Thursday Aug 31, 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.

PREPA bondholders say opposition to ‘unconfirmable’ debt deal will increase

By THE STAR STAFF

An attorney for a portion of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) bondholders warned on Wednesday that the plan of adjustment may soon be opposed by holders of over half of the utility’s outstanding bonded debt.

Thomas Lauria, a lawyer representing GoldenTree Asset Management, said at a hearing Wednesday that it won’t be surprising if the number of bondholder groups opposing the plan increases to half of the $8.4 billion outstanding debt. Bondholders GoldenTree and Invesco, and bond insurers Syncora and Assured Guaranty, in motions submitted to the court opposed the third debt adjustment plan, which was submitted Aug. 25.

INDEX

exchange for additional fees came from a bondholders’ proposal and not the board. A lawyer for Assured said the firm was not invited to any negotiations.

“The only true beneficiaries [of the plan] are the advisors to the Oversight Board, whose already bloated fees will swell even further,” the bondholders said. “It is wasteful to incur the expense and delay associated with a full-on confirmation process with respect to a plan of adjustment that so obviously cannot be confirmed for these reasons.”

In the motion, Invesco, Syncora and Golden Tree said the debt plan was unconfirmable in that it applies disparate treatment to creditors whose rights are similar, if not identical. They said the plan, which would cut bondholders’ debt by 80% to $2.5 billion, improperly classifies various identical claims separately to gerrymander accepting classes, and thus, violates the Bankruptcy Code.

“The Plan and its associated side-deals are premised entirely on rank vote-buying, which the Bankruptcy Code prohibits,” the bondholders said. “There are manifold other flaws, not least of which is the fact that the Plan is premised on an affordability analysis that one insider who participated in its formulation has openly admitted is an artificial and outcome driven device designed to bludgeon creditors into submission.”

Lauria said the holders of $3.6 billion of the outstanding debt have indicated to GoldenTree that they oppose the deal, Lauria said.

The comments were made at a hearing in which parties discussed the schedule for PREPA’s confirmation plan. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed parties to meet again to come up with a schedule and submit a proposal by Sept. 7.

The confirmation is slated to take place in 2024, possibly in March. Because the third plan of adjustment is different from previous ones, the judge said it would be authorizing discovery.

Attorney Martin Bienenstock, legal counsel for the Financial Oversight and Management Board, rejected claims that the board negotiated only with a small group of bondholders. He said an agreement reached in which some bondholders will lend $1.6 billion in

The debt adjustment plan, which according to the oversight board will result in an average 5% increase in consumer energy rates, offers more of the original value of outstanding bonds to those who agree with the plan than to those who do not agree to the plan. BlackRock Financial Management, Nuveen Asset Management, Franklin Advisers, Whitebox Advisors, and Taconic Capital Advisors agreed to the plan, which would give them 12.5% of original par. In exchange, those firms agreed to support the terms and to not file an appeal of the plan of adjustment if the district court approves it. The firms and people who do not agree to the settlement, including Assured Guaranty, Syncora Guarantee, and GoldenTree Asset Management, would receive new bonds with a par value of 3.5% of the original claim.

Attorney Thomas Lauria, front, is representing bondholder GoldenTree Asset Management in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s bankruptcy proceeding. (Katie Orlinsky/The New

Governor ‘repulsed’ by double-homicide outside Caguas court

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said Wednesday that he was “repulsed” by the double-homicide that occurred Tuesday afternoon on the grounds of the Caguas Court while television news crews were there reporting on a court case.

According to the Justice Department, the alleged shooter, Roy George Karakozian, 34, who is of Lebanese origin, faced charges in the Caguas court of first-degree murder, attempted murder and violations of the weapons law.

“What happened yesterday is a horror, because I saw that live on television; that is, a live shooting on television,” the governor said in response to questions from the press. “That has to impact anyone. I was terribly shocked, more so because of the information we have on a dispute between neighbors, but imagine, it can never happen. That’s the kind of violence that’s totally out of place …”

“I mean, enough of that. For me, I am repulsed by this situation,” he added. “I know that the police are going to investigate this thoroughly and whoever caused these two deaths is going to have to answer to the final consequences. But again, I repeat: enough of the violence, whatever it may be. And this one we are talking about is the worst when it comes to the life of a human being, that is the extreme. And that it was because of a dispute like that is inconceivable, a barbarity. That is, the only time such an extreme thing can be justified is in self-defense, but no, never. Because for a matter of property, how far are we going to go?”

According to the police, siblings Ángel and Rosa Judith Calderón Pérez, 44 and 45 years old, respectively, were shot dead by Karakozian, a resident of Puerto Rico, who was arrested at the scene.

The victims’ sister, Ruth Calderón, who was interviewed by reporters at the scene shortly after the shooting, said the motive for the killings was a dispute the family had with Karakozian over a piece of property. She said the dispute had been going on for two years.

According to the authorities, Ángel Calderón Pérez was at the court after being summoned to file a complaint against

Karakozian’s wife, Luz Pérez Martínez, for violating a protection order issued by the court on the grounds of stalking.

“The parties had filed complaints with each other and the court had issued protection orders,” Caguas District Attorney Arlene Gardón Rivera said. “Yesterday, agent Lisandra Aponte Rodríguez arrived at the Prosecutor’s Office to consult if it was appropriate to formulate charges against Luz Pérez Martínez for the violation of a protection order. It was at that moment that Karakozian shot the plaintiff. So the formulation of charges against the woman had to be postponed until today.”

According to press reports, Karakozian was disarmed by two police officers, Sgt. Lorna Padilla Cartagena and officer María Padilla Conde, who arrested the shooter at the scene.

Police Commissioner Antonio López Figueroa said the heroic actions of both officers could have prevented the deaths of more people.

Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli Hernández defended his department from complaints about the slowness of the process.

“According to the information we have evaluated, the [Justice Department] has been extremely diligent in investigating and filing charges in those cases in which there are elements of crime and the required evidence. The presentation of charges has been made less than 24 hours after receiving the evidence from the Police Bureau. No unnecessary delay can be attributed to the Department of Justice,” Emanuelli said. “As for proceedings of a civil nature, we cannot issue statements because those cases are not handled by prosecutors of the Department of Justice.”

The Justice secretary acknowledged the work of police officers and sheriffs who intervened to prevent Karakozian from continuing to shoot in court.

“Thanks to their immediate intervention, they avoided a major tragedy in a crowded place where children and members of the press were present,” Emanuelli said. “They were extremely brave and demonstrated their ability and vocation. Our solidarity with the relatives of the victims. No dispute is a reason to end someone else’s life.”

Pierluisi brushes off suggestion of a Rosselló resident commissioner candidacy

By THE STAR STAFF

New Progressive Party (NPP) President Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia on Wednesday described as idle gossip (“bochinche”) a proposal that former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares accompany him as candidate for resident commissioner.

“They continue with these unnecessary speculations,” Pierluisi said in response to questions from the press. “Really, it’s like it’s idle gossip. Stop it. What are we talking about? The candidacies have not yet been filed and here they are with these conjec-

tures.”

Pierluisi said such comments are intended to create discord in the NPP “when there is none.”

“For me, it is obvious that since in the other party they have internal turmoil, it is like there is a desire to see if some kind of mess forms in my party,” he said.

“That [a Rosselló Nevares candidacy] is not even under consideration,” Pierluisi added. “And the times that I have communicated with the former governor, he has never indicated that he is interested in aspiring to any elective office.”

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi

Former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares

‘We have to get ready for a smaller population’

Health insurance industry examines the island’s current demographic state

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

Puerto Rico’s demographic profile has always been something of an up-and-down situation. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, many residents left the island to move to the mainland, an exodus that led to second, third and fourth generations of Puerto Ricans who were born in the mainland U.S. Puerto Rico’s population reached its peak in 2004 at 3.8 million inhabitants, and since then has seen a drop to 3.2 million. The dropoff obviously has had an impact on the overall economy, and the health insurance industry is no exception. That is why on Wednesday the Insurance Company Association held a forum called “Insurance, Health and Life,” where several panelists and professionals joined to discuss the current state of Puerto Rico’s population in demographic terms and the rapid changes the island has seen over the past few years with the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from the common knowledge that many Puerto Ricans are looking for financial stability outside of the island, demographer Raúl Rodríguez, one of the panelists, believes the situation is a lot more complicated than that.

“It’s a combination of many things,” he told the STAR. “It’s a combination of people leaving and people having fewer children overall.”

Rodríguez’s presentation demonstrated various indicators of Puerto Rico’s deficit in population growth, factors including Puerto Rico’s aging population, with more and more islanders over the age of 65.

“As young people leave the island in order to find a better life, the population becomes older overall,” Rodríguez told the STAR.

An older population means insurance companies need to start preparing themselves to handle the needs of more people of advanced age. Rodríguez believes that “as long as insurance companies are prepared to deal with the effects of population

loss, they can avoid problems in the future.”

Rodríguez also showed during his presentation that birth rates are increasingly low all over Puerto Rico, while death rates are higher than birth rates even in municipalities in the island’s center where younger people tend to reside.

“As the population gets older, that increases death rates, which inevitably makes the population go lower,” the demographer said. “Mortality, natality and migration will determine the size and structure of the population, because in the most recent decades, more people have left the island than have stayed. As more people leave, the population shrinks because fewer people stay to have children and increase birth rates. Overall birth rates are decreasing in North America as it is, and migration is just another push into a lower population.”

“Why do people leave?” Rodríguez asked. “Well, there are many things that may push someone to leave, economic stability being the one most people talk about. But then it is not the only reason people leave -- things like incidents of crime or lack of proper healthcare, these things make people want to leave the island; these can all be considered a push into leaving the island.”

“I don’t think the people who left the island will come back to the island, especially younger generations who already know English and can move to the states with relative ease,” Rodríguez added. “The only way we can change this is if people come to the island, but frankly I don’t see that happening. We have to get ready for a smaller population. We cannot expect a rise in birth rates either, because the number of women on the island is dropping, especially younger women who are at a reproductive age. In the last 20 years we’ve had a lot fewer young people on the island as well.

Despite his less than optimistic view of the population situation, Rodríguez did offer some insightful comments on how to address the current situation.

“We need to work hard for people to stay in the country and not leave it,” he said. “Instead of trying to make people come back to the island, we need to get people to stay on the island.”

Meanwhile the panelists also talked about life expectancy among the island population, which is surprisingly higher

An older population means insurance companies need to start preparing themselves to handle the needs of more people of advanced age, panelists at Wednesday’s “Insurance, Health and Life” forum emphasized. (Richard Gutiérrez/The San Juan Daily Star)

than in the mainland United States. The average man in the mainland U.S. is expected to live until age 78, while in Puerto Rico male life expectancy is 80 years old.

One of the reasons for this might include diet and smoking. Puerto Rico has one of the lowest smoking rates in the United States and its territories.

“I think … Puerto Rico’s life expectancy will continue to increase; however, it’ll be at a slower pace because of a combination of things,” said Michael L. Frank, managing director and actuary at Risk Strategies Consulting. “I believe because diseases like COVID educated us really quickly on whether it’s a once in 100 years event like the Spanish flu, or if it was manufactured and we could be dealing with more of these in the future.”

Of course, a longer life doesn’t necessarily mean a better life, and in terms of quality of life, Frank says it’s a mixed bag.

“I think some have taken exercise to the fullest, but being on island is an advantage to Puerto Ricans when there is a pandemic because unlike a winter environment, because of the tropical climate, you can go out more, you can exercise more and your quality of life during a pandemic would be better,” he said. “I truly believe Puerto Rico would thrive.”

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, with a majority of Panel II, on Wednesday upheld articles 6.1 and 7.9 of the 2020 Electoral Code, and refuted the allegations of the Citizen Victory Movement (MVC by its Spanish initials) and Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) about alleged violations of their fundamental rights.

“The provisions concerned are drafted in a neutral and general manner, without discriminating against any person or political group,” the panel’s presiding judge, Abelardo Bermúdez Torres, and Judge Giselle Romero

García said in their joint statement.

The panel of judges ruled that the questioned regulations do not create a “classification of suspicion because of political ideas,” and respect the constitutional guarantee of equality before the law. They argued that the measures seek to protect the integrity, equity and efficiency of electoral processes, avoiding vote manipulation and voter confusion.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge José Johel Monge Gómez wrote that the appellants, the MVC and PIP, lacked standing and that the controversy was not ripe to be evaluated.

US trustee opposes HIMA’s request to retain Ankura for restructuring

By THE STAR STAFF

U.S. Trustee Mary Ida Townson objected Wednesday to requests from Grupo HIMA San Pablo seeking authorization to retain Ankura Consulting Group LLC and to designate Stephen Marotta as chief restructuring officer, Russell Perry as restructuring officer and Robert Weigel as assistant treasurer.

Grupo HIMA filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 15 to restructure more than $400 million in debts.

Townson said the motion discloses that Ankura and the Ankura professionals will be entitled to a “flat, weekly non-refundable fee” of $125,000 for each of the first four weeks and $100,000 for each of the remaining weeks. Additionally, Ankura will be entitled to reimbursement of expenses for “actual, reasonable, documented out-ofpocket and direct expenses incurred from time to time in connection with the services to be provided under an Engagement Letter dated August 11.”

Townson said the fees were unreasonable.

The U.S. trustee said that on Aug. 24, the court entered a cash collateral order, allowing debtors to use the secured creditors’ cash collateral on an interim basis, and for a limited purpose and time and not to pay the debtors’ professionals.

She also said she is not able to judge whether the fees are justifiable, as the debtors and Ankura have failed to disclose the terms of their prior arrangement.

“The Motion discloses that Ankura began providing financial advisory services to Debtors pursuant to a ‘2021 Engagement Letter’ which we understand was executed in November 2021. The fee compensation structure under this prior letter, however, has not been

disclosed in the Motion,” Townson said. “Rather, the Motion states that, on August 13, 2023 -- two days before the petitions were filed -- the Debtors modified the engagement of Ankura and the Ankura Professionals to a weekly, fixed fee basis pursuant to the terms of the new Engagement Letter.”

Ninety days before the bankruptcy, Ankura was paid

$575,000 in the aggregate for services performed for the debtors. The $575,000 figure would translate into an average weekly compensation of $44,712.29, or less than half of what is now being proposed, the U.S. trustee noted. The debtors’ motion also discloses that, as of the petition date, Ankura had estimated outstanding fees and expenses of some $700,000, she said.

The motion, Townson said, should be amended to include a copy of the 2021 engagement letter and the disclosure of the prior fee arrangement.

“Otherwise, the United States Trustee is concerned that the now seemingly higher weekly flat fee may be a veiled attempt by Ankura to collect on its otherwise unsecured prepetition fees,” she said.

The motion, she said, should also disclose what achievements, if any, Ankura has obtained for debtors in the almost two years it has been engaged.

“Although Ankura has claimed to specialize in ‘interim management, restructuring advisory, turnaround consulting, operational due diligence, creditor advisory services, and performance improvement,’ the fact remains that Debtors’ financial condition has deteriorated during their engagement, to the point where Debtors had to file the instant petitions,” the U.S. trustee said. “As a result, Debtors and Ankura should provide more convincing support for the substantial fees they are seeking.”

Townson also expressed concern that Ankura is not a disinterested party because some of its clients, such as the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, may be impacted by HIMA’s bankruptcy. She said Ankura must disclose the nature of the work it did for its clients.

Ports inaugurates upgraded visual aid systems at Isla Grande airport

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico Ports Authority (APPR by its Spanish initials) Executive Director Joel A. Pizá Batiz on Wednesday inaugurated the visual aid systems project at the airfield of Fernando L. Ribas Dominicci Airport in Isla Grande, whose investment of $2.9 million had the purpose of strengthening air safety and providing greater resilience.

Pizá Batiz said the project consisted of the total reconstruction of all the airfield’s visual navigation aid systems: lighting, signaling signs, windsock, and lighthouse, and a new vault in reinforced concrete for the current regulators, and an emergency electrical generator with its 500-gallon reserve fuel tank.

“The Air Visual Navigation Aid system consists of visual elements that help pilots steer the aircraft. It includes electrical equipment in a cement vault,” said Pizá Batiz, who was accompanied by APPR Board Chairwoman

Eileen M. Vélez Vega, Sen. Nitza Morán of San Juan, Roberto Méndez, La Fortaleza assistant secretary for critical projects, and project contractors. “This project is part of the capital improvement program for airports and was carried out thanks to a grant of 100% funds from the Federal Aviation Administration.”

The Ports chief noted that the APPR identified several of the visual navigation aids devices that had fulfilled their useful life and needed to be updated with state-ofthe-art technology to increase the safety of aircraft and their occupants. The APPR then proceeded to complete the plans and specifications for the improvements and directed the bidding phase.

“Keeping airports in optimal condition and complying with the regulatory standards of the Federal Aviation Administration is a priority in the plan to achieve maximum airport development,” Pizá Batiz said. “Therefore, we continue working to identify and take advantage of any opportunity for competitive federal funds …”

U.S. Trustee Mary Ida Townson

Puerto Rico Ports Authority Executive Director Joel A. Pizá Batiz

Powerful storm sweeps into Georgia as Florida assesses the damage

By PATRICIA MAZZEI and JUDSON JONES

Hurricane Idalia dumped a long trough of heavy rain across parts of the Southeast on Wednesday, from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the shoreline of Georgia and the Carolinas, where Savannah and Charleston both faced the threat of high water overnight.

Rescuers pulled scores of people from flooded homes north of Tampa, as downed trees blocked roadways and hundreds of thousands of people were without power. On Florida’s lowlying Big Bend coast, where the storm made landfall just after sunrise, residents who had chosen not to evacuate described a harrowing night of water rising into their homes.

Idalia was downgraded to a tropical storm by 5 p.m. after its march across southern Georgia. It had briefly reached Category 4 hurricane strength in the hours before landfall, with a peak of 130 mph winds. But forecasters warned that even as a tropical storm, Idalia

Flooding at the Low Key Hideaway Resort along State Road 24 in Cedar Key, Fla., Aug. 30, 2023. Idalia, now a Category 1 storm, brought destructive winds and life-threatening storm surges before moving inland. Communities as far as North Carolina were threatened.

could still produce strong winds across portions of Georgia and southern South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Idalia made landfall at 7:45 a.m. in Taylor County, about 90 miles southeast of the Florida capital of Tallahassee, before moving inland over parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Officials in those states issued emergency declarations warning of heavy rain and flooding.

Two deaths from car crashes early Wednesday were attributed to the weather conditions, one in Gainesville and one in Pasco County, north of Tampa.

Nearly half a million customers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina were without power by Wednesday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages across the United States.

More than 900 flights at airports in Florida and Georgia were delayed or canceled Wednesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service.

‘We should have gotten off’: Cedar Key residents survived Idalia’s wrath

By PATRICIA MAZZEI

Hours after the waters of the Gulf of Mexico swept through her house, Donna Knight emerged in a windbreaker and boots to try to get her Chevy SUV to higher ground.

“It came through — the whole ocean,” she said, describing a night of howling wind, frightening bangs and flying debris as Hurricane Idalia blew through Cedar Key, a conglomeration of tiny islands connected by bridges that juts three miles into the Gulf.

By noon Wednesday, the center of the Category 3 storm had passed, and she and her 19-year-old son knew they had survived. “We should have gotten off the island,” she said.

The homes in her neighborhood, many of them Old Florida-style beach houses, were battered and flooded, though some of their metal and wooden shutters remained on windows. The storm surge lingered on some roads, smelling of salt water and gasoline.

Tree branches littered the street. A chair was tossed upside down in front of Knight’s door, and her boat had been carried east up the road, she said.

An RV resort near the entrance to Cedar Key was submerged by several feet of surge. A newly renovated hotel with a tiki bar, its doors painted in cheerful colors, was also invaded by water.

Officials had estimated before Idalia made landfall that perhaps 100 people were riding out the storm on Cedar Key. It was unclear how many had left the island immediately afterward.

By early afternoon, Chief Edwin Jenkins of the Cedar Key Police was turning people away from town, which — at least before Idalia — consisted of a modest main street, two museums and the smallest public school in the state.

“The island is closed,” the chief said.

Crews of volunteers with airboats assembled near the bridge to town on State Road 24. They put on life jackets and prepared to make water rescues.

Knight, 62, a 20-year Cedar Key resident, had every intention of heeding the mandatory evacuation order before Idalia, she said. “My bags were packed.” She just needed gas and groceries, and would join her husband and motherin-law near Orlando.

But her son didn’t want to go. “I wasn’t going to leave him by himself,” she said.

So she stayed and listened to the roar of the hurricane as the waters rose — across her backyard, into the first floor, across the street. “My backyard, you can’t even see it,” she said. A tree blocked her into the house, but she eventually managed to climb out.

The water appeared to be waist high inside her house, she said, but higher outside.

Her water taps went out around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday,

she said. The power held on until about 3 a.m. Wednesday. Knight and her family are clammers, one of seven such businesses in Cedar Key, she said. A sign at the entrance to town proudly lets visitors know that this is a shellfish town. Knight said she worried that the business would not survive. “It’s going to be a setback,” she said.

Her son, who has diabetes, had an insulin stash, while she had lunch meat and food she had made in a crockpot on Tuesday night, Knight said. They had enough water in jugs “at least for today,” she said.

By Wednesday afternoon, the tide, part of daily life for islanders, was rising. Small waves lapped onto the road, threatening to swamp it again. The car had a new engine. Maybe she could save it.

“It’s OK,” she said. “We’re alive. For now.”

The lives lost to the Jacksonville gunman

The victims of Saturday’s rampage, killed by a gunman who left behind a sprawling series of rants full of racial hate, were all ordinary people balancing their own challenges and aspirations.

Laguerre was the youngest of seven children whose mother died in 2009 when he was 5. He had dreams of becoming a video game streamer, and he wanted to study cybersecurity. He had hoped to go to college, but he took a job at a Dollar General near the New Town neighborhood of Jacksonville to support his grandmother, who raised his family after his mother’s death.

His life was marked by “resilience and positivity, even in the face of adversity,” his brother, Quantavious Laguerre, wrote online. Despite losing his mother at a young age, he “remained positive and strong for all of us.”

Alisa Carey, Gallion’s sister, said on Monday that she was in a state of shock. “It’s still unbelievable,” she said.

Carey, 46, described her brother as “a great father” and said that she wanted to keep her brother’s memory alive. “He lost his life because someone hated our race so bad,” she said.

On Sunday evening, a dozen local faith leaders, including Gallion’s pastor, Bishop John E. Guns of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, prayed for the victims. Gallion is the 33rd person from the church to be murdered during the 27 years that Guns has presided there, he said.

By NICHOLE MANNA and ANNA BETTS

There was the picture of Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., known as A.J., big as life at 18 in the red satin cap and gown he’d worn in May 2022 as he walked across the stage at his graduation from William M. Raines High School.

There were the broken expressions of grief across social media for Angela Michelle Carr, 52, the mother, aunt and “bright soul” who was always there for her family and whose home was always open for cookouts and other family events.

There was the weary shock from friends and family of Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, all of whom almost immediately talked about his dedication to his 4-year-old daughter, Je Asia.

All of these were ways to find meaning and solace in three lives snuffed out in an all-

too-familiar American story that began with an angry man with an AR-15. But coming on the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington and his “I Have a Dream” speech, it was hard for some not to see a larger context as well in the lives lost in Saturday’s shooting in Jacksonville, Florida.

So when Carr’s pastor, the Rev. David W. Green of Saint Stephen AME Church in Jacksonville, spoke to reporters on Monday night, the past seemed very much a portal through which to view the present. He remembered Aug. 28, 1963, when, as he put it, “Dr. Martin Luther King stood at the Lincoln Memorial, to share with America about a dream of racial justice.” And he reflected: “Sixty years later, we stand with families who understand today that dream to be a nightmare.”

“A.J. never had a record, never received a referral in school and never got into a fight,” Quantavious Laguerre wrote on a GoFundMe page. “He was a kindhearted and gentle soul who loved playing video games and supporting his family and friends.”

Carr and Gallion both lived lives shaped by their church and family.

Carr, an Uber driver, had just dropped off a friend at the store when the gunman began shooting at her car.

“She would give her shirt off her back for people,” her son, Chayvaughn Payne, said.

On social media, the adult children of Carr have described heavy hearts and profound pain.

“I am broken,” Armisha Payne, one of her children, wrote. “She was my everything even on the worst days.”

Carr’s pastor said at a news conference that she was a loving and caring mother.

“Her family was raised in this church,” Green said. “She was a person who was a provider who provided for her family.”

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“He was not a gangster. He was not a thug,” Guns told hundreds of mourners on Sunday. “He was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together.” He added: “I wept in church today like a baby because my heart is tired. We are exhausted.”

At a vigil on Monday night Gallion’s family and friends were quiet in their grief.

Je Asia, Gallion’s 4-year-old daughter, stood by a cross with her father’s name written on it, pink and white beads hanging from her long, braided hair.

Sabrina Rozier, whose daughter had separated from Gallion but was co-parenting their daughter with him, said on Sunday that the family had not told the girl what had happened to her father. He spent weekends with his daughter and worked two or three jobs to support her, Rozier said

“She knows something has happened,” she said. “I don’t know how to tell her.”

The day before, Rozier said she wished she could tell Gallion that they will make sure his daughter has a good life.

“We will keep your daughter wrapped up,” she said. “You keep looking down on us, but we got your baby.”

A memorial for Anolt Joseph Laguerre Jr., Angela Carr and Jerrald Gallion near the Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Fla., where they were shot and killed on Saturday.

Trump could clinch the nomination before the GOP knows if he’s a felon

By REID J. EPSTEIN, MAGGIE HABERMAN, CHARLIE SAVAGE and JONATHAN SWAN

By the time Donald Trump is sitting at his federal trial on charges of criminally conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, he may have already secured enough delegates to effectively clinch the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

The former president’s trial is scheduled to start March 4, by which point five states are expected to have held nominating contests. The next day, March 5, is Super Tuesday, when 15 states, including delegate-rich California and Texas, plan to hold votes that will determine if any Trump challenger has enough political oxygen to remain a viable alternative.

Primaries in Florida, Ohio and Illinois come two weeks later. Florida and Ohio will be the first winner-take-all contests, in which the top vote-getter statewide seizes all of the delegates rather than splitting them proportionally. Winner-take-all primaries have historically turbocharged the front-runner’s path to the presidential nomination. Trump’s federal trial, if it proceeds on its current timeline, won’t be close to finished by then.

The collision course between the Republican Party’s calendar and Trump’s trial schedule is emblematic of one of the most unusual nominating contests in American history. It is a Trump-dominated clash that will define not only the course of the 2024 presidential primary but potentially the future direction of the party in an eventual post-Trump era.

“It’s a front-runner set of rules now,” said Clayton Henson, who manages the ballot access and delegate selection process for the Trump campaign, which has been instrumental in rewriting the rules to benefit him.

Trump has complained the March 4 start date of the trial amounts to “election interference” and cited Super Tuesday, but it is likely to have a greater effect on his ability to campaign for primaries in subsequent weeks. About 60% of the delegates will be awarded from contests after Super Tuesday.

Generally, defendants are required to be present in the courtroom at their trials. After preliminary matters such as jury selection, prosecutors in Trump’s election case have estimated they will need about four to six weeks to present their case, after which defense lawyers will have an opportunity

to call additional witnesses.

That timeline also means it is likely that a majority of the delegates will have been awarded before a jury determines Trump’s fate.

If Trump holds his dominant polling advantage throughout the primaries but then a jury transforms him into a convicted felon, any forces within the GOP that would want to use that development to stop him would have one last opportunity to block his nomination — the same endrun around voters that officials tried at the party convention in 2016.

That possibility would almost certainly lead to a schism between Trump loyalists and what used to be called the party’s establishment, an unpleasant reality in which defeating Trump could doom Republicans to a long cycle of electoral defeats.

“Given what’s happening on the legal front, state parties need to think about what options they’re giving themselves” to allow delegates flexibility at the party’s national convention, said Bill Palatucci, a Republican National Committee member from New Jersey who advises the super PAC supporting Chris Christie and who opposes Trump.

Republican state parties have until Oct. 1 to submit their formal delegate allocation rules to the national committee.

“All this is happening so quickly, it’s unprecedented, and so as states formulate what their rules are going to be,” Palatucci

added, “everybody’s got a whole new set of circumstances to consider.”

There are no signs that the party’s leadership is contemplating using Trump’s legal troubles against him. The chairperson of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel, has defended Trump in numerous media appearances and the committee has been raising money by telling online donors that the former president is the victim of a political prosecution.

On Monday night, just hours after Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set the March trial date, one of the main organs of the Republican establishment, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, sounded the alarm.

“Mr. Trump might have the GOP nomination sewn up before a verdict arrives and voters learn whether he’s a convicted felon,” the Journal editors wrote. “This would certainly delight Democrats.”

The renewed panic about the possibility of nominating a convicted felon recalls the 2016 effort to block Trump’s nomination after he had won a clear delegate majority in the primaries.

Then, a group of Republican delegates loyal to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tried to muster support from one-fourth of the convention’s rules committee, a body that meets in the weeks before the national convention, to throw open the nominating contest to the full roster of more than 2,000 delegates. Had they succeeded, the renegade delegates still would have needed a majority vote of all the delegates in order

to seize the nomination from Trump. Now, short of a full capitulation from Trump, removing him as the nominee at the convention after he has secured enough delegates remains an extreme long shot. A surrender by Trump seems highly unlikely given that advisers have said he views getting reelected — and taking command of the pardon power plus control over the Justice Department — as his best insurance policy. Despite Trump’s claims, however, it is not clear that a president can pardon himself, so he might be on safer legal ground if some other Republican secured the nomination, became president and then pardoned him. Even if a jury acquits Trump in the federal election case — or one or more holdout jurors produce a mistrial — there are three other cases that could potentially lead to him being a convicted criminal by the time of the convention.

He is facing bookkeeping fraud charges in New York, where a trial is set to begin March 25, although it now might be pushed back. He is set to go on trial in Florida in May on federal charges related to his hoarding of sensitive national-security documents after leaving office. And he has been charged in another 2020 election case in Georgia, for which a trial date has not yet been set.

Ben Ginsberg, who for decades was among the Republican Party’s top election lawyers before breaking with the party over Trump in 2020, said no amount of delegate machinations would be likely to stop a Trump nomination should he win enough early nominating contests.

“If he wins Iowa and New Hampshire,” Ginsberg said, “I think it’s all over anyway.”

Donald Trump walks to a waiting vehicle after arriving by private plane at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Where tech investors are buying up land, locals are worried

By HOLLY SECON

In a rural slice of California’s Solano County, between the cities of the Bay Area and Sacramento, rumors have been swirling for years about “the Flanneries,” a mystery company buying up mostly undeveloped land.

At a shooting range in Birds Landing, an unincorporated community accessible by a two-lane highway or a gravel road through grassy foothills covered in wind turbines — many of them more than 200 feet tall — an employee questioned why anyone would want to buy land in the quiet area.

“There’s sheep farms, there’s cattle ranches, and guys that are doing hay and safflower farming,” said the employee, Ashley Morrill, 40. “That’s what they do. There’s livestock, and things to feed the livestock.”

Solano County’s rural roots are still front and center in an area where a company backed by tech industry billionaires has been buying up land to create what they imagine to be a city of the future. That company, Flannery Associates, has committed roughly $900 million to secure thousands of acres of farmland, court documents show.

The cities of Vallejo, Fairfield and Vacaville, which are home to the majority of Solano County’s 450,000 people, aren’t very far

away. But this part of the county, which covers about 900 square miles in all, has more in common with the farms of California’s Central Valley than the corporate campuses

of Silicon Valley. And the prospect of big changes has unnerved some families that have lived in the area for generations.

Down the two-lane road a few miles from the range is Collinsville, an unincorporated community that’s essentially a mile-long, dead-end street with about a dozen houses, farms and silos along it. It backs into a marsh near the mouth of the Sacramento River. Property owners in the neighborhood said the mysterious Flanneries had approached them, and a few who have left abruptly apparently sold their land.

On a hot Sunday afternoon, as the air began to smell swampy, Lacey Miles was helping her retired father, Tom, unload his car in the driveway of his single-family home. Across the street was a recreational vehicle with a yellowing sign that read “For Sale” amid 5-foot-tall hay grass.

Tom Miles, 71, said he was concerned that the buyers were trying to change the countryside that he had lived in and enjoyed for decades. The only sound behind him was the low hum of wind turbines turning a few miles away.

“That’s why we’re here, the quiet com-

munity,” he said. “Love it out here.”

Lacey Miles, 42, who owns a housekeeping business, lives a few miles away. She had heard about the plans to build a “private city” on Facebook, and was opposed to the changes it would bring.

“I moved out here to escape the city,” she said. She had grown up near Collinsville, then moved away and came back 14 years ago with her husband to raise children in the rural area.

Lacey Miles said the people who hadn’t sold their land were likely to be opposed to any political push to create a new town. But she said with a sigh, “Anything is possible when you have money.”

In nearby Rio Vista, a town of about 10,000 people, most residents who spoke to The New York Times were aware that a coalition of Silicon Valley investors had been buying up farmland outside town.

The mystery buyers had been a subject of discussion for the past few years, with theories ranging from more development for the wind turbines that dot the surrounding hills to an attempt to build another Silicon Valley to some foreign interests doing who knows what.

Downtown Rio Vista was right around the corner from a tractor shop, a recreational vehicle repair shop and a walkway along the river where people fish starting in the early morning. It was a stretch of a few blocks lined with American flags and a street art project with differently painted ceramic sheep.

Pickup trucks and sedans were parked in spaces along the road. A few drove down the street playing country music with the windows down. Older people wearing cowboy hats gathered in Raul’s Striper Cafe, which is filled with 1950s memorabilia.

More residents gathered at Foster’s Bighorn, a watering hole displaying hundreds of mounted animal heads on the wall, including a moose, a buffalo, a giraffe, a lion and a snow leopard.

Some residents said they were relieved to know the identities of the landbuyers. Others were still concerned, and didn’t want the area to be flooded with techies. A bartender at Foster’s Bighorn said that whatever this new type of city was, it would price current residents out — a lot like all those Bay Area cities to the south.

A U.S. Air Force tanker plane comes in to land at Travis Air Force Base near ranch land in Solano County, Calif., Aug. 24, 2023. Tech industry investors spent roughly $900 million buying land to build a dream city in a rural part of the Bay Area. It could be years, though, before they can do anything with it.

Wall Street ends higher as economic data fuels rate-pause bets

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday as fresh economic data signaled a cooling U.S. economy, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes in September.

The S&P 500 index reached its highest in nearly three weeks after an ADP National Employment report showed private payrolls increased by 177,000 jobs in August, compared with estimates of 195,000, suggesting a softening labor market.

The Nasdaq logged its highest close since Aug. 1.

Fresh gross domestic product numbers showed the U.S. economy expanded 2.1% in the second quarter, slower than a preliminary estimate of a 2.4% growth.

“Somewhat softer employment data is easing investor concerns for future Federal Reserve interest rate hikes,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The prospect of a “softer landing” for the U.S. economy also supported demand for growth stocks and other riskier assets at the expense of defensive stocks, Haworth added.

Nvidia rose 1% to close at its highest ever. It was Wall Street’s most traded company, with $35.5 billion worth of shares exchanged during the session.

Mastercard and Visa gained around 0.5% each after a report said the companies were preparing to raise credit card fees.

HP Inc tumbled 6.6% after the personal computer maker trimmed its annual forecast due to slowing demand.

Traders’ bets on the Fed leaving interest rates unchanged in September stood at nearly 89%, up from 86% the day before, while bets of a pause in November rose to 54% from about 52%, the CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed.

U.S. Treasury yields slipped to a near three-week low, with the 10-year yield last at 4.12%.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was light, with 9.0 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.6 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.38% to end at 4,514.87 points.

The Nasdaq gained 0.54% at 14,019.31 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.11% to 34,890.24 points.

Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, nine rose, led by information technology, up 0.83%, followed by a 0.51% gain in energy.

Investors are now looking to the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, and non-farm payroll numbers due on Thursday and Friday, respectively, for more clues on interest rates.

Trading activity has been light this week ahead of Monday’s U.S. Labor Day holiday.

Brown-Forman fell 4% after the Jack Daniels whiskey maker missed its first-quarter sales and profit estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the

MOST ASSERTIVE STOCKS

PUERTO RICO STOCKS

S&P 500 by a 1.9-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 24 new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 76 new lows.

Overnight drone attacks reach deep into Russia

By ANDREW E. KRAMER and VICTORIA KIM

Exploding drones attacked six regions of Russia overnight Wednesday and damaged four military cargo planes at an airfield hundreds of miles from Ukraine, Russian officials said, suggesting that, after months of enduring missile and drone strikes with little recourse, Ukraine is increasingly able to hit back deep inside Russia.

In what appeared to be the most successful of the strikes, four Russian Il-76 military cargo planes were damaged while parked near a runway at an airfield in Pskov, 30 miles from the border with Estonia, a NATO member. The Russian regional governor posted video footage of smoke billowing from an airfield where he said drones had damaged the planes, although the extent was unclear.

Russia also launched a wave of attacks on Ukraine early Wednesday that targeted at least three regions. Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down 43 of 44 missiles and drones, although officials in Kyiv, the capital, said that falling debris from drones or missiles shot down by air defense systems killed at least two people.

Local officials said the barrage was the most significant in the Kyiv region in months. But the volley of drones exploding in Russia was exceptional and appeared to be the result of a long effort by Ukraine to answer Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and military targets.

While Ukrainian officials did not claim responsibility for

the overnight strikes, in keeping with their practice involving attacks inside Russia, they have made it increasingly clear that they view bringing the war home to ordinary Russians to be a legitimate tactic against Moscow’s invasion.

“We all went through these attacks by Russia,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, the former secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, said in an interview Wednesday. “We understand how destructive they can be. It’s important to be able to retaliate.”

The attacks have destroyed valuable military equipment,

although they have done little significant damage to Russia’s overall military might. They are also intended to pierce Russian propaganda by showing Russians that their military is vulnerable and to bolster morale among Ukrainians wanting payback.

On Wednesday, the Russian governor of the Pskov region, Mikhail Vedernikov, posted videos on the Telegram messaging app that show a large nighttime fire with billowing smoke and what appeared to be air defenses being fired at incoming drones.

He later wrote that a review of the airfield had been conducted and that “everything is in order,” adding that operations would resume there Thursday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not address the event in Pskov. It said that at least eight Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over five regions south and southwest of Moscow. The drones were shot down in the Bryansk, Oryol, Kaluga and Ryazan regions, as well as in the Ruza district on the outskirts of the Moscow region, the ministry said.

In Ukraine, explosions and the roar of launching air defense missiles shook Kyiv around 5 a.m. The capital was targeted with missiles and drones in the largest attack since the spring, Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said in a statement.

A barrage of drones flew at the city, later followed by missiles, more than 20 of which were shot down, he said. Two people in the city were killed by debris, according to Popko and the city’s mayor.

Typhoon Saola, nearing Category 5 strength, threatens China

By MIKE IVES

Typhoon Saola, a powerful tropical cyclone with wind speeds approaching those of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes, was passing close to Taiwan on Wednesday. It was also edging northward toward Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

Saola was about 111 miles southwest of Taiwan on Wednesday morning and producing some rain there, according to the island’s Central Weather Bureau. It was passing through a body of water, the Luzon Strait, that separates Taiwan from the Philippines.

The storm has already prompted evacuations in the Philippines and some school closures and travel disruptions in Taiwan, but it has not been linked to any deaths or injuries.

Saola was generating sustained winds of 155 mph on Wednesday, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, a meteorological service operated by the U.S. Navy. That is 2 mph below a Category 5 storm on the five-tier wind scale that is used to measure tropical cyclones in The Atlantic.

Saola was more powerful than Hurricane Idalia, a storm that briefly reached Category 4 strength before making landfall in Florida on Wednesday morning. Idalia weakened to Category 1 strength by 11 a.m. ET.

Saola was also stronger than Hurricane Franklin, a Cat-

egory 3 storm that was near Bermuda early Wednesday and has been producing life-threatening surf and rip currents along the coasts of that island and along the East Coast of the United States.

Hurricanes and typhoons are tropical cyclones with sustained winds of at least 74 mph. The term “hurricane” refers to tropical cyclones in The Atlantic basin; “typhoon” refers to ones that develop in the northwestern Pacific and affect Asia.

Typhoon Saola is named for an elusive species of wild ox that is native to parts of Southeast Asia.

Forecasters say it is hard to say exactly where — or if — the storm will make landfall. That is partly because Haikui, a tropical storm swirling farther east, might influence its trajectory. Saola could also be influenced by the annual summer monsoon, according to the Hong Kong’s Observatory, the meteorological agency for the Chinese territory.

The Philippine meteorological agency said that Saola would likely move parallel to the coast of the southern Chi-

nese province of Guangdong on Saturday, and that a landfall in mainland China was possible on Sunday. Either way, the agency said, the storm was expected to weaken as it moved through the South China Sea, becoming a tropical storm by Monday.

Ukrainians take stock of damage from Russian drone and missile attacks in a residential area of Kyiv that reportedly left at least two dead overnight on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.

A satellite image showing typhoon Saola moving north toward Taiwan on Tuesday.

Tested in Greece’s fires: An emergency force for 27 countries

By MATINA STEVIS-GRIDNEFF

At dusk last week in the picturesque northern Greek village of Dadia, home to a few hundred people and next to a lush national park full of rare vultures, dozens of firefighters from around Europe gathered to assess the day’s work and load up on water and fuel.

Exhausted, with dark smudges across flushed cheeks, they watched Europe’s most destructive blaze in recent history advance through virgin forest across the hill.

There was little to do now but wait. In this spot, the impenetrably dense forest meant firefighters couldn’t confront the enemy on the ground. Two water-scooping aircraft had just completed their final drops for the day — they would have to head back to base and wait for first light to get back up.

The acrid air in the tidy village square was full of ash settling gently like snow. Locals prepared for another anxious sleepless night. They opened the cafe on the square, pulled up chairs and offered the firefighters drinks and snacks. Together, they waited for what the night held in store.

It was a preview of Europe’s future, where, increasingly, major natural disasters linked to the climate crisis, like Greece’s wildfires, will be handled with the help of standing forces funded by the European Union, ready to deploy where needed.

Right now, they’re overwhelmingly needed in Greece.

The fire around Dadia was still burning on Wednesday, for a 12th consecutive day. A record 198,000 acres have burned in the broader Evros region since the blazes began on Aug. 19.

Greece is at the frontier of the continent’s climate crisis, which unleashed oppressive heat waves and deadly wildfires this summer at a pace and scale rarely seen before. Other nations along the Mediterranean coastline like Italy, Spain and France face similar challenges, while elsewhere on the continent, both freak heat and floods have been playing out.

The combination of heat waves, galeforce winds and flammable vegetation — mostly pine trees — mean that Greece’s forests are tinder boxes, overwhelming Greek firefighters who, critics say, lack the resources to deal with regular fire seasons, let alone the mega-fires raging this year.

In Evros, hundreds of firefighters and

dozens of aircraft have been deployed to stop the blaze. It has not been enough.

To bolster the response, Greece turned to the EU for help. The bloc, through a special program, dispatched aircraft, fire trucks and more than a hundred firefighters to its member nation, drawing on a standing force sourced from Croatia, Germany, Romania, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Cyprus.

Last week, about one-fifth of the firefighters battling blazes in Greece were part of the EU force.

The bloc’s civil protection mechanism, as it is called, was set up more than two decades ago as a voluntary coordination program where EU nations could offer assistance to others in need, both within the union and outside it.

But since 2019, the bloc has added a new layer to its joint disaster-fighting muscle, known as rescEU. This one is fully paid for by the European Union and is not voluntary: If a member state requests assistance, the rescEU standing force must respond.

EU officials said that most of the aircraft used in Greece, for example, were commanded to deploy there under the EU program.

“With the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, there’s a growing risk that national capacities may not meet the needs,” said Janez Lenarcic, the European commissioner for crisis management.

The rescEU program “is a new, higher level of European solidarity, which we abso-

lutely need if we are to cope with the worsening impact of climate change,” he added. “No country can hope to be able to do that on its own.”

The program is nascent. Its budget for this season is only 23 million euros, or $25 million, and it includes 28 specialized aircraft and 440 firefighters from 11 EU countries who were deployed preemptively in Greece, Portugal and France.

Wildfires are its main focus, but the program also responds to needs like building mobile shelters, providing emergency trans-

portation and electricity supplies in crises, and dealing with medical emergencies and chemical, biological and nuclear incidents.

Villagers in Dadia were deeply grateful to the foreigners who were working hard to save their lives, livelihoods and natural environment, throwing themselves into the fray alongside Greek firefighters.

“The Romanians are machines!” exclaimed Dimos Gabranis, who was born and raised in Dadia and rushed back to the village from a nearby city last week to help as he could. “They really have no fear —we are lucky they’re here.” On social media, Greeks joked about finding houses and spouses for the European firefighters so they would never leave.

The EU’s joint force also points to the possibility of a darker future, where parts of Europe that are now cooler and wetter might become more prone to southern-style wildfires.

Florin Chirea, the leader of the Romanian firefighting team operating in Evros, is practically an expert on Greek wildfires, having deployed to the country as part of the EU program four times since 2021 — all to combat major summertime blazes.

“This help is good for the host nations, but it’s also good for us to improve,” he said. “Today we don’t have such big problems, but we really need to adapt, because this year we are in Greece, maybe in 10 years or 15 years the same thing could happen in Romania.”

Residents watching the fires in the Evros region of northeastern Greece last week. The country is at the frontier of Europe’s climate crisis, which unleashed intense heat waves and wildfires this summer.

US does not want to ‘decouple’ from China, commerce chief says

By ANA SWANSON and KEITH BRADSHER

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told Chinese officials Tuesday that the United States was not seeking to sever economic ties with China, but she expressed a litany of concerns that were prompting the business community to describe China as “uninvestable.”

Raimondo, who oversees both trade promotion and U.S. limits on China’s access to advanced technology, spoke with several of China’s top officials Tuesday. That included meeting with Premier Li Qiang, China’s second-highest official, and Vice Premier He Lifeng, who oversees many economic issues, at the Great Hall of the People, next to Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing.

Raimondo said she had pressed Chinese officials on a variety of challenges facing U.S. businesses operating in China. Companies have expressed concerns about long-running issues like intellectual property theft as well as a raft of newer developments, like raids on businesses, a new counterespionage law and exorbitant fines that come without explanations, she said during an extended interview with reporters on a high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai on Tuesday evening.

“Increasingly, I hear from businesses China is uninvestable because it has become too risky,” she said.

Raimondo said after the meetings that she had raised the various concerns of U.S. companies like Intel, Micron and Boeing, but that she “didn’t receive any commitments.” Beijing scuttled Intel’s acquisition of another semiconductor company this month by not giving the deal antitrust approval. It has also severely restricted some of Micron’s semiconductor sales in China since May and has halted almost all purchases of Boeing jets over the last several years, mainly choosing Airbus aircraft from Europe instead.

“I was very firm in our expectations. I think I was heard,” she added. “We’ll have to see if they take any action.”

Raimondo also asked for China’s coope-

ration on broader threats like climate change, fentanyl and artificial intelligence. The Chinese in turn asked for the United States to reduce export controls on advanced technology and retract a recent executive order that bans new investments in certain advanced technologies, Raimondo said. The commerce secretary said she had refused those requests. “We don’t negotiate on matters of national security,” she said.

Still, Raimondo tried to assure the Chinese that export controls applied only to a small proportion of U.S.-China trade, and that other economic opportunities between the countries should be embraced.

“This isn’t about decoupling,” she said. “This is about maintaining our very consequential trade relationship, which is good for America, good for China and good for the world. An unstable economic relationship between China and the United States is bad for the world.”

The official Xinhua News Agency said late Tuesday that Li had told Raimondo that economic relations between China and the United States were “mutually beneficial.” But he also warned that “politicizing economic and trade issues and overstretching the concept of security will not only seriously affect bilateral relations and mutual trust, but also undermine the interests of enterprises and people of the two cou-

ntries, and will have a disastrous impact on the global economy.”

Raimondo’s visit is part of an effort by the Biden administration to stop a long deterioration in the U.S. relationship with China and restore communications. She is the fourth senior Biden administration official to travel to China in three months.

Her conversations with Chinese officials — which ranged from issues of national security to commercial opportunities for tourism — attested to both the economic potential of the trading relationship and its immense challenges.

Chinese officials have welcomed her visit as an opportunity to reduce tensions and air their concerns. Seated in a red-carpeted reception room on the second floor of the Great Hall, He said at the start of their meeting that he was ready to work with Raimondo, and hoped the United States would adopt rational and practical policies. She responded by laying out what the Biden administration sees as its priorities.

“The U.S.-China commercial relationship is one of the most globally consequential, and managing that relationship responsibly is critical to both our nations and indeed to the whole world,” Raimondo said. “And while we will never of course compromise in protecting our national security, I want to be clear that we do not seek to decouple or to hold China’s economy back.”

On Monday, Raimondo and China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, met and agreed to hold regular discussions between the two countries on commercial issues. Those talks are set to include business leaders as well

as government officials. The two governments also agreed to exchange information, starting with a meeting by their senior aides Tuesday morning in Beijing, about how the United States enforces its export controls.

Earlier Tuesday, Raimondo met with China’s minister of culture and tourism, Hu Heping. That meeting came less than three weeks after Beijing lifted a ban on group tours to the United States that it had imposed during the pandemic, when China closed its borders almost completely for nearly three years.

The two ministers agreed at the meeting that the United States and China would host a gathering in China early next year to promote the travel industry, the latest in a series of business promotion activities Raimondo has been organizing.

Travel from China to the United States remains at less than a third of pre-pandemic levels, the U.S. Travel Association, an industry group, said on Saturday.

The number of nonstop flights between the two countries is still less than a tenth of its level before the pandemic. Chinese airlines carried most of the passengers between the two countries before the pandemic. But after Beijing frequently blocked American carriers’ flights to China during the pandemic because of COVID-19 cases aboard — while allowing Chinese carriers’ flights to continue — the Biden administration began insisting on strict reciprocity.

Following the retirement of many pilots and flight attendants during the pandemic, American carriers have struggled to meet travel demand within the United States. They have been slow to restore long-haul services to China, which require many crews to operate, although United Airlines announced recently that this autumn it would increase the frequency of flights from San Francisco to Shanghai, and would resume flights from San Francisco to Beijing.

Senior U.S. officials have previously tended to fly between Beijing and Shanghai during visits to China, but the Commerce Department decided to move its sizable delegation by train on this trip. Huge Chevrolet Suburban SUVs carrying Raimondo and her aides pulled straight up onto the train platform to unload them into one of China’s high-speed electric trains, which travel for long stretches at 217 mph, or 350 kph.

The trains travel from Beijing to Shanghai, a distance comparable to the journey from New York to Atlanta or Chicago, in as little as 4 1/2 hours, depending on how many stops they make. The trains, usually with 16 or more passenger cars, depart several times an hour in each direction.

Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, meeting with Premier Li Qiang, China’s second-highest official, in Beijing.

Doctoras egresadas de Huertas College

Durante más de 30 años, el programa de Grado Asociado en Técnico de Farmacia de Huertas College, ha contribuído a la formación de más de 1,000 profesionales con los conocimientos y destrezas necesarias para brindar un servicio de excelencia y calidad humana asistiendo al farmacéutico en las funciones técnicas y administrativas que éste le delegue en conformidad con la Ley de Farmacia de Puerto Rico, del 3 de septiembre de 2004. Huertas, los líderes en carreras cortas y con más de 78 años en el mercado, se ha diferenciado en educar y brindarle a los estudiantes las experiencias necesarias para laborar en diferentes áreas de la salud tales como: farmacias de la comunidad, farmacias institucionales, industria farmacéutica, droguerías, planes médicos, entre otros. Dentro del currículo del Grado Asociado en Técnico de Farmacia en Huertas College podrás encontrar clases de Farmacología, Tecnología de Farmacia, Laboratorio de Técnicas de Farmacia, Legislación Farmacéutica, etc. Gracias a este robusto currículo, muchos de los egresados del programa, han continuado estudios luego de culminar el grado asociado y han sido aceptados en diferentes escuelas de farmacia en Puerto Rico y Estados Unidos. Por mencionar algunos ejemplos, recientemente la Dra. Karleen Ramos Vázquez, egresada de Huertas College, culminó su doctorado en farmacia y aprobó su licencia para ejercer como Farmacéutica. Así como la Dra. Ramos, hay otras historias de éxito de egresadas que recientemente han comenzado estudios conducentes al doctorado en farmacia en diversas Universidades de Puerto Rico y Estados Unidos como lo son Jarilyn Carrasquillo Carrasquillo, Kimberly Acosta Allende, y Natacha Hernández Navarro.

educación de nivel superior…”, Acosta, otra de las historias de éxito de egresados en el Grado Asociado de Técnico de Farmacia. Otra de las egresadas que pudimos entrevistar fue a Jarilyn Carrasquillo Carrasquillo quien nos dijo: “…realizar el Grado Asociado en Técnico de Farmacia en Huertas fue una de las mejores decisiones que he tomado. El programa te prepara para enfrentar el mundo laboral y poner en práctica tus habilidades, conocimientos y valores…”.

“Huertas College creó esa base de estudio, la cual hoy me sirve para ir avanzando en mis estudios de doctorado”, expresó Hernández en entrevista telefónica sobre su experiencia estudiando en Huertas. “…Los profesores en Huertas jugaron un rol fundamental. Su dedicación y compromiso con la enseñanza no solo me brindaron conocimientos sólidos, sino que también me inspiraron a buscar

Cuando le preguntamos a Natacha Hernández Navarro, qué recomendaciones le daría a un estudiante que está próximo a comenzar a estudiar esta profesión el martes, 5 de septiembre de 2023 nos comentó: “… utilicen las herramientas de estudio que ofrece la institución, la buena enseñanza que brindan los profesores y que al momento de hacer sus horas de práctica puedan visualizarse dentro de la profesión…”. Por su parte, Acosta compartió: “…Mantén una actitud abierta para aprender sobre los diversos aspectos de la farmacia. Participa activamente en las discusiones en clase. Cultiva relaciones profesionales (network) conectando con tus profesores y compañeros, así como con profesionales del campo. Gestiona el tiempo eficientemente. Persiste y mantén la pasión; habrá desafíos en el camino, pero mantén tu pasión por la farmacia…”.

Como último dato, Carrasquillo mencionó que “…las experiencias de laboratorio, actividades extracurriculares y las horas realizadas como practicante de Técnico de Farmacia influyeron en mi decisión de continuar mi carrera en Farmacia, al igual que mi experiencia en farmacia de comunidad…”.

Matrícula abierta para estudiar un Bachillerato, Grado Asociado o un Grado Certificado. Clases comienzan el martes, 5 de septiembre de 2023. Para más información 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!

Kimberly Acosta Allende

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How do we manage China’s decline?

Several years ago, Harvard political scientist Graham Allison coined the term “Thucydides’ trap.” It was based on the ancient historian’s observation that the real cause of the Peloponnesian War “was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta.” Allison saw the pattern of tensions — and frequent wars — between rising and ruling powers repeating itself throughout history, most recently, he believes, with the challenge that a rising China poses to American hegemony.

It’s an intriguing thesis, but in China’s case it has a glaring flaw: The main challenge we will face from the People’s Republic in the coming decade stems not from its rise but from its decline — something that has been obvious for years and has become undeniable in the past year with the country’s real estate market crash.

Western policymakers need to reorient their thinking around this fact. How? With five don’ts and two dos.

First, don’t think of China’s misfortunes as our good fortune.

A China that can buy less from the world — whether in the form of handbags from Italy, copper from Zambia or grain from the United States — will inevitably constrain global growth. For U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm, 64% of its sales last year came from China; for German automaker Mercedes-Benz, 37% of its retail car sales were made there. In 2021, Boeing forecast that China will account for about 1 in 5 of its wide-body plane deliveries over the next two decades. A truism that bears repeating is that there is only one economy: the global economy.

Second, don’t assume the crisis will be short-lived. Optimists think the crisis won’t affect Western countries

too badly because their exports to China account for a small share of their output. But the potential scale of the crisis is staggering. Real estate and its related sectors account for nearly 30% of China’s gross domestic product, according to a 2020 paper by economists Ken Rogoff and Yuanchen Yang. It is heavily financed by the country’s notoriously opaque $2.9 trillion trust industry, which also appears to be tottering. And even if China averts a full-scale crisis, long-term growth will be sharply constrained by a working-age population that will fall by nearly a quarter by 2050.

Third, don’t assume competent economic management.

Last month, Donald Trump described the rule of China’s president, Xi Jinping, as “smart, brilliant, everything perfect.” The truth is closer to the opposite. As a young man, according to a peer from his youth, Xi was “considered of only average intelligence,” earned a three-year degree in “applied Marxism” and rode out the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath by becoming “redder than red.” His tenure as supreme leader has been marked by a shift to greater state control of the economy, the intensified harassment of foreign businesses and a campaign of terror against independent-minded business leaders. One result has been ever-increasing capital flight, despite heavy-handed capital controls. China’s richest people have also left the country in increasing numbers during Xi’s tenure — a good indication of where they think their opportunities do and do not lie.

Fourth, don’t take domestic tranquility as a given.

Xi’s government’s recent decision to suppress data on youth unemployment — just north of 21% in June, double what it was four years ago — is part of a pattern of crude obfuscation that mainly diminishes investor confidence. But the struggles of the young are almost always a potent source of upheaval, as they were in 1989 on the eve of the Tiananmen Square protests. Never mind Thucydides’ trap; the real China story may lie in a version of what’s sometimes called Tocqueville’s paradox: the idea that revolutions happen when rising expectations are frustrated by abruptly worsening social and economic conditions.

Fifth, don’t suppose that a declining power is a less dangerous one.

In many ways, it’s more dangerous. Rising powers can afford to bide their time, but declining ones will be tempted to take their chances. President Joe Biden was off the cuff but on the mark this month when he said of China’s leaders that “when bad folks have problems, they do bad things.” In other words, as China’s economic fortunes sink, the risks to Taiwan grow.

Sixth, do stick to four red lines.

American policymakers need to be unbending and uncowed when it comes to our core interests in our relationship: freedom of navigation, particularly in the South China Sea; the security of Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies; the protection of U.S. intellectual property and national security; and the safety of U.S. citizens (both in China and in the United States) and residents of Chinese ancestry. Helping Ukraine defeat Russia is also a part of an overall

China strategy, in that it sends a signal of Western political resolve and military capability that will make Beijing think twice about a military adventure across the Taiwan Strait.

Seventh, do pursue a policy of detente.

We should not seek a new cold war with China. We cannot afford a hot one. The best response to China’s economic woes is American economic magnanimity. That could start with the removal of the Trump administration tariffs that have done as much to hurt American companies and consumers as they have the Chinese.

Whether that will change the fundamental pattern of Beijing’s bad behavior is far from certain. But as China slides toward crisis, it behooves us to try.

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‘One Piece’ creator hopes to defy ‘a history of failure’

By CHARLES SOLOMON

Today, an eight-part adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s pirate comedy-adventure “One Piece” will make its Netflix debut. The stakes are high: Millions of fans want to see if the showrunners, Matt Owens and Steven Maeda (whom Oda describes as “‘One Piece’ superfans”), succeeded in converting the beloved manga and anime series to live-action. Although some viewers over 30 may not recognize the title, “One Piece” is one of the most popular entertainment franchises in the world.

Since July 1997, when it began appearing in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, “One Piece” collections have sold more than 516 million copies worldwide. An animated TV series notched its 1,000th episode this year, and there have been numerous TV specials, light novels and video games; fans discuss “One Piece” trivia on countless websites. The 15th theatrical feature, “One Piece Film: Red,” was the No. 1 box-office hit in Japan in

Netflix held the fan screening of “One Piece,” at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, Calif., on Aug. 24, 2023. The “One Piece” franchise is enormously popular, with more than 516 million books sold and numerous anime series and movies released.

2022, outdrawing “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Oda is extremely private — he does not allow his face to be photographed, if he can help it — but he talked about “One Piece” in a rare interview from Los Angeles. Speaking through interpreter Taro Goto, he discussed the origins of “One Piece,” casting its hero for TV, and the film that changed his mind about liveaction adaptation. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Q: When it comes to adapting a phenomenally popular manga and anime series such as “One Piece” to live action, what do you have to keep in mind?

A: A live-action adaptation of a manga doesn’t simply reenact the source material on a one-to-one basis: It involves really thinking about what fans love about the characters, the dynamics among them — and being faithful to those elements. A good live-action show doesn’t have to change the story too much. The most important thing is whether

Continues on page 18

From page 17

the actors can reproduce the characters in a way that will satisfy the people who read the manga. I think we did it well, so I hope audiences will accept it.

Q: You’ve said you wanted to be a manga artist since you were in elementary school. How did “One Piece” begin?

A: I set out to draw the manga I wanted to read when I was young. When I started, I had to draw things that didn’t exist to get attention. There were plenty of heroes who fight the demons and save the world; the market was saturated with that kind of story. I wanted to do something different but relatable. I understood that I had been supported and helped by a lot of people to get to where I was, so friendship became a central theme.

Q: The hero of the story is Monkey D. Luffy (it rhymes, appropriately, with “goofy”), who is determined to become King of the Pirates by finding a fabulous treasure known as the One Piece. Luffy is warmhearted, upbeat and ferociously devoted to his friends, but he’s no matinee idol. How did you design him?

A: I knew I wanted to write a pirate manga, and just drew from instinct the kind of young boy I imagined in the role. As the adventure continued, I realized that various kinds of pirates would appear, so I decided to give Luffy a face that would be very easy to draw. Later, when I had to give autographs and needed to sketch Luffy, it was easy to do.

Q: Something that sets “One Piece” apart from many adventure manga is the powerful, capable women in the story, including the archaeologist Robin and Nami, the navigator.

A: There are many strong women in the world of “One Piece” — women with intelligence like Robin, or with abilities like Nami. There are even attractive and strong women among the enemy pirates. In the manga I read as a kid, there was always a point where the heroine existed just to be rescued. That didn’t sit well with me; I didn’t want to create a story about women being kidnapped and saved. I depict women who know how to fight for themselves and don’t need to be saved. If a moment comes where they’re overpowered, their shipmates will help them out, and vice versa.

Q: As a boy, Luffy ate the accursed gum-gum fruit and it turned his body into rubber, allowing him to deliver fantastic stretchy kicks and punches in fights. Isn’t he better suited to animation than to live action?

A: When I first started, I didn’t think there was any point in drawing a manga that could be remade in live-action. But when I saw the movie “Shaolin Soccer,” it felt like a manga-esque world brought to life. I changed my mind. I realized times had changed, and there was technology available that could make a live-action “One Piece” happen. So I shifted to finding the right partner to bring the manga to life.

Q: Actors have portrayed Luffy and his crew in stage shows and even in a Kabuki play. But attempts to adapt popular anime into American live-action movies and series have generally been unsuccessful, as in the widely panned “Ghost in the Shell” (2017) and the short-lived “Cowboy Bebop” (2021). Did that worry you?

A: Various manga had been made into live action, but there was a history of failure; no one in Japan could name a successful

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example. Would fans of “One Piece” — and viewers who don’t know the manga — accept it? Perhaps it was time to search for the answer. Thankfully, Netflix agreed that they wouldn’t go out with the show until I agreed it was satisfactory. I read the scripts, gave notes and acted as a guard dog to ensure the material was being adapted in the correct way.

Q: Luffy is not the brightest doubloon in the dead man’s chest, but he’s an endearing character: He’s impulsive and happy-go-lucky until some villain threatens his friends or menaces someone weaker — then it’s a fight to the finish. Was he difficult to cast?

A: I thought the biggest challenge was going to be finding somebody to play Luffy — I didn’t expect to find anyone quite like Iñaki Godoy. When I first created Luffy, I drew the most energetic child I could imagine: a normal child on the outside, but not at all normal on the inside. Iñaki was just like the person I drew; he felt absolutely natural. Before I saw the first cut of the show, a lot of my notes were based on how the manga Luffy would act. But after seeing Iñaki’s performance, I was able to shift gears and give notes on how the live-action Luffy should act.

Q: The live-action “One Piece” uses more extensive dialogue than the manga or the animated series, which focus more on the visuals.

A: In a manga, the more dialogue you put in, the less space you have to draw, so I cut the words as much as possible. But when people actually talk, the conversations are different. In liveaction dramas, there’s always a lot of dialogue. If the characters spoke in real life, their speeches would have the natural feel that’s in the scripts. I’m very happy about how that turned out.

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Is it time to wear a mask again?

By DANI BLUM

As new COVID variants gain traction, reinfections become more common and cases climb in certain areas, a few schools and businesses are reinstating mask requirements. Experts say it makes sense to increase precautions, including turning back to masks.

“I tend to say, if you’re going to go out, make sure you have a mask in your car, a couple masks at home or at work, so you always have something available to put on,” said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Here’s a refresher on where, when and how to mask.

When should you wear a mask inside?

Everyone’s risk tolerance varies, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said. But particularly if you are 65 or older, have an underlying condition that makes you more vulnerable to severe disease or are pregnant, he recommends wearing a mask whenever you are in a relatively confined, crowded indoor space. That can include stores, offices and public transportation.

“Certainly every time you add another person to the room, particularly people who are within 3 to 5 feet of you, that increases your chance of getting infected, exponentially,” Pekosz added.

Time matters, too: Darting in and out of a packed grocery store is less risky than working all day in a busy office, for example. Ten minutes is a good marker to keep in mind, Pekosz said. If you’re head-

ed somewhere indoors for longer than that, you may want to consider putting on a mask.

When should you wear a mask outside?

Outdoor transmission is generally rare, but if you’re in a scenario where people are “jammed together and yelling,” Schaffner said, like at a sporting event or a concert, you might want to wear a mask.

Linsey Marr, an expert in airborne transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech, said a good rule of thumb if you’re trying to avoid getting COVID is to opt for a mask if you’re elbow-to-elbow with other people: “When you’re in environments where you can reach out and touch someone.”

Which type of mask should you wear?

Marr recommends N95, KN95 or KF94 masks, all of which filter out more than 90% of virus particles, she said, mak-

ing them far more effective than surgical or cloth masks at reducing your chance of getting infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of resources for where to find free N95s.

Experts said that a mask should fit snugly across your face and cover both your nose and mouth; wearing a mask below your nose will do very little to shield you from the virus.

A high-quality mask “does wonders in terms of protecting you from getting infected, but you have to wear it the right way,” Pekosz said. “If you don’t crimp the metal thing around your nose, if it’s loose around you, then you’re probably breathing around the mask, not through the mask. And that is not going to protect you.”

Some experts estimate that you can use a mask for a total of about 40 hours before it’s time to replace it. If you notice fraying, creases, new holes or dirt on your mask, you should replace it before then,

Marr said. If your mask is uncomfortable, or if you feel like it’s moving too much across your face, Marr recommends trying different brands to find the best fit.

Do you need to mask after being exposed?

If you get the dreaded text that someone you recently spent time with has tested positive for COVID, the CDC recommends putting on a high-quality mask as soon as possible, and keeping it on for 10 full days when you’re around people. Even if you test negative, the agency says you should still wear a mask in public indoor settings. It can take several days for people to develop symptoms, Pekosz said, and testing too early can lead to false negatives.

Is one-way masking effective?

Even if you’re the only person wearing one on the subway or in your office, a high-quality mask can still meaningfully reduce your risk of getting infected. “You’re going to be pretty well protected,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford Medicine, because you’re guarding your face from the particles around you.

There are additional ways to build up your defenses against the virus: sanitizing your hands before touching your face, social distancing from others and getting an updated booster shot when new vaccines are available.

While many people are exhausted by this long pandemic, Maldonado stressed it’s important to remember that we have tools to reduce risk. “Masks work, period,” she said. “Whether you choose to use them or not is a different matter. But they definitely work.”

LEGAL NOTICE

AVISO A ACREEDORES DE LAS SUCESIONES SANTOS ALONSO

MALDONADxO SOBRE FORMACIÓN DE INVENTARIO EN SEDE NOTARIAL

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

A: ACREEDORES DEL CAUSANTE SANTOS

ALONSO MALDONADO

POR LA PRESENTE se les notifica que se ha iniciado la preparación del inventario en sede notarial del caudal relicto de los causantes Santos Alonso Maldonado. Se les requiere para que toda reclamación con los correspondientes comprobantes bajo juramento sea presentada y dirigida al peticionario por conducto de sus abogados a las siguientes direcciones y dentro del plazo de treinta (30) días contados desde la publicación del presente edicto:

Sucesión Santos Alonso Maldonado

Lcdo. Omar Sánchez Pagán PO Box 195055 San Juan Puerto, Rico, 00919

Se le advierte que de no responder a este Aviso, los procedimientos para la formación y liquidación del caudal d ela causante continuarán sin más citarle ni oirle.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ

LIME HOMES, LTD.

Parte Demandante Vs.

SUCESIÓN DE RUBÉN

RODRÍGUEZ SÁNCHEZ

COMPUESTA POR:

MADELINE RODRÍGUEZ

OLÁN, CARLOS

RUBÉN RODRIGUEZ

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POSIBLES HEREDEROS

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Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: MZ2022CV00797.

Salón Núm.: (207). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN

REM”. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE

LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: SUCESIÓN DE RUBÉN

RODRÍGUEZ SÁNCHEZ

COMPUESTA POR:

MADELINE RODRÍGUEZ

OLÁN, CARLOS

RUBÉN RODRIGUEZ

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SUPERSTITE; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM): DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA:

ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA ACTUANDO

POR CONDUCTO DE LA ADMINISTRACION DE HOGARES DE AGRICULTORES O A SU

ORDEN: Y AL PÚBLICO

EN GENERAL:

El Alguacil que suscribe, certifica y hace constar que en cumplimiento de Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaría del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, procederé a vender en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América. Todo pago recibido por el (la) Alguacil por concepto de subastas será en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del (de la) Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Todo derecho, título, participación e interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Parcela número 4 radicada en el Barrio Montoso del municipio de Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de trescientos sesenta y siete metros trentiun centímetros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en una alineación de 14.02 metros con el solar número 3 a segregarse y en otra alineación de 11.03 metros con el remanente de la finca principal de la cual se segrega; por el SUR, en 21.49 metros con camino público; por el ESTE, en 21.64 metros con el remanente de la finca principal de la cual se segrega; y por el OESTE, en 18.85 metros con el solar número 3 a segregarse.

Consta inscrita al folio 89 del tomo 975 de Mayagüez, finca #29,113. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Mayagüez. La propiedad

objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: 105 RD KM 164, Las Vegas, Mayagüez, P.R. 00680. Según figura en el Estudio de título, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada al siguiente Gravamen preferente a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: a. Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Estados Unidos de América actuando por conducto de la Administración de Hogares de Agricultores, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $31,600.00, con intereses al 8.25% anual, vencedero en 33 años, constituida mediante la escritura número 7, otorgada en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el día 3 de febrero de 1992, ante el notario Enrique Alcaraz Casablanca, e inscrita al folio 91 del tomo 975 de Mayagüez, finca número 29,113, inscripción 4ta. Se le notifica al acreedor preferente anteriormente identificado para que pueda concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados. Se informa que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravamen posterior, una vez sea otorgada la escritura de venta judicial y obtenida la Orden y Mandamiento de cancelación de gravamen posterior. (Art. 51, Ley 210-2015). En relación a la finca a subastarse, se establece como tipo mínimo de licitación en la Primera Subasta la suma de $66,600.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #1, otorgada en (no expresa), Puerto Rico, el día 31 de enero de 2007, ante el notario Cynthia Battle Quidgley, e inscrita al folio 5,280 del tomo 1,536 de Mayagüez, finca número 29,113, inscripción 9na, como Asiento Abreviado extendida las líneas el día 31 de octubre de 2017, en virtud de la Ley número 216 del día 27 de diciembre de 2010. (Fue presentado el día 7 de febrero de 2007 al Asiento 550 del Diario 732). La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $66,600.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día

9 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2023

A LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la pri-

mera subasta, o sea, la suma de $44,400.00. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 16 DE NOVIEMBRE DE

2023

A LAS 2:00 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo lugar y regirá como tipo mínimo de la tercera subasta la mitad del precio pactado para la primera, o sea, la suma de $33,300.00. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo, para con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor, a saber: Suma Principal de $62,616.74, con intereses a 6.628% anual, desde el 1ro de marzo de 20129, hasta el presente y los que se continúen acumulando hasta su total y completo pago, más los cargos por demora que se corresponden a los plazos atrasados desde la fecha anteriormente indicada a razón de la tasa pactada de 5% de cualquier pago que éste en mora por más de quince (15) días desde la fecha de su vencimiento, más una suma equivalente a $6,660.00, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más cualquier otra suma que resulte por cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hayan hecho la demandante, en virtud de las disposiciones de la escritura de hipoteca y del Pagaré hipotecario. Para más información, a las personas interesadas se les notifica que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal, durante las horas laborables. Este EDICTO DE SUBASTA, se publicará en los lugares públicos correspondientes y en un periódico de circulación general en la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los referentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente Escritura de Venta Judicial y el Alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días, de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o to-

lerancia del deudor la ocupen. Se informa que la propiedad objeto de ejecución se adquiere libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Expedido en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a 01 de agosto de 2023. NATALIA P. ALTIERI ACEVEDO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #218.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE HATILLO REVERSE MORTGAGE

FUNDING LLC. Demandante Vs. SUCESION CARMELO ANDRES HERRERA

DORTA T/C/C CARMELO

A. HERRERA DORTA T/C/C CARMELO ANDRES HERRERA T/C/C

CARMELO HERRERA

DORTA T/C/C CARMELO

A. HERRERA T/C/C

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COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS;

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HERRERA ROSA T/C/C

CARMEN A. HERRERA

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Demandados

Civil Núm.: AR2021CV01363.

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

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

GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de ARECIBO, 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 Camuy, el 11 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación:

RÚSTICA: Solar radicado en el barrio Capaez del término municipal de Hatillo, Puerto Rico, marcado en al plano de inscripción con el numero dos (2), con una cabida superficial de seiscientos ochenta y tres punto trescientos cincuenta y uno (683.351) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en veintiuno punto trescientos noventa (21.390) metros, con solares segregados en el caso número ochenta y cuatro guion cero cinco F guion cuatrocientos siete APL (#84-05F-407APL) y en una curva de cuatro punto siete mil novecientos noventa y dos (4.7992) metros, con solares segregados en el antes referido caso; por el Sur, en veintiséis punto ciento treinta y cuatro (26.134) metros, con solar marcado en el plano de inscripción con el número tres (#3); por el Este, en veintisiete punto noventa (27.090) metros; por el Este, en veintisiete punto noventa (27.090) metros, con solar marcado en el plano de inscripción con el numero uno (#1); por el Oeste, en veinticuatro punto doce (24.012) metros, con calle a dedicarse a uso público. Enclava una casa. Inscrita al folio 125 del tomo 283 de Hatillo, finca 18,345, Registro de la Propiedad de Arecibo, Sección II. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al Tomo Karibe, finca 18,345 de Hatillo, Registro de la Propiedad de Arecibo, Sección II, inscripción 5ª. Propiedad localizada en: SOLAR #2 PR 130, KM 4.3 INT., SECTOR VALLE VERDE, HATILLO, P.R. 00659. 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: $138,000.00. Fe-

cha de Vencimiento: 23 de septiembre de 2091. 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 $138,000.00, 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 Camuy, 18 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $92,000.00, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $69,000.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Camuy, el 25 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:15 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a la suma de $43,726.08 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $8,063.06 en intereses acumulados al 25 de marzo de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 4.978% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $2,744.74 en seguro hipotecario; $320.00 de inspecciones; $3,240.00 en honorarios de abogado; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $13,800.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SU-

BASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Hatillo, Puerto Rico, hoy 14 de agosto de 2023. WILFREDO OLMO SALAZAR, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. LUIS E. ROMÁN CARRERO, ALGUACIL PLACA #657.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE GUAYNABO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. JUAN ANGEL SOSTRE COLON T/C/C JUAN A.

SOSTRE COLON

Demandado

Civil Núm.: D2CD2016-0286. (201). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, HUGO BASCÓ MEDINA, Alguacil Supervisor de la División de Subastas del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Guaynabo 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 20 de diciembre de 2021 y para satisfacer la cantidad adeudada de $126,111.95 de principal mediante Sentencia dictada en el caso de autos el 31 de julio de 2017, notificada y archivada en autos el 9 de agosto de 2017 y publicada mediante edicto en el periódico “The San Juan Daily Star” el 14 de agosto de 2017, procederé a vender en pública subasta, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América, mediante efectivo, giro o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil de este Tribunal todo derecho, tí-

tulo e interés que hayan tenido tengan o puedan tener los deudores demandados en cuanto a la propiedad localizada en el Municipio de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el bien inmueble se describe a continuación: Condominio Boulevard del Río II, Apt. M -330 Bo. Frailes, Guaynabo, PR. URBANA: PROPIEDAD

HORIZONTAL: Apartamento número M guión trescientos treinta (M-330) del Condominio Boulevard del Río II, localizado en el barrio Frailes del municipio de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Esta unidad está constituida en hormigón armado y bloque de cemento y se encuentra ubicado en la Tercera Planta del Edificio denominado “M” del Condominio. Consta de una planta y tiene su entrada por su lindero Noroeste, la cual sale a un pasillo de entrada común del Tercer Nivel del edificio que da acceso al exterior del edificio. Sus linderos son los siguientes: al Suroeste, en una distancia lineal de 29’6” equivalentes a 8.99 metros lineales con pared del edificio que mira hacia área exterior común; Al Noroeste, en una distancia lineal de 29”6”, equivalentes a 8.99 metros lineales con pasillo de entrada, escalera y pared del edificio que mira hacia área exterior común; al Noroeste, en una distancia lineal de 43’4” equivalente a 13.21 metros lineales con pared medianera que lo separa del Apartamento M-329, pasillo, escalera y pared del edificio que mira hacia área común exterior; y al Sureste, en una distancia lineal de 43’4” equivalentes a 13.21 metros con pared del edificio que mira hacia área común exterior; y al Sureste, en una distancia lineal de 43’ 4” equivalentes a 13.21 metros con pared del edificio que mira hacia área común. Esta unidad tiene un área de construcción de 1.156.72 pies cuadrados, equivalentes a 107.46 metros cuadrados. Consta de un dormitorio principal de un closet y baño, dos dormitorios con sus closets, un baño en el área de pasillo, un linen closet, salacomedor, cocina, área de lavandería, vestíbulo y balcón. A esta unidad le ha sido asignado como elemento común limitado el uso de dos espacios de estacionamientos sencillo regular marcado con los números 164 y 165 en los planos del condominio. Le ha sido asignado, además, una participación en los gastos e ingresos del condominio y en la titularidad en sus elementos comunes equivalentes al .74657702% y una participación de .4843% en los elementos comunes limitados del condominio. Le corresponde el estacionamiento 330 que hubo adquirido por cesion de que hiciera Boulevard del Río Corporation, S. E., con valor de $3,000.00 aumentado el por

ciento de participación en los elementos comunes limitados del apartamento en 0.2421% según Esc. #15 en San Juan el 6 de marzo de 2001 ante Gilberto Oliver Vázquez, inscrito al folio 146 del tomo 1364 de Guaynabo, finca #39144 inscripción 4ta. Consta inscrita al folio 120 del tomo 1112 de Guaynabo, Finca #39144, Registro de la Propiedad de Guaynabo. 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: $126,111.95 de principal, intereses vencidos al tipo pactado del 4.50% anual, que a dicha fecha ascienden a la suma de $5,675.04 y los que se continúen acumulando al tipo pactado hasta el pago total y completo de la obligación, la suma de $402.40 por concepto de cargos por demora, más la suma de $13,736.00 por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, según pactados. El tipo mínimo para la subasta será la suma de tasación pactada, la cual es $137,360.00 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; $91,573.33. 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; $68,680.00. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el 12 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:40 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a efecto una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:40 DE LA MAÑANA. De no comparecer postor alguno se llevará a cabo una TERCERA SUBASTA el 26 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 10:40 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 Guaynabo. Del Estudio de Título realizado surgen los siguientes gravámenes: Servidumbres a favor de la Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados de Puerto Rico; Servidumbre a favor de la Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica de Puerto Rico Servidumbre de favor de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company. 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 deman-

dada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el término de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía y se le notificará además a la parte demandada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a la última dirección conocida. 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 la Sala de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, a 14 de agosto de 2023. HUGO BASCÓ MEDINA, ALGUACIL PLACA #807. ***

LEGAL NOTICE

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

IN RE:

HIMA SAN PABLO PROPERTIES, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #2718)

CASE NO. 23-02515 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE:

PORTAL DE CAGUAS, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #4874)

CASE NO. 23-02516 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE:

GENERAL CONTRACTING SERVICES, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #4903)

CASE NO. 23-02517 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE:

IA DEVELOPERS, CORP.

DEBTOR (EIN #4128)

CASE NO. 23-02519 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE CMT DEVELOPMENT, LLC.

DEBTOR (EIN #4351)

CASE NO. 23-02520 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE: JOCAR ENTERPRISES, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #5849)

CASE NO. 23-02521 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE: JERUSALEM HOME AMBULANCE, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #0175)

CASE NO. 23-02522 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE: HOST SECURITY SERVICES, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #8802)

CASE NO. 23-02523 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

NOTICE OF AUCTION AND SALE HEARING. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THE FOLLOWING:

tors’ assets (in each case, the “Assets”) on or about September 14, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. and a hearing to approve the sale of the Assets (the “Sale Hearing”) on or about September 20, 2023, (b) approving procedures (the “Bidding Procedures”) for submitting competing bids for the Assets, (c) authorizing, but not directing, the Debtors to designate one or more Stalking Horse Bidder(s) and approving procedures to seek approval of Bid Protections for such Stalking Horse Bidder(s), (d) approving the form and manner of the notice of the Auction and the Sale Hearing, and (e) establishing procedures for the assumption and assignment of the Assumed Contracts (as defined in the Bidding Procedures and Sale Motion) to any purchaser(s) of the Assets and approving the manner of notice thereof (the “Assumption and Assignment Notice”).

3. On August 23, 2023, the Bankruptcy Court entered the Bidding Procedures Order. Pursuant to the Bidding Procedures Order, if at least two (2) Qualified Bids with regard to any Assets are received by the Bid Deadline (as defined below), the Debtors will conduct the Auction. The Auction shall be held on September 14, 2023, starting at 10:00 a.m. (Atlantic Standard Time), or such other time as the Debtors shall designate, and notify all Qualified Bidders and all creditors who request access to the Auction prior to the Bid Deadline of September 11, 2023 by contacting the counsel to the Debtors, Lugo Mender Group, LLC, 100 Carr. 165 Suite 501 Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00968, (Attn: Wigberto Lugo Mender (wlugo@ lugmender.com), Alexis Betancourt Vincenty (a_betancourt@ lugomender.com), and Amarys Bolorin Solivan (a.bolorin@lugomender.com)) and the investment banker ot the Debtors, IEC Consulting, LLC (Attn: Ivan Colon, ivancolon311@gmail. com).

GRUPO HIMA SAN PABLO, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #8245)

CASE NO. 23-02510 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE:

CENTRO MEDICO EL TURABO, INC.

DEBTOR (EIN #5905)

CASE NO. 23-02513 (ESL)

CHAPTER 11

IN RE:

1. On August 15, 2023, the above-captioned debtors and debtors-in-possession (the “Debtors”), filed voluntary petitions for relief pursuant to chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Puerto Rico (the “Bankruptcy Court”).

2. On August 21, 2023, the Debtors filed a motion (the “Bidding Procedures and Sale Motion”), pursuant to sections 363 and 365 of the Bankruptcy Code and Rules 2002, 6004, and 6006 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (“Bankruptcy Rules”), seeking entry of an order (the “Bidding Procedures Order”) (a) scheduling an auction (the “Auction”) for the sale of all, substantially all, or any subset of the Deb-

5. Promptly following the conclusion of the Auction, but in no event later than 24 hours following the conclusion of the Auction, the Debtors shall file a notice on the Bankruptcy Court’s docket identifying (with specificity) the Successful Bidder(s) for the Assets and the Next-Highest Bidder(s), if any, the amounts bid by the Successful Bidder(s) and the NextHighest Bidder(s), and if either is a credit bidder, what portion of the bid is a credit bid and what portion (if any) is cash, and if any Successful Bidder or NextHighest Bidder is a special purpose entity, the identity of the primary equity holders, or those who otherwise control, the special purpose entity (the “Notice of Successful Bidder(s)”). If no Auction takes place, but there is a Successful Bidder(s), the Debtors shall file the Notice of Successful Bidder(s)”) no later than 24 hours after the Successful Bidder(s) is/are identified. If you wish to download a copy of the Notice of Successful Bidder(s), please visit the Debtors’ claims and noticing agent’s website free of charge at https:// dm.epiq11.com/case/grupohima/info under the link for Sale Documents.

tic Standard Time) (the “Sale Objection Deadline”) by the following parties (collectively, the “Notice Parties”):

a) counsel to the Debtors, Lugo Mender Group, LLC, 100 Carr. 165 Suite 501 Guaynabo, Puerto Rico 00968, (Attn: Wigberto Lugo Mender (wlugo@lugmender.com), and Alexis Betancourt Vincenty (a_betancourt@ lugomender.com));

b) investment banker to the Debtors, IEC Consulting, LLC (Attn: Ivan Colon, ivancolon311@gmail.com)

c) counsel to the DIP Agent, Milbank LLP, 55 Hudson Yards, New York, New York 10001 (Attn: Evan Fleck (efleck@milbank.com) and Matthew Brod (mbrod@milbank.com)); and

d) the Office of the United States Trustee for the District of Puerto Rico (the “U.S. Trustee”), Edificio Ochoa, 500 Tanca Street, Suite 301 (Attn: Monsita Lecaroz-Arribas (USTP. Region21@usdoj.gov)).

Service on the Notice Parties may be made through the CM/ ECF system with courtesy copies by email.

Attorney for Debtors

100 Carr. 165 Suite 501

Guaynabo, P.R. 00968-8052

Tel: (787) 707-0404

Fax: (787) 707-0412

wlugo@lugomender.com

s/ Wigberto Lugo Mender Wigberto Lugo Mender USDC-PR 212304

s/ Alexis A. Betancourt Vincenty Alexis A. Betancourt Vincenty USDC-PR 301304 a_betancourt@lugomender. com

Proposed Counsel for Debtors and Debtors in Possession

LEGAL NOTICE

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

COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO JESUS OBRERO

Demandante V. SERGIO

RODRIGUEZ RIVERA

Demandado(a)

4. Professionals and principals for the Debtors, each Qualified Bidder, each Consultation Party, the U.S. Trustee, any creditors that request access to the Auction prior to the Bid Deadline, and any other parties the Debtors deem appropriate shall be permitted to attend and observe the Auction. Only parties that have submitted a Qualified Bid (as defined in the Bidding Procedures), by no later than September 11, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) (the “Bid Deadline”) may bid at the Auction. Any party that wishes to submit a Bid (as defined in the Bidding Procedures) for all or any portion of the Assets must submit a Bid prior to the Bid Deadline and in accordance with the Bidding Procedures.

6. The Sale Hearing to consider approval of the sale of the Assets to the Successful Bidder(s), free and clear of all liens, claims and encumbrances, will be held before the Honorable Enrique S. Lamoutte, United States Bankruptcy Judge, José V. Toledo Federal Building & US Courthouse, 300 Calle del Recinto S STE 109, San Juan, PR 00901-1964 on September 20, 2023 at 4:00 (Atlantic Standard Time), or at such other time thereafter as counsel may be heard. The Sale Hearing may be adjourned by the Debtors from time to time without further notice to parties in interest other than by announcement of the adjournment in open court on the date scheduled for the Sale Hearing or by including such adjournment on any agenda filed with the Bankruptcy Court and/or by the filing of a notice with the Bankruptcy Court.

7. Objections to approval of the Sale (with the exception of objections related solely to the conduct of the Auction, identity of any Successful Bidder, and ability of any Successful Bidder to provide adequate assurance of future performance, which must be received by a different deadline, the Auction Objection Deadline, defined below), must be in writing, state the basis of such objection with specificity, and be filed with the Bankruptcy Court, Clerk’s Office, 300 Calle del Recinto S STE 109, San Juan, PR 00901-1964, and served before September 11, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (Atlan-

8. Objections related solely to conduct at the Auction, identity of any Successful Bidder, and adequate assurance of future performance by a Successful Bidder must be in writing, state the basis of such objection with specificity, and be filed with the Bankruptcy Court and served on the Notice Parties on or before 4:00 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) on September 11, 2023 (the “Auction Objection Deadline”).

UNLESS AN OBJECTION IS TIMELY SERVED AND FILED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS NOTICE, THE BANKRUPTCY COURT MAY GRANT THE RELIEF REQUESTED WITHOUT FURTHER HEARING AND NOTICE.

9. This Sale Notice is subject to the Bidding Procedures and Sale Motion and the Bidding Procedures Order, with such Bidding Procedures Order controlling in the event of any conflict. The Debtors encourages all parties-in-interest to review such documents in their entirety. Copies of the Bidding Procedures and Sale Motion and the Bidding Procedures Order, form of Asset Purchase Agreement and form of proposed Sale Order, are on file with the Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court, 300 Calle del Recinto S STE 109, San Juan, PR 00901-1964, and are available on the Debtors’ claims and noticing agent’s website free of charge at https:// dm.epiq11.com/case/grupohima/info, under the link for Sale Documents.

[signature page follows]

Dated: August 29, 2023

San Juan, Puerto Rico Lugo Mender Group, LLC

Civil: GB2023CV00045. Sala: 101. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. NOTIFICCACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. SERGIO

RODRIGUEZ RIVERA. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 23 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 24 de agosto de 2023. En Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, el 24 de agosto de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II. DIAMAR GONZÁLEZ BARRETO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

The

San Juan Daily Star

BUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE MIGUEL ENRIQUE GARCIA FONSECA, COMPUESTA POR

XYZ (HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS), ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO Y CRIM

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2023CV02100.

Sober: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA.

EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO E INTERPELACIÓN DIRIGIDOS

A: “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE MIGUEL ENRIQUE GARCIA FONSECA. A1, COND. PONTEZUELA

APT. G 3 CAROLINA, PUERTO RICO 00983, G BID A1, PONTEZUELA, CAROLINA, PR 00983. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Además, en cuanto a la interpelación de los herederos del causante, a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia del causante conforme dispone el Artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §2787, de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, se tendrá por aceptada. También se le transcurso del término de treinta (30) días antes señalado contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 957 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §2785. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema

Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se repre-

sente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son:

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE DEMANDANTE:

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

BERMÚDEZ & DÍAZ, LLP

500 Calle De La Tanca Suite 209 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670 / Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdiaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 25 de agosto de 2023. LCDA.

KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL.

KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. NATALLIE VEGA SANTIAGO, HECTOR LA LUZ ORTIZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV03683.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM”. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S.

A: NATALIE VEGA

SANTIAGO, POR SÍ Y POR CONDUCTO DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

QUE COMPONE CON HECTOR LA LUZ ORTIZ, Y HÉCTOR LA LUZ ORTIZ, POR SÍ Y POR CONDUCTO DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES QUE COMPONE CON NATALIE VEGA

SANTIAGO. URB. RIVER VIEW, K 10 CALLE 11(11A), BAYAMÓN., PR 00961, Y K10 CALLE 11 A, URB. RIVER VIEW, BAYAMÓN, PR 00961.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra

dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index.php/tribunaI-electronico, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante o a ésta, de no tener representación legal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Además, se le apercibe que, en los casos al amparo de la Ley Núm. 57-2023, titulada ey para la Prevención del Maltrato, Preservación de la Unidad Familiar y para la Seguridad, Bienestar y Protección de los Menores, entre los remedios que el Tribunal podrá conceder se incluyen la ubicación permanente de un (una) menor fuera de su hogar, el inicio de procesos para la privación de patria potestad, y cualquier otra medida en el mejor interés del (de la) menor. (Artículo 33, incisos b y f de la Ley Núm. 57-2023). Se le advierte de su derecho a comparecer acompañado(a) de abogado(a) en los casos que proceda. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE

DEMANDANTE:

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

BERMUDEZ & DÍAZ, LLP

500 Calle De La Tanca, Suite 209 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670 / Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdiazbdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy, 23 de agosto de 2023. LCDA.

LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL.

MILITZA MERCADO RIVERA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS-

TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE TOA ALTA ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. LUIS ENRIQUE REYES MONTALVO

Demandado(a)

Civil: TA2023CV00010. Sobre:

COBRO DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN

DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: LUIS ENRIQUE REYES MONTALVO. (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 12 de julio 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 24 de agosto de 2023. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, el 24 de agosto de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR TOA ALTA

ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. JONES ALEXIS

BETANCOURT LOPEZ

Demandado(a)

Civil: TA2022CV01321. Sobre: COBRO DINERO POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JONES ALEXIS

BETANCOURT LOPEZ.

(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 12 de julio 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 24 de julio de 2023. En Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, el 24 de julio de 2023. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MARITZA BONILLA HERNÁNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE BAYAMON ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. EVELYN D GONZALEZ SOLIS

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. VA2022CV00196 SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: EVELYN D GONZALEZ SOLISSABANA HOYOS 6 CARR 690 KM 3.1, VEGA ALTA PR 00692.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie. bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 19 de julio de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 19 de julio de 2023. Lcda. Laura

I. Santa Sánchez, Secretaria Regional. Marilyn Colón Carrasquillo, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE ACE ONE FUNDING, LLC

Parte Demandante Vs. JOSEPH A RIVERA RAMIREZ

Parte Demandada CIVIL NÚM. SJ2023CV03614

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

A: JOSEPH A RIVERA RAMIREZURB VENUS GARDENS

1677 CALLE CHIHUAHUA, SAN JUAN PR 00926. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia al abogado de la parte demandante, Natalie Bonaparte Servera cuya dirección es: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección natalie. bonaparte@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO

MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 6 de julio de 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 19 de julio de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria. F/ Yadira Díaz González, Secretaria Servicio a Sala.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

PUERTO RICO

Demandante v. SUCESIÓN DE ELIEZER

SANTIAGO FIGUEROA Y OTROS

Demandado(a)

Caso Núm. : PO2022CV01628.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA: PROPIEDAD RESIDENCIAL. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. REGGIE DÍAZ HERNÁNDEZ RDIAZ@BDPRLA W.COM

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ELIEZER SANTIAGO

FIGUEROA; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ONEIDA

SANTIAGO FIGUEROA; DARWIN SANTIAGO

SANTOS, COMO HEREDERO CONOCIDO DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ELIEZER SANTIAGO

FIGUEROA; SAMUEL

SANTIAGO FIGUEROA, COMO HEREDERO DE LA SUCESION DE ONEIDA

SANTIAGO FIGUEROA

(Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 22 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 29 de AGOSTO de 2023. En PONCE , Puerto Rico, el 29 de AGOSTO de 2023. CARMEN

G. TIRU QUIÑONES, Secretaria. f/EREINA AGRONT LEON, Secretaria Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTAN-

CIA SALA SUPERIOR DE RÍO GRANDE EN FAJARDO CARRINGTON MORTGAGE SERVICES

LLC

Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN GLADYS DAVILA PEÑA COMPUESTA POR JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados Civil Núm.: RG2023CV00332. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN GLADYS DAVILA PEÑA. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de l os treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberé presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro , si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Greenspoon Marder, LLP

Lcda. Frances L. Asencio-Guido

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

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

Expedido bajo mi firma, y sello del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, hoy 16 de agosto de 2023. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. IVELISSE SERRANO GARCÍA, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

‘The right thing to do’: Starter throws 131 pitches in one-hitter

By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN

Clinging to a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning on Tuesday, Alex Cobb of the San Francisco Giants fired his 125th pitch of the night — an 89-mph splitter — and Cincinnati’s Spencer Steer lined it to center field to double in a run.

Then a curious thing happened: Cobb stayed on the mound.

His team was winning at home, 6-1, he had already thrown the most pitches in a start this season, and there was a runner in scoring position. But Cobb, 35, was left in the game to face Elly De La Cruz, the Reds’ rookie sensation, who is known for tape-measure home runs and jaw-dropping speed.

“The right thing to do is to let a guy who’s going like that continue to go,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters after the game — a statement that seemed out of step with the way managers have handled pitchers in recent years.

Cobb continued to go. He fell behind De La Cruz, 3-1, then froze him, getting called strikes on an 88-mph splitter and a 93-mph sinker to end the game.

With that, Cobb had the sixth complete game of his 12-season career and first onehitter. And he joined a small trend of pitchers being allowed to throw deep into games when pursuing an individual goal.

In Cobb’s case, the leniency was extreme: His 131 pitches were the most in a game by any pitcher since 2019.

“Still fun,” Cobb told reporters of losing the no-hitter. “I wasn’t mad, sad, just ‘all

right, let’s finish it off’ kind of thing.”

In a sport that has grown increasingly cautious in using starting pitchers, the game felt like an extreme throwback. Last month, Justin Verlander, who has three no-hitters, lamented the rise of combined no-hitters and short starts by pitchers in general by wondering what baseball was losing by not developing pitchers who could throw deep into games.

“I hope we don’t look up years from now and see an entire league of just guys who nobody knows their names,” Verlander said.

Since Verlander’s comments, however, a few managers seem to have gotten the message that people want to see starters perform incredible feats.

On Aug. 1, Framber Valdez of the Houston Astros threw a solo no-hitter, facing the minimum number of batters in a 93-pitch masterpiece. On Aug. 9, Philadelphia’s Michael Lorenzen, who was converted from a reliever into a starter last season, was allowed to run up 124 pitches in a no-hitter against Washington. And on Aug. 12, Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins, last year’s winner of the National League Cy Young Award, threw 116 pitches in a complete-game win over the Yankees.

To be clear, long starts are still unusual. Pitchers are averaging slightly less than 5 1/3 innings per start this season, and Kapler’s rotation brings up the rear, averaging just under 4 2/3 innings.

The numbers are skewed some by the occasional use of openers, who are sent out to throw one or two innings before handing the ball to a reliever. But they reflect the dual belief that pitchers lose effectiveness in their third time through the batting order and that the health of pitchers outweighs individual accomplishments.

One of the more extreme cases of caution came last season when Clayton Kershaw, the All-Star left-hander for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was pulled from a perfect game after seven innings despite having thrown only 80 pitches. A chilly, rainy day and Kershaw’s having recently returned from injury were factors in that decision. But it also fit a pattern for manager Dave Roberts, who has pulled multiple starters from no-hit bids over the years, including Rich Hill, who was perfect through seven innings in 2016.

“Every decision I make is for the best interest of the player, their health and the ballclub, because there’s a lot of people that are cheering for the Dodgers — not only just for today and Clayton to throw a no-hitter, but for the Dodgers to win the World Series,” Roberts told reporters. “For us to do that, we need him healthy.”

While Cobb may not be Kershaw, he is a key rotation piece for a team that is in line for the NL’s third wild card, a half-game ahead of Arizona and two games ahead of Cincinnati. With that in mind, it could be relevant how Valdez, Lorenzen and Alcántara have performed since their sensational starts: They have combined for a 5.85 ERA over 60 innings.

Ons Jabeur struggles to a first-round win at the US Open

By DAVID WALDSTEIN

As Camila Osorio hugged Ons Jabeur at the net following their match Tuesday, she almost looked as if she were holding Jabeur upright. Jabeur was exhausted and drained, sweat saturating her tennis uniform. She had managed to defeat Osorio, 7-5, 7-6 (4), but she was so weary and wobbly that Osorio asked her if she was OK.

“I told her, ‘Not really,’” Jabeur, a Tunisian seeded fifth in singles, said in an on-court interview after her first-round victory at the U.S. Open.

Jabeur reached the final at this tournament last year and is a sentimental favorite

of tennis fans worldwide. But those fans will be concerned over whether Jabeur is healthy enough to get back to the championship match. Last week, Jabeur mentioned that she was suffering from nasal congestion, but it appeared to have worsened significantly Tuesday. She left the tournament grounds in the New York borough of Queens after her match and will have a day to recover before she faces Linda Noskova, an unseeded 18-year-old Czech, in the second round today.

It has not been a smooth several weeks for Jabeur since her loss to Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon final in July. She took time off after that demoralizing defeat, then

played the Western & Southern Open outside Cincinnati, where she won two matches before falling to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. During that match, Jabeur needed medical attention for a foot injury.

That ailment did not seem to affect her play against Osorio, an unseeded Colombian, but Jabeur still needed help from a tournament doctor during the match because of her illness. She took some medicine, and even though she was able to remain upright and win, it was an obvious struggle. She sweated through her clothes and needed a full change of uniform at one point, apologizing to Osorio at the net for all the delays.

“I know it is tough to play a player who

is injured or not feeling well on the court,” Jabeur said.

Playing in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Jabeur said the audience’s support helped her through the match, just as Coco Gauff, the American star seeded sixth, said the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium helped her through her tightly contested match with Laura Siegemund of Germany on Monday. A prolonged dispute over how long Siegemund took to serve and to be in position to receive Gauff’s serves ramped up the tension. The pro-Gauff crowd turned on Siegemund, who later said she had been grossly mistreated.

Continues on page 28

Alex Cobb of the San Francisco Giants struck out eight batters and walked one while throwing a complete game against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.

From page 27

“I have to say I am very, very disappointed of the way people treated me today,” she said.

She added: “They had no respect for the player that I am. They have no respect for tennis, for good tennis. This is something that I have to say hurts really bad.”

Fans clapped when Siegemund missed her first serves, which is not considered appropriate decorum in tennis, and even Gauff signaled several times for the crowd to stop. Also, even on tough rallies Siegemund won, there

were times when no one clapped for her.

By contrast, it was all love and respect Tuesday in Armstrong Stadium, where both Jabeur and Osorio played without any tension. When it was over, the fans sang “Happy Birthday” to Jabeur, who turned 29 on Monday.

“I’m feeling blessed to have all of this,” Jabeur told the fans. “For me, it’s more important than to win any match because I know that any love you get from people you will cherish until the end of your life, not your career.”

Making the playoffs is hard. Doing it every year is harder.

By VICTOR MATHER

When the Phoenix Mercury lost to the Dallas Wings on Sunday, it ended an impressive period of sustained success. After a league-leading 10-year streak, the team will not be making the WNBA playoffs this season.

Being good enough to make the playoffs year after year is surprisingly difficult in sports. Player turnover, coaching changes or injuries, or all three, can lead to a losing record and a postseason on the sideline. Even with expanded playoff fields in many sports, a decadelong run such as the Mercury’s is rare in the modern game.

Here’s a look at the current teams around North America that have been consistently good enough for the most seasons.

NHL: Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, seven seasons

Full credit to the Bruins and Leafs for their current seven-season runs. Neither streak includes a Stanley Cup though. The Bruins last lifted the Cup in 2011 and the Leafs in … looking … looking … 1967.

But the most impressive recent playoff streak in hockey goes to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who made it 16 consecutive times, winning Cups in 2009, 2016 and 2017. Last season, the team missed the playoffs by a point to end that run.

WNBA: Connecticut Sun, seven

For the Mercury, the 10-year streak coincided with the arrival of Brittney Griner, a first overall draft pick. For the Sun, the key was starting Jonquel Jones, who had been a substitute in her rookie year. She scored 15 points a game and averaged a WNBA-record 12 rebounds a game in the 2017 season to take the Sun back to the playoffs.

The team has not missed since, in-

cluding this season, its first after trading Jones to the New York Liberty. Connecticut has two finals appearances, but no titles, during the streak.

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs, eight

Say what you will about Andy Reid, but he has led Kansas City to the playoffs eight straight times. How hard is that?

The next-best streak is four, by the Buffalo Bills. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have three, three teams have two, and the streaks of the other 26 teams are at one or zero.

Although Reid has had Patrick Mahomes as his starting quarterback for the past five seasons, the streak also includes three seasons with Alex Smith as the starter. It also includes three Super Bowl appearances in the past four seasons and two wins.

NBA: Boston Celtics, nine

The Celtics, who made 19 consecutive playoff appearances in the 1950s and ’60s, and 14 more in the ’80s and early

’90s, are back on top now with a more modest streak.

That run has included a consistent core: six seasons of Jayson Tatum, seven of Al Horford and Jaylen Brown and nine of Marcus Smart. It has also included an NBA Finals appearance in 2022, a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics have a long way to go to match the most impressive recent playoff streak in sports. The San Antonio Spurs made the playoffs in 22 straight seasons before missing the past three times. A new streak could well be starting next season, though, with the arrival of No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama.

Colleges are a different matter, of course, but that makes it no less impressive that Kansas’ men’s team has made 33 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. And Tennessee’s women’s team has made every NCAA Tournament that has ever been held — 41 of them.

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers, 10

This streak is soon going to be 11, barring an epic collapse. The Dodgers lead the National League West by 12 games, although they haven’t technically clinched a playoff spot.

The run includes back-to-back World Series losses, to the Houston Astros in 2017 and the Boston Red Sox in 2018, and a championship in 2020, albeit one that was played out in a COVID-19 bubble in Arlington, Texas.

Stalwart hitters for the team have been Justin Turner (156 homers, 2014-22) and Corey Seager (.504 slugging, 201521), yet with both players gone this season, the team is still among baseball’s best.

The player most identified with the modern Dodgers, going back not just to the start of the streak in 2013 but all the way to 2010, when he was 20 years old, is starter Clayton Kershaw. He has 208 regular-season wins with the team, plus 13 in the playoffs and three in the World Series, two of them in the 2020 victory.

MLS: New York Red Bulls, 13

Here’s a chance to stump your friends: What major professional team has the longest active playoff streak? It is unlikely they will come up with the Red Bulls.

The answer seems surprising because the Red Bulls have been around since the inaugural season of MLS, 1996, when they were the MetroStars, and have yet to win an MLS Cup, which goes to the playoffs’ winner. The best they have done during their 13-season streak is reach the semifinals, which they have done three times.

This season, with nine teams from each conference making the playoffs, the Red Bulls are 11th, 3 points out with nine games to play. So, you might want to ask that trivia question quickly.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will almost assuredly make the playoffs this season. It will be Clayton Kershaw’s 13th trip to the postseason in 16 years.

Ons Jabeur celebrated her first-round win over Camila Osorio.

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)

Overall, this should be a pleasant day, Aries, and you’ll be properly recognized for the person you are. You may feel like royalty, so feel free to dress in your most regal attire. Take an independent viewpoint when asked about running your castle. Be creative, honorable, and permissive in your rule.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Frustration may set in early today, Taurus, but things should pan out for you as the evening approaches. Once you deal with an issue, let it rest. There’s no need to keep revisiting an old dispute just because you want to prove you’re right. If people don’t agree the first time around, they probably won’t agree the second or third time either.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Whether your realize it or not, you’ll have the upper hand today, Gemini, so take advantage of this opportunity. Things may be going so well that you might not even notice what a fantastic time you’re having. Sit back and take a moment to appreciate your good fortune. Others will gravitate to you naturally, and you’ll always seem to have the right answers to the questions.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

Be careful about planning things too much, Cancer. Leave the morning open for spontaneous acts and haphazard events. Let the structure of the afternoon slowly evolve from the morning’s events. You don’t need to build Rome in a day. Enjoy a leisurely morning, and see if you can convince someone to bring you breakfast in bed. This is the perfect way to start the day.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Keep up the positive self-esteem that you’ve been working on for the past several weeks, Leo. This is one of those days when you’ll be presented with a situation where you can demonstrate your courage and independent mind. Use your powerful spirit to overcome any fears you have. There’s no reason to doubt yourself now. Feel free to strut your stuff.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

You may wake up to a cloudy brain fog, Virgo. Emotionally, you may find it hard to make decisions about anything even though you’re feeling called to do so. There are so many choices and you want them all. The good news is that you should feel much more clearheaded and stable by evening. Hang in there.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

Independence is key for you, Libra, so even though it may not be Independence Day, feel free to celebrate anyhow. Give thanks to all the freedoms you have, and make sure you’re taking advantage of them. You are your own entity with a strong life force that’s capable of anything. Gather your spirit, mount your horse, and ride off to adventure.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Things may be unstable for you this morning, Scorpio, but improve quite a bit by the end of the day. If you can, you should probably just sleep this morning. Get a full amount of rest so you can fully enjoy the latter part of the day. This will leave you with plenty of energy so you can make the most of your night with someone special.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Make sure you have an equal amount of give and take in your life, Sagittarius. If someone gives you a compliment today, know how to receive it graciously instead of brushing it off as something meaningless. At the same time, be generous with your compliments to others. It costs you nothing and it’s worth a treasure chest of gold. How can you beat a deal like that?

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Relationships should go well for you, Capricorn. You should be able to find emotional stability when you form a relationship with someone you trust. Don’t get discouraged if this person tends to be aloof. Your friend is just giving you space to breathe and grow. Direct more of your energy outward so you may begin to manifest the ideas that you store up inside.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

Extend the day by getting up earlier than usual, Aquarius. Even though it may be hard to leave the comfort of your bed, the rewards will be many. The celestial energy beckons you to get up and join the activities of the day. You’ll be much more productive and accomplish a lot by the end of the day.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

You may be trying to cling to something that doesn’t want to sit still, Pisces. It’s like trying to grab a wet fish. The more tightly you squeeze it, the likelier it is to slip out of your grasp. The trick is to be more strategic and less frantic. You also might consider letting the fish go. It isn’t yours anyway.

Speed Bump