Thursday Aug 24, 2023

GOOD MORNING

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.

Governor releases report outlining plan to decentralize public education

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and the executive committee of the Initiative for Educational Decentralization and Regional Autonomy (IDEAR by its Spanish acronym) on Wednesday issued a report stating the principles for the decentralization of the Puerto Rico Education Department (DEPR by its Spanish initials).

The 117-page report said the transformation of the educational system is based on the vision that all efforts, state resources and the community are at the service of a better quality of education for the benefit of students.

The concept of decentralization is established as the distribution of the decision-making process on core education issues, from the central level toward the island’s public schools. The proposed model seeks to empower schools, giving them more significant influence over the operational and administrative decisions that impact the educational community and promote collaborative work.

INDEX

The report calls for greater participation on the part of students, teachers, the community and the state in the public educational system.

In 2022, fewer than half of the students demonstrated mastery of Spanish and only 21% of mathematics. In 2017, only 12% of students demonstrated mastery of each subject.

Law 85-2018, better known as the Puerto Rico Education Reform Law (Law 85-2018), established the basis for decentralizing the DEPR, forming a regional structure, albeit with limited autonomy.

The current tasks of the central level of the DEPR will be reorganized, delegating executive functions to the LEAs: The LEA level will have the capacity to accompany schools in the full development of their academic and social project, and should emphasize the development of shared governance structures, according to the report.

The plan proposes the creation of a regional level that will operate as a Local Educational Agency (LEA) and will support the educational project designed and developed by the school.

The State Educational Agency (SEA) will be the custodian of the right to education, ensuring the access of all students to a quality education and excellence.

The report also calls on officials to develop a system of governance that allows the community to participate in decision-making that affects education. The community will actively participate in defining the plans and in making the most important decisions in the system through the school councils and advisory councils for each LEA.

The plan also calls for the reinforcement of the administrative staff at schools to allow teachers to devote more time to teaching.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

PDP lawmaker says he’ll take sanctions in tussle over Electoral Code

By THE STAR STAFF

Rep. Luis Ramón “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo said Wednesday he is prepared to face sanctions imposed on him by Popular Democratic Party (PDP) President Jesús Manuel Ortiz González for voting in favor of amendments to the Electoral Code.

“When the [PDP governing] board was constituted [on Aug. 13] it did not have a quorum to begin with,” Ortiz Lugo said. “We are prepared to appeal and I say more, we will see each other at the polls.”

Ortiz Lugo accused the party president of lying about what was going to be approved on the first day of the regular session.

“Now they put it out there that they didn’t know anything, and that’s a lie,” the lawmaker said. “He wasn’t even in the chamber.”

Ortiz Lugo’s comments were the latest in intra-party scuffling over the Electoral Code, between those who voted for amendments to the code and those, including the party president, who said they were not consulted before the vote.

Ortiz Lugo contended that the decision of the party legislative caucus goes above what the PDP governing board has decided. He added that although Ortiz González is the president of the legislative conference, he had not previously convened it to address the matter.

PDP Secretary General Gerardo Antonio

“Toñito” Cruz Maldonado anticipated an announcement later on Wednesday of the sanctions against the speaker of the House and the 13 PDP legislators who, along with the New Progressive Party (NPP) delegation, approved House Bill (HB) 1822, which seeks to amend the Electoral Code of 2020 While PDP legislators argued among themselves, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia

said Wednesday that he has asked the NPP’s electoral team and legislators to be flexible in the process of achieving amendments to the Electoral Code.

“There are things that for us are totally unacceptable, such as, for example, allowing the so-called ‘pivazos’ [so-called “triple-cross” votes]. That is unacceptable,” the governor said in response to questions

from the press. “In the same way, this matter of the co-allied candidacies whereby a candidate appears twice on the same ballot, that kind of thing is so totally out of place from our point of view.”

“But there are other issues such as the process for electing at-large senators that can be discussed, and we will see if some kind of consensus is reached,” Pierluisi added. “The House has already voted and modified what the Senate had approved in the last session.”

The governor was reacting to the statements of independent Sen. José Vargas Vidot, who objects to the amendments approved by the House of Representatives regarding at-large candidates. Vargas Vidot said the amendments would not allow him to be elected, because he would only accumulate votes in 30% of the senatorial districts and not in 100%, as is currently the case.

Separately, Dignity Project President César Vázquez Muñiz said HB 1822, which was proposed at the beginning of the sixth regular legislative session, was “a new attack on Puerto Rican democracy,” similar to what happened with the 2020 amendments to the Electoral Code.

“The two main parties in the country … they are minimizing the participation of other parties and jeopardizing the legitimacy of the next elections,” Vázquez Muñiz said late Tuesday.

Judge: Gov’t must include check option as reimbursement method for car insurance overpayments

By THE STAR STAFF

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain has taken steps to force the island government to pay some $76 million to more than 83,000 people who double paid for their car insurance premiums.

In an order this week, Swain, who is the presiding judge in Puerto Rico’s Title III bankruptcy cases, ordered the commonwealth government to allow claimants to choose between a check or bank transfers to receive their payments.

The government has insisted on paying by electronic transfer even though it doesn’t have most claimants’ bank account information. The judge gave the commonwealth a chance to solicit bank account numbers and contact information.

The order stems from a class action suit in which the plaintiffs asked the court to compel enforcement of the terms of a federal settlement agreement entered into between the plaintiff-class and the commonwealth on Feb. 29, 2016, in U.S. District Court.

According to the stipulation, the members of the plain-

tiff-class are to be reimbursed for duplicative payments they made for compulsory vehicle insurance. Although 83,536 claims have been approved, as far as the court is aware, no reimbursements have been made because the commonwealth takes the position that payments should be made by electronic funds transfer and not by mail, and the commonwealth does not have banking information for the class members to make such payments, the order said.

“There is no dispute as to the amount of overpayment(s) made in connection with each Approved Claim,” the plaintiffs said. “As explained below, the Commonwealth has solicited the necessary claimant banking information through generalized traditional and social media advertising and a posting on one of its websites, but has received few responses.”

The court, Swain said, finds “that the commonwealth has violated the terms of the stipulation by requiring additional banking information from the class members as a precondition to payments and thereby delaying the issuance of payments.”

The plaintiffs had charged that the commonwealth double charged for mandatory vehicle insurance payments in 2010

and earlier. The commonwealth owes around $76 million in reimbursements for the overpayments. The litigation has been ongoing for two decades.

The case is Gladys-Garcia Rubiera, et al v. Fortuno.

Rep. Luis Ramón Ortiz Lugo

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain

A threat to some, a blessing to others

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the conversation about abortion hasn’t stopped or diminished; in fact, it has become more widespread, making its way into social media and television at a rapid pace.

The Students for Life America Instagram page currently has more than 183,000 followers, while the NARAL Pro-Choice America Instagram page has more than 163,000 followers. While some believe abortion is a normal and positive health procedure depending on the mother’s situation, others feel that abortion is murder and shouldn’t be practiced under any circumstances. Regardless of one’s perspective on the procedure, abortions are happening and the conversation is ongoing, not just in the mainland United States but also in one of its most populous territories, Puerto Rico.

Within the conversation on abortion, besides the life of the baby in the womb, there is another important consideration that people sometimes tend to leave aside: the mother. While pro-life individuals are sometimes painted as the villains vis-à-vis pregnant women or girls who may be seeking or have sought abortion services, that isn’t the case for the nonprofit Defenders on the Sidewalks, the organization’s director said. Abdiel Contreras Alvarez told the STAR that their mission is mostly dedicated to helping mothers instead of harassing them.

“We are part of a larger ministry in the United States called Sidewalk Advocates for Life; however, we started in Puerto Rico about four years ago as Defenders on the Sidewalks,” Contreras Alvarez said on Wednesday in front of Planned Parenthood in Bayamón. “We started coming here only on Saturdays. We were able to count easily up to 20 abortions in just four hours. The girls were emotionally devastated; some even passed out right in front of us, we’ve had to go up to them running many times to help them. The doctors or staff of the Planned Parenthood clinics in Bayamón don’t care how the mother feels after the procedure is done, so we’re here to help them as much as we can.”

“Yelling or cursing at people is not allowed in this ministry,” he added. “We approach the situation of abortion with love and kindness toward the mothers who might go through the process or have already gone through it. Even if they reject talking to us, we still let them know that if there is anything they may need, we are here to help them, because even though we are prolife, we are here to assist the mothers, not to condemn them in any way, shape or form.”

Contreras Alvarez told the STAR that the group’s services help a lot of women because often they come to Planned Parenthood on their own.

“A lot of the times these girls come here alone even though they aren’t supposed to; these women come out of the clinic devastated a lot of the times,” he said. “We stay with these women as long as is necessary as they go through the recovery process; we’ve seen many different types of people here, from minors who come here as couples and even situations where older men come here with significantly younger women.” Regardless, we try to give them a kind word and help them in anything they can,” Contreras Alvarez continued. “We offer help to the mother and the child with completely free maternity classes. Project Nacer is a school that is available for teenagers with unexpected pregnancies; they take care of their baby all the way up to kindergarten in order to give parents the chance to study or work.”

In other words, the organization is focused on helping the mothers regardless of what decision they end up making.

Meanwhile, when the STAR interviewed a member of the Planned Parenthood clinic staff, the response was quite different.

“These people harass the girls who come here,” a staff member who preferred to remain anonymous told the STAR “They are violating the rights of the girls who come here by taking pictures of them. The law known as HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] doesn’t allow anyone to expose the information of any patients, not even pictures. This is a clinic that is approved by the Health Department. It’s not illegal like they say it is; people come here because they want to. We do not force people to come here. The Health Department in Puerto Rico permits abortion up to 24 weeks, because it is a matter of health; it’s healthcare. If a baby is going to come out of the womb with complications, it’s their choice if they decide they don’t want to continue with the pregnancy.”

“There is only one doctor in Puerto Rico who performs abortions after 24 weeks, Dr. Báez; she is currently fighting for this in the Senate,” the staff person added. “Here we only perform this procedure up to 14 weeks of pregnancy.”

The staffer went on to say that mothers visiting the clinic have essentially had to run out of their car to get inside because of how much they are harassed by Defenders on the Sidewalks members.

Contreras Alvarez, in response, said: “They do not take pictures of any patients and saying that they do is a lie.”

“If this is the case, they must provide evidence for what they are saying,” he said. “They have surveillance cameras on 24/7. If it were true, they would already be able to prove it, wouldn’t they? In fact, we barely ever take pictures of the clinic and when we do, there are only cars around, and the cars’ plates are deleted from the pictures.”

Contreras Alvarez even said there have been instances when the clinic has “called the police on us and

the police have determined that what we are doing is not violating the rights of anyone; they’ve given us the green light.”

He added that “the clinic’s staff is greatly misinformed because while abortion in Puerto Rico is only legal because of health complications, the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bayamón doesn’t fall under that category because they perform abortions up to 14 weeks.”

“None of the abortions performed there are performed because of health complications; that is a lie,” he said.

Contreras Alvarez pointed out that “abortions up to 26 weeks of the pregnancy” and “up to 40 weeks of pregnancy” are being performed at at least one other clinic and hospital on the island.

“This has been shown in the public hearings where I’ve participated; the Health Department has been very clear in stating that in Puerto Rico abortions can be performed up to this long [into a pregnancy] as long as it is supposedly to take care of the mother’s health or because the baby has a fetal anomaly,” he said. “Within these fetal anomalies, there are false positives of a child who may have Down syndrome and according to the labs, eight out of 10 of these cases are false positives.”

Pro-life group says its mission is to support girls, women before and after pregnancy, abortion or not

Director Abdiel Contreras Alvarez, at right, said the mission of the pro-life nonprofit Defenders on the Sidewalks is primarily to help mothers instead of harassing them. (Richard Gutiérrez/The San Juan Daily Star)

Facial recognition saw through man who stole dead brother’s identity

By MIKE IVES

For more than half a century, records appeared to show that there were two brothers by the name of Gonzalez who had been born two years apart in Puerto Rico. They later lived at adjacent addresses in a small town in Maine. Both were 5-foot-7 and 190 pounds, with brown eyes.

In fact, the younger brother, Guillermo Gonzalez, had been dead since 1939, prosecutors say. And his older brother Napoleon not only used his identity for decades to claim extra retirement and veterans benefits but also faked his own death in 1984 as part of attempted life insurance fraud.

All of that came to light after an official from the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles used facial recognition software three years ago to determine that the photos on the two men’s driver’s licenses showed the same person. That led to an investigation and a jury trial that ended in a federal courthouse last week with Napoleon Gonzalez’s conviction on charges of identity theft, passport fraud, mail fraud and Social Security fraud.

Gonzalez could face up to 50 years in prison when he is sentenced, the Justice Department said Monday.

Harris Mattson, a lawyer for Gonzalez, said in a statement that he and his client planned to appeal, saying that the evidence was not sufficient.

A sentencing date has not been set, and Gonzalez was not taken into custody after his conviction, Mattson said.

At the time of his arrest, Gonzalez was a resident of Etna, a small town about 20 miles west of Bangor, Maine.

He was born in Puerto Rico in 1937, two years before his brother Guillermo, prosecutors said in a trial brief. Guillermo died as an infant. Gonzalez’s ruse began in the mid-1960s and later allowed him to collect extra benefits and to travel to Canada on a fake passport.

Gonzalez told investigators that his mother had taken him to get a passport using his dead brother’s identity in 1965, according to the trial brief. He said he had used that identity while working on an undercover investigation during his employment with the Air Force in the 1960s and to enlist in the U.S. Army as a reservist in 1979 or 1980.

The branch of the Air Force where Gonzalez claimed

to have worked, the Office of Special Investigations, told investigators that while it was difficult to say with certainty because so much time had passed, it had not found any record of him working there, according to the trial brief. An Air Force representative confirmed Wednesday that there were no records indicating that Gonzalez had worked for the branch.

Gonzalez’s scheme took a dramatic turn in 1984. Prosecutors say he “purchased a corpse” of a person who had died in a car accident in Puerto Rico, and unsuccessfully tried to pass the body off as his own in order to falsely claim a life insurance benefit — even though he was living on the other side of the island with his wife and two children at the time.

That explains why Puerto Rican records still list Gonzalez as having died in 1984. Investigators from the Social Security Administration asked him about that in 2010 but closed their case and restored his benefits after he signed a sworn statement confirming that he was in fact still alive.

But Gonzalez’s dual-identity scheme began to unravel in January 2020, once authorities in Maine found two driver’s licenses in their system with photographs of the same man. When investigators came to his home that month, he admitted that he had collected benefits under both identities.

And that spring, after the government suspended his dead brother’s benefits, he sent a letter to the Social Security Administration signed “Guillermo Gonzalez.”

The agents returned to Napoleon Gonzalez’s home that summer. They had more questions.

Florida approves tough discipline for college staff who break bathroom law

By DANA GOLDSTEIN and COLBI EDMONDS

The Florida State Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve new rules at state colleges for transgender employees and students that are intended to comply with a law, passed in May, restricting access to bathrooms. Colleges will be forced to fire employees who twice use a bathroom other than the one assigned to their sex at birth, despite being asked to leave.

And bathroom restrictions also now apply to student housing operated by the colleges.

“Bathroom spaces are very intimate and private,” said Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a radiologist who serves on the state board and voted for approval, adding, “This is not something that as a culture we should ditch.”

Adding sharp teeth to a new law

The new regulations show that colleges, like K-12 schools, may be caught in the bureaucracy required to enforce them.

The state college system serves 650,000 students on a

network of 28 regional campuses. It is operated separately from the State University System of Florida, which runs the 12 flagship campuses, including the University of Florida and Florida State.

The Board of Education’s new rules go beyond the state bathroom law. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, signed that bill in May and has made restricting transgender rights a signature issue.

The legislation states that employees who break the bathroom rule can be found in violation of professional standards and “are subject to discipline” — but it does not mandate that they should be fired after two violations.

“We’re seeing in general that after laws are passed, agencies and boards are inflicting new harms,” said Carlos Guillermo Smith, a senior policy adviser for Equality Florida, an LGBTQ rights group. “They are really exceeding their authority.”

The Florida Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

All seven members of the state education board are appointed by DeSantis. The board has generally approved sweeping new regulations that codify the governor’s education agenda. It has sought to remove content on race, gender, sex and sexuality from the curriculum; to restrict books on those subjects from K-12 school libraries; and to prevent K-12 educators from asking for students’ preferred pronouns.

What’s next

The law requires each individual college to outline “disciplinary procedures” for transgender students who break bathroom regulations.

Smith said he expected that the State University System would soon pass regulations interpreting the bathroom bill in a similarly restrictive way, since that system, too, is governed by officials appointed by the governor.

A spokesperson for the Board of Governors, which runs the university system, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor, Maine, where Napoleon Gonzalez was found guilty this week of using his dead brother’s identity for decades to claim extra retirement and veterans benefits.

The San Juan Daily Star Thursday,

With reported missing in Maui topping 1,000, officials will release names

By TIM ARANGO and JACK HEALY

Officials overseeing the effort to identify victims of the fire that destroyed the Hawaiian coastal town of Lahaina said earlier this week that 1,000 to 1,100 people remained unaccounted for, and that some of the missing may never be found.

Maui’s police chief, John Pelletier, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday , said authorities expected to make public a list of the missing in the coming days to try to narrow the search.

The confirmed death toll from the Aug. 8 fires is 115, marking the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. But families on Maui and scattered across the country have grown increasingly desperate, as they wait to learn the fates of hundreds of people who vanished in a fast-moving brush fire so ferocious that it melted fire trucks and charred homes to ash.

In some cases, search teams that are combing through the rubble in Lahaina are finding only bones or fragments of bodies, complicating the task of identifying people.

“We may not know in the end about everybody,” Steven Merrill, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Honolulu field office, said at the news conference in the Maui government center at Wailuku.

Investigators trying to determine who remains unaccounted for say they have been

trying to reconcile multiple missing-persons lists and reports collected from shelters, aid groups and families.

In the aftermath of the Camp fire that destroyed Paradise, California, in 2018, the tally of the missing reached almost 1,300. But by releasing the names of the unaccounted for, authorities were able to slowly whittle down the list. The final death toll in that fire was 85 people.

Of the more than 1,000 still missing in the Lahaina fire, officials from the county of Maui said they did not have any estimate of how many were presumed dead.

They did say they had not identified any minors in official tallies of the missing. Classes at four schools on West Maui had been canceled the morning of the fires because of high winds and power outages, according to local news reports. After the fires, many residents feared that children had been trapped in the blaze.

Officials said only 104 family DNA samples have been provided, a relatively low number in the aftermath of an event with mass deaths. They urged families to provide DNA, and to allay concerns, they emphasized that the samples would be used only to identify victims.

Pelletier acknowledged that families were anxious to know what happened to their loved ones, but he pleaded for patience.

“It’s not a matter of doing it how fast,” he said. “It’s a matter of doing it right.”

At the Lahaina Gateway distribution center, information is collected on people who are missing.

By SERGIO OLMOS, MAGGIE MILES and CORINA KNOLL

Most regions of Southern California avoided significant damage this week from Tropical Storm Hilary, but authorities continued their rescue and cleanup efforts in several mountain and desert communities where homes were flooded and fastmoving mudslides had washed away sections of roadway and stranded residents.

In one desperate situation, crews were searching for a 75-year-old woman who has been missing for nearly two days in the mountains of the San Bernardino National Forest.

Christie Rockwood, who lived in a trailer home in a tiny community known as Seven Oaks, had not been heard from since Sunday evening, when she spoke to a friend by phone, according to her daughter Tracey Monteverde.

“I’m trying to hold out hope, but it’s really hard,” Monteverde, 56, said. “I just can’t imagine her being out there with no food and water, probably injured.”

Remote communities dot the San Bernardino Mountains, sought out for their idyllic setting and inexpensive housing about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. But the rustic surroundings can work against those living there, who often find themselves under the threat of fire or mud, or even snow. Thirteen people died in the San Bernardino Mountains in March after they were trapped by several feet of snow following intense storms.

Rockwood, a retired accountant for a Riverside County school district, had owned her trailer for several decades, using it as a weekend vacation spot until she moved in full time about 10 years ago, her daughter said. A local fixture known for her good-natured disposition, she

often hosted people around the fire pit on her deck, playing cards and horseshoes late into the night. She was in good health, although her right knee troubled her. By Tuesday, residents reported no sign of Rockwood’s trailer.

The tropical storm had prompted the Santa Ana River to overflow, sending rocks and debris into Seven Oaks, a canyon that remains under an evacuation order, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. After a bridge was wiped out, about 30 residents were stranded on a riverbank, cut off from access to a main road. They were ordered to shelter in

place Sunday.

“Boulders the size of a car were rolling down, taking trees and snapping them like toothpicks,” said Randy Foster, a Seven Oaks resident who was rescued by helicopter Tuesday.

Several people who remained in Seven Oaks on Tuesday said they were unaware that the community was required to evacuate before the storm arrived. They said that authorities typically delivered evacuation orders to them in person because they were so remote, but that this time around that had not happened.

Officials with the San Bernardino County

Fire Department said rescue teams determined Monday that it was too hazardous to try to cross the rushing water that had cut off the community and they instead hoisted a woman with a lower leg injury into a hovering helicopter. Others declined to be rescued, wanting to wait until the waters receded.

On Tuesday, crews hiked in and cleared a path to create a landing zone for a helicopter that, by late afternoon, had lifted out nearly two dozen people in multiple trips. Some firefighters carried residents’ dogs, scrambling onto fallen trees as they forded the rushing river.

The most populous regions of Southern California closer to the coast — Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego — suffered few serious problems from Tropical Storm Hilary beyond downed power lines, fallen trees and minor street flooding. State and local officials generally expressed relief this week that they had avoided a catastrophe after having feared the worst. There had been no reports of deaths related to the storm as of Tuesday afternoon.

About 70 miles southeast, in the Coachella Valley desert region, residents were struggling with a much different effect from the storm. In Cathedral City, home to about 50,000 people, mud choked the thoroughfares. Those who attempted to traverse the knee-high sludge found themselves sinking and becoming stuck. A blistering sun and temperatures that nearly reached triple digits only added to their frustration.

Dozens of cars and trucks that had once floated down driveways into streets were mired in a thick river of brown. Homeowners who had made every attempt to keep water from surging inside were left to shovel out the muck. Outside one house, a telling scene: a boat that had been swept up onto the lawn.

In several California communities, recovery efforts continue after the storm Drowning death of Obama family chef is ruled an accident

By EDUARDO MEDINA

The personal chef to the Obama family died of accidental drowning last month in a Martha’s Vineyard lake, the chief medical examiner of Massachusetts has ruled, officials said Tuesday.

The chef, Tafari Campbell, 45, of Dumfries, Virginia, had been visiting the island in late July and was paddleboarding near the former first family’s summer home when he was seen struggling in the water, the Massachusetts State

Police said last month.

The chief medical examiner’s office has determined that Campbell’s death on July 23 was an accident, Timothy McGuirk, a spokesperson for the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, said Tuesday night. Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were not home at the time of the accident, the state police said.

The emergency services in Edgartown had responded to a call of a “male paddleboarder who had gone into the water, appeared to briefly struggle to stay on the surface and then sub-

merged and did not resurface,” the state police said in a statement. Another paddleboarder was on the pond with him at the time and saw him go underwater, police said.

Campbell, whose survivors include his wife, Sherise, and twin boys, Xavier and Savin, had worked as a sous chef when the Obamas were in the White House and stayed on with them afterward.

In a statement at the time, the Obamas called Campbell “a truly wonderful man” and “a beloved part of our family.”

“When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House — creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together,” they said. “In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter.”

The Obamas said they had asked Campbell to stay on with them as they were getting ready to leave the White House.

“He’s been part of our lives ever since,” they said. “Our hearts are broken that he’s gone.”

Vehicles trapped in mud in Cathedral City

Central US swelters under heat dome, forcing cancellations and precautions

By MITCH SMITH, LAURYN HIGGINS and ANN HINGA KLEIN

Asprawling blanket of hot and humid air smothering the nation’s midsection this week has challenged temperature records, forced schools to cancel classes and left residents sweating from the Northwoods to the Gulf Coast.

Even in a season filled with other climate shocks, this blast of late-summer heat in the central United States stands out for its breadth and its combination of high temperatures and suffocating humidity — in areas including some that are more associated with frigid winters than unbearable summers.

Across hundreds of miles, from Mississippi to Missouri to Minnesota, cooling centers have opened, schools without air conditioning have dismissed early or closed outright, and residents have tried to limit time outdoors.

In Omaha, Nebraska, a 1-year-old girl died Monday after she had been left in a day care center’s van, according to local police. Temperatures in the area had reached 98 degrees that afternoon. The driver of the van was arrested Monday on charges of child abuse by neglect resulting in death.

“I’ve never seen humidity like this,” said Eric L. Harris, who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, where temperatures surpassed 100 degrees Tuesday and were expected to do so again Wednesday and Thursday.

Harris, who has been collecting signatures for a proposed ballot question on paid sick leave, said the weather made that work especially difficult.

“My biggest fear isn’t trying to get people with opposing views to listen to me,” he said. “It’s that without measures to protect me, I would likely get heat stroke just from standing out in this heat.”

Across the continent, this summer has already been defined by weather extremes: deadly wildfires in Hawaii, blankets of smoke from Canadian wildfires, floods caused by a rare tropical storm in California, weeks of stifling heat in Arizona. Although linking individual events to climate change often takes time, researchers have warned that dangerous weather events will become more common as the planet warms.

For many Midwestern states, the high temperatures this week have brought added misery in a summer already made difficult by drought. In a cruel meteorological turn, that drought has exacerbated the heat.

“The ground is already really dry — it

People swim in the wading pool at Pearl Park in Minneapolis, Minn., on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.

doesn’t take much for the heat to kind of just build up over there,” said Paul Pastelok, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. “And that’s what makes it a bigger heat dome that we’re seeing right now.”

In the Minneapolis area, better known for its foreboding winter conditions, forecasters said daily temperature records could fall on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with readings of 99 or 100 degrees possible.

Tyler Hasenstein, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Minnesota, said a heat dome of this scale might settle over the state every five years or so, “but those typically happen in June, July — and not August, which is kind of the weird thing in this case.” The temperatures were also not expected to drop much after sunset, he said.

Meteorologists said high temperatures were forecast to reach up to 20 degrees above average throughout Iowa and neighboring states over the next few days. The humidity will make it feel even more oppressive, with heat indexes that could approach 120 degrees. Forecasters have issued heat alerts, ranging from advisories to excessive heat warnings, for roughly 100 million people across 22 states.

In Adel, Iowa, where it was cloudless and in the 90s by midday Tuesday, the high temperatures meant Amy Heinz was not able to let the dogs play outside at the animal rescue center she runs.

“Some of them are going crazy in their kennels,” Heinz said, but the alternative was simply not safe.

Even in a place like Iowa, immune from hurricanes and coastal disasters, Heinz said extreme conditions were a growing concern.

“Every year the weather seems to get

worse and worse,” she said. “Between the flooding and the heat, and then we have the extreme cold that we deal with in the winter, it seems it’s worse than it used to be.”

With more of the country expected to suffer from extreme heat in the days ahead, contingency plans were already being put in place.

Kevin Russell, the superintendent of Downers Grove Grade School District 58 in suburban Chicago, said he started keeping an eye on the forecast late last week. Most buildings in his district are not fully air-conditioned, meaning the 100-degree temperatures that forecasters have discussed are untenable.

“We do have limited air-conditioned spaces, so what we’ll do on those hotter days

— in the high 80s or even the low 90s — we will rotate students and staff through cooling stations,” Russell said. “However, when you start talking about 100-plus, you really need to be in that cooling station all the time.”

The first day of class in Downers Grove had been set for Wednesday, but Russell made the difficult choice to push that back to Friday, when cooler weather is expected.

“We have thousands of kids in Downers Grove with their backpacks all ready to go and super excited to start the school year,” Russell said. “Having to delay that, no one takes any joy in that.”

But there is good news ahead. Plans are in place to install air conditioning at all the district’s schools.

LEGAL NOTICE

Cash Payments and Other Benefits Are Available for Eligible Current and Former Owners and Lessees of Certain Toyota Vehicles

Toyota has agreed to a class action settlement (the “Settlement”) to resolve claims that certain Toyota vehicles (“Subject Vehicles”) contain a defective airbag control unit. The Settlement provides $78.5 million in cash and credits (the “Settlement Amount”) in addition to an Extended New Parts Warranty and other benefits.

WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT?

Plaintiffs allege that the Subject Vehicles contain a defective airbag control unit that can result in a problem with the passenger safety system, including failure of the airbags to work properly during a collision. Toyota denies the allegations brought against it in the lawsuit but has agreed to the Settlement to resolve the case. The Court has not decided who is right.

WHO IS INCLUDED IN THE SETTLEMENT?

You may be included in the Settlement if you currently own, lease, or previously owned or leased a Subject Vehicle. Certain Subject Vehicles were recalled by Toyota on January 17, 2020, to address issues with the airbag control unit (NHTSA Recall No. 20V-024, the “Recall”). If you have not completed the Recall, it remains available. Other Subject Vehicles that are not part of the Recall are still included for benefits in the Settlement. Please visit www.AirbagControlUnitSettlement.com or call 1-833-747-5737 for a complete list of the included Subject Vehicles

WHAT ARE THE SETTLEMENT BENEFITS?

The proposed Settlement provides the following benefits:

(1) reimbursement for certain out-of-pocket expenses related to the Recall; (2) potential payment of up to $250 per Class Member from funds remaining after all eligible out-of-pocket expenses and other settlement costs have been paid; (3) an extended warranty for Subject Vehicles that complete the Recall; (4) a robust vehicle inspection program; (5) an outreach program for Subject Vehicles that are part of the Recall; and (6) a potential rental car reimbursement, loaner vehicle, and outreach program if there is a future airbag control unit recall for Subject Vehicles that are not currently part of the Recall.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

File A Claim: If you incurred out-of-pocket expenses to complete the Recall for your Subject Vehicle, you may submit a claim for reimbursement at www.AirbagControlUnitSettlement.com. The deadline

to submit your reimbursement claim has yet to be determined but will be no earlier than December 16, 2026

Register For Potential Payment Of Up To $250

Per Class Member: You may register for a “residual distribution payment” of up to $250 from any unpaid funds that remain in the Settlement after all eligible out-of-pocket reimbursement and settlement cost payments have been made. The amount of the residual distribution payment will be determined after all the eligible reimbursement claims are paid. The deadline to submit your residual distribution claim has yet to be determined but will be no earlier than December 16, 2026.

Complete The Recall And Receive The Extended New Parts Warranty: If approved, the Settlement provides an Extended New Parts Warranty for Subject Vehicles that complete or have completed the Recall. If your Subject Vehicle was not recalled, this is not applicable.

Object: You may write to the Court to explain why you do not like the Settlement. If you object to the Settlement you will remain a member of the Class (if you are otherwise eligible) and you will still release the claims covered by this Settlement. Deadline to object is October 20, 2023

Exclude: If you wish to exclude yourself from the Settlement and not receive settlement benefits, you must submit a request to exclude yourself from, or “opt out” of, the Settlement. If you do so, you will preserve your rights to sue Toyota. Deadline to request exclusion is October 20, 2023.

Go To The Fairness Hearing: The Court will hold a hearing on November 16, 2023, at 11:00 a.m., to consider whether to grant final approval to the Settlement, including attorneys’ fees and expenses up to 33% (i.e. up to $25,905,000) of the Settlement Amount, and class representative awards of up to $2,500, to be paid from the Settlement Fund. The hearing date may change, so please check the Settlement website regularly for updates. You do not need to attend, but are welcome to at your own expense.

Do Nothing: If you are a member of the Class and do nothing, you will not receive the benefits provided under the Settlement, and you will give up the right to sue Toyota about the issues in the lawsuit.

For more information, call 1-833-747-5737 or visit www.AirbagControlUnitSettlement.com

A FEDERAL COURT AUTHORIZED THIS NOTICE. Si desea recibir esta notificación en español, llámenos o visite nuestra página web.

Hollywood studios disclose their offer on day 113 of writers strike

By JOHN KOBLIN and BROOKS BARNES

In an apparent attempt to break a labor stalemate that has helped bring nearly all of Hollywood production to a standstill, the major entertainment studios took the unusual step on Tuesday night of publicly releasing details of their most recent proposal to the union that represents 11,500 striking television and movie writers.

The studios are confronting significant decisions about whether to push the release of big-budget films like “Dune: Part Two” into the next year, and whether the network television lineup for the 2023-24 season can be salvaged or reduced to reality shows and reruns.

Shortly before the public release of the proposal, several CEOs at the major Hollywood companies, including David Zaslav, who leads Warner Bros. Discovery, and Robert A. Iger, the Disney kingpin, met with officials at the Writers Guild of America, the writers’ union, to discuss the latest proposal, according to a statement by the union’s negotiating committee.

By releasing the proposal, the companies are essentially going around the guild’s negotiating committee and appealing to rank-andfile members — betting that their proposal will look good enough for members to pressure their leaders to make a deal.

The writers’ union said that the studios’ offer “failed to sufficiently protect writers from the existential threats that caused us to strike in the first place.” The union described the public

release of the companies’ proposal as a “bet that we will turn on each other.”

The writers have been on strike for 113 days. The studios and writers resumed negotiations on Aug. 11 for the first time since early May. Since then, there has been optimism within the entertainment industry that the labor disputes might be on a path to resolution.

But the public disclosure of the proposal by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, suggests that negotiations may have again reached an impasse. The studios and writers’ union had generally agreed to adhere to a media blackout while at the bargaining table, and the studio alliance has only occasionally released public statements before the guild.

“We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed,” Carol Lombardini, the lead negotiator for the alliance, said in a statement that accompanied the details of the latest proposal. “We are deeply committed to ending the strike and are hopeful that the Writers Guild of

America will work toward the same resolution.”

Hollywood has been effectively shut down since tens of thousands of Hollywood actors joined striking screenwriters on picket lines on July 14. Both the writers and actors have called this moment “existential,” arguing that the streaming era has deteriorated their working conditions as well as their compensation levels.

The studios said that their latest proposal offered the “highest wage increase” to writers in more than three decades, as well as an increase in residuals (a type of royalty) that has been a major point of contention. The studios also said that they had offered “landmark protections” against artificial intelligence, and that they vowed to offer some degree of streaming viewership data to the guild, information which had previously been held under lock and key.

In the statement, the studios said that they were “committed to reaching an equitable agreement to return the industry to what it does best: creating the TV shows and movies that inspire and entertain audiences worldwide.”

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been on strike for 113 days.

Wall St gains in run up to Nvidia’s high-stakes results

The euro clung to a more than two-month low while world stocks rebounded on Wednesday as investors awaited the results of tech darling Nvidia later to see if the sector’s lofty valuations still look justified.

The MSCI All Country stock index jumped 1.08% by 1849 GMT, and U.S. stocks also climbed across the board. The Dow Jones added 0.67%, the S&P 500 gained 1.25% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.83%. [.N]

The euro hovered at $1.0867 against the dollar and a 12-month low against the pound after survey data showed German and euro area business activity slumped in August. [FRX/]

It was the fastest contraction in German business activity in over three years and prompted traders to firm up bets on the European Central Bank (ECB) now pressing pause on what has been a record-breaking run of interest rate hikes.

Lower euro zone government bond yields meant U.S. Treasury yields were also down. Ten-year Treasury yields eased to 4.191%, after touching a 16-year high of 4.36% a session earlier. [US/]

Investors are waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to speak at an annual central bank summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday when he might provide more clues about the U.S. rate outlook.

Though Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin raised expectations that Powell might deliver a hawkish message on Friday given strong U.S. economic data, some investors are still betting on rate cuts next year, which have underpinned gains in stocks.

“We still anticipate (mild) recessions in the US and the UK and sub-par growth in the Eurozone, which ought to add some disinflationary momentum,” analysts at Investec Economics said.

“We envisage the first rate cuts to take place over the first or second quarter of 2024 in the major developed economies.”

The view that borrowing costs may finally be cresting helped lift the STOXX 600 European share index as much as 0.39%.

Germany’s 10-year government bond yield, the euro area’s benchmark for borrowing costs, fell to its lowest in almost two weeks at 2.526%. [GVD/EUR]

“Generally the European currencies are underperforming on the back of the weaker PMI data that show that the economies there are continuing to slow,” said MUFG strategist Lee Hardman.

“The market is now starting to question if the ECB will even do one more hike and 2-3 more hikes that were being priced for the Bank of England are now up in the air.”

Traders scaled back their bets on an ECB September hike and now price in a roughly 40% chance of a 25 basis point move compared with more than 50% on Tuesday.

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS COMMODITIES CURRENCY

Overnight, Asian markets saw more focus on the weakness in China’s economy and yuan, as well as some gloomy factory readings from Japan, which also left sentiment fragile.

Equity markets were in wait-and-see mode ahead of earnings later from chip giant Nvidia following its frenzied stock price rise this year on the back of the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) as well as U.S. PMIs and revised payrolls data.

Nvidia’s shares hit an all-time high of $481.87 on Wall

Street on Tuesday, with options data showing traders are expecting a larger-than-usual swing in shares after the quarterly results which will be published later.

Analysts expect the firm to forecast 110% growth in thirdquarter revenue to $12.50 billion. Stuart Humphrey, an analyst at JPMorgan, said some are forecasting $14-15 billion.

“This kind of number feels a touch high to me, but if it sniffs this - one could argue that into this print, it doesn’t matter if demand will eventually decline next year - (it) still will be re-rated higher,” Humphrey said.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan finished up 0.4%, although it was not far from a nine-month trough hit just two sessions ago. Japan’s Nikkei also rose 0.5%.

Russian missile strike killed 4 at a school in northern Ukraine, a senior official says

By MATTHEW MPOKE BIGG

ARussian missile strike killed four people at a school in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, including the principal and a librarian, according to a top Ukrainian official.

Russian forces also struck an empty kindergarten Wednesday, and three civilians were killed in Russian shelling Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities said.

The attacks, none of which could be confirmed independently, appeared to be the latest in a series of strikes by Russian forces on civilian targets since Moscow launched its fullscale invasion of Ukraine almost 18 months ago. The United Nations has recorded the killings of about 9,500 civilians in that time, but notes that the actual figures may be “considerably higher.”

Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, said the attack on the school on Wednesday came at 10 a.m., in the northern city of Romny, in the Sumy region, about 60 miles southwest of the Russian border.

Four people who were walking past the school at the time of the strike were injured, he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, noting that some residents had not heeded warnings to take shelter. He did not elaborate.

Klymenko posted photographs that he said showed the aftermath of the missile strike. One shows rescue workers crawling through the rubble of a building. Another shows

emergency workers carrying a corpse wrapped in a white plastic sheet away from the building’s wreckage.

Ukrainian regions close to the Russian border and areas near to the front line have borne the brunt of Moscow’s strikes. One frequent target is Kherson, a southern region where Ukrainian forces regained partial control last fall.

Six people were injured in the Kherson region Wednesday when Russian forces dropped two guided bombs on a kindergarten and residential buildings before dawn, said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration.

“The bombing caused a fire,” he said on Telegram, adding that it had since been extinguished.

Three residents of the village of Torske in the Donetsk region died in Russian shelling Tuesday, according to Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the regional military administration. The village is a few miles east of Lyman, a town taken by Russian forces in May 2022 and then recaptured by Ukraine in the fall. It now lies close to a front line in the east of the country.

Prigozhin listed as passenger on plane that crashed, killing all aboard, Russian authorities report

By ANTON TROIANOVSKI

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary leader of the private Wagner paramilitary group whose armed rebellion in June threatened the country’s leadership, was listed on the passenger roster of a private jet that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, killing all 10 people aboard, Russia’s aviation authority said.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that the plane, an Embraer jet, crashed in the Tver region north of Moscow, according to the state news agency Tass. Minutes later, the news agency, citing Russia’s aviation authority, said that Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on the plane.

“An investigation has been launched into the crash of the Embraer aircraft, which occurred tonight in the Tver region,” Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency said, Tass reported. “According to the list of passengers, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin.”

The Embraer jet was traveling from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to St. Petersburg, Russia, and crashed less than 30 minutes after takeoff, Tass said.

Prigozhin, an outspoken tycoon, built the private paramilitary force that has fought on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine and across Africa. Frustrated over the country’s military leadership, he instigated a short rebellion two months ago, a mutiny that posed a grave threat to the government of Russian

What’s next for India in space exploration

By HARI KUMAR and MUJIB MASHAL

India has a busy decade of space exploration ahead.

S. Somanath, the director of the Indian Space Research Organization, has described the current moment as an inflection point, as the country opens its space programs to private investors after a half-century of state monopoly that made advances but at “a shoestring budget mode of working.”

A large share of India’s space efforts in the coming years will focus on the moon.

In addition to the scientific results of Chandrayaan-3 — in which a lander named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan touched down in the southern polar region of the moon on Wednesday — India is preparing a joint lunar exploration with Japan, in which India will provide the lander

and Japan the launch vehicle and the rover. The robotic mission, known as LUPEX, is also intended for exploring the south pole of the moon.

Although an Indian astronaut flew to orbit in 1984, the country has never sent humans to space on its own. It is therefore preparing its first astronaut mission to space, called Gaganyaan. But the project, which aims to send three Indian astronauts to space on the country’s own spacecraft, has faced delays, and ISRO has not announced a date for it.

ISRO will first have to conduct a test flight of the Gaganyaan spacecraft with no astronauts aboard. Officials have said they are at the stage of perfecting the crew escape system, and they said this month that they had tested the drogue parachutes, which help stabilize the capsule that the astronauts will ride as they return to Earth.

Additionally, India is preparing for the Aditya-L1 mission, which plans to study the sun, in early September. ISRO officials have said that it will carry seven payloads to study the photosphere chromosphere and the outermost layers of the sun using electromagnetic and particle detectors.

Another mission is the collaborative NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, which will monitor changes in our planet’s land and ice surfaces from orbit. It is slated to launch from India next year.

The country will also launch a second Mars orbiter mission. The first Mars mission, Mangalyaan, successfully entered the planet’s orbit in 2014 and remained in communication with ISRO until the mission concluded in 2022 when the spacecraft lost power. It made India the first country to achieve Martian orbit on its first attempt, and demonstrated that the country could show scientific prowess even when resources are constrained: The mission’s budget of about $75 million was less than the $100 million budget of the Hollywood space film “Gravity.”

President Vladimir Putin.

Rescuers carrying the body of a victim from the destroyed school in Romny, in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Private Military Company, leaving Rostov-on-Don, Russia, after his aborted mutiny in June.

Ukraine’s forces and firepower are misallocated, US officials say

By ERIC SCHMITT, JULIAN E. BARNES, HELENE COOPER and THOMAS GIBBONSNEFF

Ukraine’s grinding counteroffensive is struggling to break through entrenched Russian defenses in large part because it has too many troops, including some of its best combat units, in the wrong places, U.S. and other Western officials say.

The main goal of the counteroffensive is to cut off Russian supply lines in southern Ukraine by severing the so-called land bridge between Russia and the occupied Crimean Peninsula. But instead of focusing on that, Ukrainian commanders have divided troops and firepower roughly equally between the east and the south, the U.S. officials said.

As a result, more Ukrainian forces are near Bakhmut and other cities in the east than are near Melitopol and Berdiansk in the south, both far more strategically significant fronts, officials say.

U.S. planners have advised Ukraine to concentrate on the front driving toward Melitopol, Ukraine’s top priority, and on punching through Russian minefields and other defenses, even if the Ukrainians lose more soldiers and equipment in the process.

Only with a change of tactics and a dramatic move can the tempo of the counteroffensive change, said one U.S. official, who like the other half-dozen Western officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Another U.S. official said the Ukrainians were too spread out and needed to consolidate their combat power in one place.

Nearly three months into the counteroffensive, the Ukrainians may be taking the advice to heart, especially as casualties continue to mount and Russia still holds an edge in troops and equipment.

In a video teleconference Aug. 10, Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; his British counterpart, Adm. Sir Tony Radakin; and Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the top U.S. commander in Europe, urged Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, to focus on one main front. And, according to two officials briefed on the call, Zaluzhnyi agreed.

Radakin’s role has been especially important and not widely appreciated until now, the officials said. Milley speaks to Zaluzhnyi every week or so about strategy and Ukrainian military needs. But the Biden administration has prohibited senior U.S. officers from visiting Ukraine for security reasons and to avoid increasing tensions with Moscow. Britain, how-

ever, has imposed no such constraints, and Radakin, a polished officer who served three tours in Iraq, has developed close ties with his Ukrainian counterpart during multiple trips to the country.

U.S. officials say there are indications that Ukraine has started to shift some of its more seasoned combat forces from the east to the south. But even the most experienced units have been reconstituted a number of times after taking heavy casualties. These units rely on a shrinking cadre of senior commanders. Some platoons are mostly staffed by soldiers who have been wounded and returned to fight.

Ukraine has penetrated at least one layer of Russian defenses in the south in recent days and is increasing the pressure, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said. It is close to taking control of Robotyne, a village in the south that is near the next line of Russian defenses. Taking the village, U.S. officials said, would be a good sign.

A spokesperson for the Ukrainian military did not respond to text messages or phone calls Tuesday.

But some analysts say the progress may be too little too late. The fighting is taking place on mostly flat, unforgiving terrain, which favors the defenders. The Russians are battling from concealed positions that Ukrainian soldiers often see only when they are feet away. Hours after Ukrainians clear a field of mines, the Russians sometimes fire another rocket that disperses more of them at the same location.

Under U.S. war doctrine, there is always a main effort to ensure that maximum resources go to a single front, even if supporting forces are fighting in other areas to hedge against fail-

ure or spread-out enemy defenses.

But Ukraine and Russia fight under old Soviet Communist doctrine, which seeks to minimize rivalries among factions of the army by providing equal amounts of crew and equipment across commands. Both armies have failed to prioritize their most important objectives, officials say.

Ukraine’s continued focus on Bakhmut, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the war, has perplexed U.S. intelligence and military officials. Ukraine has invested huge amounts of resources in defending the surrounding Donbas region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not want to appear as if he is giving up on trying to retake lost territory. But U.S. officials say politics must, at least temporarily, take a back seat to sound military strategy.

U.S. officials’ criticisms of Ukraine’s counteroffensive are often cast through the lens of a generation of military officers who have never experienced a war of this scale and intensity.

Moreover, U.S. war doctrine has never been tested in an environment like Ukraine’s, where Russian electronic warfare jams communications and GPS, and neither military has been able to achieve air superiority.

U.S. officials said Ukraine has another month to six weeks before rainy conditions force a pause in the counteroffensive. Already in August, Ukraine has postponed at least one offensive drive because of rain.

“Terrain conditions are always fundamental drivers” of military operations, Milley said in an interview with reporters Sunday. “Fall and spring are not optimal for combined arms

operations.”

Wet weather will not stop the fighting, but if Ukraine breaks through Russian lines in the coming weeks, the mud could make it more difficult to capitalize on that success and quickly seize a wide swath of territory, officials said.

More important than the weather, some analysts say, is that Ukraine’s main assault forces may run out of steam by mid- to late September. About a month ago, Ukraine rotated in a second wave of troops to replace an initial force that failed to break through Russian defenses.

Ukraine also shifted its battlefield tactics then, returning to its old ways of wearing down Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles instead of plunging into minefields under fire. In recent days, Ukraine has started tapping into its last strategic reserves — air mobile brigades intended to exploit any breakthrough. While fighting could continue for months, U.S. and other Western officials say Ukraine’s counteroffensive would not have enough decisive firepower to reclaim much of the 20% of the country that Russia occupies.

U.S. officials say they do not believe the counteroffensive is doomed to failure but acknowledge that the Ukrainians have not had the success that they or their allies hoped for when the push began.

“We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said Tuesday. “We continue to support Ukraine in its effort to take territory as part of this counteroffensive, and we are seeing it continue to take territory on a methodical, systematic basis.”

Several U.S. officials said they expect Ukraine to make it about halfway to the Sea of Azov by winter, when cold weather may dictate another pause in the fighting. The senior U.S. official said that would be a “partial success.” Some analysts say the counteroffensive will fall short of even that more limited goal.

Even if the counteroffensive fails to reach the coast, officials and analysts say if it can make it far enough to put the coastal road within range of Ukrainian artillery and other strikes, it could cause even more problems for Russian forces in the south who depend on that route for supplies.

Speaking to reporters on a flight to Rome on Sunday, Milley said the past two months of the counteroffensive have been “long, bloody and slow.”

“It’s taken longer than Ukraine had planned,” he said. “But they are making limited progress.”

A man and woman kiss in front of a display of wrecked Russian military equipment in Kyiv on Tuesday night, Aug. 22, 2023.

Warming set the stage for Canada’s record fires, study finds

By RAYMOND ZHONG

Hot, dry and gusty conditions like those that fed this year’s wildfires in eastern Canada are now at least twice as likely to occur there as they would be in a world that humans hadn’t warmed by burning fossil fuels, a team of researchers said Tuesday, providing a first scientific assessment of climate change’s role in intensifying the country’s fires.

So far this year, fires have ravaged 37 million acres across nearly every Canadian province and territory. That’s more than twice as large as the amount of Canadian land that burned in any other year on record. Tens of thousands of people — including most of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories — have fled their homes. Smoke has turned the air toxic in cities as far south as Atlanta.

Wildfires can be ignited by lightning or human-related causes such as unattended campfires, downed power lines and arson. The way fires spread and grow is shaped by the structure and composition of the forests and landscape. But heat, rain and snow affect how flammable the trees and brush are, which can determine how intensely blazes burn and how tough they are to put out.

In an analysis issued Tuesday, researchers with the World Weather Attribution initiative estimated that eastern Canada now had a 4% to 5% chance, in any given year, of experiencing high-fire-risk conditions as severe or worse than this year’s. This likelihood is at least double what it would be in a hypothetical world without human-caused climate change, they said. And the probability will increase as nations blanket the planet with more heattrapping gases.

“Fire-weather risks due to climate change

are increasing,” said Dorothy Heinrich, a technical adviser at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center who worked on the analysis. “Both mitigation and dedicated adaptation strategies are going to be required to reduce the drivers of risk and decrease its impacts on people’s lives, livelihoods and communities.”

World Weather Attribution aims to estimate, shortly after a heat wave, flood, drought or other extreme weather event, how humancaused warming has altered the chances that events of such severity will occur. Scientists do this by using computer models of the global climate to compare the real world with a hypothetical one that hasn’t been transformed by decades of greenhouse gas emissions.

The first scientific study to evaluate humankind’s contribution to a specific

weather event examined the devastating 2003 European heat wave. Since then, researchers have studied extreme events of all kinds and expanded their tool kit for attributing them to human-caused changes. World Weather Attribution, formed in 2015, has developed a standardized protocol so such analyses can be completed soon after severe weather hits, while people and policymakers are still discussing how to recover and rebuild.

When researchers with the group examined Australia’s deadly wildfires of late 2019 and early 2020, they calculated that the exceptional warmth and dryness that preceded the blazes was at least 30% more likely to occur there than it would be in a world without global warming.

As is typical for World Weather Attribution, the analysis of Canada’s fires is being made public before being submitted for academic peer review. Most of the group’s research is later published in peer-reviewed journals.

Its latest analysis focused on northern Quebec, where fires in June alone burned nine times as much land as in the previous decade combined. The region’s wetter climate makes it less accustomed to large wildfires than the country’s west.

The researchers looked at the Fire Weather Index, a metric that includes temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation. They estimated that a Quebec fire season with a peak intensity, a rough gauge of how quickly fires can spread, like this year’s was at least twice as common as it would be without global warming. And a fire season with a cumulative severity like this year’s, a potential measure of how much land is burned in total, is seven times as common, they said.

They cautioned that these were conservative estimates. “The real number will be higher, but it’s very difficult to say how much higher,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who also contributed to the analysis. Canada’s fire season isn’t over. More than 1,000 fires were raging there this week, most of them uncontrolled. British Columbia has been under a state of emergency as fires threaten areas near cities including Kelowna and Kamloops.

In Quebec, many forests where timber was recently harvested may be too young to regenerate after the flames are out, said Victor Danneyrolles, a forest ecologist with joint appointments at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi and the University of Quebec at Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Danneyrolles, who wasn’t involved in World Weather Attribution’s analysis, said the group’s findings didn’t surprise him. In a 2021 study, he and several colleagues found that climate fluctuations were the dominant factor behind the amount of land in eastern Canada burned by wildfires between 1850 and 1990. Climate had greater influence, they found, than the region’s populating by settlers of European origin, who burned land to clear it for farming.

Today, rising heat and dryness appear to be altering fire patterns once again, Danneyrolles said.

“If a year like 2023 becomes something which comes back every 20 years, then the system will be in a completely new era in terms of fires,” he said. “It’s something that hasn’t been observed during the last century, maybe not in the last thousand years.”

Wildfire smoke in northern Quebec last month.

Los estudiantes con mejores promedios en Huertas College

El pasado jueves, 17 de agosto de 2023, Huertas College estuvo celebrando la Instalación del Cuadro de Alto Honor 20222023 en el Salón de Actos Rubén López Huertas. En esta emotiva ceremonia la cual se acostumbra a celebrarse todos los agostos de cada año, estuvieron presentes no solo los estudiantes homenajeados, sino que también los acompañaron sus profesores, familiares, amigos y parte de nuestra administración. Huertas, con más de 78 años en el mercado, reconoce anualmente a los estudiantes que se distinguen por su promedio académico en la Ceremonia de Instalación del Cuadro de Alto Honor. Como parte de los requisitos se consideran los siguientes: Estar matriculado al momento del reconocimiento; tener un mínimo de treinta y seis (36) créditos aprobados en la Institución, en un mismo programa; y tener promedio general y de programa de 3.85 o más.

Este año se reconocieron a 42 estudiantes de los siguientes programas:

• Bachillerato en Ciencias en Enfermería: Andrea P. Castro Rodríguez, Jophet Félix Rodríguez, Alondra Ortiz Carrasquillo y Amy L. Sanabria González.

• Bachillerato en Administración de Empresas, Contabilidad con Auditoría: Doris Hernández García y Zilvia E. Sánchez Rosario.

• Grado Asociado en Técnico de Farmacia: Sonimar Garay Rivera y Eduardo A. Rosa Alverio.

• Grado Asociado en Asistente de Terapia Ocupacional: María Ferrer Bravo, Aleris Guzmán Candelario, Ashley León Rodríguez, Sue Ann Morales Rivas, Luzmarie Sierra Rodríguez y Vanessa Viruet Vélez.

• Grado Técnico en Estética: Yahzil Y. Báez Santiago, Sheilyn Delgado López, Kristin G. Hung García, Jesmariet Sánchez Colón, Anairis Semidey Hernández y Damaris Vázquez Sánchez.

• Grado Técnico en Tecnología en Elec-

tricidad: Kevin De Jesús García, Julio C. Lebrón Morales, Eric Martínez Medina, Jariel Montañez Del Valle, Marcos Nogueras Rivera, Jeantonel Rodríguez Del Valle, Christian Y. Rodríguez Díaz, Joel Rodríguez Garay, Sebastián Valentín Valentín y Ángel L. Velázquez Lozada.

• Grado Técnico en Tecnología en Refrigeración y Aire Acondicionado: Nahum Cabrera Arizmendi, Luis D. Casiano Ortiz, Jeremy Colón Rodríguez, Ramón L. Guzmán Alejandro, Yangeliel J. Montañez Ortiz, Victor Rivera Pérez y Alejandro Vázquez Rosa.

• Grado Técnico en Masaje Terapéutico: Amanda Caballero Burgos, Urayoan Cruz Quiñones, Nayelis González Amaro, Bárbara Rosario Rivera y Jesenia M. Santos Torres.

Así como ellos lo están logrando, tú también puedes aventurarte a estudiar una carrera de alta demanda laboral en Huertas College. ¡Aprovecha y matricúlate! Clases comienzan el martes, 5 de septiembre de 2023. Estudia en Huertas: Bachillerato en Ciencias en Enfermería, Administración de Empresas, Contabilidad con Auditoría, Ventas y Mercadeo; Grados Asociados en: Ciencias en Enfermería, Asistente Dental con funciones Expandidas, Tecnología en el Manejo de Información de Salud, Técnico de Farmacia y Asistente de Terapia Ocupacional; Grados Certificados en: Tecnología en Electricidad, Tecnología en Refrigeración y Aire Acondicionado, Estética, Entrenador Personal, Artes Culinarias y Masaje Terapéutico.

Para estudiar en uno de sus programas académicos que estará comenzando el martes, 5 de septiembre de 2023, puede llamar al 787-746-1400 extensión 3, visitar su campus, ir a su página web: www. huertascollege.com o escribir a través de su correo electrónico: admisiones@huertas.edu. En Huertas, “el futuro eres tú”. ¡Te esperamos!

None dare call it victory

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Flation — whether in- or de- — is, other things being equal, a bad thing.

Money is the economy’s unit of account, the yardstick we use to calculate profit and loss, make contracts, specify debts and more. It’s problematic when that yardstick keeps changing length, when you have to worry about how much stuff a dollar will buy in the future.

Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve, like all major central banks these days, doesn’t aim for complete price stability, or in other words, for 0% inflation. Why? Mainly because an economy with modest inflation will normally have somewhat higher interest rates than one with zero inflation — a phenomenon known as the Fisher effect. And this means that low but positive inflation gives the Fed more room to cut rates in the face of a recession.

Back in the 1990s, policymakers and economists converged on the view that a 2% target achieved more or less the right trade-off between these competing objectives: low enough that people wouldn’t have to think too much about the future value of money, high enough that the economy would rarely hit the zero lower bound, that is, a situation in which cutting interest rates even all the way to zero wouldn’t be enough to restore full employment.

But they were wrong. In 1999, an influential Fed paper estimated that with a 2% inflation target, the economy would be at the zero lower bound only 5% of the time. Since that paper was released, we have in fact been at near-zero interest rates more than a third of the time.

As a result, many economists now believe that the 2% target was a mistake, that it should have been 3% or even 4%. For what it’s worth, economists of a certain age remember Ronald Reagan’s second term, when inflation averaged around 4%, and few thought of it as a terrible problem.

In mid-2022, with inflation running around 9%, the question of whether a 2% target was too low may have seemed remote and abstract. Even then, however, some of us questioned whether the Fed should be fixated on getting inflation all the way back to 2%.

Why not stop at, say, 3% and declare the job done?

And life, it turns out, comes at you fast. Inflation has plunged this year — defying predictions that disinflation would require a big rise in unemployment. Most measures of “underlying” inflation — a somewhat ill-defined concept, but basically an attempt to abstract from temporary factors like fluctuations in

the price of oil or used cars that can cause month-tomonth inflation to bounce around — are running in the vicinity of, yes, 3%. The New York Fed, using some fancy statistical filtering to extract what is supposed to be the underlying inflation trend, currently puts the rate at 2.9%.

Worker compensation appears to be rising at around 4%, which given normal productivity growth would mean inflation of around 3%.

And so on down the line.

So if the 2% target was probably a mistake, and if we could do it over again, we’d probably go for 3%, why not just declare victory over inflation today?

OK, I’ve been in meetings with current and former central bankers, and the reaction you get if you suggest accepting current inflation and revising the target accordingly is more or less the reaction I imagine you’d get if you waved a Pride flag at a DeSantis rally (although you’re less likely to get beaten up or shot). Why?

The main answer seems to be concerns that accepting somewhat higher inflation — even if the economics suggest that the conventional target is too low — would damage central banks’ credibility. That’s not an entirely foolish concern, although monetary credibility probably matters much less for real-world inflation than central bankers tend to imagine.

On the other hand, should policy be permanently locked into a target that now looks wrong out of fear that changing it will make policymakers look weak?

At this point I see three ways this could go:

— The Fed could adopt the position attributed (dubiously) to John Maynard Keynes — “When the facts change, I change my mind” — and openly adopt a new inflation target.

— The Fed could adopt a policy of strategic hypocrisy, insisting that its target hasn’t changed while in practice allowing inflation close to 3% for several years; then, once it has become clear that such a policy won’t allow runaway inflation, finally change the formal target.

— The Fed could put its money (supply) where its mouth is and do whatever it takes to get inflation all the way back down to 2%, even if this involves a recession.

As far as I can tell, Option 1 just isn’t on the table. Option 2 looks like the most likely strategy. But it’s possible that the Fed will feel obliged to prove its toughness by getting back to 2%, even though that’s probably bad economics.

If the Fed does seem to be going that route, however, policymakers should be challenged: Should American

workers really be asked to lose their jobs for someone else’s mistake?

‘Ahsoka’ review: Rosario Dawson finds the force

By MIKE HALE

The first episode of “Ahsoka,” the new “Star Wars” miniseries on Disney+, is titled “Master and Apprentice,” because of course it is. Obi-Wan and Luke, Yoda and Luke, Obi-Wan and Anakin, Anakin and Ahsoka, the Mandalorian and the floating baby. “Star Wars” has one story and it’s sticking to it.

“Ahsoka,” two of whose eight episodes were available for review (they were to premiere Tuesday night), is particularly true to the time-tested narrative of fractious mentorship and surrogate parenthood. It pits against each other two master-apprentice pairs, the lapsed Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and her young Mandalorian protégé, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), on the side of good and the former Jedi Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) and his grim sidekick, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno), on the side of not good.

These four jump through space, clown around with droids (cute when they’re on the side of good, clanky and forbidding when they’re not), duke it out with lightsabers and summon the force with varying degrees of effectiveness while they search for Thrawn, an officer of the evil Empire. If found, he could be a danger to the nascent New Republic, which is in power after the events of the original “Star Wars” trilogy but not yet facing the existential threats it encounters in the most recent movies.

That will be important to “Star Wars” devotees and background noise to the rest of us — the overwhelming scale of the franchise, across every type of commercial medium, and the profusion of winding alleys down which its story lines run make it difficult for the casual fan to work up much interest in the world-building ramifications of any given installment.

“Andor,” an earlier Disney+ entry, countered this by doubling down on gritty, real-world political-historical texture, a move that generated great excitement among the cognoscenti but wasn’t, in the long run, all that rewarding. Dave Filoni, who created and wrote “Ahsoka” and directed several of its episodes, and Jon Favreau, who is one of its executive producers, have taken a more measured approach to the problem in their Disney+ collaborations (which include “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett”): They have made themselves purveyors of artisanal space opera.

This means that they serve the canonical narrative needs of the “Star Wars” franchise — you’ve seen all their story points before — while maintaining a good-humored, arm’s-length distance from its more sentimental and juvenile tendencies. They focus their energy on giving loving and capable attention to the genre trappings that can satisfy any viewer’s appetite for unencumbered entertainment.

In the opening episodes of “Ahsoka,” they meet this standard more than satisfactorily — better even than in “The Mandalorian,” which has served mainly as a baby Yoda delivery vehicle. The job of any “Star Wars” product is the competent execution of formula, and “Ahsoka” hits its marks.

It delivers on its alien landscapes, which toggle between barren desert vistas and crystalline cities, and on its monumental industrial environments. (The shipyards of Corellia come into play.) It delivers on its more-human-than-thou droids with the requisite prudent robot sidekick, engagingly voiced by David Tennant, the latest in a line of on-screen cautious companions stretching back to Bert Lahr in “The Wizard of Oz.”

And it delivers on its hero, Ahsoka, a character who — in a perfect example of the all-purpose nature of the “Star Wars” franchise — was created as a toon and featured previously in the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars: Rebels.”

(In one of the show’s better in-jokes, a stately monument being dedicated to heroes of the resistance looks like a frame from “Rebels.”)

Bringing a cartoon alien to live-action life might not seem like the most invigorating

challenge, but Dawson achieves something at least slightly alchemical in “Ahsoka.” Reining herself in, she cruises on what plays like her natural quality: a kind of reserved, amused disdain. It’s a perfect fit for a character who is very been there, done that

and who doesn’t have a world of patience for the emotional excesses of her apprentice; Ahsoka may be humorless, but Dawson’s performance isn’t. And at the same time it evokes, in a clever way, the two-dimensional character of the cartoons.

It’s also helpful that, working with fight coordinator Ming Qiu, stunt coordinator J.J. Dashnaw and her stunt double, Michelle Lee, Dawson gives her battle scenes a visceral credibility.

With capable help from Stevenson (who died in May) and the always welcome Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays a New Republic general, Dawson lifts your attention above the “Star Wars” of it all. She even overcomes the scalp appendages she has inherited from the cartoon character, which look exactly like what they are: a dangling pair of rubber bags. The moment will inevitably come when you’re told that a mysterious edifice was built by “an ancient people from a distant galaxy.” But if you use your focus, you can block it out.

In “Star Wars: Ahsoka,” Rosario Dawson plays a character that began life as a cartoon.

Why sunscreen is the only anti-aging product you need

By DANA G. SMITH

Have you ever looked at the skin on the buttocks of a 90-year-old? Dr. Fayne Frey has. “It’s beautiful,” said the dermatologist and author of the book “The Skincare Hoax.” “There’s very little pigment, there’s very little wrinkling, there are very few blood vessels.”

Compare that to the skin on a nonagenarian’s face, where you’ll likely see brown spots, scaliness, visible blood vessels, much more wrinkling and a generally sallow appearance.

Some signs of aging, namely fine lines, happen naturally over time. But Frey said that as much as 80% of the skin changes we associate with age are actually caused by the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The best way to avoid them, aside from staying indoors, in the shade or permanently covered up? Sunscreen.

Sunscreen’s ability to block sunburns and prevent skin cancer is well known, but many dermatologists say it’s also the best skin care product for slowing signs of aging. Here’s what to know about how UV rays cause the skin to age and how sunscreen helps to minimize those effects.

How UV rays damage the skin

There are two categories of ultraviolet light: A and B. UVB wavelengths are shorter and primarily affect the top layer of the skin. UVA rays are longer and can penetrate deeper

(they can also travel through glass, so don’t assume a window keeps you safe from sun damage).

Years of exposure to both UVA and UVB rays damages cells on the top layer of the skin, called keratinocytes. When that happens, the skin starts to look red, rough and scaly in patches — a condition called actinic keratosis.

“It’s due to DNA mutations that occur

FARMACIA RIMARI

•Aceptamos la mayoría de los Planes Médicos

•Recibimos recetas electrónicas

•Programa Adherencia a Medicamentos

•Recibimos recetas por Fax

•Globos con helio

•Envío y recibo de faxes

•Servicio de fotocopias

•Sellos de correo

•Shopper Mensual: El Botiquín

•Entrega de medicamentos al hogar (Delivery)

•Área de artículos para regalos:

-Joyería Fantasía - Cosméticos y Carteras

-Tarjetas para toda ocasión

-Envoltura de regalo

•Aceptamos tarjetas ATH y de Crédito

Lunes a viernes 8AM-5PM • Sábado 8AM-3PM

Tel. 787-744-1441 | Fax 787-258-8223

Calle Ruíz Belvis #49 Caguas, PR

specifically in the keratinocytes, and they then proliferate and become abnormal,” said Dr. Lena Von Schuckmann, a dermatologist and clinician researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia. In some cases, actinic keratosis can become cancerous.

Below the keratinocytes are the melanocytes — the cells that produce melanin and cause the skin to darken. UVA rays primarily activate these cells, resulting in a suntan. (Sunburn is different; it’s caused by UVB rays injuring the top layer of the skin.) With longterm UV exposure, the melanocytes become damaged, resulting in permanent hyperpigmentation. These brown spots are sometimes called sunspots, age spots, liver spots or their technical name, solar lentigines.

Collagen and elastin, which keep the skin elastic and supple, reside in the next layer down. UVA rays trigger the breakdown of those proteins, causing wrinkles as the skin loses its elasticity, as well as the thinning of skin, making blood vessels more visible.

There’s no real way to boost collagen and elastin artificially (there’s scant evidence for the power of supplements and creams), but cells called fibroblasts do continue to make the proteins as you age, although production slows down. As a result, some dermatologists say it may be possible to reverse some signs of aging.

If you start using sunscreen early and

consistently enough, “and the fibroblast is still young enough or healthy enough to be able to produce more collagen,” the appearance of wrinkles could diminish over time, said Dr. Henry Lim, a dermatologist at Henry Ford Health and a former president of the American Academy of Dermatology. The key is making sure collagen levels aren’t depleted further by sun exposure while the cells work to replenish the protein.

But Von Schuckmann said the jury is still out: “We certainly have studies to show that sunscreen used on a daily basis reduces skin aging. Whether or not it reverses skin aging, that’s a little bit tricky to differentiate.”

How sunscreen prevents signs of aging

Sunscreen stops damage by blocking UV rays from reaching and penetrating the skin. There are two types of sunscreen ingredients: mineral and chemical.

Mineral ingredients, namely zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, act as a physical barrier, reflecting the ultraviolet light off the skin. (Our eyes can detect that reflection of light, which is why these sunscreens appear to leave a white cast.) Chemical ingredients — such as avobenzone, oxybenzone and homosalate — absorb the UV rays. Both types of sunscreen can degrade or wash off over time, so it’s important to reapply every two hours, and more frequently if you’re swimming or sweating.

In general, sunscreens are more effective at stopping the shorter UVB rays than the longer UVA rays. Sun protection factor, or SPF, only refers to how well the sunscreen prevents a sunburn, meaning how well it blocks UVB.

Frey said that just a few ingredients approved for use in the United States — namely avobenzone, oxybenzone, zinc oxide and, to a lesser degree, titanium dioxide — block UVA. To make sure a sunscreen provides UVA protection, look for one with these ingredients, or check that it’s labeled “broad spectrum,” which means that it stops the longer wavelengths from penetrating. (Newer ingredients available in Europe are more effective against UVA; some are in the pipeline for review by the Food and Drug Administration.)

When it comes to choosing the best sunscreen to prevent signs of aging, Von Schuckmann advised looking for one that’s broad spectrum and SPF 50 or higher; whether it’s a chemical or mineral formulation doesn’t matter. The most important thing, she added, is that it “actually goes onto the skin every single morning.”

The sun’s rays cause the majority of skin changes as you grow older. The best way to avoid them is to use sunscreen.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE FAJARDO CARMEN

CORREA MEDINA

Peticionaria EX PARTE

Civil Núm.: RG2023CV00115.

Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. CITACIÓN POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR.

A: Moisés Cruz Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Urbana Rivera Correa, a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado y a su vez, de la Sucesión de Jacinto Correa Delgado, a 14 E Magnolia St., Davenport, Florida 33837; Maria Delila Palermo

Ayala-Aponte, miembro de la Sucesión de María Luisa Aponte Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado, a 125 Chamberlain Drive, Ease Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 18302; Arlene Black, miembro de la Sucesión de María Luisa Aponte Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado, a 7525 Chestnut Hills Drive, lndianapolis, IN 46278; Efrain Santos Jr., miembro de la Sucesión de María Luisa Aponte Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado, a 474 Helene Ave., Shirley, NY 11967; Santos Rivera Correa, miembro de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Heriberto Rodríguez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Tomasa Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado - Se sabe que el mismo reside en los Estados Unidos continentales, pero se desconoce dónde exactamente; Félix Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión

de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Irene Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Carlos Sánchez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales; Leeni Márquez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales y Johnny Márquez Rivera, miembro de la Sucesión de Martina Rivera Correa, miembro a su vez de la Sucesión de María Correa Delgado, con paradero desconocido en los Estados Unidos continentales y, asimismo, a todo el que tenga algún interés o derecho real sobre el inmueble descrito en la Petición de Dominio del caso de epígrafe, a las personas ignoradas, a quienes pueda perjudicar la inscripción, a los anteriores dueños, o sus herederos y, en general, a toda persona que desee oponerse.

POR LA PRESENTE: se les notifica que la Peticionaria de epígrafe ha presentado una Petición para que se declare a favor de ella el dominio que tiene sobre la siguiente propiedad:

t/c/c Bernalda Correa Delgado; por el Sur, en cinco alineaciones que suman cuarenta y cuatro metros con seiscientos quince milésimas de otro metro (44.615 mts.), con terrenos de la Sucesión de Leoncia Correa Delgado; por el Este, en dos alineaciones que suman treinta y cuatro metros con doscientos treinta y tres milésimas de otro metro (34.233 mts.), con remanente de la finca principal, propiedad de los herederos de Dolores Correa y Juana Delgado y, por el Oeste, en cuatro alineaciones que suman veintiocho metros con trescientos ochenta y cinco milésimas de otro metro (28.385 mts.), con carretera estatal novecientos cincuenta y seis (PR 956).”

Sobre el mismo enclava estructura construida para fines residenciales. Este Tribunal ordenó que se publique la pretensión por tres (3) veces durante el término de veinte (20) días en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que todas las personas arriba mencionadas y todas aquellas desconocidas a quienes pueda perjudicar la inscripción o deseen oponerse, puedan así hacerlo dentro del término de veinte (20) días a partir de la última publicación del presente edicto. Por tanto firmo expido la presente en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a 4 de agosto de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional. Kathia Ferrer Figueroa, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ ZAMARIE

PONCE FANTAUZZI

Peticionaria EX-PARTE

Civil Núm.: MZ2023CV00665.

Sala: 307. Sobre: EXPEDICIÓN DE CARTAS TESTAMENTARIAS. AVISO DE ACREEDORES.

presentársela a su Albacea, Zamarie Ponce Fantauzzi, con los correspondientes comprobantes bajo juramento en su dirección postal en De Diego 55 Este, Oficina 206, Mayagüez, 00680, dentro del plazo de seis meses de publicado el aviso. Quedan advertidos los potenciales acreedores del causante de que si la Albacea dudase de la validez de su reclamación la rechazará, notificándoselo por escrito, quienes quedarán expeditos su derecho para incoar la acción contra la administración del caudal ante el tribunal competente. Asimismo, que la Albacea no le será personalmente responsable a un acreedor que no hubiese presentado la reclamación dentro del plazo aquí dispuesto por los caudales o dinero que hubiera entregado a cuentas de legítimas reclamaciones, legados o hijuelas antes de intentarse la acción, sin que ello afecte su derecho de ir directamente contra los herederos por el monto de su reclamación hasta el importe de lo recibido en pago de la herencia, si la misma no está prescrita. Arts. 594 y 595 del Código de Enjuiciamiento Civil, 32 L.P.R.A. §§2542 y 2543. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal hoy día 14 de junio de 2023. LCDA. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II. REBECA MEDINA FIGUEROA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I. LEGAL NOTICE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO FINANCE OF AMERICA REVERSE, LLC.

Plaintiff V. CARMEN MARÍA SUÁREZ

ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN M. SUÁREZ ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN MARÍA SUÁREZ; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Defendants

Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen María Suárez to pay Finance of America Reverse, LLC., all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% ($22,200.00) of the original principal amount to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Order of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property.

“URBANA: Solar marcado con el número FF veintidós del Plano de Inscripción del Proyecto de Viviendas a Bajo Costo denominado B.V.C. cincuenta y dos, radicado en el Barrio Martín González y Hoyo Mulas del término municipal de Carolina, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de doscientos noventa y ocho metros cuadrados con cincuenta y siete centésimas de otro, en lindes: por el NORTE, con el solar FF veintiuno; por el SUR, con el solar FF veintitrés; por el ESTE, con terrenos propiedad de la Corporación de Renovación Urbana y Vivienda de Puerto Rico; y por el OESTE, con la Calle número doce.”

A: TODO POSIBLE ACREEDOR DEL FINADO, RAMÓN ANTONIO PONCE FANTAUZZI, t.c.c. RAMÓN PONCE FANTAUZZI o RAMÓN PONCE, QUIEN MURIÓ TESTADO EL 3 DE MARZO DE 2023 EN MAYAGÜEZ, PUERTO RICO.

Civil Action No.: 3:16-cv-02478PAD. COLLECTION OF MONIES AND FORECLOSURE COMPLAINT. NOTICE OF SALE.

To: CARMEN MARÍA

SUÁREZ ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN M. SUÁREZ ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN MARÍA SUÁREZ; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, GENERAL PUBLIC.

31,199, 5th inscription. Other Liens: None. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 12TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $222,000.00. In the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the the 19TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $148,000.00, which is twothirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the the 26TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $111,000.00, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. The Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied.

MASTER. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE RÍO GRANDE EN FAJARDO REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESION RUBEN

VILLALOBOS

PIZARRO T/C/C

RUBEN VILLALOBOS

COMPUESTA POR CARLOS RUBEN

VILLALOBOS SOLIS, CARLOS RAFAEL

VILLALOBOS SOLIS; JOHN DOE Y JANE

DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; MARIA

JOSEFA SOLIS PIZARRO

T/C/C MARIA J. SOLIS

PIZARRO POR SI Y EN LA CUOTA VIUDAL USUFRUCTUARIA; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: RG2021CV00376.

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

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

GENERAL:

“RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno identificado como la letra ’N’ en el plano de inscripción, localizado en El Barrio Guzmán Arriba del Municipio de Río Grande, con cabida superficial de mil cuatrocientos tres metros cuadrados con cuatro milésimas de otro metro cuadrado (1,403.004 M.C.), equivalentes a tres mil sesenta y dos diezmilésimas de cuerda (.3062 Cda.), en lindes por el Norte, en distancia de cuarenta y cuatro metros con ocho milésimas de otro metro (44.008 mts.), con terrenos de Bernaldina Correa

Delgado

POR LA PRESENTE se le informa a cualquier acreedor del finado Ramón Antonio Ponce Fantauzzi, t.c.c. Ramón Ponce Fantauzzi o Ramón Ponce, quien murió testado el 3 de marzo de 2023, en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, que si tiene una acreencia en su contra deberá

WHEREAS: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal sum of $138,060.89, plus the annual interest rate convened of 5.060% per annum until the debt is paid in full. The defendant Carmen María Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen M.

Property Number 31,199 filed at page 203 of volume 776 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. The mortgage deed is recorded at page 132 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. WHEREAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: None. Junior Liens: Reverse mortgage securing a note in favor of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or its order, in the original principal amount of $222,000.00, due on August 1, 2087 pursuant to deed number 50, issued in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 27, 2013, before notary David Garcia Medina, and recorded, at page 134 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, property number

WHEREAS: Said sale to be made by the Special Master subject to confirmation by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the deed of conveyance and possession to the property will be executed and delivered only after such confirmation. Upon confirmation of the sale, an order shall be issued cancelling all junior liens. For further particulars, reference is made to the judgment entered by the Court in this case, which can be examined in the Office of Clerk of the United States District Court, District of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, this 11th day of July, 2023. PEDRO

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Rio Grande, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Rio Grande en Fajardo, el 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número tres (3) del bloque X de la Urbanización Villas de

Rio Grande, en el Barrio Pueblo del Municipio de Rio Grande, con una cabida de trescientos cuatro punto setenta y cinco (304.75) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, con el solar número cinco (5), en una distancia de veintitrés punto cero cero (23.00) metros, por el Sur, con el solar número uno (1), en una distancia de veintitrés punto cero cero (23.00) metros; por el Este, con la calle numero dieciséis (16), en una distancia de trece punto veinticinco (13.25) metros; y por el Oeste, con el solar número cuatro (4), en una distancia de trece punto veinticinco (13.25) metros. Enclava una casa. Finca número 4,643, inscrita al folio 61 del tomo 88 de Rio Grande, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 2900 del tomo 560 de Rio Grande, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III, inscripción 7ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. VILLAS DE RIO GRANDE, X-3 CALLE 16, RIO GRANDE, PR 00745. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento: N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $168,000.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 1 de junio de 2096. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad de la propiedad y que todas las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito ejecutante antes descritos, si los hubiere, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $112,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Rio Grande en Fajardo, el 9 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 9:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $74,666.67, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudica-

Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Janette Rodríguez Suarez, por la suma de $53,863.16 de principal, mas intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 26 de enero de 2023, al tomo Karibe de Arroyo, finca número 9,015, Anotación A. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día el 23 de junio de 2023, archivada en autos y notificada el 23 de junio de 2023, y publicada en periódico de circulación general, “The San Daily Star”, el 28 de junio de 2023, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma $53,863.16 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 7.95%, anual desde el 1ro de abril de 2007, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $5,600.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. LA PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 5 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A

LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Guayama, Guayama, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $56,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 12 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Guayama, Guayama. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $37,333.33, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día

19 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A

LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Guayama, Guayama. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $28,000.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho

monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Guayama, Puerto Rico, hoy día 17 de agosto de 2023. Litzy

M. Cora Anaya, Alguacil Auxiliar #247, División De Subastas, Tribunal De Primera Instancia, Sala Superior De Guayama.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS-

TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

ARACELIS MARIA DELGADO RAMOS; ROBERTO AMILCAR DELGADO RAMOS; MARIA ISABEL DELGADO RAMOS; FLORENTINA AQUINO RODRIGUEZ

Demandante V.

PREFERRED MORTGAGE CORP.; DEMANDADOS

DESCONOCIDOS: “JOHN

DOE”, COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO Demandado(a)

Civil: Núm. SJ2023CV04386.

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

A: DEMANDADOS DESCONOCIDOS: “JOHN

DOE”, COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DEL PAGARE EXTRAVIADO.

(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 09 de agosto de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 17 de agosto de 2023. En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, el 17 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. VIRGEN Y. DEL VALLE DÍAZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR PONCE

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

SUCESION DE IVELISSE

HUERTAS COLON, COMPUESTA POR:

EDUARDO ROSSO

HUERTAS (COMO HEREDERO Y COMO DUEÑO REGISTRAL);

“JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE IVELISSE

HUERTAS COLON, Y POR: SUCESION DE DIANA ROSSO

HUERTAS, COMPUESTA

POR: CHRISTIAN MIRANDA ROSSO, ALEX

MIRANDA ROSSO Y ALBERTO MIRANDA ROSSO; “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE DIANA ROSSO HUERTAS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (C.R.I.M.) Demandado(a)

Civil: Núm. PO2023CV00808. 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: EDUARDO ROSSO HUERTAS (COMO HEREDERO DE LA SUCESION DE IVELISSE HUERTAS COLON Y COMO DUEÑO REGISTRAL); “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE IVELISSE HUERTAS COLON; CHRISTIAN MIRANDA ROSSO, ALEX MIRANDA ROSSO Y ALBERTO MIRANDA ROSSO, COMO HEREDEROS DE LA SUCESION DE DIANA ROSSO

HUERTAS “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESION DE DIANA ROSSO HUERTAS. 300 L STREET, PERLA DEL SUR DEV., PONCE, PUERTO RICO 00731, Y 2678 CALLE LAS CARROZAS, URB. PERLA DEL SUR, PONCE PUERTO RICO 00717-0402. P/C LCDO. REGGIE DIAZ HERNANDEZ. EDIFICIO OCHOA 500 CALLE DE LA TANCA, SUITE 209, SAN JUAN PR 00901. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 15 de agosto de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede esta-

blecerse 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 21 de agosto de 2023. PONCE, Puerto Rico, el 21 de agosto de 2023. Carmen G. Tiru Quiñones, Secretaria. Mariely Félix Rivera, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

DEMANDANTE V. CARMEN ZORAIDA MORALES SANTIAGO DEMANDADOS Civil Núm.: YB2019CV00164. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, JOSÉ L. RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, Alguacil Supervisor de la División de Subastas del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Humacao, a los demandados y al público en general les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso por el Secretario del Tribunal de epígrafe con fecha 10 de febrero de 2023 y para satisfacer la cantidad adeudada de $34,772.73 de principal mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de autos el 18 de octubre de 2019, y publicada mediante edicto en el Periódico “The San Juan Daily Star” el 25 de octubre de 2019, vendiendo en pública subasta la propiedad que se describe a continuación: # Urbanización Santa María K20 Calle Dlucas, Yabucoa, Puerto Rico 00767.

URBANA: Solar marcado con el #K-20 del plano de inscripción del Proyecto Santa María, radicado en el Barrio Calabazas del término municipal de Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 216.00 METROS CUADRADOS. En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar #K-21, en una distancia de 24.00 metros; por el SUR, con el solar K-19, en una distancia de 24.00 metros; por el ESTE, con la calle #12, en una distancia de 9.00 metros; y por el OESTE, con el solar K-7, en una distancia de 9.00 metros. Enclava una casa edificada de hormigón armado y bloques de hormigón armado y bloques de hormigón tipo “Patio House” que consta de tres dormitorios, sala comedor, cocina, baño y marquesina. Inscrita al folio 270 del tomo 217 de Yabucoa, finca 13728, Registro de la Propiedad de Humacao. Con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la

parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, en el caso de epígrafe, que se desglosan de la siguiente forma: $34,772.73 de principal, 6.5% de intereses, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda, $4,127.00 de cargos por mora, los cuales continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $73,000.00 según la escritura de hipoteca para la propiedad descrita. De declararse la subasta desierta, se procederá a una segunda subasta y servirá de tipo mínimo de 2/3 del precio mínimo antes mencionado; $48,666.66. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni adjudicación en esta segunda subasta, se procederá a una tercera subasta, en la cual regirá como tipo mínimo ésta la 1/2 del precio mínimo antes mencionado; $36,500.00. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el 12 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA SUBASTA el 26 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA. La subasta o subastas antes indicadas se llevarán a efecto en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Humacao. Del Estudio de Título realizado surgen los siguientes gravámenes: Hipoteca a favor de la Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, por $15,000.00 sin intereses, vencedero el 5 de octubre de 2015, según Esc. #686 en San Juan el 5 de octubre de 2007 ante Pedro R. Cintrón Rivera, inscrita en virtud de la Ley #216 del 2010 al tomo Karibe finca #13728 de Yabucoa, inscripción 7ma. Contiene condiciones de venta por 8 años. Se advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colec-

turía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores, previa orden judicial dirigida al Registrador de la Propiedad de la sección correspondiente para la cancelación de aquellos posteriores. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Y para conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en Humacao, Puerto Rico, a 14 de agosto de 2023. José L. Rodríguez Hernández, Alguacil Interino. Sonia Guasp Loza, Alguacil Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

DYREK, PSC

Demandante V. FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO DEL CUAL Demandado(a)

Civil: SJ2023CV04485. 901. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: FULANO DE TAL Y MENGANO DEL CUAL. (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 14 de agosto de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del

término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha 17 de agosto de 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 17 de agosto de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. Virgen Y. Del Valle Díaz, Secretaria Auxiliar. LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC., COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Demandante VS. MIGUEL A. CARABALLO LOPEZ, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado (a)

CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2022CV09097 SALA: 802 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTOS.

A: MIGUEL A. CARABALLO LOPEZ, FULANA DE TAL Y LA SOCIEDAD DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS EL SECRETARIO (A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 19 de mayo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 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 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 14 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRIGUEZ COLLADO, Secretaria Regional. F/ MARTHA ALMODOVAR CABRERA, Secretaria Auxiliar.

One of the world’s fastest 1,500-meter runners just wants to be an orthodontist

By TALYA MINSBERG

Yared Nuguse is worried about the gap in his resume.

It’s just that becoming one of the fastest 1,500-meter runners in the world has upended the timeline he set out for himself at age 12.

“I was going to go to university, and then go to dental school, and just be a great orthodontist,” he said, 24 hours after becoming the U.S. national champion in the 1,500 meters in July. “Then running kind of comes along in high school and it’s like, ‘OK, it doesn’t interfere with my plan,’ and then in college it doesn’t interfere with my plan. And it’s just like, ‘Oh, you could go professional now.’ And I was like, ‘Well, that kind of interferes with my plan a little bit.’”

After a fair amount of convincing, Nuguse, 24, decided to take a detour. Dental school would always be there, he figured.

In his rookie year as a professional runner, Nuguse — who was on the bowling team in high school, who has a turtle named Tyro after his favorite amino acid (Tyrosine), whose running mantra is “go out there and have fun,” who calls going to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour “forever a highlight” — has landed at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary as a top podium contender in the 1,500 meters.

When Nuguse recounts all that, he’s prone to giggling.

“I was never really an athlete type,” he said a day after becoming the national champion in the 1,500 meters in Eugene, Oregon. “I still even now don’t really feel like an athlete type.”

His results say otherwise. In January, he set a new U.S. record in the indoor 3,000 meters, running 7:28.23. He ran the second-fastest indoor mile in history in February, finishing the Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile in 3:47.38. In May, at a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, he set a new personal best in the 1,500, running 3:33.02.

None of this would have happened had he not tried to beat the crowd at McDonald’s during high school gym class in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Students were assessed on their mile times, and Nuguse, a self-described “big nerd,” wanted to get a good grade, sure. But

after completing the race, the students were allowed to go to McDonald’s — and Nuguse did a quick calculation. A win meant a good grade, plus, “I’ll eat there first.”

The high school track coach was quickly on Nuguse’s heels. The coach was persuasive, and Nuguse decided to give the track team a “solid try” to boost his college application.

Mike Kuntz, one of Nuguse’s high school coaches, remembers his first races well.

“You know Urkel?” Kuntz asked in a recent conversation at a cafe in Budapest. He stood up to demonstrate. “Yared would run a few strides, and then push up his glasses. Run a few strides, then push up his glasses.”

“He’d run in one shoe more often than you’d think,” Kuntz added, explaining that one of Nuguse’s shoes would somehow slip off during track meets or get stuck in the mud during a cross-country race. “And then he’d win.”

Nuguse continued racing with the team, surprised by how much he was enjoying it. Teammates started calling him “the goose,” a play on his last name, and soon the phrase “the goose is loose” caught on. In his senior year, Nuguse won Kentucky state titles in the 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 3,200 meters.

Running in high school was so much fun, he said, that he considered doing so in college when recruiters came knocking. By the winter of his freshman year at the Uni-

versity of Notre Dame, he had become one of the best milers in the country.

The word “fun” punctuates nearly every sentence Nuguse utters when talking about the sport. If he’s not having fun, he’s describing something that was “super fun,” “really fun” or, at a bare minimum, “kind of fun.” He knows that it’s somewhat of a superpower in a high-pressure sport that has a tendency to spit out even the strongest athletes.

“My mentality is so good because my whole being isn’t tied to running,” Nuguse said. “Running is fun and I love to do it, but I love to do because it’s fun, not because I’m really good and I have to.

“It’s just something I really enjoy for now,” he added, “and when I’m done enjoying it, then I’ll be done.”

An hour before he was set to compete in the NCAA national championship in 2019, Nuguse took refuge from the Texas heat in an air-conditioned car. He fell asleep. Matt Sparks, the director of track and field and cross-country at Notre Dame, needed to wake him up in time for him to win the NCAA title in the 1,500 meters.

“He wasn’t sitting in the car listening to loud music,” Sparks said. “He fell asleep in the car getting ready for what most would say was the biggest race of his life.”

As a professional runner with the On Athletics Club, Nuguse lives with and trains with Mario García Romo of Spain, his team-

mate and a fellow 1,500-meter specialist. They couldn’t be more different, said Dathan Ritzenhein, the team’s coach. “Mario is a list maker; everything needs to be order. If Yared knows what day of the week it is, that’s a good start.”

Nuguse is known to eat two Eggo waffles and “a ton” of syrup five minutes before he has to leave their apartment in the morning. If the frozen waffles were easier to transport, he would bring them to his international meets, Nuguse said, deadpan.

But he doesn’t stress too much about pre-race fuel. “As long as there’s something in my belly, it’s fine,” he said. “What I eat really just determines if I throw up or if I don’t throw up.” He smiled, realizing he didn’t vomit after his last race. “I picked well yesterday.”

On Wednesday night (at 9:15 local time), Nuguse was to have his first opportunity to bring home an international title. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 1,500, but he was injured and did not compete, and he did not qualify for last year’s world championships.

Asked about his race strategy for the final, a stacked field that will pit him against the domineering Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, Nuguse said he plans to “keep doing what I’m doing.”

Most of all he’s hoping to have — you guessed it — fun. He said he only plans on running professionally until 2028 or 2029, which he figures should give him enough time to see what he can do in the sport. He has six more years of school ahead of him — four years of dental school, and two years specializing in orthodontics — and he’d like to get on with that.

Until then, the goose will stay loose. When Nuguse mentions the Paris Olympics, he says it could line up nicely with Swift’s Eras tour dates in Europe. That would be awfully fun, he said. And, after that, he can have a stateside Olympics to look forward to.

“Winning in LA would be a dream come true,” he said. “But if I don’t, I’m not going to be like, ‘Well, my career was a failure.’ My career is a failure if I don’t have fun.

“That’s why that’s really the overall goal,” he added. “The medals, all the great accolades and stuff, it’s just highly sprinkles on top.”

“I

was never really an athlete type,” Yared Nuguse said. “I still even now don’t really feel like an athlete type.”

Tom Courtney, sprinter who lunged to grab Olympic gold, dies at 90

By FRANK LITSKY

Tom Courtney, a Fordham University graduate who with a homestretch surge and a lunge at the tape won a furious 800-meter run by inches in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, capturing the gold medal for the United States, died Tuesday at an assisted living facility in Naples, Florida. He was 90.

The cause was amyloidosis, said his son, Tom Jr.

Courtney, a 23-year-old Army private at the time, was not the favorite going into the 1956 Games; that distinction belonged to a fellow American, Arnie Sowell, a University of Pittsburgh senior who had repeatedly defeated Courtney throughout their college careers, even though Courtney had a string of triumphs of his own at Fordham.

But if Sowell was quicker, Courtney, at 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 179 pounds, was recognized as the stronger of the two. Both made the U.S. Olympic team and advanced to the eight-man 800-meter final.

When the moment arrived, however, on a narrow and spongy dirt track, Courtney was overwhelmed.

“As I stepped onto the track,” he once wrote, “I felt my legs go rubbery. I saw over a hundred thousand people in the stands, and before I knew it I had collapsed onto the infield grass. ‘Can it be,’ I remember thinking, as I lay there gazing up at the sky, ‘that I am so nervous I’m not going to be able to run?’

“Then I realized how ridiculous I would look, flat on my back on the grass as they started the race. I guess the humor of that image made me lose my nervousness. I was able to recover, get up and jog to the starting line.”

At the final turn of the two-lap race, Sowell led and Courtney was second. Then Sowell started to sprint, and Court-

ney followed suit, swinging to the outside. He caught Sowell on the turn and passed him. But coming up from behind, Derek Johnson of Britain was also surging, and with only 40 meters to go, he sneaked between the two Americans and seemed about to win.

“It was a new kind of agony for me,” Courtney said of the moment in an interview with Runner’s World magazine in 2001. “My head was exploding, my stomach ripping. Even the tips of my fingers ached. The only thought in my mind was, ‘If I live, I’ll never run again.’ I felt it all slipping away, but then I looked at the tape and realized that this was the only chance I would ever have.”

Courtney caught Johnson in the final strides and threw himself at the tape, winning the gold medal by one-tenth of a second, in 1 minute, 47.7 seconds.

(The record at the time, set in 1955, was 1:46.6. The re -

cord today, set in 2012 by David Rudisha of Kenya, is 1:40.91.)

Courtney collapsed after the finish, and when he came around, he asked Johnson, “Who won?”

“You did,” the Englishman said.

Courtney and Johnson were so exhausted that the medal ceremony was delayed for an hour. Courtney remembered it well. “As I listened to the national anthem,” he said, “all I could think of was how thankful I was that the year was right and the day was right and I was right.”

Five days after that race, Courtney won a second gold medal by anchoring the United States to victory in the 4x400meter relay.

Thomas William Courtney was born Aug. 17, 1933, in South Orange, New Jersey, and he grew up nearby in Livingston. His father, Jim, played baseball for the Newark Bears, the top minor league team of the New York Yankees, before becoming a railroad worker. His wife, Dolores (Goerdes) Courtney, was a homemaker who was born into a German-speaking family.

Courtney initially played baseball at Livingston High School, gave it up for tennis and then took up the pole vault. After the track coach had him try the half-mile,

Courtney became state champion a year later.

Entering Fordham, he anchored its team to a world record in the 2-mile relay in 1954. In college and after, he won national titles every year from 1954 to 1958. In 1957 alone, he set a world record of 1:46.8 for 880 yards outdoors and equaled the world record of 1:09.5 for 600 yards indoors. In May 1955, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated running in his Fordham reds.

That spring, Courtney graduated from Fordham with a bachelor’s degree, and that summer, he participated in track meets in Europe. In Germany, he sought out the family home of Rudolf Harbig, a German track athlete of the 1930s who was killed during World War II. He found Harbig’s mother there and asked to see her son’s training notebooks. Able to read in German thanks to his own mother, Courtney gleaned a crucial tip: Harbig had trained running downhill to increase his pace.

Courtney adopted the technique. He later considered it one crucial factor in his ability to beat Sowell and win the Olympic gold.

Drafted into the Army after his college graduation, Courtney was allowed to spend his time on duty focusing on track. He was honorably discharged in 1957.

He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard in 1959. In later years he worked as an investor at firms in New York, Boston and Pittsburgh. He married Posy L’Hommedieu in 1963.

In addition to Tom Jr., he is survived by his wife; a brother, Kevin; two more sons, Peter and Frank; and nine grandchildren. He had a home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, from 1975 until his death, and in 1993 he began splitting his time between Sewickley and Naples.

When Courtney ended his racing career at age 25, he promised he would run a sub-5-minute mile every year. He succeeded through his 50th birthday, when he ran a 4:36 mile against high schoolers in Sewickley. Then he quit, saying, “I’ve done enough.”

In an interview for this obituary in 2013, he recalled that last mile:

“After the first lap, the coach said to his kids, ‘Don’t let that old guy beat you.’ After the second lap, he said, ‘Don’t let that old guy catch you.’ After the third lap, the coach screamed, ‘Catch that old guy!’”

Tom Courtney (No. 153) of the United States winning the 800-meter event by a tenth of a second ahead of Derk Johnson (137) at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Courtney had been dueling with his teammate Arnie Sowell (154) just before the finish.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Answers on page 30

Wordsearch

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

If you’re single, you might meet someone new and exciting today. You might feel this is the perfect partner for you. Be cautious! This wonderful new person may have money problems or be jealous and possessive. Move ahead if it feels right, but move ahead with caution and don’t be swept off your feet until you’re certain that this person is OK.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

You might have some important work to do at home, Taurus, but unexpected visitors might have other ideas for your day. Don’t get angry or frustrated. Explain what’s going on politely but firmly, and make arrangements to meet your friends later. They’ll probably understand so there’s no need to try to play host when your mind is somewhere else.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Electronic communication could be difficult today, Gemini. Everything that can go wrong might go wrong - phones, email, copiers. Driving a car could land you in impossible traffic. If you really need to speak to someone, the best thing to do may be to take a walk and go see them in person.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Money problems may seem to be escalating, Cancer, and you could be hard-pressed to find a way to deal with them right now. The situation is temporary. Put all paperwork aside for now. If you wait a day until you’re feeling a little less stressed, you’ll be able to get a better handle on the situation and juggle your budget in order to make it all work.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Your four walls could seem to be closing in on you today, Leo. You might feel that you’ll go crazy if you don’t get out for a while. But responsibilities may keep you indoors anyway. It’s important to get out. Take a brisk walk around the neighborhood, run a quick errand, return a book to the library. This should bring some relief, at least for now.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Sudden psychic insights that seem important could come your way today, Virgo, but you could be confused about their meaning. This might bother you today unless you write your thoughts down. Sometimes the process of recording your ideas can bring an insight’s meaning to light. If this doesn’t help, keep your notes until tomorrow. Things should become clearer then.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

You and some friends might spontaneously decide to do something adventurous, Libra, such as take a trip out of town. This might be fun. Make sure you go somewhere that one of you knows fairly well or there’s a slight danger that you might get lost or hit traffic at the wrong time. Also make sure that others know where you are so no one worries.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

News of an unexpected career break could come your way, Scorpio. This can be exciting and it should make a big difference in your life. This time definitely calls for some modesty. If you act too proud or thrilled, you might stir some envy among your colleagues, and this could come back to haunt you later. Save your excitement for your family.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Are you taking a long-distance trip by air, Sagittarius? Postpone it if you can. It might end up being slow and tedious. If you must travel, be prepared for delays, lost luggage, or bad weather. Travel light, be at the airport early, and take some reading material. If you’re planning a trip, don’t confirm the arrangements or the same effects might apply when you do travel. Wait a few days.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Your subconscious mind is active today, Capricorn. You might have psychic insights and some odd dreams. However convoluted they may be, they’re trying to tell you something, possibly about your relationship with a friend or love partner. Make a list of the symbols and then figure out what they mean to you. The symbols in these dreams are probably all very personal.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Your subconscious mind is active today, Capricorn. You might have psychic insights and some odd dreams. However convoluted they may be, they’re trying to tell you something, possibly about your relationship with a friend or love partner. Make a list of the symbols and then figure out what they mean to you. The symbols in these dreams are probably all very personal.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Some technological gadgets that you make copious use of may go out of whack today, Pisces. This could prove frustrating for you, but don’t vent your frustrations on them. That wouldn’t help! Stay calm and call in a professional to fix the problem. Think of the expense as a contribution to your own mental health.

Speed Bump