuring at least two of them. Sanford, who later said he had gone to the Capitol at the direction of former President Donald Trump, also threw a traffic cone at the officers and called them “traitors,” according to documents filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

On Tuesday, Sanford was sentenced to 52 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release after pleading guilty in September to assaulting law enforcement officers with a dangerous weapon. Other charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement. Sanford was also ordered to pay more than $5,500 in restitution to the Capitol and for medical expenses incurred by one of the injured officers, federal officials said.

More than 300 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, and by January, nearly 200 defendants had been sentenced to prison time, the

Department of Justice said. Among the longest sentences was a 10-year term handed down in September to a retired New York City police officer who swung a metal flagpole at a Washington officer.

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Sanford boarded an early-morning bus organized by the conservative nonprofit group Turning Point USA to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally, according to court documents.

After returning home, he told a friend he had “followed the President’s instructions” to proceed to the Capitol, according to a criminal complaint filed on Jan. 13, 2021. He was arrested the following day.

In August 2022, Sanford sought therapy and began working with a “cult deprogramming” specialist to try to understand his behavior on Jan. 6, according to court documents filed by his lawyer. He learned that the websites he had been relying on for news had sent him deeper into conspiratorial rabbit holes, according to the documents, which note that one of his motivations for attending the rally had been “simply to be around people who agreed with him as opposed to his friends and family members who did not agree with his beliefs.”

Sanford’s lawyer, Andrew M. Stewart, said in an interview Tuesday that although his client had been hoping for a shorter sentence, he understood the court’s rationale. “He is very much a libertarian, and very much got caught up in the mob mentality,” Stewart said. “He’s prepared to accept responsibility.”

Stewart said that before Jan. 6, his client had not attended political gatherings. Now, he added, “he’s done with politics, and he’s done with rallies.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said by email Tuesday that it would not comment on any Jan. 6 cases.

A retired firefighter who threw a fire extinguisher at a group of police officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has been sentenced to more than four years in prison, federal officials said on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

EPA lays out rules to turbocharge sales of electric cars and trucks

By CORAL DAVENPORT

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed, the nation’s most ambitious climate regulations to date, two plans designed to ensure two-thirds of new passenger cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States are all-electric by 2032.

If the two rules are enacted as proposed, they would put the world’s largest economy on track to slash its planet-warming emissions at the pace that scientists say is required of all nations in order to avert the most devastating impacts of climate change.

The new rules would require nothing short of a revolution in the U.S. auto industry. Last year, all-electric vehicles were just 5.8% of new car sales in the United States and fewer than 2% of new heavy trucks sold.

“By proposing the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks, we are delivering on the Biden-Harris administration’s promise to protect people and the planet, securing critical reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensuring significant economic benefits like lower fuel and maintenance costs for families,” the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, Michael Regan, said in a statement.

The EPA cannot mandate that carmakers sell a certain number of electric vehicles. But under the Clean Air Act, the agency can limit the pollution generated by the total number of cars each manufacturer sells. And the agency can set that limit so tightly that the only way manufacturers can comply is to sell a certain percentage of zero emissions vehicles.

The proposed tailpipe pollution limits for cars, first reported by The New York Times on Saturday, are designed to ensure that 67% of sales of new light-duty passenger vehicles, from sedans to pickup trucks, will be all-electric by 2032. Additionally, 46% of sales of new medium-duty trucks, such as delivery vans, will be all-electric or of some other form of zero-emissions technology by the same year, according to the plan.

The EPA also proposed a companion rule governing heavy-duty vehicles, designed so that half of new buses and 25% of new heavy trucks sold would be all-electric by 2032.

Combined, the two rules would eliminate the equivalent of carbon dioxide emissions generated over two years by all sectors of the economy in the United States, the second biggest polluting country on the planet after China.

But some autoworkers and manufacturers fear that the transition to all-electric vehicles envisioned by the Biden admi-

nistration goes too far, too fast and could result in job losses and lower profits.

Major automakers have for the most part invested heavily in electrification. Nonetheless, several are apprehensive about customer demand for the pricier all-electric models; the supply of batteries; and the speed with which a national network of charging stations can be created.

Autoworkers fear job losses, since electric vehicles require fewer than half the number of workers to assemble than cars with internal combustion engines do.

Automakers and union workers have been expressing those fears directly to the president since 2021, when Biden announced an executive order directing government policies to ensure that 50% of all new passenger vehicle sales be all-electric by 2030.

As word began to spread last week that his new regulations were designed to go still further, some automakers pushed back.

John Bozzella, president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large U.S. and foreign automakers, questioned how the EPA could justify “exceeding the carefully considered and data-driven goal announced by the administration in the executive order.”

“Yes, America’s transition to an electric and low-carbon transportation future is well underway,” Bozzella said in a statement. “EV and battery manufacturing is ramping up across the country because automakers have self-financed billions to expand vehicle electrification. It’s also true that EPA’s proposed emissions plan is aggressive by any measure.”

“Remember this: A lot has to go right for this massive — and unprecedented — change in our automotive market and industrial base to succeed,” Bozzella said.

Engineers and scientists at the EPA have been working over the past year to determine how much electric vehicle technology is likely to advance in the next decade in order to set the strongest, achievable tailpipe emissions limits.

Tensions between the auto industry and the Biden administration played out over the past week, as the administration was forced to rearrange its rollout of the proposal, according to three people familiar with what happened.

Officials had originally planned for Regan to announce the policies in Detroit, surrounded by American-made all-electric vehicles.

But as auto executives and the United Auto Workers learned the details of the proposed regulations, some grew uneasy about publicly supporting it, according to the people familiar with their thinking. The setting was moved from Detroit to EPA headquarters in Washington, where Regan was scheduled to make remarks Wednesday morning.

In an interview, Regan acknowledged that some auto executives and union leaders had expressed anxiety over the proposals — adding that they could be amended to assuage those fears.

“We’re very mindful that this is a proposal, and we want to give as much flexibility possible,” he said. The agency will accept public comments on the proposed rules before they are finalized next year. The rules would take effect starting with model year 2027.

The new rules would require nothing short of a revolution in the U.S. auto industry.

experiencia para instalar radios bocinas, alarmas y accesorios de autos, que desee desarrollar sus habilidades Llamar para más información.

Wall Street closes lower after Fed minutes, inflation data

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly rose more than 150 points Wednesday on cooler-than-expected inflation data, with the release of the Consumer Price Index. Meanwhile, minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting are due out in the afternoon.

The Labor Department’s March CPI report showed inflation rising 0.1% for the month, cooler than Wall Street’s expected 0.3% monthly rise. Year over year, the CPI increased 5%, below the 5.2% estimate. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.4% on the month, with a one-year gain of 5.6%, both matching Wall Street’s estimates.

Meanwhile, first-quarter earnings season looms as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and PNC Financial (PNC) kick off bank earnings on Friday. Further, Delta Air Lines (DAL) reports Thursday and UnitedHealth (UNH) earnings are out Friday.

After Wednesday’s opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, and the S&P 500 added 0.2%. The techheavy Nasdaq composite reversed slightly lower after giving up solid gains in morning action.

Among U.S. exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) advanced 0.6%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gained 0.5% early Wednesday.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield on Wednesday traded down to 3.37%. Last week, the 10-year yield hit its lowest level since mid-September, but is bouncing this week.

U.S. oil prices added to Tuesday’s gains, climbing more than 1% in early morning trade Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures moved above $82 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly oil inventories are out at 10:30 a.m. ET.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 inched lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 0.4%.

Tuesday’s Big Picture column commented, “Selling never got intense on the Nasdaq, which closed lower by 0.4%. Breadth watchers liked the fact that winners had a slight edge over losers. But higher volume on the Nasdaq gave the index its second distribution day.”

Now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column with the stock market in an uptrend.

Dow Jones leader Boeing is nearing a flat base’s 221.43 buy point, according to IBD MarketSmith pattern recognition. Shares rose 0.6% Wednesday, just 5% away from the latest entry.

Cisco Systems fell further below a flat base’s 51.84 buy point amid a 1.4% fall Tuesday. CSCO stock topped the entry on March 31. Shares gained 0.3% Wednesday morning.

Visa shares moved closer to a cup base’s 234.40 buy point, climbing 0.9% Tuesday. V stock tacked on 1.2% early Wednesday.

Five Below tacked on 0.2% Tuesday, adding to Monday’s breakout gains past a 212.66 buy point in a flat base. Shares are in the 5% buy area that goes up to 223.29. The stock rose 1.1%

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

Wednesday morning.

Backstory: On March, 15, Philadelphia-based Five Below, which operates 1,292 teen- and tween-focused discount stores in 42 states, closed out 2022 with an earnings and revenue beat. For the fourth quarter, Five Below earnings popped 23% to $3.07 per share, ending a three-quarter string of yearover-year declines.

IBD Leaderboard watchlist stock Floor & Decor moved within striking distance of a cup-with-handle’s 99.47 buy

point. Shares rose 1% early Wednesday, breaking out past the latest entry.

Backstory: Floor & Decor operates 191 warehouse-format stores and six design studios across 36 states. It sells tile, wood, laminate, vinyl, and natural stone flooring products. It also sells decorative accessories. Earnings are seen slipping 2% this year before rising to 27% in 2024 and 24% in 2025.

IBD SwingTrader pick ServiceNow continues to move up the right side of a cup base with a 494.72 buy point. A potential handle is one day away from forming, which will display a 482.43 buy point. NOW stock gained 1.8% Wednesday morning.

The final blocks: Inside Ukraine’s bloody stand for Bakhmut

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

After 10 months of one of the longest and bloodiest battles in Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers are now defending a shrinking half-circle of ruins in a western neighborhood of Bakhmut, only about 20 blocks wide and continually pounded with artillery.

Pushed into this ever-smaller corner of the 16-squaremile city, the Ukrainian army is determined to hunker down and hold out, even as allies have quietly questioned the rationale for fighting block by block, sustaining significant casualties, in a city that is a devastating panorama of damaged buildings and rubble.

Even six weeks ago, Ukraine’s toehold in Bakhmut, site of some of the fiercest urban combat in Europe since World War II, had seemed tenuous and the city close to being encircled, according to recently leaked U.S. intelligence documents. A visit this week to the remaining, battered zone of control, along with interviews with soldiers and commanders, showed that Ukraine had lost ground inside the city, although an access road remained passable, allowing resupply and evacuation of wounded.

In Ukraine’s assessment, holding out in these grim conditions is a strategic imperative, to bog down the Russian army while Ukraine rearms and retrains its own military for a coming counteroffensive.

“It’s a really tough battle,” said Lt. Col. Pavlo Palisa, commander of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, the Ukrainian unit that holds most of the urban front line in the fighting inside Bakhmut.

He spoke to The New York Times during an interview in a bunker this week, as grime-covered soldiers fresh from the front, carrying rifles and grenade launchers, walked in and out.

“We are helping our other units win time, to get ammunition and weapons and prepare for the counteroffensive,” he said.

But he said that troops in and around the city had also at times run low on ammunition.

The problem, he said, was not bottlenecks along the perilous access road into the city, but general shortages in Ukraine’s military warehouses. His units were short on various ammo, including artillery shells, tank rounds and rocket-propelled grenades.

“For me, as a commander, it’s painful to see how we pay with our lives for the lack of ammunition,” he said.

Allies have been slow with deliveries, he said, although the United States and other countries have been scrambling to cut deals with suppliers and militaries the world over.

“I’m sorry, but we need our partners to be more rapid,” Palisa said.

Bakhmut is all but destroyed now, with a deputy defense minister comparing it this week to the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo.

Ukraine is pursuing a costly strategy to hold out. The military continually deploys small units of soldiers into dire conditions in close-range urban combat, while thousands of others defend the access route from fields and villages to the city’s west.

Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to The Times described fighting in abandoned buildings, basements and trenches cut through parks, under round-the-clock bombardment. They are often close enough to hear Russians talking in nearby buildings.

In a recent episode recounted by Palisa, the Russians used a tank to shoot a hole in a wall of one apartment block held by the Ukrainians. Russian soldiers then climbed through the hole to fight room by room.

“One part was held by the enemy, one part by our troops,” the colonel said of the apartment block.

The Ukrainians decided to rig the building with explosives, dash out and detonate their trap with the Russians still inside, Palisa said. Soldiers with the 93rd brigade engage in

about 15 firefights at close range every day, he said.

Each side claims that the battle for Bakhmut, which has resulted in tens of thousands of casualties over 10 months, has been vital for weakening the other.

Russia has poured waves of prison inmates into nearsuicidal assaults in and around Bakhmut, backed up by paratroopers and special forces known as Spetsnaz. On the Ukrainian side, the 93rd has defended most of the urban front since January, along with national guard and border guard troops.

Such street fighting has advantages for Ukraine. As in any urban warfare, the maze of ruins and hiding places forces the more powerful military, in this case Russia’s, to fight on an equal footing, unable to leverage its superiority in heavy weaponry or artillery.

“You can take away the range advantage the attacker wants to have,” said John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. In this sense, urban warfare, he said, has been called “the great equalizer.”

In urban combat, it is common to deploy an encirclement strategy to starve defending forces of ammunition, as for example the Soviet Union did at Stalingrad, in the largest urban battle in history. But Ukraine has reinforced its supply lines by defending the access route.

The route passes the destroyed village of Ivanivske, where the cherry trees were blooming amid the ruins this week. From there on, every few hundred yards, a burned or blown-up vehicle had been shoved onto the shoulder.

“It’s going to get bumpy,” the driver of a mud-splattered Canadian-supplied armored car warned, before accelerating past a stretch exposed to Russian fire.

Soldiers in the car lurched and bounced like shaken dolls.

The passable road means that Russia’s effort to encircle the Ukrainian troops has failed, for now at least, forcing the Russian military to press ahead in the bloody, street-bystreet assaults. Losses pile up daily.

The basement bunker, with a wood fire for warmth and a table laid with pickled tomatoes and plastic cups of tea for soldiers, is command central. From a screen, Palisa watched a drone video showing Russians running into a building, apparently planning an assault from there.

He radioed his artillery unit, which fires from the hills to the west of Bakhmut, using the call sign “Houston,” as if supporting an expedition in space.

“Houston, we have a target,” he said.

A few moments later, smoke billowed from the building, the drone video showed.

Palisa, 38, cut short graduate studies at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, when Russia invaded Ukraine last year. He returned to fight.

One of the courses he missed, he said, focused on urban combat. It is a shame, he said, given his command now.

“I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “We are still here in Bakhmut.”

A Ukrainian soldier returns from a frontline position in southern Bakhmut, Ukraine on April 7, 2023.

Russia moves to make draft evasion more difficult

By IVAN NECHEPURENKO, NEIL MacFARQUHAR and VJOSA ISAI

With many Russians worried that their government may once again resort to a far-reaching military conscription to shore up its faltering invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers in Moscow on Tuesday moved to make it much harder for people to dodge the draft.

The measures passed by the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, would bar anyone called up to fight in Ukraine from leaving the country, among other restrictions. The upper house of parliament must also approve the measures.

While the Kremlin insists that it does not plan a new draft, the government appears intent on making sure that if there is one, it is not as chaotic as the mass conscription ordered last fall.

When President Vladimir Putin of Russia announced that one in September, saying the goal was to bring about 300,000 more troops into the military, tens of thousands of men headed for the borders, finding havens in other countries.

That may prove to be more difficult should there be a new conscription.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, said Tuesday that there were no plans to mobilize more men to fight in Ukraine and that the measures were needed to modernize the conscription system.

But the question of a new draft has taken on added urgency in Russia as its forces prepare for an anticipated spring counteroffensive from Ukrainians. The Kremlin has had to walk a fine line between keeping the peace at home and meeting its military needs in Ukraine.

Analysts say the prospect of another callup depends on the situation on the ground.

“Risks of another mobilization wave will directly depend on the threat of whether Ukraine can break through the defense lines,” Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R. Politik, a political analysis firm focused on Russia, wrote on the Telegram social messaging app.

“If that happens, no political arguments, such as approval ratings, growing anxiety or other issues would prevent it.”

But Ukraine, too, faces steep challenges, especially when it comes to desperately needed artillery shells and air-defense ammunition. It has pressed its allies for more weaponry, and Tuesday, on a visit to Toronto, Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal secured a promise for new military aid. Canada said it would supply

Ukraine with 21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.8 million rounds of ammunition, worth 59 million Canadian dollars (about $44 million).

The measures adopted by the Duma on Tuesday also included a provision to introduce electronic draft summonses and steps to close loopholes in the system to make it more diffi-

cult for draftees to avoid notifications.

Under the new law, a summons would be marked as formally received as soon as it landed in a recipient’s inbox on a widely used government services website. Even if the draftee did not have an account, a call-up notice would be marked as officially received seven days after being added to the registry.

Russians called up would immediately be forbidden to leave the country. And failure to turn up at a local conscription office within 20 days of receiving a draft notice could result in a variety of penalties, including a driver’s license suspension, along with a block on registering real estate and other property and on receiving a bank loan.

The tightening of the conscription rules comes against the backdrop of a much broader crackdown on civil liberties in Russia that began after Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

This week, a Kremlin critic facing 25 years in prison for criticizing the war likened the current climate in his country to the terror of the Stalin era.

“The day will come when the darkness over our country will dissipate,” the dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, declared in a courtroom in Moscow. “When black will be called black and white will be called white; when at the official level it will be recognized that two times two is still four; when a war will be called a war, and a usurper a usurper.”

The Kremlin has insisted on describing the invasion as a “special military operation,” but it soon learned that whatever it wants to call it, it has plunged Russia into a bloody and protracted conflict that has, by Western estimates, killed or wounded as many as 200,000 Russian soldiers.

In the fall, facing setbacks on the battlefield, Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of troops, prompting protests nationwide and an exodus of draft-age men.

Back then, Russians could dodge conscription by avoiding receipt of the call-up notice, a formal document that had to be signed. And the conscription system was outdated. Many people were not registered or had old addresses on file — making it hard for military officials to locate potential draftees.

The passage of the new draft law was rushed. Details of the new measures were announced only the day before, and some deputies complained on Tuesday that they could not read the draft law before voting.

The final measure will have to be signed by Putin before it becomes law.

Conscripted soldiers in front of Luzhniki Stadium during a concert and rally in support of the war in February.

Russian conscripts at a railway station in Sevastopol, Crimea, last year before leaving for Ukraine.

From red carpet to doghouse: Macron returns from China to allied dismay

By ROGER COHEN

President Emmanuel Macron landed in China to a red-carpet reception and all the pomp of a state visit, a three-day tour little short of a lovefest that he clearly hoped would further his ambitions for France to sit at the table of the great powers in a world changed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s emergence as an arbiter of global conflict.

But Macron’s reception on returning to Europe has been chilly.

Already embattled at home, facing huge weekly protests in the streets, he now finds himself excoriated abroad for what has been criticized as his naiveté — first with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, whom he failed to dissuade from war after an intense courtship, and now with China’s president, Xi Jinping, who wants to drive a wedge between Europe and the United States and has warned of American “containment.”

The fallout from the China trip has left the French president more isolated than at any time in his six-year presidency, unpopular in France and mistrusted beyond it as he attempts to reshape not only his own country but also the foundations of whatever international order will emerge after the war in Ukraine.

In short order in China, Macron managed to alienate or worry allies from Warsaw to Washington, with his embrace of what a Sino-French declaration called a “global strategic partnership with China.” He adopted the Chinese lexicon of a “multipolar” world, freed of “blocs,” liberated from the “Cold War mentality,” and less reliant on the “extraterritoriality of the U.S. dollar.”

Most worrisome, particularly for the United States, he suggested in an interview with Politico and French journalists on the way home that the security of Taiwan is not the problem of a Europe that must resist becoming America’s “vassals.”

How Taiwanese democracy and freedom differ from Ukrainian democracy and freedom, and how the threat of Russian autocracy differs from the threat of a Chinese autocracy that backs Moscow, were two questions left unanswered by Macron.

Speaking of Taiwan, he said: “The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

By Tuesday the Élysée Palace, home to the president, felt it necessary to clarify France’s allegiances, so muddied had the optics become. France, it said, “is not equidistant

between the United States and China. The United States is our ally, with shared values.”

The fact that this clarification was necessary suggested how much Macron had unsettled his allies.

“The alliance with the United States is the absolute foundation of our security,” Mateusz Morawiecki, prime minister of Poland, said Tuesday in an evident riposte to Macron, noting that some Western leaders “dream of cooperation with everyone, with Russia and with some powers in the Far East.”

The comment underscored how Macron often speaks for Europe’s ambitions and dreams even as sharp divisions persist on the continent, particularly between front-line states bordering Russia that are fiercely attached to NATO, and Macron’s Gaullist vision of a France that is “allied but not aligned” with Washington.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recorded a twominute video lambasting Macron in which he asked: “Does Macron speak for all of Europe, is Macron now the head of Europe? Because if he is there are some things we are going to have to change.”

One such change, he said, might be America telling Europe: “You guys handle Ukraine.”

This suggestion pointed to one of the issues with Macron’s remarks. Talk of building European “strategic autonomy” at a time when the United States is providing the vast bulk of

the military support for Ukraine seemed provocative, especially with an American election year looming and restiveness growing in the Republican Party over massive spending on Ukraine.

Another was timing: Macron spoke hours before China began threatening military drills around Taiwan in response to a meeting days earlier of the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ingwen, with Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

“It matters where and when you say things,” said Guntram Wolff, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. “When you leave Xi and immediately say Taiwan is none of our business it seems bizarre.”

He added: “If you think Europe should give up on Taiwan, you immediately are asked, who else do you give up on?”

The Biden administration refrained from criticizing its French ally, and the European Union played down any differences between Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president who accompanied him to China. She was far more forthright on Taiwan while there, saying, “Nobody should unilaterally change the status quo by force in this region.”

Von der Leyen received none of the lavish attention showered on Macron. China prefers nation states to transnational entities, and had bristled at a speech she made this month in which she criticized China as “more repressi-

ve at home and more assertive abroad.”

On the face of it, Taiwan does matter to Europe for economic and political reasons. The world runs on Taiwanese chips. The island democracy produces over 60% of the world’s semiconductors and about 90% of the most elaborate ones.

After China’s crushing of democratic aspirations in Hong Kong, the implications of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and the suppression there of liberal democracy would be devastating for the very causes Europe and Macron have committed to defend in Ukraine.

The French presidential statement said: “Our position on Taiwan is constant. We support the status quo and maintain our exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan, which is a recognized democratic system.”

Yet after his failed attempt to sway Putin last year with similar talk of a new “strategic architecture” for Europe, Macron has clearly decided to woo Xi. He hopes not only to reap economic and trade benefits but also to secure Chinese mediation in ending the war in Ukraine. There was no evidence of any such assistance from Xi during the visit.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was not impressed by Macron: “His latest visit to China only emboldens the Communists and President Xi, who seems to be hellbent on rewriting world order and taking Taiwan by force,” he commented on Twitter.

But of course it is precisely such Republican confrontational goading of China that Macron does not want to see Europe drawn into despite itself.

The immediate cost for Macron appears high.

“A debacle,” said Nicole Bacharan, a prominent French foreign policy analyst, of Macron’s interview in Politico, which also revealed that the Élysée had insisted on “proofreading” the story and had cut “some parts of the interview in which the president spoke even more frankly about Taiwan and Europe’s strategic autonomy.”

On Tuesday, Macron made another state visit, traveling to the Netherlands. “Our Europe is made of dreams,” he said there, adding “I don’t want my dreams to be dreamed in other people’s language.”

It was unclear whether he was referring to American or Chinese.

On Thursday, another big demonstration against Macron’s pension reform is scheduled in France. Anger still runs high.

“He is looking for a new orientation,” said one government minister who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak. “But with no stable coalition in parliament, it’s difficult.”

A Chinese Navy ship near Dongju Island, Taiwan, on April 10, 2023.

Inequality ahoy! On the meaning of the superyacht

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Recently ProPublica, a nonprofit, independent newsroom that has partnered with The New York Times on occasion, released a remarkable report about the relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court and conservative billionaire Harlan Crow. It turns out that over the years Thomas, who has portrayed himself as a man of modest tastes who likes to hang out in Walmart parking lots, has taken many lavish — and previously undisclosed — vacations at Crow’s expense. The ethical questions seem obvious.

Still, The Wall Street Journal lashed out at ProPublica, with an editorial headlined “The Smearing of Clarence Thomas.” The article accused ProPublica of using loaded language to create the appearance of a scandal. For example, the paper complained, ProPublica’s report called Crow’s 162-foot private boat, which has been featured in places like the website Superyacht Fan, a “superyacht.” Smear tactics!

Actually, according to a 2022 article in The New Yorker, any yacht over 98 feet long is considered a superyacht within the yachting community.

Which got me thinking about big yachts and what they tell us about the state of society.

When rich people can afford to buy and operate big yachts, they do. Indeed, yachts are a highly visible indicator of inequality, the concentration of income and

wealth in the hands of the few. The Gilded Age was marked by a proliferation of ever bigger, ever more elaborately furnished yachts; when J.P. Morgan built a large steam yacht, its 1898 launch was featured in The New York Times.

Conversely, the Great Compression of income disparities that took place during the 1940s and made America a relatively middle-class society for the next four decades put an end to the first golden era of superyachts. In 1955, Fortune published a remarkable essay, “How Top Executives Live,” which stressed how modest their standard of living had become compared with prewar norms. Among other things, large yachts had “foundered in the sea of progressive taxation. … Today, 75 feet is considered a lot of yacht.”

Now superyachts are back. Indeed, according to that New Yorker article, we’re living through “the greatest boom in the yacht business that has ever existed.”

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years following debates over income and wealth inequality. Ever since inequality began rising in the 1980s, there’s been a sort of intellectual industry devoted to what one might call inequality denial, questioning the data showing a drastic rise in incomes and wealth at the top. Indeed, measuring things at the top can be technically tricky — the very rich are such a small group that they can be missed by random surveys, and their ability to engage in tax avoidance makes it hard to track them with tax data, too.

But if you had any doubts about whether we’re living in an era of extreme wealth concentration, comparable to or even surpassing the Gilded Age, the superyacht boom should quell those doubts.

Veblen’s theory of conspicuous consumption — spending intended to demonstrate one’s wealth and status, rather than for the direct satisfaction it yields. Indeed, the New Yorker article suggests that demand for superyachts really took off once owning your own plane stopped being an effective status symbol: “Once it seemed that every plutocrat had a plane, the thrill was gone.”

Yachts, however, can always be made bigger, so there’s no obvious limit to the game. The status competition isn’t even purely implicit: Every year Boat International hands out the World Superyacht Awards, which supposedly honor “ingenuity and craftsmanship” — but obviously, size also matters.

PO

Telephones:

The rise of superyachts also tells us some important things about the motivations and consequences of spending by the very rich.

First, why do the rich buy superyachts?

Boating — being out on the open water, experiencing nature up close — can be a source of great joy to many people. (Not me — I’m so prone to seasickness that I’ve been known to return my breakfast to the ecosystem while snorkeling.) But really big yachts, which amount to floating mansions, would seem to defeat the purpose, insulating their passengers from much of the maritime experience.

Indeed, that 1955 Fortune article suggested that top executives were just as satisfied with the downsized vessels of their day as a previous generation had been with huge yachts. “The specifications of the boat that interests the great majority of seagoing executives today are ‘forty feet, four people, $40,000.’ In this tidy vessel the businessman of 1955 is quite happily sea-borne.” (For the record, $40,000 in 1955 would be about $450,000 in 2022 dollars.)

Owning and operating a really big yacht is, however, as clear an example as you’re likely to find of Thorstein

In a way, it’s quite sad: Rarely in the course of modern history has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few, yet much of that wealth is being expended on zero-sum games of one-upsmanship.

The other point, emphasized in a guest essay this week in the Times, is that superyachts are immensely destructive to the environment. To be fair, it’s not entirely obvious whether billionaires do more environmental damage with their superyachts than they would if they spent the same amount of money in other ways. But it’s possible: Shipping and aviation — presumably including superyachts and private planes — are notoriously hard to decarbonize.

And in general, while I’m not a degrowther who believes that we must shrink the economy to save the planet, curbing extravagant and destructive spending by the very rich could be part of the solution to climate change.

In any case, the rise of superyachts — regardless of whether they carry Supreme Court justices — is a highly visible indicator of the extreme economic polarization that is certainly a factor in the extreme political polarization that is tearing our democracy apart. And if you’re the kind of person who insists that calling superyachts by their name is somehow a vile smear, you’re part of the problem.

Dr.

Anuncian visita del avión Caza Huracanes

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – El Negociado para el Manejo de Emergencias y Administración de Desastres (NMEAD) y demás Negociados del Departamento de Seguridad Pública (DSP), el Servicio Nacional de Meteorología (SNM), la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA), la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Emergencias (FEMA), la Autoridad de Puertos y el Municipio de Aguadilla anunciaron que el avión Caza Huracanes visitará a Puerto Rico y el público podrá participar del evento.

El avión visitó la Isla el año pasado luego de dos años de ausencia por razón de la pandemia del COVID-19, pero fue por unas horas y no fue abierto al público. Esta vez, la ciudadanía podrá visitarlo y disfrutar un día en familia en el aeropuerto Rafael Hernández, en Aguadilla, el sábado 22 de abril de 8:30 de la mañana a 2:30 de la tarde.

“Este avión es un instrumento importante a la hora de poder determinar la trayectoria, velocidad y fuerza de los huracanes, y así poder tener una mejor idea de las áreas que puede impactar para poder estar mejor preparados. La información que el Caza Huracanes le provee al SNM y a nosotros es vital a la hora de estar pendientes al impacto de un sistema atmosférico. Y su visita ahora en abril, a poco más de un mes del inicio de la temporada el 1ero de junio, nos sirve de recordatorio para tener listos nuestros planes de emergencia familiares e individuales”,

manifestó el comisionado del NMEAD, Nino Correa Filomeno en conferencia de prensa.

El secretario del DSP, Alexis Torres, invitó al público a participar del evento y conocer la función del avión Caza Huracanes. Destacó que “todos los Negociados del Departamento de Seguridad Pública están preparados con sus planes de emergencia de cara a la temporada de huracanes. Al igual que el año pasado, adiestramos a los municipios y a su personal para trabajar coordinados y atender cualquier situación. También le asignamos recursos y equipo de primera respuesta. Mantenemos constante comunicación con los alcaldes, quienes atienden de primera mano las situaciones en sus pueblos”.

El Coordinador de Avisos del SNM, Ernesto Morales, explicó que el avión Caza Huracanes que llegará a la pista del aeropuerto Rafael Hernández en Aguadilla es un C-130 Hércules de la Reserva de la Fuerza Aérea, cuya tripulación vuela directamente al centro de los sistemas atmosféricos tropicales para obtener datos sobre su comportamiento, obteniendo información valiosa para poder hacer un pronóstico más certero de su trayectoria e intensidad.

“Esta es una excelente oportunidad para que el público aprenda sobre las misiones que realiza esta nave, además de que podrán compartir con la tripulación y personal del SNM y del Centro Nacional de Huracanes”, señaló Morales.

El coordinador de la Oficina del Caribe de FEMA en Puerto Rico, Orlando Olivera, dijo que “la visita del

avión Caza Huracanes nos recuerda que es tiempo de prepararnos para la temporada de huracanes que se acerca. Esta es una nueva oportunidad para unir esfuerzos, como hacemos las agencias de manejo de emergencias, para preparar a nuestras familias, el vecindario, el trabajo y la escuela de nuestros hijos. Les invitamos a visitar la exhibición del Caza Huracanes y a aprender cómo estar mejor preparados para la próxima emergencia”.

Por su parte, el director de la Autoridad de los Puertos, Joel Pizá Batiz, dijo que “las instalaciones aéreas son también lugares donde se generan otros tipos de operaciones de gran importancia para la comunidad, tales como estas orientaciones de seguridad al público. Por ello, nos complace recibir en el aeropuerto de Aguadilla a la tripulación del Caza Huracanes como parte de un esfuerzo conjunto para el beneficio de los residentes de la zona oeste y la Isla en general. Invito al público a aprovechar esta oportunidad de obtener valiosa información sobre la importancia de esta nave y su aporte en la temporada de huracanes.

Municipio de Cataño adquiere dos ambulancias y cinco patrullas para responder a las emergencias y reforzar la seguridad

teles rodantes.

CATAÑO

– El alcalde del Municipio de Cataño, Julio Alicea Vasallo, anunció el miércoles, la inversión de más de 600 mil dólares en la compra de dos ambulancias, cinco patrullas, uniformes para el personal de la Oficina Municipal de Manejo de Emergencias y Administración de Desastres, además de la remodelación e instalación de dos cuar-

El equipo formará parte de una flota total de 6 ambulancias y 15 patrullas policiacas.

“Nuestro propósito es garantizar la seguridad, agilizar la respuesta de emergencia y salvar vidas. El gasto en salud y seguridad siempre es una necesaria inversión por los beneficios de confianza y seguridad en favor de la ciudadanía, que ha sido mi prioridad desde diciembre de 2021”, indicó Alicea Vasallo en declaraciones escritas.

Las dos ambulancias, Ford Transit tipo II, del año 2022, se adquirieron mediante subasta por 289,966 dólares, con los fondos asignados al municipio bajo la ley del Plan de Rescate Americano (ARPA, por sus siglas en inglés). Estas ambulancias tipo van, cuentan con capacidad de asistencia médica, camillas eléctricas y pueden transportar pacientes con mayor rapidez.

Por otro lado, el Municipio también adquirió cinco vehículos de tamaño mediano, con tracción en dos ruedas, tipo SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle), mediante una subasta a un costo total de 220,405 dólares, para ser usados como patrullas

de la policía municipal. Estos vehículos también se están adquiriendo con los fondos asignados al municipio bajo la ley ARPA.

“Estos equipos conforman un refuerzo decidido para nuestra seguridad pública. De las 8 patrullas que había cuando llegué a la alcaldía, con estas nuevas 5, contaremos con 15 vehículos para velar por la vida y propiedad de nuestros residentes y visitantes. Cabe destacar que hubo dos vehículos marca Jeep, que anteriormente estaban asignados a personal de confianza las 24 horas del día, que fueron reasignados y hoy también sirven como patrullas en todo nuestro pueblo. Nuestro compromiso se hace palabra y este tipo de acciones lo demuestra”, resaltó el alcalde de Cataño.

Otras de las iniciativas importantes ha sido la adquisición de camisas, pantalones y botas para el personal de manejo de emergencias. Por años, estos funcionarios han costeado sus uniformes, así que, gracias a los ahorros logrados, hemos podido adquirir esta indumentaria adecuada, valiosa y resistente para la ardua labor de trabajar mayormente en emergencias causadas por las inundaciones.

POR CYBERNEWS

Three great documentaries to stream

By BEN KENIGSBERG

The proliferation of documentaries on streaming services makes it difficult to choose what to watch. Each month, we’ll choose three nonfiction films — classics, overlooked recent docs and more — that will reward your time.

‘Hoop Dreams’ (1994)

Stream it on the Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Peacock, Tubi and Vudu.

“Hoop Dreams” is certainly the best film ever made about the pipeline that takes young basketball players from blacktops in impoverished city neighborhoods to high school athletics and eventually college teams, with a promise of success that will elude all but a small few. Touching on issues of race, economics, education and exploitation, it follows the players and their families through the late 1980s and early 1990s. In sheer scope and by popular acclamation, it is one of the most extraordinary, compassionate and committed of all documentaries.

Directed by Steve James, “Hoop Dreams” semi-separately observes two teenagers from different neighborhoods in Chicago — William Gates, from the row houses of the CabriniGreen housing project, and Arthur Agee, from the Garfield Park area of the city’s West Side — whose lives occasionally intersect. Both are invited to play for St. Joseph High School, a wellappointed private Catholic school a 90-minute commute away in the suburbs. St. Joseph lures students with the expectation that they might become the next Isiah Thomas, an alumnus turned NBA sensation. Thomas’ high school coach, Gene Pingatore, is still basking in that glory and is happy to name-drop “Isiah.” Pingatore lives in the apparent hope that lightning will strike twice. But this isn’t a film about how Agee and Gates made it to the NBA. Quite the contrary: It is a chronicle of how their hoop dreams are deferred at nearly every turn, and of how the big-money machinery of institutional basketball cares little for the people it ensnares. The subjects’ fates are nearly always poised on a financial precipice.

When Agee, who has a partial scholarship, falls behind on tuition, St. Joseph forces him to leave, even withholding his transcript from his public school until his parents — a mother who has lost her minimum-wage job as a nurse’s assistant and a father who has just rejoined the family after grappling with addiction and incarceration — can cover the balance. His coach at his new school suggests that were Agee playing at the level St. Joseph had expected, money

wouldn’t have been an issue. Gates receives financial help on top of his scholarship, but a knee injury sidelines him. Even after recovering, he is under pressure to play when he probably shouldn’t. A potential college scholarship hinges on an ACT score that seems just out of reach. His brother, whose own basketball ambitions were dashed, lives vicariously through him. And almost incidentally, Gates is a new father, determined to be better than his own largely absent dad, in a movie that has a lot to say about parents’ hopes for their children.

‘The Fog of War’ (2003) Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV and Google Play.

Just two months after the start of the Iraq War, Errol Morris, at Cannes, unveiled a film in which Robert S. McNamara, one of the key American officials who oversaw the Vietnam War, reflected on that conflict with something like remorse. Although the documentary was about events that had occurred more than three decades earlier, it couldn’t have been timelier when it opened 20 years ago — not least because archival images of the polished, technocratic McNamara smiling and delivering sanguine news about Vietnam couldn’t help but call to mind then-current images of George W. Bush’s defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, selling the invasion of Iraq, or because of McNamara’s assertion that the United States should not ever apply its military power unilaterally.

In “The Fog of War,” which went on to win Morris his only Oscar so far, the 85-year-old McNamara, the defense secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, tries to draw conclusions about his experiences during Vietnam and in World War II, when he was involved in the firebombing of Japan. (“What makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?” he asks of that campaign.)

Morris went on to address the Iraq War

head-on in “Standard Operating Procedure” and the Rumsfeld portrait “The Unknown Known,” both of which are in the news again with the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. But perhaps neither of them so directly confronts the issue of guilt, an emotion to which McNamara, in the film’s closing moments, declines to admit.

“I’d rather be damned if I don’t,” he says.

‘Crip Camp’ (2020) Stream it on Netflix.

Before she was a disability rights activist, Judy Heumann, who died in March at 75, was a counselor at Camp Jened, which operated as a sleepaway camp for the disabled from the 1950s through the 1970s. The movie argues that the ties and friendships formed there — at a time when disabled teenagers had few shared spaces to connect freely and be themselves — laid the groundwork for the American disability rights movement, especially once several former campers gathered in the revolutionary ferment of Berkeley, California, in the 1970s.

Incredibly, the directors, Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, who attended the camp

himself, have footage of the campers as campers, in vintage material shot by a collective called the People’s Video Theater — which means there’s a pleasing then-and-now quality to the movie. Heumann is introduced at age 23 conducting a vote on whether the campers should cook lasagna on a Wednesday evening — a humble origin story for an activist who, among many other achievements, would help lead a multiweek sit-in in San Francisco in 1977 to ensure the implementation of federal protections for the disabled. (Lots of other Jened alumni are identified in images from that demonstration as well.) Much later on, Heumann became a special adviser for international disability rights at the State Department under President Obama, who is one of this documentary’s executive producers.

Heumann is just one of many campers we get to meet in this engaging, inspiring film. They include LeBrecht himself (who has worked in sound design) and the couple Neil Jacobson and Denise Sherer Jacobson. Denise tells the story of how she chose to pursue a master’s degree in human sexuality after she unnecessarily had her appendix removed, because a doctor had failed to consider that a patient with cerebral palsy just might have a sexually transmitted disease.

Arthur Agee in “Hoop Dreams.”

LEGAL NOTICE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIET, FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, AS INDENTURE TRUSTEE, FOR THE CSMC 2015-PR 1 TRUST, MORTGAGEBACKED NOTES, SERIES 2015-PR 1

Plaintiff Vs JULIO ANGEL RIVERA

CAMACHO A/K/A JULIO

A. RIVERA CAMACHO AND ROSA ANGELICA

AVILA BENITEZ A/K/A

ROSA AVILA BENITEZ

Defendants

Civil No.: 15-cv-3123. (PAD).

Matter: COLLECTION OF MONIES. NOTICE OF SALE.

To: JULIO ANGEL RIVERA

CAMACHO A/K/A JULIO

A. RIVERA CAMACHO AND ROSA ANGELICA

AVILA BENITEZ A/K/A

ROSA AVILA BENITEZ; AND TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

WHEREAS: On February 22, 2019, Default Judgment in Collection of Monies was entered and granted in favor of Plaintiff to recover from defendants the following sums: The principal sum of $122,303.96, itemized as follows: the principal sum of $31,499.58, as a non-interest-bearing principal, and the interest-bearing principal sum of $90,804.38, plus interest at a rate of 6.00% per annum since March 2, 2016. The interest continues to accrue until the debt is paid in full. In addition, Defendants were ordered to pay plaintiff accrued late charges and any other advance, charge, fee or disbursements made by plaintiff on behalf of defendants, in accordance with the mortgage deed, plus costs, charges and disbursements, expenses, and attorney’s fees equivalent to 10% of the original amount of the Mortgage Note. That on January 31, 2023 the Court entered order granting execution of the attachment affecting the property, with writ of execution of attachment issued on February 1, 2023. The order of attachment shall cover the amount of the Default Judgment above cited and awarded to Plaintiff. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150 Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHE-

REAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the Court, Room 150– Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property described in Spanish: URBANA: Solar número siete (7) del Bloque G de la Urbanización Vistas de Naguabo, radicado en el Barrio Rio del Municipio de Naguabo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cuatrocientos sesenta y nueve punto ochenta y dos (469.82) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en una distancia de treinta y dos punto once (32.11) metros lineales, con el Lote número seis (6) del Bloque G; por el SUR, en una distancia de treinta y tres punto cero cinco (33.05) metros lineales, con el Lote número ocho (8) del Bloque G; por el ESTE, en una distancia de catorce punto cuarenta y cinco (14.45) metros lineales, con la Sucesión Juan R. Garzot; y por el OESTE, en una distancia de catorce punto cuarenta y dos (14.42) metros lineales, con la Calle veintisiete (27). Enclava una casa para fines residenciales. The encumbered property # 12,712 is recorded at mobile volume 226 of Naguabo. Property Registry of Puerto Rico, Humacao Section. The garnishment lien (embargo) is duly recorded at volume KARIBE of Naguabo, property # 12,712, Annotation B and last. Property address: G7 27 ST VISTAS DE NAGUABO, NAGUABO Puerto Rico 00718. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens described in Spanish: Senior Liens: NONE. Junior Liens: NONE. The Order of Attachment was duly recorded at the Property Registry of Puerto Rico, Humacao Section, and described in the Spanish Language as follows:

Embargo seguido por Wilmington Savings Fund Society

Christiana Trust como Administrador de CSMC 2015-PR1

Trust Mortgage Backed Notes, Series 2015-PR1, contra Julio Ángel Rivera Camacho, Et Al., por la suma de $122,303.96, en la Corte de Distrito de los Estados Unidos de América para el Distrito de Puerto Rico, según Mandamiento del 9 de febrero de 2021, anotado el día 24 de agosto de 2021, e

inscrito al tomo Karibe de Naguabo, finca número 12,712, Anotación B y última. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed/sold upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. Because this is a case of money collection, it does not have a minimum rate or bid.

The sale will take place to satisfy the amounts owed per the Default Judgment entered on February 22, 2019. The AUCTION will take place on the 1ST DAY OF MAY OF 2023, AT 9:30

A.M., at the office of the Clerk of the Court, Room 150– Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, whose sale at public auction was ordered by the Order of Execution of Judgment dated January 31, 2023. The undersigned Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency (cash), or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied.

WHE-

REAS: Said sale to be made by the undersigned Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico.

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, 13th day of March of 2023. PEDRO

A. VÉLEZ BAERGA, SPECIAL MASTER, 787-672-8269.

LEGAL NOTICE

Thursday, April 13, 2023 18

SALA SUPERIOR DE PATILLAS LEGACY MORTGAGE ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1

Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE GABRIEL RODRĹGUEZ LABOY Y SUCESIÓN DE LUZ DELIA GARCÍA BURGOS COMPUESTA POR IVETTE RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; OLGA RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; DAVID RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE AMBAS SUCESIONES; CRIM

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: GM2022CV00066. Salón Núm.: (202). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: SUCESIÓN DE GABRIEL RODRĺGUEZ LABOY Y SUCESIÓN DE LUZ DELIA GARCÍA BURGOS compuesta por IVETTE RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; OLGA RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; DAVID RODRÍGUEZ GARCÍA; FULANO Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE AMBAS SUCESIONES; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

(CRIM): DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA: Y AL PÚBLICO EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Patillas en Guayama, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América. Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la) Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto

de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número 209 de La Comunidad Rural Guardarraya, radicada en el Barrio Guardarraya del término municipal de Patillas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de cuatrocientos sesenta y siete metros dieciocho decímetros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con la calle número 2 de la comunidad; por el SUR, con canal de riego; por el ESTE, con la calle número 3 de la comunidad; y por el OESTE, con la parcela número doscientos nueve A de la comunidad. Consta inscrita al folio 31 del tomo 215 de Patillas, finca número #9,475, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Guayama. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: Com. Rural Guardarraya, Lote 209, Calle 2, Esq. Calle 3, Vistamar, Patillas, P.R. 00723. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $71,992.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #138, otorgada en Patillas, Puerto Rico, el día 31 de octubre de 2007, ante el notario Julián Antonio Parrilla Boria, e inscrita al folio 46 del tomo 223 de Patillas, finca número 9,475, inscripción 6ta, como Asiento Abreviado extendida las líneas el día 14 de agosto de 2014, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010.(fue presentado el día 16 de noviembre de 2007 al Asiento 1134 del Diario 633). La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 1 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Patillas en Guayama, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $71,992.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 8 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $47,994.67. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 15 DE JUNIO DE

2023 A LAS 10:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el mismo lugar y regirá como tipo mínimo de la tercera subasta la mitad del precio pactado para la primera, o sea, la suma de $35,996.00. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $56,280.65, la cual se desglosa a continuación: la suma de $55,253.18, con intereses a 5.856% anual, desde el 5 de diciembre de 2019, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más una suma diferida de $1,027.47, la cual no genera intereses, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $7,199.20, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Patillas

en Guayama, Puerto Rico, a 21 de marzo de 2023. LITZY

M. CORA ANAYA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #247.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION JULIA

ESTHER RIVERA NIEVES

T/C/C JULIA E. RIVERA

NIEVES T/C/C JULIA

RIVERA NIEVES T/C/C

JULIA ESTHER RIVERA

COMPUESTA POR JOHN

DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CG2021CV02617.

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

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

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Caguas, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 2 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número OCHENTA Y TRES (83) del plano de inscripción del proyecto de Viviendas, a Bajo Costo denominado VBC guion diecisiete (VBC-17), radicado en el Barrio Rincón del término municipal de Gurabo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de tres-

cientos cuarenta y seis punto cero tres (346.03 m.c.) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, con la calle número cinco (5); por el Sur, con el solar número ochenta y cuatro (84); por el Este, con el solar número ochenta y seis (86); y por el Oeste; con la calle número uno (1). Enclava casa. Finca número 3,386, inscrita al folio 125 del tomo 96 de Gurabo, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección II. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 345 del tomo 499 de Gurabo, finca número 3386, Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección II, inscripción 8ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. BAJO COSTO (OREILLY), 83 CALLE 1, GURABO, P.R. 00778. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $202,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 8 de noviembre de 2084. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $135,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $90,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $67,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Caguas, el 16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MA-

demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más los cargos por demora por concepto de mensualidades impagadas, y teniendo ésta el efecto de un auto posesorio, pondrá al comprador en la subasta, si así se lo solicita, en posesión material de la propiedad vendida dentro de veinte (20) días, según establece la Regla 51.3 de Procedimiento Civil de Puerto Rico. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. 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 los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate.

Una vez confirmada la Venta Judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Se informa que la propiedad objeto de ejecución se adquiere libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Expedido en Humacao, Puerto Rico, a 30 de marzo de 2023. BENEDICTO VELÁZQUEZ FÉLIX, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO PLACA #249.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMÓN ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V.

ERIC ENRIQUE CONTY TORRES, MARISOL MARTÍNEZ SOLIS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES POR ESTOS COMPUESTA; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV01634.

Sobre: SUSTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.

UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, personas desconocidas que se designan con estos nombres ficticios, que puedan ser tenedor o tenedores, o puedan tener algún interés en el pagaré hipotecario a que se hace referencia más adelante en el presente edicto, que se publicará una sola vez. Se les notifica que en la Demanda radicada en el caso de epígrafe se alega que un pagaré hipotecario otorgado el 30 de agosto de 2002, por Eric Enrique Conty Torres y Marisol Martínez Solis en San Juan, Puerto Rico, por la suma principal de $110,000.00, con intereses a razón del 5.5% anual, a favor de la Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria Puerto Rico (hoy Oriental Bank), o a su orden, con vencimiento el 1 de septiembre de 2032, ante el Notario Mario Quintero Pintor, mediante el afidávit número 8815, se extravió, sin embargo la deuda evidenciada y garantizada por dicho pagaré hipotecario no ha sido salda, por lo que la parte demandante solicita que se ordene la sustitución del mismo. En garantía de dicho pagaré el 30 de agosto de 2002, Eric Enrique Conty Torres y Marisol Martínez Solis constituyó hipoteca número 328 ante el Notario Mario Quintero Pintor en garantía del pago del pagaré antes descrito, inscrita en la finca 62487 de Bayamón Sur, inscripción 4, Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección I. La hipoteca que garantiza dicho pagaré grava la propiedad inmueble que se describe a continuación:

URBANA: Solar marcado con el número ocho (8) del bloque “C’” de la Urbanización Alturas de Río Bayamón, la cual está localizada en el Barrio Juan Sanchez del término municipal de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de ciento cincuenta punto ochenta metros cuadrados (150.80 m.c.). Colinda por el NORTE, en trece (13) metros, con el solar número tres (3) del mismo bloque; por el SUR, en trece (13) metros, con la calle número cuatro (4); por el ESTE, en once punto sesenta (11.60) metros, con el solar número siete (7) del mismo bloque y por el OESTE, en once punto sesenta (11.60) metros, con el solar número (9) del mismo bloque. Afecta a pared medianera en la colindancia Norte de la estructura, la cual la divide de la estructura construida en el solar número tres (3) del mismo bloque. Enclava edificación. Finca 62487 inscrita al 151 del tomo 1401 de Bayamón, Registro de la Pro-

piedad de Bayamón, Sección

I. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los 30 días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

LCDO. JAVIER MONTALVO

CINTRÓN

RUA NÚM. 17682

DELGADO FERNÁNDEZ, LLC

PO Box 11750, Fernández Juncos Station San Juan, Puerto Rico 00910-1750,

Tel. (787) 274-1414 /

Fax (787) 764-8241

E-mail: jmontalvo@ delgadofernandez.com

Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 28 de marzo de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. SANDRA BÁEZ HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE MOCA

ORIENTAL BANK, Demandante, V. MIGDALIA HERNANDEZ APONTE, Demandada.

CIVIL NUM.: MO2022CV00160

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: MIGDALIA HERNANDEZ APONTE

POR MEDIO del presente edicto se le notifica de la radicación de una demanda en cobro de dinero por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que usted adeuda a la parte demandante, Oriental Bank, ciertas sumas de dinero, y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado de este litigio. El demandante, Oriental Bank, ha solicitado que se dicte sentencia en contra suya y que se le ordene pagar las cantidades reclamadas en la demanda.

POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le emplaza para que presen-

te al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index/php/tribunalelectronico/, 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 solicitacto en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente, sin más citarle ni oírle. El abogado de la parte demandante es: Jaime Ruiz Saldaña, RUA número 11673; Dirección: PMB 450, 400 Calle Calaf, San Juan, PR 00918 - 1314; Teléfono: (787) 759-6897; Correo electrónico: legal@jrslawpr.com. Se le advierte que dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del presente edicto, se le estará enviando a usted por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda presentada al lugar de su última dirección conocida: Parcelas Lomas Verdes, 630 Calle Esterlina, Moca, PR 00676-5411. Expedido bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal en San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. Hoy día 3 de abril de 2023. Sarahí Reyes Pérez, Secretaria Regional. Ivelisse Robles Mathews, Sub-Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE SONIA ILEANA GARCIA

VAZQUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJA SANDRA RODRIGUEZ GARCIA; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2021CV00267. (604). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESION DE

SONIA

ILEANA GARCIA

VAZQUEZ, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJA SANDRA RODRIGUEZ GARCIA; FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS.

Yo, EDWIN E. LÓPEZ MULERO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de San Juan 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 16 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 23 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBAN: HORIZONTAL PROPERTY: Apartment number Zero Fifty Four (054). Residential two level duplex type apartment marked with number Zero Fifty Four (054) of irregular shape; situated on the upper level and forming part of UNIVERSITY PLAZA CONDOMINIUM at Baylor and Tulane Streets, Santa Ana Development, Río Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a total private area of ONE THOUSAND

THREE HUNDRED FIFTY SEVEN POINT TWENTY NINE (1,357.29) square feet, equivalent to ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE POINT SIXTY EIGHT (125.68) SQUARE METERS, being its lineal measurements on the first level fourteen feet nine inches (14’9”) on its front, equivalent to four point fifty one (4.51) meters by forty four feet nine inches (44’9”) on its depth, equivalent to thirteen point sixty five (13.65) meters, and being its lineal measurements on

the second level fourteen feet nine inches (14’9”) on its front, equivalent to four point fifty one (4.51) meters, by forty four feet nine inches (44’9”) on its depth, equivalent to thirteen point sixty five (13.65) meters, and also eleven feet eight inches (11’8”) on its front, equivalent to three point fifty six (3.56) meters by seventeen feet three inches (17’3”) on its depth, equivalent to five point twenty six (5.26) meters, which includes on its first level, balcony, living-dining room, interior stairs, kitchen and one bathroom; and which includes on its second level: three bedrooms, four closets and two bathrooms. Its first level bounds on the NORTH, which exterior common elements of the apartment, such as a reinforced concrete wall and windows which separates it from the exterior; on the SOUTH, with interior common elements of the Building such as a reinforced concrete wall which separates it from apartment number Zero Fifty Three(053); on the EAST, with exterior common elements proper to the apartment such as a concrete wall, doors and windows, which separates it from the exterior and the garden on Baylor Street; and on the WEST, which exterior common elements proper to the apartment such as concrete blocks wall, doors and windows, which separates it from the exterior and the common corridor. The second floor bounds on the NORTH, with exterior common elements of the apartment such as a reinforced concrete wall and windows which separates it from the exterior; on the SOUTH, with interior common elements proper of the Building such as a reinforced concrete wall which separates it from apartments number Zero Fifty Two (052) and Zero Fifty Three (053); on the EAST, with exterior common elements proper to the apartment such as windows and concrete walls, which separates it from the exterior and also with the interior common elements proper to the Building such as concrete walls which separates it from the second level of apartment number Zero Fifty Three(053); and on the WEST, with exterior common elements proper to the apartment such as concrete walls and windows which separates it from the exterior. Le corresponde una participación de dos punto cero seis siete cinco tres porciento(2.06753%) en los elementos comunes generales. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 175 vuelto del tomo 1487 de Río Piedras Norte, Registro de la Propiedad de San Juan, Sección Segunda, finca número 25,730, inscripción octava. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Condominio University Plaza, 3 Calle Tula-

ne, Apartamento 54, San Juan, Puerto Rico. La Subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $98,765.12 de principal e intereses al 5.25% anual, desde el 1ro. de octubre de 2020, hasta su total y completo pago, la cantidad de $12,510.00 según estipulado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; más recargos acumulados, así como cualquier otra suma que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. Dichas sumas son líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $125,100.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $83,400.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $62,550.00. 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 y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 31 de marzo de 2023. EDWIN E. LÓPEZ MULERO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR, ALGUACIL, DIVISIÓN DE EJECUCIÓN DE SENTENCIAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE ZOILA

ROSA MILANO ALBINO

T/C/C ZOILA ROSA

MILANO ALVINO, compuesta por “JOHN

DOE Y RICHARD ROE”

COMO POSIBLES

HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ZOILA ROSA MILANO

ALBINO T/C/C ZOILA

ROSA MILANO

ALVINO; CENTRO DE

RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (C.R.I.M.)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV01817. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM”. 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 28 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: URBAN: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL:

Residential apartment eighteen hundred six (1806) located at Condominium Santa María II, in Sabana Llana Ward of the Municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is regular in shape, with a superficial area of six hundred thirty five (635) square feet (groos) measuring twenty three feet one inches (23’1”), in width in its Northern and Southern wall, by twenty seven feet ten inches (27’10”), in length at its Western and Eastern wall. Its boundaries are the following: by the NORTH, with the exterior; by the WEST, with apartment eighteen hundred five (1805); by the SOUTH, with the common corridor; and by the EAST, with apartment eighteen hundred seven (1807). It consists of a living dining area, two bedrooms with closets, one bathroom with toilet, warm basin and shower stall and interior hall with linen closet, storage closet and hot water heater; and kitchen with sink electric range with oven and a refrigerator. Le corresponde un porcentaje en los elementos comunes de punto cuatro siete dos cuatro cero (.47240). Inscrita en la finca número 25,018, inscrita al folio 218 del tomo 616 de Sabana Llana, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Quinta Sección de San Juan. La propiedad está ubicada en: 1806 Condomio Santa Maria II, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00924. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 13 de diciembre de 2022, notificada el 14 de diciembre de 2022, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $51,519.09 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 3.750%, anual desde el 1ro de febrero de 2019, hasta su completo pago, más las primas

de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $5,520.00 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 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. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $55,200.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una

SEGUNDA 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 SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $36,800.00, 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 25 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 $27,600.00, 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 “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de con-

formidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. 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 los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 4 de abril de 2023.

PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL DE LA DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs.

INDALECIA MEDINA

CORDERO T/C/C INES

INDALECIA MEDINA

CORDERO; BENJAMIN

QUILES MEDINA Y JOSE

DAVID QUILES MEDINA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2019CV03820.

(403). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: INDALECIA MEDINA

CORDERO T/C/C INES

INDALECIA MEDINA

CORDERO; BENJAMIN

QUILES MEDINA Y JOSE

DAVID QUILES MEDINA.

Yo, EDGARDO ELÍAS VAR-

GAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL

AUXILIAR PLACA #193, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte

demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el día 9 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, en el Cuarto Piso, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Bayamón 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

16 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS

11:00 DE LA MAÑANA y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día

23 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS

11:00 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: URBANIZACIÓN SANTA JUANITA de Bayamón Sur. Solar: 6 Bloque “A”. Cabida: 310.5 metros cuadrados. Linderos: Norte, con solar No. 5 del Bloque “A”; Sur, con solar No. 7 del Bloque “A”; Este, con servidumbre de paso de canal del Gobierno Municipal; y por el Oeste, con la Calle Alameda. Contiene una casa de hormigón y bloques para una sola familia. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 135vto. del tomo 416 de Bayamón Sur, Finca No. 18826, Inscripción 6ta. Modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 6ta., en cuanto al principal que será por $45,660.39 sus intereses serán al 8.50% anual y vencedero el 1ro. de marzo de 2057, según la escritura número 191, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 17 de marzo de 2017, ante el Notario Público Roberto L. Varela Ríos, inscrita al tomo Karibe de Bayamón Sur, Registro de Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Primera, finca 18,826, inscripción 5ta. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urbanización Santa Juanita, Calle Alameda, A-6, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $45,567.71 de principal, intereses al 8 1/2% anual, desde el día 1ro. de noviembre de 2017, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $4,840.00 estipulada para

costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más recargos acumulados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $45,660.39 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $30,440.26 y de necesitarse una tercera subasta la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir la suma de $22,830.20. Si se declara desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta 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. 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 y que todo licitador acepta como suficiente la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, 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 a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Podrán concurrir como postores a todas las subastas los titulares de créditos hipotecarios vigentes y posteriores a la hipoteca que se cobra o ejecuta, si alguno o que figuren como tales en la certificación registral y que podrán utilizar el montante de sus créditos o parte de alguno en sus ofertas. Si la oferta aceptada es por cantidad mayor a la suma del crédito o créditos preferentes al suyo, al obtener la buena pro del remate, deberá satisfacer en el mismo acto, en efectivo o en cheque de gerente, la totalidad del crédito hipotecario que se ejecuta y la de cualesquiera otro créditos posteriores al que se ejecuta pero preferente al suyo. El exceso constituirá abono total o parcial en su propio crédito. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, a 5 de abril de 2023. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO TUCO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE

LEGACY MORTGAGE

ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE CARMEN AIDA CINTRÓN MORALES COMPUESTA POR JACQUELINE COCHRAN CLNTRÓN Y JOSÉ RAFAEL JIMÉNEZ

CINTRÓN: CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: PO2022CV02056. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA - IN REM. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S. S. A: JOSÉ RAFAEL JIMÉNEZ CINTRÓN COMO HEREDERO EN LA SUCESIÓN DE CARMEN AIDA CINTRÓN MORALES.

Queden emplazados y notificados que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto y deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), el cual podrá 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, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Los abogados de la parte demandante son:

Lcdo. Andrés Sáez Marrero

T.S.P.R. Núm. 18074 TROMBERG, MORRIS & POULIN, LLC

1515 South Federal Highway, Suite 100

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Tel. 877-338-4101 / Fax: 561-338-4077 prservice@tmppllc.com / asaez@tmppllc.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 31 de marzo de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA GENERAL. EREINA AGRONT LEÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE GUAYAMA

JOSÉ A.

SANTIAGO MÉNDEZ

Demandante Vs. SODEXO PUERTO RICO INC.

Demandado Civil Núm.: GM2022CV00771. Sobre: LEY 80 - DESPIDO INJUSTIFICADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: SODEXO PUERTO RICO INC.

Queda emplazado y notificado de que en este Tribunal JOSÉ

A. SANTIAGO MÉNDEZ han radicado una demanda en su contra sobre: DESPIDO INJUSTIFICADO. Se le notifica que comparezca ante el Tribunal dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto y exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga, en el presente caso. Se le notifica que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), a 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 Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Guayama y enviando copia a la parte demandante: Lcdo.

Christopher E. Santiago Montalvo, Calle Enrique González #28 Esq. Calimano Guayama, Puerto Rico 00784, Teléfono 787-596-2424; 787-864-6034; y/o a lcdo.christophersantiago@outlook.com abogado de la parte demandante. Se le apercibe y notifica que, si no contesta la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará rebeldía en su contra y se dictará sentencia en su contra, conforme se solicita en la Demanda, sin más citarle, ni oírle. Expido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy día 27 de marzo de 2023. MARISOL ROSADO RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYAMA. GLORIVEE GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

MELÉNDEZ ROBERTO

Demandante Vs. ADALGISA

RUIZ SUERO

Demandada

Caso Núm.: FA2023RF00027. Sobre: DIVORCIO (RUPTURA IRREPARABLE). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS.

A: ADALGISA

RUIZ SUERO.

2180 NW 57TH ST., MIAMI, FL 33142. POR LA PRESENTE se le notifica que la demandante ha radicado una Demanda sobre Divorcio. Habiéndose ordenado la publicación de un Emplazamiento por Edicto para emplazarlo a usted, durante el término que establece la Ley, en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico. POR ESTE MEDIO, se le emplaza por Edicto y requiere a usted, la parte con interés, para que notifique al:

LCDO. RICARDO M. PRIETO GARCÍA, a su dirección postal 6 CALLE CELIS

AGUILERA S, SUITE 20 1-A, FAJARDO, PUERTO RICO, 00738, Tel. (787) 860-0875, y/o a su email: prietolawoffice@yahoo.com, con copia de su contestación a las alegaciones de la Demanda en este caso, las cuales podrá usted examinar en la Sala de Fajardo, del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sección Superior, dentro de los treinta (30) días contados desde el siguiente día a la fecha de la publicación de este Emplazamiento por Edicto, con la advertencia a los efectos de que si no contesta la demanda presentando el Original de la Contestación, ante el Tribunal correspondiente, con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotara la rebeldía y se dictara Sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. “Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.poderjudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal.” EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA, y el sello del Tribunal en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy 31 de MARZO de 2023. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. NORANGELY RIBOT AGUIAR, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. CARMELO RODRIGUEZ ROSA T/C/C CARMELO RODRIGUEZ; GLORIA RIVERA ROSA T/C/C GLORIA RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA Demandados Civil Núm.: PO2023CV00222. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: CARMELO RODRIGUEZ ROSA T/C/C CARMELO RODRIGUEZ; GLORIA RIVERA ROSA T/C/C GLORIA RIVERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Greenspoon Marder, LLP

Lcda. Frances L. Asencio-Guido

R.U.A. 15,622 TRADE CENTRE SOUTH, SUITE 700 100 WEST CYPRESS CREEK ROAD FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309

Telephone: (954) 343 6273 Frances.Asencio@gmlaw.com

Expedido bajo mi firma firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 3 de abril de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ, SECRETARIA. MARIELY FÉLIX RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE LARES GITSIT SOLUTIONS, LLC Demandante Vs. CARMEN MARIA

MORALES-VELEZ Y YADIRA LISSETTE GUZMAN-MORALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: AR2018CV00313.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A:

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

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario( a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Lares, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque gerente, giro postal, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América al nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Lares, el 8 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado F-1 de la Urbanización Palmas del Sol radicado en el Barrio Pueblo del término municipal de Lares, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de 276.00 metros cuadrados. En lindes NORTE, en 23.00 metros con el lote marcado F-2; SUR, en 23.00 metros con el lote marcado Park A; ESTE, en 12.00 metros con la Calle Número 5 y por el OESTE, en 12.00 metros con el lote marcado Park A. Enclava una residencia de un nivel la cual está compuesta de sala, comedor, cocina, tres cuartos, un baño y una marquesina.

Afecta a una servidumbre de teléfono de 5’ de ancho a favor de Puerto Rico Telephone Company que discurre por el frente del solar. Consta inscrita al folio 88 del tomo 377 de Lares, finca número 18029, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico en Utuado. Propiedad localizada en: 65 CALLE 4 F1 URB PALMAS D, LARES, PR 00669. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: CONDICIONES

RESTRICTIVAS del programa

gubernamental denominado

“Home lnvestment Partnership

Program” por un término de 10 años, según consta de la escritura 32 otorgada en San Juan el 6 de diciembre de 2003 ante el notario Elba Millan Guerra, e inscrita al folio 88 del tomo 377 de Lares, finca 18029, inscripción 1a. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: HIPOTECA en garantía de pagaré a favor de PJ Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de $20,000.00 sin intereses y vencimiento 10 años. Constituida por la Escritura 34 otorgada en San Juan el 6 de diciembre de 2003 ante el notario Ruth Noemi Morillo Limardo, e inscrita al folio 88 del tomo 377 de Lares, finca 18029, inscripción 4a. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo mínimo de subasta la suma de $36,355.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Lares, el 15 DE JUNIO DE 2023

A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $24,236.66, 2/3 partes del tipo mínimo establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $18,177.50, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Lares, el 22 DE JUNIO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $24,991.10 de principal, intereses al tipo del 5% anual según ajustado desde el día 1 de diciembre de 2017 hasta el pago de la deuda en su totalidad, más la suma de $3,305.00 por concepto de honorarios de abogado y costas autorizadas por el Tribunal, más las cantidades que se adeudan mensualmente por concepto de seguro hipotecario, cargos por demora, y otros adeudados que

se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Lares, Puerto Rico, hoy día 31 de marzo de 2023. JOSÉ

F. RIVERA PÉREZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ISMAEL SERRANO CARDONA, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #795.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE TOA ALTA ORIENTAL BANK, Demandante, V. LUIS ENRIQUE REYES MONTALVO, Demandado.

CIVIL NUM.: TA2023CV00010

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA. EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: LUIS ENRIQUE REYES MONTALVO

POR MEDIO del presente edicto se le notifica de la radicación de una demanda en cobro de dinero por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que usted adeuda a la parte demandante, Oriental Bank, ciertas sumas de dinero, y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado de este litigio. El demandante, Oriental Bank, ha solicitado que se dicte sentencia en contra suya y que se le ordene pagar las cantidades reclamadas en la demanda.

POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted

deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index/php/tribunalelectronico/, 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 solicitacto en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el. tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente, sin más citarle ni oírle. El abogado de la parte demandante es: Jaime Ruiz Saldaña, RUA número 11673; Dirección: PO Box 366276, San Juan, PR 00936-6276; Teléfono: (787) 759-6897; Correo electrónico: legal@jrslawpr. com. Se le advierte que dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del presente edicto, se le estará enviando a usted por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda presentada al lugar de su última dirección conocida: Urb. Estancias de la Fuente, 54 Calle Marquez, Toa Alta, PR 00953 - 3607. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal en Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, hoy día 4 de abril de 2023. Lcda.

Laura I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria Regional. M. Bonilla, Sub-Secretario. Marita Bonilla Hernández, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIONES DE IVAN IRIZARRY MEDINA Y DE MARÍA GONZÁLEZ DE IRIZARRY COMPUESTA POR MARÍA IRIZARRY

GONZÁLEZ, SONIA

IRIZARRY GONZÁLEZ

E IVÁN IRIZARRY

GONZÁLEZ (QEPD); SUCESIÓN DE IVÁN

IRIZARRY GONZÁLEZ COMPUESTA POR

ANA MARÍA IRIZARRY

MENDEZ, IVAN RICARDO IRIZARRY MENDEZ, MARIA ISABEL IRIZARRY CANTONI Y VALERIA

IRIZARRY CANTONI, JOHN DOE

Demandadas

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV01640.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE

PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S. S.

A: ANA MARÍA IRIZARRY MENDEZ, IVAN RICARDO IRIZARRY

MENDEZ, MARIA ISABEL IRIZARRY CANTONI Y VALERIA IRIZARRY

CANTONI Y JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ a favor de Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $125,000.00 en garantía de un pagaré a favor del Banco Popular De Puerto Rico, o a su orden, con intereses al 9-3/8% anual y vencimiento el 1ro. de julio de 2021, tasada en $125,000.00, constituida mediante escritura #173 otorgada en San Juan el 7 de junio de 1991, ante Enrique Rodríguez Negrón, inscrita al folio 60vto. del tomo 579 de Monacillos, finca 20,192, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Tercera Sección de San Juan.

Por la presente se le .emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández RUA Núm.: 16,393

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209

500 Calle De La Tanca

San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670

Fax: (787) 523-2664

rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 4 de abril de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO,

SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LOYDA M. COUVERTIER REYES, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE LUZ

ENEIDA ORTIZ

RODRIGUEZ

COMPUESTA POR

WILFREDO ORTEGA

ORTÍZ, BEATRIZ ORTEGA ORTÍZ, DAISY ZOE

BELTRÁN ORTÍZ, SHILA

NOISKY BELTRÁN ORTÍZ, DORAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION, JOHN DOE

Demandadas

Civil Núm.: TA2023CV00192. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S.

A: DORAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION Y JOHN DOE COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGARÉ a favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, o a su orden, por Ia suma de $48,000.00, con interés al 9.5%, y vencedero 1 de febrero de 2015, según consta escritura #50, otorgada en San Juan el día 3 de febrero de 2000, ante la notario Ivonne González Medrano, inscrita al folio 279 del tomo 125 de Toa Alta, finca 6,053, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Tercera Sección de Bayamón.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramaiudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en

la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández RUA Núm.: 16,393

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209

500 Calle De La Tanca San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670

Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 4 de abril de 2023. LCDA.

LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE ARECIBO.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

DEMANDANTE VS. SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO ENRIQUE

SEIJO MALDONADO COMPUESTA POR

SUS HEREDEROS

CONOCIDOS IRISBELSY

SEUO AL V AREZ, LOURDES SEIJO ALV AREZ, RICARDO E. SEIJO

AL V AREZ Y JOSE SEUO

ALVAREZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O

PARTES CON INTERÉS EN DICHA SUCESIÓN

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NÚM.: AR2023CV00349. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R SS.

A: SUCESIÓN DE RICARDO ENRIQUE SEIJO MALDONADO COMPUESTA POR SUS HEREDEROS CONOCIDOS IRISBELSY SEIJO ALV AREZ, LOURDES SEIJO

ALVAREZ Y JOSE SEIJO ALVAREZ; FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O

PARTES CON INTERÉS EN DICHA SUCESIÓN -BARRIO SELGAS, COMUNIDAD RURAL SELGAS, PARCELA 32-E, CALLE RAMON PEREZ, FLORIDA, PR 00650;

-70

CALLE RAMON PEREZ, FLORIDA, PR 00650; -Bo. Esperanza, Sector Cienegueta, Solar 82, Arecibo, PR 00612 POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días, en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. También se le apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que luego del transcurso del término de treinta (30) días antes señalado, contados a partir de la fecha de publicación de este edicto, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del(los) causante( s) y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 1,578 del Nuevo Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. sec. 11,021. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P. LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS RUA NUM: 11416

PO BOX 3908 GUAYNABO PR 00970

TEL. 787-751-5290, FAX 787-751-6155

E-MAIL: ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com

Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 10 de abril de 2023. Vivian Y Fresse Gonzalez, Sec Regional. Carmen J. Rosario Valentin, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOT ICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR 807

ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC., COMO AGENTE DE: FAIRWAY

NFL draft 2023: The trends that will shake up the top picks

By MIKE TANIER

Fans will see some unfamiliar sights in the early rounds of the 2023 NFL draft.

From middle-schooler size receivers to tight ends built like comic book supervillains to prospects already halfway to earning their AARP cards, this year’s draft class reflects a tipping point in on-field strategies and NFL priorities, as well as the rules that govern how the NCAA does business.

Here are a couple of trends that will become apparent when Commissioner Roger Goodell starts calling names during the first round on April 27 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Humongous cornerbacks

The cornerbacks available are so big, athletic and impressive that it’s a wonder anyone caught a pass on an autumn Saturday last year.

Joey Porter Jr. (Penn State), son of a former All-Pro linebacker, stands at over 6-foot2 and ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) stands 6-foot-1 and ran the 40 in 4.38 seconds. Kelee Ringo (Georgia) measured 6-foot-2, 207 pounds and ran a 4.36-second sprint.

Even the lower tiers of draft boards feature plenty of cornerbacks who are not just tall but physical, ultra-confident and downright graceful.

“You may be starting to see some of the Legion of Boom effect,” said Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Senior Bowl, a predraft event for top college talent. Nagy was previously a Seattle Seahawks scout during the team’s Super Bowl heyday, back-to-back trips in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and said the success of Richard Sherman and the Seahawks’ defense of the 2010s may have inspired the most gifted all-around Pop Warner-level athletes to want to play cornerback — or inspired their coaches to place them at that position.

Whatever the cause, the 2023 draft class is overflowing with cornerback talent.

“I think we’re going to see corners go early in round one, go late in round one, go early in round two and just keep going throughout the draft,” said Erik Galko, director of operations for the East-West Shrine Bowl, one of several pre-draft events that serve as job expos for NFL prospects. “You don’t want to pass on guys like this.”

Subcompact receivers

There are tiny, extra-speedy receivers in every draft class, but the top of the board this year is loaded with prospects who appear to be a few breakfast buffets too light for the

junior varsity.

Wide-open offensive styles like the Air Raid make it possible for lighter receivers to thrive at the college level, and NFL coaches are adopting similar tactics to prevent featherweight receivers from getting flattened by the nearest burly defender.

“We’ve always had these types of human beings who were 175 pounds, really twitchy and explosive, but NFL and college teams said they couldn’t use them,” Galko said.

“College offenses are now less likely to rule guys out who can provide explosive plays.”

Among the projected first- or second-

round picks, Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee) weighed in at 176 pounds at the scouting combine, Jordan Addison (Southern California) at 173 and Josh Downs (North Carolina) at 171. Farther down the draft board, Nathaniel Dell, nicknamed Tank (Houston), weighs just 165 pounds, roughly the equivalent of a typical offensive line’s DoorDash order.

The NFL may be more willing than ever to take chances on 175-pound receivers, but most teams still prefer swift and sturdy 200-pounders. There just appears to be a temporary shortage of quality college receivers in the Ja’Marr Chase mold.

“If there were more talented bigger guys at the top, those are the guys who would get drafted,” Nagy said.

Colossal tight ends

Georgia tight end Darnell Washington’s highlight montages look like poorly rendered computer-generated imagery: at 6-foot-7 and 264 pounds, Washington does not appear to occupy the same physical space as the defenders who almost unrealistically bounce off him.

Washington is one of many stunning athletes in this year’s tight end class. Luke Musgrave (Oregon State), who measures 6-foot6 and 253 pounds, produced jaw-dropping workout results at the combine. Farther down the draft board is Zach Kuntz (Old Dominion), a former high school hurdler who stands at 6-foot-7 and has a 40-inch vertical jump.

In the past, NFL teams sometimes tried to convert college basketball players into tight ends in their quest for height and athleticism at the position. Despite high-profile successes like Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, most moonlighting power forwards could not block well enough to stay on the field.

College football programs are now providing many more NBA-sized tight ends whose blocking skills range from adequate (Musgrave and Kuntz) to a defender has just been run over by a corn thresher (Washington).

“We’re seeing so many of these guys that we are getting numb,” Galko said. “We’re losing sight of how freaky this is.”

Newfangled linebackers

The rugged, snarling, somewhat leadfooted linebacker of the 1980s is now practically an endangered species. Defenses, both college and professional, have little use for a player type that is likely to get dusted by a running back or tight end in pass coverage, no matter how menacingly he growls.

The 2023 draft class, however, features several highly regarded linebackers, headlined by Drew Sanders (Arkansas), Trenton Simpson (Clemson), Jack Campbell (Iowa) and Henry To’oTo’o (Alabama). These defenders may look a little like Mike Singletary or Harry Carson, but they are really the spiritual descendants of Troy Polamalu.

“Bigger safeties are now moving down to linebacker,” said Mike Rittelmann, the director of scouting for the College Gridiron Showcase. “They can play zone coverage and be comfortable. They can fill the run gaps without getting washed out.”

Continues on page 28

Several quarterbacks are expected to be selected in the first round.

Joey Porter Jr., right, ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine.

In the past, such beefed-up safeties might max out around 225 pounds. This year, Sanders and Simpson each weighed in at 235 pounds, and Campbell at 249.

With so many big, versatile linebackers available in the draft, Nagy believes that leadership and communication skills will be the ultimate separator: College schemes remain relatively simple, but NFL coaches need linebackers who can bark out on-field instructions and adjustments.

“There’s going to be a shelf,” Nagy said. “There will be a group of guys who can play all three downs and are doing great in interviews who will be drafted in early rounds. Then you are going to drop down to fifth- and sixth-rounders who can play in a pinch.”

Quarter-life crises

While quarterbacks Bryce Young (Alabama), C.J. Stroud (Ohio State), Anthony Richardson (Florida) and Will Levis (Kentucky) are expected to be drafted early in the first round, Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) is generally relegated to a second tier.

Hooker was born in January 1998, making him 25 years old: seven months older than the Philadelphia Eagles’ fourth-

year quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hooker is the most prominent of many top prospects in this draft class who played five or even six college seasons.

Some NFL teams still have age restrictions or flag older prospects like Levis, 23, and Hooker as special cases, but they may need to adjust those parameters given all the factors lengthening college players’ careers. Many took advantage of the extra year of eligibility they received from the NCAA because of the coronavirus pandemic. Collegiate superstars at major programs can now earn significant money through name, image and likeness deals, while lesser-known prospects who might have turned pro early because of financial hardship can now make enough money to stay in school.

But the NFL may not like that: Most teams prefer their prospects with as much youth and upside as possible.

“I think age is going to be a surprisingly big factor in the 2023 draft,” Galko said.

He added: “It’s like an amplifier for concerns: If you came from a scheme that doesn’t correlate to the NFL and you’re older, that’s an issue. If you’re injured, that’s also an issue.”

Hooker, in particular, could be affected by all three issues:

Experts love his game film and intangibles, but he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at the end of last season and played in an up-tempo, bombs-away offense at Tennessee. Hooker may still be drafted in the first round — he is a quarterback, after all — but teams might downgrade position players like Georgia Tech defensive lineman Keion White, 24, whose college career began in 2017, or North Dakota State offensive tackle Cody Mauch, 24, who first appeared in college games in 2018.

Nagy disagrees. “I think the league has softened that a little bit. The mindset of teams is that if they can get two contracts out of a player, that’s great. Anything beyond that is gravy.”

Rittelmann’s pre-draft event caters to late-round prospects, so he works with many athletes for whom the NFL is no certainty and another year of education could make a huge difference. “NIL has been great for the college community,” he said. “It gives athletes another opportunity to figure out what’s best for them.”

After all, there are more important matters in life than the NFL draft.

NBA blames economy for hiring freeze and budget cuts

By SOPAN DEB

The NBA, citing “economic headwinds,” instructed league office staff earlier this week to reduce expenses and significantly limit hiring for the rest of the fiscal year, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.

The memo, sent Tuesday by Kyle J. Cavanaugh, a league executive, and David Haber, the league’s chief financial officer, told staffers to halt hiring, with limited exceptions, and cancel some off-site meetings or hold them virtually. Travel, entertainment and other expenses also will be cut, according to the memo.

“Like other businesses in the U.S. and globally, the league office is not immune to macroeconomic pressures and taking steps to reduce expenses,” Mike Bass, an NBA spokesperson, said in a statement to the Times.

The memo said the NBA was “facing a very different economic reality than just one year ago.” It continued, “We are seeing significant challenges to achieving our revenue budget with additional downside risk still in front of us.”

The NBA’s next fiscal year begins in October, roughly lining up with the start of the 2023-24 regular season.

Bass, the spokesperson, did not address questions about which league initiatives would be affected by the cuts or if there would be layoffs.

The changes come just before the NBA playoffs and a day after the league noted setting a record for attendance and sellouts for the 2022-23 regular season. On April 1, the league and the players’ union announced that they had tentatively reached a new collective bargaining agreement that would go into effect next season. The agreement, which awaits ratification by players and team owners, includes a midseason tournament with bonuses for players and another luxury tax tier for high-spending teams.

During negotiations, the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, an executive vice president in

the union, told the Times that players wanted “more of a partnership” with the league, including the sharing of more of the NBA’s revenue streams.

Over the past year, many companies, particularly in the technology sector, have commenced layoffs and other cost-cutting measures as the economy was hit with rising inflation and interest rate hikes. The NBA is also not the only sports league that has aimed to reduce costs. The NFL recently reduced staffing for its media arm. The Walt Disney Co. has begun laying off thousands of employees. ESPN, one of the NBA’s broadcast partners, is a Disney subsidiary and is expected to be affected.

Last year, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league expected to take in roughly $10 billion in revenue for the 2021-22 season, between sponsors, television deals, attendance, merchandising and other revenue streams. The NBA’s television deal with ESPN and Turner Sports expires after the 2024-25 season. The new deal, in a crowded marketplace that now includes streaming companies, is expected to provide a significant boost in league revenue.

The league had a round of layoffs in 2020 right as its season was about to restart at Walt Disney World in Florida in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, though at the time the league said the cuts were unrelated to the pandemic and instead were aimed at future growth.

NBA PLAYOFFS

PLAY-IN ROUND

Tuesday’s Scores Hawks 116, Heat 105 Lakers 108, Timberwolves 102 (OT)

Wednesday’s Games Bulls at Raptors, 7 p.m. Thunder at Pelicans, 9:30 p.m.

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)

An encounter could have a certain chemistry about it, and because of this, it might intrigue you to want to know more. At the same time, the intensity of it may be a bit unnerving and leave you wondering when or if you should make the next move. The saying, “What will be, will be”, can be very relevant today, Aries. Relax, if it’s meant to happen it will fall into place naturally.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Know what you want? If so, you’ll be ready to go for it, especially if others have the same idea. A strong Venus/Pluto tie may coincide with an emotional surge, encouraging you to ignore competitors so you can be the first in line. It might seem the right thing to do, but later you could come to regret this. Involve others in your plans, and you’ll be so much more successful.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Looking forward to treating yourself? The current focus suggests that you might enjoy the chance to shop for small luxuries, which you so deserve. In addition, the deeper pulse of the Venus/Pluto line-up, suggests there’s nothing superficial about the connections you could make, one of which may prove very satisfying if you feel like pursuing it further over coming days.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Perhaps it’s time to reveal that secret after all. If you’ve been holding onto something and feel uneasy about it, then choose someone you trust to share this with. Getting it out into the open can be a relief, and you might wonder why you didn’t do this sooner. Plus, a Venus/Pluto tie could highlight a decision to up your inner game and uncover more of your potential, Cancer.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

The possibilities for bonding deeply and for romantic activities, look very promising today. With a more intense aspect in the mix though Leo, your heart could certainly rule your head. While Mars in a dreamy zone can find you thinking of what it would be like to meet your soulmate, Venus’s tie with Pluto might coincide with an encounter that sizzles with instant chemistry.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Start the day as you mean to carry on Virgo, as there could be a lot of things to busy yourself with. If you’re held up by other matters or people, then try not to let them commandeer too much of your time, as something important might not wait. Make a move while you feel the urge, as the enthusiasm may fade, and any plans be forgotten. Don’t wait too long, just do it!

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

With Venus making a harmonious connection to radical Pluto, this can be a time to follow your passion if it leads you in a new direction. A project may sizzle with potential, especially if it involves new ideas. This aspect could galvanize you into action and highlight your creative side. Does someone share an interest in your hobbies or plans? It might bring you so much closer.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

With Venus newly in a potent sector aligning with Pluto, you may decide that it’s better to talk about something than to keep it to yourself. Mind, what you have to discuss could be a contentious issue that won’t immediately brighten another’s day. And yet the benefits to you might be huge. You’ll feel better, but you’ll also realize that it wasn’t that big an issue anyway.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

A harmonious but powerful Venus/Pluto tie, hints at a meeting of minds that could signal an enduring friendship or perhaps a deeply romantic tie. To make the best of this opportunity, it helps to give each other plenty of space. You may have this person’s best interests at heart, but this bond might blossom sooner if you allow it to develop naturally rather than force the pace.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

An offer might show up that requires a lot of work, but could also make you a lot of money. Think carefully about this and look into it further before you commit. If you’re happy doing everything that’s asked of you, go ahead. If you sense there’s some undercurrent here that doesn’t sit well with you, then say no. If you’re hooked in, it may be very hard to back out, Capricorn.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

A powerful aspect hints that you may find yourself in the spotlight over coming days, and that this can be an opportunity to make a bold statement. With Venus in a creative sector and Pluto in your sign, this is very much a time to draw attention to a skill or talent of yours or to consider a business start-up. But it could also enhance romance, and rekindle that spark in a long-term bond.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

With a positive blend of energies linking to secluded and emotional sectors of your chart, the coming days bring the chance of resolving an issue that involves someone close. Making time to talk can help pinpoint any core feelings, and so bring about a breakthrough. Letting the past go can be a part of the process, as only then will it be possible to embrace a brand-new beginning.

Speed Bump