Monday Apr 3, 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.

San Juan has much to offer the public for Holy Week, Easter Sunday

By THE STAR STAFF

The Municipality of San Juan will join other Christians worldwide in observing Holy Week and Easter Sunday by featuring various activities for the entire family.

The events are the “Faith Trail Through 500 Years,” “Theater in 15,” “Afternoon Cinema,” a treasure hunt better known as a “Scavenger Hunt,” and a family outing on Easter day.

The Municipal Tourist Office will offer, free of charge, the “Faith Trail Through 500 Years” from today through Thursday, and again on Saturday, in two sessions: 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For reservations, the public must access the prtickets.com platform. Each session has a capacity of 20 people.

The trail, which lasts two hours and 30 minutes on foot, focuses on the development of religion from the arrival of the Spanish to the U.S. arrival on the island.

Old San Juan, a former military strategic point, is also considered the cradle of evangelization. With the arrival of the Spanish, Catholicism arrived. Still, with the change of government in 1898, free worship came, bringing Protestantism to the island of Puerto Rico.

“This is why our Tourist Office developed this trail, in which they show many of these important places,” San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo said. “In the capital city, we are ready to welcome you and enjoy these cultural and traditional experiences on the occasion of Holy Week.”

Some of the places visitors will see on the trail are the San Juan Bautista Cathedral, Methodist Church, Servants of Mary Chapel, San José Church, San Francisco Church, Defenders of the Faith Church, La Hermosa Temple, and Hugh O’Neill Presbyterian Church.

For information and group reservations, contact the Municipal Tourism Office at 787-480-2910.

Another notable event will be the new season of “Teatro en 15,” which, until April 30, will offer a schedule of performances inspired by values and spirituality. In addition, local Puerto Rico talent have produced and will present six micro theater pieces in the space of 15 minutes each.

“Teatro en 15” will also feature the San Juan Community Agricultural Market, which will sell vegan food, coffee and handicrafts.

The performances will be from Thursday to Saturday, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sundays, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. However, “Teatro en 15” will be on recess this Thursday, April 5, and Friday, April 6.

The Casa Cultural del Viejo San Juan doors will open one hour before the first performance to begin ticket sales. Admission is $5 per play.

For additional information, call 787-480-3532 or follow Teatro en 15 on its Instagram page as @teatroen15.

At the San Juan Museum, meanwhile, a “Scavenger Hunt” will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Participants will search for, within a series of fill-in-the-blanks and clues, some specific elements of the city of San Juan, the San Juan Museum, its exhibition halls, and surroundings.

Also at the Museum of San Juan, the activity “Cinema Afternoon” will take place on Sunday, April 2, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will have the experience of being able to enjoy a series of local cinema productions including documentaries and short films.

Both events at the museum are free of charge. For more information, call 787-480-3550.

On Easter Sunday, the Luis Muñoz Marín Park will become a space for parties, art and culture for the enjoyment of children, youth and adults, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and free of charge. Through the activities the municipal administration seeks to promote healthy coexistence in the city’s communities and the shared use of public spaces.

San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo

Judge denies PREPA bondholders’ request for clarification of previous ruling

By THE STAR STAFF

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain has denied a request by Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bondholders asking her to clarify an earlier order in which she had determined that the utility’s bonded debt is unsecured and ordered the parties to estimate the claim’s value.

The judge ordered the bondholders and the Financial Oversight and Management Board to file their respective proposals for estimation by April 7.

Swain, who is overseeing Puerto Rico’s Title III bankruptcy cases, had ruled that payment of the $8.4 billion PREPA bonded debt is not secured by a 1974 trust agreement. She said bondholders have security interests only in sums deposited to the Sinking Fund, Self-Insurance Fund, Capital Improvement Fund, Reserve Maintenance Fund, and Construction Fund, as defined in the trust agreement. She also said bondholders have an unsecured claim against the utility to be liquidated by a “reference to the value of future net revenues.”

The ruling was part of an adversary proceeding between U.S. Bank National Association as Trustee, the Ad Hoc Group of PREPA Bondholders, Assured Guaranty Corp. and

Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., National Public Finance Guarantee Corp., and Syncora Guarantee Inc. against the oversight board seeking a judgment that the $8.4 billion in PREPA bonds was secured by the utility’s 1974 trust agreement. PREPA has been in bankruptcy

court since 2017 to restructure its almost $10 billion debt.

Bondholders on March 29 asked Swain to clarify that the clause “the remainder of the term of the bonds” doesn’t limit the time that bondholders have to exercise their rights and

asked her to remove the language or change it to “at any time.”

In her March 31 ruling, Swain said she had previously advised the parties that the value of the unsecured net revenue claim as described in the March 22 order “must be determined consensually or through proceedings under section 502 of the Bankruptcy Code.”

“The several points of disagreement noted are not matters for clarification or reconsideration, but go to the determination of the value of the Unsecured Net Revenue Claim and thus are instead the proper subjects of proceedings under section 502 of the Bankruptcy Code or negotiations with the assistance of the Mediation Team, as contemplated by the order,” Swain said.

She reiterated that the parties must commence working with the mediation team immediately in good faith efforts to consensually resolve the outstanding disputes concerning the proposed plan of adjustment for the power utility.

The judge said the court expects the parties to address the impact of the trust agreement, economic projections, relevant contingencies, and any relevant bankruptcy and nonbankruptcy law on the estimation of the claim.

Approved electricity price reduction to take effect this month

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB) approved late last week a reduction in the price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity, which will be applied to the electricity rate for the period from April 1 to June 30. The adjustment, which reduces the cost per kilowatt-hour by 1.7 cents, will save $13 61 cents -- or 6.1% -- for a consumer who averages 800 kilowatt-hours of consumption in a month.

“The role of the Bureau is to take stock in the public interest,” PREB Chairman Edison Avilés Deliz said in a written statement. “That means ensuring that excessive expenses are not passed to the consumer, avoiding the managerial irresponsibility that led the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) into bankruptcy, but ensuring the operation of the utility. The exercise we have just carried out achieves that balance.”

The result will be a price per kilowatt-hour of 26.18 cents for an unsubsidized residential customer with consumption of 800 kilo -

watt-hours.

Avilés Deliz said that in the first place, the review contemplates recovering $34.5 million from customers for the purchase of petroleum derivatives to replace natural gas, which had been suspended by PREB order. There is still a controversy of fact as to whether PREPA requested in time that gas be supplied, and/or if New Fortress failed to supply it. While this controversy was being resolved, the PREB had postponed charging the amount to customers in view of the possibility that the parties would reach an agreement.

However, the resolution emphasizes that it was PREPA itself that requested, during the public hearing process as part of consideration of this quarterly review, that it be allowed to charge customers the $34.5 million since “there is no forecast of when such controversy can be finalized.”

“The Authority itself said that, having already passed more than a year, it was appropriate to recover this amount through the invoice,” the PREB chairman said. “If eventually the parties reach an agreement, or

the Authority manages to recover all or part of the $34.5 million, the Bureau may in that instance credit the clients the amount in the period in which they are recovered.”

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain

Puerto Rico Energy Bureau Chairman Edison Avilés Deliz

Colorado sanctuary to start receiving some Mayagüez zoo animals next month

By THE STAR STAFF

The Colorado Wild Animal Sanctuary should start receiving animals from the Dr. Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayagüez in May, a stateside publication has reported. The nonprofit sanctuary in Keenesburg, about 45 minutes north of Denver, is currently preparing to receive and relocate hundreds of animals from Puerto Rico’s only zoo, Axios Denver reported. Many large carnivores will go to Colorado, including tigers, bears and wolves. But primates, birds, and other animals that can’t handle the cold will be sent elsewhere.

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” sanctuary spokesperson Derek McCormick told Axios Denver. “But we’re ready.”

Authorities ordered the 45-acre zoo in Mayagüez, which is under the control of the island Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, to close earlier this year amid a federal investigation into complaints of animal abuse. It hasn’t been open to the public since hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the area in late 2017.

The relocation of the animals is estimated to be the most significant airlift transfer of exotic animals globally, McCormick told Axios Denver.

Sanctuary staff is scrambling to nail down a slew of logistics, from building and shipping animal crates to Puerto Rico to lining up flights and ground transportation, preparing enclosures, and securing other safe spaces to place the animals across the country.

The sanctuary was chosen to help because of its experience. McCormick says it has performed thousands of emergency operations, including island-based rescues — a handy skill for moving animals out of Puerto Rico, the publication said.

The sanctuary’s executive director, Pat Craig, has also worked with the federal government on cases in the past and is well connected with other sanctuary operators, Axios said.

Craig was previously tasked with rescuing animals from Netflix “Tiger King” Joe Exotic’s park in Oklahoma, Axios reported.

The animals brought from Puerto Rico will be housed in Keenesburg and at the sanctuary’s newer private property in southern Colorado, just under 10,000 acres. McCormick said the animals should start arriving in May.

The sanctuary’s need for donations will grow once the animals arrive, the publication said.

Federated teachers’ retirees group calls for passage of bill to boost pensions

By THE STAR STAFF

The Retirees and Pensioners chapter of the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation (FMPR by its Spanish initials) urged the island Legislature and Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia on Sunday to approve a law that would raise teachers’ pensions. In a written statement, the group said approving the proposed Law to Guarantee the Purchasing Power of Pensions for Public Employees is part of the broader struggle that seeks amendments to the approved commonwealth Debt Adjustment

Plan. In such a way, debt deal language that restricts or hinders implementing a law that aims to protect the purchasing power of pensions would be eliminated.

The fight of pensioners to assert the principle of “zero cuts to pensions” implies not only avoiding cuts but preserving the purchasing power of retirees through periodic increases to offset hikes in the prices of consumer goods, the chapter said.

“Retirees will not stop actions until we recover both the right of active employees to enjoy their (dignified) pensions and that of retirees to have a Christmas Bonus, contributions to the medical plan, and periodic pension increases to compensate for inflation,” the group insisted.

Likewise, they invited pensioned teachers, as well as pensioners in general, to actively join the campaign to demand approval by the government of the Law to Guarantee the Purchasing Power of Pensions for Public Employees.

As part of this organizational effort, the FMPR Retirees Chapter is urging all teacher pensioners to participate in a march on Monday, May 1, International Workers’ Day, under the slogans: “Rights Won Will Not Be Renounced” and “Increase My Pension Due to Inflation.”

“Pensioners, through the Pensions Defense Front, achieved the approval of the Law for a Dignified Retirement of 2021. Among multiple issues, the law prevented the direct 8.5% cut of pensions and contemplated increases because inflation did not reduce the real value of pensions,” the group said. “It was out-

rageous to see how the [Financial Oversight and Management] Board, the Governor and the legislative [leaders] conspired in practice to facilitate the annulment of the Law for a Dignified Retirement. This constituted a betrayal of the will of our people.”

Despite the setback suffered after the annulment of the aforementioned law, the FMPR chapter intensified its work and stopped the oversight board from imposing the 8.5 percent cut to pensions in Act 53 of 2021, the group noted.

Many large carnivores from the shuttered zoo in Mayagüez, including tigers, bears and wolves, will be transported to a sanctuary in Colorado, while primates, birds and other animals that can’t handle the cold will be sent to other locations.

The Retirees and Pensioners chapter of the Puerto Rico Teachers Federation said approving the proposed Law to Guarantee the Purchasing Power of Pensions for Public Employees is part of a broader struggle that seeks amendments to the approved commonwealth Debt Adjustment Plan.

Labor leader: No justifiable reason for delays in disaster aid approval for damaged shelter-churches

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Police Members Association President Lt. José J. Taboada de Jesús asked Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the legislative leaders on Sunday to order the acceleration and approval of repair projects at the island’s shelters-churches pending in various government agencies, including the facilities and buildings of nonprofit organizations, which he said to date have been forgotten.

“Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 16, 2017 and since that date the government of Puerto Rico has been receiving federal money for repairs and projects that seek to mitigate the risks that other disasters may cause,” Taboada de Jesús said. “As recently as September of last year, Hurricane Fiona destroyed many properties, knocked out power to various sectors, and still nothing has been done to repair homes, buildings and shelter facilities. Millions of dollars were sent from Washington to help those affected by the January 2020 earthquake, and they have barely been used.”

The Latino and Puerto Rican community in the mainland United States organized and held a marathon where they managed to collect more than $40 million, of which not a single penny reached the hands of people who still have blue awnings located on their roofs, Taboada de Jesús said, since the money was given to organizations that for the

most part were not helping those affected by the hurricanes.

“There is the unusual case in which a weather reporter received close to $300,000 and an artist who does not live in Puerto Rico received almost $2 million [reportedly from the marathon] for matters that had nothing to do

with mitigating the damages to the thousands of affected homes,” he said.

“Even the main figure in charge of using the money from the New York marathon has been convicted in court,” Taboada de Jesús said. “If [Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Executive Director] Manuel Laboy Rivera cannot resolve the problem, the governor must remove him.”

“As recently as a few weeks ago, a group of churches denounced the government’s inaction on the issue of aid,” the police union leader added. “Instead of answering in the affirmative to solve the problem, the head in charge of approving and distributing aid focused on charging that the [church] organization’s spokesperson had a pending case with solar panels, managing to divert attention from his ministerial responsibility to accelerate the rehabilitation of church buildings that are classified as shelters in the event of an atmospheric disaster.”

“We ask Governor Pierluisi to set the responsibilities for … Laboy Rivera, who changes the subject and dispatches with a smile any complaint about the slowness and attention to the thousands of cases pending for the disbursement of approved aid and other aid on the way to approval,” Taboada de Jesús said. “There is no reason for it to take six years for the approval of an inspection of a hurricane- or earthquake-damaged shelter-church.”

Body of octogenarian reported missing in Salinas is found

By THE STAR STAFF

The body of an octogenarian reported missing last week, sparking a “Silver Alert,” was found in the Plena neighborhood of Salinas on Sunday.

According to the police, a call to the 9-1-1 Emergency System alerted the authorities to the discovery of a body of a man in a state of decomposition in the area of the El Fray farm. The agents affirmed that the description coincided with that of 86-year-old Bernardo López López, who was reported

Report: Burglars make off with

By THE STAR STAFF

Aburglary was reported at about 10 a.m. Sunday, in the Santiago Apóstol parish on Hostos Street in the southern coastal town of Santa Isabel.

According to the police, the complainant alleged that an unknown person had gained access through one of the doors of the parish.

Police said some $2,000 in church collections was taken.

This case was referred to the Property Division of the Ponce Criminal Investigations Corps to continue the investigation.

$2,000

missing last Wednesday afternoon in the Plena neighborhood and for whom the Silver Alert had been activated.

The case is under investigation by the Guayama Criminal Investigations Corps in conjunction with the prosecutor on duty.

from Santa Isabel parish church

According to the police, an unknown person reportedly gained access through one of the doors of the parish and made off with some $2,000 in church collections.

Puerto Rico Police Members Association President Lt. José J. Taboada de Jesús

Donald Trump’s time-tested legal strategy: Attack and delay

By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, MAGGIE HABERMAN, CHARLIE SAVAGE and JONAH E. BROMWICH

Attack. Attack. Attack. Delay. Delay. Delay.

Those two tactics have been at the center of Donald Trump’s favored strategy in court cases for much of his adult life and will likely be the former president’s approach to fighting the criminal charges now leveled against him if he sticks to his well-worn legal playbook. In fact, his attacks against both the prosecutor and the judge in the case have already begun.

Over more than four decades, Trump has sued and been sued in civil court again and again. In recent years, he has faced federal criminal investigations, congressional inquiries and two impeachments. He has neither a law degree nor formal legal training, but over the course of that long history, he has become notorious in legal circles for thinking he knows better than the lawyers he hires — and then, very often, fires — and frequently is slow to pay if he does at all.

The former president now faces an indictment stemming from a hush-money payment made to a porn actress in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump, who has steadfastly contended he committed no crime and almost certainly will decline any plea deal, will fight the case in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York. The battle there will play out in front of the same judge who last year presided over the tax fraud trial of Trump’s family real estate company — a trial that ended in a conviction on 17 felonies.

The details of Trump’s defense strategy are still unclear because the specific charges in the indictment against him will stay under seal until his arraignment Tuesday.

But two things seem certain: The defense approach will include aggressively attacking the credibility of Michael Cohen, Trump’s onetime fixer and lawyer who is expected to be the prosecution’s central witness; and, if the indictment relies on a legal theory that has never been evaluated by a judge, the defense will also zero in and zealously challenge it.

Cohen, who broke with Trump in 2018 and testified before the grand jury that indicted him, is expected to tell a trial jury that the former president directed him to pay off the porn actress, Stormy Daniels, and that Trump reimbursed him and helped to cover up the entire hush-money affair.

Cohen was federally prosecuted for the hush-money payment and pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes.

His guilty plea to those crimes, which include lying to Congress, and his years of public statements will make him a sure target on cross-examination for Trump’s lawyers, while prosecutors will be likely to counter that he lied on behalf of Trump and that his story has remained consistent for years.

The judge, Juan Merchan, who in more than 16 years on the bench has earned a reputation for being thoughtful and measured, keeps to a tight schedule in court and seeks to maintain a certain level of decorum there, despite the sometimes rough-and-tumble atmosphere in state criminal proceedings. He likely will have little patience for the former president’s attack-and-delay strategy.

Merchan did not have to wait long to see Trump’s tactics in full flower. On Friday morning, less than 24 hours after the former president had been indicted, he lashed out at the judge.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social website that Merchan had “railroaded” Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial executive of the Trump Organization, who is serving the final weeks of a 100-day sentence in the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City after pleading guilty to tax fraud charges in the case against the former president’s company.

Referring to his upcoming arraignment before Merchan scheduled for Tuesday, he wrote, “The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME.”

Asked about the sentiment the former president expressed in his post, one of his lawyers said Sunday morning that he had no problem with Merchan. “He has a very good reputation,” Joseph Tacopina said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” adding that “I have no reason to believe this judge is biased; I have not been before him on this matter.”

Trump also attacked Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, in the hours after news of the indictment broke. “Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!” the former president wrote.

Trump’s intensely litigious nature has made his strategy more visible over the years than it might otherwise be. He has long used delay tactics in legal matters that emerged from business disputes, and since becoming a politician, he has repeatedly tried to throw sand in the gears of the legal system, using the resulting slow pace of litigation to run out the clock until seismic events shifted the playing field.

One of the more notable examples came in the early sta-

ges of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation that led to the indictment Thursday. Prosecutors in 2019 subpoenaed Trump’s accountants for his tax returns and other records, and the president sued in federal court to block the document demand, a move that delayed the inquiry for 18 months while the case went to the Supreme Court of the United States — twice. (Trump lost both times.)

Christopher Kise, a lawyer who represents Trump in some of his cases, defended the former president’s often-used approach and argued that it is not significantly different from what takes place in many legal cases.

“He has adopted a strategy that is consistent with what any sophisticated defense lawyer would advise, and it works,” Kise said in an interview.

“And the reason it works is, it’s the right strategy,” he said, contending that “it’s not really delay for its own sake.”

He argued, however, that Trump’s approach may be different in the New York case.

“Transparency is his ally in this circumstance, because the more facts that become public, the more I think the public will be truly outraged by the level of injustice and manipulation that’s taking place in this case,” Kise said.

Timothy O’Brien, the senior executive editor at Bloomberg Opinion and a former reporter and editor at The New York Times, is somewhat familiar with Trump’s legal strategy. Trump unsuccessfully sued him for libel in 2006 over a book he wrote about the then-real estate developer, a case that dragged on for five years.

He said Trump learned from his first lawyer, Roy Cohn, a fixer who attacked the legal system while leveraging connections in an attempt to instill fear of financial or reputational damage in his opponents.

The former president, O’Brien said, relies “on everyone else to play by the rules while he bends or breaks them.”

But in previous legal entanglements during his presidency, the system itself repeatedly protected him because Justice Department policy barred indictment of a sitting president.

And then, when Trump was twice impeached by the House, his relationship with Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, meant he was never at risk of being convicted or removed from office during his first Senate trial.

During the second, focused on the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021, Republicans were still mostly unwilling to vote to convict him.

But now the former president has no such armor protecting him as he faces the most significant threat he ever has.

The San Juan Daily Star

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport, in Waco, Texas on March 25, 2023.

Trump’s GOP rivals, shielding him, reveal their 2024 predicament

By MICHAEL C. BENDER and MAGGIE HABERMAN

Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida took a measured dig at Donald Trump by publicly mocking the circumstances that led New York investigators to the former president.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said.

But as soon as Trump was indicted this week, DeSantis promptly vowed to block his state from assisting a potential extradition. In a show of support for his fellow Republican, DeSantis called the case “the weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda.”

In the hours after a grand jury indicted Trump, many of his potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination snapped into line behind him, looking more like allies than competitors. All passed on the opportunity to criticize him, and some rushed to his defense, expressing concerns about the legitimacy of the case.

The turnaround by some prospective contenders was so swift and complete that it caught even the Trump team off guard. One close ally suggested to Trump that he publicly thank his rivals. (As of Friday evening, he had not.)

The reluctance to directly confront Trump put his strength as a front-runner on full display. His would-be challengers have been sizing up political billiard balls for the possibility of an increasingly tricky bank shot: persuading Republican voters to

forsake him, while presenting themselves as the movement’s heir apparent.

In one reflection of Trump’s durability, his team said it had raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours after the indictment was made public by The New York Times.

“There has been a narrative for a while that we could have Trump policies with someone more electable, but the reaction to the indictment showed that power is unique to Trump,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview. “Trump was the leading contender for the nomination before the indictment, and now he’s the prohibitive favorite.”

The closest any possible Republican challenger came to criticizing Trump was former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who told Fox Business Network on Friday

that while the yet-to-be-revealed charges might not end up being substantial, Trump should “step aside” now that he has been indicted.

A day earlier, former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Trump’s most prominent official challenger so far, suggested the indictment was politically motivated, writing on Twitter, “This is more about revenge than it is about justice.”

The overwhelming unwillingness to attack or even criticize Trump reflected an unspoken fear among many of his rivals that Republican voters will punish any candidate who seems to be capitalizing on his legal problems. Rather than run hard against him, contenders appeared content to orbit around Trump, who remains the most powerful force in Republican politics.

Even before the indictment, Trump’s team began waging what amounted to a political war on the Manhattan district attorney who brought the case. At almost every turn, his allies have hammered the prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, as being a puppet of Democratic forces seeking to harm Trump. Bragg’s office has defended its integrity.

“I was one of the early people to break with Trump on some of the things he was doing, but I think this is kind of outrageous,” former Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., said in an interview. “This is the best thing to happen to Trump in a long time. It’s stupid, and they have no case.”

On Friday, Trump’s team remained focused on the primary contest at his campaign headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. Advisers anticipated a continuation of their recent strategy, which has included smaller events and just one major rally since Trump opened his third White House bid in November.

Still, it was an open question of how facing criminal charges — and potentially more to come in three other criminal investigations — would help Trump in a general election. Moderate Republicans and independent voters have peeled away from him during the past three election cycles.

One major donor, who is not yet committed to a 2024 candidate, doubted that the indictment would sway many deep-pocketed Republicans who have already made up their mind one way or the other about Trump, calling it a “so what?” moment.

Trump’s team was working Friday to chart a course forward. The indictment a day earlier had surprised his aides, although his political team was far more prepared than his legal team. His team had been working on what it calls “maximizing the bump” from the indictment, preparing for a fundraising blitz and working on speech drafts for coming events.

Trump’s super political action committee, MAGA Inc., announced Thursday that it would run ads attacking DeSantis over his votes on Medicare and Social Security while he was in Congress.

Shortly after that announcement, DeSantis posted his support for Trump on Twitter.

The Florida governor’s statement about a politically motivated attack was particularly noteworthy, not just because he is widely viewed as Trump’s chief presidential rival, but also because last year, he removed a twice-elected state attorney whom he accused of politicizing the job by trying to “pick and choose” what laws to enforce locally.

For the most part, Trump’s potential rivals echoed previous criticisms of the New York investigation, or they said nothing at all.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who had been booked for a CNN interview before the indictment, condemned it as politically motivated. Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who has been the most outspoken possible contender in criticizing Trump, said nothing. Neither did Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

In the meantime, as Friday wore on, Trump solicited opinions from a wide range of associates, advisers and friends. “Can you believe this?” he said to one person after another, vilifying Bragg with expletives in some cases. His wife, Melania Trump, was said to be furious on her husband’s behalf.

Donald Trump’s eldest sons denounced the indictment in interviews and on social media. He planned to keep a normal schedule through the weekend, including rounds of golf and attending a gala at his club, people familiar with the plans said.

Trump also solicited opinions about his legal team, as his advisers discussed adding people amid a round of fingerpointing as to why there had been such a strong belief that the indictment was weeks away, if it was happening at all.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida speaks at an event in Davenport, Iowa, promoting his book on March 10, 2023.

At least 27 killed as tornadoes tear through the Midwest and South

By GWEN MORITZ, McKENNA OXENDEN, LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA and MIKE IVES

Communities in at least seven states on Saturday began assessing destruction left by a powerful storm system Friday that spawned ferocious tornadoes, killing at least 27 people and causing a roof at a packed venue in Illinois to collapse — the second such deadly outbreak of severe weather in the region in a week.

Fatalities were reported in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, authorities said Saturday, with Tennessee accounting for 10 deaths.

Officials said five people died in Arkansas, including an unidentified man in North Little Rock and four in Wynne, about 100 miles to the east, in separate tornadoes.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Mayor Frank Scott Jr. of Little Rock said at a news conference Saturday morning that they had been in touch with President Joe Biden, who offered federal resources. The governor already declared a state of emergency Friday, triggering access to statewide assistance, including the National Guard.

“We ask that everyone be patient as we work to respond as quickly as possible,” Scott said as he stood outside a fire station that had been mangled by the tornado.

In Wynne, Mayor Jennifer Hobbs told CNN that the town had been “cut in half by damage from east to west.” A junior high school had been opened for people seeking shelter and food.

On Friday night in northern Illinois, a 50-year-old man was killed and 40 others were injured after the roof collapsed at a theater in Belvidere with 260 people inside, the Boone County emergency managing director, Dan Zaccard, told reporters at a news conference Saturday morning.

At least two people had life-threatening injuries, according to Dr. Matt Smetana, medical director for Boone County.

Concertgoers helped rescue people from the rubble, officials said, including the man who died. Footage on social media appeared to show patrons at the venue, the Apollo Theatre, trying to find people beneath the debris.

In addition to the man killed in Belvidere, three people were killed in Crawford County after a “residential structure” collapsed, according to Alicia Tate-Nadeau, the director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

About 200 miles south, in the village of Sherman, Illinois, more than a dozen homes

were significantly damaged, Mayor Trevor J. Clatfelter said by phone Friday night. The storm, he said, had also caused major gas leaks, electricity outages and downed power poles across the village.

Roughly 150 miles to the east of Sherman, in Sullivan County, Indiana, three people were also killed after a tornado, according to Sgt. Matt Ames of the Indiana State Police.

Two other people were found dead at a severely damaged campground at McCormick’s Creek State Park in Owen County, Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The department identified the couple as Brett Kincaid, 53, and Wendy Kincaid, 47, both of Rossville, Indiana.

Nine people died in McNairy County, Tennessee, said Maggie Hannan, communications director for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. In Tipton County, Tennessee, a 31-year-old man died after a tornado destroyed his home, picked him up and threw him onto a field about 100 yards away, Sheriff Shannon Beasley said.

At least one person was killed and four others were injured in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, which is about 110 miles southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Near Huntsville, Alabama, Ovie Lasater, 90, died inside her home after it was destroyed by a tornado, said Don Webster, a spokesperson with Huntsville Emergency Medical Services. At least three other people were taken to the hospital, two with critical injuries.

In Delaware, one person died in Sussex County at a “collapsed structure,” county officials said on Facebook.

In Covington, Tennessee, six people were hospitalized after a tornado in the city, said Kimberly Alexander, a spokesperson for Baptist Memorial Hospital. On Facebook, the Covington Police Department described the city as “impassable.”

As of Saturday afternoon, more than 400,000 customers across five states were without power, according to PowerOutage. us, which aggregates data from utilities across the country.

In Little Rock, the noises of machinery used to clear debris and whirring chain saws were constant. Although most of the roads were passable, traffic was slow as traffic signals were out while widespread power failures persisted.

Hadidi Oriental Rug has been a fixture in Little Rock for more than 30 years, and Saturday morning, its owner, David Hadidi,

wandered around the store, surveying the damage.

Rocks and glass littered the showroom floor, lit by the bright sunlight shining through gaping holes in the roof. Some of the rugs would have to be thrown away.

“Insurance says you can’t sell rugs with glass, no matter how much you clean them,” Hadidi said.

In Indian Hills, a neighborhood in North Little Rock, about a dozen homes appeared to have been damaged, including the home of Mildred Loy, 95, who said she had nearly been crushed when a tree fell through her roof.

Loy said that her caregiver had scooped her off the sofa and moved her to the hallway, where she climbed on top of Loy to protect her. “As she laid down, we heard boom,” Loy said. “It crashed right where I was sitting.”

Meteorologists at the weather service

office in Little Rock had to move to a tornado shelter Friday afternoon, as it became clear that their office was in the tornado’s path.

Footage on social media appeared to show a large tornado touching down in Sigourney, a town of about 2,000 people about 70 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Other images from the region appeared to show buildings torn apart and upturned cars.

Manny Galvez, a resident of Coralville, Iowa, a city about 20 miles south of Cedar Rapids, said he had hunkered in his basement just before 5 p.m.

“That was terrifying,” Galvez said in a phone interview.

Parts of Mississippi were devastated last week by tornadoes that left at least 26 people dead. Biden on Friday visited Rolling Fork, the Mississippi community hit hardest by those tornadoes.

The aftermath of a tornado strike in Sullivan, Ind. on Saturday, April 1, 2023.

How small businesses can find safety before the next bank crisis

By AMY HAIMERL

The collapse of two regional lenders, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, last month caused a ripple of panic among small businesses nationwide as owners watched the news unfold and wondered whether their assets were safe — even if their deposits were not in one of the failed institutions.

Now that the panic has begun to subside, advisers are recommending that small businesses examine their accounts to determine their level of risk and protect their deposits from a future bank failure.

When Melissa Wirt started Latched Mama, an e-commerce company that sells apparel for nursing mothers, she did it with a loan from her personal savings — as most small-business owners do. She chose to set up a business account at Atlantic Union Bank because her personal accounts were there, which made it easy to transfer funds if her business needed a cash infusion.

Plus, she liked her personal relationship with Atlantic Union Bank. “They watched my business grow and my family grow,” Wirt said. “We went through the collective trauma of COVID together, and I learned that banks can care about their customers.”

She rarely carries more than $250,000 in the bank, but during the recent banking turmoil, she worried that if Atlantic Union also failed, she might not be able to make her $60,000 biweekly payroll for her nearly 40 employees. So she opened a second business account at a larger bank.

Q: How many small businesses are at risk?

A: Experts say most small businesses face little risk in a bank failure. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures deposits of up to $250,000, and most small businesses probably keep far less money than that in the bank. The JPMorgan Chase Institute surveyed 600,000 of its small-business account holders and found that they held a median cash ba-

lance of $12,100.

Two things can change that risk assessment: having employees or being funded by venture capital.

Payroll costs are one of the biggest expenses for most companies. Gusto, a payroll and benefits provider for more than 300,000 small businesses, said nearly half its clients with 50 to 99 employees had monthly payrolls above $250,000. That figure jumps to 95% for firms with more than 250 employees.

But only 20% of the country’s roughly 33 million small businesses have employees, according to the Small Business Administration, which means few have significant payroll costs that can push their deposits above $250,000.

And just 5% of companies are sitting on war chests from investors. “Silicon Valley Bank wasn’t banking small businesses on Main Street, USA,” said Aaron Klein, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. “They were banking tech startups primarily with venture capital backing.”

Q: As a small-business owner, should I worry about my bank failing?

A: Bank failures have been rare since the last financial crisis, when nearly 500 banks collapsed from 2008-13. But they can happen at any time. A recent research paper suggests that nearly 200 banks are at risk based on the same conditions that brought down Silicon Valley Bank: exposure from rising interest rates, plus high levels of uninsured deposits.

“I think this is a really interesting time for folks to ask: ‘What type of bank am I banking with?’” said Rebecca Romero Rainey, president and CEO of Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group. “The risk profile is going to be very different for a bank that is specialized in a unique or higher-risk industry.”

Q: I have less than $250,000 in my account. What should I do?

A: As long as your deposits are insured by the FDIC, your risk is limited to inconvenience and delays. Regulators usually take over failing banks on Friday afternoons so the Treasury Department can spend the weekend sorting everything out. By Monday, depositors usually have access to their funds.

Small-business owners should instead focus on their day-to-day operations. “Go back to worrying about your business,” Klein said. “When a bank fails, the government is there lickety-split.”

Q: I have more than $250,000. Should I open multiple accounts?

A: You can have as many accounts at one bank as you want, but any balance in excess of $250,000 across all of your deposits will not be insured. The FDIC limits are per depositor, per institution — not per account.

However, there is some nuance.

Business accounts are insured separately from personal accounts. That means one depositor can be insured as an individual and as a business. In Wirt’s case, for example, she would be covered for up to $250,000 for her

Latched Mama accounts and up to $250,000 for her personal accounts.

Additionally, if you have a joint checking account with a spouse, each person is insured, for a total of $500,000. For example, if you keep $300,000 in the joint account plus $100,000 each in a savings account, your entire $500,000 will be insured.

However, having multiple signers on a business account does not increase the insurance coverage. The best thing to do is talk to your banker, Rainey said.

Q: Should I openw accounts at other banks?

A: Diversifying your holdings is always a good idea. The FDIC insures each depositor at each institution, so spreading your wealth offers more coverage. Having a second banking relationship also makes it easier to quickly wire funds to safety if you worry that your bank may be unstable.

“Always have a backup strategy; hope is not a strategy,” said Jeni Mayorskaya, founder of Stork Club, which creates reproductive health benefits packages that companies can offer their employees.

Q: What other options are available?

A: Banks can mitigate risk through the IntraFi Network, a system that can split a customer’s large deposit into chunks that are less than the $250,000 cap. It then sends those chunks to other banks in the system, essentially giving customers multiple FDIC-insured accounts without having to open — and track — each account.

Customers have two options for how it happens.

In the first situation, banks chop a customer’s money up into certificates of deposit of less than $250,000 and place those accounts in other institutions. The CDs earn interest, but the downside is that the money cannot be withdrawn without a penalty before the CDs mature.

The second option is a sweep account, in which a customer’s balance in excess of $250,000 is “swept out” every night to other IntraFi Network banks in smaller blocks.

With either choice, these deposits are protected by the FDIC because they are technically sitting elsewhere.

“This has been more relevant these past few weeks,” said Matthew Burke, CEO of Cape Cod 5, a 168-year-old community bank in Massachusetts. “Customers can still log in and see their accounts, but we essentially achieve 100% FDIC insurance.”

Melissa Wirt, who runs Latched Mama, an e-commerce company that sells apparel and accessories for nursing mothers, in Midlothian, Va. on March 30, 2023.

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

Inflation data spurs stocks rally, drop in U.S. yields

Two-year Treasury yields rose to a one-week high as investors grew more confident that recent stress in the banking sector would be contained, but remained cautious about the impact that recent bank failures would have on the economy.

The U.S. dollar slipped to a one-week low against the euro as German inflation data helped lift the common currency.

And oil prices rose with support from lower U.S. crude stockpiles and a halt to exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region, which offset pressure from a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies.

“Investors seem to be increasingly confident the bank turmoil is going to continue to ease and that we’re near a peak in central bank rate hikes,” said Jeff Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab in Celebration, Florida.

“We’re seeing this rally driven by stocks that are sensitive to the pace of growth and inflation,” said Kleintop, who also pointed to climbing oil prices and weakness in the safe haven dollar, which investors flock to when they are worried.

“Definitely a more bullish tone is starting to pick up here on Wall Street,” said the strategist, though he cautioned that there could still be some volatility ahead.

Among equities indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34.91 points, or 0.11%, to 32,752.51, the S&P 500 gained 14.85 points, or 0.37%, to 4,042.66 and the Nasdaq Composite added 68.98 points, or 0.58%, to 11,995.21.

The chip sector also extended Wednesday’s gains as falling inventories at Micron Technology were seen as an encouraging sign for the sector as well as the broader economy.

“If inventories have come down for semiconductors that stands to reason it may have come down for many other products as well,” said Kleintop, who added that this “feeds right into economic growth.”

Beyond Wall Street, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.03% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.61%.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.66%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.62% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.36%.

In currencies, the dollar index fell 0.438%, with the euro up 0.54% to $1.0902. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.20% versus the greenback at 132.55 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2372, up 0.5% on the day.

In U.S. Treasuries, benchmark 10-year notes were down 0.4 basis points to 3.562%, from 3.566% late on Wednesday. The 30-year bond was last down 1.7 basis points to yield 3.7613%. The two-year note was last was up 3.7 basis points to yield 4.1174%.

In commodities, U.S. crude recently rose 1.8% to $74.28 per barrel and Brent was at $79.20, up 1.18% on the day. Spot gold added 0.7% to $1,978.49 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.64% to $1,979.40 an ounce.

In crypto currencies, Bitcoin last fell 0.91% to $28,094.00.

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

US consumer spending rose moderately in February, and while inflation cooled, it remained elevated enough to possibly allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates one more time this year.

Additional data showed US consumer sentiment fell for the first time in four months in February on concerns of an impending recession, although the impact of the recent banking crisis was muted, reported Reuters. Expectations for a 25 basis point rate hike at its May meeting dipped to about

50%, with no hike seen to be just as likely.

However, Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said the inflation data doesn’t alter the Fed’s monetary policy path yet, while New York Fed President John Williams said financial conditions will be a key contributor to his thinking about what’s next for central bank interest rate policy.

“Fed fund futures are basically pricing in a coin flip of a 25 (basis point) hike in May, but calling that the end of it, if they even go there, so anytime the data doesn’t give the Fed a reason to re-engage hawkishly, the market is going to like it,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird in Louisville, Kentucky.

Russian shelling kills 6 as assault stalls in Ukraine’s east

By MATTHEW MPOKE BIGG, MARIA VARENIKOVA and IVAN NECHEPURENKO

Russian shelling blasted apartment blocks, homes and a preschool in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, killing six civilians, even as evidence mounted that Moscow has failed to make much progress in its campaign to seize the whole of the region.

For months, the fighting in the Donbas, an industrial and agricultural region close to the Russian border, has been the scene of grinding battles that have sapped the strength of both armies.

But while Russia has struggled to gain territory against Ukraine’s military, it has regularly launched attacks on civilians. The latest such attack involved the shelling of a town around 15 miles west of the front line, Kostyantynivka, that killed three men and three women and wounded 11 others, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

The attack damaged numerous apartment buildings, spraying wet earth and shrapnel. Soldiers helped civilians clear away rubble and cover broken windows with plywood. Workers found the body of one of the victims, an elderly man, next to a huge crater in his vegetable garden.

“What will we do at night? Not a single window is left!” said Nadia Peskun, 61, who lives in the town with her daughter and twin 11-year-old granddaughters. She added: “We all hid here in the corridor, hugging one another and screaming.”

An hour after the strike, the children were still sitting in corridors away from windows, playing on tablets and not lifting their eyes.

The civilian toll in Donbas, which is made up of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has been enormous. According to U.N. data, more than half of the roughly 18,000 civilians killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale offensive in February of 2022 have died in those two regions.

But the Kremlin’s main objective in the east is conquest, and Russian forces have been stymied by the Ukrainian defenders. Russia’s military bloggers and like-minded activists have in recent weeks lamented the lack of progress from the winter campaign. Russia has not secured victory in the city of Bakhmut, or in the towns or Avdiivka, Vuhledar, Lyman or Marinka.

“The winter campaign in the Donbas is over,” said Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer who led a military intervention in eastern Ukraine and now blogs about military affairs. “We can say that the winter campaign ended unsuccessfully.” The comments by Girkin, who uses the nickname Strelkov, were echoed by others in Russia who have ties to the military and have at times been critical of the Kremlin’s approach to the war.

Russia’s winter offensive followed a series of battlefield setbacks last fall. In the early days of the invasion, Ukraine was also successful in fending off the toppling of its government in Kyiv.

Moscow has had more success weathering the diplo -

matic isolation imposed by Ukraine’s Western allies, aimed at punishing the Kremlin and eroding its ability to wage the war. For instance, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, made a threeday state visit to Moscow last month.

In a further example of Moscow’s continued global prominence, Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council on Saturday, a prestigious if largely ceremonial post it will give up next month.

Russia’s assumption of the post — just two weeks after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia on accusations of war crimes — elicited a furious response from Zelenskyy, who called it “obviously absurd and destructive.”

He attacked not just Moscow but the structure of a system that allows Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, to take the U.N. leadership post even as it prosecutes a war condemned by much of the world, saying it “proves the complete bankruptcy of such institutions.”

Russia took over the Security Council presidency Saturday, just a few days after the deterioration of its international relationships were underscored by its arrest of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter. Russian authorities accuse him of espionage, which the United States and the newspaper call a bogus charge.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he had spoken with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Sunday and demanded Gershkovich’s release. Blinken said on Twitter that he had expressed “grave concern over Russia’s unacceptable detention of a U.S. citizen journalist.”

Even as Russia exerts its influence on the international stage, it has paid dearly on the battlefield. Ukraine has suffered high casualties, too, but some military experts say those faced by Russia have been far higher.

A Ukrainian military expert, Oleksiy Melnyk, said that two factors in particular had served to impede Russia’s campaign this year. The first was the battle for Vuhledar in Donetsk, in which elite Russian forces sustained severe losses, including tanks and other armored vehicles. The second was Ukraine’s decision not to abandon Bakhmut

as Russia advanced around the city, including capturing the nearby town of Soledar.

“The Russian offensive campaign is about to end,” Melnyk said in an interview. “It seems they will not try a major offensive any time soon.”

But he cautioned that the Kremlin appeared to be laying plans for a protracted conflict, aiming to drain Ukraine’s fighting strength over time and waiting for international support for the government in Kyiv to wane.

Many military experts in the United States and elsewhere have started to measure the modest gains of Russia’s offensive against what they expect to be a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the coming weeks. Some analysts, however, noted that there would be little disappointment within Russia, because the campaign had not been widely discussed by state media.

Dmitri Kuznets, a military analyst who writes about the war for Meduza, an independent Russian-language news site published in Latvia, downplayed the long-term significance of the offensive for Moscow, arguing that it was not possible to judge without knowing its precise objectives.

“We will know the result of this entire winter campaign for both Russia and Ukraine only after the Ukrainian counteroffensive happens,” he said in an interview.

Both sides have also been building up their forces in southern Ukraine, where Moscow suffered a major setback last fall. Retaking the Crimea region, which Russia annexed illegally in 2014, is a major territorial objective of the government in Kyiv. But to do so, it will need to capture ground on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in the Zaporizhzhia region.

If and when Ukraine does launch its counteroffensive, it can make use of stocks of weapons supplied in recent months by the United States and other allies and deploy newly trained soldiers.

Menlyk, the Ukrainian military expert, said the counteroffensive could come in the next few weeks, “once the ground becomes suitable for tanks to move across open fields.”

Ukrainian soldiers monitoring the movements of Russian troops on the front line in Toretsk, in eastern Ukraine on March 29, 2023.

Journalist detained by Russia was reporting stories that ‘needed to be told’

By KATIE ROBERTSON

The reporting job in Moscow had everything Evan Gershkovich was looking for, his friends said: experience in a far-flung location with the chance to connect with his Russian roots.

Gershkovich, 31, an American journalist born to Soviet émigrés, moved from New York to Russia in late 2017 to take up his first reporting role, a job at The Moscow Times and, his friends and co-workers said, he quickly embraced life in Moscow.

“He had no hesitation; he was really ready to try something totally new,” said Nora BietteTimmons, a friend from college and the deputy editor of Jezebel, adding, “I remember so distinctly how much he loved what he was doing.”

In January 2022, he was hired as a Moscow-based correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, a dream job, his friends said.

But on Thursday, in a move that intensified tensions between Moscow and the West, Russian authorities said that they had detained the journalist, accusing him of “spying in the interests of the American government.”

Russia has not provided any evidence to back up the accusations, and Gershkovich and his employer have denied the allegation. Russian state media said Gershkovich was being held at a prison in Moscow to await trial after being transported from Yekaterinburg, a city 900 miles away in the Ural Mountains where he was arrested. He is the first American journalist detained on espionage charges since the end of the Cold War and faces up to 20 years in jail.

Dozens of global news organizations have condemned the arrest and President Joe Biden on Friday called for Gershkovich’s immediate release. Top editors and press freedom organizations from around the world wrote to the Russian ambassador to the United States on Thursday, saying that the arrest was “unwarranted and unjust” and “a significant escalation in your government’s anti-press actions.”

The letter went on, “Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago has drastically heightened the risks for journalists trying to report in the region. After the start of the war, many independent Russian outlets were shut down and Russian journalists were forced to flee. Western outlets that had operated bureaus in the country for decades moved their reporters out, and few Western

journalists remain full time in the country today. Some reporters have continued to file stories from Russia by traveling in and out as needed.

In interviews, friends of Gershkovich described him as an extroverted journalist with an abiding love for Russia and its people, who was cleareyed about the risks facing him in his reporting.

Polina Ivanova, a correspondent who covers Russia and Ukraine for the Financial Times, said she met Gershkovich soon after they both arrived in Moscow in 2017.

“Evan is a completely gifted reporter and someone for whom journalism is incredibly natural because he is an amazing talker and charms everybody and is very funny,” she said.

Ivanova said that the pair frequently discussed the risks they faced in covering the country but that Gershkovich felt he should make every effort to report stories outside of Moscow.

Known to many of his American friends as “Gersh,” Gershkovich grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. His parents had emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union, part of a wave of Jews who left in the 1970s. He spoke Russian at home and, in an article in the magazine Hazlitt in 2018, he reminisced about growing up with his mother’s Russian superstitions, including not spilling salt on the dinner table, and looking for ways to increase his connection with his heritage.

Gershkovich studied philosophy and English at Bowdoin College in Maine, graduating in 2014. He then lived in Bangkok for a year

on a Princeton in Asia fellowship.

After college, Gershkovich moved to New York City and worked at The New York Times as a news assistant, handling reader emails for public editors Margaret Sullivan and Liz Spayd, from early 2016 until September 2017. He left the Times to take The Moscow Times job and get the reporting experience he craved. In 2020, Gershkovich started covering Russia and Ukraine for Agence France-Presse, then moved to The Wall Street Journal.

Jazmine Hughes, a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine who became friends with Gershkovich when he worked at the Times, described a message he sent her in December 2021 telling her the news about his new job at the Journal.

“Remember when we were in The New York Times cafeteria and you were convincing me to give journalism a shot for another few years and not give up just yet?” Gershkovich wrote to Hughes. “I just got hired by The Wall Street Journal. I’m the Moscow correspondent. I’m in the bureau. I did the thing. Look at us!”Hughes said in an email: “Getting the Moscow correspondent job was basically his too-big-to-dream job.”

Jeremy Berke, a former Insider reporter who now writes the cannabis industry newsletter Cultivated, said he and Gershkovich had been close friends since their freshman year at Bowdoin College and lived together for a time in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

“Evan’s parents are Soviet émigrés, so he always felt very strongly about connecting with his roots,” Berke said.

“He felt like not only was this a moment in time in Russia where the country is very interesting but that he was a person who could really bridge the gap between U.S. audiences and Russia,” Berke added.

Berke said Gershkovich had made many friends in Moscow and built a life there before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“He was getting invited to friends’ cottages; he knew where all the cool bars were,” he said. “He loved his life there.”

Joshua Yaffa, a writer for The New Yorker who first met Gershkovich five years ago in Moscow, wrote in an article on Friday that Gershkovich, like some other Western reporters, had relocated outside of Russia after the war began, but returned last summer because his accreditation was still valid.

“It seemed like the old logic might still apply: Foreigners could get away with reporting that would be far more problematic, if not off limits entirely, for Russians,” Yaffa wrote.

In recent months, Gershkovich had written articles about an artillery shortage hampering Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and an acquiescence to the war by most Russians. His last byline was Tuesday, on a story about Russia’s dimming economic outlook as it is squeezed by Western sanctions.

Emma Tucker, the editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, said in an email to the staff Friday that the publication was working with the State Department as well as legal teams in the U.S. and in Russia to secure Gershkovich’s release.

“Evan is a member of the free press who right up until he was arrested was engaged in news gathering,” Tucker wrote. “Any suggestions otherwise are false.”

Berke said he had spoken with Gershkovich’s mother on Thursday and Friday. (Gershkovich’s family declined to comment for this article.)

“It’s really hard,” he said. “They left the Soviet Union and were very worried about him going back. So I think this hits close to home.”

Ivanova of The Financial Times said foreign journalists who had worked with Gershkovich were distraught about his detention. She and others have asked people to email letters of support, which they will translate into Russian, as required by Russian law, and send to Gershkovich in prison.

Ivanova said there were now very few Western journalists still traveling in to Russia.

“What he was doing was incredibly important,” she said. “It was a story that really needed to be told because we need to understand it.” She added, “It helps no one if Russia remains a black box.”

Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was arrested in Russia on Thursday. A fellow reporter said they frequently discussed the risks they faced in covering the country.

Pope Francis quips he’s ‘still alive’ after hospital stay

By GAIA PIANIGIANI and ELISABETTA POVOLEDO

Pope Francis returned to the Vatican on Saturday morning after a three-day hospital stay during which he was treated for bronchitis, raising new concerns about the health of the aging pontiff, who had major surgery in 2021 and now often uses a cane or a wheelchair because of knee problems and sciatica.

Francis, 86, left the Policlinico A. Gemelli hospital in Rome around 10:30 a.m. He was admitted on Wednesday afternoon.

Before leaving the hospital grounds, Francis got out of the white Fiat 500 that would take him to the Vatican to thank journalists for their work and to greet well-wishers, who cheered and waved hello. He signed the cast of a boy who had broken his arm playing soccer, and he prayed with a couple whose daughter had just died.

Andrea Scaracia, 45, an engineer from the southern region of Apulia, was among those who were waiting for the pope outside the hospital.

“They discharged him and my daughter on the same day. I hope it’s a good sign for him and for her,” he said. “He is of course the Holy Father, and any Catholic wants to know that he is well, but for Italians, it’s a little more than that. He is our father, our grandfather for children. We want to know that he has recovered and is well.”

Francis, asked how he was feeling, replied, smiling, “Still alive, you know,” according to a video posted on Twitter by CNN’s Vatican correspondent.

He had never felt afraid, Francis told the journalists.

He also spoke of his visit to young oncology patients at the hospital. “It’s the best thing, when you’re a priest, being a priest, being a pastor,” he said. And he praised the work of the medical staff. “You have to be heroic” to work in a hospital, he said. “And you need tenderness.”

After leaving the hospital, Francis went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before a venerated icon of the Virgin Mary, a Vatican spokesperson, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement. Francis also “offered a prayer” for the children he had met in the oncology ward, the sick and “those who suffer because of illness or the loss of their loved ones,” the statement said.

Francis arrived at the Vatican a short time later, entering through a side entrance close to the Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse where he has lived for the duration of his 10-year papacy.

Outside the Vatican walls, he again left the car to greet a group of people who were waiting. After getting back in, he waved over a television crew with the national broadcaster RAI.

“Thank you for everything,” he said, speaking through the car’s window. “Happy Easter, and pray for me.”

Francis was expected to be present on Sunday in St.

Peter’s Square for the Palm Sunday Mass, but the Vatican did not say whether he would deliver the homily during the service, which will be officiated by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals.

Francis said Saturday that he would deliver the weekly Angelus prayer after the Mass. And the Vatican said that Francis would take part in all of the Holy Week celebrations, while different cardinals would celebrate at the altar.

John Cullinan, 60, an Irish tourist, was visiting St. Peter’s on Saturday with his wife, Margaret, and said he was happy that the pope’s health had improved. “He is well,” Cullinan said. “Having the Easter celebration without him was hard to imagine.”

It was the pope’s second stay at Gemelli, where John Paul II also received treatment during his pontificate. In 2021, part of Francis’ colon was removed as a result of a bowel inflammation called diverticulitis. This year, in an interview with The Associated Press, he said that the diverticulitis had returned.

But apart from recurrent episodes of sciatica and problems with his right knee that have forced the cancellation of events and even trips, the pope’s health has not given much cause for alarm.

Francis himself has been more forthcoming about his mortality, even as the Vatican remains mostly tight-lipped about papal health issues.

Speaking to reporters on a papal plane in 2014, he said, “I know this will last a short time, two or three years, and then to the house of the Father,” while in 2015, he said he saw himself serving as pope for about another five years.

He has also said that he would consider resigning, as his predecessor Benedict XVI did in 2013, if failing health made it impossible for him to run the Roman Catholic Church. But he has also made clear that he views the pontificate as a lifelong mission.

“I believe that the pope’s ministry is ad vitam,” he told a group of Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of Congo in February, using the term “for life” in Latin. “I see no reason why it should not be so.” He added that retirement was, for the moment, not on his “agenda.”

On Saturday, the pope appeared to be in good spirits.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Francis said to reporters outside the hospital. “Rest up, and thank you.”

Pope Francis was discharged from a hospital in Rome after undergoing treatment for bronchitis. The Vatican said he would take part in all of the Holy Week celebrations.

AI may change everything, but probably not too quickly

By PAUL KRUGMAN

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is already having a significant impact on the economy, and its influence is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. ... Overall, the effects of AI on the economy will depend on a variety of factors, including the rate of technological advancement, government policies and the ability of workers to adapt to new technologies.”

OK, who said that? Nobody, unless we’re ready to start calling large language models people. What I did was ask ChatGPT to describe the economic effects of artificial intelligence; it went on at length, so that was an excerpt.

I think many of us who’ve played around with large language models — which are being widely discussed under the rubric of AI (although there’s an almost metaphysical debate over whether we should call it intelligence) — have been shocked by how much they now manage to sound like people. And it’s a good bet that they or their descendants will eventually take over a significant number of tasks that are currently done by humans.

Like previous leaps in technology, this will make the economy more productive but will also probably hurt some workers whose skills have been devalued. Although the term “Luddite” is often used to describe someone

who is simply prejudiced against new technology, the original Luddites were skilled artisans who suffered real economic harm from the introduction of power looms and knitting frames.

But this time around, how large will these effects be? And how quickly will they come about? On the first question, the answer is that nobody really knows. Predictions about the economic impact of technology are notoriously unreliable. On the second, history suggests that large economic effects from AI will take longer to materialize than many people seem to expect.

Consider the effects of previous advances in computing. Gordon Moore, a founder of Intel — which introduced the microprocessor in 1971 — died last month. He was famous for his prediction that the number of transistors on a computer chip would double every two years — a prediction that proved stunningly accurate for half a century. The consequences of Moore’s Law are all around us, most obviously in the powerful computers, aka smartphones, that almost everyone carries around these days.

For a long time, however, the economic payoff from this awesome rise in computing power was surprisingly elusive.

Why did a huge, prolonged surge in computing power take so long to pay off for the economy? In 1990, economic historian Paul David published one of my favorite economics papers of all time, “The Dynamo and the Computer.” It drew a parallel between the effects of information technology and those of an earlier tech revolution, the electrification of industry.

As David noted, electric motors became widely available in the 1890s. But having a technology isn’t enough. You also have to figure out what to do with it.

To take full advantage of electrification, manufacturers had to rethink the design of factories. Pre-electric factories were multistory buildings with cramped working spaces, because that was necessary to make efficient use of a steam engine in the basement driving the machines through a system of shafts, gears and pulleys.

It took time to realize that having each machine driven by its own motor made it possible to have sprawling onestory factories with wide aisles allowing easy movement of materials, not to mention assembly lines. As a result, the big productivity gains from electrification didn’t materialize until after World War I.

Sure enough, as David, in effect, predicted, the economic payoff from information technology finally kicked in during the 1990s, as filing cabinets and secretaries taking dictation finally gave way to cubicle farms. (What? You think technological progress is always glamorous?) The lag in this economic payoff even ended up being similar in length to the lagged payoff from electrification.

But this history still presents a few puzzles. One is why the first productivity boom from information technology

(there may be another one coming, if the enthusiasm about chatbots is justified) was so short-lived; basically it lasted only around a decade.

And even while it lasted, productivity growth during the IT boom was no higher than it was during the generationlong boom after World War II, which was notable in the fact that it didn’t seem to be driven by any radically new technology.

In 1969, celebrated management consultant Peter Drucker published “The Age of Discontinuity,” a book that correctly predicted major changes in the economy’s structure, yet the book’s title implies — correctly, I think — that the preceding period of extraordinary economic growth was actually an age of continuity, an era during which the basic outlines of the economy didn’t change much, even as America became vastly richer.

Or to put it another way, the great boom from the 1940s to around 1970 seems to have been largely based on the use of technologies, like the internal combustion engine, that had been around for decades — which should make us even more skeptical about trying to use recent technological developments to predict economic growth.

That’s not to say that AI won’t have huge economic impacts. But history suggests that they won’t come quickly. ChatGPT and whatever follows are probably an economic story for the 2030s, not for the next few years.

Which doesn’t mean that we should ignore the implications of a possible AI-driven boom. Large language models in their current form shouldn’t affect economic projections for next year and probably shouldn’t have a large effect on economic projections for the next decade. But the longer-run prospects for economic growth do look better now than they did before computers began doing such good imitations of people.

Dependencias de salud presentan necesidades presupuestarias para el próximo año fiscal

POR EL STAR STAFF

SAN JUAN – La Comisión de Hacienda y Presupuesto realizó a fines de la semana pasada, la segunda vista pública correspondiente a la Resolución Conjunta de la Cámara 454, para conocer las cuantías presupuestarias propuestas por las diversas agencias gubernamentales ante el gobierno para el próximo año fiscal 2023-2024.

En esta ocasión, los representantes recibieron ponencias informativas por parte de las dependencias de salud que ofrecen servicios esenciales a la ciudadanía.

“Durante el día de hoy estaremos evaluando el presupuesto de las dependencias de Salud de Puerto Rico. Como todos saben, estamos en una crisis económica, pero es nuestro compromiso asegurar que los servicios de salud se continúen dando de manera contínua, ya que es un servicio esencial para nuestra gente puertorriqueña”, sos -

AAA realizará trabajos

tuvo el representante Luis “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo, quien estuvo a cargo de la presidencia de manera incidental.

El presidente en propiedad de la Comisión, Jesús Santa Rodríguez participó de la vista pública a través de plataforma virtual por razones de salud.

A la audiencia pública compareció el director ejecutivo de la Administración de Servicios Médicos (ASEM), Jorge Matta González; el director ejecutivo del Centro de Investigaciones, Educación y Servicios Médicos para la Diabetes (CDPR), Miguel José Bustelo; y la directora ejecutiva del Centro Comprensivo de Cáncer de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (CCCUPR), Marcia Cruz Correa.

También, se presentó el administrador de la Administración de Servicios de Salud Mental y Contra la Adicción (ASSMCA), Carlos Rodríguez Mateo, la directora ejecutiva de la Administración de Seguros de Salud (ASES), Edna MaOKos y el secretario de Salud, Carlos R. Mellado López

A modo inicial, el director ejecutivo de la ASEM indicó que el presupuesto de la dependencia asciende a $211.3 millones para el año fiscal 20232024, también ilustró a la Comisión sobre el estado actual de la pérdida operacional de la agencia.

de servicio en sectores de Arecibo

POR CYBERNEWS

A RECIBO – La Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AAA) realizará el lunes, mejoras en sus diferentes instalaciones de agua potable en la zona norte para beneficio de los clientes, así lo informó Joe Colón, director del área operacional de Arecibo.

El funcionario explicó en comunicación escrita que “nuestra meta es que todos los abonados continúen recibiendo un servicio excelente. Diariamente trabajamos en todas las instalaciones de agua potable para cumplir este propósito. En el área de Arecibo seguimos realizando mejoras y mantenimientos requeridos para llevar un producto de calidad, a su vez, cumpliendo con las entidades reguladoras per-

tinentes”.

La optimización consiste en la limpieza y mantenimiento de sedimentadores de la planta de filtros Arecibo y la planta de filtros de Quebradillas. Estos trabajos garantizan un proceso de filtración óptimo y eficiente en beneficio de los clientes. Las labores se coordinan para el próximo lunes, 3 de abril, en ambas instalaciones en horario de 6:00 de la mañana a 6:00 de la tarde. Abonados en sectores de Arecibo, así como también, en Piedra Gorda, Puertos y Margaritas, en Quebradillas y Camuy, podrían experimentar interrupción y bajas presiones en su servicio, mientras culminan las labores.

Se exhorta a los clientes a hervir el agua para consumo por al menos tres minutos una vez restablecido el servicio.

Nonagenaria pierde la vida en accidente vehicular en Ponce

ONCE – Agentes de la división de Patrullas de Carreteras de Ponce, investigaron un choque de auto de carácter fatal, ocurrido a eso de las 11:30 de la noche de l sábado en la carretera 591, kilómetro 1.4, de Ponce. Según la Uniformada, mientras Noralis Ortiz Feliciano, de 31 años y residente de Ponce, conducía un vehículo Jeep Patriot por el lugar y al llegar al kilómetro 1.4, perdió el control del vehículo por lo que hizo que

se saliera del carril impactando un arrastre que se encontraba estacionado en el área del paseo.

En el auto viajaba como pasajera Deisy Lugo Pérez, de 90 años, quien resultó con heridas de gravedad, que le ocasionaron la muerte en el acto.

A Ortiz Feliciano, se le realizó la prueba de alcohol por aliento arrojando 0.063 por ciento de alcohol en el organismo.

Este caso fue investigado por el agente Blanco en unión a la fiscal Idelfonso Torres de la fiscalía de Ponce.

el lunes y anuncia interrupción

Adam Sandler grows up (mostly)

By CALUM MARSH

“Idon’t know what I’m thinking. I’m so sad,” wails Howard Ratner, voice choked up, tears streaming down his cheeks, a wad of tissue stuffed inside his bloody nose. “I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to do. Everything I do is not going right.”

Howard, played with frazzled, manic intensity by Adam Sandler, is at the end of his rope. At this point in the gambling drama “Uncut Gems,” the Diamond District jeweler is in leagues of debt, and his one final, desperate hope to raise cash — a gem auction — has just failed spectacularly. Roughed up by the guys he owes, he turns to his mistress, Julia (Julia Fox), for consolation.

“Unzip my skirt,” she tells him consolingly. Turning around, she reveals that she has had his name tattooed in cursive on her backside. “It says ‘Howie’!” she exclaims.

“I don’t deserve it!,” Howard moans. After a pause, the Jewish New Yorker thinks to add, “You can’t even get buried with me now!”

Recent Sandler films, including “Murder Mystery” and its new sequel, “Murder Mystery 2,” have this same familiar intensity. They may have less serious ambitions, but they have also been greatly bolstered by the depth and nuance he has lately seemed to harness.

In many ways, this is much the same Sandler that we have seen on screen since the early 1990s, as the star of often juvenile feature comedies and as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live”: an oversize man-baby in the throes of an antic tantrum. In films such as “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” Sandler specialized in a kind of galvanic caricature of Gen X arrested development, oscillating wildly between boyish puppy-dog charm and explosive, bratty anger. His shtick was the interplay of two distinct types: bashful, vaguely pathetic one moment, utterly rabid the next.

But there’s a depth of feeling evident in Sandler’s “Uncut Gems” performance that wasn’t on view in those earlier roles. From his tense shoulders to the way he grinds his teeth in moments of stress, Howard embodies a world-weariness that borders on exhaustion, looking harried and bedraggled even at his most well rested and upbeat. All of the childish vigor Sandler is known for is still there, but it’s filtered through several decades of

indelible experience. He’s no longer a manchild. He’s an old man-child — and the effect of all that time on Earth shows in every gesture and every pore.

This weariness isn’t exclusive to his work in “Uncut Gems” (available to rent on major platforms). Although he has regularly met the challenge of demanding roles under the direction of auteurs — giving complex, acclaimed performances in James Brooks’ “Spanglish” (2004), Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” (2009) and especially Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” (2004) — over the past several years, he has brought subtler and more thoughtful shading to broader, lighthearted comedies. He is drawing on his art-house gifts even in farcical contexts, and the result is some of the most rewarding work of his career.

In “Murder Mystery” and “Murder Mystery 2,” streaming on Netflix, Sandler plays Nick Spitz, a New York City police detective longing for a promotion (more to the point, a raise). In the first film, Nick and his wife, Audrey (Jennifer Aniston), are celebrating their 15th anniversary with a long-overdue trip across Europe. On the plane, Nick spots Audrey chatting with Charles (Luke Evans), a dashing, titled billionaire, and can barely contain his envy.

“I know I’m not a duke,” Nick tells Audrey sheepishly, when they have a moment alone.

“He’s a viscount,” Audrey corrects him.

“I don’t even know what that is,” Nick replies.

This exchange is typical of the couple’s banter, which ranges in the films from tender to acrimonious to protective, sometimes in the span of a single line. Sandler plays the devoted but put-upon husband with a delicate balance of compassion and aloofness, and in moments such as this, a wounded candor comes through that is oddly touching. Although there’s humor in Nick’s jealousy of his rich and handsome competitor, Sandler laces it with a feeling of threatened ego and husbandly pridefulness. You get a real sense that Nick loves Audrey, and an equally clear impression of how 15 years of husband-andwife routine have calcified their partnership.

“Murder Mystery 2” picks up where the first film left off, with Nick and Audrey having parlayed their crime-solving success into a career as professional gumshoes. As with the original, this sequel works because it remains grounded in the mundane rhythms of a

longtime marriage. And again, Sandler channels a hangdog torpor, almost a melancholic air, in a performance that bristles with comic realism. When he has to carry the ransom to a hostage exchange, he grouses about the weight of the briefcase (then gets defensive about the size of his hands); moments after a murder, he bickers with his wife about appropriate before-bed snack portions. This is a man with more down-to-earth concerns than the mystery he is ostensibly solving. Sandler, with surly charisma, makes those concerns palpable.

Even the broadest of Sandler’s recent comedies benefit from this maturation. “Hubie Halloween” (2020, on Netflix), a goofy horror parody very much in the style of vintage Happy Madison productions, stars Sandler as Hubie Dubois, a sweet-natured simpleton reminiscent of the characters he played in “Little Nicky” and “The Waterboy.” (As in those films, Sandler speaks entirely in a squeaky, abrasive voice.) The difference is that “Hubie” leans into Sandler’s latent sweetness, counterbalancing the raunchy lowbrow humor with a heartfelt — perhaps even sentimental — touch. There’s always been a deep-seated earnestness in his work: Consider the Frank Capra-esque ending of his mawkish (and underappreciated) farce “Click” (2006). Lately, alongside the weariness, that warmth has come to the fore.

The subtler, more mature Sandler of recent years is most fully showcased in “Hustle,” a sports comedy-drama by Jeremiah Zagar that was released to glowing reviews on Netflix last summer. Sandler stars as Stanley Sugerman, an international scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. Well-respected in his field, Stanley longs for a position on the bench:

In his mid-50s and with a wife and teenage daughter he rarely sees, he badly wants to spend less time on the road and more time at home.

Sandler plays Stanley as a man who is grateful for what he has but desperate for a little bit more. A hot basketball prospect in college with a shot at a championship, he squandered his one opportunity to make it as a player in the NBA: After a night of partying, Stanley got into a drunken-driving accident that sent him to jail for six months and instantly derailed his career. Now, he carries the guilt of that choice in his every movement.

As Sandler capably plays him, he’s haunted — doomed to work in a kind of karmic penance, incapable of forgetting what might have been. It’s a sad and moving performance of remarkable emotional depth. It’s also the kind of performance that hints at where Sandler might go from here. As he continues to grow older, we might see him further hone this melancholy, perhaps eventually taking on roles like the one an aging Jerry Lewis played in Martin Scorsese’s great “The King of Comedy.”

At one point in “Hustle,” asked about the dreams he still hopes to follow, Stanley offers a rebuke meant only semi-ironically. “Guys in their 50s don’t have dreams,” he insists. “They have nightmares and eczema.” Clearly, Sandler — whether he personally agrees with the sentiment or not — has been channeling that feeling into his work. On screen now, at 56, he’s the guy who’s no longer dreaming: He has only nightmares and eczema, and whatever jokes he can muster to make about them.

Adam Sandler opposite Jennifer Aniston in “Murder Mystery 2.” Even in comic movies lately, the actor laces his performances with depth.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE LLC

Demandante Vs. NELDY LUCIANO

FERRER T/C/C NELDY LUCIANO; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: MZ2021CV01282.

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 Mayagüez, 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 Mayagüez, el

31 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS

11:00 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:

RÚSTICA: BARRIO LLANOS

TUNA de Cabo Rojo. Solar:

EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO.

Cabida: 0.2068 Cuerdas. Linderos: Norte, con terrenos de Miguel Ortiz Ramírez. Sur, con terrenos de Walmer Martínez Troche. Este, con terrenos de Miguel Ortiz Ramírez. Oeste, con carretera estatal 103 que de Cabo Rojo conduce a Boquerón. Finca número 23,838, inscrita al folio 6 del tomo 667 de Cabo Rojo, Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 65 del tomo 1033 de Cabo Rojo, Finca 23,838, Registro de la Propiedad de San German, inscripción 7ª.

Propiedad localizada en: PR 103 KM 9.3 LLANOS TUNA, CABO ROJO, PR 00623. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anterio-

res 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: $201,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 25 de noviembre de 2093. 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 $201,000.00, 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 Mayagüez, el 7 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $134,000.00, 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 $100,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, el 14 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 11:00 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 $75,582.74 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $31,114.11 en intereses acumulados al 30 de diciembre de 2021 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 3.185% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $12,756.10 en seguro hipotecario; $425.00 de tasaciones; $300.00 de inspecciones; $615.00 en adelantos de honorarios de abogado; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $20,100.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras

aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. 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 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, hoy 24 de febrero de 2023. JOVINO PÉREZ SANTIAGO, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ALG. IVELISSE

FIGUEROA VARGAS, ALGUACIL PLACA #924.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. LUIS GONZALEZ TORRES; NOEMI RODRIGUEZ MESTRE Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: HU2022CV00387.

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 Su-

Monday, April 3, 2023 18

perior de Humacao, 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 Humacao, el 30 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 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: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el numero cuarenta y ocho guión A en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Fernández del Barrio Candelero Arriba del término municipal de Humacao, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cero cuerdas con mil doscientos setenta y cuatro diezmilésimas de otra, equivalentes a quinientos punto setenta y cuatro metros cuadrados, en lindes por el Norte, con la parcela cuarenta y ocho (48) de la comunidad; por el Sur con la calle de la comunidad; por el Este, con la parcela numero cuarenta y ocho de la comunidad y por el Oeste, con la parcela numero cuarenta y siete (47) de la comunidad. Enclava una casa para fines residenciales. Finca número 13,831, inscrita al folio 140 del tomo 330 de Humacao, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al tomo Karibe, Finca 13,831 de Humacao, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao, inscripción 7ª. Propiedad localizada en: 48A COMUNIDAD FERNANDEZ, HUMACAO, PUERTO RICO 00791. 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: $180,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 25 de abril de 2101. 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 $180,000.00, 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 Humacao, el 6 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $120,000.00, 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 $90,000.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Humacao, el 13 DE JUNIO DE 2023, A LAS 9:30 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 $69,614.17 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $31,653.40 en intereses acumulados al 5 de mayo de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 0.193% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $12,775.03 en seguro hipotecario; $4,852.03 en seguro; $2,290.00 de tasaciones; $260.00 de inspecciones; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $18,000.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. 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 es-

pacio 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 Humacao, Puerto Rico, hoy 8 de marzo de 2023. JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. WILNELIA RIVERA DELGADO, ALGUACIL PLACA #249.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE ELSIE ANTONIA GONZALEZ QUIÑONES, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJA ELSIE REBECA MARENGO GONZALEZ Y LUIS M. CEPEDA ROMERO, EN CUANTO A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (“CRIM”)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2022CV02842.

(407). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA “IN REM”. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESIÓN DE ELSIE ANTONIA GONZALEZ QUIÑONES, COMPUESTA POR SU HIJA ELSIE REBECA MARENGO GONZALEZ Y LUIS M. CEPEDA ROMERO, EN CUANTO A LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (“CRIM”).

Yo, HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRIGUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #278, 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 4 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:15 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Carolina, Carolina, 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 Carolina 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 11 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:15 DE LA TARDE y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el 18 DE MAYO DE 2023, A LAS 1:15 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número W guión Cuarenta y Dos (W-42) del plano de inscripción del proyecto VBC demoninado Villa Cooperativa también conocido como JARDÍNES DE BORINQUEN radicada en el Barrio Hoyo Mulas del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de CIENTO VEINTIOCHO PUNTO DIEZ (128.10) METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar número Nueve (9), con una distancia de seis punto diez (6.10) metros; por el SUR, con la calle número Dieciséis (16), con una distancia de seis punto diez (6.10) metros; por el ESTE, con el solar número Cuarenta y Uno (41), con una distancia de veintiuno punto cero cero (21.00) metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar número Cuarenta y Tres (43), con una distancia de veintiuno punto cero cero (21.00) metros, con el solar aquí descrito. Enclava una casa de hilera su pared medianera por el Este colinda con la pared medianera de la vivienda número Cuarenta y Uno (41) y por el Oeste colinda con la pared medianera de la vivienda número Cuarenta y Tres (43) en el lado Norte se grava una servidumbre de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company de cinco pies (5’). La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio móvil del tomo 1335 de Carolina, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección Segunda, finca número 38,728, inscripción séptima. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Urbanización Jardines de Borinquen, Calle Violeta, W-42, Carolina, Puerto Rico. La Subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $54,772.06, intereses al 9% anual desde el 1ro. de febrero de 2018, hasta su

completo pago, más la cantidad de $6,960.00 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 $69,600.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella, o sea, la suma de $46,400.00 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $34,800.00. De declararse 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 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 Carolina, Puerto Rico, 15 de marzo de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL DE LA DIVISIÓN DE EJECUCIÓN DE SENTENCIAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

JOE DOE Y JANE

DOE CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE YARA

IVETTE LICEAGA ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; PERENGANO DE TAL Y PERENGANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE CRISTINA

LICEAGA BONILLA EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; MENGANO DE CUAL Y MENGANA DE CUAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE IVÁN

JESÚS LICEAGA ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; JANELLE

LICEAGA ROJAS; PERENGANO DE CUAL Y PERENGANA DE CUAL Demandados

Civil Núm.: ACD2016-0112.

Salón: 604. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO

POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN JUDICIAL. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE YANIRA A. LICEAGA SÁNCHEZ EN LA HERENCIA DE SU

PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; MENGANO DE TAL Y MENGANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE JUAN B. LICEAGA SÁNCHEZ EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; JOE DOE Y JANE

DOE CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE YARA

IVETTE LICEAGA ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B.

LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; PERENGANO DE TAL Y PERENGANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN

SUCESORIA DE CRISTINA

LICEAGA BONILLA EN LA HERENCIA DE SU

PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA

HERNÁNDEZ; MENGANO DE CUAL Y MENGANA

DE CUAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE IVÁN

JESÚS LICEAGA ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN

B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; PERENGANO DE CUAL Y PERENGANA DE CUAL.

POR LA PRESENTE: Se le notifica que contra usted se ha presentado la Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero de la cual se acompaña copia. Por la presente se le emplaza a usted y se le requiere para que dentro del término de treinta (30) días desde la fecha de la publicación por edicto de este emplazamiento, notifiquen a la LCDA. GINA H. FERRER MEDINA, Condominio Las Nereidas, Local 1-B, Calle Méndez Vigo esquina Amador Ramírez Silva, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00680; Apartado 2342, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00681-2342, Teléfonos: (787) 538-9920 / (787) 832-9620 y (845) 345-3985 Abogada de la parte Demandante, cuya dirección es la que queda indicada, copia de su Contestación a la Demanda, radicando el original de dicha Contestación en el Tribunal de Aguadilla. Copia de la demanda, así como de este emplazamiento, podrán ser obtenidas en la Secretaría de este Tribunal, apercibiéndose que en caso de no hacerlo usted así dentro del término indicado, podrá anotarse la rebeldía en su contra concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citar le ni oírle. ORDEN DE INTERPELACIÓN JUDICIAL: Vista la Moción Solicitando Expedición de Emplazamiento por Edicto e Interpelación Judicial en el caso de epígrafe, y examinado los autos de este caso y la ley aplicable, este Tribunal declara CON LUGAR la solicitud de Interpelación Judicial, y en su consecuencia se ordena a que la parte demandada:

FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE YANIRA A. LICEAGA SÁNCHEZ EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; MENGANO DE TAL Y MENGANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE JUAN

B. LICEAGA SÁNCHEZ EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; JOE DOE Y JANE DOE

CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE YARA IVETTE LICEAGA ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; PERENGANO DE TAL Y PERENGANA DE TAL CON DERECHO A REPRESENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE CRISTINA LICEAGA BONILLA EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; MENGANO DE CUAL Y MENGANA DE CUAL CON DERECHO A REPRE-

SENTACIÓN SUCESORIA DE IVÁN JESÚS LICEAGA

ROJAS EN LA HERENCIA DE SU PADRE JUAN B. LICEAGA HERNÁNDEZ; PERENGANO DE CUAL Y PERENGANA DE CUAL por sí y como miembros de la Sucesión de Juan B. Liceaga Hernández y conforme lo dispone el Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico 2020 a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepte o repudie la participación que le corresponda en la herencia del causante. Se le apercibe 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 demandados que luego de trascurso del término antes indicado, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante, por consiguiente responden por las obligaciones del causante, por los legados y por las cargas hereditarias exclusivamente hasta el valor de los bienes hereditarios que recibe según lo dispone el Artículo 1587 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico 2020. Se Ordena a la parte demandante a que proceda a notificar la presente orden mediante publicación de un edicto a esos efectos una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de la isla de Puerto Rico. DADA en Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, hoy 20 de marzo de 2023. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. ARLENE GUZMÁN PABÓN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE LORRAINE TORRES VARGAS

Demandante V. LA COOPERTIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE LOS EMPLEADOS DE LAS EMPRESAS FERRE.; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALQUIERA PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA Demandados

Civil Núm.: PO2023CV00770.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: LA COOPERTIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO

DE LOS EMPLEADOS DE LAS EMPRESAS FERRE, INC.; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA.

Por la presente se le notifica que se ha presentado en este Tribunal una Demanda en su contra en el pleito de epígrafe. 1. En este caso la parte demandante ha radicado una Demanda para que se decrete judicialmente el saldo de un (1) pagaré hipotecario a favor de LA COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE LOS EMPLEADOS DE LAS EMPRESAS FERRE, Inc., o a su orden por la suma principal de $9,000.00, con intereses al 14% pagadero en plazos mensuales comenzando el 12 de diciembre de 1986 hasta el pago de la deuda total. Para garantizar dicho pagaré se constituyó una hipoteca mediante escritura número 177, otorgada en Ponce, Puerto Rico, el día 12 de noviembre de 1986, ante el notario Antoni Fernández Rodríguez e inscrita al folio 292 vuelto del tomo 1427 de Ponce, sobre la propiedad que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Lote de terreno y casa marcado con número 18 del bloque D de la Urbanización Los Caobas en la ciudad de Ponce, Puerto Rico, con frente a la calle número 15 con una medida superficial de 189.32 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, 10.85 metros con los solares número 8 y 9 del mismo bloque D; por el SUR, en 6.54 metros en curva con la calle número 15; por el ESTE en 21.49 metros con el solar número 17 del mismo bloque D; y por el SUROESTE, en 22.73 metros con el solar número 19 del mismo bloque D. Enclava una estructura tipo gemela dedicada a vivienda, construida de hormigón armado, sobre el cual existe una servidumbre por signo aparente, establecida por la Corporación vendedora en la pared que divide dicha estructura enclavada en el solar número 19 por la colindancia Suroeste, pared medianera la cal continuará sirviendo a esta estructura y pertenecerá en común proindiviso en toda su extensión al propietario de esta edificación y al propietario del a edificación colindante. Esta afecta a servidumbre a favor de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company por su colindancia Sur, y a servidumbre a favor de la Autoridad de Fuentes Fluviales de Puerto Rico para instalación

de un transformador por su colindancia Sur. Finca Número 42,389, inscrita al folio 162 del tomo 2,054 de Ponce. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de Ponce. La parte demandante alega que dicho pagaré ha sido saldado según más detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en la Secretaría de este Tribunal. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectado por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de Puerto Rico y se le requiere para que radique en este Tribunal su contestación y notifique con copia de ella al abogado de la parte demandante la LCDA. LIZBET AVILES VEGA, RUA: 12536, Urb. Los Sauces, Calle Pomarrosa #222, Humacao, PR 00791, Tel: 787-354-0061, Email: lizbet_aviles@yahoo. com y lcdalizbetaviles@gmail. com; dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su rebeldía y dictar sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 27 de marzo de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA. LOYDA TORRES IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. MARIA ESTHER BENITEZ

MALDONADO Tcc MARIA

E. BENITEZ MALDONADO

Parte Demandada CIVIL NUM. CA2021CV03583. SOBRE: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA Y COBRO DE DINERO. ANUNCIO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que los autos y documentos del caso de epígrafe estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables y que venderá en pública subasta al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $141,185.07

de balance principal, el cual se compone de un primer principal por la suma de $136,615.03 y un principal diferido por la suma de $4,570.04, más los intereses calculados sobre la suma de $136,615.03, a razón de 6.00% annual, desde el primero de octubre de 2016, más las primas de seguro hipotecario y riego, recargos por demora computados al 3% sobre cada mensualidad adeudada; más la suma estipulada de $14,954.40 para honorarios de abogado pactada en la escritura de hipoteca; y cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquiera concepto legal se devenguen hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Villa Carolina, marcada con el número catorce (14) de la manzana ciento treinta y cinco (135), con un área superficial de trescientos treinta (330.00) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en trece punto setenta y cinco (13.75) metros, con la calle numero cuatrocientos cuatro (404); por el Sur, en trece punto setenta y cinco (13.75) metros, con el solar numero once (11); por el Este, en veinticuatro (24.00) metros, con el solar numero trece (13); y por el Oeste, en veinticuatro (24.00) metros, con el solar número quince (15). Enclava edificación. Inscrita al folio doscientos cincuenta y tres (253) del tomo novecientos treinta y cinco (935) de Carolina, finca número veintisiete mil novecientos setenta y ocho (27,978) Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección II. Dirección Física: 135-14 404 Calle 404, Carolina, Puerto Rico 00985-4005. La primera subasta se llevará a cabo el día 5 de mayo de 2023 a las 9:30 de la mañana, y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $149,544.02 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una segunda subasta el día 12 de mayo de 2023, a las 9:30 de la mañana, y el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $99,696.01. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una terce99,696.01ra subasta el día 19 de mayo de 2023, a las 9:30 de la mañana y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $74,772.01.

El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipo-

tecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables.

(Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Carolina, Puerto Rico a 27 de marzo de 2023. HÉCTOR L.

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Parte Demandante Vs. LUIS D. LEBRÓN MAZÓN

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: HU2022CV01649. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: LUIS D. LEBRÓN MAZÓN. POR LA PRESENTE, se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a:

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Email: jrg@gonzalezmorales.com abogados de la parte demandante, cuya dirección es la que deja indicada, con copia de su Contestación a la Demanda, copia de la cual le es servida en este caso, 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. Debe saber que en caso de no hacerlo así podrá dictarse Sentencia en Rebeldía en contra suya, concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el Sello del Tribunal, hoy día 27 de marzo de 2023. IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KARILIN MORALES FIGUEROA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

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UConn will meet San Diego State in the final after romping past Miami

By BILLY WITZ

Ayear ago, when Connecticut flamed out of the NCAA Tournament, upset by 12th-seeded New Mexico State in the opening round, coach Dan Hurley was back in his office the next Monday at 7 a.m. to meet with his staff and his players. He had been in Storrs, Connecticut, for four years and hadn’t won a postseason game. He did not need any time for reflection.

“The other coaches did not want me to do it,” Hurley said of the meetings. “They thought I was too emotional to make decisions, but I knew exactly where we needed to go.”

Hurley set forth his plan that day. He would remake the roster, bringing in players to build around his three-man core of center Adama Sanogo, forward Andre Jackson Jr. and guard Jordan Hawkins. The additions had two main qualities: They could shoot the heck out of the ball and they wouldn’t shrink in big moments.

The seeds of that cold March morning a year ago have carried Connecticut all the way to a spot in the national championship game after its 72-59 defeat of Miami in Houston on Saturday night. Tonight (9 p.m. ET, CBS) the Huskies will play San Diego State, which spoiled the night for another South Florida team when Lamont Butler’s jumper at the buzzer rescued a 72-71 victory over Florida Atlantic.

The Huskies can restore a semblance of order to a chaotic tournament with a capstone victory, which would be their fifth championship in 25 years — something no men’s program other than UCLA and Duke has accomplished.

They reached the final with another emphatic victory before a parade of UConn royalty — Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor and Richard Hamilton among them. The Huskies’ only uncomfortable moments were caused by fits of turnovers that fueled Miami’s transition breaks after UConn had built a 20-point second-half lead.

“There’s nowhere where we’re weak as a team, and we’re deep,” Hurley said after UConn’s closest game in the tournament. “So we’re able to kind of body blow our opponent and continue to just put together quality possessions at both ends.”

He added: “It has a cumulative effect. It’s been able to break opponents.”

The catalyst for the Huskies on Saturday night was Sanogo, the junior from Mali who was pleased to be playing the nightcap because he observes Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which he fasts from sunrise to sundown.

“If I get my coconut water and fruit, I’ll be fine,” said Sanogo, who feasted on the smallish Hurricanes, contributing 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

The Huskies were also buoyed by Hawkins, who had 13 points.

It was unclear until shortly before tipoff whether Hawkins, UConn’s sharpshooting sophomore wing, would play. He missed Friday’s practice with a stomach bug after a dinner of steak and calamari on Thursday night that left team doctors concerned enough that they isolated Hawkins from his teammates at their downtown Houston hotel.

But Hawkins, who “felt like death the last two days,” according to Hurley, was in the lineup and quickly gave a sign that his stomach had settled, swishing a long 3-pointer from the wing 14 seconds into the game.

When forward Alex Karaban sank a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, holding a shooter’s goose-necked form for effect, the Huskies skipped toward the locker room with a 37-24 lead even with Jackson playing only a little more than four minutes after picking up two quick fouls.

It was not a good sign for the Hurricanes. The Huskies, through this tournament, had gotten here mostly by jockeying with their

opponents for a half before overwhelming them with a second-half assault. They trailed Iona at halftime and led St. Mary’s by 1 point and Gonzaga by 7 at the break. Only against Arkansas were they comfortably in front.

That second half against Iona may have been what settled the Huskies.

Sanogo said it was natural to think about last season’s flop.

“Myself, I was feeling the pressure,” Sanogo said of his walk to the locker room against Iona. “I was like, ‘Damn, why are we down against Iona?’ But after thinking about it, our studying wasn’t good. We figured it out, changed our defense a little bit, and we were able to fly.”

The Huskies have looked in the tournament much like the team that began the season with 14 convincing victories, including a blowout of Alabama, which would finish the regular season as the top-ranked team in the nation. But after that hot start, the Huskies went careening off the rails, losing six of eight, before stabilizing ahead of the tournament.

By the time the national semifinals arrived, Connecticut presented the Hurricanes with perhaps the most intimidating opponent of those available in Houston.

One of the questions Miami faced was how Norchad Omier, a 6-foot-7,

240-pound power forward masquerading as a center, would hold up against the Huskies’ revolving towers: the chiseled Sanogo and the towering Donovan Clingan, a 7-2 freshman.

Omier, who grew up in Nicaragua wanting to pitch in the big leagues until he grew into enough of a basketball prospect that he moved to Miami for his senior year in high school, could provide little resistance against Sanogo nor contribute much offense. He did not score his first basket until two minutes into the second half, by which time Miami trailed by 17.

On the rare occasions that Connecticut’s free-flowing offense bogged down, the Huskies could just toss the ball into Sanogo, who made 9 of 11 shot attempts — including a pair of 3-pointers. Clingan had just 4 points, but his three offensive rebounds and his skyscraping arms repeatedly thwarted Miami.

The Hurricanes had traversed the most difficult road to Houston.

They trailed Drake late before scoring the final 10 points in a first-round win. They befuddled No. 4 seed Indiana, blitzed No. 1 seed Houston and surged past No. 2 Texas to win the Midwest Regional.

The matchup with Connecticut evoked fond memories for Jim Larrañaga, Miami’s avuncular 73-year-old coach. His previous trip to the Final Four came in 2006 with a Cinderella-in-sneakers George Mason team that knocked off top-seeded Connecticut in a regional final.

There would be no such memory-making moments for Larrañaga this time.

In fact, when Miami guard Nijel Pack was stranded for several minutes on the bench in the second half after he blew out a shoe, it might have been a sign. It took a of couple trips to the locker room for the equipment manager to find a shoe that fit.

Neither, it turns out, did a glass slipper.

UConn’s Adama Sanogo and Coach Dan Hurley after the team’s Final Four win.

Calle Barbosa #182 (frente al Cuartel de la Policia Estatal), Las Piedras PR

Lamont Butler hits a buzzer-beater to send San Diego State to the title game

By ANDREW KEH

Lamont Butler practiced moments like these when he was a young child, shooting on the hoop at his house, counting down to the buzzer of the imaginary shot clock in his mind.

Fast-forward to last summer, when Butler, a junior guard for San Diego State, made one-dribble, pull-up jumpers one of his primary areas of focus in his game, trying to make 10 in a row, 15 in a row, until the move and shot were committed to muscle memory.

That is the way these big moments go: years of dreaming, hours and hours of practice, thousands of shots, boiling down to a couple of tense seconds.

It all came together in a flash for Butler on Saturday night in Houston, when he coolly drained a jumper — that very same jumper — from the right side of the floor with the game clock expiring to give the Aztecs a 72-71 win over Florida Atlantic and a place in the men’s college basketball national championship game tonight (9 p.m. ET, CBS).

“I just got comfortable with that shot, and I was able to use it today to win the game,” said Butler, 20, of Moreno Valley, California, who was mobbed on the court by his teammates amid a stadium rapidly filling with noise.

The buzzer-beater victory closed the latest dramatic chapter of this tournament for the Aztecs, who have barreled an unlikely path through the 68-team field with a veteran roster focused on defense and hardnosed play.

But amid the hysteria and joy of the celebration, Butler’s mind, as it often does, went quietly to his sister, Asasha Hall, who was killed in March 2022 in her home.

Butler keeps a picture of Hall, who was 10 years older than him, as his lock screen wallpaper on his phone. She was his biggest fan, he said.

“She’d always be close to the court, the loudest in the gym,” Butler said Saturday night. “She was funny. I had great memories with her. I miss her. I’m doing everything I can to make her happy.”

Butler has played the past year through the pain of that experience, leaning on coach Brian Dutcher and his teammates for emotional support. His resilience, his ability to compartmentalize his pain and his commitment to basketball, left his teammates in awe.

“He’s a better man than me,” said Matt Bradley, who led the Aztecs with 21 points Saturday. “I don’t know if I’d be able to keep going like he’s been going for us. Being a leader on this team, everything he’s done for our team this year. He’s the backbone.”

It made sense, then, that as Butler answered question after question from reporters in the San Diego State locker room, his teammates could not hide their joy for him.

“I’m glad he’s having this moment,” forward Jaedon LeDee said. “He deserves it.”

The moment was set up by a missed layup from Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis, which would have given the Owls a 3-point lead but instead left the door open for San Diego State, which trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half.

The rebound fell to Aztecs center

Nathan Mensah, who flipped it to Butler streaking down the right sideline and looking, as he said, for a path “downhill,” as Dutcher had instructed him.

But as Butler searched for an opening to the rim, his defender slid over to cut him off. So Butler doubled back, saw that there were only 2 seconds on the clock and executed the dribble-pull-up move that he had practiced so many times over the past year.

“It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid,” said Butler, who finished the game with 9 points and three assists.

It was the second buzzer-beater of the season for Butler, who drained a gamewinning 3-pointer at the buzzer on the road against New Mexico in February.

“I told him in Albuquerque to get to the rim too, and he shot a pullup 3 and made it,” Dutcher said. “I’ll quit telling him what to do and just say: Lamont, you get the ball. And I’ll live with whatever happens.”

Butler, who attended Riverside Poly High, the alma mater of Reggie and Cheryl Miller, said that he was able to make eye contact with his family as he and his teammates bounded off the court.

“You can’t even dream about what just happened,” his father, Lamont Butler Sr., said moments after the shot went in.

Together, San Diego State and Florida Atlantic were the gate crashers, the unannounced guests of the NCAA men’s Final Four. They were the underdogs and Cinderellas, the weirdness and unpredictability of this year’s tournament personified. That’s how others saw them, at least.

San Diego State, a No. 5 seed, and

Florida Atlantic, a No. 9, viewed things differently. The labels, well intentioned as they were, diminished their hard work since last summer. They introduced the element of fairy-tale good fortune, when all the players saw was hard work and the culmination of their skills on the court.

The teams, each playing with chips on their shoulders, stepped on the elevated court at NRG Stadium and proceeded to put on a show for the raucously partisan crowd.

Any questions before the game about how players on both teams would adjust to shooting inside the cavernous environs of the indoor football stadium, with the hoops set against unusually panoramic backdrops, were quickly brushed aside. (Some Florida Atlantic players prepared for that circumstance by shooting baskets on the beach near their campus in Boca Raton, Florida.)

Bradley made his first four shots — three of them 3-pointers — to start the game, helping the Aztecs build an early 14-5 lead. It was a promising sign for San Diego State, as Bradley, who averaged 12.5 points per game as their leading scorer this season, had shot just 3 for 17 in the team’s previous two contests.

But Florida Atlantic stormed back, receiving scoring contributions from nine players and establishing a 40-33 halftime lead. The Owls’ ball-sharing ethos was on full display, as the players passed relentlessly through the vaunted San Diego State defense, finding high-quality looks on one possession after another. The Owls shot 53.6% in the first half.

Alijah Martin, a sophomore guard, led Florida Atlantic with 26 points and added seven rebounds, helping the Owls build up what seemed to be an insurmountable 14-point lead in the second half.

But the Aztecs chipped away at the deficit, and a wide-open game tightened up in the closing minutes, with the teams trading baskets and miscues down the stretch. With tension building, they pulled within 1 when LeDee, a Houston native, nailed a closerange jumper with 36 seconds left.

“We’ve always been knocked down, but the biggest thing we do is get back up and keep fighting,” Butler said. “We got a lot of maturity on this team. It was nothing to us.”

Their persistence set the stage for Butler to work his magic, and he did the rest, letting the training, the dreaming and the emotions of the past year pour out of him in a fateful split second.

Lamont Butler hit the game-winning shot as time expired for San Diego State.

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

Crossword #J2B4Z6F9

Down

1. Syrup brand since 1902

2. Gave ____ story (fish for sympathy)

3. Chinese side dish

4. Like squid squirt

5. Ultraviolet ray blocker

6. Bottom line

7. In-flight no.

8. Vow phrase

9. Zodiac creature 10. Aptitude 11. Make a boo-boo

Answers on page 30

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Seeing the lighter side of a situation can be a great relief, enabling you to feel better about something that may have taken up too much of your time and attention. This doesn’t mean you won’t take it seriously, just that a relaxed perspective might help you not to feel so anxious about it. Need something to keep you going, Aries? A small indulgence today can help you unwind.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

There can be risks to getting involved in any relationship, which you’re likely aware of, Taurus. In this instance, it may help to trust your sixth sense and any feelings you have, rather than brush them to one side. A new friendship might seem positive, but it could also be demanding. Be sure you want to get further involved, as this bond can be way more intense than you think.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

There’s no time like now to make the changes you’ve been dreaming about. As Mercury your guardian planet angles towards Pluto, this edgy combination can act as a catalyst to spur you on. You could feel compelled to get involved in something that’s quite a challenge, but one that may be worth considering. And you might only be skirting the edge of what’s possible for you.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

A combination of energies in a dynamic zone, may have worked their magic to reassure you how talented and special you are. But before you make further headway creatively or romantically, there might be one emotional issue that needs to be resolved. Doing so means you can look to the future without the past holding you back. This will be a big ask though, so reflect on it first.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

As expressive Mercury angles towards potent Pluto, you may be impatient that things are taking so long to change. But are they really, Leo? This isn’t to say that you haven’t made the effort, as timing can play a crucial part. It might be better to relax instead, and turn your attention to those projects you can get on with now. The more you push for a result, the longer it could take.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

With Mercury your ruler making a dynamic connection, you’ll feel empowered and very much in your element. Someone may try to drive a hard bargain. If so, you don’t have to agree with it. There are other options. You might persuade others you’re no pushover, and this could swing things in your direction. If you do need to compromise, don’t give too many concessions.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

With dealmaker Mercury angling to Pluto, you may not be keen to commit to an idea, project or relationship until you know what’s in it for you. And why not Libra, as there are times when you tend to put your needs second to those of others if it makes life easier. If it seems you’re getting the raw end of the deal say “no”. If it leaves you excited, then it has to be a definite “yes”.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

With a sizzling focus on your lifestyle sector, the days ahead can bring fascinating encounters and unmissable opportunities. The people you connect with seem to share your passion for certain things, and this may be the reason you feel so at home with them. As Mercury squares off with Pluto, you could be very enthusiastic about a plan, but avoid putting obstacles in your own way.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

What you feel deep down may not be the same as what you say to others. You might give the impression that you don’t care about a matter, when you could have very intense feelings about it. Want to resolve this? Then it can be better to talk about how much this affects you. At least others will know you are serious, and keen for something to change very soon, Archer.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

As dealmaker Mercury makes an edgy tie to Pluto, you could swing between optimism and pessimism. Either way, this can cause you to dither. Upbeat influences reveal that your chances of doing well are as good as they could be, but you may be haunted by an event that’s dented your confidence. Give it a go! If you succeed, you’ll never look back. You can do it, Capricorn!

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

The coming days are perfect for the bold of heart, and that includes you, Aquarius. With fruitful influences on the go, this is the time to give one project all you’ve got. Have a brilliant entrepreneurial idea? Make a start, as you have everything to gain. The only thing that might stop you are the words of someone who may have an axe to grind. Refuse to let them affect you.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

There may be a tendency to cling tightly onto a situation. But it could be this that is preventing things from changing to the positive. If you let go, it might begin to gently dissipate, whereas constantly thinking about it may mean it lingers. As Mercury makes a key alignment, have faith in life and realize that nothing lasts forever. Set your mind on new possibilities and move on.

Speed Bump