Tuesday Aug 18, 2020 by The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

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Gym Lawsuit Against Governor Dismissed P6

Another Arrest Convulses the Capitol

Charlie Delgado Opens Up on Election Race, Oversight Board, Economy and More P3

UPR Professors: Fall Semester Will Begin with Stoppage P5

Rep. María Milagros Charbonier Arrested, Allegedly Pocketed $100,000 in Kickback Scheme; Free After $25,000 Bail Posted P4

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL P 19

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

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GOOD MORNING

August 18, 2020

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.

Delgado Altieri: ‘I think the country is jaded and tired of negative political campaigns’

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This is the first of a series of interviews with candidates running in the 2020 general elections

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opular Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate Charlie Delgado Altieri told the Star on Monday that his opponents should focus on building their convictions as voters deserve and expect to see their proposals so they have time to understand and question their ideas. After winning his party’s candidacy in the primary elections on Sunday, Delgado Altieri said he felt grateful to receive support from more than 100,000 voters and is ready to work hard to get his message across in order to “take the reins of our homeland.” As for his opponents, he said his focus is more on submitting proposals that provide solutions to the issues that Puerto Ricans are going through at the moment and that there is no time for negative campaigns. “I’m working with my campaigns along with the proposals that I am submitting to the country. That is my focus,” Delgado Altieri said. “I am not interested in getting into personalities or engaging in negative campaigning; I don’t like that. I think the country is jaded and tired of negative political campaigns and wants solutions to their problems.” When the Star asked Delgado Altieri how he was going to address Puerto Rico’s public debt as the island economy has been hit hard after going through so many challenges such as hurricanes, earthquakes,

and a global pandemic, the Isabela mayor said he recognizes that the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB), which was imposed in 2016 by the U.S. Congress to address the commonwealth’s fiscal debt, “started wrong” as it has limited essential services on the island and insists on negotiating a debt with an economic system that is “nosediving in a freefall.” He suggested working along with the oversight board and Congress. “It will be impossible for Puerto Rico to negotiate a payment agreement with bondholders with an economy that keeps crumbling; in fact, many economists, both on local and international grounds, have clearly said that Puerto Rico would not comply with the annual payments from the agreements that were in the works,” Delgado Altieri said. “My assignment is to work with the FOMB to reverse this program and present an economic development project for Puerto Rico. We have to steer our economy, make it grow and then we’ll be able to develop payment agreements to attend to our public debt. But as of this moment, they are going in the wrong direction.” The Star also asked if the PDP gubernatorial candidate might consider former gubernatorial hopeful Eduardo Bhatia to be his representative to the FOMB, he said that even though he has been in conversations with the senator about the matter, he still has not focused on any particular candidate. He said however that the doors were open for dialogue. In response to a Star question about how he would manage the coronavirus pandemic if he became governor, as it is expected that COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, will be active until next year, Delgado Altieri said testing would be a priority as it provides a picture of how the coronavirus is behaving among citizens. “Parallel to the tests, we must implement a dashboard and an effective contract tracing system as there is the technology available for it,” the candidate said. “Also, we have to integrate the municipalities and their emergency management offices in order to advise the personnel. We could structure around the country a proactive dynamic against this virus as the government has simply established curfew hours, which I find important, but I believe that once the first reopening happened, we learned that there wasn’t enough data on how infection [rates were behaving] to make a choice like that one.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

NPP Rep. Charbonier received $100,000 from kickback scheme, according to federal indictment Conservative legislator who once chaired House Ethics Committee allegedly tried to hide evidence by deleting messages, call logs By PEDRO CORREA HENRY Twitter: @PCorreaHenry Special to The Star

federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico on Monday pressed 13 charges against New Progressive Party (NPP) Rep. María Milagros Charbonier Laureano, her husband Orlando Montes, her son Orlando Gabriel Montes Charbonier and her assistant Frances Acevedo Ceballos for alleged involvement in conspiracy; theft, bribery, and kickbacks concerning programs receiving federal funds; and honest services wire fraud. As they were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on Monday morning, an indictment handed down by the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on Aug. 7 indicated that, since early 2017, Charbonier Laureano designed a scheme in which she inflated Acevedo Ceballos’ salary from $800 to $2,100 biweekly, which later increased to $2,900 in September 2019, in exchange for valuable items that were “requested and approved in a corrupt manner.” According to U.S. District Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Stephen Muldrow, from each in-

House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez (right) requested Charbonier Laureano’s resignation. flated check Acevedo Ceballos received from Charbonier Laureano, the assistant agreed to keep part of it while she paid from $1,000 to $1,500 to Charbonier Laureano’s family. Furthermore, the district attorney said that, until July of this year, the NPP lawmaker stole at least $100,000 through the illicit venture. “The defendants used a variety of means to transfer the kickbacks from Acevedo to Charbonier and her family, including the following: Acevedo Ceballos gave the money in cash to Montes, Montes Charbonier and other people

involved with Charbonier; sometimes, she transferred the kickbacks in $500 increments to Montes or to Montes Charbonier using [mobile phone app] ATH Móvil,” Muldrow said. “Sometimes, Acevedo left cash kickbacks in a determined place such as Charbonier’s purse or in a car glove compartment for Charbonier to collect.” Muldrow said further that Charbonier and her family deleted call logs, text messages, and WhatsApp messages from their phones after they allegedly knew that the FBI had them under investigation, even

though the lawmaker told members of the press that she was not. When asked if the arrests were put on hold due to the justcompleted primary elections, in which Charbonier placed last after receiving the fewest votes in the NPP representativesat-large contest, Muldrow said that in no way was the timing of her arrest meant to influence the results of the electoral event held over the past two Sundays. “I want to be clear on this: we have not done anything to influence the [primary] elections incorrectly,” Muldrow said. “Without a doubt, we have to make the cases when they are ready to charge. We are very clear about that.” “We have taken caution, in this case, to wait for the primaries [to end],” he added. “But the truth is that we have to do our job; that is why we waited to arrest her today [Monday].” House speaker requests Charbonier’s resignation House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez, meanwhile, through written declarations requested Charbonier Laureano’s resignation amid the accusations. Méndez said that, as a precautionary measure, he “made the choice to separate the Representative from the Legal Committee leadership.” “Although I recognize that the Representative has the right to the presumption of innocence until it is proven otherwise in a court of law, I am requesting her immediate resignation from the seat [committee chairwoman] she was elected to in 2016,” Méndez said. During the day, Charbonier pleaded “not guilty” before Judge Bruce McGiverin to all charges related to the $100,000 kickback scheme. Bail was set at $25,000.

Ballot counting machines disappear in Ponce By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

person who was transporting ballot counting machines in Ponce reported the disappearance of two of the devices on Sunday night, police said. Radamés Montes reported to the authorities that he drove his Ford model 150 vehicle from Sor Isolina Ferré Middle School to the facilities of the State Elections Commission in Ponce. Upon arriving at his destination he realized that the back door of the vehicle was open and two ballot counting machines had been lost. The property was valued at $40,000. The case was investigated by agent Morales Santiago of the West Ponce police station.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

University Professors Association: Fall semester to begin with stoppage By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

he Puerto Rican Association of University Professors (APPU) by its Spanish acronym) announced Monday that the upcoming academic semester will begin with an academic stoppage and a national dialogue from Aug. 19 to Aug. 21 at the University of Puerto Rico. “On August 19, 20 and 21, the University of Puerto Rico will not have classes,” APPU President Ángel Rodríguez said. “As teachers, we are going to paralyze our normal work as an exercise in protest against the administrative setback that continues to undermine our working conditions as teachers.” The APPU leader said that during the stoppage, courses and virtual meetings with the student body will be focused on promoting a dialogue at UPR which will serve as a forum to identify the effect of the administrative policies that keep the university in constant crisis, and identify the responses and proposals of the university community. Rodríguez noted that the strike begins on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at 9 a.m. with a face-to-face mobilization activity in front of the Plaza Universitaria building. After that a series of virtual forums will take place that will be broadcast through different platforms. “We invite all the professors of the UPR to come to the Plaza Universitaria building

on Wednesday, August 19 at 9 a.m. to let the university administration know that we demand respect,” Rodríguez said.” We want all the people of Puerto Rico to know that the faculty of the University of Puerto Rico continues to defend the best interests of UPR. In the face of the abuses and the attempt to dismantle the university, we are not going to remain silent.” The union leader added that the past five months have been very difficult times for Puerto Rico and for the University of Puerto Rico. “The [coronavirus] pandemic has put all university students in a situation of great concern,” Rodríguez said. “We have had to work remotely without having the best resources. Our attention, like that of the rest of Puerto Rico, has been on how we are going to get out of the public health crisis.” “In the midst of this pandemic, Mr. Walter Alomar and Ms. Zoraida Buxó [UPR governing board chairman and vice chairwoman, respectively], what they have done is attack the best interests of university students,” he said. “They took advantage of the pandemic to try to modify our retirement system. They did not have the decency to wait for us to come out of this crisis to bring to the public arena the attempt to damage our retirement system. To that, we add their attempt to increase the cost of tuition and the imposition of a fee at the laboratory schools. This callousness on the part of Alomar and Buxó leads us

to demand their removal from the governing board. This decreed stoppage requires their exit immediately. These people are not university students, nor do they have the best interest of the university at heart. They have to go now.” On top of all this, with another semester of distance education about to begin, the administration is imposing a migration of emails to a new platform, Rodríguez said. “The university administration continues to make our work life increasingly dif-

ficult. This migration process, at a milliondollar cost for the university, has limited our ability to communicate with our students at the time when we need more stability,” the APPU president said. “Starting a semester this way is utter nonsense on the part of the administration. This attack is another reason for the stoppage of teaching work. Somehow the university administration has to understand that it cannot continue making unilateral decisions that affect all university students.”

Education Dept. deactivates remote learning system to address ‘vulnerability’ By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

he island Department of Education confirmed late Sunday night that it deactivated the Microsoft Teams platform, which is used to teach remotely, after finding a “vulnerability in the system.” The agency shared the information on its social media accounts. Education Secretary Eligio Hernández

Secretary of Education, Eligio Hernández

Pérez also confirmed the information. “To all school communities: Technical personnel from the Department of Education (DE) detected a vulnerability in the system tonight (Sunday),” the agency said in its Facebook account. “That is why the Microsoft Teams platform has been disabled until the situation is corrected.” “This means that while the technicians are working, the platform will not be available,” the agency added. “Our interest is to maintain the security of the information of the teaching and non-teaching staff and, above all, of our students.” The DE announcement continued: “In this first week of school, teachers and support staff should contact students, and their families, to identify educational opportunities and adjust them to study alternatives. Once the system is available, the chief IT officer of the DE will announce it. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. We are already taking care of the matter so that [the] Teams [platform] is working again.” “Families should wait for communication from

Education officials so that they know the instructions for this first week,” the DE said. “We hope to establish the Teams platform for tomorrow (Monday).”

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The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Gym lawsuit against governor dismissed By THE STAR STAFF

uperior Court Judge Alfonso Martínez Piovanetti on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of gym owners and operators challenging the constitutionality of an executive order issued by Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, for the total closure of certain businesses and private entities, including gyms, starting July 17. The gym owners, united under Gyms United for Puerto Rico, had argued in a lawsuit filed in July that Executive Order 2020-54 intervenes in and undermines contractual obligations between them and their clients and violates their and their clients’ right to freedom of assembly. They had also argued that their industry, which provides $70 million to the economy, is not contributing to the hike in COVID-19 cases. The Superior Court disagreed. “Although we can understand the discomfort caused by the decree for the temporary closure of gyms (among other commercial establishments), the Court cannot ignore that the contested government measure is rationally related to the

magnitude and severity of the present pandemic, as well as the exponential growth of infections as of mid-June 2020,” the judge said. As articulated in the executive order, “the public health system in Puerto Rico still does not have at its disposal effective treatments or a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19.” “Therefore, the objectives of mitigating this disease, reducing contagion, and safeguarding the operation of the Puerto Rico health system constitute the legitimate interest articulated by the State that justifies, as a precautionary measure, the temporary closure of the plaintiffs’ and intervenors’ businesses at this particular historical juncture,” the judge said. “Therefore, we reiterate that in the face of such circumstances and considerations of public interest -- a fundamental criterion in considering an extraordinary appeal of this nature -- the remedy requested by the plaintiff and the intervening party must be denied. …” The plaintiffs had argued that the governor’s determination deprives the owners and operators of the gyms from making use of their property and their

livelihood, which has represented a loss of thousands of dollars and exposes them to the cancellation of contracts between them and their partners. They said the new guideline was issued just days after gym owners had made large investments in their gyms to comply with the health measures imposed by a previous executive order that allowed them to open just a month before the beginning of the third phase of economic reopening, and that the new restriction had no scientific justification nor was it based on cases of

infection originating in gyms. The commonwealth “could have used less drastic measures that did not damage the exercise of the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, as it did with churches, restaurants, bars and gas stations,” they argued. The executive order violated the right to freedom and enjoyment of property, due process of law and protection against the impairment of contractual obligations, as they derive from the Bill of Rights of the Puerto Rico Constitution, the gym owners said.

Companies with almost the same name in trademark dispute By THE STAR STAFF

iberty Mutual Insurance Co., by and through its attorneys, Ferraiuoli LLC, has sued Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico LLC and Liberty Communications of Puerto Rico LLC for trademark dilution and trademark infringement under local and federal laws. In a suit filed last week in U.S. District Court, Liberty Mutual said it has used the Liberty trademark since Feb. 19, 1919, in connection with the provision of insurancerelated goods and services. Because Liberty Cablevision is promoting warranties for its products, the companies get mixed up, the plaintiff said. “Despite being well aware of the Liberty Marks [trademarks], which are famous throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico,” Liberty Mutual says Liberty Cablevision, a Delaware limited liability company and a Puerto Rico limited liability company, began using and continue to use the LIBERTY SMART PROTECT trademark “in connection with the offering of insurance goods and services; namely, extended

warranties for goods and services.” The use by Liberty Cablevision of the Liberty Protect trademark “is likely to dilute and cause confusion with the famous and distinctive Liberty Marks.” Liberty Cablevision has used and continues to use the Liberty Protect trademark on its

website and other advertising and promotional materials in order to identify and build goodwill for its brand, the lawsuit says. “Such use is harmful to both Liberty Mutual and the consuming public. Under the Liberty Marks, Liberty Mutual offers and provides insurance services to over 10

million consumers in the United States and even more worldwide,” the suit says. “Defendants’ use of the Liberty Protect Mark is likely to dilute the strong and famous Liberty Marks, which form a unique source identifier within the field of insurance services,” the suit says. Because defendants are using a trademark that is very similar to the Liberty trademarks, in connection with products and services affiliated with insurance and warranty services,their use is likely to dilute the Liberty trademarks, thus severely harming Liberty Mutual, the suit says. Their use is “also likely to cause consumer confusion, error, and/or deception as to the source, origin, or association of their products and services,” the suit says. Liberty Mutual seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to stop Liberty Cablevision from diluting and infringing activity, as well as monetary damages to compensate Liberty Mutual for the harm suffered as a result of the use of the Liberty Protect trademark in connection with the promotion and offering of insurance and warranty services.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Scientists see signs of lasting immunity to COVID-19, even after mild infections By KATHERINE J. WU

o the immune system, not all germs are equally memorable. But our body’s cells seem to be seriously studying up on the coronavirus. Scientists who have been monitoring immune responses to the virus are now starting to see encouraging signs of strong, lasting immunity, even in people who developed only mild symptoms of COVID-19, a flurry of new studies suggests. Diseasefighting antibodies, as well as immune cells called B cells and T cells that are capable of recognizing the virus, appear to persist months after infections have resolved — an encouraging echo of the body’s enduring response to other viruses. “Things are really working as they’re supposed to,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona and an author on one of the new studies, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. Although researchers cannot forecast how long these immune responses will last, many experts consider the data a welcome indication that the body’s most studious cells are doing their job — and will have a good chance of fending off the coronavirus, faster and more fervently than before, if exposed to it again. “This is exactly what you would hope for,” said Marion Pepper, an immunologist at the University of Washington and an author on another of the new studies, which is currently under review at the journal Nature. “All the pieces are there to have a totally protective immune response.” Protection against reinfection cannot be fully confirmed until there is proof that most people who encounter the virus a second time are actually able to keep it at bay, Pepper said. But the findings could help quell recent concerns over the virus’s ability to dupe the immune system into amnesia, leaving people vulnerable to repeat bouts of disease. Researchers have yet to find unambiguous evidence that coronavirus reinfections are occurring, especially within the few months that the virus has been rippling through the human population. The prospect of immune memory “helps to explain that,” Pepper said. In discussions about immune responses to the coronavirus, much of the

Medical workers taking a blood test for antibodies in Miami Lakes, Fla., in July. conversation has focused on antibodies — Y-shaped proteins that can latch onto the surfaces of pathogens and block them from infecting cells. But antibodies represent just one wing of a complex and coordinated squadron of immune soldiers, each with its own unique modes of attack. Viruses that have already invaded cells, for instance, are cloaked from antibodies, but are still vulnerable to killer T cells, which force infected cells to selfdestruct. Another set of T cells, nicknamed “helpers,” can coax B cells to mature into antibody-making machines. (Yet another sector of the immune system assails pathogens within minutes of their arrival, while sending out signals called cytokines to mobilize forces from elsewhere in the body. Some evidence suggests that severe cases of COVID-19 may stem from this early process going awry.) Antibodies also come with an expiration date: Because they are inanimate proteins and not living cells, they can’t replenish themselves, and so disappear from the blood just weeks or months after they are produced. Hoards of antibodies appear shortly after a virus has breached the body’s barriers, then wane as the threat dissipates. Most of the B cells that produce these early antibodies die off as well. But even when not under siege, the body retains a battalion of longer-lived

B cells that can churn out virus-fighting antibodies en masse, should they prove useful again. Some patrol the bloodstream, waiting to be triggered anew; others retreat into the bone marrow, generating small amounts of antibodies that are detectable years, sometimes decades, after an infection is over. Several studies, including those led by Bhattacharya and Pepper, have found antibodies capable of incapacitating the coronavirus lingering at low levels in the blood months after people have recovered from COVID-19. “The antibodies decline, but they settle in what looks like a stable nadir,” which is observable about three months after symptoms start, Bhattacharya said. “The response looks perfectly durable.” Seeing antibodies this long after infection is a strong indication that B cells are still chugging away in the bone marrow, Pepper said. She and her team were also able to pluck B cells that recognize the coronavirus from the blood of people who have recovered from mild cases of COVID-19 and grow them in the lab. Multiple studies, including one published Friday in the journal Cell, have also managed to isolate coronavirusattacking T cells from the blood of recovered individuals — long after symptoms have disappeared. When provoked with bits of the coronavirus in the lab, these T

cells pumped out virus-fighting signals, and cloned themselves into fresh armies ready to confront a familiar foe. Some reports have noted that analyses of T cells could give researchers a glimpse into the immune response to the coronavirus, even in patients whose antibody levels have declined to a point where they are difficult to detect. “This is very promising,” said Smita Iyer, an immunologist at the University of California, Davis, who is studying immune responses to the coronavirus in rhesus macaques but was not involved in the new studies. “This calls for some optimism about herd immunity, and potentially a vaccine.” This new spate of studies could also further assuage fears about how and when the pandemic will end. On Friday, updated guidance released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was misinterpreted by several news reports that suggested immunity against the coronavirus might last only a few months. Experts quickly responded, noting the dangers of propagating such statements and pointing to the wealth of evidence that people who previously had the virus are probably at least partly protected from reinfection for at least three months, if not much longer. Considered with other recent reports, the new data reinforce the idea that, “Yes, you do develop immunity to this virus, and good immunity to this virus,” said Dr. Eun-Hyung Lee, an immunologist at Emory University who was not involved in the studies. “That’s the message we want to get out there.” Some illnesses, like the flu, can plague populations repeatedly. But that is at least partly attributable to the high mutation rates of influenza viruses, which can quickly make the pathogens unrecognizable to the immune system. Coronaviruses, in contrast, tend to change their appearance less readily from year to year. Still, much remains unknown. Although these studies hint at the potential for protectiveness, they do not demonstrate protection in action, said Cheong-Hee Chang, an immunologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the new studies. “It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen,” Chang said. “Humans are so heterogeneous. There are so many factors coming into play.”

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Melinda Gates on COVID-19: It’s time to demand more of all our leaders By FRANCESCA DONNER

n March 7, 2020, Melinda Gates published an op-ed in The New York Times to mark International Women’s Day. Today, she wrote, take a moment to start a conversation about gender equality, preferably with someone you’ve never discussed it with before. “It will take 208 years to close major gender gaps in the United States — but this should only take a few minutes.” Broadly, we may think of gender inequality as the sweeping injustices levied against women and girls on a global scale — among them sex trafficking, domestic violence, child marriage, economic, technological and educational gaps, maternal mortality and inadequate reproductive care. But for Gates, it seems personal too. When she joined Microsoft in the late 1980s, the tech firm wasn’t exactly a paradise for female employees. Her decision to quit work to raise her daughter when she became a mother, while not one she regrets, now gives her pause. At the time, “I just assumed that’s what women do,” she wrote in her 2019 book, “The Moment of Lift.” “I had a lot of growing up to do.” And for a long time, even her work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she shares the title of co-chair with her husband, wasn’t exactly equal, with Bill Gates the de facto spokesperson in the public eye and Melinda Gates — by choice — behind the scenes. So it’s no wonder that gender equality factors so prominently in her work and her words. And it’s certainly no different in a world transformed by a pandemic. She is as insistent that gender equality should be at the center of building back as she is that many solutions can start with something as simple as a conversation. Gates spoke about how various world leaders have managed the crisis, philanthropy’s role in the global recovery, and how we can all make strides by talking and listening to one another. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Q: From the very start of this crisis, there has been this implicit suggestion that now is not the time to worry about women’s issues. But you have framed your ideas for building back post-COVID specifically through gender. Why? A: The way to build back is to put women straight at the center. Because guess what? They’re already at the center. They’re already the ones dealing with kids at home, taking care of the elderly, trying to make sure that there’s food on the table. If we want to build back a better society, and also have a quicker recovery, then we have to look at the specific gender pieces that we need to work on in every country around the world. Q: An issue that constantly gets in the way of women being able to work is unpaid labor. Is now the time to start solving for that? How might we bring men into the solution? A: Unpaid labor has been this invisible issue. Women do 2 1/2 times more work at home than men do, no matter what country in the world you look at. But you never want

“We have to vote for the right people. And then we have to hold our leaders accountable,” said Melinda Gates. to waste a good crisis, and in this crisis, what was invisible is now completely visible. I think we have to use this opportunity to reframe our entire narrative. Our narrative has always been “well, we’ll get to that.” Now, the narrative is “we are doing this now in society.” We are trying to care for the young and the elderly and keep food on the table. Given that we are doing this — men and women — what policies do we want to put in place? When we build a stimulus package, how do we make sure we look specifically at the female piece of it? Because money in the hands of a woman is invested differently on her family than when it’s in the hands of a man. Q: So where do we begin? A: The conversation starts in the home. Just start saying: Who’s doing what here? How do we redistribute the workload at home? And then we have to have the conversation in the community: How do we redistribute? What goes on in our community? And then you have it in the workplace: How do we redistribute the load? Because this is visible right now. We have to say, What is it we want next? Who are our elected officials who will get us there? Who are the elected officials who are putting in the right stimulus packages? We have to vote for the right people. We have to listen to the advocates on the ground who really know the situation. And then we have to hold our leaders accountable. Q: One consequence of the pandemic is limited access to maternal and reproductive care — resources you have said should be classified as essential. How did we ever get to a place where this type of care was deemed inessential? A: It’s because women didn’t have the seat at the table.

For many years, we didn’t test drugs or new vaccines on men and women, we tested them all on men. We still don’t collect data about women and women’s lives. But we do know these are essential. Here is something we do have data about: Women are healthier, her children are healthier and better educated, and the family is wealthier when a woman can space the births of her children. And so it’s one of those things that you have to look at all the time. And particularly during a time of crisis, teen pregnancy rates go up, maternal mortality goes up. So we have to make sure we keep this front and center on the agenda. Q: When it comes to vaccine development, how do you get global leaders to work together and not be individualistic? A: We’re seeing unprecedented cooperation. People are working so rapidly and sharing results, sharing Phase 1 findings as soon as they get them, trying to align manufacturing, even before we know which vaccine is going to go through. The biggest concern though, is that the vaccine not go to the highest bidder when it comes out. It is fundamental that the vaccine goes first to the 60 million health care workers around the globe who are keeping the rest of us safe. They deserve this vaccine first, and I don’t care where you live. And after that, then the most vulnerable populations deserve to get the vaccine. Philanthropy is absolutely playing a role in these conversations. Q: Speaking of philanthropy, in moments of crisis, we usually turn to foundations like yours for moonshots. What can the Gates Foundation do and what are its limits? A: All a foundation or philanthropy can do is be that catalytic wedge, to show ways and points of light. The moonshots are coming from the pharmaceutical companies; we can invest alongside of them, and we can incent them, just like government can incent them, to build out more manufacturing plants earlier, not just for high-income countries but middle- and low-income. We can be a catalyst or a prod to make sure the right things happen. Q: The world has been dealt the most terrible hand, but I want to ask you what “moments of lift” — to borrow your own phrasing — you can see emerging from this. A: The moment of lift is that time when, if you’re looking at a rocket leaving the earth and it’s going to catapult into space, the engines are lit, they’re rumbling, they’re ready to go. And then you lift off against gravity and you head off to the moon. When we give women this small lift in society, they will walk to new places. During this time, what I have been so inspired by are the young men and women coming out and saying “no more” to the systematic race issues that we have in the United States. I see it in women’s collectives. I see it in male leaders coming forward and saying, “We’re going to change things in our country for domestic violence that we know exists and is finally being exposed.” That to me is lift because that’s when we change the cracks in society.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

New York has tamed the virus. Can it hold off a second wave? By J. DAVID GOODMAN

ealth experts in New York City thought that coronavirus cases would be rising again by now. Their models predicted it. They were wrong. New York state has managed not only to control its outbreak since the devastation of the early spring, but also to contain it for far longer than even top officials expected. Now, as other places struggle to beat back a resurgence and cases climb in former success-story states like California and Rhode Island, New York’s leaders are consumed by the likelihood that, any day now, their numbers will begin rising. The current levels of infection are so remarkable that they have surprised state and city officials: Around 1% of the roughly 30,000 tests each day in the city are positive for the virus. In Los Angeles, it’s 7%, while it’s 13% in Miami-Dade County and around 15% in Houston. The virus is simply no longer as present in New York as it once was, epidemiologists and public health officials said. “New York is like our South Korea now,” said Dr. Thomas Tsai of the Harvard Global Health Institute. But nothing is static about the viral outbreak, experts cautioned. The question now is whether the state, where 32,000 people have died of the virus, can keep from being overwhelmed by another wave, as threats loom from arriving travelers, struggles with contact tracing and rising cases just over the Hudson River in New Jersey. Officials have also been watching warily as cities once seen as models in virus containment struggled with new outbreaks. Hong Kong moved to ban indoor dining and gatherings of more than two people in late July amid a sharp rise in infections. International flights were diverted from Melbourne, Australia, as cases mounted. In more than a dozen interviews, epidemiologists, public health officials and infectious disease specialists said New York owed its current success in large part to how New Yorkers reacted to the viciousness with which the virus attacked the state in April. State officials shut down schools and businesses, sacrificing jobs and weakening the economy to save lives. Adherence to mask wearing has been strong. Many vulnerable New Yorkers are still sheltering in their apartments. Others decamped to second homes. And, critically, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

and Mayor Bill de Blasio reopened cautiously, deciding in late June against allowing indoor dining and bars after seeing those activities connected to outbreaks in other states. “People in New York have taken matters much more seriously than in other places,” said Dr. Howard Markel, a historian of epidemics at the University of Michigan. “And all they’re doing is reducing the risk. They’re not extinguishing the virus.” Still a resurgence is all but inevitable, public health experts said. Local beaches have filled on hot weekend days. Diners flock to outdoor restaurants with plywood patios. More than 1.2 million people took the subway on a recent Tuesday, down dramatically compared to a year ago, but more than double what it was on a Tuesday in May. The same models that predicted an increase in New York City for the summer now see a rise coming in the early fall. Life can be lived outside for now, but will move indoors as the weather cools — just as the flu season is ramping up. Schools are set to open in September. And confidence in the good numbers themselves could breed complacency about masks and distancing. Already, the city has seen a number of large illicit dance parties and a worrisome spike in cases in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. “I’m not optimistic about a sustained end to COVID-19 in New York,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia University. “Even though we had that horrible peak in April, when we were the epicenter, there are still millions of people who are vulnerable.” Among the biggest threats, officials and epidemiologists said, were out-of-state travelers, who continue to arrive in New York despite a state-mandated 14-day quarantine. The governor instituted the quarantine requirement for anyone coming to New York from a state with high infection rates. Eight states were initially affected; the list has since grown to 31 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. More than 160,000 people have been subject to the quarantine since the start of June, state officials said. But enforcement of the order is near-impossible, and the state could not say how many have actually quarantined. About 20% of new positive cases in New York City have been connected to out-of-state travel, city officials said, with Florida, Georgia and New Jersey the top departure points. Last week, de Blasio said drivers entering the city could be pulled over at random to be informed of the state’s quarantine rules.

The majority of those reached by the city’s contact tracers have not shared the names of anyone they might have infected: More than 12,500 people who tested positive did not give their contacts to the city, out of about 22,000 total. Those who did shared an average of between two and three contacts. But city officials could not say how many of those testing positive for the virus were already known to contact tracers — in other words, how many new cases had a connection to a previous positive case. That is considered by infectious disease experts to be a key metric for gauging how under control an outbreak is. Dr. Jay Varma, the mayor’s senior adviser for public health, said the city’s program had prevented “thousands” of new infections, based on the number of people identified as symptomatic contacts who said they were in quarantine. Just over 200 people have isolated themselves in a city-funded hotel since the start of June. “I don’t think it’s correct to insinuate that the work that we’re doing is not having an impact when you clearly see the impact in terms of disease numbers in New York,” Varma said. Patterns of infection around the state suggest New Yorkers, like most Americans, are chafing under pandemic restrictions. In New York City, neighborhoods with the highest rate of infection are increasingly found in Manhattan — Hell’s Kitchen or the Financial District, for example, which are home to wealthier residents — in addition to the parts of the Bronx and Queens that have long been hard hit.

“My concern is complacency,” the city’s former top public health official, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, said in an interview last month. Barbot resigned last week and voiced “deep disappointment” with de Blasio’s response to the pandemic. She said the most important factor in New York’s success so far has been broad acceptance of masks and social distancing, adding, “I think it would be foolish of us to not plan for an inevitable second wave.” While antibody surveys have suggested 1 in 5 New York City residents may have already been exposed, public health officials do not believe herd immunity is behind the low numbers, or could be relied on in the future. What may protect New Yorkers who decide to buck the rules and gather in groups without masks is the fact that so many of their neighbors are still masking up, said Barbot. “If a new infection gets introduced into the community, it will be a terminal transmission, meaning that it won’t go any further,” she said. “More people wearing face coverings seems to be in line with that.” She cautioned that it was a theory and the data is not yet there. And even at the currently low levels, the number of new virus cases in New York City — 386 reported positive on Tuesday out of 46,185 tested, according to state data — is still too great for its contact tracers to effectively determine where people are becoming infected, said Barbot. The new norms of behavior have to continue for the foreseeable future, she said.

New Yorkers are dining outside, and even in the suburbs where indoor dining is permitted, many people prefer outdoor tables.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

The ‘rage moms’ Democrats are counting on By LISA LERER and JENNIFER MEDINA

resident Bill Clinton introduced America to the “soccer mom,” anxiously shuttling her children across swing state suburbs in her minivan. President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign found another cutesy moniker, dubbing those voters worried about terrorism after the attacks of Sept. 11 “security moms.” President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic is generating an entirely different sentiment, one not traditionally bestowed upon female voters or mothers. “I am a rage mom,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the highest-ranking woman in Senate leadership. “Well, a rage nana, at this point, as my granddaughter would say.” With millions of American families facing an uncertain start to the school year, the struggle for child care, education and economic stability is fueling a political uprising, built on the anger of women who find themselves constantly — and indefinitely — expected to be teacher, caregiver, employee and parent. As the pandemic roars on, voters across America remain deeply angry and worried about the future. But the vocal outrage from women, in particular, is clear on protest lines and in polling data. Women were more likely than men to report having participated in protests over the past two years, and mothers with children in the home were twice as likely as fathers to report participating in a protest, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll from June. Now, the rage moms are railing in Facebook groups about

school shutdowns and in teacher union meetings about reopening without proper protection from the virus. They’re also packing virtual town halls with frustrations about schools, child care and the lack of leadership. “There’s nobody giving us solutions,” said Kim Lopez, a mother of three in Glendale, Arizona, and part-time financial assistant, who is still unsure what her children’s schooling will look like this year. Lopez said she never considered herself political until this summer, when she brought her children to a small Black Lives Matter protest in the Phoenix suburbs. “It’s as if they don’t care what happens to families.” Lopez is exactly the kind of voter Democrats hope will push them to victory in November, and they are aiming to turn that frustration with government inaction into a vote against Trump. Last month, the Biden campaign kicked off a “Moms for Biden” group. On Zoom, one person after another spoke of fears and frustrations. Asked to name the most pressing issue for her, one mother couldn’t narrow it down. Instead, she simply said “less worry.” Voters are likely to hear more about those child care concerns at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, with remarks from many of the party’s most influential female politicians, including their new vice presidential nominee, Sen. Kamala Harris of California. The broader focus on caregiving issues marks a significant shift in the political climate of even a few months ago, when Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts made child care a centerpie-

Wearing a Moms Demand Action shirt, Ann Haaser listens as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) answers a question about gun violence during a campaign house party in Hampton Falls, N.H., on Sept. 2, 2019.

ce of her campaign in the Democratic presidential primary. “Women are mobilized on a bigger scale than we’ve seen in a generation at least,” said Annelise Orleck, a historian at Dartmouth College who studies women’s political activism. “Women are organizing all across the spectrum.” The activism is diffuse and multiracial, reflecting political battles that working class women have long waged for better health care, schools and child care. In some ways, more affluent suburban women are simply waking up to the untenable choices poorer women and women of color have faced for generations. While the anger is loudest on the left, Democrats hope to capitalize on indications that the rage reaches across party lines. The rebellion by white college-educated women against Trump helped Democrats win key swing districts in 2018, giving the party control of the House. In recent weeks, support for Trump has begun to drop among white non-college educated women and older women — two more ideologically moderate groups that bolstered his winning coalition four years ago. The gender split among suburbanites is striking: In a recent Washington Post/ ABC News poll, Biden leads by 24 points among suburban women and just 4 points among suburban men. “I am so full of rage,” said Alida Garcia, vice president of Fwd.us, an immigration advocacy group and mother of 1-yearold twins. “We are exhausted.” Last month, Biden announced a sweeping $775 billion caregiving proposal that would cover care for young children, older adults and family members with disabilities. He often invokes his experience as a single father caring for his two young sons after his first wife and daughter were killed in a car crash. Biden has repeatedly described caregiving as an economic necessity that deserves sustained support, a marked shift in political rhetoric on a topic that was often seen by politicians as a special interest, not an issue to put at the center of a campaign. While Democrats have proposed the most ambitious plans to tackle child care, there are some signs that Republicans, too, are facing pressure to address the issue. Last month, the House passed two bills that would provide more than $220 billion in funding for child care centers and tax credits. Each bill had support from more than a dozen Republicans, a notable number in a deeply polarized Congress. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., another primary candidate who made child care a central part of her presidential bid, said she constantly hears from people who are worried about child care. “It wasn’t easy for most parents that I’ve talked to. To have no access to child care is crippling,” she said. She hopes the crisis point reached by many families during the pandemic will create political momentum for policies like paid leave, universal early childhood education and universal sick days. For Murray, the activism is both hopeful and a bittersweet reminder of just how much has stayed the same over three decades. “I came here, as a senator, as the first working mother. I am now, a generation later, watching my daughter and son deal with the same issue,” Murray said. “This pandemic has ripped wide an open wound that families have struggled with for a long time.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Europe’s big oil companies are turning electric By STANLEY REED

his may turn out to be the year that oil giants, especially in Europe, started looking more like electric companies. Late last month, Royal Dutch Shell won a deal to build a vast wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands. Earlier in the year, France’s Total, which owns a battery maker, agreed to make several large investments in solar power in Spain and a wind farm off Scotland. Total also bought an electric and natural gas utility in Spain and is joining Shell and BP in expanding its electric vehicle charging business. At the same time, the companies are ditching plans to drill more wells as they chop back capital budgets. Shell recently said it would delay new fields in the Gulf of Mexico and in the North Sea, while BP has promised not to hunt for oil in any new countries. Prodded by governments and investors to address climate change concerns about their products, Europe’s oil companies are accelerating their production of cleaner energy — usually electricity, sometimes hydrogen — and promoting natural gas, which they argue can be a cleaner transition fuel from coal and oil to renewables. For some executives, the sudden plunge in demand for oil caused by the pandemic — and the accompanying collapse in earnings — is another warning that unless they change the composition of their businesses, they risk being dinosaurs headed for extinction. This evolving vision is more striking because it is shared by many longtime veterans of the oil business. “During the last six years, we had extreme volatility in the oil commodities,” said Claudio Descalzi, 65, chief executive of Eni, who has been with that Italian company for nearly 40 years. He said he wanted to build a business increasingly based on green energy rather than oil. “We want to stay away from the volatility and the uncertainty,” he added. Bernard Looney, a 29-year BP veteran who became chief executive in February, recently told journalists, “What the world wants from energy is changing, and so we need to change, quite frankly, what we offer the world.” The bet is that electricity will be the prime means of delivering cleaner energy in the future and, therefore, will grow rapidly. U.S. giants like Exxon Mobil and Chevron have been slower than their European counterparts to commit to climate-related goals that are as far reaching, analysts say, partly because they face less government and investor pressure (although the U.S. financial community is increasingly vocal of late). “We are seeing a much bigger differentiation in corporate strategy” separating American and European oil companies “than at any point in my career,” said Jason Gammel, a veteran oil analyst at Jefferies, an investment bank. Companies like Shell and BP are trying to position themselves for an era when they will rely much less on extracting natural resources from the earth than on providing

The Italian oil company Eni’s Green Data Center. The chief executive of Eni said he wanted it to rely more on green energy. energy as a service tailored to the needs of customers — more akin to electric utilities than to oil drillers. They hope to take advantage of the thousands of engineers on their payrolls to manage the construction of new types of energy plants; their vast networks of retail stations to provide services like charging electric vehicles; and their trading desks, which typically buy and hedge a wide variety of energy futures, to arrange low-carbon energy supplies for cities or large companies. All of Europe’s large oil companies have now set targets to reduce the carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Most have set a “net zero” ambition by 2050, a goal also embraced by governments like the European Union and Britain. The companies plan to get there by selling more and more renewable energy and, in some cases, by offsetting emissions with so-called nature-based solutions like planting forests to soak up carbon. Electricity is the key to most of these strategies. Hydrogen, a clean-burning gas that can store energy and generate electric power for vehicles, also plays an increasingly large role. The coming changes are clearest at BP. Looney said this month that he planned to increase investment in lowemission businesses like renewable energy by tenfold in the next decade to $5 billion a year, while cutting back oil and

gas production by 40%. By 2030, BP aims to generate renewable electricity comparable to a few dozen large offshore wind farms. Looney, though, has said oil and gas production need to be retained to generate cash to finance the company’s future. Environmentalists and analysts described Looney’s statement that BP’s oil and gas production would decline in the future as a breakthrough that would put pressure on other companies to follow. BP’s move “clearly differentiates them from peers,” said Andrew Grant, an analyst at Carbon Tracker, a London nonprofit. He noted that most other oil companies had so far been unwilling to confront “the prospect of producing less fossil fuels.” While there is skepticism in both the environmental and investment communities about whether century-old companies like BP and Shell can learn new tricks, they do bring scale and know-how to the task. “To make a switch from a global economy that depends on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy to something else is a very, very big job,” said Daniel Yergin, the energy historian who has a forthcoming book, “The New Map,” on the transition now occurring in energy. But he noted, “These companies are really good at big, complex engineering management that will be required for a transition of that scale.”

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

The week Old Hollywood finally, actually died By BEN SMITH

or decades, the best thing about being a Hollywood executive, really, was how you got fired. Studio executives would be gradually, gently, even lovingly, nudged aside, given months to shape their own narratives and find new work, or even promoted. When Amy Pascal was pushed out of Sony Pictures in 2015, she got an exit package and production deal worth a reported $40 million. That, of course, was before streaming services arrived, upending everything with a ruthless logic and coldhearted efficiency. That was never more clear than on Aug. 7, when WarnerMedia abruptly eliminated the jobs of hundreds of employees, emptying the executive suite at the once-great studio that built Hollywood, and is now the subsidiary of AT&T. In a series of brisk video calls, executives who imagined they were studio eminences were reminded that they work — or used to work — at the video division of a phone company. The chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, learned that he’d been fired the morning of the day the news broke, two people he spoke to told me. Jeffrey Schlesinger, a 37-year company veteran who ran the lucrative international licensing business, complained to friends that he had less than an hour’s notice, two other people told me. “We’re in the brutal final scenes of Hollywood as people here knew it, as streaming investment and infrastructure take precedence,” said Janice Min, the former Hollywood Reporter co-president who did a brief stretch as an executive at streaming platform Quibi. “Politesse and production deal kiss-offs for those at the top, and, more importantly, the financial firehose to float a bureaucracy, seem to be disappearing. It’s like a club, already shut down by the pandemic, running out of dues to feed all its members.” The drama at Warner marked a turning point, in part because of its huge size and the high profile of the iconic companies under its umbrella: Warner Bros., HBO and CNN among them. And it comes as Hollywood power is conspicuously absent from the national conversation. Washington is consumed by TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app that’s the most successful new content platform in the world. TikTok has succeeded as Quibi — Hollywood’s premium alternative to user-generated content — struggles to find an audience. The California politician just nominated for the vice presidency comes from San Francisco, and doesn’t particularly advertise her Hollywood ties (though she was all over Hollywood insiders’ Instagram last week). The corporate shifts at WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal in recent days signal that the technological shift you’ve been reading about for years is finally taking concrete form, accelerated by the pandemic. The new leaders of the industry want to talk about digital products and subscription marketing. The most interesting profiles of entertainment executives are, literally, obituaries, notably the catalog of victories and vices that marked the career of Viacom’s founder, Sumner Redstone. (Like much of his industry, Redstone, who died last week at age 97, held on far longer than anyone expected. Former Viacom employees recalled that it had been more than six years

Hollywood club, Ann Sarnoff, to head his content division. Many of the new leaders are admirers of the culture at Netflix, which is hardheaded and unsentimental: Executives eat in the cafeteria and have a corporate philosophy that holds, in an admired slide presentation, that employees are like athletes. Managers should always be looking to trade up, and fire even high performers if a better player comes along. (The wellregarded human resources executive who developed the presentation with the company’s chief executive, Reed Hastings, was, herself, eventually fired.) WarnerMedia’s Kilar told me in an email that his cuts and reorganizations were aimed at pushing company “from a wholesaling mind set to a retailing mindset” — that is, from the old studio hitmakers’ handshake deals with distributors to a techie’s focus on user-friendly streaming interfaces and subscriber retention. That’s an unromantic vision that still rankles many in the industry. “This is the difference between people who got into the movie business and people who are in the content business,” said Terry Press, the former president of CBS Films, whose division was eliminated in a merger with Viacom earlier this year. The industry’s cultural shift is also wiping out fiefdoms. A day before the WarnerMedia firings, NBCUniversal forced out the embattled chairman of its entertainment division — a storied role held in the past by, among others, Greenblatt — and announced it wouldn’t replace him. Instead it’s shearing off executive roles and merging most of what were once seIn an undated image provided by Julie Cahill, Jason parate operations across channels as varied as Syfy and NBC. Kilar, the new WarnerMedia chief executive, who spent Similarly, WarnerMedia combined its crown jewel, HBO, and the formative years of his career at Amazon, not old the workaday cable channels TBS and TNT and the struggling Hollywood. new streaming service. With the purge of top creative executives completed, since, the then- chief executive, Philippe Dauman, asked his the responsibility for what’s inside HBO Max and the cable aides to draft a stirring eulogy for Redstone, who was 90 at TV channels will fall largely on Casey Bloys, an HBO veteran the time, and to create a website in his memory. But Dauman who is now overseeing all of WarnerMedia’s entertainment was fired four years ago, there are no plans for him to deliver a content. He has, he said in a telephone interview, told his new eulogy and the website remains on some forgotten digital shelf.) team that he wants programming on the streaming service that Much of what’s happening now in Hollywood, too, will complement the buzzy, complex adult shows like “Wathas that feeling of a death so long anticipated that you half chmen” and “Succession” that HBO is best known for. He is assumed you’d just missed the funeral. At WarnerMedia, the pointed to straightforwardly fun titles that appeal to younger executives’ firings came after the company badly botched the audiences like “Green Lantern” and “Gossip Girl” as models introduction of a streaming service whose name — HBO Go, for broadening out the service. His success will depend, in HBO Now, or HBO Max — nobody could figure out. The ser- part, on the company’s ability to clearly market its streaming vice has primarily distinguished itself so far by its energetic and service and perhaps more on whether AT&T is really willing to unsuccessful attempts to spin about 4 million people who have keep spending on TV like Netflix and Disney. Bloys is a great programmer, not a power player or politiactually used the service into a number north of 30 million. “It’s the great reckoning,” another top executive who cian of the old model. Indeed, the studio bosses seem to have was abruptly forced out, Kevin Reilly, told The Hollywood Re- lost their central place in the American power structure and become simply the well-compensated employees of ordinary porter. The new leaders in the industry do not come out of old companies, with ordinary attention to the bottom line. There is Hollywood, which has seen its clubbiness and values fall into one exception, Disney, which also proves the rule: Bob Iger’s disrepute. The new WarnerMedia chief executive, Jason Kilar, Disney+ started just in time to catch the streaming wave and spent the formative years of his career as the senior vice pre- provide a business that met the coronavirus moment. “Disney will remain relevant into the future,” said Barry sident of worldwide application software at Amazon, known for its grim corporate culture. He ran Hulu, then left it after Diller, who once headed Paramount and Fox and is now chief clashing with its legacy media owners. At WarnerMedia he executive of the digital media company IAC. “All of the rest of promoted an executive who hadn’t made her career inside the them are caddies on a golf course they’ll never play.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

13 Stocks

Tech rally elevates Nasdaq to record high

he Nasdaq surged to an all-time high on Monday, while the S&P 500 approached its own record level, with both indexes lifted by Nvidia and other technology stocks. The benchmark S&P 500 was just shy of its Feb. 19 intraday record high after testing that level for much of last week, while the Dow Jones was weighed down by losses in financial and industrial stocks. Nvidia Corp was among the top boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, surging almost 7% and hitting a record high after two analysts raised their price targets ahead of the chipmaker’s quarterly results on Wednesday. In afternoon trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq exceeded its Aug. 7 intra-day record high. The Nasdaq was the first of the major Wall Street indexes to recoup its coronavirus-induced losses as several of its largest constituents, including Amazon.com Inc and Netflix Inc, benefited from curbs on social activity. “Tech is the only trade,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Things that were 10 years away on Feb. 18 are here now: Distance learning, seeing your doctor via Zoom, ordering pharmaceuticals via the mail.” Lowe’s Cos Inc and Home Depot Inc rose more than 2% each ahead of their earnings later in the week. The two home improvement chains are expected to have received a bump to their quarterly sales from consumers looking to do minor repair work while spending more time at home. The S&P 500 retailing index rose over 1%, with heavyweights Walmart Inc and Target Corp also set to report results this week. “Earnings season in general has been much better than expected, but a big part of that is because the expectation has been so low,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee. As of Friday, 457 companies in the S&P 500 had posted results, of which 81.4% came in above dramatically lowered expectations, according to Refinitiv data. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, due on Wednesday, are expected to provide more insight into the central bank’s view of an economic recovery, while housing starts data is also on tap. Caution is expected to seep into markets ahead of the November U.S. presidential vote, as the election season kicks into higher gear with the Democratic National Convention, which runs Monday through Thursday. At 1:58 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.25% at 27,860.24 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.35% to 3,384.77. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.95% to 11,123.51. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with technology providing the biggest support to the S&P 500 index.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

New Zealand election postponed amid new Coronavirus outbreak

On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand announced that the September election would be delayed by four weeks as new virus cases spread across Auckland. By DAMIEN CAVE

ew Zealand on Monday said it would postpone its national election by four weeks as a cluster of new coronavirus cases continued to spread through the city of Auckland despite a lockdown. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has the sole authority to determine when people cast ballots, said she had consulted with all the major parties before delaying the vote, originally scheduled for Sept. 19, to Oct. 17. Ardern called the decision a compromise that “provides sufficient time for parties to plan around the range of circumstances we could be campaigning under, for the electoral commission to prepare and for voters to feel assured of a safe, accessible and critical election.” She also ruled out further change. Even if the outbreak worsens, she said, “we will be sticking with the date we have.” The shift keeps Election Day within the time frame allowed under the law —

the latest possible date is Nov. 21 — but it also highlights the national concern as a cluster of at least 58 new cases frustrates investigators, clears the streets of Auckland and suspends scheduled campaign events. Ardern’s approval ratings skyrocketed after the country’s first lockdown, in late March, led to what health officials described as the elimination of the virus and a return to life verging on normal, with crowded restaurants, stadiums and schools. Now, she faces greater scrutiny over what went wrong and how long the country will have to endure another round of restrictions. “If it transpires that there was a considerable oversight, lax regulation or flawed implementation, that could have a very significant impact on the narrative,” said Richard Shaw, a politics professor at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. But, he added, “there is a deep reservoir of good will toward the prime minister,” and it is possible that the way she

has handled the election delay will only bolster her chances. “She might have just added 5% to her polling by making an announcement that many New Zealanders will think is reasonable, fair and sensible,” Shaw said. He added the election delay was inevitable in part because the September date would have required the dissolution of Parliament on Monday to allow for a month of campaigning. Parliament will now be dissolved Sept. 6. “She needed to be seen as responding to this,” Shaw said of Ardern. “It’s a straightforward political decision.” New Zealand’s election is far from the first to be postponed because of the pandemic. Hong Kong cited the virus in delaying by a year a Legislative Council vote; more than a dozen U.S. states moved the date of their primaries, as did New York City. And though President Donald Trump floated the idea of delaying the general election, he was promptly shut down by members of Congress and his own party.

In the short-term, Ardern’s delay will allow her government to focus primarily on the virus. Health officials in New Zealand are still scrambling to test thousands of workers at airports and other points of entry, along with quarantine facilities and a frozen food warehouse, to try to determine how the virus re-emerged last week after 102 days without known community transmission. On Sunday, officials announced 12 new cases tied to the cluster of four from last Sunday. On Monday, they announced nine more. Pressure on Ardern and her Labour Party to change the date had been building over several days. A New Zealand Herald-Kantar poll taken over the weekend showed that 60% of New Zealanders favored a delay. The leaders of other major parties also argued that the Level 3 lockdown in Auckland, the country’s largest city, prevented campaigning and would have made a free and fair election impossible on the original date. Winston Peters, the deputy prime minister and leader of the New Zealand First Party, Ardern’s coalition partner, said in a letter to Ardern last week that until the alert level dropped in Auckland, the “playing field is hopelessly compromised.” The National Party’s leader, Judith Collins, has said that she would prefer that the election be moved to next year, which would require approval from 75% of Parliament. On Monday, Collins said the focus must be on determining what led to the current outbreak “so we can be sure it won’t happen again.” What the delay means for Ardern and her party’s prospects in the election may depend on the vicissitudes of the virus. In the announcement Monday, Ardern sought to portray the delay as an example of her willingness to listen to the public and make tough decisions. “COVID is the world’s new normal,” she said. “Here in New Zealand, we are working as hard as we can to make sure our new normal disrupts our lives as little as possible.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

South Korea warns of another COVID-19 outbreak tied to a church By CHOE SANG-HUN

crippling its political activism. “They poured the virus on our church,” he said during the rally, without specifying who he was referring to. Health officials said his accusation was not worth commenting on. Jun is known for g iving rousing speeches filled with provocative and unsubstantiated claims. Jun said he had urged his congregants not to join the rally Saturday and to stay home. But local news media reported that members of his church were among thousands of anti-government protesters Saturday, some of them not wearing masks. Moon on Sunday called their participation in the rally an “unpardonable act.” “Many of those who needed to be in self-isolation turned out in street protests, raising the serious possibility that they have spread the virus to protesters who came from around the country,” Moon said on his Facebook page. “This is a clear challenge against the diseaseprevention system of the state and an unpardonable act against the safety of the people.” Moon vowed to “take decisive actions, including coercive measures” against Jun’s church. Also Sunday, the Seoul city government said it would sue Jun for violating disease-control laws by spreading false rumors about the epidemic and ignoring a government order to self-isolate. Thousands of protesters, many of them older, attended the anti-Moon rally Saturday, ignoring rain and

official pleas to stay home amid the rise in coronavirus infections. On the same day, Kwon Jun-wook, a deputy director of the government’s Central Disease Control Headquarters, warned of “early signs of a large-scale resurgence of the virus.” Over the weekend the government tightened social distancing rules in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, which have a combined population of roughly 20 million. Under the new rules,spectators will be barred from professional baseball and soccergames. Authorities have the power to ban large gatherings and shut down high-risk facilities such as karaoke rooms, nightclubs and buffet restaurants if they fail to enforce heightened preventive measures, including temperature checks, keeping rosters of all visitors and requiring them to wear masks. Virus fears also prompted South Korea and the United States on Sunday to delay an annual joint military drill by two days, rescheduling it to begin Tuesday. The allies decided to postpone the exercise after a South Korean army officer who was expected to participate in the drill tested positive. So far, health officials have been reluctant to designate churches as high-risk facilities for fear they might be accused of undermining freedom of religion. But even before the outbreak in Jun’s church, small clusters of infections have continued to erupt in churches in recent months.

ealth officials in South Korea reported 279 new coronavirus cases Sunday, warning of a resurgence of infections, many linked to a church that has vocally opposed President Moon Jae-in. South Korea had battled the epidemic down to two-digit daily caseloads since April. But the number of new cases has soared recently, with 103 on Friday and 166 on Saturday, most of them worshippers at the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, the capital, and another church in the surrounding province of Gyeonggi. The church outbreaks have alarmed health officials. Tightly packed, fervent prayer services in some South Korean churches have made them particularly vulnerable to the virus. When South Korea was hit by its first wave of the coronavirus in late February and early March, the epidemic spread mainly from the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the central city of Daegu, about 150 miles southeast of Seoul. The church has been accused of being a cult by more mainstream churches. During the first wave of infections, the daily caseload across the country was as high as 909. In the past four days, the Sarang Jeil Church alone has reported at least 193 cases among its members and contacts, the Seoul metropolitan government said. Moon on Sunday warned of a surge in infections in coming days as health officials rush to test thousands of church members and their contacts. He called the crisis at Sarang Jeil the biggest challenge faced by health officials since the Shincheonji outbreak five months ago. The Sarang Jeil Church has been as controversial as Shincheonji. Its chief pastor, the Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, has been a driving force behind largely Christian conservative rallies against Moon in central Seoul in recent months. Jun openly accuses Moon’s liberal government of trying to “communize” South Korea and urges a public uprising to “oust” the president from office. Jun was arrested in February on charges of violating election laws before April parliamentary elections. He was accused of asking participants at his rallies to support specific political parties before the official election period had begun. Since his release on bail in April, he has continued his political activism, calling for a large anti-Moon rally in Seoul on Saturday. The Seoul city government banned the rally and temporarily shut down his church, citing fears that a large gathering would help spread the virus. More than 4,000 members of Jun’s church were also ordered to self-isolate for two weeks and test for the virus. But Jun ignored the order, attending a rally in central Seoulon Saturdayorganized by another anti-government conservative group. He claimed that the outbreak in his Members of conservative and religious Christian groups during an antigovernment rally in Seoul, South church had been caused by a “terrorist” attack aimed at Korea, on Saturday.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The Israel-UAE deal and the Beirut blast both box in Iran

Thousands of Lebanese supporters attend a political rally of Hezbollah in Baalbek, Lebanon, May 1, 2018. The domestic crisis within the country has now fully consumed the movement’s energies. By FARNAZ FASSIHI and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

ran’s foreign minister flew to Beirut this past week to bolster Lebanon and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political group that plays a powerful role in the government. Both the militia and the government had been caught in a ferocious public backlash over the explosion that destroyed much of the city. But almost as soon as he had landed, the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was blindsided by a new affront to Iran: a deal between two of Tehran’s chief regional rivals, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, to open formal diplomatic ties. Together, the two developments amounted to another brutal month for the government of Iran after two very difficult years. The Iranian economy has been driven to the brink of collapse by the Trump administration’s 2-year-old campaign of economic sanctions. The Iranian military has been able to mount only token retaliation for a series of Israeli strikes on its assets in allied Syria, or for the U.S. assassination last winter of a revered commander in Iraq. Then Iranian authorities were caught trying to cover up the shooting down of a passenger jet by their own air defenses. And now, Iran’s health system is struggling to contain a resurgent COVID-19 outbreak that may be among the worst in the world.

Zarif, during his visit to Beirut, could do little more than bluster, warning other nations not to try to expand their own influence over Lebanon amid the chaos there. The Emirati pact with Israel was merely U.S.-made “theater,” he proclaimed. But after the Aug. 4 explosion that killed at least 175 people and wounded more than 6,000 in Beirut and the Emirati-Israel deal, “you could hardly write a script that was worse for Iran,” argued Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. By Saturday, some prominent Iranian politicians who support the regime were arguing that the Emirati agreement with Israel — forged out of mutual enmity for Iran — may mark a decisive turn against Tehran in a battle for public opinion across the region. “In the eyes of the Arab street, Iran is now the enemy,” said Mohamad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president who sometimes speaks out against the government. “We are finding ourselves in a situation where our neighboring Arab countries are turning to Israel to confront Iran.” It was only a decade ago that the fiery denunciations of Israel and Washington from senior Iranian leaders commanded admiring crowds on visits to Arab capitals across the region. But that was before Iran intervened to help crush the Arab Spring uprising in Syria, before an upsurge in sectarian tensions spurred on by the political rivalry between Shiite-ma-

jority Iran and Sunni-majority neighbors, and before a wave of demonstrations by Iraqis and Lebanese protesting Iran’s interference in their domestic politics. It was also before the pain of the Trump administration’s sanctions began to drain Iran’s generosity to its regional clients. “We scared the Arabs and pushed them into Israel’s arms,” Ali Motahari, a conservative Iranian politician who supports the government, wrote on Twitter Saturday. In some ways, the agreement to open diplomatic ties between the UAE and Israel was merely a public acknowledgment of what had been an open secret: Their military forces and intelligence agencies have cooperated closely for years against Iran. Emirati officials said that in exchange for public recognition, Israel had agreed to retreat from a pledge to formally annex Palestinian territory in the West Bank. But critics noted that Israel’s leaders were only backing away from this temporarily and had their own reasons to do so. Only two Arab states had previously recognized Israel — Egypt and Jordan. Both were far from Iran and motivated by the security of their own borders (as well as the goodwill of Washington). The UAE, in contrast, is the only state among Iran’s Gulf neighbors to strike such an agreement, and the first to do primarily out of antagonism to Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the Emiratis not to let Israel “gain a foothold in the region.” “Beware that then we would act and deal with them differently,” he said in a speech Saturday. Yet Iranian officials gave no indication that they were preparing to punish the UAE, or to risk cutting off trade or diplomatic ties. Given the long-standing Iranian economic ties to the UAE and the weakness of the Iranian economy, analysts said Iran had little choice. Several argued the full impact on Iran of the EmiratiIsraeli agreement would become clear only over time. “Is the UAE going to be more publicly supportive of Israeli bombing of Iranian installations in Syria, or of Israeli efforts to thwart Hezbollah?,” asked Sanam Vakil, a scholar at Chatham House, in London. “Is Israel going to defend the UAE in the face of Iranian aggression? All this seems really opaque right now.” The threat of a regional reshuffling, though, can only complicate Iran’s efforts to shore up its influence through Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, a country that Iranian officials often refer to as “our southern border” or “our border with Israel.” “Lebanon’s security is our security,” Zarif told Lebanese journalists during his visit this past week. But if Hezbollah’s Iranian-supplied weaponry has sometimes provided Tehran with tacit leverage against Israel, the domestic crisis inside Lebanon has now fully consumed the movement’s energies and muted any such threat. “Iran and Hezbollah are very boxed in as a result of the explosion,” Vakil of Chatham House said. “There is no way Iran can count on Hezbollah to rain any of its missiles and rockets down on Israel right now. There will be absolutely no appetite and no support for any such adventurism.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Protests grow in Thailand, where speaking out can be perilous T By HANNAH BEECH

hey gathered at a monument celebrating Thai democracy. They raised their hands in defiance below a giant image of the king dressed in coronation regalia. At least 10,000 protesters, many first-time participants in political rallies, gathered in Bangkok on Sunday, demanding change in a country where military tanks have tended to shape politics more than the ballot box has. The nearly eight-hour protest, which filled a broad avenue in the heart of the city with black-clad people, was the largest rally in Thailand since a coup in 2014, one of a dozen successful putsches in the country in the last nine decades. A state of emergency instituted because of the coronavirus made the demonstration technically illegal, and every participant could have been arrested simply for showing up. The police stood by, however, some idling behind a Mercedes-Benz showroom. Thailand’s growing protest movement, which was set off by student activism last month, has since gained broader support. While Thailand has escaped the brunt of the pandemic, it has been pummeled economically, and millions are out of work. With Prayuth Chan-ocha, the retired general who choreographed the last coup, still leading the country as prime minister, Thais have intensified calls for a new political order. “We have had many political divisions in our country but now, no matter what our backgrounds, many of us are united in questioning the legitimacy of this government,” said Nuttaa Mahattana, a democracy activist. “Look at who’s here, many different types of people.” The protest leaders have demanded

a new constitution, one not written by the military, as the current charter was. They have called for parliament to dissolve. They are pleading for the protection of human rights at a time when vocal critics of the military and monarchy have disappeared and been killed. And they say they will keep gathering if their aims are not met. “We don’t hate the country, but we hate you, Prayuth Chan-ocha,” Benjamaporn Nivas, a 15-year-old student, sang from the stage she shared with others, taking the melody of a children’s song and adding new lyrics. “We don’t want dictatorship.” Sunday’s protest took place at the Democracy Monument, which was built to commemorate the 1932 bloodless revolution that ended absolute monarchy in Thailand. The country is now a constitutional monarchy, but some of the protest leaders have accused the palace of breaching the terms of that form of government. King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun spends little time in Thailand, living most of the year in Europe. He has consolidated financial and military power, bringing crown coffers and influential army units under his control. After some protesters called for checks on the palace’s power in rallies last week, a rare challenge in a country where lèse-majesté laws can land critics of the crown in jail for up to 15 years, authorities pressured the movement’s leaders to keep the monarchy out of their speeches. But as Sunday’s rally stretched into the night, after speeches on labor law, student haircuts and rights for gay, lesbian and transgender people, Arnon Nampa, a young human rights lawyer, took to the stage and defied any such request. Earlier, a laser had projected a hashtag that asked

At least 10,000 protesters gather in Bangkok for the largest rally in Bangkok since a coup in 2014, Aug. 16, 2020. Demonstrators are demanding change in a country with a long history of suppressing dissent. in Thai, “why do we need a king?” onto the white face of the Democracy Monument. The authorities “have asked us to stop dreaming,” he said, referring to “the biggest dream of seeing the monarchy stay alongside Thai society,” rather than floating above it unbound by legal charters. “I am announcing here,” he added, “that we will continue dreaming.” The demonstration took place under a large photograph of the king during his 2019 coronation, when he was formally presented with a 16-pound golden crown and a fortune that makes him one of the world’s richest royals. Above the orderly rows of protesters was also an oversize picture of Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya, the king’s fourth wife, in a military uniform. A former flight attendant, she has been given the military rank of general in the

king’s bodyguard corps. A pro-royalist counterprotest gathered Sunday as well. Its numbers were small. Even before the protest kicked off, the Thai security apparatus had begun harassing those who might want to speak out. Arnon was arrested on sedition charges last week. He and another activist are also facing lèse-majesté complaints. Early Sunday morning, Pongsak Phusitsakul, an opposition politician whose party was dissolved before it was able to contest elections last year, said his dogs alerted him to six plainclothes police officers who went to his home, he said, to intimidate him before the rally. “I’m used to it,” he said. “But I’m worried about the youth, what they will face and what their parents and families have to face.”

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Kamala Harris, the prosecutor Trump fears most By TIMOTHY EGAN

adies and gentlemen of the jury, our case today is against the most powerful man in the world. And using the most powerful weapon of government by the people, you can hold this man accountable for the first time in his life, when you pass judgment on Nov. 3. We will show that President Donald Trump has made a mockery of the Constitution, has lied to you more than 20,000 times and is currently trying to sabotage the Postal Service in a desperate bid to cling to power. But worse than any of that, he is responsible for thousands of Americans who have died during his willful mismanagement of the pandemic. The case against him is “open-and-shut,” as your prosecutor said Wednesday, and factually incontrovertible. That prosecutor, Sen. Kamala Harris, is a woman who has spent most of her professional life going after criminals. And since that prosecutor will occupy a space inside Trump’s head for the next three months, he should grant her the decency of properly pronouncing her name. It’s not Ca-mall-uh, as he has said. It’s Comma-la.

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Sen. Kamala Harris Let the record show that she has already called him what he is. “I know predators, and we have a predator living in the White House,” she said last year. “The thing you must importantly know, predators are cowards.” So, to the case: Let’s begin with the loss of more than 165,000 lives from COVID-19 in the United States, on Trump’s watch, and maybe as many as 200,000. Each of them had a story, a life, people they loved and were loved by. Now gone before their time. Their voices cry out from the grave. You’ve already heard that the United States, with barely 4% of the world’s population, has 25% of the coronavirus cases. And that the U.S. leads the world in total number of deaths, with a fatality rate five times higher than the global average. Remember that the next time he praises himself. But just consider a single day, Tuesday, when Joe Biden announced Harris as his pick. COVID-19 took the lives of 1,450 people in the United States on that one day. For Canada, it was four. Trump owns this failure. We are a pariah nation, shunned and pitied, unable to travel outside our borders, prisoners of his fatal malfeasance. Some of you have excused this president’s incompetence, his quackery, his buffoonery, his vile character, his consistent insults of women, minorities, the free press, the courts — so long as it was just the daily respiration of a narcissist. But we know now, and you must never forget, that his ignorance is lethal. Other countries in the world — the places where people are watching sports in stadiums, where

kids are going to school without fear, where businesses have been saved — had a national plan. Trump has never had one. Instead, he tweeted conspiracy nonsense from an ex-game show host and promoted ingesting household disinfectants. The presidency, as Biden says, “is a duty to care.” This president has failed at the primary duty to keep you safe. Every day, he’s finding new ways to make your life miserable. He is actively working to take away health care from millions, through his assault on Obamacare. His attack on the Postal Service, if successful, is not just an attempt to break this democracy, but could also deprive many of you from getting your lifesaving meds on time. But the economy, he will say. It was the best ever until the pandemic. Not true. With his tax cuts for the rich that blew a trillion dollar hole in the federal budget, he promised economic growth of up to 6%. It never got to even half that high in the first three years of his presidency. Unemployment now is at Depression-era levels. “He inherited the largest economic expansion in history,” as your prosecutor said. “And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground.” What has this president done to protect his base of working-class whites, many of them deemed “essential” workers? Nothing. As we speak, he’s trying to take away the rights of workers to sue an employer in an unsafe workplace. He will distract you by trying to tie the Democratic ticket to the intolerant, mob-ruled far left, epitomized by the Jacobins on the Seattle City Council who recently hounded out the city’s first female African American police chief. But those who rule by bullhorn and bullying have nothing in common with your prosecutor and her running mate. As she has said, “No good public policy ends with an exclamation point.” He will even say that Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic who regularly attends church, is “against God.” The last time Trump went to church he used chemical irritants against peaceful protesters to get there, for a photo op. Most of you have made up your mind. For those who haven’t, the prosecutor will close with what she opened with. The United States is “in tatters.” Look around at the shuttered businesses, the hospitals stuffed with those struggling to breathe, Americans at each other’s throats. This president offers you no way out. You alone can show him the door.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Gobernadora firma medida que crea programa piloto de incentivos educativos para jóvenes en hogares temporeros Por THE STAR

a gobernadora Wanda Vázquez Garced firmó una medida que establece la “Ley de Incentivos para Estudiantes en Instituciones Postsecundarias que provienen de Hogares Temporeros o de Hogares de Grupo”, para establecer un programa piloto de incentivos educativos para jóvenes que se encuentran en hogares temporeros o de grupo. Esta nueva ley surge a través del Proyecto del Senado 1429, el cual establece el programa para jóvenes que, al cumplir 18 años de edad, quedan sin hogar. Además, indica que los incentivos dispuestos en esta ley provendrán del “Fondo Permanente de Ayudas Económicas y Becas a Estudiantes Postsecundarios”. Vázquez Garced indicó: “Estamos estableciendo como política pública del gobierno establecer las ayudas económicas necesarias para que aquellos jóvenes que provienen de hogares temporeros u hogares de grupo que quedaron sin hogar por haber cumplido

los 18 años de edad, y son o aspiran a ser estudiantes en instituciones postsecundarias, puedan hacerlo en condiciones similares a los demás”. Toda institución postsecundaria debidamente licenciada, deberá proveer los siguientes incentivos a dichos estudiantes: asistencia económica en el costo de matrícula; asistencia para el pago de hospedaje; alimentos; compra de equipos y materiales, y cualquier otro gasto necesario. El Plan Piloto iniciará en el año escolar 20202021 y se extenderá por los siguientes cinco años escolares y los incentivos estarán disponibles hasta un máximo de 100 estudiantes por año académico, sujeto a la disponibilidad de fondos, según dispone la medida que fue presentada por el presidente del Senado, Thomas Rivera Schatz. “Este sector de jóvenes actualmente se encuentra desprovisto de ayudas específicas por parte del gobierno, que los asistan económicamente para poder continuar sus estudios y tener un lugar para vivir. El

gobierno no puede abandonar a esta población vulnerable y que forma parte del futuro de nuestra isla. Esta le hace justicia social y le brinda una oportunidad de vida a aquellos jóvenes que provienen de un hogar temporero o de grupo y que han quedado desprovisto de hogar por haber cumplido los 18 años”, concluyó la mandataria.

Seguro Social acelera las decisiones para las personas con incapacidades severas Por THE STAR

l comisionado del Seguro Social, Andrew Saul, anunció el lunes, cinco padecimientos nuevos bajo las aprobaciones por compasión: tumores desmoplásicos de células pequeñas y redondas, gangliosidosis GM1 – Formas infantiles y juveniles, el síndrome de Nicolaides‑Baraister, el síndrome de Rubinstein-Tybai y el cáncer de cerebro secundario. Las aprobaciones por compasión es un programa para identificar rápidamente padecimientos médicos severos y enfermedades que cumplen con los estándares del Seguro Social para los beneficios por incapacidad. El Comisionado Saúl dijo: «La prioridad mayor del Seguro Social es servir al público, y seguimos

comprometidos en mejorar el proceso de determinación por incapacidad para las personas que viven en los EE. UU. Nuestro programa de aprobación por compasión nos acerca un paso más a alcanzar nuestras metas ayudándonos a acelerar el proceso del programa por incapacidad para las personas que tienen la probabilidad de obtener la aprobación de beneficios debido al estado severo de su padecimiento». El programa de aprobación por compasión identifica rápidamente las solicitudes en las que el padecimiento o la enfermedad del solicitante cumple claramente con los estándares legales de incapacidad del Seguro Social. Debido a la naturaleza severa de muchos de estos padecimientos, estas reclamaciones a menudo se aprueban basadas únicamente en la confirmación médica del diagnóstico. Hasta la fecha, más de 600,000 personas con incapacidades severas han sido aprobadas a través de este proceso acelerado, que cumple con la política de aprobaciones por incapacidad. En la última década, la lista ha crecido hasta un total de 242 padecimientos, incluyendo ciertos cánceres, trastornos cerebrales en adultos y un número de trastornos inusuales que afectan a niños. El Seguro Social incorpora la tecnología más avanzada para identificar los posibles casos para el programa de aprobación por compasión y toma rápidamente las decisiones. Cuando una persona solicita los beneficios por incapacidad, el Seguro Social debe obtener los registros médicos para po-

der hacer una determinación precisa. El sistema computarizado de salud del Seguro Social conocido como «Health IT» trae la rapidez y eficacia de los registros médicos electrónicos al proceso de la determinación de la incapacidad. Con la transmisión electrónica de los registros, el Seguro Social puede rápidamente obtener la información médica de un reclamante, revisarla y tomar una determinación más rápido que nunca antes. Para más información sobre el programa, e incluso una lista de todos los padecimientos de la aprobación por compasión, por favor visite www. socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances (solo disponible en inglés). Para informarse mejor sobre el sistema computarizado de salud del Seguro Social «Health IT», por favor visite www.socialsecurity.gov/hit (solo disponible en inglés). Las personas pueden solicitar por internet los beneficios por incapacidad visitando www.segurosocial.gov. Por favor visite www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount (solo disponible en inglés) para crear una cuenta de my Social Security. Debido a la pandemia, no podemos recibir visitantes hasta nuevo aviso. Aclare dudas accediendo www.segurosocial.gov o accediendo nuestros servicios automatizados en el 1-800-772-1213. También puede comunicarse por teléfono con su oficina local de Seguro Social. Para acceder dicho número telefónico, ingrese su código postal en este enlace https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

Black women are the superheroes the world needs

Regina King as the vigilante Sister Night in “Watchmen.” By MAYA PHILLIPS

white billionaire playboy spends his evenings fighting bad guys in a cape and mask. A white alien works as a journalist but skips out to take down villains in the city. Traditionally, superheroes fit a predictable mold: white males who stand as bastions of justice despite their vigilante status. In the riveting recent Netflix film “The Old Guard” and the masterly Emmy-nominated HBO series “Watchmen,” Black women are the new kinds of heroes, not only breaking this mold but also allowing for a radical shift in storytelling. A new guard of superheroism doesn’t simply mean diversity. It makes room for the possibility that especially now, as our political systems and institutions are being questioned, there is no absolute moral authority, even for those tasked with saving the day. It presents individuals better equipped to understand the weight of the badge and the mask, and the cost that comes with calling oneself a hero. In “The Old Guard,” a foursome of immortals are led by the eldest, Andy (a mesmerizing Charl-

ize Theron), a butt-kicking, steely-eyed warrior. As they trot around the globe crushing bad guys, they welcome a new member, a Marine named Nile (KiKi Layne). When we meet Nile, she’s stationed in Afghanistan, handing out candy to kids in the street. Ordered to get intel on a location where a dangerous man might be hiding, she reminds her fellow troops to “keep it respectful.” She shoots the target but is visibly affected when he survives. She immediately rushes to stop the bleeding but is left vulnerable to a fatal knife attack — from which she miraculously recovers. Movies and TV shows love an optimistic rookie, and the young and empathetic Nile is certainly that. But her race also ropes her into another cliché. Black women are often presented as the standard-bearers of ethical action. They’ve seen miscarriages of justice and have silently borne the pain or valiantly fought back; either way, they are resilience and goodness personified. This carries over to superhero narratives as well: think of Misty Knight in “Luke Cage,” Storm in the “X-Men” films, even the no-nonsense Okoye from “Black Panther.” Although Black women are

rarely the protagonists of these stories, they are often charged with being the pillars of strength and moral foundations of the team. In “The Old Guard” Nile is both the bright-eyed newbie and the strong moral compass, so she can serve as a foil for Andy and the others. Last fall “Watchmen” also ended with the initiation of a Black female hero but delivered a more complex examination of her relationship to law enforcement, heroism and vigilantism. In the original comic of the same name, Alan Moore and David Gibbons produced an exquisite story but didn’t present any heroes of color and didn’t address the issue of race at all. The HBO series, created by Damon Lindelof as a sequel to the original, is refreshingly reactionary, positioning the narrative around race and presenting a Black heroine as the protagonist: a police officer named Angela Abar (Regina King) who gets tangled up in the world of superheroes and a megalomaniacal scheme for ultimate power. After becoming immortal, facing the rejection of her military peers, Nile is marginalized by one army with a morally ambiguous history of atrocities, foreign interference and political agendas just to become the newest soldier of another that’s equally morally ambiguous — but rationalized in the universe of the film. Angela, by contrast, breaks with the police and their track record of racist behavior; by acting independently, in line with her own morals, she is granted godhood. Whether this makes her infallible isn’t the point. The point is that she is a Black woman who has found power outside a broken structure. Although this and her identity don’t make her irreproachable, her experiences as a Black woman, a police officer and then a vigilante give her a more nuanced understanding of justice. She has the potential to be an even greater hero than the ones we’ve seen. Both “The Old Guard” and “Watchmen” present enthralling universes with powerful beings who aim to do right. But even in that supposedly protected world, justice isn’t a given. The character best suited to bring about change is the one who knows the system inside and out and understands what it means to be crushed beneath it. These Black women aren’t perfect, but they are the harbingers of a heroic revolution. Because when a Black woman puts on a mask, she is the closest vision of the kind of hero that the world actually needs.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Bowie-Loved Band is back. So much has changed. By JEREMY GORDON

n the fall of 2004, an amateur music blogger named David Bowie logged on to his website to rave about the debut by an up-and-coming band called Arcade Fire. “Nothing else (and yes, I’ve heard the new U2) comes close,” he wrote, before adding a caveat: “Well, maybe ‘Secret Machines’ and their CD ‘Now Here Is Nowhere.’ ” At the time, New York City was thick with weird, hip bands, but Secret Machines stood out with their entrancing combination of propulsive rock ’n’ roll, droning textures and winding arrangements. The band’s three members — the brothers Brandon (bass, keyboards, vocals) and Benjamin Curtis (guitar), and drummer Josh Garza, who’d first met in Dallas — would settle into a hypnotic groove before abruptly kicking off into the stratosphere, an experience magnified tenfold in concert. “I literally felt it was like a spiritual experience,” Paul Banks, the lead singer of Interpol, said of Secret Machines’ shows in a Zoom interview. “That’s worth many, many concert tickets, to be able to experience something that visceral.” Sounds great, but sounding great has rarely dictated a band’s success alone. Their best songs were melodic but not exactly catchy, and they never made the stylistic or attitudinal compromises required for a move to the mainstream. In 2007, Benjamin Curtis left to start the ethereal synth-rock band School of Seven Bells. After three studio albums, Secret Machines unofficially went on hiatus in 2010. A lot changed in the past 10 years. Weird, hip rock bands declined as a cultural force. Bowie, who went on to interview the band for his website — “You’re not supposed to meet David Bowie,” Brandon Curtis recalled with some awe — died in 2016. And after a short battle with an aggressive form of lymphoma, Benjamin died at the end of 2013. He was just 35 and had been collaborating with Brandon on new music. “Until that moment, deep, deep down I always thought we’d do something with him again,” Garza said in a separate Zoom interview. Now Brandon Curtis and Garza are returning with “Awake in the Brain Chamber,” the first Secret Machines album

since 2008, out this coming Friday. The band — essentially now a duo, though other musicians played on the record — has shed its jammier tendencies on the album, recorded over nearly a decade, without losing any sonic density. Dreamy harmonies hang in the air without resolving into conventional structures; guitars thrum and crackle with hair-raising energy; crystalline synth lines pierce the noise like spotlights shining through the fog; Garza’s powerful drumming sounds capable of bludgeoning an elephant into submission. They still don’t sound like a fit for rock radio, but that matters less in an era where “mainstream rock” is essentially an oxymoron. Though the album was finished in 2019, the band didn’t have any firm plans to release it until the pandemic hit. “We didn’t have to answer the question about doing shows, about what’s your future plans,” Curtis said over Zoom. “It can just be about music. That wasn’t the case during their first run. Despite critical acclaim, two albums recorded for Warner Bros. failed to catch on, and the band started its own label for its third LP. A planned fourth album called “The Moth, the Lizard, and the Secret Machines” was scrapped when, during the mixing process, Brandon decided it was too depressing, mirroring his broader feelings about the group’s fortunes. Around that time, he was invited to become the touring keyboardist in Interpol, one of Secret Machines’ contemporaries that had blown up into a globally famous, professional rock outfit. Garza moved to Los Angeles to be with the woman who became his wife. “I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to be without my band and without my girl,’ ” he said with a laugh. Not long after, Brandon started work on a batch of original songs, some of which would end up on “Awake in the Brain Chamber.” But in early 2013, Benjamin learned he had lymphoma. “His approach to death, the way he lived his life, I was just in awe of it,” Curtis said, pausing frequently to collect his thoughts. At one point, he excused himself to wipe his face. “He just gave me so much love and confidence.” After his brother’s death, Curtis considered whether he was done writing music, but slowly the creative urge came back. “It’s not like

the grief fades, but you get more comfortable with it and maybe it informs some other energy,” he said. Curtis had been playing with a psych-rock band called Cosmicide for a few years, and Garza was in town with his wife when the group had a residency at Pianos, a Lower East Side club, in 2016. After Secret Machines went on hiatus, Garza had played with other bands in Los Angeles and done session work for producers in his orbit without finding a permanent musical home. “I was actually hoping just to watch him play, because I heard he might do a Secret Machines song,” Garza said. Instead, he was invited to perform that song — a spacey 2006 track called “Alone, Jealous, and Stoned” — onstage. The experience opened up a gradual conversation about reviving Secret Machines, and the next year Garza rerecorded his drums with Curtis’ existing material. Transforming those recordings from Cosmicide songs into Secret Machines songs required some fine-tuning. Garza is an uncommonly forceful drummer — he described his style as “just simple bashing” — and the band’s experimental in-

stincts used to leave him room to fill the air with his playing. “If we each give ourselves that space, that magic really does happen with this band,” he said. Some of the original mixes were finished when Benjamin was still providing input, and “a part of the conversation with Josh as they started to become Secret Machines songs was, ‘I can’t lose that part that represents his contributions,’ ” Curtis said. Apart from the myriad sonic details that make up a record, Benjamin’s guitar playing is featured on “Everything Starts,” a twinkling track where Brandon essentially duets with himself about the uncertainty aroused by loss, and the passage of time: “When all you see are photographs/ And everything moves so slow/Everything starts to, I don’t know.” The making of the album was partly informed by grief (and inspired by Bowie’s two final albums), but Brandon’s writing blossoms from the openhearted perspective required to come to terms with significant loss. “I think he’s one of the people who have really spent time in a meditative state — really made an effort to raise their spirits to a high level of Zen,” Banks, the Interpol singer, said.

Josh Garza of Secret Machines photographed via Zoom in Los Angeles, Aug. 9, 2020. The New York City band known for explosive live shows went on hiatus in 2010, and lost a member to lymphoma in 2013 — a new album finds them in a new rock landscape.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

How to keep your pet safe and healthy in the heatwave

earning how to cope in the heat can be a struggle, with the beaming rays of the sun, the inescapable humidity and the ever-rising temperatures tough to handle for many. However, if you’re finding this heatwave unbearable, just imagine how your pet may be feeling. Domestic animals don’t have the luxury of being able to say when they’re feeling overheated or dehydrated, which is why you need to learn how to keep your pet as safe and healthy as possible during these extreme weather conditions. Whether you’re a dog person through and through or prefer to keep company with a reptile or two, here’s how to look after your pet properly as the heatwave runs its course: Dogs Dogs with long fur will likely fare worse than their shorter-haired peers during the summer. They’re able to cool themselves down by panting and releasing heat through their paws, as animal charity Blue Cross explains. They do this because they’re unable to sweat through their skin in the same way as human beings. If they do overheat, then they could be at risk of suffering from a serious heatstroke. “Signs of heatstroke in dogs include collapse, excessive panting and dribbling,” the charity states. “If you suspect your pet is suffering from the condition, move them to a cool place, preferably with a draught, wet their coat with cool - not freezing - water, and contact your vet immediately.” Furthermore, leaving a dog in a car on a hot day can have devastating consequences, as the temperature within the car can soar to extreme levels at a rapid rate. That’s why it’s advised never to leave a dog in a car in hot conditions. The RSPCA recommends only walking your dog in the morning or evening at the peak of summer, as doing so will help prevent them from burning their paws on the pavement or suffering from heatstroke. You must also make sure that your dog always has

access to water. Cats Different types of cats may be more prone to sunburn than others, as pet agency Very Important Pets outlines. “Pale-coloured cats are vulnerable to sunburn; particularly on their ears, noses and sparsely haired areas,” the agency states. While many cat owners may let their feline friends roam at will, the agency recommends keeping your cat indoors during the hottest time of the day, from around 11am until 3pm. You can even invest in a suncream designed specifically for pets to provide them with adequate protection from the sun’s rays. Having your cat’s fur trimmed could be a good course of action in order to make them feel more comfortable in the heat. Furthermore, if you think that your cat may be feeling overheated, you can use a damp towel to cool them down. Just like with any other animal, cats shouldn’t be left in cars during a heatwave. Hamsters If you normally keep your hamster in a glass or plastic crate, you should be aware that the interior may be hotter than the average room temperature. Keep in mind where you’re placing the crate, as putting it on a window sill where it’s exposed to the sun could put your hamster at risk of overheating. Hamster blog site Hammysworld also suggests placing the crate on a stone or tiled floor during the day if possible in order to help them remain cool and comfortable. You could even place a ceramic tile within the cage as a means of lowering the temperature of the interior even more. Another trick that Hammysworld recommends is placing a frozen bottle of water on the side of the outside of the crate while also regularly refreshing your pet’s water supply.

Fish You may think that your fish is safe and sound, chilling in a tank of water as the rest of us bakes in the overbearing humidity. However, the temperature of the tank can easily rise if the room temperature is higher than normal. If you have heaters in your fish tank, it would be wise to turn them off, Tropical Fish Site recommends. Moreover, it may be worth reducing the normal temperature of the tank if possible. Another method that you could try to help keep the water cool is to put bags filled with ice at the bottom of the tank. Birds While birds living in exotic locations around the world may be used to hotter climates, chances are that domesticated birds won’t have the same thresholds for higher temperatures. According to Bird Supplies, birds may be very susceptible to sudden changes in their environment, which is why knowing how to keep them cool during a heatwave is important. “Your average bird has a standard core temperature of around 105 degrees Fahrenheit or 40 degrees Celsius, and are very susceptible to overheating,” the site states. Some signs to look out for that may indicate that your bird is overheating include if its panting, holding its wings far away from its body or exhibiting anxious behaviour. Many birds naturally enjoy spending time outdoors. However, if this is the case, you should make sure that the outdoor space that your bird frequents is equipped with shaded areas. On top of that, the site states that you should make sure to replace the bathing dish of water at the bottom of your bird’s cage at least once a day, while also ensuring that it has a decent supply of clean water to drink. Reptiles and amphibians Reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic or coldblooded, which means that their body temperature relies on external sources, as detailed by the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. With that in mind, if the temperature of your home is higher than normal, then your pet snake or lizard could suffer in the hot conditions. Pet store Just For Pets advises first checking whether the temperature of your home falls within your animal’s ideal range. If the temperature exceeds its ideal range, then you can cool them down by providing them with clean water and keeping a small fan close by. Furthermore, you could utilise a similar technique to the one advised for hamster owners by placing a ceramic tile in its enclosure that it can use to lower its body temperature (that you could cool first in the fridge). Plus, if you place an iced bottle of water nearby, it could help reduce the temperature of the air, thus providing your pet with a more bearable environment.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Can humans give Coronavirus to bats and other wildlife? By JAMES GORMAN

any people worry about bats as a source of viruses, including the one that has caused a worldwide pandemic. But another question is surfacing: Could humans pass the novel coronavirus to wildlife, specifically North American bats? It may seem like the last pandemic worry right now, far down the line after concerns about getting sick and staying employed. But as the spread of the novel coronavirus has made clear, the more careful we are about viruses passing among species, the better off we are. The scientific consensus is that the virus originated in bats in China or neighboring countries. A recent paper tracing the genetic lineage of the novel virus found evidence that it probably evolved in bats into its current form. The researchers also concluded that either this coronavirus or others that could make the jump to humans were most likely present in bat populations now — we just haven’t found them yet. So why worry about infecting new bats with the current virus? The federal government considers it a legitimate concern both for bat populations, which have been devastated by a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome, and for humans, given potential problems down the road. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service, two agencies involved in research on bats, took the issue seriously enough to convene a panel of 12 experts to analyze the likelihood of human-to-bat transmission of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, in North America. Another team of scientists, mostly from the two agencies, assessed the expert opinions and issued a report in June. They concluded that there was some risk, although how much was hard to pin down. Taking precautions, like wearing masks, gloves and protective clothing, could significantly reduce the risk. Kevin Olival, a vice president for research at EcoHealth Alliance, an independent group and an author of the report, said that as the virus began to spread around the globe, “there was a real concern that not only North American but wildlife populations all over the world could be exposed.” While the group studied interactions between North American bats and scientific researchers, Olival said wildlife-control workers and people who rehabilitated injured bats, for example, might come into contact with bats even more than researchers did. Evaluating risk meant trying to cope with unknowns piled on unknowns: the risk of an infected research scientist or wildlife worker encountering bats; the risk of the bats becoming infected in that situation; the risk of an infected bat passing the virus onto other bats so that the virus becomes established in the population. The authors of the paper concluded there was a risk of humans infecting bats with the novel coronavirus. How much risk? You might say little, or small or unknown, but this report is from two federal agencies, so it describes the

A Townsend’s big-eared bat being collected for study and release in an abandoned mining cave near Ely, Nev. risk as “non-negligible.” Although the issue of how bat researchers should conduct their work may seem narrow, the potential consequences are broad. The report notes that if SARS-CoV-2 became established in North American bats, it would allow the virus to keep propagating in animals even if it didn’t cause disease. And the virus could potentially spill back over to humans after this pandemic is contained. Another concern involves how readily the coronavirus might spread from bats to other kinds of wildlife or domestic animals, including pets. Scientists have already shown that domestic cats and big cats can become infected, and domestic cats can infect each other. Ferrets are easily infected, as are minks. On the suspicion that they may be passing the disease to people, Spain and the Netherlands have slaughtered thousands of minks at fur farms. The infection of a small number of pets has gotten a good deal of publicity. But public health authorities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that, although information is limited, the risk of pets spreading the virus to people is low. They do recommend that any person who has COVID-19 take the same precautions with their pets that they would with human family members. National Geographic reported Thursday that the first U.S. dog known to have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 had died. The dog, Buddy, apparently had lymphoma. As to the susceptibility of North American bats, Ol-

ival was not aware of any published work on whether they could be infected with the virus. Researchers in Hong Kong have reported that in a lab the coronavirus infected the intestinal cells of Chinese rufous horseshoe bats. A report last month in The Lancet found that fruit bats could become infected with the virus. Beyond bats, Olival said that scientists should be concerned about how they conduct research on wildlife in general and consider what precautions to take to avoid potentially infecting one species or another. One step, he said, would be evaluating research goals to weigh what level of contact would be necessary. In some cases, he said, observation and data recording could be done without handling animals. If not, gloves and other precautions make sense, although some “old school” researchers have balked at the suggestions, he said. He said his group continued to recommend “the highest level of personal protective equipment when you work with wildlife, because it’s not just a risk that you will pick up something from the wildlife but that you don’t give something back to them.” He acknowledged that research precautions with wildlife would have a very small effect, given the greater number of people who hunted wildlife or came into contact in other ways. Education efforts are underway to try to change some of those practices; in addition, he said, researchers “should set some kind of standard.”

24 Chalets de la Playa Apto. 454, Carr. 68 6 KM 10.3, ,Vega Baja, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO PR 00693. EXPEDIDO bajo mi DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU- firma y el sello del Tribunal en NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, hoy SALA DE VEGA BAJA. día 1 de abril de 2020. LCDA. CONSEJO DE TITULARES LAURA SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SeCHALETS DE LA PLAYA cretaria. Karen G. Castro Melendez, SubSecretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTE,

Demandante, V.

ANGEL M. BRUNO ADORNO

Demandado CIVIL NUM.: VB2018CV00733. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. SS.

A: ANGEL M. BRUNO ADORNO

POR MEDIO del presente edicto se le notifica de la radicación de una demanda en cobro de dinero por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que usted adeuda a la parte demandante, el Consejo, ciertas sumas de dinero, y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado de este litigio. El demandante, el Consejo, ha solicitado que se dicte sentencia en contra suya y que se le ordene pagar las cantidades reclamadas en la demanda. POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Se le advierte que dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del presente edicto, se le estará enviando a usted por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda presentada al lugar de su última dirección conocida:

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE GUAYNABO SALA SUPERIOR.

ORIENTAL BANK COMO AGENTE DE SERVICIO DE THE MONEY HOUSE, INC. DEMANDANTE VS.

ANIBAL ROSADO FALCÓN, ZOLYAM ANNETTE LÓPEZ CIVIDANES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

DEMANDADOS CIVIL NUM.: GB2020CV00207. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, El Presidente de los Estados Unidos El Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico.

A la parte co-demandada: ANIBAL ROSADO FALCON, ZOLYAM ANNETTE LOPEZ CIVIDANES Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, a sus últimas direcciones conocidas: (a) G-34 CALLE 7 URB. VALLE ESCONDIDO GUAYNABO, PR 00971; (b) #27 URB. VALLE ESCONDIDO GUAYNABO, PR 00971; (c) PO BOX 70250 GUAYNABO, PR 00971; (d) 2045 BISCAYNE BLVD., STE. 159 MIAMI, FL 33137.

Por la presente se le(s) notifica que se ha radicado en la Secretaría de este Tribunal una Demanda en Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra, en la cual se alega entre otras cosas que la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante por concepto de hipoteca la suma de $265,240.54 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de octubre de 2019, más intereses al tipo pactado

de 4.50% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equivalentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado equivalentes a $27,983.70. Además la parte demandada se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $27,983.70 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $27,983.70 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley y cualquiera otros adelantos que se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca número 366, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 15 de julio de 2016, ante el notario Alejandro J. Mues Arias, inscrita al Folio 20 del Tomo 619 de Guaynabo, de la finca número 25259, Registro de la Propiedad de Guaynabo. Por razón de dicho incumplimiento, y al amparo del derecho que le confiere el Pagaré, el demandante ha declarado tales sumas vencidas, líquidas y exigibles en su totalidad. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le(s) cite a usted(es) por edicto que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectando 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. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramaiudicial.pr/sumad salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y notifique copia de la Contestación de la Demanda a las oficinas de CARDONA & MALDONADO LAW OFFICES, P.S.C. ATENCION al Lcdo. Duncan Maldonado Ejarque, P.O. Box 366221, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-6221; Tel (787) 622-7000, Fax (787) 625-7001, Abogado de la Parte Demandante. Dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto,

staredictos@thesanjuandailystar.com

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

apercibiendole que de no hacerlo así dentro del termino indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su Rebeldía y dictar Sentencia concediéndose el remedio solicitando sin más citarle(s) ni oírle(s). EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el Sello del Tribunal. DADA hoy 11 de agosto de 2020, en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Diamar T. González Barreto, Secretaria del Tribunal Confidencial II.

LEGAL NOTICE

Rico, el 13 de agosto de 2020. WANDA SEGUI REYES, Secretaria Regional. F/MARYLIN SANCHEZ CORDERO, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de SAN JUAN.

FELIX ALEXANDER AYALA CLAUDIO Demandante Vs

Estado Libre Asociado de PuerDESIDERIA to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL SABALLO MARTINEZ DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de PriDemandada mera Instancia Sala Superior CIVIL NUM. SJ2020RF00299. de FAJARDO. SOBRE: DIVORCIO (RUPTUWILMINGTON SAVINGS RA IRREPARABLE). NOTIFIFUND SOCIETY, FSB, CACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR d/b/a Christiana Trust, as EDICTO POR SUMAC.

indenture Trustee, for the CSMC 2016-PR1 Trust Mortgage-Backed Notes, Series 2016-PR Demandante v.

JESSICA MARIE DAVILA PAGAN

Demandado(a) Civil: Núm. FA2019CV00879. Sobre: EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA POR LA VIA ORDINARIA IN-REM. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JESSICA MARIE DAVILA PAGAN, MONTE BRISAS DEVELOPMENT, 3 P 1 CALLE 106, FAJARDO PR 00738

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 10 de agosto de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 13 de agosto de 2020. En FAJARDO, Puerto

(787) 743-3346

A: DESIDERIA SABALLO MARTINEZ

EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 5 de AGOSTO de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de esta. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 12 de agosto de 2020. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 12 de agosto de 2020. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria Regional. Veronica Agosto Nuñez, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de BAYAMON.

FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE, LLC Demandante Vs

SUCESION DE JUANITA HERNADNEZ DE NIEVES T/C/C

The San Juan Daily Star

JUANA HERNANDEZ I SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria tambien conocida Regional. F/ELIBETH M. TONIEVES, JUANITA como Eleanor Schatz RRES ALICEA, Sec Auxiliar. HERNANDEZ, T/C/C compuesta por JUANA HERNANDEZ, Chistopher Anthony de LEGAL NOTICE COMPUESTA POR Mello Schatz, Michael Estado Libre Asociado de PuerFELICITA HERNANDEZ to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL Scott de Mello Schatz y DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Pri- Steven Joseph De Mello NIEVES, FULANA DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL mera Instancia Sala Superior Schatz de GUAYNABO. Demandante Vs. COMO MIEMBROS BANCO SANTANDER CITIBANK NA, John Doe DE NOMBRES PUERTO RICO y Richard Roe como DESCONOCIDOS, Demandante Vs posibles tenedores con CENTRO DE FIRST MORTGAGE interes. RECAUDACION DE CAPITAL, INC.; New York Demandados INGRESOS MUNICIPALES Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS MORTGAGE BANKERS CIVIL NUM. GB2020CV00215. por conducto del sindico SOBRE: CANCELACION DE DE AMERICA de quiebra; John Doe PAGARE HIPOTECARIO EXDemandada y Richard Roe, como TRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENCIVIL NUM. BY2019CV01662 TO POR EDICTO. posibles tenedores (402). SOBRE: COBRO DE A: JOHN DOE Y Demandada DINERO Y EJECUCION DE RICHARD ROE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN CIVIL NUM. GB2019CV01059. DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO SALA: 201. SOBRE: CANCE- (personas desconocidas LACION PAGARE HIPOTECAcon posible interes) POR SUMAC. RIO EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICA- En este caso la parte demanA: FULANA DE TAL CIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR dante ha radicado Demanda Y SUTANA DE TAL EDICTO. para que se decrete judicialCOMO MIEMBROS mente el saldo de un pagare A: FIRST MORTGAGE DE NOMBRES hipotecario a favor de CITICAPITAL, INC.; Y JOH DESCONOCIDOS, BANK NA o a su orden, por la DOE Y RICHARD ROE SUCESION DE suma principal de CINCUENEL SECRETARIO (A) que susJUANITA HERNADNEZ cribe le notifica a usted que el TA Y CINCO MIL DOLARES ($55,000.00), con intereses DE NIEVES T/C/C 23 de julio de 2020, este TribuJUANA HERNANDEZ nal ha dictado Sentencia, Sen- al cinco y medio porciento (5 1/2%) anual, vencedero el pritencia Parcial o Resolución en NIEVES, JUANITA mero de noviembre de dos mil este caso, que ha sido debidaHERNANDEZ, T/C/C dieciocho (2018) constituida mente registrada y archivada en JUANA HERNANDEZ, mediante la escritura numero autos donde podrá usted enteCOMPUESTA POR 594, otorgada en Guaynabo, rarse detalladamente de los térFELICITA HERNANDEZ minos de esta. Esta notificación Puerto Rico, el 14 de octubre de 2003, ante el Notario PuNIEVES. se publicará una sola vez en un EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 26 de febrero de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de esta. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 14 de agosto de 2020. En BAYAMON, Puerto Rico, el 14 de agosto de 2020. LCDA. LAURA

blico Raul Rivera Burgos, e inscrita al folio 159 del tomo 1,249, finca numero 21,057, inscripción 10ma Registro de la Propiedad Semi& de Guaynabo y está garantizado por hipoteca sobre la propiedad sita en Condominio Mansiones de Garden Hill, Apt 14C, Guaynabo, PR 00969, que se describe como sigue: URBANA: Apartamento numero catorce “C”, en el inmueble sometido al Regimen de Propiedad Horizontal conocido como Condominio Gardens Hills Estates, Torre Norte, localizado en el Barrio Pueblo Viejo del Municipio de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico y colindante en su frente OESTE, con Carretera Estatal Numero Diecinueve, en su frente NORTE, con la Calle NUmero Tres de la Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills; y en su frente ESTE, con el area de Parque de la Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills. Ester consLEGAL NOTICE truido de concreto reforzado y ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO bloques de concreto, con un DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUarea de piso de cuarenta y seis NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA metros cuadrados con sesenta SALA DE GUAYNABO. SUCESION ELEANOR y cuatro centesimas de metro cuadrado, mas o menos, la SCHATZ QUINTERO cual comprende el area entre periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 4 de agosto de 2020. En GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico, el 4 de agosto de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria Regional II. F/SARA ROSA VILLEGAS, Sec del Tribunal Conf I.

The San Juan Daily Star la cara interior de sus paredes exteriores. Dicho apartamento está localizado al Norte del vestíbulo del elevador del piso numero catorce. La entrada principal de este apartamento este localizada frente de la sala comedor y comunica inmediatamente con el vestíbulo del elevador, que es uno de los elementos comunes del edificio y conduce a la Calle numero Tres (3) de Ia Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills. Colinda por el NORTE, en siete metros y cuarenta y dos centímetros, mas o menos con Ia pared exterior Norte, por el SUR, en siete metros y cuarenta y dos centímetros, mas o menos con el vestíbulo del elevador, por el OESTE, en seis metros y cincuenta centímetros, mas o menos con el apartamento numero catorce “B”; por el ESTE, en cinco metros y ochenta y cuatro centímetros, mas o menos con el apartamento numero catorce “D” en cero metros y sesenta y un centímetros mas o menos con La pared exterior. Este apartamento será usado para propósitos residenciales y contiene lo siguiente: salacomedor, cocina, un dormitorio, con su respectivo guardarropa, un baño y un balcón. Le corresponde a este apartamento los elementos comunes generales de Ia propiedad, una participación equivalente a cero punto cuatrocientos tres porciento y con carácter de elementos comunes limitados, el espacio de estacionamiento marcado con el numero B-diez. ---Inscrita al folio ciento cuarenta y dos (142) del tomo cuatrocientos noventa y cinco (495) de Guaynabo, finca numero veintiún mil cero cincuenta y siete (21,057), Registro de Ia Propiedad de Guaynabo. La parte demandante alega que dicho Pagare se ha extraviado, según mas detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en Ia Secretaria 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 les emplaza por este Edicto que se publicara una vez y se les requiere para que radique en este Tribunal sus contestaciones y notifiquen con copia de ellas al Lcdo. Jorge Garcia Rand& a las oficinas PMB 538 267 Sierra Morena San Juan, PR 00926, email jorgegarciarondon@hotmail.com, abogado de la parte demandante, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndosele que de no hacerlo así dentro del termino indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su rebeldía, dictar Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

mas citarle ni oírle. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto por Orden del Tribunal, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, hoy 4 de agosto de 2020. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sanchez, Sec Regional. Sara Rosa Villegas, Sec Tribunal Conf I.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE GUAYNABO.

SUCESION ELEANOR SCHATZ QUINTERO tambien conocida como Eleanor Schatz compuesta por Chistopher Anthony de Mello Schatz, Michael Scott de Mello Schatz y Steven Joseph De Mello Schatz Demandante Vs.

CITIBANK NA, John Doe y Richard Roe como posibles tenedores con interes.

Demandados CIVIL NUM. GB2020CV00215. SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARE HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: CITIBANK NA (personas desconocidas con posible interes)

En este caso la parte demandante ha radicado Demanda para que se decrete judicialmente el saldo de un pagare hipotecario a favor de CITIBANK NA o a su orden, por la suma principal de CINCUENTA Y CINCO MIL DOLARES ($55,000.00), con intereses al cinco y medio porciento (5 1/2%) anual, vencedero el primero de noviembre de dos mil dieciocho (2018) constituida mediante la escritura numero 594, otorgada en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el 14 de octubre de 2003, ante el Notario Publico Raul Rivera Burgos, e inscrita al folio 159 del tomo 1,249, finca numero 21,057, inscripción 10ma Registro de la Propiedad Semi& de Guaynabo y está garantizado por hipoteca sobre la propiedad sita en Condominio Mansiones de Garden Hill, Apt 14C, Guaynabo, PR 00969, que se describe como sigue: URBANA: Apartamento numero catorce “C”, en el inmueble sometido al Regimen de Propiedad Horizontal conocido como Condominio Gardens Hills Estates, Torre Norte, localizado en el Barrio Pueblo Viejo del Municipio de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico y colindante en su frente OESTE, con Carretera Estatal Numero Diecinueve, en su frente NORTE, con la Calle NUmero Tres

de la Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills; y en su frente ESTE, con el area de Parque de la Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills. Ester construido de concreto reforzado y bloques de concreto, con un area de piso de cuarenta y seis metros cuadrados con sesenta y cuatro centesimas de metro cuadrado, mas o menos, la cual comprende el area entre la cara interior de sus paredes exteriores. Dicho apartamento está localizado al Norte del vestíbulo del elevador del piso numero catorce. La entrada principal de este apartamento este localizada frente de la sala comedor y comunica inmediatamente con el vestíbulo del elevador, que es uno de los elementos comunes del edificio y conduce a la Calle numero Tres (3) de Ia Urbanización Mansiones de Garden Hills. Colinda por el NORTE, en siete metros y cuarenta y dos centímetros, mas o menos con Ia pared exterior Norte, por el SUR, en siete metros y cuarenta y dos centímetros, mas o menos con el vestíbulo del elevador, por el OESTE, en seis metros y cincuenta centímetros, mas o menos con el apartamento numero catorce “B”; por el ESTE, en cinco metros y ochenta y cuatro centímetros, mas o menos con el apartamento numero catorce “D” en cero metros y sesenta y un centímetros mas o menos con La pared exterior. Este apartamento será usado para propósitos residenciales y contiene lo siguiente: salacomedor, cocina, un dormitorio, con su respectivo guardarropa, un baño y un balcón. Le corresponde a este apartamento los elementos comunes generales de Ia propiedad, una participación equivalente a cero punto cuatrocientos tres porciento y con carácter de elementos comunes limitados, el espacio de estacionamiento marcado con el numero B-diez. ---Inscrita al folio ciento cuarenta y dos (142) del tomo cuatrocientos noventa y cinco (495) de Guaynabo, finca numero veintiún mil cero cincuenta y siete (21,057), Registro de Ia Propiedad de Guaynabo. La parte demandante alega que dicho Pagare se ha extraviado, según mas detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en Ia Secretaria 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 les emplaza por este Edicto que se publicara una vez y se les requiere para que radique en este Tribunal sus contestaciones y notifiquen con copia de ellas al Lcdo. Jorge Garcia Rand& a las oficinas PMB 538 267

Sierra Morena San Juan, PR 00926, email jorgegarciarondon@hotmail.com, abogado de la parte demandante, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndosele que de no hacerlo así dentro del termino indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su rebeldía, dictar Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin mas citarle ni oírle. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto por Orden del Tribunal, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, hoy 4 de agosto de 2020. Lcda. Laura I. Santa Sanchez, Sec Regional. Sara Rosa Villegas, Sec Tribunal Conf I.

LEGAL NOTICE ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYABO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO Parte Demandante Vs.

CARLOS C. CORTES CORIANO, RAQUEL ACEVEDO RODRIGUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: GB2018CV01169. Sala: 201. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (PROCEDIMIENTO ORDINARIO). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO EMITIDO POR EL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA DE PUERTO RICO, SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYABO.

las siguientes cantidades: a. $16,673.56 de principal e intereses devengados al tipo pactado hasta el 12 de septiembre de 2018, más los intereses que se devenguen a partir de la fecha de radicación de la Demanda al tipo legal hasta el total y completo pago de la obligación, más una suma razonable por las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados incurridos por la parte demandante, por concepto de sumas desembolsadas a los demandados bajo una Visa cuyos últimos 4 dígitos son 3199. Se les emplaza y requiere que presenten al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto, a través del Sistema Unificado de 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. Deberán notificar a la licenciada; María S. Jiménez Meléndez al PO Box 9023632, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00902-3632; teléfono: (787) 723-2455; abogada de la parte demandante, con copia de la contestación a la demanda. Si ustedes dejan de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Expedido en Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, a 25 de noviembre de 2019. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. SARA ROSA VILLEGAS, SECRETARIA DEL TRIBUAL CONFIDENCIAL I.

A: CARLOS C. CORTES CORIANO, RAQUEL ACEVEDO RODRIGUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR LEGAL NOTICE AMBOS, PARTE Estado Libre Asociado de PuerDEMANDADA EN EL to Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL CASO DE: DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de PriBanco Popular de Puerto mera Instancia Sala Superior Rico vs. Carlos C. Cortés de FAJARDO. Coriano, Fulana de Tal CENTURION INSURANCE y la Sociedad Legal de AGENCY INC. Gananciales Compuesta Demandante Vs por Ambos, Civil ESTADOS UNIDOS DE Núm.: GB2018CV01169 AMÉRICA, actuando (201), sobre Cobro de por conducto de la Dinero (Procedimiento ADMINISTRACIÓN Ordinario). DE HOGARES DE Se le notifica a ustedes, CARAGRICULTORES; JOHN LOS C. CORTES CORIANO, DOE y RICHARD DOE RAQUEL ACEVEDO RODRIGUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, que en la Demanda que originó este caso se alega que ustedes le adeudan solidariamente a la parte demandante, BANCO POPULAR DE Puerto Rico,

Demandada CIVIL NUM. LU2020CV00006 (301). SOBRE: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JOHN DOE / RICHARD DOE: DIRECCIÓN

DESCONOCIDA.

EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 21 de julio de 2020, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de esta. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 31 de JULIIO de 2020. En FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, el 31 de JULIO de 2020. WANDA I SEGUI REYES, Secretaria Regional. F/AMARILIS MARQUEZ MARQUEZ, Sec Auxiliar.

CIRCULACION GENERAL EN LA ISLA DE PUERTO RICO, DENTRO DE LOS 10 DIAS SIGUIENTES A SU NOTIFICACION. Y, SIENDO O REPRESENTANDO USTED UNA PARTE EN EL PROCEDIMIENTO SUJETA A LOS TERMINOS DE LA SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA PARCIAL O RESOLUCION, DE LA CUAL PUEDE ESTABLECERSE RECURSO DE REVISION O APELACION DENTRO DEL TERMINO DE 30 DIAS CONTADOS A PARTIR DE LA PUBLICACION POR EDICTO DE ESTA NOTIFICACION, DIRIJO A USTED ESTA NOTIFICACION QUE SE CONSIDERARA HECHA EN LA FECHA DE LA PUBLICACION DE ESTE DICTO. COPIA DE ESTA NOTIFICACION HA SIDO ARCHIVADA EN LOS AUTOS DE ESTE CASO, CON FECHA DE 05 DE AGOSTO DE 2020 LIC. PÉREZ MARTÍNEZ, RAÚL JAVIER RAUL.PEREZ@ORF-LAW.COM LIC. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ,OSVALDO L. NOTIFICACIONES@ORF-LAW.COM EN CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO, EL 05 DE AGOSTO DE 2020. CARMEN ANA PEREIRA ORTIZ, SECRETARIO. POR: F/ ZAIDA AGUAYO, SECRETARIO AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAYEY EN CAGUAS.

MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT PUERTO RICO VS

MARTINEZ RIVERA, CARMEN T

CASO: GCCI201501705. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO REGLA 60.

A: CARMEN T. MARTÍNEZ RIVERA, FULANA(O) DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS P O BOX 9000 CAYEY, PR 00737-9000

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. EL SECRETARIO(A) QUE SUSCRIBE LE NOTIFICA A USTED QUE EL 07 DE JULIO DE 2020 , ESTE TRIBUNAL HA DICTADO SENTENCIA, SENTENCIA PARCIAL O RESOLUCION EN ESTE CASO, QUE HA SIDO DEBIDAMENTE REGISTRADA Y ARCHIVADA EN AUTOS DONDE PODRA USTED ENTERARSE DETALLADAMENTE DE LOS TERMINOS DE LA MISMA. ESTA NOTIFICACION SE PUBLICARA UNA SOLA VEZ EN UN PERIODICO DE

partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 11 de agosto de 2020. En GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico, el 11 de agosto de 2020. LCDA. LAURA I SANTA SANCHEZ, Secretaria Regional. F/MAIRENI TRINTA MALDONADO, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico Tribunal General de Justicia Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior de Yauco en Sabana Grande.

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO DEMANDANTE Vs

FRANKLIN FRANCESCHINI NIEVES FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

DEMANDADOS Civil Núm.: GY2019CV00093. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FRANKLIN FRANCESCHINI NIEVES, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SLG, P/C LCDA. GINA H. FERRER MEDINA.

Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA Tribunal de Primera Instancia Sala Superior El Secretario(a) que suscribe de GUAYNABO. le notifica a usted que el 27 de ISLAND PORTFOLIO julio de 2020, este Tribunal ha SERVICES, LLC., COMO dictado Sentencia o Sentencia AGENTE DE JEFFERSON Parcial en este caso, que ha CAPITAL SYSTEMS, LLC. sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde Demandante Vs podrá usted enterarse detaJUAN REYEZ lladamente de los términos de Demandada CIVIL NUM. GB2019CV00167. la misma. Esta notificación se SALA: 201. SOBRE: COBRO publicará una sola vez en un DE DINERO ORDINARIO. NO- periódico de circulación general TIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los DIEZ DIAS siguientes POR EDICTO. a su notificación. Y, siendo o A: JUAN REYES representado usted una parte EL SECRETARIO (A) que susen el procedimiento sujeta a cribe le notifica a usted que el los términos de la Sentencia o 4 de marzo de 2020, este TriSentencia Parcial, de la cual bunal ha dictado Sentencia, puede establecerse recurso de Sentencia Parcial o Resolución revisión o apelación dentro del en este caso, que ha sido debitérmino de TREINTA DIAS condamente registrada y archivada tados a partir de la publicación en autos donde podrá usted por edicto de esta notificación, enterarse detalladamente de dirijo a usted esta notificación los términos de esta. Esta noque se considerará hecha en la tificación se publicará una sola fecha de la publicación de este vez en un periódico de circulaedicto. Copia de esta notificación general en la Isla de Puerción ha sido archivada en los to Rico, dentro de los diez (10) autos de este caso, con fecha días siguientes a su notificadel 12 de agosto de 2020. En ción. Y, siendo o representanYauco, Puerto Rico, a 12 de do usted una parte en el proceagosto de 2020. LUZ MAYRA dimiento sujeta a los términos CARABALLO GARCÍA, Sede la Sentencia, Sentencia cretaria Regional. Por: DELIA Parcial o Resolución, de la cual APÓNTE VELÁZQUEZ, Secrepuede establecerse recurso de taria Auxiliar I. revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The San Juan Daily Star

On neutral courts, NBA bubble ‘home’ teams still have an edge By SCOTT CACCIOLA

ohnny Watson keeps an eye on the scoreboard clock whenever the Miami Heat are the home team — on paper, at least. Nothing is normal inside the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., but the Heat can count on Watson for one familiarity: the sound of Michael Baiamonte, the team’s longtime public-address announcer, shouting, “Dos! Minutos!” whenever two minutes remain in a quarter. Watson cues up the audio recording of Baiamonte in his role as the primary game presentation director at AdventHealth Arena, one of the two gyms that the NBA will use for its playoff games, which started Monday. “Everything about this experience is surreal,” Watson, 41, said in a telephone interview. “But the players and coaches seem to appreciate all the little touches at the venue.” The 16 teams competing in the NBA playoffs spent the season jockeying for position in standings that determine who has home-court advantage. But the NBA bubble is a mostly depersonalized environment for athletic competition. If it were any more neutral, it would be in reverse. Even the Orlando Magic, who could Uber home, have been living out of suitcases ahead of their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. That matchup, like all the rest, will be staged without fans, aside from the virtual ones that populate the wraparound video boards inside the arenas. But in striving to manufacture a home-court edge where none exists, the league — and people like Watson — have assembled a database of music, audio cues and graphics that teams would ordinarily be using in their own arenas. The idea, Watson said, is to create a sense of home, away from home. “As we get deeper into the playoffs, there will be more dramatic effects,” Watson said. “I think the spectacle will grow.” Even now, there are moments that transport teams like the Bucks back to their home arenas. From his spot at the plexiglass scorer’s table, Watson relays cues to his crew — he works with a public-address announcer, a music coordinator and a screens producer — to play the Notorious B.I.G.’s eponymous classic when Giannis Antetokounmpo soars for a dunk, or to flash Khris Middleton’s name in flames on the arena’s big screens when he drills a 3-pointer. The Philadelphia 76ers christen their wins by walking off the court to “Here Come Their Sixers,” their longtime anthem. And the Heat have something called the “ViceWave,” which turns the arena into a neon tapestry. The vibe is similarly resourceful about 100 miles away, inside the WNBA’s bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where exaggerated growls are piped through the speakers whenever the Minnesota Lynx have a home game and Matt Pitman modulates his tone

“I was wondering if it would sound normal. Like, I’m screaming my brains out in an empty gym. But it fits,” said Matt Pitman, a public-address announcer inside the W.N.B.A. bubble. to fit the conditions as one of the PA announcers. “When a player from the home team scores a basket, I’m announcing it like there’s an arena full of people: ‘Dianaaaa Tauraasiiiii!’” Pitman said, referring to the Phoenix Mercury’s superstar shooting guard. “Just blowing it up. When I did it for the first time, I was wondering if it would sound normal. Like, I’m screaming my brains out in an empty gym. But it fits. It’s comfortable. It doesn’t feel forced, which is good.” Before the Golden State Warriors hired him to do their public-address announcing last year, Pitman spent 14 seasons in that role with the Seattle Storm. In the bubble, the Storm opened their season with a “road” game against the Liberty, and Pitman handled it like a consummate professional, which meant he expressed way more enthusiasm for the home team. “I got a little bit of a hard time from some of the Storm folks as they were leaving,” Pitman said. “They were like, ‘Hey, it sounded like you were teasing Breanna Stewart on that offensive foul call!’ But that’s just how you have to do it, and they definitely understand. But it does feel strange.” Watson can relate. He is on loan to the NBA from the Bucks, who employ him as their executive producer of arena and event presentation. In Milwaukee, Watson is in charge of “the entire fan experience,” he said,

which includes managing the audio, the lighting, the special effects, the video boards and the entertainment. Now, of course, there are no fans. In their absence, Watson and the other game presentation crews are building atmosphere for the players — and for fans watching from their couches. “He’s one of those guys that loves a challenge,” Peter Feigin, the president of the Bucks, said in a telephone interview. “He’s the calm in the storm.” Feigin said he sent several other members of his organization to the bubble to assist the league in various capacities. “For us, it’s a huge advantage because Orlando is sort of a pilot program for so many things,” Feigin said. “Even on facilities management, on sanitation, on testing — all this stuff that might not sound glamorous but will be so useful to understand as we move forward as a league.” Watson said he began working with the NBA in late March when he was invited to join a committee that met, virtually, three times a week to discuss the league’s plans for a potential restart and how it would both look and sound. Over the coming weeks, as the restart came into sharper focus, all 22 bubble-bound teams sent video graphics they use during games, along with music playlists and instructions that covered nearly everything: player introductions, in-game chants, lighting effects. Watson arrived at Disney on July 11, then quarantined in his hotel room for a week as he prepared for the long haul. His wife, Katelin, who is home with their two children — Jack, 4, and Emmy, 2 — is very understanding, he said. “Being away from them for three months is tough,” Watson said. But it is a unique opportunity, he said, and he was honored that the league asked him to help. He compared it to summer league, except with the best players in the world. “You can hear everything they’re saying,” he said. “It’s just so crazy and interesting.” The relative silence is most apparent to Watson during timeouts. Normally, he said, timeouts brim with activity: on-court contests for fans, sponsor promotions out on the concourse, quick-hitter musical acts. Bango, the Bucks’ mascot, often hurtles across the court in Milwaukee on a Harley-Davidson at critical late-game junctures. But in the bubble, the games go to commercial break — and there are no fans in the building to entertain. Watson will have his crew’s music coordinator, Courtney Benjamin, who goes by DJ M.I.L., play some tunes to fill the void. But the emptiness is striking: Where are the T-shirt guns? Where are all the familiar faces? “But I understand what this is,” Watson said. “And it is historic. But hopefully it’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal that we never have to experience again.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis set for NBA Playoffs debut By MARC STEIN

or the past several days in the NBA bubble, Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have been asked various forms of the same question, occasionally with the tone of a lecture. Don’t you know the playoffs are different? As they prepared to make their NBA playoff debuts together Monday, when Doncic and Porzingis were to lead the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks against the secondseeded Los Angeles Clippers in the evening’s marquee game, they seemed to realize there was nothing they could say to make the question go away. Only convincing, forceful play could do that. Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists a game in 61 games in his second NBA season — thrusting himself into the Most Valuable Player Award conversation by hitting bench marks only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have matched over a full season. Porzingis has left the New York Knicks (and many Knicks fans) with a sense of seller’s remorse after he capped his first full season with Dallas by joining Doncic as one of only six players to average more than 30 points a game since the season resumed July 30 in Florida. (Porzingis has a bruised left heel, the Mavericks announced Sunday, but he was listed as probable for Monday’s game.) Yet it is often this way for even the NBA’s top imports. Whatever they might have done in playoff conditions abroad is dismissed until replicated in the NBA. “I don’t think they’re that different, but I’ll tell you after we finish the playoffs if it’s different or not,” Doncic said Friday in an interview. How the European duo fares on the NBA postseason stage looms as one of the foremost curiosities as the league shifts from two disorienting weeks of teams adapting to games without fans or travel to four rounds of best-of-seven series to crown a champion. But Doncic and Porzingis do have the backing of at least one notable observer with some pertinent experience. Dirk Nowitzki, in his first year of retirement after 21 seasons and one championship with the Mavericks, interrupted a family vacation Sunday to proclaim that Doncic and Porzingis were “both ready for it.” “I got to play with Luka for a year, and I’ve always said that from the first practice, which was more like a scrimmage, that this kid is built different,” Nowitzki said in a telephone interview. “The passes and the way he read the game already, I was super, super impressed. “I thought he would have a little more trouble adjusting to the size and the speed of the NBA game, but he’s had zero problems,” Nowitzki continued. “And K.P., playing at the five now, that’s a tough, tough matchup for any team because they have to try to step out and guard him. The way this game is going, it’s so wide open on both ends. There’s shooters everywhere. There’s always lanes to drive. Obviously the game will slow down a little bit in the playoffs, but I don’t think it’s anything those two can’t handle.” The matchup with the Clippers, which are teeming with quality perimeter defenders to hound Doncic, is the Mavericks’ first playoff series without Nowitzki since 1990. As

Luka Doncic, right, passing to Kristaps Porzingis in a game earlier this month against the Sacramento Kings. Both players are making their first playoff appearance. Dallas has quickly learned since swinging a draft-day deal with Atlanta to acquire the Slovene star’s rights in June 2018, Doncic has a penchant for speeding up timetables. “They’re a two-star team now,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the Mavericks. Porzingis, a 7-foot-3 Latvian, celebrated his 25th birthday in the bubble on Aug. 2, but knows, for all the praise he has been receiving from Rivers and others, that he is about to face a higher level of scrutiny under the playoff microscope. “Stats and all that are great, but when people look back, they want to see who was a winner, who won it all and who achieved great things as a team,” Porzingis said. “The main goal has to be team success.” Porzingis acknowledged that he and Doncic were “getting more comfortable with each other on the floor” and what “a good thing in the long run” that could be. But this team also has some warts. The Mavericks’ 115.9 points per 100 possessions established a single-season league record for offensive efficiency, topping Golden State’s 115 last season, but their late-game execution has long raised concerns that the playmaking load Doncic must shoulder nightly wears him down. Beyond the defenders the Clippers can send at Doncic, including Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Patrick Beverley, Dallas has to be worried most about its recent defensive decline. Dallas ranked 21st out of the 22 teams in Florida in defensive efficiency through the seeding games, allowing a whopping 120.6 points per 100 possessions. Yet it’s clear that in whatever order Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle ranks the potential dangers of a matchup with the Clippers, fretting about how Doncic copes hasn’t cracked his list.

“He’s wired for big moments,” Carlisle said. “He’ll be fine.” Doncic proved that as an 18-year-old at the EuroBasket tournament in 2017, when he teamed with the Miami Heat’s Goran Dragic to lead tiny Slovenia to a championship no one expected. At the end of the ensuing season, one month before he was drafted, Doncic was named MVP of the EuroLeague after leading Real Madrid to the most prestigious club title outside the NBA. “He likes the big stage,” said Igor Kokoskov, the former Phoenix Suns coach who coached Slovenia to its EuroBasket glory in 2017. “Even at a young age, I never felt that he is afraid of the moment. I think he will play even better in the playoffs. “One thing about Luka: If you put him in any kind of basketball drill, he will be OK, but if you put him in any kind of real competition, he completely changes and turns himself into a warrior.” Remembering the hostile crowds that greeted him in Utah in his 2001 playoff debut, Nowitzki added: “I was a little overwhelmed by the atmosphere — that place gets as loud as any place in the league. That first game was definitely jittery, but that’s maybe where the bubble can help. They already know the surroundings and there are no fans.” Given the opportunity to make his own forecast about the series with the Clippers, Doncic went no further than insisting the Mavericks had “nothing to lose” against a team with significant championship aspirations and promising that the coming postseason is “for sure not going to be my best year.” “I’m excited to be in there, but I’ve got a lot to learn, to work on, to get better at,” Doncic said. “It’s only my second year.”

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Henrik Lundqvist, key to Rangers’ past glory, awaits his future By DAVE CALDWELL

enrik Lundqvist had no guarantee he would play for the New York Rangers when the NHL postseason started this month after a four-month layoff because of the coronavirus pandemic. But at 38, he is still a goaltender with goals, and foremost among them was savoring any chance to play. “I take every start as an opportunity to play the game, enjoy the game and try to help the team,” he said on Aug. 1 after Game 1 of the team’s qualifying-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. “I try not to have any excuses: ‘I hadn’t played in a long time,’ or whatever.” Lundqvist did not sound like a professional athlete who was anywhere close to retirement, an option in front of him. Next season will be the final one on his contract. He will be owed $5.5 million, but his salary will count as $8.5 million against the salary cap because it is an average over the length of the contract. He intends to continue his career, perhaps for a couple more years, according to someone familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity. The topic is apparently of some urgency to the Rangers. John Davidson, the team president, said on a conference call with reporters last week that he had a “personal discussion” with Lundqvist after the team returned from Toronto after being swept by Carolina, but he did not get more specific. “We will continue having our discussions to figure out what avenues we’re going to take as we move forward,” Davidson said. “We’ll handle things the right way and just move forward with this.” The Rangers appear to have found their goaltender of the future in Igor Shesterkin, 24, a Russian whose 2.52 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in 12 starts bettered Lundqvist’s 3.16 and .906 over 30 games. Lundqvist won only 10 regular-season games. Lundqvist has won 459 games, posted 64 shutouts and has 61 playoff victories, all club records for the Rangers, the team with which he has spent his entire 15-year NHL career. He may be attractive to another team that believes it is in contention to win a Stanley Cup, but that may be looking for a goaltender to play 25 to 30 games, more

Henrik Lundqvist set Rangers franchise records for wins (459), shutouts (64) and playoff victories (61) in his 15 years with the team. than usual for a backup. Adding Lundqvist, however, would result in a substantial salarycap hit. Though his skills have declined, Lundqvist is admired by teammates for his work ethic and for his focus during games. He has a stellar public image, having been named a finalist recently for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to a player with outstanding humanitarian and community efforts. “Consummate professional, unbelievable human being, unbelievable player,” forward Chris Kreider, a teammate since 2013, said of Lundqvist. Kreider continued, “I’ve seen him go about his business on a daily basis, and I have the ultimate respect for Hank as an individual and as a player.” When the Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens in six games to earn a berth in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final — their first appearance since winning the Cup in 1994 — the moment was regarded as sweet vindication for Lundqvist. Three minutes before Rangers forward Dominic Moore scored the only goal in a

Game 6 series-clinching victory at Madison Square Garden, Lundqvist had tumbled to get his blocker on what looked like a sure goal that, rerouted, fluttered over the crossbar. “He was mentally sharp tonight, and that’s when he’s at his best,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh, the Rangers’ captain at the time, said of Lundqvist. But the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup in five games, the last game going to two overtimes. When reporters were allowed in the Rangers’ dressing room at Staples Center well after the game, Lundqvist was still in his skates and pads, his head cradled in a taped hand. “I knew going into this series that it was going to end in tears of joy or tears of heartbreak,” he said. But that was six years ago, and Lundqvist has won just 18 of 37 playoff games since. Lundqvist beat the Hurricanes in three regular-season games, but he started two of three games in Toronto only because Shesterkin was injured. The decision to play Lundqvist was made only the night before the first game in Toronto.

“Any time we put him in net we think he gives us the best chance to win,” coach David Quinn said bluntly of Shesterkin — not Lundquist — before Game 3. It is unclear when the 2020-21 NHL season will begin, so the Rangers will have some time to decide what to do with their goaltenders. Team executives were not available for comment last week, and Lundqvist has not been informed of any plans they might have. The NHL draft is in October, and the Rangers can trade Lundqvist then, but it is more likely they will tell Lundqvist before then how he fits into their plans. But in a conference call after the team won the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery last Monday, general manager Jeff Gorton was asked about his plans for next season. “We have to have more meetings,” he said. “The way we lost — I just think we have to consider a lot of things we have to do moving forward to be a harder team to play against.” This season, the Rangers allowed 3.14 goals per game, tied with the Minnesota Wild for eighth most in the NHL. The Rangers could buy out the final year of Lundqvist’s contract, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. Gorton said last week that the Rangers would not keep all three goaltenders, a corps that includes Alexandar Georgiev, a 24-year-old backup. It is possible that the Rangers could have Shesterkin and Lundqvist next season, with Shesterkin seeing the most action but Lundqvist playing regularly in a sort of farewell tour. Those tend not to work out well in hockey. Perhaps the most pertinent example happened in New Jersey when the Devils acquired Cory Schneider in the 2013 draft to eventually replace Martin Brodeur, who had one year left on his contract. The two goaltenders split playing time, and Brodeur was far less effective than Schneider. The Devils missed the Stanley Cup playoffs that season and have returned only once. Like Lundqvist, Brodeur wanted to keep playing, and he completed his career the next year with St. Louis. Lundqvist’s No. 30 is sure to be retired, and it will hang in the rafters at Madison Square Garden someday. It is up to the Rangers to decide if he’ll be seen in a blue home sweater on the ice before then.

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Sudoku How to Play: Fill in the empty fields with the numbers from 1 through 9. Sudoku Rules: Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9 Every 3x3 square must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

GAMES

HOROSCOPE Aries

(Mar 21-April 20)

A needy partner has to realise you aren’t willing to jump to their bidding. You do not take kindly to people who try to manipulate or dominate you. You need more freedom in all relationships and will feel most at ease with those who are flexible and broadminded. Avoid confrontation by being as reasonable and fair as possible.

Taurus

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

(April 21-May 21)

The balance is all wrong in a close relationship. You are loyal, affectionate and generous but some people can take advantage of this. Anyone who expects unrealistic levels of perfection is not the right kind of friend for you. It is time to address relationships that feel out of balance. Take turns to make romance more exciting.

Libra

(Sep 24-Oct 23)

Share your problems with someone you trust. You don’t have to keep your troubles to yourself. A loved one will give you the support you need to adapt. Now is the time to break out of a situation you don’t want to be in. At least take some time to think about it. If your home life is making you miserable, make some changes.

Scorpio

(Oct 24-Nov 22)

Relationships seem stodgy and progress isn’t happening. An event will not be as you were expecting. There is no forward movement in a close partnership and this is making you wonder whether your destiny actually lies where you think. Give some time to consider your priorities for the future.

Sagittarius

(Nov 23-Dec 21)

(Dec 22-Jan 20)

Gemini

The moment you make a promise, people will be relying on you to fulfil this obligation. If you don’t feel you’re able to do a friend a favour, you aren’t obliged to give the answer they want to hear. Don’t be afraid to say no. Keep everything as plain and simple as possible if you’ve just started a new relationship.

(May 22-June 21)

Listening to others will improve your relationships. You cannot ignore your partners’ feelings. Resentment will grow if someone feels neglected or ignored. Listen to what is being said. Handle situations with more sensitivity and reassure a loved one that you do care. This will make you look less selfish when making plans of a personal nature.

Cancer

(June 22-July 23)

Capricorn

The cheerful spirits of a close friend makes them extremely popular. You will meet some great people through spending more time with them. It’s good to let your inner child out occasionally. Be playful and let others see your carefree side. If you’re in a relationship, take the lead in planning a surprise. Single? Your soul mate is closer than you think.

Leo

(July 24-Aug 23)

Relationships and friendships bring you happiness. People at work are being very friendly. After so many months of restriction, your life has taken on a new meaning. Even romantic prospects seem good. You have an abundance of energy and will throw this into fun activities. It won’t be difficult to come up with ideas.

Virgo

(Aug 24-Sep 23)

Being able to help friends with something that’s important to them will make you happy too. You are giving out of the kindness of your heart and even though you don’t expect it, your kindness will be repaid. Joint activities you begin with a partner will enrich your relationship and help keep you feeling connected.

Someone is planning a surprise and you’re relieved you’ve heard about this before it goes much further. You aren’t comfortable with the idea of being in a crowd. Let others know you would prefer a quiet get-together involving as few people as possible. You could always suggest an online event to allow friends to meet together.

Aquarius

(Jan 21-Feb 19)

You could do with a change of scenery. In fact you just want to pack a bag and go. A colleague is annoying you. A neighbour is getting too curious about your business and you just want a break. Take care about who you mix with and what you discuss where people can overhear.

Pisces

(Feb 20-Mar 20)

A travel invitation will help you broaden your romantic horizons. A new relationship will be everything you dreamed of. Don’t be surprised if you feel like you’re in a fairy tale. Emotions are powerful and if you’re in a relationship, a short trip will be enjoyed more if you go as a couple. Love is wonderful.

Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 29

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

CARTOONS

Herman

Speed Bump

Frank & Ernest

Scary Gary

Wizard of Id

For Better or for Worse

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Ziggy

The San Juan Daily Star

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

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