Tuesday Aug 8, 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.

By THE STAR STAFF

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia requested on Monday an increase in the rate paid by the Vital health insurance plan to diagnostic and treatment centers (CDTs) so that they can remain open late at night.

“I want the rate that the Vital Plan pays to the CDTs throughout Puerto Rico to be increased, with the aim that, if they have an emergency room in operation, this will contribute,” Pierluisi said at a press conference.

The governor said the increase would make “this service viable late at night.” He also stressed that since January, the remuneration rate for all health providers in the Vital Plan has increased, making it the plan with the best remuneration rate on the island.

The governor pointed out that in the past the Vital Plan was less favored by doctors due to its low rate. However, with the changes implemented, the rate for specialists is now 80% of traditional Medicare, while subspecialists are remunerated at 100%, and all other providers at 75%. He added that hospitals would receive an additional 5%.

“We practically doubled what primary health doctors receive in the Vital Plan,” Pierluisi said. “For example, the HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] group will receive $18 per patient per month, which is almost double what was previously obtained.”

The governor emphasized that the actions taken by his administration seek to improve the remuneration of the medical class in Puerto Rico. The aim is to remove the negative financial incentive that may have prompted some doctors to leave the island, he said, ensuring that it is not because of unsatisfactory remuneration if they do choose to leave.

Governor calls for hike in Vital Plan insurance payments to CDTs Economic activity index records annual growth in June

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rico’s seasonally adjusted economic activity index (EAI) reached 128.0 points in June, or 3% higher than the same month last year, a 21-page Economic Development Bank (EDB) preliminary report shows

During fiscal year (FY) 2022, the seasonally adjusted EDB-EAI increased by 4.9% compared to FY 2021. Moreover, a preliminary increase of 1.9% was recorded during the calendar year 2022, after an increase of 4.9% in 2021.

In the first six months of 2023, the EDB-EAI reached 0.8% growth compared to the same period from the previous year.

Total non-farm payroll employment recorded an average of 940.6 jobs in June, representing a contraction of 1.7% on a month-over-month (MoM) basis and an annual increase of 2.6%. Electric power generation for June 2023 totaled 1,675.0 million kilowatt-hours, a 3.6% growth on an MoM basis and a yearly upturn of 3.4%.

The preliminary estimate for gasoline consumption in June 2023 totaled 69.8 million gallons, 0.3% above the 69.6 million gallons estimated for May 2023 and an 8.7% improvement compared to the same month from the previous year.

Cement sales totaled 1,188.4 million 94-pound bags for June 2023, with decreases of 7.3% on an MoM basis and 5.0% when compared to June 2022.

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (Richard Gutiérrez/The San Juan Daily Star)

Fiscal board, PREPA stakeholders expected to submit stipulation on lien agreement by Friday

By THE STAR STAFF

The Financial Oversight and Management Board and a group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) stakeholders are slated to submit by this Friday a stipulation finalizing PREPA’s lien agreement, according to a court order issued Monday.

The order came after the oversight board, the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, the U.S. Bank National Association as PREPA Bond Trustee, the Ad Hoc Group of PREPA Bondholders, Assured Guaranty Corp., Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and Syncora Guarantee Inc. sought additional time after announcing they were on the verge of writing a stipulation establishing an agreement regarding the perfection of liens on certain PREPA funds in the construction fund, the capital improvement fund and the reserve maintenance fund. If they are unable to file the stipulation on Friday (Aug. 11), they will file a status report.

The oversight board has also said that on Aug. 11 it expects to submit the third amended PREPA debt

adjustment plan.

The stipulation is the last piece in a suit that determines the claims bondholders have on PREPA revenue.

In March, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is overseeing PREPA’s bankruptcy, had ruled that payment

of the $8.4 billion PREPA bonded debt is not secured by a 1974 Trust Agreement.

She said at the time that PREPA bondholders have security interests only in moneys actually deposited to the Sinking Fund, Self-insurance Fund, Capital Improvement Fund, Reserve Maintenance Fund and Construction Fund. She also said the bondholders have perfected their liens in the Sinking Fund, Self-insurance Fund and Reserve Maintenance Fund, over which the Trustee had established control. She also said the bondholders have no security interest in the covenants and remedies provided for by the Trust Agreement.

However, based on PREPA’s payment and equitable relief covenants in the Trust Agreement, Swain said the bondholders have an unsecured claim to be liquidated by reference to the value of future net revenues as defined in the Trust Agreement. The oversight board has estimated the amount to be $2 billion.

The parties are trying to strike a deal on three funds in which Swain did not rule there was a perfected lien, which is a small portion of the $8.4 billion debt. The bondholders have said they plan to appeal.

UPR employees protest in effort to stop dismantling of retirement system

By THE STAR STAFF

The main organizations that group employees of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) prevented access to the human resources, president’s and governing board’s offices at the institution on Monday morning, seeking to stop what they believe is the dismantling of the current UPR Retirement System.

“Since the arrival of the Financial Oversight and Management Board in Puerto Rico and the interference of this unelected body in university affairs, there has been an ideological attack to dismantle the UPR’s defined benefits retirement plan,” María del Mar Rosa Rodríguez, president of the Puerto Rican Association of University Professors, said in a written statement.” The university administration, shamefully, has taken up this attack as one of its tasks. Although we have managed to stop all attempts to remove active employees and pensioners from the Retirement System, the university administration is now promoting, without dialogue and without consultation,

to put all new employees in a savings plan and cut off their access to enter the Retirement System.”

Janell Santana Andino, president of the Brotherhood of Non-Teaching Exempt Employees (HEEND), added that “[l]ike thieves at night, the Governing Board approved Certification 1 of 2023-2024, which creates this savings plan, secretly, during the last week of July, in which a work recess had been decreed.”

“The certification establishes that this plan is approved upon the recommendation of the president of the UPR, Luis A. Ferrao,” she said. “Therefore, we decided to paralyze the work in Human Resources, in the Presidency and in the Governing Board today so that the Certification is repealed.”

Waldemiro Vélez Cardona, a member of the UPR Retirement Board, said “[t]his savings plan, far from providing security to people employed in the UPR, puts pensions at the mercy of market fluctuations, while the administration of the UPR makes a minimum employer contribution.”

“In addition, it has the effect of discouraging high-caliber personnel from coming to and staying at the UPR,” he said. “Even the legality of this plan is in question. There is a case currently in court, brought by the Retirement Board, which relies on the University Law to affirm that there cannot be two pension plans within the UPR, but only one.”

“The finances of the university cannot stand having two simultane-

ous plans,” Vélez Cardona continued. “Closing the Retirement System to new employees will lead to the employer’s contribution to the current system increasing, by order of the actuaries, so that it can fulfill its obligations. That is, this plan is more expensive for the university, and could make the university system unsustainable, not because of retirement, but because of budget cuts and these ideological moves.”

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain

Janell Santana Andino, president of the Brotherhood of Non-Teaching Exempt Employees, said “we decided to paralyze the work in Human Resources, in the Presidency and in the Governing Board today so that the Certification is repealed,” referring to Certification 1 of 2023-2024, which was approved late last month by the University of Puerto Rico governing board.

Governor says more social workers being recruited

By THE STAR STAFF

After the case of a 13-year-old girl who died last Friday in San Sebastián, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said Monday that the Family Department is in the process of recruiting more social workers and has already added 80 to its ranks.

“I see that the secretariat and its team are well focused on recruiting more social workers,” the governor said in response to questions from the press.

“The last figure I have is that they already have 80 additional social workers,” he said. “The salary of social workers has been increased and now exceeds more than $3,000 per month.”

The recruitment drive is being spurred by social problems, in particular the abuse of minors and the elderly. The agency seeks to increase the staff that deals with those matters and improve its efficiency.

Over the weekend, 13-year-old Gabriela Cabán Cruz died at a health clinic in San Sebastián where she was taken by her 27-year-old “boyfriend,” Bryan Pérez Hernández, who is in police custody. No cause of death had been reported as of press time Monday, pending the completion of an autopsy.

Family Secretary Ciení Rodríguez Troche announced on Monday that she had assumed temporary custody of young Cabán Cruz’s siblings.

“The Family Department assumed provisional custody

of two children, ages 6 and 11, siblings of the 13-year-old girl who died last Friday in San Sebastián for reasons that are still being investigated by law enforcement authorities,” Rodríguez Troche said in a written statement.

“The siblings are protected, safe and located with a family resource,” the official added. “Family’s social team is offering support and services to both of them after the tragic event. This is a very sad case, with multiple dimensions and angles, which is why we are working with the authorities.”

The governor also noted that “innovation is also being done because scholarships are being offered for students to choose that concentration, that profession [social work].”

Regarding violence and crime, Pierluisi said there has been a 20 percent reduction in homicides compared to the previous year and pointed out that it is not effective to declare a state of emergency every time a problem arises.

“There are areas in which there is no alternative, some that are not prioritized for example, but the fight against crime is a priority,” the governor said.

He stressed the importance of working as a team with federal authorities, dismantling gangs and addressing the root causes of crime such as mental health issues, addiction and substance abuse.

FEMA funds reconstruction of health facilities in San Lorenzo

By THE STAR STAFF

Residents of the town of San Lorenzo and its neighboring communities can now rely on the services provided by the Corporation for Health Services

and Advanced Medicine (COSSMA by its Spanish initials), following the reconstruction of its facilities with funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

An award of about $6 million supported the demolition and reconstruction of the building, which already provides primary health services to around 3,000 people per month. The former structure was flooded due to the storm, which destroyed it and made it impossible to receive employees and care for their patients.

“The COSSMA team is part of the first responders who cared for Hurricane Maria survivors in the immediate aftermath of the disaster,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José Baquero. “This completed project demonstrates how we can rebuild facilities to strengthen them for other disasters so that medical personnel do not face similar challenges in the future when serving communities.”

COSSMA San Lorenzo has about 50 employees and offers medical services for adults, pediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics; mental health, oral health, vaccination, laboratory and pharmacy; and other support services such as HIV prevention, case management of chronic conditions, nutrition and health promotion.

The outpatient center began its services in San Lorenzo in the early 2000s. By 2017, the administration had just begun their expansion process when Hurricane Maria hit.

COSSMA San Lorenzo’s clinic director, Soquiliz Rivera, noted that the facilities were destroyed after the storm.

However, the clinic staff continued to offer services to the community in temporary facilities such as tents, trailers and rented clinics.

“We learned that the structure was an important aspect, but it was not everything,” Rivera said. “The essence of each employee, of being able to serve, always remained, even if it was in a different way. [The experience] united colleagues who, regardless of the fact that the clinic was not in the same condition as before, were willing to serve.”

To date, FEMA has awarded over $30.8 billion for nearly 10,800 Public Assistance projects to address the reconstruction of a more resilient Puerto Rico.

Family Secretary Ciení Rodríguez Troche

The Corporation for Health Services and Advanced Medicine in San Lorenzo (FEMA/Eduardo Martínez Rivera)

Autism spectrum youth captures national honors at wrestling event

Grappling is only one of his many interests

By RICHARD GUTIÉRREZ richardsanjuanstar@gmail.com

Many initiatives exist today in order to embrace inclusion and representation. Groups of people from many different backgrounds in 2023 are more validated and represented than ever.

Special needs individuals are one of the groups of people that fall into the category of people that society requires receive the proper education in order to be well represented and understood by members of the community.

The Special Olympics, for example, is the world’s largest sports organization for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. Track and field, however, is not the only activity special needs individuals take an active interest in. Recently, reporters specialized in the subject of national wrestling from the Gates of Contralona and Lucha Libre Online, specifically Michael Morales Torres and Joel Torres, have united to offer a rather heartwarming award to the young wrestler Daniel Caballer Cabrera, who is known as Chupi Hunter, from the Autism Championship, which was part of the World Wrestling Council’s (WWC) Summer Madness event held at the Pepín Cestro recreation court in Bayamón.

Born on March 30, 2000 in Humacao, Caballera Cabrera is currently a resident of the Camino Nuevo neighborhood in Yabucoa. He is well supported by both his father’s side of the family and his extended family, and his parents José Ernesto Caballer Rodríguez and Marie Rose Cabrera Soto, along with his brother and sisters, Jancarlo Caballer Cabrera, Bárbara C. Marrero and Paola C. Marrero. For Daniel’s success, teamwork has been essential to his growth.

Daniel had normal growth and development until he turned 18 months old, when a series of events accelerated the process of a recoil in his development. He lost appetite, interest in interacting with others and the ability to communicate verbally. From an early age he received assistance from the island Health Department in Caguas, Early Schooling, Head

Start in Humacao and the Department of Education’s Special Education program.

When Daniel turned 3 years of age, he was diagnosed with atypical autism and severe speech lag, among other health conditions. During his early years of public education he primarily took classes in the Special Education classrooms in several schools: Marta Sánchez in Yabucoa, Margarita Rivera de Janer in Gurabo and Rufino Vigo in Humacao.

It wasn’t until he was 11 years old that Daniel was able to join a regular classroom, beginning in third grade. He was able to graduate with honors from S.U.

Jesús Sanabria middle school in Yabucoa. Finally, at the age of 21, he obtained his high school diploma from Teodoro Aguilar Mora school in Yabucoa.

Caballer Cabrera is currently 23 years old, with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, with limitations in verbal comprehension and the use of language and numerical reasoning with a weakness in verbal reasoning and short-term retention. This lengthy diagnosis has not been a limitation for Caballera Cabrera, however. Instead, it is viewed more as a challenge ready to be taken on. His diagnosis has not prevented him from participating

in activities such as softball, drama and singing. He also serves the community alongside the Christian Ministry “Christ on the Boat.” He also receives services from the Agricultural Extension program in Yabucoa with Professor Sheyla Ríos. He has continued to study after high school, taking courses in confectionery at National University College in Fajardo. When it comes to the arts, Caballer Cabrera doesn’t stay behind, either; he is currently taking a music class. Prof. Reinaldo López, a teacher and director of the community band known as Kojokma Band Project, has given Caballer Cabrera the opportunity to learn how to play the flute and participate in the band camp, where he’s developed concentration, memory and security skills among many others.

Led by his stepfather, Rafael “Rafy” Marrero, who worked for many years in the wrestling industry, Caballer Cabrera has also developed in that area of sports. He takes classes at Attitude Wrestling Academy, a professional wrestling school in Humacao. His teacher is Miguel Maldonado, known as Mr. Big, who has been responsible for his training. Maldonado has provided him with the strategies, methodologies and techniques to be able to develop physical strength, motor coordination, verbal comprehension and mental retention so that Caballer Cabrera can improve personally and professionally.

Caballer Cabrera has become a motivator and role model for other people with special conditions, which has captured the attention of the island’s wrestling press.

On March 31 of this year, the wrestling company Immortal Wrestling Revolution and its management recognized Chupi Hunter -- Daniel Caballer Cabrera -- for his achievements as the first wrestler with autism, being part of a professional wrestling card, where he faced Prof. Said. The recognition took place in Dorado where Caballer Cabrera was accompanied by his favorite pro wrestler, Joe Bravo.

Meanwhile, the Lionheart Wrestling Association company in the state of Florida invited him to be part of what was called the Road to Gold event. That event took place on April 29 in Orlando, where Caballer Cabrera made history in the world of wrestling as a representative and champion of the autism community.

Daniel Caballer Cabrera, aka Chupi Hunter (Courtesy photo)

Trump calls for judge’s recusal as his lawyer deems effort to overturn election ‘aspirational’

By LUKE BROADWATER and MAGGIE ASTOR

Appearing on five television networks Sunday morning, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump argued that his actions in the effort to overturn the 2020 election fell short of crimes and were merely “aspirational.”

The remarks from his lawyer, John Lauro, came as Trump was blanketing his social media platform, Truth Social, with posts suggesting that his legal team was going to seek the recusal of Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge overseeing the case, and try to move his trial out of Washington.

With his client facing charges carrying decades in prison after a federal grand jury indicted Trump for his role in trying to overturn the election, his third criminal case this year, Lauro appeared in interviews on CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. He endeavored to defend Trump, including against evidence that, as president, he pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject legitimate votes for Joe Biden in favor of false electors pledged to Trump.

“What President Trump didn’t do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything,” Lauro said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He asked him in an aspirational way.”

Lauro used the same defense on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” when asked about Trump’s now-infamous call to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger. During that call, Trump pressured Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” to win the state and suggested that Raffensperger could face criminal repercussions if he did not.

“That was an aspirational ask,” Lauro said.

His portrayal of Trump’s approach is at odds with two key moments in the indictment.

In one, prosecutors say that on Jan. 5, 2021, Trump met alone with Pence, who refused to do what Trump wanted. When that happened, the indictment says, “the defendant grew frustrated and told the Vice President that the defendant would have to publicly criticize him.”

Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, then alerted the head of Pence’s Secret Service detail, prosecutors said.

That same day, after The New York Times reported that Pence had indeed told Trump that he lacked the authority to do what Trump wanted, the president issued a public statement calling the report “fake news.” According to the indictment, Trump also falsely asserted: “The Vice President and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.”

As Lauro made the rounds on all five Sunday news shows — what is known as the “full Ginsburg,” from when Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer, William Ginsburg, did the same amid allegations about her affair with then-President Bill Clinton — Trump waged his own campaign on Truth Social.

“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side,” Trump wrote Saturday. A few days earlier, he mocked Pence, now a 2024 rival, for “attracting no crowds, enthusiasm or loyalty from people who, as a member of the Trump Admi-

nistration, should be loving him.”

Trump went on: “I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest.’”

His attack came after a judge warned Trump against intimidating witnesses and after prosecutors flagged another Truth Social post by Trump as potentially threatening.

On Sunday, Trump also attacked Jack Smith, the special counsel in the Jan. 6 case, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calling Smith “deranged” and Pelosi “sick” and “demented.”

In one all-caps message, Trump accused Smith of waiting to bring the case until “right in the middle” of his election campaign.

In the other posts, Trump attacked Pelosi, the former House speaker, who recently said that the former president had seemed like “a scared puppy” before his arraignment. “She is a sick & demented psycho who will someday live in HELL!” Trump wrote.

And he channeled his grievances with the court process toward Chutkan and toward the population of Washington, D.C., writing that he would never get a “fair trial.”

For his part, Pence has been criticizing Trump’s actions in carefully calibrated terms. He has repeatedly used the

same phrases, arguing that anyone who “puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.” He repeated similar lines Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” following Lauro’s appearance, and on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“What I want the American people to know is that President Trump was wrong then and he’s wrong now: that I had no right to overturn the election,” Pence told CNN anchor Dana Bash. “I had no right to reject or return votes, and that, by God’s grace, I did my duty under the Constitution of the United States, and I always will.”

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Former President Donald Trump speaks at the 56th annual Silver Elephant Gala in Columbia, S.C., on Aug. 5, 2023. Appearing on five television networks on Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023, a lawyer for Trump argued that his actions in the effort to overturn the 2020 election — including pressuring state officials and his vice president — fell short of committing a crime and were merely “aspirational.”

Are GOP voters tiring of the war on ‘wokeness’?

of political correctness and liberal group think. Boyer said he didn’t like holding his tongue about his views on transgender athletes, but, he added, he does not want politicians to intervene. “I am a laissez-faire capitalist: Let the pocketbook decide,” he said.

When presented with the choice between two hypothetical Republican candidates, only 24% of national Republican voters opted for “a candidate who focuses on defeating radical ‘woke’ ideology in our schools, media and culture” over “a candidate who focuses on restoring law and order in our streets and at the border.”

Around 65% said they would choose the law and order candidate.

Among those 65 and older, often the most likely age bracket to vote, only 17% signed on to the “anti-woke” crusade. Those numbers were nearly identical in Iowa, where the first ballots for the Republican nominee will be cast Jan. 15.

Law and order and border security have become stand-ins for “fortitude,” he said, and that is clearly what Republican voters are craving.

(The day after the interview, the Ramaswamy campaign blasted out a fundraising appeal entitled “Wokeness killing the American Dream.”)

DeSantis campaign officials emphasized that the governor in recent days had laid out policies on border security, the military and the economy. Foreign policy is coming, they say. But they also pointed to an interview on Fox News in which DeSantis did not back away from his social-policy focus.

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

When it comes to the Republican primaries, attacks on “wokeness” may be losing their punch. For Republican candidates, no word has hijacked political discourse quite like “woke,” a term few can define but many have used to capture what they see as left-wing views on race, gender and sexuality that have strayed far beyond the norms of American society.

Gov. Ron DeSantis last year used the word five times in 19 seconds, substituting “woke” for Nazis as he cribbed from Winston Churchill’s famous vow to battle a threatened German invasion in 1940. Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor, speaks of a “woke self-loathing” that has swept the nation. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina found himself backpedaling furiously after declaring that “‘woke supremacy’ is as bad as white

supremacy.”

The term has become a quick way for candidates to flash their conservative credentials, but battling “woke” may have less political potency than they think. Although conservative voters might be irked at modern liberalism, successive New York Times/Siena College polls of Republican voters nationally and then in Iowa found that candidates were unlikely to win votes by narrowly focusing on rooting out left-wing ideology in schools, media, culture and business.

Instead, Republican voters are showing a “hands off” libertarian streak in economics, and a clear preference for messages about “law and order” in the nation’s cities and at its borders.

The findings hint why DeSantis, who has made his battles with “woke” schools and corporations central to his campaign, is struggling and again show off former President Donald Trump’s keen understanding of part of the Republican electorate. Campaigning in Iowa in June, Trump was blunt: “I don’t like the term ‘woke,’” he said, adding, “It’s just a term they use — half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is.”

It was clearly a jab at DeSantis, but the Times’ polls suggest Trump may be right. Social issues such as gay rights and once-obscure jargon such as “woke” may not be having the effect many Republicans had hoped

“Your idea of ‘wokeism’ might be different from mine,” explained Christopher Boyer, a 63-year-old Republican actor in Hagerstown, Maryland, who retired from a successful career in Hollywood where he said he saw his share

DeSantis’ famous fight against The Walt Disney Co. over what he saw as the corporation’s liberal agenda exemplified the kind of economic warfare that seems to fare only modestly better. About 38% of Republican voters said they would back a candidate who promised to fight corporations that promote “woke” left ideology, versus the 52% who preferred “a candidate who says that the government should stay out of deciding what corporations should support.”

Indeed, some Republican voters seemed to feel pandered to by candidates such as DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, whose book “Woke Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam,” launched his political career.

Lynda Croft, 82, said she was watching a rise in murders in her hometown WinstonSalem, North Carolina, and that has her scared. Overly liberal policies in culture and schools will course-correct on their own, she said.

“If anyone actually believes in woke ideology, they are not in tune with the rest of society,” she said, “and parents will step in to deal with that.”

In an interview, Ramaswamy said the evolving views of the electorate were important, and he had adapted to them. “Woke” corporate governance and school systems are a symptom of what he calls “a deeper void” in a society that needs a religious and nationalist renewal. The stickers that read “Stop Wokeism. Vote Vivek” are gone from his campaign stops, he said, replaced by hats that read “Truth.”

“At the time I came to be focused on this issue, no one knew what the word was,” he said. “Now that they have caught up, the puck has moved. It’s in my rearview mirror as well.”

Along with several other Republican-led states, Florida passed a string of laws restricting what GOP lawmakers considered evidence of “wokeness,” such as gender transition care for minors and diversity initiatives. DeSantis handily won reelection in November.

“I totally reject, being in Iowa, New Hampshire, that people don’t think those are important,” he said of his social-policy fights. “These families with children are thanking me for taking stands in Florida.”

For candidates trying to break Trump’s hold on a Republican electorate that sees the former president as the embodiment of strength, the problem may be broader than ditching the term “woke.”

As it turns out, social issues such as gender, race and sexuality are politically complicated and may be less dominant than Trump’s rivals thought. The fact that Trump has been indicted three times and found legally liable for sexual abuse has not hurt him. Only 37% of Republican voters nationally described Trump as more moral than DeSantis (45% sided with DeSantis on the personality trait), yet in a head-to-head matchup between the two candidates, national Republican voters backed Trump by 31 percentage points, 62% to 31%.

The Times/Siena poll did find real reluctance among Republican voters to accept transgender people. Only 30% said society should accept transgender people as the gender they identify with, compared with 58% who said society should not accept such identities.

But half of Republican voters still support the right of gay and lesbian people to marry, against the 41% who oppose same-sex marriage. Fifty-one percent of Republican voters said they would choose a candidate promising to protect individual freedom over one guarding “traditional values.” The “traditional values” candidate would be the choice of 40% of Republicans.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy delivers remarks during the GOP State Convention in Columbus, Georgia, June 8, 2023. When it comes to the Republican primaries, attacks on “wokeness” may be losing their punch.

For Pulse massacre victims, a new push for answers

By FRANCES ROBLES

On the night that the Pulse nightclub in Orlando was attacked by an assailant with a high-capacity rifle, Jorshua Hernández spent three hours bleeding in a bathroom stall, unable to find his way to an exit.

Another patron, Javier Nava, saw a ladder suspended from the ceiling and thought it could help him escape to the roof. But the ladder led only to a loft-style office, where he was trapped with a bullet wound in his abdomen. César Rodríguez, who on a whim had gone to Pulse to enjoy Latin Night, recalls seeing people trying to flee out an exit door, only to come rushing back inside because the alley outside had no exit.

“If they had more doors, one could survive and there wouldn’t be so many dead,” said Hernández, 29. “If the windows had not been covered, we would have looked for alternative ways to get out. I have always said it: That place had one way in, and one way out.”

Questions about the design, unpermitted renovations and code enforcement at the nightclub where 49 people were killed and 53 others were injured in 2016 have been raised periodically over the years. Both the club owner and city officials said the building had sufficient exits and complied with all required regulations. The full weight of responsibility for the nation’s second-deadliest mass shooting fell on Omar Mateen, the 29-year-old security guard who carried it out and then died in a shootout with police.

But survivors and relatives of some of those who were killed are now raising these questions anew. In July, more than two dozen of them filed complaints with the Orlando Police Department seeking a criminal investigation into whether insufficient exits, ad hoc renovations and lax code enforcement could have contributed to the staggering death toll. City officials and the club owner say that the club was in compliance with building code requirements and that it is wrong to suggest that such problems led to more deaths.

In their search for answers, survivors said they had taken inspiration from victims’ relatives in Uvalde, Texas, who brought attention to the delayed police response to a school shooting there last year and pushed publicly for more controls on the sale of military-style assault rifles.

“I think what happened in Uvalde and with Black Lives Matter is that we now have space to criticize and analyze,” said Zachary Blair, vice president of Victims First, a nonprofit organization that has spent four years researching the Pulse shooting and how the death toll climbed so high. “When Pulse happened, it quickly became about celebrating the police response, which took three hours. With so many mass shootings, now we know that three hours is not normal.”

The gay nightclub was still crowded with revelers when, moments after last call around 2 a.m. June 12, 2016, a shooter who had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State militant group stormed in with a semi-automatic military-style rifle and a Glock 9 mm handgun.

Patrons scrambled for a way out of the darkened disco, where some windows, crime scene photos show, had

been covered and blocked as part of a conversion from a restaurant to a nightclub. The building’s owner has said the club had six exits. But two of them led to a closed-off patio that documents indicate had been added without a permit after the club opened. Two more opened out to an area surrounded by an 8-foot fence that had also been erected without a permit very close to the building.

FBI photos and bodycam footage released this year show that the fence created a narrow alleyway enclosed by the building’s roof overhang, and the way out was blocked by a large soft drink cooler.

A spokesperson for the club owner has said a permit for the fence was obtained sometime after it went up. But there is no record of such a permit in documents released by the city.

After the shooting, a security officer had to punch a hole in the fence to evacuate about 20 people who were briefly trapped there, according to the police homicide report. Another exit issue raised in the new police complaints was the front door, which appeared to have slammed shut. A police officer reported hearing at least one patron banging on it in an apparent attempt to get out, according to a police report cited in one of the new submissions. It said another set of double doors was obstructed by a stripper stage and furniture.

Rodríguez, who suffered broken bones when people trampled over him, remembers people’s frantic efforts to escape.

“I saw people run out the doors and come back inside when they realized there was no way out,” Rodríguez said. “If there had been glass windows, someone could have broken them.”

After the shooting, Victims First stepped in. The group was founded and is funded by Anita Busch, a former journalist whose cousin was killed in the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012. The group spent four years and over $15,000 on Pulse public records requests. Volunteers from the group listened to bodycam

audio and pored over blueprints, permits and hundreds of emails and then presented their findings at a weekendlong meeting in July with families and survivors, many of whom flew in from Puerto Rico.

In a complaint he filed with Orlando police, Blair said he had decided to try to seek a fuller accounting after an elected city official told him in a phone call three years after the shooting that unpermitted renovations and code violations at the club had hindered the rescue of shooting victims.

“This began my research into the issue,” he wrote. He cited in his complaint a 2018 medical journal study that suggested that 16 of the people who died could have survived had they received medical attention sooner.

The complaint cited records he and the others had found that he said revealed a “pattern of the city allowing the Pulse Nightclub to operate in violation of City codes.”

The records, which the group shared at the July meeting, showed that the city had notified the owners in 2010 that the club had received a conditional use permit for a restaurant and martini bar, not a dance club, and that the owners had agreed in 2004 to remove the dance floor but had never done so. Twenty people died on the dance floor.

The city’s press secretary, Cassandra Bell, insisted that while the records show “inconsistencies,” the club was safe and in full compliance with regulations. She acknowledged that the city “does not have records that indicate whether a permit was received or not” for the fence.

“These records demonstrate that the Pulse facility was safe, that it met occupancy, fire and related requirements,” she said. “We found no pattern of critical life-safety violations.”

The Orlando Police Department has received the new criminal complaints and is reviewing them, she said.

Barbara Poma, who owns the nightclub property with her husband, Rosario, had — in a statement released before the filing of the new criminal complaints — disputed many of the issues raised by the group, but the statement did not discuss the issues in detail.

“Out of respect to those impacted by this tragedy, I have never responded to the handful of individuals who continue to spread a myriad of untruths about my husband and me, falsely blaming us for what was an unforeseeable terrorist attack,” said the statement, released in May. “While I recognize and respect these individuals’ grief, that should not serve as a free pass for intentionally spreading lies about us.”

Some of the building issues raised by the families and survivors are likely to be aired as part of a negligence lawsuit against the club that has yet to go to trial, although most of the Pulse victims have settled their cases, said Keith Altman, the lawyer who represented about 60 of the survivors and families. The nightclub carried $2 million in insurance, and with more than 100 survivors and deaths, the payouts have been small, he said.

“In the end, what is definitely true is that Omar Mateen caused this disaster,” Altman said. “He is the primary cause, but there were contributing factors.”

Survivors and relatives of victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub mass shooting file criminal complaints outside police headquarters in Orlando, Fla., July 23, 2023.

Automakers face a labor showdown as the EV era looms

By NEAL E. BOUDETTE

Detroit may be headed for a tumultuous labor showdown.

The United Auto Workers union has made a bold opening bid in negotiations for new four-year collective bargaining agreements with General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis. Its new president, Shawn Fain, has declared that the 150,000 hourly workers employed by the companies are prepared to strike to achieve the union’s goals.

The UAW presented the automakers with a list of demands, including a 40% wage increase — premised on the compensation gains the union says the companies’ CEOs have made over the four years since the last contract talks.

And with the pivot to electric vehicles, the union wants guarantees that workers hired at the automakers’ new EV battery plants will be covered by the UAW national contracts, or at least given contracts with comparable wage and safety terms.

“I know these demands sound ambitious, but the Big Three are making record profits, so I also know they can easily afford it,” Fain said in an interview. “We have to be a lot more aggressive to negotiate better agreements, to set a standard that raises people up to a middle-class life.”

In addition to higher pay, the demands include regular cost-of-living wage increases, pension plans for a greater number of workers and a job security plan for workers when plants are shuttered.

The UAW also hopes to push Stellantis to reopen a plant in Belvidere, Illinois, that was idled this year, putting 1,350 people out of work.

And it wants a workweek comprising four eight-hour days on the assembly line and a fifth day with eight hours of paid time off — essentially a 32-hour week. Fain said many workers typically worked 50 or 60 hours a week, leaving little time for family activities or rest.

In a statement, GM said it expected a new contract to provide increased wages, and that it was “important to protect U.S. manufacturing and jobs in an industry that is dominated by nonunionized competition.” But the UAW’s demands, the company added, “would threaten our ability to do what’s right for the long-term benefit of the team.”

Ford said it aimed to work with the UAW on “creative solutions,” without elaborating. Stellantis said it intended to “fairly reward” its workers but warned that any agreement must not “jeopardize our ability to continue investing” in new vehicles and technologies.

The automakers are investing tens of billions of dollars in electric vehicles but have yet to see significant sales or profits

from them. The union is concerned that the move to EVs could cost thousands of jobs because electric vehicles generally require fewer workers to produce than traditional gasoline-powered cars and trucks.

Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan business professor who follows the auto industry, said he expected the union would score some gains — up to a point. “I think there will be substantial wage increases, and I think the companies can afford higher wages,” he said.

But he said the automakers were likely to resist other union demands, like the shorter workweek, company-paid health care for retirees or the ability to strike over plant closings. “The companies can’t afford anything that puts them in a straitjacket,” Gordon said. “With the EV transition, they are going to need flexibility to adjust plants and maybe even close plants.”

Fain, an insurgent who upset the incumbent president in an election this year on a vow to bring a tougher approach to negotiations, shrugged off the notion that the union’s demands would put the companies at a cost disadvantage against rivals like Toyota, Honda and Tesla, which ope-

rate nonunion plants in the United States.

“These companies are very competitive,” he said of the Detroit manufacturers, noting that each had reported substantial profits over the past 10 years, and that most of their profits come from North America. In the first half of the year, Stellantis made a record 10.9 billion euros, about $12 billion. GM generated $5 billion in profit in same period.

Union officials frequently note that for many years before the companies’ renaissance, the UAW agreed to lower pay, less costly retirement provisions for new hires and other concessions that helped the automakers regain their competitive edge after falling into dire straits and even — for GM and for Stellantis’ predecessor, Chrysler — bankruptcy.

The current agreements, which lapse Sept. 14, were reached in 2019 only after a six-week strike at GM — the company that the union designated in that cycle as its negotiating target. This time, Fain says all three companies are targets.

His supporters say it may be difficult to achieve some of the union’s main goals without walking out again, especially the demand that workers at EV battery plants are entitled to the same pay, benefits and safety standards as UAW members at other factories.

Under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government is providing loans to ease the cost of building the battery plants, as well as tax credits to lower the cost of the battery packs they will make.

Fain said the government should require recipients of these loans and credits to provide middle-class wages for workers. At $16.50 an hour, some workers at an EV battery plant operated by GM in Ohio “are scraping by and working two jobs,” he said. (The plant’s starting wage is $16.50, rising to about $20 after seven years. Under GM’s national contract, the wage is $17 for new hires and increases to $32 after eight years.)

Union officials argue that failing to bring battery workers up to the standards of the national agreements will eventually undermine the UAW by allowing automakers to circumvent the union.

Shawn Fain, the United Auto Workers president, greets autoworkers while bolstering support ahead of negotiations with local automakers during a shift change outside a General Motors plant in Detroit, July 12, 2023.

Options bets on earnings-fueled volatility in US stocks paying off

An options strategy that bets on stocks logging largerthan-expected moves on corporate results has been a surprising winner this earnings season, data from options analytics service ORATS showed.

Buying options straddles on U.S. companies reporting results over the last three weeks - a strategy that combines a put and a call option - is paying off this quarter, ORATS data showed.

Calls convey the right to buy shares at a fixed price in the future and puts offer the right to sell shares. Owning both these contracts is a way for traders to profit from larger-thanexpected post-earnings stock swings.

For the last three weeks, options straddles on U.S. companies reporting results fetched an average return of 8%, ORATS data showed. That compares with an average return of -2% over the last 12 quarters.

“It is not usual for straddles to pay off,” ORATS founder Matt Amberson said, noting that the strategy has tended to be a slight loser in recent quarters.

Generally poor expectations for stock gyrations at the start of earnings season - the Cboe Volatility Index hovered near a more than 3-year low as earnings kicked off - may have helped set up the trade favorably by making it cheaper for investors to bet on heightened stock moves.

With volatility expectations low, stocks handily topped options-implied moves as earnings season progressed.

That, however, may be changing, Amberson said.

As volatility has picked up, these bets have become more expensive, making it harder for the strategy to post a win.

Of the 422 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings as of Aug. 4, 79.1% beat analysts’ expectations, the highest rate since the third quarter of 2021, I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv showed.

Now that regulators in Washington have unfurled a hefty reform package of post-financial crisis capital regulations, banking industry advisers are honing in on what they consider most disruptive, including risk management requirements that could affect real estate lending, consumer credit and wealth management.

In a joint proposal on July 27, the top three U.S. bank regulators proposed a thousand-page overhaul that would in aggregate require banks to set aside an additional 16% in capital the regulators believe is needed to strengthen the financial system.

By increasing the degree of risk attributed to certain assets, the proposed rules would require banks to hold proportionately more capital, potentially eating into returns on equity and profits. Industry lobby groups such as the Financial Services Forum (FSF), the Bank Policy Institute and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association have argued this will make it harder to lend to consumers and warn it will slow the economy.

Though the spring of 2023 saw three of the four biggest bank failures in U.S. history, the FSF reacted to the proposal

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by saying the Federal Reserve’s own stress tests show the largest banks were sound and well capitalized, making the proposal “a solution without a problem.”

Industry analysts see areas which the well-financed bank lobby will be eager to red-pencil.

Joe Sass, senior vice president for balance sheet risk at financial services conglomerate FIS, said the proposal’s shift from a standard risk charge to a range of risk levels to be allocated to different assets for rental-backed real estate lending

would likely be “circled for push-backs.”

Making such lending more expensive will shrink credit available to historically under-served borrowers, something the industry is likely to fight, he said.

Chen Xu, an attorney in the financial institutions group at Debevoise & Plimpton, said the new rules viewed highrevenue business lines as higher risk.

“Some businesses that are fee-based such as wealth management will need to allocate more capital even if there is no balance sheet risk,” he said, adding that this could weigh on trading in capital markets.

Reform proponents argue the true danger to public welfare is financial instability.

Ukraine says it detained suspect accused of trying to map Zelenskyy’s movements for Russia

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Ukraine’s security service said Monday it had detained a woman from the country’s Mykolaiv region who has been accused of trying to gather intelligence for Russia on the movements of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The accused informant had “tried” to establish the timing and route that Zelenskyy would take for a visit to the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, the agency said in a statement. The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, also accused the woman of working to locate Ukrainian ammunition store points and electronic warfare systems in the area, saying it had intelligence that showed Russia sought the information in order to plan a “massive airstrike” in Mykolaiv — but did not specify whether Zelenskyy was the intended target.

“Officers detained the woman redhanded in her attempt to pass intelligence to the Russians,” the statement added, without providing further details.

The accusations could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from the Kremlin or Russia’s Ministry of Defense.

The agency did not specify the dates of Zelenskyy’s visit but said the agency had detected the woman’s efforts and em-

ployed additional security measures ahead of time.

Zelenskyy has made at least two trips to the Mykolaiv region in the past two months. He traveled to the area in June to assess the damage from flooding after the breach of the Kakhovka Dam and again last month, when he visited hospitals and met with doctors in the city of Ochakiv.

In its statement Monday, the agency

did not name the woman or when she had been detained, saying only that she was a resident of Ochakiv who had previously worked as a salesperson in a Ukrainian military store. She has been placed in custody and could face up to 12 years in prison, it added.

Concerns about Zelenskyy’s security have persisted since the early days of the war. When Russia launched its full-scale

invasion in late February 2022, Moscow’s forces targeted Zelenskyy in their assault on the capital, Kyiv. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said that March that there had been “more than a dozen attempts” to kill Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy has been asked many times about how he feels to be the target of so many assassination attempts.

“It becomes repetitive — you remember that film, ‘Groundhog Day’?” he joked in an interview with Axios in May 2022, adding: “I wake up in the morning and it’s still the same.”

Although Zelenskyy did not comment directly Monday on the news from the Security Service, he said in a statement that in meetings he had been briefed by the agency’s chief about “the struggle against traitors” in Ukraine.

The country has been waging a war against spies and collaborators giving help to Russian forces while its soldiers simultaneously confront them on the battlefield. Since the invasion, fears have run high that Russian sympathizers would share the locations of sensitive Ukrainian targets — and Zelenskyy has taken an aggressive approach to going after any potential collaborators.

In July 2022, he dismissed two senior law enforcement officials, saying they had not been nearly aggressive enough in weeding out traitors.

South Korea tells scouts to leave world jamboree site as typhoon nears

By JIN YU YOUNG

After several setbacks at the World Scout Jamboree, the South Korea-hosted event faces yet another hurdle: As Typhoon Khanun makes its way to the nation’s coast this week, the participants will be leaving the campsite early.

On Monday, the South Korean government informed the world Scout body that “an early departure will be planned for all participants at the 25th World Scout Jamboree from the campsite in Samangeum.” The scouts plan to move out of the site, which lies on a reclaimed wetland on the southwest coast of the peninsula, on Tuesday.

The Scout authority cited an incoming typhoon as the primary reason for the premature departure. The host of the event, the Korea Scout Association, also listed “ongoing weather conditions” in a statement as the reason behind the early departure from the event’s main campsite.

Typhoon Khanun is expected to make landfall on the nation’s southeastern coast Thursday morning, according to

the Korea Meteorological Administration.

“I can say that this event will go down in history as a very unlucky event,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, the secretarygeneral of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, adding that it had been a unique experience to see multiple extreme weather patterns in such a short span of time. Scouts would mobilize well before the storm, he added. Their destination, however, is still under discussion. On Monday, the government announced a jamboree “contingency plan” to relocate the participants to regions likely to be unaffected by the incoming storm.

The presidential office has also urged local governments to step up to host and provide activities for the remainder of the scouts’ stay in South Korea. Suggested activities include visits to the National Palace Museum and Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, which are offering scouts discounts and free admission. Others include traditional cultural performances in Jeonju, in the southeast-central area of the country.

The World Scout Jamboree has already taken several

blows during the past week. While more than 43,000 teenagers from 158 countries had flown to South Korea to attend the festivities, at least 138 people were hospitalized from heat exhaustion. Then, the British, Singaporean and U.S. scouting organizations left for activities in other parts of South Korea just several days into the event.

Over the weekend, a South Korean contingent pulled out, claiming that jamboree organizers had mishandled allegations of a sex offense on the campgrounds.

The government responded to the heat wave by ordering air-conditioned buses and trucks for the participants. A K-pop concert that had been scheduled for the weekend was postponed to Friday, the day before the end of the jamboree.

After a bumpy start, in the past few days, the jamboree was starting to get into full swing and encompass the spirit and nature of the annual gathering, Alhendawi said. But the biggest takeaway amid the turmoil, he said, was the “resilience of the young scouts” throughout all the problems of the past week.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in April.

‘It’s not a sprint,’ Ukraine’s marines insist. ‘It’s a marathon.’

By CARLOTTA GALL and OLEKSANDR CHUBKO

They have NATO equipment and Western training. Some have English-speaking commanders, unusual in the Ukrainian military, and even an American-accented, evangelical chaplain.

“I am never tired, I’m in the Ukrainian marines,” joked Oleksandr, 28, a battalion commander of the 37th Marine Brigade. Sitting down in the shade outside a cottage near the front line, he was determinedly positive. “I think it’s going well.”

Over the past several months, nine Ukrainian brigades, 36,000 troops in all, have received four to six weeks of training in combined arms combat, a synchronized way of fighting that some thought would enable them to spearhead another rout of the Russian military, as in Kharkiv last year.

But some brigades suffered heavy losses in the initial stages of this summer’s counteroffensive, struggling to advance against the formidable Russian defenses. At least one new brigade was so badly debilitated from casualties that it was withdrawn from the battlefield to rebuild.

Most of the fighting has been hidden from the view of the news media since the start of operations in early June. But reporters from The New York Times were permitted to visit several marine brigades — two of them newly formed brigades — that are operating on one part of the southern front to hear from the troops themselves about their role in the counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s new brigades, trained and equipped according to NATO standards, have a different look and feel from many other Ukrainian units. These marines now carry American M4 assault rifles and drive Humvees, which they repainted, changing the desert brown of the vehicles so often seen in Afghanistan and Iraq to a deep green for better cover in Ukraine’s lush countryside.

“I did not expect we would switch to NATO weapons so soon,” said Ukrop, 23, a company commander in the 38th Marine Brigade who, like all the marines interviewed for this article, gave only first names or call signs, in keeping with military protocol. He watched as men from his unit loaded two laser-guided rockets into a launcher on the back of a Humvee for a firing mission. “It’s a great new system and we have new vehicles too,” he added.

The new brigades are made up of recruits, fresh from basic training after they were called up or volunteered to join the military this year. Their commanders are mostly experienced

fighters, and some, like Oleksandr, a lieutenant colonel, who has completed officer training in the United States, are career officers.

They all have a strong sense of urgency — “We have to do this fast,” one said — but they also warned that the fight would be long and hard.

“A lot of people thought it would be very fast and in the autumn we would be in Crimea,” said Oleksandr, the battalion commander. “But every meter of the tree line is very difficult.”

“It’s not a sprint,” he added. “It’s a marathon.”

The Ukrainian military does not release numbers of dead and wounded, but Oleksandr acknowledged that his brigade had taken heavy casualties in the first days of the counteroffensive in June, when his troops ran into minefields and came under an onslaught of Russian artillery and airstrikes. He did not dwell on the fighting, but he said that for many of his troops it was their first time in battle and a brutal introduction.

“I lost a lot,” he said, “and some of the new guys are mentally broken.” As for the destruction of tanks and armored vehicles, he shrugged it off as a normal consequence of war.

Those heavy early losses led to public recriminations in Ukraine, most notably from a popular soldier and blogger, Valerii Markus, who wrote a Facebook post accusing his superior officers of incompetence and of a careless disregard for the morale of the soldiers.

Ukraine’s top commander, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, also spoke out, chiding NATO allies for expecting Ukraine to succeed in an operation without air superiority, something that they would never have contemplated attempting themselves.

Soldiers along the front line blamed commanders for pushing raw recruits into battle and using untested units to spearhead the counteroffensive. Others criticized the inadequacy of a few weeks of basic training in vari-

ous NATO countries. A few complained that some of the Western vehicles were inappropriate for the task. In particular, they pointed to American MaxxPros, armored vehicles that were designed for fighting a counterinsurgency rather than facing the firepower of the Russian army.

Oleksandr said he had often argued with his trainers in the United States. “They fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the enemy there is not like the Russians,” he said.

But Ukrainian officials said that they had little choice but to train recruits because their experienced troops were so thinly stretched along the front line that they could not afford to withdraw them.

The marines were careful not to judge the performance of others in the opening assaults of the counteroffensive.

“You can get disoriented in battle,” Ukrop said. “You can panic. People make mistakes.” The Ukrainian forces may also have been short-handed, he said.

The heavy losses were not a shock to them. Most of the commanders said that they had seen units, including their own, decimated at times during the past 16 months of fighting. Oleksandr said casualties were so high during the counteroffensive in Kherson last year that he had been forced to replace the members of his unit three times.

While the Ukrainian military was training the new brigades and obtaining new equipment, the Russian forces had months to prepare a layered defense, digging in and laying extensive minefields. They also had the advantage of greater artillery fire and troop numbers, Oleksandr said.

The marines said they were grateful for the various Western armored vehicles, which they said saved lives and were superior to the

outdated Soviet-era tanks and armored vehicles that they had been using. But above all, commanders were taking care to give further training to new recruits and making sure that they were mixed in with more experienced marines for operations.

“You cannot be completely prepared for combat however much you train,” said Shturval, 52, who was overseeing training for a group of recruits brought in to make up for recent losses in the 35th Marine Brigade. “In the first fight, they go in with our veterans, and after two or three battles they are veterans themselves.”

Planning and reconnaissance was the key, said Prophet, 22, a company commander from the 38th brigade who had just led a successful assault, seizing control of three tree lines in a combined operation on the southern front.

The Russian forces were so tied up with battling other Ukrainian units on one flank that his troops were able to seize territory with minimal losses, he said.

“Our commanders are taking a very considered approach,” said his deputy brigade commander, a lieutenant colonel who uses the call sign Consul. “You cannot underestimate the enemy,” he said. “The enemy is strong and cunning. So this counteroffensive requires steady preparation.”

He said it had been wrong to think that counteroffensive would be swift and easy, adding that when the military commanders found a weakness where they could push through, they would.

“Bit by bit, we will find a place where the seam will split open,” Consul said. “Water cuts through stone, and we’ll do the same, bit by bit. At first it is a small stream and then it turns into a river.”

A chaplain of the 37th Marine Brigade anointing soldiers after a joint prayer in southern Ukraine.

Heat waves are killing older women. Are they also violating their rights?

By ISABELLA KWAI

The women live scattered around Switzerland, speak a mix of the country’s languages — German, French and Italian — and have worked in varying professions.

But the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz, a group of about 2,400 Swiss women ages 64 and older, say they have a common fear: soaring temperatures and heat waves that are threatening them with health ailments in their final decades.

“It is difficult to go outside — it is difficult to breathe,” said Fatima Heussler, 71, a group member who lives in Zurich and who retired after several decades of working with visually impaired older people. Last summer’s heat was so tiring, she said she could not do even light household chores.

“I feel like I need to protect myself,” said Isabelle Joerg, 70, a former insurance risk manager and a group member from Basel, who says she sits in the dark with the blinds drawn at her home on particularly hot days. “I used to love summer — and now I can be threatened by it.”

A heat wave this summer that sent temperatures soaring in southern Europe has highlighted those concerns — along with a landmark lawsuit that the women filed in 2020 at Europe’s top human rights court accusing the Swiss government of violating their fundamental rights by not doing enough to protect them from the effects of climate change.

Switzerland experienced its hottest year on record last year, and although it has not been battered as much as southern Europe this year, a hot spell early last month sent temperatures as high as 98 degrees Fahrenheit in some Alpine areas. The national average last

month was about 60 degrees, about 35 degrees higher than pre-1900 records.

The case — the first of its kind to be heard at that top court, the European Court for Human Rights — is among a growing number of lawsuits around the world using human rights grounds to argue that governments are shirking their obligations, as temperatures and sea levels rise, to ensure the safety and security of citizens.

Similar cases have come before national courts and human rights bodies, including

a finding by a United Nations human rights committee that Australia had failed to protect Indigenous Australians in the Torres Strait, in the north of the country, from “the adverse impacts of climate change.”

Although climate change is affecting all Swiss people, the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz — known in English as the Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland — say that older women like them are the most vulnerable.

A recent study found that last summer’s heat waves killed more than 61,000 people across Europe, most of them women over 80. In Switzerland, more than 60% of about 600 heat-related deaths last summer were attributed to global warming, according to a study from the University of Bern, with older women having the highest mortality rate.

“Our health is at risk,” said Elisabeth Stern, 75, a group member in Zurich and an avid hiker, who said she had kept herself fit and healthy her whole life. Last summer, sick of staying indoors with the windows shut, Stern, a former cultural anthropologist, visited the cooler mountains for a reprieve. But she collapsed in a cable car, overcome by the heat.

“There was a time when Switzerland was a cold place in general,” said Stern, who spent part of her childhood on a farm in Switzerland’s east and has watched a nearby

glacier disappear in her lifetime. “It just has changed so rapidly.”

Experts say a ruling in the case brought by the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz will most likely influence how the 46 countries that are members of the European court will handle similar claims.

“This will have a domino effect,” said Annalisa Savaresi, a senior lecturer for environmental law at the University of Stirling, in Scotland, who has studied climate change litigation. “It’s the first of its kind to be heard, but there are many others in the pipeline.”

The litigants in the Swiss case include four women who said they had heart and respiratory diseases that put them at risk of death on hot days.

The crux of the complaint is a charge that the Swiss government’s failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to prevent global warming of 2 degrees Celsius is at odds with its obligations under the European Human Rights Convention. Those include rights to life and autonomy, given that older women have been proved to be particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses.

“What this would give citizens is an additional tool to name and shame these states and make their grievances visible and, eventually, enforceable,” Savaresi said. But, she added, how such rulings could be imposed remain in “uncharted territory.”

The case was initially brought to domestic courts in 2016, with the Swiss Supreme Court ruling that there was not enough evidence to prove that women’s rights had been violated. The litigants say those courts did not properly analyze the case, so they took it higher, to the European Court of Human Rights.

A ruling in the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz’s case is not expected until next year. The court is also considering several other climate change-related cases, including one filed by a group of young Portuguese who have accused 33 countries of not upholding their human rights obligations by failing to curb emissions, and by a French citizen who has brought a similar case against the French government.

But as they wait and try to go about their lives, the members of KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz say they are hopeful that the case can demonstrate that older people can be powerful climate advocates, even if they may not be around for the future.

“I know that statistically speaking in 10 years, I’m gone,” said Stern. “So whatever I fight for now, I am not going to be the benefactor.”

She added: “It’ll be for the next generation.”

Members of KlimaSeniorinnen, or Senior Women for Climate Protection, in 2020 with Marie Toussaint, third from right, a French environmental activist and member of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, France.

A lightbulb went off

By PAMELA PAUL

When Thomas Edison was working on the incandescent lamp in 1879, he purportedly said, “We are striking it big in the electric light, better than my vivid imagination first conceived. Where this thing is going to stop, Lord only knows.”

That heavenly glow stopped last week.

We knew the day was coming when the lights would go out, and by that, I mean the light of the incandescent light bulb. As of Aug. 1, the Biden administration’s regulations went into effect: All bulbs forthwith must comply with new efficiency standards. While not explicitly banning incandescent bulbs, these regulations will make it awfully hard — if not impossible — for the old Edison bulb to pass muster.

Intellectually, I’m on board. The more environmental regulations this country can impose, the better. My own microcontribution is an array of personal ecodiktats, some of which I try to force on other members of my family. I am forever turning out lights when people momentarily leave a room. I wash and reuse Ziploc bags until they no longer zip, and I enlist all

stray bags into litter box duty. I am a manic recycler of paper.

There is simply no reasonable defense of incandescent light bulbs. LED bulbs last longer, are cheaper in the long run and, now that their once hefty price tag has dropped, in the short run as well. Their widespread use will significantly reduce carbon emissions.

But against reason, let me argue briefly and futilely in favor of the aesthetic, ambient, even tactile (I’ll explain) benefits of Edison’s radiant invention.

First, consider the alternatives. A hundred times I have been told that LED bulbs, with their unnatural froideur and their sour green aura, can now simulate all manner of glow. They come with labels like soft white and bright white, cool white and daylight. It’s all nonsense. The morose cast of the LED bulb looks one step up from the dread fluorescent, with its grim hue supplying the gray to barely finished basements, the line at the DMV and the waiting room in the ER. Stark. Devoid of passion. Institutional. I’m hardly the first person to notice that LED light simply looks bad.

Things illuminated by LED (human beings, for example) also look bad, sullen, even villainous. There is little hygge to be found in an LED-lit home. Rooms exude the doleful pallor of a desaturated sequence in a Christopher Nolan movie. I think of the poor painter in Oliver Sacks’ “An Anthropologist on Mars,” suddenly struck with a loss of color vision, who finds that what’s left looks distasteful, “the whites glaring, yet discolored and off-white, the blacks cavernous — everything wrong, unnatural stained and impure.” LED bulbs flicker; they fade. Occasionally they buzz, though apparently all bulbs are guilty of this, and it’s allegedly not their fault; it’s your house’s.

And LED is cold — not just in terms of color but actually cold. As a person whose internal thermostat runs on the chilly side, who needs a hot bath every night just to fully inhabit my extremities, the incandescent light bulb has served as a beacon. The 17th-century house I grew up in never acquired insulation. Heating was kept to a minimum, the logic being, I assume, that there was little point letting heat in if it was only going to waft right out. The old-fashioned standing radiators in the corner of each room (think “Eraserhead”) occasionally emitted a faint warmth; I would hug the one in the kitchen while waiting for my bagel to toast. A cat who became ill joined me there as he grew more sickly, sidling up to the radiator beside me until his time ran out.

The strongest heat in the house came in the form of my reading lamp, which I powered up with 100-watt bulbs and clutched as I read in bed, my fingers lightly roasting with pleasure. I associate that jolly warmth with late-night phone calls, books read after bedtime, the privacy of my own well-lit room.

The incandescent bulb has had its drawbacks. I never succeeded in getting it to prove a fake fever the way Elliott did in “E.T.” I was repeatedly told not to hug my lamp, but I ignored those warnings. Only a few times did I singe anything, usually a pajama sleeve. It wasn’t until adulthood that I set anything entirely aflame. It was bound to happen, and I only wish it hadn’t happened to Teddles, whom I placed on my child’s bedside lamp to resuscitate the teddy-bearheaded blanket from a state of slight sogginess. (We all make what, in hindsight, were clearly mistakes under parental stress.) Within moments, whatever toxic acrylic formulation constituted its beloved snuggly form had degraded into a tough fibrous shell.

I also killed numerous insects by proxy with the magnificent megawatt halogen torchiers (adieu) that I placed around my home, extinguishing any moth foolish enough to approach.

But these crimes took place years ago, before the 2007 warning bell, when a set of energy standards was signed by George W. Bush, initially intended to wipe out incandescent bulbs within 10 years. While in office, Donald Trump put a stop to many measures opposed by the industry groups. Until last Tuesday, old-fashioned bulbs continued to be available online, in dollar stores and at specialty lighting shops. A few may still be. Run!

Or simply succumb to the waning incandescence. Wait it out until fireplace season. Cling to the good news that, per a separate slate of proposed efficiency standards, the odious compact fluorescent light may soon be banned, too. We’ll always have candlelight.

Instituto

de Cultura Puertorriqueña abre convocatoria para la 12ma edición de Campechada

POR CYBERNEWS

SAN JUAN – El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP) y su Programa para la Subvención para las Artes (PSBA) anunciaron la convocatoria para artistas individuales y organizaciones culturales sin fines de lucro 501 (c) (3) que interesen someter propuestas de carácter artístico cultural para participar en la próxima edición de Campechada.

Esta ocasión, el evento se llevará a cabo en San Germán y estará inspirado en la insigne poeta puertorriqueña Lola Rodríguez de Tió.

Los interesados podrán elegir entre las categorías de “Educación y Acceso” o “Creación y Presentación”. Las propuestas para “Educación y Acceso” pueden incluir talleres, demostraciones, programas de mentoría, desarrollo profesional de artistas, escuelas, líderes

Periodistas

escolares de distrito y líderes comunitarios o educadores. Mientras, en la categoría de “Creación y Presentación” se admitirán propuestas para espectáculos, teatro, danza, “performance”, música, exhibiciones, publicaciones literarias, creación de cortometrajes, vídeos, grabaciones, uso de la tecnología para la creación o presentación de las artes, entre otros. Todas las propuestas deberán estar inspiradas en la obra o en la vida de Lola Rodríguez de Tió.

Desde su creación en el 2011, Campechada ha sido una plataforma multidisciplinaria, interagencial y multisectorial que ofrece exposición a talentos artísticos. Además, promueve el desarrollo económico del sector cultural y celebra el arte en todas sus expresiones. Esta edición de Campechada se llevará a cabo el 18 y 19 de noviembre en San Germán.

Los interesados deberán someter su propuesta a

través de la plataforma virtual disponible en la sección de convocatorias en la página web oficial del ICP en o antes del lunes, 14 de agosto. Las guías y detalles completos están disponible en icp.pr.gov/convocatorias. Para más información o dudas sobre la convocatoria puede escribir a apoyo@icp.pr.gov o llamar al 787724-3210

de Las Noticias de TeleOnce son reconocidos por la ASPPRO

S AN JUAN – Tres destacados periodistas de Las Noticias de TeleOnce fueron reconocidos por la Asociación de Periodistas de Puerto Rico durante la vigésima novena edición del Premio Nacional de Periodismo, realizada el pasado sábado en San Juan.

El personal del Departamento de Noticias de la estación felicitó a sus colegas Shirlyan Odette Rodríguez, Manuel Crespo Feliciano y Deborah Martorell por sus respectivos trabajos que fueron destacados durante la gala.

“La familia de Las Noticias se enorgullece de contar con el mejor equipo de periodistas en Puerto Rico, y estas premiaciones son un claro ejemplo de ello. Seguimos trabajando día a día para ejercer nuestro trabajo con profesionalismo, ética y dedicación, tal y como lo merecen los puertorriqueños”, dijo Jenny Suarez, vicepresidenta de Las Noticias, tras conocer de los reconocimientos del trío de su plantilla.

En la categoría “Noticia del Momento”, la periodista Shirlyan Odette Rodríguez Caraballo fue galardonada por su cobertura “Incendio en edificio de Guaynabo”.

“Recibo este Premio Nacional de Periodismo con emoción, respeto y con el compromiso de continuar

CAAPPR nombra nuevo Director Ejecutivo

POR EL STAR STAFF

S AN JUAN – La Arq. Alexandra Betancourt, presidenta del Colegio de Arquitectos y Arquitectos Paisajistas de Puerto Rico (CAAPPR), anunció el nombramiento del Arq. Ent. Víctor Blay Rullán como nuevo director ejecutivo de dicha entidad, la cual agrupa unos 1,200 arquitectos y arquitectos paisajistas licenciados y en entrenamiento.

Blay Rullán obtuvo su Bachillerato en Diseño Ambiental y su Maestría en Arquitectura en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras. Cuenta con ex-

trabajando para mi país”, dijo la periodista tras recibir su distinción. “Agradecida con todos los que me han ayudado a seguir cumpliendo sueños”.

Mientras, “Trans Las Rejas”, un trabajo periodístico a cargo de Manuel Crespo Feliciano se llevó el reconocimiento en la categoría “Entrevista de Televisión”.

“Honrado con esta distinción y con toda la gente que hace de este caminar uno de éxitos y trabajos significativos para nuestro país”, expuso, por su parte, el periodista de Las Noticias.

De otra parte, “La Naturaleza Habla”, de Deborah Martorell, fue premiada en la categoría de “Reportaje Especial”.

“Una noche increíble. Gracias al distinguido jurado de la Asociación de Periodistas de Puerto Rico por este premio”, destacó Martorell.

Estas premiaciones se dan justo cuando Las Noticias de TeleOnce cumplieron su segundo aniversario el pasado mes de julio.

periencia manejando proyectos de fondos CDBG-DR y FEMA.

Del 2018 hasta el presente, el nuevo director ejecutivo del CAAPPR, laboró como Program Design Manager para Benítez, Ramos & Associates LCC., en la que manejó la operación de diseño para cientos de hogares destruidos tras el paso de María, así como lideró a un grupo de más de una docena de expertos en distintas disciplinas en trabajos de reconstrucción.

Durante su carrera profesional, también trabajó para la firma L. A. Arquitectos, así como se desempeñó como administrador del Museo Biblioteca Casa del Libro a

cargo del montaje de exhibiciones y coordinación de actividades, entre otras responsabilidades. Del 2007 al 2024 formó parte como interno de la reconocida firma del Arq. Jorge Rigau. FAIA, en la documentación, exhibición y coordinación de actividades.

POR EL STAR STAFF

Zach Galifianakis lives in the cringe

By CHRIS KORNELIS

Zach Galifianakis grew up on Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Redd Foxx and David Letterman, but he never sat in front of the family television thinking he wanted to be them. He was more interested in keeping up with his family.

He liked the way his older cousins imitated people. His parents were hilarious. They all performed skits at reunions. He once dressed his sister up as the Ayatollah Khomeini. He got good at doing the robot.

“The way we communicate is through humor,” the comedian and actor said in a phone interview in July, before Hollywood actors went on strike, adding: “It’s as basic as: I enjoyed the sound of people laughing.”

In his latest film, “The Beanie Bubble,” he portrays the billionaire behind Beanie Babies, the stuffed animals that were a cultural craze in the 1990s. There are moments when viewers might not know whether to laugh or cringe.

“You don’t see it much in movies because movies want to sometimes show a different side of humanity,” Galifianakis said. “I live in the awkward and cringe because I find life can be like that.”

Galifianakis, a 53-year-old resident of the “Canadian woods,” discussed writing jokes on his tractor, avoiding Twitter, and the radio he listens to on the road. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

1. Nature

I grew up rural, and all I wanted to do was run to the city. Now that I’m older, all I want to do is run back to the woods. I always tell people: Don’t forget about the woods, because as city dwellers, as urbanites, as suburbanites, we forget. There’s a lot of poetry in the woods.

2. Nature documentaries

I often go back to “Alone in the Wil-

derness,” this documentary about Dick Proenneke, a man who lived in a remote cabin in Alaska that he built himself. I’m envious of his skill, of being able to live off the earth. There’s something beautiful about that kind of life. I’m a complete hypocrite. I’ll never get there. But had I reworked a couple things, I would’ve probably aimed a little bit more for that kind of life.

3. Local radio

I don’t know how to work apps. So, when I’m in the car, I listen to the radio. In Canada, CBC always has something good on. When I’m working in Atlanta, radio there has a lot of good, old hip-hop. And when I’m in California, I listen to KCRW, which still plays new music.

4. Gardening-adjacent hobbies

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I planted peanuts, and I’ve been gardening ever since. My hobbies are usually garden-related, like making my own fertilizer. My kids will go get deer bones out of

the woods, and then I’ll grind them up and make my own bone meal.

5. Grilling for dummies

I cook pizza on my Big Green Egg, which I bought during the pandemic. I’d always been intimidated by grilling. But any moron can cook on that thing and you’ll think you’re eating at an amazing restaurant.

6. Thinking while on my tractor

I’ve had a tractor for a number of years. It’s where I do most of my thinking about standup — specifically jokewriting. It lets me sit there and numb out and think about jokes I’ve done and try to add to them.

7. Visiting Greece and taking it easy

This is the thing about Greece, where my dad’s family is from, and Europe in general: It’s about walking to go get a coffee. It’s about sitting down and having a conversation. I feel like these older societies have their priorities a little bit more in check sometimes. They’ve been through it. They’ve seen it. So there’s a

coolness to me about Greece. And I just agree with the lifestyle. Also, the history there is unbelievable.

8. ‘ The Simpsons’ (Made in the USA)

I’m always pleasantly surprised at how much that show can still make me gut laugh. There’s not many shows like that. Shows like “The Simpsons,” and the fact that Prince was from America, that just makes me proud to be an American.

9. A book worth paying attention to When I read a book, I want everyone to know I read books, so I talk about it to everyone. “Stolen Focus,” by Johann Hari, is basically a deep, deep dive into the phone and social media. When you finish this book, you’ll go: We’ve all been duped, especially young kids who feel social media and constant contact is a must. I highly, highly recommend it, especially for parents.

10. IRL observations

The biggest crime of social media is that it’s so boring. I’ll hear people say: You should see what I just tweeted out. As soon as I hear “Twitter,” my face glazes over. For somebody like me, I have to observe. I need to see the small spaces in life as an actor, as someone that tries to make people laugh. I’m not going to get that from Twitter. But, look: I’m 53. I’m old. I’m out of the loop. Nobody should listen to me.

10 essential songs by Sinead O’Connor

By JON PARELES

Sinead O’Connor did not hold back. Not her voice, not her ideas, not her troubles, not her rage, not her sorrows, not her faith. From the moment her debut album, “The Lion and the Cobra,” appeared in 1987, O’Connor — whose death was announced July 26— flaunted raw passion and raw nerve.

She seemed equally startling, at first, for her keening voice and her shaven head. Her singing encompassed cathartic extremes: lullabies and imprecations, sighs and howls. She made bold, intemperate public statements, like famously tearing up a photograph of the pope on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992. Yet her songs also offered comfort, nurturing and righteousness; she was an idealist, not a provocateur. And she struggled openly: with the music business, with unforgiving journalists, with career pressures and with mental illness.

O’Connor was emphatically Irish. The inflections of old Celtic music sharpened her voice, and she was shaped by her Catholic upbringing, if only to later reject it. Yet she was anything but provincial. She produced her own debut album when she was only 20, drawing already on punk, dance music, electronics and seething orchestral arrangements. She would go on to work with reggae, big-band music and more; her voice, even at its gentlest, could leap out.

O’Connor’s first two albums were her most inspired ones. They were charged with youthful turbulence and unbridled ambition, as O’Connor sang about love, death, power and making her own place in the world. She went through some fallow patches afterward, but she never stopped striving to sing her own truth.

‘Mandinka’ (1987)

With a distorted, three-chord rock stomp, O’Connor brashly announces, “I don’t know no shame/I feel no pain,” landing hard on dissonant notes. The song seesaws between refusal and acceptance, with a final tease of “Soon I can give you my heart.” But O’Connor also flexes her high notes in nonsense syllables that are as defiant as any word she sings.

‘Troy’ (1987)

One side of a lover’s quarrel unfurls across an operatic 6 1/2 minutes, backed by a string ensemble that underlines every churning emotion: memories, accusations, confessions, vows, pleas, warnings and the sheer desperation when O’Connor sings, “Does she hold you like I do?” followed by a howl of pain.

‘I Want Your (Hands on Me)’ (1987)

Chattering, percussive funk carries this call for physical pleasure, and as she bounces her voice against the syncopated beat, O’Connor summons unabashed rasps and moans.

‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ (1990)

O’Connor’s commercial peak — a No. 1 pop single

Sinead O’Connor’s first two albums were charged with youthful turbulence and unbridled ambition, as she sang about love, death, power and making her own place in the world.

— thoroughly commandeered a song Prince wrote for a 1985 album by the Family. She makes her voice small and bereft, then lashes out at consolations; she places Celtic turns at the ends of phrases. And she brings crucial changes to Prince’s melody, making upward leaps when the chorus gets to the line “Nothing compares to you.” Its video clip — almost entirely a close-up of O’Connor’s face against a black background — forged an indelible image of loneliness.

‘I Am Stretched on Your Grave’ (1990)

A hip-hop beat backs an old Irish poem that was translated into English and turned into a song. Its narrator mourns the death of his lover, wishing to join her. O’Connor’s voice, completely exposed over the stark rhythm track, is otherworldly. A fiddle arrives near the end, completing the mesh of traditional and contemporary.

‘The Last Day of Our Acquaintance’ (1990)

The formal mechanics of a divorce — “I will meet you later in somebody’s office” — can’t contain the bitterness of the situation. For most of the song, O’Connor

sings over two calmly strummed acoustic guitar chords, but agitation rises in her voice, and when a band eventually kicks in behind her there’s no mistaking her fury.

‘You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart’ (1994) This incantatory rocker was written by Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer for the film “In the Name of the Father.” If it sounds like O’Connor fronting 1990s U2 — with a pealing piano and an implacable beat — it draws the best from both, with U2’s echoey depths, O’Connor’s primal peaks and the high-stakes dynamics they both thrived on.

‘This Is to Mother You’ (1997)

O’Connor promises to “do what your own mother didn’t do” in a song that radiates kindliness and womanly strength. It’s a folky, Celtic-tinged lullaby that promises to end a dark back story, to release someone — perhaps a lover, as the video suggests — from “All the pain that you have known/All the violence in your soul.” It’s pure unselfish comfort.

‘Jealous’ (2000)

“I don’t deserve to be lonely just ’cause you say I do,” O’Connor insists in “Jealous,” a not-quite-breakup ballad she wrote with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. The beat is measured. But the singer’s partner is keeping her dangling, and she’s not sure what she wants either; she makes her harshest judgments in her most fragile voice.

‘Dense Water Deeper Down’ (2014)

The folk-rock jubilation of “Dense Water Deeper Down” — with muscular guitar strumming, layered harmonies, even some happy horns — celebrates a lover who “makes me forget everything my mother warned.” There’s just one catch: He’s only a memory.

How you should change your workout once you hit 40

By DANIELLE FRIEDMAN

Getting older doesn’t have to mean moving less. The key to long-standing fitness, experts say, is envisioning the kind of athlete you want to be 20, 30, even 40 years from now, and training smartly in the present for that future.

“If you’re dreaming of retiring and hiking the mountains of Hawaii, make sure you can do that now, first and foremost,” said Kate Baird, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Starting in your 30s, you lose between about 3% and 8% of your muscle mass per decade, and more after turning 60. Bone mineral density also starts to decline in midlife, which puts you at risk for fractures and osteoporosis. Your VO2 max, or the heart and lungs’ ability to take in oxygen and convert it into energy, decreases as well.

Making a few changes to your habits early can slow these declines and prepare you for decades of physical activity, Baird said, from the functional (like chasing after grandchildren and lifting luggage) to the fun (like playing tennis and running half-marathons).

Here’s how to get started, according to exercise scientists and trainers.

Test your fitness to learn your strengths and weaknesses.

The best way to be proactive about your future is to assess your fitness today, said Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist in New York City, and the creator of Movement Vault, a stretching and mobility app.

The four key areas to check are your body’s strength, stability, mobility and cardiorespiratory fitness, he said, which all typically decline with age. “The human body is extremely resilient,” Wickham said. “But the double-edged sword there is that it’s so resilient that we can get away with a lot — until we can’t.”

For a professional fitness evaluation, make an appointment with an exercise physiologist, physical therapist or certified personal trainer, all of whom can then work with you to create a personalized training program. Or test your fitness at home using online resources.

Testing one’s fitness can shine a light on potential weaknesses or areas in need of boosting, Wickham said, helping to prevent injury before it happens.

For example, if your stability is shaky, start doing balance-boosting exercises like single-leg stands and weight shifts, or workouts like tai chi and Pilates. Or if you’re less flexible than you desire, take up yoga or devote more time

to dynamic stretches.

The best way to measure cardiorespiratory fitness is to test your VO2 max with a doctor or an exercise physiologist, Baird said. Many wearable fitness trackers, including some Apple Watches and Fitbits, offer estimated VO2 max readings as well.

“VO2 max is sort of the overall functional capacity of your body to do hard work,” she said, and regular aerobic exercise and HIIT workouts can help you boost it.

Mix up your workout often.

As you get older, you should, above all, strive to exercise 150 minutes per week with moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic workouts and two sessions of strength training (15-20 minutes per session), which together can boost both longevity and quality of life.

But how you spend that time should look different from day to day or week to week, said Sarah Witkowski, an exercise physiologist and associate professor at Smith College.

“The body is great at adaptation,” she said, but to maximize benefits, you want to “keep

your body guessing.” Variety also is good for heart health, including blood pressure. Even small changes can be beneficial, she added. If you typically do lunges, try lunging in different directions some days or combining them with overhead dumbbell presses. If you like to walk, once or twice a week choose a hillier route or walk as fast as you can.

Think beyond toned biceps and sixpack abs.

Strength training can be a veritable fountain of youth if you approach it strategically. When we’re younger, our motivations are often aesthetic, said Amanda Thebe, a personal trainer based in Canada who specializes in working with people over 40. But focusing only on isolated muscle groups, such as abs or biceps, often neglects muscles we can’t see that contribute to health and strength.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing your bicep curls and your deltoid raises if you want to be pumped for summer,” Thebe said. But balance these exercises with compound movements — exercises that work several joints and muscles at once.

“Things like a dead lift and a squat,” she said. “Things that move us up and down, and side to side.” Prioritizing core muscles beyond the visible abdominals will also contribute to overall strength as we age. Planks are a great option, and pelvic floor exercises help, too.

Finally, to maximize benefits, you need a plan that’s progressive, said Lauren Lynass, a physical therapist with the fitness platform [P]rehab. Continually increase the amount of weight you lift, or the number of reps.

“We don’t get better by doing things that are easy,” Lynass said. The more we intentionally challenge our body as we age, she said, the better equipped we’ll be for whatever physical feats our future self wants to take on.

Artist Justin J Wee stretches in his apartment in Brooklyn, on Jan. 14, 2022. Aging well often means becoming intentional about building or maintaining strength, stability, mobility and cardiorespiratory fitness.

A widespread heat wave has ocean temperatures soaring to record levels

Experts have speculated that other factors, in addition to human-caused climate change and the arrival of El Niño, could be contributing to this year’s exceptional ocean heat.

Some have suggested that international rules aimed at reducing air pollution from maritime shipping could have inadvertently increased ocean warming. Others point to the unusual absence of Saharan dust over the North Atlantic this year, which can also have a cooling effect by blocking sunlight.

The eruption of an underwater volcano in the Pacific Ocean near Tonga last year, which spewed tens of millions of tons of water vapor into the stratosphere, may have also influenced this year’s ocean temperatures. Water vapor, like carbon dioxide, is a greenhouse gas that traps heat near Earth’s surface.

But early analyses have so far suggested that those factors cannot account for all of this year’s extra warming.

“The level of warmth we are seeing today is only possible because of the warming over the past 150 years due to human activity,” Hausfather said.

Scientists expect warm ocean conditions to continue into the fall, with El Niño intensifying in the months ahead.

Brutal heat waves have baked the world this summer and they haven’t been contained to land. Earth’s oceans are the hottest they have been in modern history, by an unusually wide margin, at 12.4 x 7.5 -- cat=A

By ELENA SHAO

Brutal heat waves have baked the world this summer and they haven’t been contained to land. Earth’s oceans are the hottest they have been in modern history, by an unusually wide margin.

The planet’s average sea surface temperature spiked to a record high in April, and the ocean has remained exceptionally warm ever since. In July, widespread marine heat waves drove temperatures back up to near-record highs, with some hot spots nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 38 Celsius).

“I find it kind of astonishing,” said Gregory Johnson, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, referring to this year’s trend. “This is a pretty big step up.”

The North Atlantic has seen some of the most exceptional warmth, with recent temperatures consistently reaching more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 Celsius) higher than what is typical for this time of year.

Taking a dip in the waters off the coast of the Florida Keys could, at times, feel like stepping into a hot tub. Last week, one reading from a buoy recorded a stunning 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 38 Celsius), possibly a world record for sea surface temperatures.

The extreme heat is devastating Florida’s coral reefs, but high ocean temperatures can have more widespread

impacts, too, disrupting other marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

El Niño, a recurring global climate pattern that is typically linked to warmer conditions in many regions, arrived in June, and is one contributor to the spike in global sea surface temperatures, said Michelle L’Heureux, a climate scientist with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

But the underlying influence of human-driven climate change is undeniable, she added.

Global sea surface temperatures have been increasing since at least the early 20th century, when humans began sharply increasing the amount of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere.

Is it worse than scientists expected?

This year’s spike in global sea surface temperatures is concerning, but it is not exactly unexpected in a warming world, said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit research institute.

Global climate models have projected how oceans could heat up if we continue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at roughly our current rate, and July’s high sea surface temperatures falls within the expected range, though at the higher end.

In the North Atlantic, however, temperatures have been warmer than climate models projected. That suggests “something somewhat extraordinary may be happening there,” Hausfather said.

The ocean absorbs more heat than land

While sea surface readings take the temperature of the top layer of the ocean, up to a few hundred feet deep, climate scientists have also been charting how much heat is being absorbed by the ocean as a whole. In short, it is a lot.

The ocean, which covers about 70% of the world’s surface, has absorbed more than 90% of the heat unleashed by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activity.

Put another way, the majority of the human-driven warming that has happened on Earth over the past six decades has accumulated in the ocean. But water has a much higher capacity than land to absorb and store all that heat.

The ocean has “been doing us a big service by delaying global warming considerably,” Johnson said, “but it comes at a cost.” As the ocean stores more heat, its water expands, contributing to sea level rise. Warmer ocean temperatures also provide more fodder for tropical cyclones and atmospheric river storms.

By the end of the century, ocean warming could contribute to a weakening, or even a shutdown, of the Atlantic Ocean currents that help regulate the climate for a swath of the planet, a new analysis found.

“In many ways,” Hausfather said, the ocean is “the most accurate thermometer we have for the actual effect of climate change, because it’s where most of the heat ends up.”

4,000 Rescued beagles, bred for research, found homes and best friends

By LAUREN MCCARTHY AND JOHNNY DIAZ

When a 2-year-old beagle named Fin was carried out in September from the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Virginia, his exit marked the end of a nearly 60-day operation to rescue almost 4,000 dogs that had been living in highly distressful conditions.

Beagles that were among those kept there were underfed, had fallen ill or were injured, inspections of the research facility found, and some had been euthanized.

Nearly a year later, many of the beagles are thriving in new homes, their new housemates said. They roll on the grass, enjoy long walks and lick birthday cake to celebrate the anniversary of their rescue.

“He was the last one. I can’t imagine what that must’ve felt like for him,” said Suzanne Brown-Pelletier, who adopted Fin within weeks of his rescue. To make up for the lost years of love, “I give him all kinds of kisses on his nose and tell him I’m playing the beagle bugle,” she said.

Fin, whom Brown-Pelletier renamed Sir Biscuit of Barkingham (or Biscuit), and thousands of other dogs were released over two months to shelters, rescue organizations, foster owners and adoptive families after federal officials found that the breeding facility had safety violations. The beagles there were hungry, sick, mistreated and, in some cases, had died, and the survivors were headed to testing labs.

After a federal judge approved a plan to remove the dogs in July 2022, several rescue groups and volunteers stepped up to find them homes in an effort that drew attention nationwide. The news even inspired Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry to adopt a beagle named Momma Mia. Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey adopted a dog, Morty, from the facility.

Many others volunteered to open their homes to the rescues as well.

After Alli and Tyler Trent adopted a beagle named Maple, the dog shook uncontrollably in their backyard in Christiansburg, Virginia. Having lived in a cage, Maple hadn’t seen grass or eaten a treat before.

“The grass was very scary for her,” Alli Trent recalled. Maple also cowered whenever someone approached.

“Nothing was easy,” she recalled, “but she just needed some extra patience and time.”

‘Learning to trust’

Maple found her footing with the Trents “and has learned so much and come so far,” said Alli Trent, 29. The beagle, who is 4, loves sunbathing and belly rubs, munching on crushed ice and, most of all, lounging in her bed.

“She’s learning to trust, and she’s learning that the only people in her life now are good people that love her so much!” she said.

The Trents’ other beagle, Lola, has also provided emotional support for Maple.

Last month, the couple attended a gathering in Wake Forest, North Carolina, to mark the anniversary of the bea-

gles’ rescues. There, Maple reunited with some of her puppies, which had also been adopted. A photo Alli Trent posted on Facebook showed Maple and the puppies — which are bigger than their mother now — and their new owners, camping out together on the grass. Maple wore a bandanna that read, “Envigo survivor.”

In North Yarmouth, Maine, Sir Biscuit adjusted to his new life outside a cage with the help of Brown-Pelletier’s other dogs, Albert and Winston, both spaniels.

When the family first met Biscuit, he was drooling from anxiety and “pancaking,” or lying flat on the ground, out of fear. Brown-Pelletier, 60, noticed how Biscuit lifted his feet up with curiosity as he touched new textures around the house. “His little paws had never touched anything other than a metal cage,” she said, and “he didn’t know what a toy was.”

Albert, a 5-year-old English springer spaniel, modeled bravery for Biscuit and showed him how to play. Now, anything Albert does, Biscuit wants to do, Brown-Pelletier said.

“He has a best friend,” she said of the two, who share toys.

At 26 pounds, having gained at least 5 since he was in the facility, Biscuit has the stamina for long walks, while being small enough to be a lap dog. “His favorite place is my lap, and I love that,” Brown-Pelletier said.

Biscuit is the first dog Brown-Pelletier has ever rescued, and she swears he thanks her daily with his big, expressive brown eyes. “I am telling you it is the way to go,” she said.

Becoming a rescue parent

As Adam Parascandola, vice president of the animal rescue team for the Humane Society of the United States, worked on helping place the beagles rescued from the Envigo facility, he realized: “It just felt right to take one of them in.”

Parascandola and his wife, Stephanie Prete, adopted a 12-week-old male puppy at that they named Enzo. The dog now lives in Winlock, Washington, and while he’s still working on navigating how to get on the couch, Enzo has blossomed into being very social and happy-go-lucky.

Every dog and its circumstances are different, said Parascandola, and dogs that come from rescue situations will bring varying degrees of ability and comfort.

“People need to be aware of their ability and tolerance to deal with socializing dogs,” he said, particularly dogs that have had little contact with humans or other animals.

Shelters and rescue organizations are experienced in placing animals with the appropriate new family, Parascandola said. He recommends that prospective owners share their expectations for the new pet with adoption centers, so they can help facilitate the best lifestyle fit.

Puppies may be more unpredictable and require additional flexibility, whereas adult dogs will demonstrate their basic personality and needs. New owners can look forward to seeing transitions and growth, Parascandola said.

Above all, patience is key. “Let the dog take the lead,” he said, “on what they’re ready for.”

Alli and Tyler Trent with their adopted beagle, Maple, in Dublin, Va. on July 28, 2023. They said that the dog trembled when released in their backyard, after having lived in a cage at the Envigo facility.

Suzanne Brown-Pelletier playing with her adopterd beagle, Biscuit, in North Yarmouth, Maine on Aug. 1, 2023. She said he was the last of the beagles to be rescued from the Envigo breeding and research facility.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ ZAMARIE

PONCE FANTAUZZI Peticionaria

EX-PARTE

Civil Núm.: MZ2023CV00665.

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

A: TODO POSIBLE ACREEDOR DEL FINADO, RAMÓN ANTONIO PONCE FANTAUZZI, t.c.c. RAMÓN

PONCE FANTAUZZI o RAMÓN PONCE, QUIEN MURIÓ TESTADO EL 3 DE MARZO DE 2023 EN MAYAGÜEZ, PUERTO RICO.

POR LA PRESENTE se le informa a cualquier acreedor del finado Ramón Antonio Ponce Fantauzzi, t.c.c. Ramón Ponce Fantauzzi o Ramón Ponce, quien murió testado el 3 de marzo de 2023, en Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, que si tiene una acreencia en su contra deberá presentársela a su Albacea, Zamarie Ponce Fantauzzi, con los correspondientes comprobantes bajo juramento en su dirección postal en De Diego 55 Este, Oficina 206, Mayagüez, 00680, dentro del plazo de seis meses de publicado el aviso. Quedan advertidos los potenciales acreedores del causante de que si la Albacea dudase de la validez de su reclamación la rechazará, notificándoselo por escrito, quienes quedarán expeditos su derecho para incoar la acción contra la administración del caudal ante el tribunal competente. Asimismo, que la Albacea no le será personalmente responsable a un acreedor que no hubiese presentado la reclamación dentro del plazo aquí dispuesto por los caudales o dinero que hubiera entregado a cuentas de legítimas reclamaciones, legados o hijuelas antes de intentarse la acción, sin que ello afecte su derecho de ir directamente contra los herederos por el monto de su reclamación hasta el importe de lo recibido en pago de la herencia, si la misma no está prescrita. Arts. 594 y 595 del Código de Enjuiciamiento Civil, 32 L.P.R.A. §§2542 y 2543.

EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal hoy día 14 de junio de 2023. LCDA. NOR-

MA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA REGIONAL II.

REBECA MEDINA FIGUEROA,

SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

LIME HOMES, LTD.

Parte Demandante Vs. EUSEBIO GASPAR

ÁLVAREZ CRUZ T/C/C

EUSEBIO G. ÁLVAREZ CRUZ, SU ESPOSA IVELISSE VALENTÍN

VERA POR SÍ Y EN REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: NSCI2009-00005.

Salón Núm.: (301). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y COBRO DE DINERO. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. ESTADOS

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

A: EUSEBIO GASPAR

ÁLVAREZ CRUZ t/c/c

EUSEBIO G. ÁLVAREZ

CRUZ, SU ESPOSA IVELISSE VALENTÍN VERA Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS: CONSEJO DE TITULARES CONDOMINIO

LA COSTA: 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 Fajardo, 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: URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Condominio La Costa Apartments de Fajardo. Apartamento: D-2. Cabida: 122.4 metros cuadrados. Apartamento Residencial de

forma irregular localizado en la Primera Planta del Edificio D, del Condominio La Costa, del término municipal de Fajardo, Puerto Rico. En lindes: Colinda por el NORTE, con área común en una distancia de 45’-04” equivalentes a 13.82 metros; por el SUR, colinda con el apartamento D-1, en una distancia de 45’-04” equivalentes a 13.82 metros; por el ESTE, colinda con área común limitada en una distancia de 37’-00” equivalentes a 11.28 metros; por el OESTE, con un área común que da acceso al vestíbulo en una distancia de 37’ -00” equivalentes a 11.28 metros. Su puerta principal está localizada en la colindancia Oeste. El apartamento consta de un nivel y está dividido en los siguientes elementos: sala-comedor y puerta de entrada con acceso al vestíbulo del edificio, cocina, área de lavandería, balcón, 3 cuartos dormitorios con sus closets, unidos por un pasillo central, 2 baños, uno con acceso al pasillo central y el segundo ubicado dentro del área del cuarto dormitorio principal. Contiene un calentador de agua y gabinetes de cocina. Le corresponden a este apartamento dos espacios de estacionamiento marcados con los números 37 y 38. Le corresponde a este apartamento en los elementos comunes generales del condominio el 0.00783 por ciento. Inscrito al tomo Karibe de Fajardo, finca número #21,476. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Fajardo. La propiedad objeto de ejecución está localizada en la siguiente dirección: D-2 Puerta del Sol, Fajardo, P.R. 00738. Según figura en el Estudio de título, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada al siguiente Gravamen posterior a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: A. Sentencia Enmendada dictada el día 20 de noviembre de 2012, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Fajardo, en el Caso Civil número NICI201200134, seguido por Consejo de Titulares Condominio La Costa, demandante versus Ivelisse Valentín Vera y Eusebio Gaspar Alvarez Cruz, por una cuantía de $9,199.91, más intereses presentado el día 21 de agosto de 2013 y anotado el día 4 de septiembre de 2013, al folio 50, Demanda 146 del Registro de Sentencias número 5. No podemos precisar que la persona embargada y el titular en esta finca sean la misma persona. Se les notifica a los acreedores posteriores anteriormente identificados para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o

satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. 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 $175,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la Escritura de Hipoteca #796, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 27 de septiembre de 2008, ante el notario Jorge García Soto, e inscrita al tomo Karibe de Fajardo, finca número 21,476, inscripción 2da. La PRIMERA SUBASTA, se llevará a cabo el día 12 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023

A LAS 2:30 DE LA TARDE, en mis oficinas sitas en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Fajardo, el tipo mínimo para la primera subasta es la suma de $175,000.00. Si la primera subasta del inmueble no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 19 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023

A LAS 2:30 DE LA TARDE, en el mismo sitio y servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes del precio pactada para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $166,666.66. Si la segunda subasta no produjere remate, ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 26 DE OCTUBRE DE 2023 A LAS 2:30 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 $87,500.00. 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 $166,880.68, con intereses a 6% anual, desde el 1ro de abril de 2008, 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 $17,500.00, 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 tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Expedido en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a 20 de junio de 2023. MILDRED I. TORO COLÓN, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #197.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING, LLC.

Demandante Vs. SUCESION JOSE RAMON

PEREZ PORTALES

T/C/C JOSE R. PEREZ

PORTALES T/C/C JOSE

PEREZ PORTALES

T/C/C JOSE RAMON

PEREZ COMPUESTA

POR RUFINA

ESTHER DOMINGUEZ

MARTINEZ; JOHN DOE

Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS;

RUFINA ESTHER DOMINGUEZ MARTINEZ

T/C/C RUFINA E.

DOMINGUEZ MARTINEZ

T/C/C RUFINA

DOMINGUEZ MARTINEZ

T/C/C RUFINA ESTHER

DOMINGUEZ POR SI Y

COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SUCESION JOSE RAMON

PEREZ PORTALES; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2020CV02616.

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 Carolina, 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 Carolina, el 5 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:45 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: PROPIEDAD HORIZONTAL: Apartamento siete guion A (7-A) del condominio The Galaxy Condominium Building, localizado en el sector de Isla Verde, municipio de Carolina, Puerto Rico. Es un apartamento residencial localizado en el lado Norte del edificio que mide cincuenta y tres pies tres pulgadas (53’3”) por su parte más larga medido desde el balcón hasta el cuarto número uno (1) por cuarenta y un pies cero pulgadas (41’0”) en su parte más ancha medido desde la entrada principal hasta el balcón que hacen un área superficial de mil cuatrocientos setenta y cinco punto cero tres (1475.03) pies cuadrados, equivalentes a ciento treinta y siete punto cero tres (137.03) metros cuadrados. Sus lindes y distancias son las siguientes: Por el

Norte, en una distancia de cuarenta y un pies con cero pulgadas (41’0”), con el apartamento siete guion “B” (7-B) y área común; por el Sur, en una distancia se treinta y cuatro pies con ocho pulgadas (34’8”), con área común; por el Este, en una distancia de cuarenta y ocho pies con tres pulgadas (48’3”), con el apartamento siete guion “B” (7-B) y área común; y por el Oeste, en una distancia de cincuenta y tres pies con tres pulgadas (53’3”), con área común. Este apartamento consta de balcón, tres cuartos dormitorios, dos baños completos, foyer, sala, comedor y cocina. La puerta de entrada de este apartamento está en el lado Norte y por ella se sale al corredor que da al lobby a los ascensores y escaleras. De ahí se sale al exterior. Este apartamento tiene una participación en los elementos comunes generales de punto cero cero nueve siete dos por ciento (.00972%) y en los elementos limitados tiene una participación de punto cero cero nueve cuatro por ciento (.0094%). Cuenta con la transferencia de este apartamento al asignar y anejar los estacionamientos marcados bajo los números trece guion “A” (13-A) y ciento doce (112) cubierto. Inscrita al folio 141 del tomo 815 de Carolina Norte, finca 38,857, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 68 del tomo 992 de Carolina Norte, finca 38,857, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección I, Inscripción 9ª. Propiedad localizada en: 3205 AVE ISLA VERDE, CONDOMINIO THE GALAXY, APTO. 701, CAROLINA, PR 00979. 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: $757,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 17 de marzo de 2079. 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 $757,500.00, 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 Carolina, el 12 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:45 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $505,000.00, 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 $378,750.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Carolina, el 19 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023, A LAS 11:45 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 $494,492.09 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $70,979.95 en intereses acumulados al 09 de diciembre de 2021 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 2.994% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $19,195.38 en seguro hipotecario; $5,110.00 en tarifas de servicio; $9,084.83 en contribuciones; $3,935.40 en seguro; $425.00 de tasaciones; $480.00 de inspecciones; $360.00 en preservación; $5,136.30 de adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $75,750.00, para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás

Puerto Rico, el día 31 de marzo de 2009, ante el notario Alfonso J. Gomez Roubert, e inscrita al folio 187 del tomo 1572 de Río Piedras Norte, finca número 6,422, inscripción 12va., Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta del inmueble antes descrito será la suma de $346,500.00 según se establece en la escritura de hipoteca antes relacionada. En caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en su primera subasta se ordena la celebración de una segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, en la cual, la cantidad mínima será una equivalente a 2/3 parte de aquella, o sea la suma de $231,000.00; desierta también la segunda subasta de dicho inmueble, se ordena la celebración de una tercera subasta en la cual, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado para la primera subasta, es decir la suma de $173,250.00. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación, entiéndase efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, 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. La propiedad no está sujeta a gravámenes anteriores y/o preferentes según surge de las constancias del Registro de la Propiedad en un estudio de título efectuado a la finca antes descrita. Una vez efectuada la venta de dicha propiedad, el Alguacil procederá a otorgar la escritura de traspaso al licitador victorioso en subasta, quien podrá ser la parte demandante, cuya oferta podrá aplicarse a la extinción parcial o total de la obligación reconocida por la sentencia dictada en este caso. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Si el producto de la venta fuere insuficiente para satisfacer la cantidad reclamada, se procederá a la ejecución de la sentencia en contra de la parte demandada por el remanente de las sumas no satisfechas, mediante embargo y venta en ejecución de cualesquiera otros bienes propiedad de la parte demandada en cantidad suficiente para dejar cubierta y totalmente satisfecha a la parte demandante cualquier deficiencia o parte insoluta de la sentencia dictada a su favor según dispuesto en la sentencia dictada en este caso. Se dispone, conforme con la sen-

tencia dictada en este caso que, una vez efectuada la subasta y vendido el bien inmueble, los adjudicatarios sean puestos en posesión del mismo dentro del término de veinte (20) días por el Alguacil de este Honorable Tribunal y los actuales poseedores lanzados del referido inmueble. Y para la concurrencia de licitadores y para el público en general, se publicará este Edicto de acuerdo con la ley, mediante edicto, en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, una vez por semana, por espacio 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. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto de Subasta para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 18 de julio de 2023. PEDRO HIEYE

GONZALEZ, ALGUACIL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante v. JOSÉ ANTONIO

RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS

Demandado

CIVIL NÚM: IS2023CV00028.

SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

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

A: PUBLICO EN GENERAL

El Alguacil del Tribunal que suscribe anuncia y hace constar: A. Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento que me ha sido dirigido por la Secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Aguadilla, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor de contado y en moneda de curso legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América y cuyo pago se efectuará en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, todo derecho, título o interés que tenga la Parte

Demandada en el bien inmueble que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Solar radicada en el Barrio Jobos de Isabela, Puerto Rico, identificado en el Plano de Segregación, para inscripción como solar número dos, con una cabida superficial de 544.00 metros cuadrados, en lindes por el NORTE, en 32.00 metros, con el solar 1 a segregarse; por el SUR, en 32.00 metros, con el solar 3 a segregarse; por el ESTE, en 17.00 metros cuadrados, con el solar 4, a segregarse; y por el OESTE, en 17.00 metros, con la Calle Municipal. Inscrita al folio 150 del tomo 373 de Isabela, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Aguadilla, finca número 20,179. Dirección fisica: Solar 2 (185), Calle Faro, Alturas del Mar, Barrio Jobos, Isabela, Puerto Rico, 00662. B. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado están de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables bajo el epígrafe de este caso. C. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematente los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. D. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para satisfacer a la parte demandante el importe de la sentencia que ha obtenido ascendente a la suma principal de $125,736.46, más cargos por demora y otros cargos que se acumulan diariamente hasta su total y completo pago más los intereses acumulados al 3.25% desde el 1 de marzo de 2021, hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la suma de 10% del principal, por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado. La primera subasta se celebrará el día 7 de septiembre de 2023 a las 10:00 AM en la Oficina del Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Aguadilla en el área del sótano al final del pasillo, por el tipo mínimo de $138,712.00. De declararse desierta dicha subasta se celebrará una segunda subasta el día 14 de septiembre de 2023, a las 10:00 AM en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la segunda subasta lo será 2/3 partes del precio mínimo de la primera, o sea, $92,474.67. De declararse desierta dicha segunda subasta, se celebrará una tercera subasta el día 21 de septiembre de 2023 a las 10:00 AM en el mismo lugar antes mencionado. El precio para la tercera subasta lo será 1/2 del precio

mínimo de la primera, o sea, $69,356.00. Y PARA QUE ASÍ CONSTE, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general y por un término de catorce (14) días en los sitios públicos conforme a la ley, expido la presente bajo mi firma y sello de este tribunal, hoy 21 de julio de 2023 en AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico. ESTEBAN ATILES FELICIANO, ALGUACIL CONFIDENCIAL #984.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA. CASITAS BLANCAS LLC. Parte Demandante v. SUCESIÓN

DE JOSE

MANUEL LÓPEZ SOMOLINOS compuesta por NELSON PEREZ RAMOS

Parte Demandada AFFORDABLE PROPERTY GROUP LLC., Parte con interés CIVIL NÚM.: CA2022CV03974. Sobre: Cobro de Dinero, Ejecución de Hipoteca. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de CAROLINA, hago saber a la parte demandada, SUCESIÓN DE JOSE MANUEL LÓPEZ SOMOLINOS compuesta por NELSON PEREZ RAMOS, a AFFORDABLE PROPERTY GROUP LLC., como parte con interés y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 30 de MAYO de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor pagadero en efectivo, cheque de gerente o giro postal, a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal, la siguiente propiedad con dirección física: 1426 Calle Sábalo, Bahía Vistamar, Carolina PR 00983 y que se describe como sigue: URBANA: Urbanización Vistamar de Carolina Norte.

Casa: 26 de la manzana VII-L. Cabida: 490.32 Metros Cuadrados. Linderos: NORTE, con el solar 1427, en una distancia de 24.00 metros; SUR, con la calle VT-18, en distancia de 20.50 metros y la mitad de un arco de 2.75 metros; ESTE, con los solares 1443 y 1444, en distancia de 20.54 metros; OESTE, con la calle VT-7, en distancia de 17.04 metros y la mitad de un arco de 2.75 metros. Contiene una casa de hormigón reforzado, prefabricado, diseñada para una familia. La separación entre estructura del batey no será menor de 14.50 metros de los cuales 6.00 me-

tros corresponderán al batey propiamente y los restantes 8.50 metros a los patios de las viviendas. Se permitirán verjas en todos los patios excepto que en el batey éstas mantendrán la línea de construcción individual de cada estructura. Finca 12725 inscrita al folio 7 del tomo 336 de Carolina Sección I de Carolina. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) HIPOTECA constituida par Jose Manuel López Somolinos, en garantía de un pagaré, affidavit. #2665, a favor de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria-PR, o a su orden, por $100,000.00, al 5 6/8, vencedero el 1 de noviembre de 2034, según Esc. #80, (no expresa lugar de otorgamiento), el 9 de octubre de 2004, ante Samuel García Angelí, inscrita al folio 1287 del tomo 1065 de Carolina, finca #12725, inscripción 3ra., bajo Ley #216, el 6 de octubre de 2017. (ii) Demanda radicada en el Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, en el caso civil#CA2021CV03584, sabre Ejecuci6n de Hipoteca, seguido par Oriental Bank, versus Sucesión Jose Manuel Lopez Somolinos, compuesto par Nelson Perez Ramos, Affodable Property Group, LLC, demandados, donde se solicita el pago de la deuda garantizada con la hipoteca relacionada en la inscripción 3ra., reducida a $69,236.40, anotado al Sistema Karibe de Carolina, finca #12725, el 2 de mayo de 2022, anotación A y última. La hipoteca objeto de esta ejecución es la que ha quedado descrita en el inciso (i). Será celebrada la subasta para con el importe de la misma satisfacer la sentencia dictada el 29 de marzo de 2023, mediante la cual se condenó a la parte demandada pagar a la parte demandante la cantidad adeudada y vencida desde el 1 de octubre de 2020 ascendiente a $67,485.69 de principal, más $1,750.00 de segundo principal, más intereses acumulados, que continuarán acumulándose al 5.75% hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más $525.24 a cargos por demora, más otros cargos aplicables, más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, según pactado, más cualquier otro desembolso que haya efectuado o efectúe la parte demandante durante la tramitación de este caso para otros adelantos de conformidad con el Contrato Hipotecario. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 22 de agosto de 2023, a la 1:15 de la tarde, en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de CAROLINA, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma, la cantidad de $100,000.00 sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 29 de agosto de 2023, a la 1:15 de la

tarde, en el mismo lugar, en la que servirá como tipo mínimo, dos terceras (2/3) partes del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $66,666,67. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el día 6 de septiembre de 2023, a la 1:15 de la tarde, en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $50,000.00. El Alguacil que suscribe hizo constar que toda licitación deberá hacerse para pagar su importe en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América, de acuerdo con la Ley y de acuerdo con lo anunciado en este Aviso de Subasta. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables. Se entiende que todo licitador que comparezca a la subasta señalada en este caso acepta como bastante la titulación que da base a la misma. Se entiende que cualquier carga y/o gravamen anterior y/o preferente, si la hubiere al crédito que da base a esta ejecución continuará subsistente, entendiéndose, además, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de estos, sin destinarse a su extinción cualquier parte del remanente del precio de licitación. La propiedad para ejecutar será adquirida libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Por la presente se notifica a los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante o acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. Vendida o adjudicada la finca o derecho hipotecado y consignado el precio correspondiente, en esa misma fecha o fecha posterior, el alguacil que celebró la subasta procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura pública de traspaso en representación del dueño o titular de los bienes hipotecados, ante el notario que elija el adjudicatario o comprador, quien deberá abonar el importe de tal escritura. El alguacil pondrá en posesión judicial al nuevo dueño, si así se lo solicita dentro del término de veinte (20) días

a partir de la confirmación de la venta o adjudicación. Si transcurren los referidos veinte (20) días, el tribunal podrá ordenar, sin necesidad de ulterior procedimiento, que se lleve a efecto el desalojo o lanzamiento del ocupante u ocupantes de la finca o de todos los que por orden o tolerancia del deudor la ocupen. Y PARA CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS LICITADORES Y DEL PUBLICO EN GENERAL y para su publicación de acuerdo con la Ley, expido el presente Edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, hoy 22 de julio de 2023. HÉCTOR L. PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, ALGUACIL SUPERIOR, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE CAROLINA. ***

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Plaintiff V. CARMEN MARÍA SUÁREZ ARISTUD A/K/A CARMEN

M. SUÁREZ ARISTUD

A/K/A CARMEN MARÍA SUÁREZ; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Defendants

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

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

WHEREAS: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff to recover from defendants the principal sum of $138,060.89, plus the annual interest rate convened of 5.060% per annum until the debt is paid in full. The defendant Carmen María Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen M. Suárez Aristud a/k/a Carmen María Suárez to pay Finance of America Reverse, LLC., all advances made under the mortgage note including but not limited to insurance premiums, taxes and inspections as well as 10% ($22,200.00) of the original principal amount to cover costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees guaranteed under the mortgage obligation. The records of the case and of these proceedings may be examined by interested parties at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court, Room 150, Federal Office Building, 150 Chardon Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. WHEREAS: Pursuant to the terms of the aforementioned Judgment, Or-

der of Execution, and the Writ of Execution thereof, the undersigned Special Master was ordered to sell at public auction for U.S. currency in cash or certified check without appraisement or right of redemption to the highest bidder and at the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, Room 150 – Federal Office Building, 150 Carlos Chardón Avenue, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, to cover the sums adjudged to be paid to the plaintiff, the following property.

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

Property Number 31,199 filed at page 203 of volume 776 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. The mortgage deed is recorded at page 132 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, Registry of the Property of Puerto Rico, Section II of Carolina. WHE-

REAS: This property is subject to the following liens: Senior Liens: None. Junior Liens: Reverse mortgage securing a note in favor of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or its order, in the original principal amount of $222,000.00, due on August 1, 2087 pursuant to deed number 50, issued in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 27, 2013, before notary David Garcia Medina, and recorded, at page 134 of volume 1,508 of Carolina, property number 31,199, 5th inscription. Other Liens: None. Potential bidders are advised to verify the extent of preferential liens with the holders thereof. It shall be understood that each bidder accepts as sufficient the title and that prior and preferential liens to the one being foreclosed upon, including but not limited to any property tax, liens, (express, tacit, implied or legal) shall continue in effect it being understood further that the successful bidder accepts them and is subrogated in the responsibility for the same and that the bid price shall not be applied toward their cancellation. THEREFORE, the FIRST PUBLIC SALE shall be held on the 12TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM. The minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $222,000.00. In

the event said first auction does not produce a bidder and the property is not adjudicated, a SECOND PUBLIC AUCTION shall be held on the the 19TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum $148,000.00, which is twothirds of the amount of the minimum bid for the first public sale. If a second auction does not result in the adjudication and sale of the property, a THIRD PUBLIC AUCTION will be held on the the 26TH DAY SEPTEMBER OF 2023, AT: 9:50 AM, and the minimum bid that will be accepted is the sum of $111,000.00, which is one-half of the minimum bid in the first public sale. The Special Master shall not accept in payment of the property to be sold anything but United States currency or certified checks, except in case the property is sold and adjudicated to the plaintiff, in which case the amount of the bid made by said plaintiff shall be credited and deducted from its credit; said plaintiff being bound to pay in cash or certified check only any excess of its bid over the secured indebtedness that remains unsatisfied.

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

A. VÉLEZ-BAERGA, SPECIAL MASTER.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL

GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRI-

BUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE

BAYAMÓN SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

SUCESIÓN DE EDNA

ABIGAÍL VEGA

GONZÁLEZ, COMPUESTA

POR SUS HEREDEROS

CONOCIDOS: MELVIN

DÍAZ VEGA, ORLANDO

DÍAZ VEGA Y ALEXIS

DÍAZ VEGA; JOHN DOE

Y RICHARD ROE” COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE

EDNA ABIGAÍL VEGA GONZÁLEZ; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (C.R.I.M.)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV00451.

Sala: 501. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE SUBASTA. El que suscribe, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 20 de julio de 2023, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar número cinco del Bloque DB en la Urbanización de Levittown en el Barrio Sabana Seca de Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, con un área de trescientos diez metros cuadrados con cincuenta centímetros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en trece metros cincuenta centímetros, con el solar número doce; por el SUR, en trece metros cincuenta centímetros, con Lago Matrullas, calle quinientos cincuenta y cinco según planos; por el ESTE, en veintitrés metros con el solar número cuatro; y por el OESTE, en veintitrés metros, con el solar número seis. Contiene una casa de cemento diseñada para una familia, construida de acuerdo con los planos y especificaciones aprobados por la Administración Federal de Hogares y otras agencias gubernamentales. Inscrita en la finca

número 9,797 al folio 44 del tomo 165 de Toa Baja. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección II de Bayamón. La propiedad está ubicada, según pagaré, en: Solar 5 DB Urb. Levittown, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. Además, el Alguacil que suscribe, hago saber a todos los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surjan de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses,

costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante: Aviso de Demanda de fecha 24 de febrero de 2022, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, en el caso civil número BY2022CV00779, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Sucesión de Edna Abigail Vega González, compuesta por sus herederos conocidos: Melvin Díaz Vega y Orlando Diaz Vega; John Doe y Richard Roe como posibles herederos desconocidos de la Sucesión de Edna Abigail Vega González, Centro de Recaudaciones de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), por la suma de $68,046.25 más intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 8 de marzo de 2022, al tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, finca número 9,797, anotación A. Aviso de Demanda de fecha 27 de enero de 2023, expedido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, en el Caso Civil número BY2023CV00451, sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, contra Sucesión de Edna Abigail Vega González, compuesta por sus herederos Melvin Díaz Vega y Orlando Díaz Vega; John Doe y Richard Roe como posibles herederos desconocidos de la sucesión de Edna Abigail Vega Gonzalez; Centro de Recaudación de Ingresos Municipales (CRIM), por la suma de $66,292.06 de principal mas intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 7 de marzo de 2023, al tomo Karibe de Toa Baja, finca número 9,797, Anotación B. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada a su favor el día 7 de junio de 2023, archivada en autos y notificada el 8 de junio de 2023, y publicada en periódico de circulación general, “The San Daily Star”, el 13 de junio de 2023, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $66,292.06 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 5% desde el 1ro de marzo de 2022; cargos por demora los cuales al igual que los intereses continúan acumulándose hasta el saldo total de la deuda reclamada en este pleito, y la suma de $8,852.20 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente (“Sentencia”). La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. LA PRIMERA subasta se

llevará a efecto el día 7 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS

9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $88,522.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 14 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023

A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $59,014.66, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2023 A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA, en el cuarto piso, Oficina de Alguaciles de Subastas de Centro Judicial de Bayamón, Bayamón, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $44,261.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales

como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 01 de agosto de 2023. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMON. ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante vs. CARMEN SOCORRO MARRERO CABRERA, también conocida como CARMEN S. MARRERO CABRERA y como CARMEN S. MARRERO; SUCESION DE GUMERCINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ, también conocido como GUMERSINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ, compuesta por su viuda CARMEN SOCORRO MARRERO CABRERA, también conocida como CARMEN S. MARRERO CABRERA y como CARMEN S. MARRERO, sus hijos JUAN ROSARIO MARRERO y RUTH ROSARIO MARRERO, FULANO DE TAL y ZUTANO DE TAL, como herederos desconocidos con posible interés; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados CIVIL NÚM. BY2023CV03825 (402). SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO (Ejecución de Hipoteca por la Vía Ordinaria). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: CARMEN SOCORRO MARRERO CABRERA, también conocida como CARMEN S. MARRERO CABRERA y como CARMEN S. MARRERO, por sí y como miembro de la SUCESION DE GUMERCINDO

ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ, también conocido como GUMERSINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ; JUAN ROSARIO MARRERO y RUTH

ROSARIO MARRERO, como miembros de la SUCESION DE GUMERCINDO

ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ, también conocido como GUMERSINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ; FULANO DE TAL y ZUTANO DE TAL, como herederos desconocidos de la SUCESION DE GUMERCINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ, también conocido como GUMERSINDO ROSARIO RODRIGUEZ

POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le notifica que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría por la parte demandante, Demanda Enmendada sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca por la Vía Ordinaria en la que se alega adeuda la suma principal de $61,694.74, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 7.125% anual, desde el día lro de febrero de 2023, hasta su completo pago, más recargos acumulados, más la cantidad de $8,260.00, estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, así como cualquier otra suma estipulada en el contrato de préstamo, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. La propiedad hipotecada a ser vendida en pública subasta es: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número Ochenta y Ocho (88) del Bloque “A” (88-A) del plano de inscripción de la Segunda Extensión de la URBANIZACIÓN SOBRINO, localizado en el Barrio Pueblo de la Municipalidad de Coroza}, Pue1to Rico, con un área superficial de CUATROCIENTOS SETENTA Y NUEVE PUNTO DIECISIETE (479.17)

METROS CUADRADOS; colindandopo r el NORTE, en veintiochop unto cero cero (28.00) metros, con el Río Negro y en cuatro punto cincuenta ( 4.50) metros, con el solar número Ochenta y Nueve guion A (89A); por el SUR, en veinticinco (25.00) metros, con el solar número Ochenta y Siete guion A (87-A); por el ESTE, en veintidós punto sesenta (22.60) metros, con la Calle “E”; y por el

OESTE, en diez punto ochenta (10.80) metros, con la Sucesión Juana Sanfeliz. Enclava una casa de concreto de una sola planta para fines residenciales. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio 161 del tomo 308 de Corozal, Registro de la Propiedad de Barranquitas, finca número 5012, inscripcións sexta. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido publicado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día de la publicación. 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: https://unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/ salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y enviar copia a la representación legal de la parte demandante cuya dirección más adelante se indica. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente.

Lcdo. Baldomero A. Collazo Torres Bufete Collazo, Connelly & Surillo, LLC

P.O. Box 11550

San Juan, P.R. 00922-1550

Tel. (787) 625-9999

Fax (787) 705-7387

E-mail: bcollazo@lawpr.com

Se le advierte, además, a los herederos que conforme el caso de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaría v. Latinoamericana áe Exportación. lnc., 164 D .P.R. 689, 696 (2005) y a tenor con las disposiciones del Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico (31 L.P.R.A. sec. 11021), deberá aceptar o repudiar la herencia del causante Gumercindo Rosario Rodríguez, también conocido como Gumersindo Rosario Rodríguez, dentro del término de treinta (30) días. De no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia dentro del término que se le fijó, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. Se le notifica también por la presente que la parte demandante habrá de presentar para su anotación al Registrador de la Propiedad del Distrito en que está situada la propiedad objeto de este pleito, un aviso de estar pendiente esta acción. Para publicarse conforme a la Orden dictada por el Tribunal en un periódico de circulación general. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto que firmo y sello en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy de 3 de agosto de 2023. Lcda. Laura

I Santa Sanchez, Sec Regional. Amalyn Figueroa Nieves, Sec Auxiliar del Tribunal.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

fBANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

DEMANDANTE VS. SUCESION DE CARMEN GLORIA NEGRONI CARTAGENA COMPUESTA POR SU VlUDO JORGE, LUIS SOTO GARCÍA, POR SI; ◄ FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O

PARTES CON, INTERES EN LA SUCESION DEMANDANDOS CIVIL NÚM.: CG2023CV0 1704. SOBRE: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU. EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R SS.

A: SUCESION DE CARMEN GLORIA NEGRONI CARTAGENA COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANA DE TAL COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS Y/O PARTES CON INTERESEN LA SUCESION URB. MONTELLANOS, 21-1 CALLE A, CAYEY PR 00736; Hogar La Bendición, Carr. #1, Km. 49.5, Bo. Beatriz, Sector Parcelas Viejas, Cayey, P.R. 00736. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC). al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discre-

ción, lo entiende procedente. Se le apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días, en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. También se le apercibe a los herederos antes mencionados que luego del transcurso del término de treinta (30) días antes señalado, contados a partir de la fecha de publicación de este edicto, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del(los) causante(s) y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 1,578 del Nuevo Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. sec. 11,021. Representa a la parte demandante, la representación legal cuyo nombre, dirección y teléfono se consigna de inmediato:

BUFETE FORTUÑO & FORTUÑO FAS, C.S.P.

LCDO. JUAN C. FORTUÑO FAS

RUA NUM 11416

PO BOX 3908 GUAYNABO PR 00970

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

EMAIL:

ejecuciones@fortuno-law.com

Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 4 de agosto de 202e. Lisilda Martinez Agosto, Secretaria. Sandra J Trinidad Cañealas, Sec Serv Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

SUNWEST MORTGAGE COMPANY, INC.

Demandante vs JORGE LUIS

GONZALEZ CLAUDIO

Demandado(a)

Civil Núm. CG2023CV01037. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCION DE HIPOTECA.

NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: JORGE LUIS

GONZALEZ CLAUDIO

URB TWIN VALLEY

LOTE 10 CALLE B

CAGUAS, PUERTO RICO

00725

(Nombre de las partes a las que se les notifica la sentencia poredicto)

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 2 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 Re-

solución, 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 3 DE AGOSTO DE 2023. En Caquas, Puerto Rico, 3 DE AGOSTO DE 2023.

LISILDA MARTINEZ AGOSTO, Secretario (a). JANNETTE ESPINOSA, Sec Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN COMPU-LINK

CORPORATION,

D/B/A CELINK

Demandante Vs.

SUCESION GENARO

MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C JENARO RAMON

MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C GENARO R.

MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C GENARO R.

MARRERO COMPUESTA

POR JEANETTE

MARRERO MARRERO, WILBERT ERICSON

MARRERO MARRERO, ANTONIA ESTHER

MARRERO T/C/C

ANTONIA E. MARRERO

T/C/C ANTONIA E. MARRERO OTERO

T/C/C ANTONIA ESTHER

MARRERO OTERO; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS

DESCONOCIDO; ANTONIA ESTHER

MARRERO T/C/C

ANTONIA E. MARRERO

T/C/C ANTONIA E. MARRERO OTERO

T/C/C ANTONIA ESTHER

MARRERO OTERO; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: BY2023CV01323.

402. 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 SUCESION GENARO MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C JENARO RAMON MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C GENARO R. MARRERO SALGADO

T/C/C GENARO R. MARRERO. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al Tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá 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 Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 20 de julio de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. AMALYN FIGUEROA NIEVES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN.

ORIENTAL BANK

Parte Demandante V. SUCESION DE JULIO

APARICIO MALDONADO compuesta por Julio

Aparicio Rosa, Marta Iris

Aparicio López, Sandra

Inés Aparicio López, Olin

Aparicio López y Lavinia

Aparicio López; LILIAN

LOPEZ ROSICH por si y por la cuota viudal usufructuaria

Parte Demandada.

CIVIL NÚM.: SJ2021CV08059.

Sobre: Ejecución de Hipoteca

In Rem. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU.

EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R. SS

A: SUCESIÓN DE JULIO

APARICIO MALDNONADO compuesta por JULIO

APARICIO ROSA, MARTA IRIS APARICIO

LÓPEZ, SANDRA INÉS APARICIO

LÓPEZ, OLIN APARICIO LÓPEZ,

LAVINIA APARICIO LÓPEZ Y LILIAN LÓPEZ ROSICH en su cuota viudal usufructuaria con las siguientes direcciones conocidas: Urb. College

Vllle 2000 Calle Aberdeen, Guaynabo PR 00969-4725. VISTA la Moción Solicitando se dicte Orden de Interpelación a los miembros de la SUJCESION DE JULIO APARICIO MALDNONADO compuesta por JULIO APARICIO ROSA, MARTA IRIS APARICIO LOPEZ, SANDRA INES APARICIO LÓPEZ, OLIN APARICIO LÓPEZ, LAVINIA APARICIO LÓPEZ Y LILIAN LÓPEZ ROSICH en su cuota viudal usufructuaria, se declara HA LUGAR y de conformidad con el Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico de 2020, se ordena a los llamado a un plazo de treinta (30) días, para que manifieste si acepta la herencia o si la repudia. Se advierte a los miembros de la SUCESIÓN JULIO APARICIO

MALDONADO que, si transcurrido el plazo señalado no ha manifestado su voluntad de aceptar la herencia o de repudiarla, se dará por aceptada. El heredero responde por las obligaciones del causante, por los legados y por las cargas hereditarias exclusivamente hasta el valor de los bienes hereditarios que recibe. (Artículo 1587 31 LPRA § 11041). En SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, hoy 1 de agosto de 2023. Griselda Rodriguez Collado, Secretaria. Elizabeth Agosto Nunez, Sub-Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO UBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.

CARLA MICHELLE MARIANI MARCUCCI

t/c/c Carla Michelle Mariani Pillet, por sí y en rep. Sucesiones de Luisa Herminia Pérez López y Carlos Miguel Mariani Ramirez

DEMANDANTE Vs. DORAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION ahora BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO; JONH DOE y RICHARD ROE como posibles tenedores desconocidos

DEMANDADOS

CIVIL NUM. PO2023CV02121.

SOBRE: CANCELACION DE PAGARE EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO.

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

A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO posibles tenedores desconocidos

POR LA PRESENTE se les emplaza y requiere para que con ste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá radicar 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/ sumac/, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá radicar el original de su contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente y notifique con copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, Lcda. Marjaliisa CoIón Vlllanueva, al PO BOX 7970, Ponce, P.R. 00732; Teléfono: 787-8434168. En dicha demanda se tramita un procedimiento de cancelación de pagare extraviado. Se alega en dicho procedimiento que se extravió un pagaré favor de Doral Mortgage Corporation, ahora, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma de veintitrés mil dólares ($23,000.00), con intereses al ocho y un octavo por ciento (8 1/8%) anual, vencedero el primero (1 ro) de novíembre de dos mil diez (201 O), según surge de la escritura número trescientos ochenta y nueve (389), otorgada en Ponce, Puerto Rico, el día diez (10) de octubre del mil novecientos noventa y cinco (1995), ante la notario Lilliam l. Rivera Lamberty, y cuya obligación está inscrita al folio doscientos treinta y cinco (235) del tomo doscientos noventa y uno (291) de Ponce Sur, finca número catorce mil veintiuno (14,021), inscripción tercera (3ra). Que grava la propiedad que se describe a continuación --URBANA: Solar número veintiuno (21) del bloque Q del plano de inscripción de la urbanización Extensión Reparto San Antonio, radicado en el barrio Canas del municipio de Ponce, que según las medidas que aparecen de dicho plano de inscripción tiene una cabida superficial e trescientos cinco metros con cincuenta centésimas de metros cuadrado (305.50). En colindancias por el NORTE, con la calle número seis (6) p r donde mide trece metros (13.00), por el SUR, con los solares número dieciocho (18) y diecinueve (19) del bloque Q, por donde mide trece metros 13.00), por el ESTE, con el solar número veintidós (22) del bloque Q, y por eI OESTE, con el solar número veinte (20) del bloque Q por donde mide veintitrés metros cincuenta centímetros (23.50). Inscrita al folio doscientos treinta y uno (231) del tomo setecientos noventa y cuatro (794) de Ponce Sur, finca número catorce mil

veintiuno (14,021) Del Registro de la Propiedad Ponce Sección Primera (1ra). SE LES APERCIBE que, de no hacer sus alegaciones responsivas a la demanda dentro del termino aqui dispuesto, se les anotará la rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia, Concediensoe el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal en Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 1 de agosto de 2023. Carmen G Tiru Quiñones, Sec Regional. HildaJ . Rosado Rodríguez, Sec Auxiliar..

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante v. LA SUCESIÓN DEL FINADO LUIS CORTES HERNANDEZ COMPUESTA POR

XYZ (HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS) ESTADO LIBRE

ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO Y CRIM

Demandado(a)

Civil: Núm. CA2023CV00425 (407). Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: XYZ HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DEL FINADO LUIS CORTES HERNANDEZ (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 23 de mayo de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 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 1 de agosto de 2023. En CAROLINA, Puerto Rico, el 1 de agosto de 2023. MARILYN APONTE RODRIGUEZ, SECRETARIA. KEILA

GARCIA SOLIS,

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE SAN JUAN

FINANCE OF AMERICA

REVERSE LLC

Demandante V.

SUCESIÓN DE ANDRÉS

PICHS SUAREZ T/C/C ANDRÉS F. PICHS

SUAREZ T/C/C ANDRES

FRANCISCO PICHS

SUAREZ COMPUESTA

POR ROSALINA COLON

GÓMEZ, ANDRES

PICHS, BARBARA PICHS, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES

HEREDEROS NOMBRES

DESCONOCIDOS; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS

MUNICIPALES; ESTADOS

UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2023CV03225.

Sala: 604. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: ANDRES PICHS, BARBARA PICHS, FULANO DE TAL Y SUTANO DE TAL COMO POSIBLES

HEREDEROS NOMBRES DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ANDRÉS

PICHS SUAREZ T/C/C ANDRÉS F. PICHS

SUAREZ T/C/C ANDRES

FRANCISCO PICHS SUAREZ.

POR LA PRESENTE, se les emplaza y se les notifica que se ha presentado en la Secretaria de este Tribunal la Demanda del caso del epígrafe solicitando la ejecución de hipoteca y el cobro de dinero relacionado al pagaré suscrito a favor de Senior Mortgage Bankers, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $138,000.00, con intereses computados sobre la misma desde su fecha hasta su total y completo pago a razón de la tasa de interés de 5.060% anual, la cual será ajustada mensualmente, obligándose además al pago de costas, gastos y desembolsos del litigio, más honorarios de abogados en una suma de $13,800.00, equivalente al 10% de la suma principal original. Este pagaré fue suscrito bajo el affidávit número 677 ante el notario

Alfredo A. Infante Gutiérrez Lo anterior surge de la hipoteca constituida mediante la escritura número 186 otorgada el 21 de mayo de 2015, ante el misma notario público, inscrita bajo la ley 216-2010, al folio 74 del tomo 1098 de Monacillos, finca número 5,506, inscripción 6ta. “URBANA: Solar de forma rectangular que mide doce metros de frente por veintiún metros de fondo, marcado con el número ocho de la manzana “DL” de la Urbanización Puerto Nuevo propiedad de la Everlasting Development Corporation, que ubica en el barrio Monacillos de Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de doscientos cincuenta y dos metros cuadrados en lindes por el NORTE, SUR, ESTE y OESTE, con terrenos propiedad de la Everlasting Development Corporation y dando frente al Sur con la Calle mencionada Calle número veintitrés de la urbanización. Enclava casa de bloques de cemento y hormigón reforzado, que consta principalmente de dos dormitorios, sala-comedor, cocina y cuarto de baño, según inscripción 2da.” Finca Número 5,506, (antes 4,359) inscrita al folio 32 del tomo 152 de Monacillos. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de San Juan. Se apercibe y advierte a ustedes como personas desconocidas, que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede accesar utilizando la siguiente dirección: https://unired.ramajuducial.pr, salvo que se represente por Derechos Propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del Tribunal De no contestar la demanda radicando el original de la contestación ante la secretaria del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de San Juan, y notificar copia de la contestación de esta a la parte demandante por conducto de su abogada, GLS LEGAL SERVICES, LLC, Atención: Lcda. Yadira López González Dirección: P.O. Box 367308, San Juan, P.R. 00936-7308, Teléfono: 787-758-6550, dentro de los próximos 60 días a partir de la publicación de este emplazamiento por edicto, que será publicado una sola vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general en la isla de Puerto Rico, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia, concediendo el remedio solicitando en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal hoy 3 de agosto de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARÍA I. RÍOS LÓPEZ, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

Back in competition, it’s like Simone Biles never left

By MAGGIE ASTOR

It did not look like Simone Biles had been gone.

Her full-twisting double-back dismount from the balance beam, hastily scrapped the last time she was seen in gymnastics competition two years ago, was back. She upgraded a tumbling pass with a casual air.

Oh, and yes: She finished the competition with a Yurchenko double pike, a vault not contemplated, much less competed, before Biles introduced it in 2021. She took a step to the side, out of bounds. It hardly mattered: It still received the highest score of the competition.

Perhaps it hardly needs saying that she won the competition, the U.S. Classic, which is normally a low-key qualification meet for the national championships but became a spectacle this year because of Biles’ presence.

The margin — 5 points over the secondplace finisher, Leanne Wong — was normal by Biles’ standards, which are not anybody else’s. That margin between first and second was about the same as the margin between second and 17th.

In other words, it could have been any competition in any of the years, beginning in 2013, that Biles has dominated gymnastics. And that itself was remarkable — because, of course, it was Biles’ first competition back after two years during which it was not at all clear that such a day would happen.

In Tokyo in July 2021, Biles withdrew a quarter of the way through the Olympic team final after losing her bearings in midair on her vault. It was the first public manifestation of a block she had been struggling with, known in gymnastics as “the twisties.”

She went on to withdraw from the allaround final — where she had been favored to become the first woman to win two Olympic all-around titles since Czechoslovakia’s Vera Caslavska, in 1964 and 1968 — and from three of the four apparatus finals. She came back for the last event of the Games, the beam final, in which she won a bronze medal.

And then, that was it — possibly the end of the competitive career of the woman widely considered to be the greatest

gymnast of all time. She went on vacation. She went to therapy. She got engaged to Jonathan Owens, a defensive back for the Green Bay Packers. (They married this spring.)

Just before the Tokyo Games, Biles had told The New York Times that she couldn’t wait for the Olympics to end — to not have to train anymore, to not have to deal with USA Gymnastics anymore, to be done.

And then she decided she wasn’t done after all.

She started “playing around” in the gym last fall, she said after the competition, but she wasn’t planning a comeback at that point — just trying to stay relatively fit. It wasn’t until this year that she began training more seriously, and not until May — just three months ago — that she “really buckled down.”

“I’m not sure I even actually told them or we told each other,” she said, referring to her coaches, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Laurent Landi. “I think it was just like, we could kind of see it. Because then Laurent was like, ‘OK, we’re competing at Classics,’ and I was like: ‘Oh, I am. OK, got it.’”

“It was just kind of unspoken,” she added. “But we knew.”

All the while, she was surrounded by a core of friends and family and coaches who did not leak the news, even as speculation soared among fans who had seen her in the background of teammates’ training videos.

On Saturday, thousands of those fans packed the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates to capacity.

The emotional weight of Biles’ comeback created a strange juxtaposition: all eyes on one woman, even though, far beyond Biles, the field for this year’s U.S. Classic was unusually stacked.

It included not one, but four members of the Tokyo team (Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champion) and two Tokyo alternates (Kayla DiCello and Wong). And it included Joscelyn Roberson, a 17-yearold who would probably be making headlines as the next big thing if so many of the last cycle’s big things were not still at the top of their game.

Roberson — who trains alongside Biles in Texas — dominated the first session of the competition in the early afternoon, earning the highest scores of the session on vault, beam and floor before falling on a release move that she had recently added to her bars routine. She nonetheless finished third and was

cheerful in an interview after the competition, saying she saw it as “a practice meet” for the national championships.

During warmups a couple of hours before the competition began, Biles seemed happy, even relaxed. At one point, she took a break to joke with reporters that she might not be able to do a compulsory routine — a standardized, relatively low-difficulty set that gymnasts used to be required to compete alongside their full-difficulty routines, to emphasize clean execution — because some simple skills are beyond the woman who can do a Yurchenko double pike.

She seemed to be there because she wanted to be there.

Next, in three weeks, will be the national championships in San Jose, California. And perhaps, in almost exactly a year, the Olympic Games in Paris — if she chooses.

“Right now, I think I should just embrace what happened today,” she said when asked after the competition whether returning to the Olympics was her goal. “I know everybody is just like — when you get married, they ask you when you’re having a baby. You come to Classics, they’re asking you about the Olympics. I think we’re just trying to take it one step at a time.”

Simone Biles won the U.S. Classic, her first competition since the Tokyo Olympics.

For Megan Rapinoe, an ending not even she could have imagined

By JERÉ LONGMAN

It ended in the most excruciating way for Megan Rapinoe: a penalty kick skied over the crossbar, shock, disappointment, a rueful smile to herself.

“It’s just like a sick joke to miss a penalty,” Rapinoe said after the United States was eliminated, 5-4, on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie with Sweden on Sunday in the round of 16 at the Women’s World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

Rapinoe could not remember the last time she missed a penalty kick. She was sent on as a substitute late in Sunday’s game because she was so reliable. It was her penalty kick that provided the decisive goal in the final of the 2019 World Cup. This time, accuracy betrayed her on a night when age and injury showed in her legs.

There is more soccer to play for Rapinoe, a National Women’s Soccer League championship to chase in Seattle with the OL Reign. But her retirement, announced in July, will arrive this fall at age 38. The light of Rapinoe’s renowned and polarizing career as a player and activist has now gone into shadow on the World Cup stage, where she played her best and emphatically spoke her mind.

She was a defining athlete of her generation, one of the first publicly gay players on the women’s national soccer team; a ruthless and creative forward who delivered in the most tense and revealing moments; a self-described “walking protest” who jousted with a president, knelt for the national anthem and fought for equal pay and equitable treatment on LGBTQ+ issues with what Julie Foudy, a former national team captain, has described as a willingness to “boldly disrupt.”

After Sunday’s game, Rapinoe joked with reporters but tears also came into her eyes.

“Well, now that I’m 38 and in therapy, I was like, ‘This is life,’” she said. Of course, she wished the United States was still competing for a third consecutive World Cup title. Of course, she wished there was at least one more game to play. But, Rapinoe added, “I feel like it doesn’t take away anything from this experience or my career in general.”

During the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Franklin Foer, writing in The Atlantic, called Rapinoe “her generation’s Muhammad Ali,” who like the heavyweight boxing champion also became a “hero of resistance” with “sly humor and irresistible swagger.”

Sometimes Rapinoe worked blue, both in her choice of hair color and in her choice of words. She was unfailingly and unguardedly open, never more so than during that 2019 World Cup in France.

Before the tournament, Rapinoe and her teammates sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. Then, in the days approaching an intense quarterfinal match against France in Paris in June 2019, Rapinoe feuded publicly with President Donald Trump, who admonished her to win before talking.

Instead of wilting amid the scrutiny, she scored both goals in a 2-1 American victory and ran toward the corner flag, spreading her arms in celebration and defiance.

Afterward, Rapinoe was quoted as saying with joyful seriousness about her performance, which came during Pride Month, “Go gays!” And: “You can’t win a championship without gays on your team — it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, right there.”

Rachel Allison, an associate professor of sociology at Mississippi State University who studies women’s soccer, said, “What I think is really extraordinary about her, and will ultimately place her among the greats, is how she led through activism, which generated enormous levels of public scrutiny, while at the same time remaining in top athletic form and unapologetically herself through it all.”

Winning, Rapinoe acknowledged often, was a necessary platform on which to build her activism. She will retire with two World

Cup titles and one Olympic gold medal. In 2019, she was honored as the World Cup’s best player and leading scorer.

“Without the winning you don’t get the media, you don’t get the eyes, you don’t get the fans, you don’t get the ability to say what you want all the time because people want to talk to you no matter what,” Rapinoe said earlier in this tournament.

In the 2011 Women’s World Cup, Rapinoe helped to deliver one of the most urgent and famous victories for the women’s national team. In the dying moments of a quarterfinal match against Brazil, she delivered a feathery cross to Abby Wambach, whose header helped turn an apparent defeat into eventual victory in penalty kicks.

It was the latest goal ever scored during a Women’s World Cup match, a moment in which, Rapinoe said, “I announced myself.”

The United States lost the 2011 final to Japan, but a new generation of players, Rapinoe among them, had “reignited the team’s popularity,” halting its slide toward “cultural irrelevance” after the retirement of stars such as Mia Hamm from the 1999 World Cup champion team, said Caitlin Murray, a soccer journalist and the author of “The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women Who Changed Soccer.”

“From 2005 to 2011, the team had faded into obscurity,” Murray said in an email. The victory over Brazil “was a jolt that made people want to pay attention again.”

Rapinoe’s arrival also broadened and evolved the advocacy embraced by the U.S. women’s teams before her. The groundbreaking 1999 team advocated equitable treatment on issues mostly related to soccer itself. Rapinoe championed some of the same issues, but also protested against police brutality and vigorously campaigned for the rights of gay and transgender people.

“Her legacy is being a voice for some people who feel like they don’t have one,” said Briana Scurry, goalkeeper on the 1999 team. “She’s willing to stick her neck out there and take the criticism that other people may not be willing to do.”

In 2016, Rapinoe took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before a match in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality and social injustice. WNBA players were also kneeling during that period, but it was Rapinoe’s protest that made national headlines.

It was clear during Sunday’s playing of the U.S. anthem that not all of Rapinoe’s teammates agreed with her continued refusal to sing or place her hand over her heart.

On a podcast last year, former American stars Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo expressed discomfort with what they described as the “culture” of the national team extending its advocacy beyond a desire to win soccer matches to playing “political and social games.”

Many others were more embracing of Rapinoe’s athletic and activist achievements. Four months after Lloyd and Solo criticized her, Rapinoe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. And the U.S. women’s team signed a collective bargaining agreement to receive equal pay with the men’s national team after decades of negotiations and years of court fights.

Without Rapinoe’s exceptional performances in the 2019 World Cup, Murray said, “the U.S. probably doesn’t win that tournament, and the team probably doesn’t have the momentum in their equal pay fight to prompt U.S. Soccer to make a deal.”

Everything considered, it feels like the right time to end her career, Rapinoe said Sunday. And, she added, maybe there was even dark humor in missing a penalty kick. “I joke too often, always in the wrong places and inappropriately,” she said, “so maybe this is ha-ha at the end.”

FIFA Women’s World Cup Round of 16

Monday’s Results

England 0(4), Nigeria 0(2) Australia 2, Denmark 0

Sunday’s Result

Sweden 0(5) United States 0(4)

Saturday’s Results

Spain 5, Switzerland 1 Japan 3, Norway 1 Netherlands 2, South Africa 0

Today’s Games (all times Eastern Standard Time)

Colombia vs. Jamaica (4 a.m., FS1)

France vs. Morocco (7 a.m., FS1)

Quarterfinals

Thursday’s Game

Spain vs. Netherlands (9 p.m., FOX)

Friday’s Game

Japan vs. Sweden (3:30 a.m., FOX)

Saturday’s Games

Australia vs. TBD (3 a.m., FOX) England vs. TBD (6:30 a.m., FOX)

President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to soccer player Megan Rapinoe at the White House in Washington on July 7, 2022.

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

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

Mind your manners today, Aries. Make sure your charm is turned up high. Merging with the group is essential as you keep the momentum of the energy going. The more the merrier. Once you get the ball rolling in the right direction, there will be plenty of momentum to help it up the next hill. The important thing is that you take responsibility for your actions.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

Situations and people with strong opinions about how things are done may impede your trajectory today, Taurus. Issues of love and romance may be the most affected by this tense energy. The key is to remember that everyone isn’t your enemy. Try not to get paranoid about this. Do your best to take a relaxed approach and have confidence that things will work out fine.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

Your adventurous spirit is noble, Gemini, but you might find that this is one of those days in which you’re asked to justify your actions. Other people could be jealous of you and your lifestyle, so they’re trying to find fault with the things you do. Don’t get tricked into thinking that anything you’re doing is necessarily wrong or bad just because someone doesn’t agree with it.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

The warrior within may be stirred today. You might also have some self-doubt about your actions, Cancer. Stay confident that you’re on the right path at all times. There may be a bit of tension in your world, but try not to get too worked up over it. This is just a passing phase. You shouldn’t overreact and think that you’re completely wrong regarding something you’re doing.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

Be aware that you might feel overshadowed or that your efforts won’t be recognized, Leo. You could feel like you do all the work for others and get nothing in return. The key is to make sure that you do the things you do because you want to. Do them for you. Don’t do them for others because you expect that they will do something for you in return.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Issues regarding love and romance may be confusing today, Virgo. You should be aware that strong forces are at work to tangle the current situation. Try not to get too discouraged by whatever transpires as a result of this energy. Keep in mind that this, too, shall pass, and things will become clear again. Right now you should just sit back and take things with a grain of salt.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

Focus on the information coming your way today, Libra. Try not to get too emotional about the consequences of the information. More than likely, a neutral approach is best in any situation you encounter. If you already have a strong preconceived notion of how things are going to be, you will fail to notice the valuable nuances that are being presented to you now.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Things may get a bit hostile today, Scorpio. No one wants to budge from his or her position. You could be caught between mind and heart issues. Both sides are unforgiving and unwilling to give up control. Your best bet is to try to find compromise wherever possible. You may not get the exact solution you want, but you will get one that’s workable for all parties involved.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

You may think that everything is perfect, Sagittarius, when suddenly, there’s a great surge of unyielding emotional energy. Be on the lookout because such situations are likely to crop up and add intensity to your journey. Pool your knowledge with that of other people instead of trying to come up with all the answers by yourself.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Others are apt to play a big role in the events that unfold today, Capricorn. It’s likely that closely communing with others will be very important. Despite this, you may still feel alone. Even within a large group, your heart may yearn to bond tightly with just one other person. Do your best to stay positive regardless of the combative forces likely to be at work on a day like this.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

You may be in a difficult position today, Aquarius, as if you’re being pulled in two directions with little say as to how things are supposed to end. The acting forces could be manipulative, so you should take special care that no one takes advantage of you. This may be easier said than done at a time like this.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

It’s very possible that the best solution today is to simply give up control, Pisces. When it comes to matters of the heart, other people may be in a whirl of turmoil. Trying to figure out their state of mind will be impossible so don’t even try. You may just want to let things ride and see where you end up tomorrow before making any major moves.

Speed Bump