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
Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón announced Monday the formation of the Tax Reform Committee composed of fiscal and governmental experts to draft a new Internal Revenue Code.
The primary objective of the committee is to review and simplify the commonwealth’s tax system, reform public finances, and provide relief to the middle class, thereby easing the financial burden on taxpayers.
The committee is made up of individuals with extensive professional experience, including former treasury secretaries. The members include certified public accountant (CPA) Xenia Vélez, CPA Teresita Fuentes, and the current deputy secretary of the Treasury, Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez. Other members are Margarita Serapion, lawyer and CPA Manuel López Zambrana, CPA Cecilia Colón -- who is a past president of the Certified Public Accountants Association of Puerto Rico -- and lawyer and CPA Oriol Campos.
is a former treasury secretary with more than 30 years of experience in tax and administrative matters, both in public accounting and in government. (LinkedIn)
“I committed to giving Puerto Ricans a more fair and efficient tax system, with an emphasis on the middle class, which faces the most economic challenges every day,” González Colón said. “This committee will focus on identifying and proposing the necessary reforms to reduce tax burdens, especially in critical areas such as capital gains and individual and corporate rates as contained in the NPP [New Progressive Party] government program.”
The committee will advise the governor on issues such as the reduction of tax rates, including the review of the inventory tax and the evaluation of mechanisms for its replacement. It will also review and work on the delicate issue of the Global Minimum Tax to make Puerto Rico more competitive. In addition, it will propose measures to simplify tax processes at both the state and municipal levels. It will promote a savings culture through improved benefits for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and other financial initiatives.
González Colón stressed that the effort is essential to transform Puerto Rico’s fiscal structure while improving the island’s competitiveness and fostering economic development.
“Tax reform is one of the key pieces to offering our people a more prosperous Puerto Rico, with a more robust middle class [with fewer] tax burdens,” she said.
The advisory committee will begin its functions as soon as González Colón assumes the office of governor on Jan. 2.
The members of the committee, and their credentials,
are:
Xenia Vélez: A former treasury secretary with vast experience in fiscal and industrial incentives in Puerto Rico, as well as in the taxation of international operations in the United States. She has actively participated in the drafting of legislation and regulations at both the federal and local levels.
Teresita Fuentes: A former treasury secretary with more than 30 years of experience in tax and administrative matters, both in public accounting and in government.
Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez: The island Treasury Department’s deputy secretary of internal revenue and tax policies. He has worked as a lawyer in the private sector, advising companies on corporate and tax law.
Ángel Pantoja Rodríguez is the current deputy secretary of internal revenue and tax policies in the Treasury Department. (Facebook via Puerto Rico Treasury Department)
Margarita Serapion: One of the first women to obtain the title of certified public accountant in Puerto Rico and the first to preside over a professional organization on the island. She has more than 30 years of experience in tax practice.
Manuel López Zambrana: Represents clients in a variety of industries, such as finance, manufacturing, insurance, telecommunications, and more. He also advises on complex federal and local tax matters.
Cecilia Colón: The sixth woman to preside over the Certified Public Accountants Association of Puerto Rico.
Oriol Campos: A member of the government’s Incoming Transition Committee, lawyer, accountant, former administrator of the House of Representatives, and adviser on legal, administrative, and financial public policy.
EDITOR’S NOTE: So that our employees can enjoy the Christmas holiday, the STAR will not publish on Wednesday, Dec. 25.
By THE STAR STAFF
The incoming speaker of the island House of Representatives, Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez, expressed his support on Monday for the creation of the Tax Reform Committee announced by Governor-elect Jenniffer González Colón.
Méndez said the House will work on the committee’s recommendations to reduce contributions to individuals and small and midsize businesses (SMEs).
“Reducing the tax burden has always been
Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Núñez, the incoming speaker of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives
a priority,” the veteran lawmaker said in a written statement. “This committee is a key step in that direction, and from the House we will implement its proposals to achieve tax justice for our people.”
Rep. Eddie Charbonier Chinea also endorsed the initiative, stressing that its implementation can encourage investment and improve the economy. Méndez asked González Colón to include Charbonier as a member of the committee, since he will chair the House Finance Committee in the next four-year term.
“The purpose is to give our people purchas-
By THE STAR STAFF
New Progressive Party (NPP) Secretary General Hiram
Torres Montalvo criticized former Villalba Mayor Luis Javier Hernández Ortiz on Sunday for leaving the municipality with over $251,000 in debt to LUMA Energy and $3.4 million to the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA).
Torres Montalvo said the incoming mayor’s transition committee would evaluate potential investigations into Hernández’s administration.
On Monday, Interim Mayor and Administrator Marena Navarro responded to the allegations, noting that the debts to both utility companies had accumulated over several years, with established and up-to-date payment plans in place.
She also noted that some items are being challenged by
the municipality. The real debt to LUMA Energy is $135,000, not $250,000 as Torres Montalvo claimed, she added.
Navarro expressed disappointment in the incoming administration’s distortion of public information and half-truths, assuring that each incorrect allegation would be addressed promptly. She emphasized her commitment to transparency and responsibility, and said the truth would prevail. A payment of $400,000 has already been allocated to PRASA from the Special Additional Contribution to address the outstanding debt.
Navarro said it was “regrettable” that the incoming transition team has chosen “to confuse citizens.”
“The reality is duly documented in the final transition report that we already delivered to the incoming party,” she said.
Last month, Danny Santiago Nuñez of the New Progressive Party won election as Villalba’s next mayor, garnering 51% of the vote. The runner-up, Wilfredo Santos Colón of the Popular
ing power, promote the creation of small and midsize businesses, and establish sustainable economic development,” Méndez said. “This committee will help pave the way for real change that everyone can feel in their pockets.”
The incoming speaker highlighted measures taken in previous four-year terms, such as the elimination of the inventory tax and the bonus for senior citizens.
“Now is the time to continue with this agenda, ensuring that families and businesses in Puerto Rico have greater economic stability,” he said.
Democratic Party, received 47%.
Hernández, who had been Villalba’s mayor since 2013, was elected to an at-large seat in the island Senate in November. He had also until recently served as the president of the Puerto Rico Mayor’s Association, which groups the island’s Popular Democratic Party mayors.
By THE STAR STAFF
As part of his legislative agenda for the upcoming Legislative Assembly that begins in January, Rep. José “Che” Pérez Cordero will file a series of measures focused on making it easier for families in Puerto Rico to acquire a home.
“The need for housing is real and palpable. Our people suffer from the lack of a home,” Pérez Codero said over the weekend. “In the New Progressive Party we have a real commitment to improving access to housing. The Action Plan for Puerto Rico, the government program of the NPP, establishes concrete parameters to meet the need for over 50,000 units. We, from the House of Representatives, are going to work on these initiatives, as well as several bills and resolutions that we will be submitting in January.”
“We want to investigate, through a resolution, the reasons for the drop in mortgage loan originations during 2024. According to the available data, 3,130 mortgages were originated, 5.2 percent less than in the same period in 2023,” he said. “On the other hand, the average median price of
a house increased by 19.1 percent, to $343,556, which makes it difficult for the working class to buy a new home. The resolution we filed will also seek to explore alternatives to encourage the purchase of homes by our middle class.”
“It is important to emphasize that this problem is also faced by states in the union such as Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, to name a few,” the legislators added. “In Florida, the problem is so acute that housing complexes are already being developed in shopping malls. We are going to file another resolution to investigate the feasibility of rebuilding many of the abandoned housing complexes. This makes it faster to have an available inventory than it would be to develop new ones, which in practice take up to five years to complete, on average, mainly due to the complexity of the permit system and the shortage of labor.”
The lawmaker added that he will be filing legislation to encourage the completion of unfinished projects, as well as to use structures in traditional urban buildings that were once home to businesses to transform them into residences, something that San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo ‘s administration is currently doing with downtown Río Piedras.
By THE STAR STAFF
San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo announced Monday that he has completed the obligation of all the resources allocated by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (CSLFRF) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The funds have been essential to address the needs of the communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and have been used in key initiatives that meet the categories allowed by ARPA, the mayor said in a statement.
“The correct administration of these funds has allowed us to significantly improve the quality of life of our most vulnerable citizens,” Romero Lugo said. “We have invested in essential areas such as housing, infrastructure, public safety, sports, and recreational facilities, as well as in social development projects, such as care for people affected by gender violence, the delivery of solar batteries to vulnerable people, housekeeping services for older people, the purchase of ambulances and an educational platform. All of this has been done ensuring direct benefits for our community so that every dollar is used effectively and transparently.”
ARPA allocated $350 billion to local
governments through the CSLFRF. The Municipality of San Juan received a total allocation of $237,708,158. ARPA requires that all funds be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024 and expended in full on or before Dec. 31, 2026.
The projects funded with ARPA resources are as follows:
1. Your Streets Up to Date -- $75 million -- Road infrastructure project for the reconstruction and repaving of streets, avenues and municipal roads. The investment improves access to employment centers and businesses in the Capital City, boosting the
economic recovery of communities.
2. Public Safety -- $63.5 million -- Initiatives to recruit and hire police officers, reinforcing security in San Juan. Includes the Community Security and Surveillance Program, which strengthens the protection of Capital City residents. In addition, significant investments have been made in modernizing Municipal Police equipment, achieving the acquisition of new patrol cars, motorcycles, bodycams and bulletproof vests.
3. Social Welfare -- $18.8 million -Resources in this area were allocated to:
* Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline Program (939-CONTIGO): Confidential assistance that offers psychological first aid, crisis intervention and legal guidance, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
* Rechargeable Portable Battery Program: Alternative energy source to minimize the impact of the lack of electricity on the health and safety of patients who depend on essential medical equipment.
* Housekeeping Program: Services for low- or moderate-income households with elderly or disabled people who face limitations in their daily lives and require external assistance.
4. Sports and Recreational Facilities -- Investments in significant improvements that promote healthy environments and improve individuals’ and families’ physical and emotional well-being, such as Caparra Heights Park, Barbosa Park, Josefa Fontán Park, Central Park and Adolfo Dones.
“These projects are not just a fulfillment of financial goals; they represent our vision of what it means to serve our community,” Romero Lugo said. “Each initiative funded by these resources reflects our commitment to a more just, safe and future-ready San Juan. We will continue to work tirelessly to raise the quality of life of our residents, always with the transparency and responsibility that characterizes us.”
By THE STAR STAFF
Beneficiaries of the government health plan, known as Plan Vital, who are not satisfied with their insurer will be able to change to another one under the Health Insurance Administration (ASES by its acronym in Spanish) contract in 2025. Starting Jan. 1, when the open subscription period begins, beneficiaries can get a new insurer under the Vital Plan, ASES Executive Director Roxanna Rosario Serrano said .
“Any beneficiary who, for any reason, wants to change insurer, can do so from January 1 to February 14, 2025,” the official said. “After this date, they can only make the change as long as there is a just cause.”
Rosario Serrano noted that those who are satisfied with their insurer’s services do not have to go through any process and will continue to receive their services as usual.
The open subscription period also allows beneficiaries to make changes to medical groups or primary physicians
without any particular reason. Currently, Plan Vital, which offers services to 1.4 million beneficiaries, has four insurers under contract; First Medical, MMM, Mennonite Health Plan and Triple S.
To change insurance companies, the official said, the beneficiary can use the ASES Vital App or call an enrollment counselor at 1-833-253-7721, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A change can also be made via the platform www.planvital.org
“The process is simple,” Rosario Serrano said. “... Suppose the beneficiary wants to stay with the same insurance company but wants to change their primary care group or primary physician. In that case, they can contact their insurance company at the 800 Customer Service line on the back of their card.”
She also emphasized that beneficiaries can change insurance companies without having to change their primary care physician and/or primary care group.
“The decision is always up to the ben-
eficiary,” Rosario Serrano said. “They can change insurance companies, primary physicians, and primary medical groups, too. But they can stay with the same doctor or medical group if they are satisfied with the service received.”
Only those beneficiaries who make the change will receive a new card corresponding to the selected insurance company. After
the open subscription period, changes can be made as long as there is a just cause, such as difficulty in accessing covered services or problems with the provider network, among others. Those cases require prior authorization from ASES. The ASES Customer Service call center can be reached at 787-474-3300, option 1, corresponding to beneficiaries.
December 24, 2024 5
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
President-elect Donald Trump delivered a sprawling address earlier this week that he called a “small preview of the common-sense revolution” his administration will bring, pledging to slam shut the nation’s borders, end federal regulations, lower taxes, prosecute his rivals, “stop woke” and “end the transgender lunacy.”
In a 90-minute speech at a conservative conference in Phoenix, Trump offered a triumphant view of his election victory in which he described his liberal adversaries as “befuddled” and promised that a new “golden age in America” had begun.
“We will end the occupation, and Jan. 20 will truly be liberation day in America,” Trump told thousands of people at AmericaFest, a four-day conference run by the conservative group Turning Point USA.
His speech was a familiar mash-up of false assertions, self-praise, fierce attacks on his adversaries and promises about how his return to power would change the country for the better.
As he often does, Trump spent the most time on immigration and the border. He repeated his claim, without evidence, that other countries were emptying their “insane asylums” and prisons into the United States. And he vowed to purge the country of people who have entered illegally.
“On my first day, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border,” he said to huge applause from the audience. “On that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history.”
As with many of Trump’s speeches, it was light on details. He did not say who would be deported or when. But he promised to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror organizations and said that every cartel “operating on American soil will be dismantled, deported
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2024 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. Trump delivered a sprawling address on Sunday that he called a “small preview of the common-sense revolution” his administration will bring, pledging to slam shut the nation’s borders, end federal regulations, lower taxes, prosecute his rivals, “stop woke” and “end the transgender lunacy.” (Anna Watts/The New York Times)
and destroyed.”
The address was something of a return to the past for Trump, who delivered a similar speech in Phoenix in July 2015 at the beginning of his quest for the White House. He returned to the same location the next year for a major immigration speech after making a surprise visit to Mexico as the Republican nominee for the presidency.
Now, however, some of his topics have changed.
The president-elect lashed out repeatedly at transgender people to the delight of the audience, which roared with approval.
Trump said that with a stroke of his pen, “we are going to end the transgender lunacy” and the mutilation of children, an apparent reference to gender-affirming surgery.
“We will keep men out of women’s sports,” he said. He added that “it will be the policy of the United States that there are only two genders: men and women.”
He also targeted diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public institutions and private companies. He promised to ban such programs because “we believe in the merit system” in the United States.
“We’re going to stop woke,” he vowed, referring to such initiatives with a profanity.
That line received the biggest applause of the morning from the conservative audience, most of whom were wearing Make America Great Again hats and other Trump-branded gear.
The president-elect also promised not to allow the military to change the names of bases or ships that are named after Confederate
leaders, as it has done in recent years.
“It’s not happening with me,” Trump said. He also expressed concern about the Panama Canal, calling it “stupid” that the United States agreed in the 1970s to return the canal to Panamanian control after a period of joint control. He accused Panama of charging fees to U.S. shippers that were “ridiculous” and “highly unfair” and vowed that they would end under his administration.
“This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop,” he said. “It’s going to stop.” And he threatened that if it did not, “we will demand that the Panama Canal will be returned to the United States.”
He did not say how that would happen, given that the canal was returned to Panamanian control through a treaty signed by both countries. But his comments came just hours after he posted a similar complaint on social media late Saturday night.
Trump also sang the praises of Elon Musk, the billionaire whom he has picked to run a new Department of Government Efficiency. Musk flexed his political strength last week to tank a bipartisan spending agreement, posting more than 150 times to criticize the deal on X, his social media network. That prompted some people, including at least one member of Congress, to refer to Musk as “President Musk,” but on Sunday, Trump chuckled about the title.
“No, that’s not happening,” he said, adding that it was nice to have smart people around him. “But no, he’s not going to be president; that I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country.”
The president-elect’s speech was not his first to Turning Point, which is run by Charlie Kirk, a longtime activist and supporter of Trump’s. In 2019, he gave a lengthy speech to the group in West Palm Beach, Florida, just days after he was impeached by Congress the first time.
By LOLA FADULU
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man charged with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, pleaded not guilty Monday as he was arraigned in New York state Supreme Court.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has charged Mangione with first-degree murder, a terrorism-related offense, as well as two variations of second-degree murder and weapons charges. He faces the possibility of life in prison without parole on those charges.
Mangione also faces federal charges that could result in the death penalty: The Southern District of New York charged him with murder through use of a firearm, as well as two stalking counts and a firearms offense. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last week.
State prosecutors said in court filings that Mangione’s
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Luigi Mangione, who is charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, departs after his arraignment at New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Dec. 23, 2024. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
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but that he would guarantee that Mangione would receive a fair trial. “We will carefully select the jury,” Carro said. Joel J. Seidemann, a prosecutor, took issue with the decision to repeat Adams’ words in court.
“I don’t know how that advances the ball,” he said. “We will comply with our ethical obligations with respect to trying this defendant’s guilt in this courtroom, in this courtroom alone.”
Mangione’s next appearance in state court is scheduled for Feb. 21.
The killing of CEO Brian Thompson renewed a debate about the American health care system. Many took to social media to voice their frustrations in their dealings with insurance companies and their practices of denying claims. Mangione became, to some, a folk hero.
Spectators had gathered on the street in 11 degree weather by 6 a.m., hoping to get into the courtroom. A small group of protesters could be seen outside before the hearing began, and it had grown slightly by the time it was over. Some of them chanted, “Free Luigi!”
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actions were meant to further terrorism and were “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population” and to “affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder.” Appearing in court Monday, his lawyer argued that his case had been politicized and expressed concern that he would not receive a fair trial.
The state case is expected to go to trial before the federal one, said Edward Y. Kim, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District, and state prosecutors said they would coordinate with federal agencies.
Mangione entered the courtroom for his arraignment Monday wearing a maroon sweater and light-colored pants. His wrists and ankles were shackled. During the hearing, his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told the judge she was concerned about her client’s right to a fair trial. “His rights are being violated,” she said.
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“He’s a young man, and he is being treated like a human pingpong ball between two warring jurisdictions,” she said, pointing to the federal and state cases and their differing arguments.
She also described Mangione’s perp walk after he was extradited to New York last week, during which he was accompanied by Mayor Eric Adams, as “absolutely unnecessary” and “utterly political.”
One protester, Nicholas Zamudio, 33, held a sign that read: “United States Healthcare Stole My Livelihood. Prosecute Malicious Profiteers.” Zamudio, who lives in midtown Manhattan, described his experiences with the health care system as “atrocious” and said that the day Thompson was killed had been “a good day.”
Zamudio said he had had spinal fusion surgery for back problems and could not afford the injections and other treatments he needed after the operation. He pointed to how Mangione had written in Reddit posts about his own experience with spinal fusion surgery and his painful back issues.
“When he writes about things like not being able to lay down, not being able to sleep, that part resonates wwith me,” Zamudio said, adding that sometimes he can only sleep two to three hours a night. “You start losing your mind when that happens.”
Thompson was walking to the entrance of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on the morning of Dec. 4 for an investor meeting when a masked and hooded gunman opened fire behind him. He was shot once in the back and once in the leg.
Authorities have said it was Mangione who waited nearly an hour outside the hotel that morning and raised a 3D-printed 9 mm handgun fitted with a suppressor, known in generic terms as a silencer, and fired at Thompson.
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“What was the New York City mayor doing at this press conference?” she asked, adding that Adams, who faces bribery and fraud charges, “should know more than anyone about the presumption of innocence.”
She pointed to a number of statements Adams had made publicly about the case, including that he wanted to look Mangione in the eye and say “you carried out this terroristic act in my city.” Friedman Agnifilo noted that he had not used the word “alleged,” and that his statements could be heard by “future, potential jurors.”
Judge Gregory Carro responded that he had little control over what happened outside the courtroom
He was found with a handgun, a suppressor, ammunition and a fake identification card, as well as a 262-word handwritten manifesto in which he appeared to take responsibility for the shooting, authorities said. The manifesto also indicated that he saw the killing as a direct challenge to the health care industry’s “corruption” and “power games.”
Mangione also faces five charges in Pennsylvania, including carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime,” according to a criminal complaint.
By DAVID McCABE and NICO GRANT
Google said late last week what it thought should change to address a ruling that it had illegally maintained a monopoly over online search: not much.
Google’s proposal followed the landmark ruling in August by Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who said Google had illegally maintained a monopoly in online search by paying companies like Apple and Samsung to be the search engine that automatically appears when users open a web browser or a smartphone. In response, the government last month asked the judge to force Google to sell Chrome, the world’s most popular browser, among other remedies.
In Google’s own proposal to fix the search monopoly, it asked Mehta to allow it to continue to pay other companies for its search engine to get prime placement. But it said those agreements should be less restrictive than in the past.
Apple, for example, could select different search engines to come up automatically for iPhone and iPad users, said Lee-Anne Mulholland, the company’s vice president of regulatory affairs, in a blog post. Cellphone makers using Google’s popular operating system, Android, could also install multiple search engines and could install other Google apps without installing its search tool or its Gemini artificial intelligence assistant product.
“We don’t propose these changes lightly,” she said. “But we believe that they fully address the court’s findings, and do so without putting Americans’ privacy and security at risk or harming America’s global technology leadership.”
Google still plans to appeal Mehta’s ruling after he makes a decision on remedies sometime next year, Mulholland added.
What Mehta decides to do could reshape the core of Google, a $2.35 trillion company, and the digital economy more broadly. Google made more than half its revenue last year — $175 billion — from search and related businesses, and the company is so associated with search that its name has become a verb synonymous with looking for answers online.
Google’s attempts to fend off the government’s sweeping requests — the most significant remedies requested in a tech monopoly case since the Justice Department asked
to break up Microsoft in 2000 — could help set a precedent for a string of other antitrust cases that challenge the dominance of tech behemoths.
The Justice Department has sued Apple, claiming the company makes it hard for consumers to leave its tight system of devices and software. Next year, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to go to trial against Meta, over claims that it snuffed out competition when it bought Instagram and WhatsApp. The agency has also filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing it of illegally protecting a monopoly in online retail, and is investigating Microsoft’s power in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
A second Justice Department case against Google, alleging that it has a monopoly in advertising technology, is awaiting a decision by a federal judge in the coming weeks.
In the search case, which was filed in 2020 under the first administration of President-elect Donald Trump, Mehta agreed with the government that Google had benefited from a cycle of dominance.
In a 10-week trial last year, Justice Department lawyers said Google had locked out rivals by signing deals with Apple, Mozilla, Samsung and others to automatically appear as the search engine when users open a smartphone or a new tab in a web browser.
In total, Google paid $26.3 billion as part of those deals in 2021, according to evidence presented at the trial.
Google argued that its deals had not broken the law and that users chose Google because it was better at finding information than search engines like Microsoft’s Bing or DuckDuckGo, a product that promises more privacy for its users.
Beyond the sale of Chrome, the government asked for a potential sale of Android, Google’s smartphone operating system. It also asked the court to stop the company from entering into paid agreements with Apple and others to be the search engine that is automatically selected on smartphones and in browsers. Google should also allow rival search engines to display the company’s results and have access to its data for a decade, the government
proposed.
The government also said Google, whose parent company is Alphabet, should be forced to divest its stake in any artificial intelligence products that could compete with search, a bid to stop the company from dominating the nascent technology.
Google urged Mehta to take a more narrow path to resolving those concerns. In addition to opportunities for other search engines to compete for prime placement on phones and browsers, Google said, browser manufacturers like Apple and Mozilla should be allowed to change their default search engines at least every 12 months.
The company proposed what it described in the blog post as a “robust mechanism” to comply with the court’s wishes, without “giving the government extensive power
over the design of your online experience.” Google said its proposal should apply for three years. The government’s proposed changes would apply for a decade.
“The pace of innovation in search has been extraordinary and there is every reason to believe that will continue as developments in artificial intelligence rapidly change online computing products and services,” Google said in the filing.
Google said the government sought a response from the judge that “exceeds the anticompetitive conduct found at trial.”
The company cited a 1955 opinion from a federal court that said even when a company was found to have broken antitrust laws, a court did not have “license to embark upon a general program of comprehensive control of the defendants’ business.”
Ameteoric rise in MicroStrategy’s shares has made the bitcoin hoarder a likely candidate for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index ahead of an annual reshuffle this week.
The loss-making software company, an aggressive investor in the highly volatile cryptocurrency, has seen its shares soar nearly 500% this year, taking its market capitalization to $90 billion.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit the $100,000 milestone for the first time last week and has doubled in value this year. It got a big boost after Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory as investors expect the president-elect to make good on his promise of a crypto-friendly administration.
A Nasdaq 100 inclusion could spur more gains for MicroStrategy, whose bitcoin holding was valued at about $42 billion, as more investment firms include the stock in their portfolios to accurately reflect the index composition.
For an entry into the index, a stock listed on the Nasdaq exchange must rank among the top 100 by market value, have a minimum daily trading volume of 200,000 shares and not be in the financial sector. The reshuffle announcement is due on Friday after market close.
“MicroStrategy seems to check all the boxes to make it into the Nasdaq 100 when it is reconstituted in December,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management.
The potential addition would give the Nasdaq 100 index indirect exposure to bitcoin and could make related ETFs more appealing to a younger investor base, said Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF research at VettaFi.
Data analytics firm Palantir, which has risen four-fold in market value to $160 billion this year, is another likely candidate for index inclusion.
AI server maker Super Micro Computer could be among the ones to be ejected from the index as it has delayed filing its annual and quarterly reports. Super Micro CEO Charles Liang said on Tuesday he was confident the company would not be delisted.
Nasdaq did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
MicroStrategy adopted bitcoin as its main treasury reserve asset in 2020 under the leadership of co-founder Michael Saylor as revenue from its software business slowed.
The company has amassed 400,000 bitcoins, making it the biggest corporate holder of the digital asset. It financed its purchases through a combination of equity and debt deals and controls over 2% of bitcoin’s total supply which is capped at 21 million.
The company reported a net loss of $340 million in the three ended Sept. 20, its third consecutive quarterly loss.
Not everyone is convinced about MicroStrategy’s potential entry into the tech index.
Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, said that the sharp rise in the company’s market value “is not the result of its business as a software company (but)
its sizeable investments in bitcoin financed by significant equity and debt capital markets activity.”
“MicroStrategy should be reclassified as a ‘financial’ (stock) which would render it ineligible for the Nasdaq 100.”
MicroStrategy is viewed by market participants as equivalent to a leveraged bitcoin fund, J.P.Morgan said in a note last week.
Wall Street believes there is room for the stock to grow. All nine brokerages currently covering MicroStrategy rate it “buy” or higher with a median price target of $510, which implies a 35% upside from the stock’s last close.
San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, December 24, 2024 9
By ARYN BAKER and EUAN WARD
Top Arab diplomats visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Monday, the latest in a string of diplomatic overtures by the international community as Syria emerges from years of isolation under President Bashar Assad.
The visits by ministers from Jordan and Qatar, just two weeks after Assad’s fall, suggest that Arab nations are eager for better relations with a country that had been a pariah and a source of instability in the region.
Syria’s new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, held “extensive talks” with Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, in Damascus on Monday, according to a statement from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry. Hours later, Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, arrived in Syria and met with its new leadership, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
They were among the first high-ranking Arab diplomats to visit Syria since Assad was toppled two weeks ago by the rebel coalition led by al-Sharaa. Top Arab diplomats vowed at a meeting in Jordan this month to “support a peaceful transition process” in Syria.
Most Arab nations cut ties with Assad’s government because of his ruthless crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 2011 during the Arab Spring, which ignited a civil war. But after years of financing anti-Assad militias, several of Assad’s detractors had reversed their stance in recent years, hoping that increased engagement might bring more stability to the region.
Last year, the Saudi government in Riyadh invited Assad to the Arab League summit, more than a decade after the league suspended Syria’s membership. But the strategy didn’t pay off, said Julien Barnes-Dacey, Middle East and North Africa program director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. And Assad continued with his heavy-handed tactics. Now, Arab nations are jumping at the chance to start again with new leadership in Syria.
“The Arab states see more opportunity now than they did after a year of engagement with Assad that delivered absolutely nothing,” Barnes-Dacey said.
A boy leans against a Syrian Air Force helicopter that was destroyed by Israeli strikes against military targets across Syria, at the Mezzeh Military Airport in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 22, 2024. Ministers from Jordan and Qatar were among the first high-ranking Arab diplomats to meet with the leader of the rebel coalition that toppled the Syrian regime, as the Arab world seeks to bring Syria back into the fold. (Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times)
Initially there was trepidation given alSharaa’s former links to al-Qaida, which is as much a destabilizing factor in the Arab world as it is in the West, BarnesDacey said. But al-Sharaa’s repeated pronouncements that his government would be pragmatic, inclusive and respectful of the country’s many religious and ethnic groups have been well received.
“Regional states are going to be happy to jump on that,” he said.
The influx of Arab delegations reflects the potential for a profound shift in regional alliances, said Paul Salem, vice president for international engagement at the Middle East Institute in Washington. Even though like most Arab nations, Syria is a majority Sunni Muslim country, the Assad regime long played a key role in supporting the regional influence of Iran, which is largely Shiite. Arab states see an opportunity to change that dynamic.
“Arab countries have been trying to get Syria back into the Arab fold for the last 45 years, since the Iran-Iraq war,” Salem said. It is not surprising, he added, that Qatar is taking the lead.
Qatar was one of the few Arab countries that refused to reconcile with Assad, so the visit by al-Khulaifi, one of the country’s top-ranking diplomats, was a strong signal of support for the new government. In a news conference after their meeting, al-Khulaifi said that “Syria and its people need support during this crucial phase.”
Al-Sharaa highlighted Qatar’s continued assistance for the Syrian people
throughout the war, and thanked Qatar for what he described as its readiness to invest in Syria’s energy sector, ports and airports.
The Qatari delegation was accompanied by a technical team from Qatar Airways that planned to assess whether the international airport in Damascus was ready to restart operations after it was shut down amid the rebel offensive, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Safadi said in remarks after his meeting with al-Sharaa that Jordan’s goal was to “support and assist the Syrian people.”
But he also brought up issues of direct concern to Jordan, including the presence of nearly 620,000 registered Syrian refugees in his country, emphasizing that their return must be “voluntary and safe.” Safadi also brought up issues of terrorism, arms smuggling and drug trafficking, “which we in Jordan have suffered from.”
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spoke with Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, Syria’s newly appointed foreign minister. In the call, bin Zayed stressed his country’s “supportive stance” for a “comprehensive and inclusive transitional phase.” The UAE has long been suspicious of the rebel movement’s Islamist bent, said Barnes-Dacey, and was the first among Arab nations to reestablish ties with the Assad government, in 2018.
For his meetings with both the Jordanian and Qatari delegations on Monday,
al-Sharaa donned a suit and tie rather than his typical military fatigues, part of the new leader’s effort to polish his image and mend ties between Syria and the international community.
On Sunday al-Sharaa met with the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, and also met a prominent Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt. Like his visitors Monday, the Turkish and Lebanese representatives had their list of needs, couched in offers of support.
Turkey, host to 3.6 million Syrian refugees, also wants to see a return to stability so that they can eventually go home. But it is also seeking to build a Syria more closely aligned with its regional interests. Many of the rebel groups that helped push Assad out of power were financed by Turkey, and while al-Sharaa’s group was not, Turkey will still seek to use their presence to push for greater influence, Barnes-Dacey said.
As a Lebanese politician as well as the leader of the Druze religious minority, which has about a million members scattered across Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, Jumblatt wasn’t seeking influence as much as reassurances.
The Assad regime, which was founded by Assad’s father, Hafez Assad in 1971, had a long history of interfering in Lebanese politics, and it was implicated in the assassination of Jumblatt’s father, as well as the killings of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and several other prominent Lebanese politicians over the past 50 years.
In his meeting with the Lebanese delegation, al-Sharaa acknowledged that Syria under the Assads had long been a “source of fear and anxiety” for Lebanon, and he vowed to end his country’s “negative interference.”
By ANDREW HIGGINS and JENNY GROSS
Unimpressed by the substitute for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker,” the mother and her young daughter left at the intermission, a small protest over a decision by the opera house not to perform the Russian composer’s Christmas classic.
“Everything about ‘The Nutcracker’ is much better — the music, the dance, the story,” said Egle Brediene, 38, hurrying out of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater this past week after the first act of a replacement ballet composed by an Italian.
Lithuania, an unwavering supporter of Ukraine in the war waged by Russia, set aside Tchaikovsky and the holiday favorite two years ago after declaring a “mental quarantine” from Russian culture in a gesture of solidarity against the aggressor.
That stirred grumbling by theatergoers, but their annoyance had largely calmed — until a new government took power in Lithuania this month and a newly installed culture minister announced that he liked listening to Tchaikovsky. There was no reason, the minister, Sarunas Birutis, said in a radio interview, to be “afraid that after watching a Christmas fairy tale we will become pro-Kremlin.”
His remarks prompted fury from ardent supporters of Ukraine and applause from lovers of Russian music, igniting a bitter debate, largely one between generations, about whether culture and politics can be separated at a time of war.
Many in the art world oppose banning works on the basis of their nationality, believing that culture has the power to unite and should not be contaminated by politics.
Darius Kuolys, a veteran of Lithuania’s struggles to break free from the Soviet Union who was the first culture minister after a 1990 declaration of independence,
said it was obvious that the Kremlin often exploited culture for political ends. But he added, “It never occurred to me as a minister to tell people what to watch or listen to.”
Despite a bloody crackdown by Soviet forces in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, in January 1991, Kuolys did not pause performances of “The Nutcracker” or try to cancel Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.”
“We fought Soviet power to get the freedom not to ban things,” said Kuolys, 62, now a professor of Lithuanian literature at Vilnius University.
Lithuania’s culture is so intertwined with Russia, he added (noting that Stravinsky’s family traced its roots to the country), that proscribing Russian artists and their works would “cause great damage to ourselves”
Simonas Kairys, the culture minister who pushed in 2022 for the quarantine from Russian influence embedded in music, insisted that he had never banned anything and only issued “recommendations” to the national opera house and other statefunded institutions, which promptly pulled “The Nutcracker” and other Russian works.
“They had a choice — there was no decree from me,” said Kairys, 40. “They just had an understanding of the situation.”
He added: “When you are at war, you have to choose the right side. There is no middle.”
During World War II, Britain’s National Gallery put on a series of concerts featuring German composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven. The director of the gallery at the time said that this was to show that Britain’s fight was with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, not with Germany as a nation or culture.
Fear of Russia and fury over its invasion of Ukraine, however, have led many in Lithuania and other countries with a long and bitter history of past Russia occupation to doubt that culture can be disentangled from politics.
“In Russia, it’s always been mixed,” said Arunas Gelunas, director of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and a proponent of pausing performances and exhibitions by Russian artists. “The Kremlin has been using classical culture to distract the eyes of the world from the atrocities that it is exercising today.”
Russia has created an image of itself as the pinnacle of sophisticated culture, an impression that is firmly embedded in the Western world, he added.
“Today, when Ukrainians are still being tortured and raped and killed as we speak, I would rather not go to see ‘The Nutcracker’ in the opera or elsewhere,” said Gelunas, who traveled to Ukraine to help evacuate 800 pieces of art from museums there to Lithuania.
Ukrainian officials and activists who want to “decolonize” culture share that view, pushing for the exclusion of Russian
performers, filmmakers and other artists from the West no matter what their political leanings. Some see all Russians and their cultural heritage as irredeemably tainted by imperial thinking, a view heavily influenced by postcolonial studies in American academia.
For lovers of “The Nutcracker,” a staple of the Christmas repertoire in Lithuania for generations, Tchaikovsky — who lived from 1840 to 1893 — has nothing to do with the Kremlin or Russian atrocities in Ukraine and should be spared from what they see as virtue signaling by politicians.
Tchaikovsky, said Tatiana Kuznetsova, 67, whose father was Ukrainian and mother Russian, “belongs to the world, not to Russia.” Waiting to enter the Vilnius opera house this past week, she reminisced about taking her children and grandchildren to watch “The Nutcracker” at Christmas before it was pulled.
“It is a classic,” she said. “I am a patriot of Lithuania, but art and sport should not be mixed with politics.”
Brediene, who left the replacement show at the intermission, said that the alternative, “Les Millions d’Arlequin,” whose music was composed by Riccardo Drigo, a lesser-known Italian musician, had interesting costumes. But she said it fell far short of performances she had seen of “The Nutcracker.”
Russian composers have also faced a backlash at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, which excluded pieces composed by Russians from performances at a 2023 international piano and organ competition.
The academy’s director, Judita Zukiene, said that she had not barred students from playing works composed by Russians during their studies, but that Russian classical music needed to be handled with caution, because it “is significant and highly influential, which means it can be — and has been — used for propaganda purposes.”
Audrius Kundrotas, the deputy marketing manager for Lithuania’s opera house, acknowledged that audiences might prefer “The Nutcracker” to its little-known substitute. “You can’t compare them,” he conceded. “It’s nice but different.”
Kundrotas said that “The Nutcracker” could be revived after the war stops, but that until that happens, there were no plans for Tchaikovsky ballets to be performed.
“It’s painful, maybe, not to show this performance,” he said, “but our position is stated very firmly.”
By DAVID FRENCH
Here’s a question I hear everywhere I go, including from fellow Christians: Why are so many Christians so cruel?
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard someone say something like: I’ve experienced blowback in the secular world, but nothing prepared me for church hate. Christian believers can be especially angry and even sometimes vicious.
It’s a simple question with a complicated answer, but that answer often begins with a particularly seductive temptation, one common to people of all faiths: that the faithful, those who possess eternal truth, are entitled to rule. Under this construct, might makes right, and right deserves might.
Most of us have sound enough moral instincts to reject the notion that might makes right. Power alone is not a sufficient marker of righteousness. We may watch people bow to power out of fear or awe, but yielding to power isn’t the same thing as acknowledging that it is legitimate or that it is just.
The idea that right deserves might is different and may even be more destructive. It appeals to our ambition through our virtue, which is what makes it especially treacherous. It masks its darkness. It begins with the idea that if you believe your ideas are just and right, then it’s a problem for everyone if you’re not in charge.
In that context, your own will to power is sanctified. It’s evidence not so much of your own ambition, but of your love
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for the community. You want what’s best for your neighbors, and what’s best for your neighbors is, well, you.
The practical objections to this mindset are legion. How can we be so certain of our own righteousness? Even if we are right or have a superior vision of justice compared with our opponents, the quest for power can override the quest for justice.
The historical examples are too numerous to list. Give a man a sword and tell him he’s defending the cross, and there’s no end to the damage he can do.
There’s also a theological objection to the idea that right deserves might. In Christian theology, Jesus was both God and man, a person without sin. I’m fallen and flawed. He is not.
And how did this singular individual — this eternal being made flesh — approach power? He rejected it, by word and by deed. And it all began with Christmas.
If a person is going to look for a coming king, the last place you’re going to start is in a stable. But that humble birth presaged a humble life and the establishment of what my former pastor always called “the upside-down kingdom of God.”
Christ’s words were clear, and they cut against every human instinct of ambition and pride:
“The last will be first.”
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Those were the words. The deeds were just as clear. He didn’t just experience a humble birth; Jesus was raised in a humble home, far from the corridors of power. As a child, he was a refugee.
And when he began his ministry, he constantly behaved in a way that confounded every modern understanding about how to build a movement, much less how to overthrow an empire.
He withdrew from crowds. When he performed miracles, he frequently told the people he healed not to tell anyone else. When he declared, near the end of his life, that we are to “render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” he not only rejected the idea that he was Caesar, he also rejected the idea that Caesar’s domain was limitless.
And then, faced with the ultimate test — an unjust execution — right yielded to might. The Son of God allowed mortal men to torture and kill him, even though he could have freed himself from Rome’s deadly grasp.
When Jesus did triumph, he didn’t triumph over Caesar. He triumphed over death itself. When he ascended into heaven after his resurrection, he left Earth with Caesar still on the
throne.
My own attitude about Christmas has changed over the years. A day that was once purely celebratory is now also profoundly humbling. In many ways, the facts surrounding Christ’s birth are as important as the fact of Christ’s birth. How he arrived was a signal of why he arrived: to redeem hearts, not to rule nations.
It’s remarkable how often ambition becomes cruelty. In our self-delusion, we convince ourselves that we’re not just right but that we’re so clearly right that opposition has to be rooted in arrogance and evil. We lash out. We seek to silence and destroy our enemies.
But it is all for the public good. So we sleep well at night. We become one of the most dangerous kinds of people — a cruel person with a clean conscience.
The way of Christ, by contrast, forecloses cruelty. It requires compassion. It inverts our moral compass, or at least it should. We love rags-to-riches stories, for example, so if many of us were writing Christ’s story, we might begin with a manger, but we’d end with a throne.
But Christ’s life began in a manger, and it ended on a cross. He warned his followers that a cross could come for them as well. An upside-down kingdom began with an upside-down birth. When Jesus himself is humble, how do we justify our pride?
SAN JUAN – En la época de Navidad en que la soledad puede hacerse más intensa para las personas sin hogar, La Fondita de Jesús les compartirá el día de Nochebuena un abrazo navideño con música de parranda, comida tradicional y el mensaje de que son la familia que les acompaña con cariño y alegría.
“En esta temporada navideña, desde La Fondita de Jesús queremos compartirles una reflexión que nace del corazón y se extiende a todos los rincones de nuestra comunidad. La Navidad nos recuerda la fuerza transformadora del amor, la esperanza y la unidad. Para nuestros participantes, personas sin hogar, familias y adultos mayores de comunidades vulnerables en Puerto Rico, estas fechas son una oportunidad para abrazar la posibilidad de un nuevo comienzo, rodeados de la calidez y el cariño que todos merecen”, expresó Geraldine BayrónRivera, Directora Ejecutiva interina de La Fondita de Jesús
La actividad navideña de La Fondita se celebra-
rá este martes Día de Nochebuena, cuando tendrán el desayuno diario usual, que esta vez continuará con entretenimiento, juegos, música de parranda, y entrega de obsequios para las personas presentes. El evento culmina con un almuerzo con comida típica de Navi-
dad para todos. Bayrón-Rivera comentó que “nuestra gran familia —compuesta por participantes, voluntarios, empleados y colaboradores— se une para llevar un mensaje de paz, amor y bienaventuranza. Cada gesto de apoyo, cada sonrisa compartida y cada mano tendida son un recordatorio de que no están solos. Este abrazo navideño que les ofrecemos es más que un acto simbólico; es una promesa de acompañamiento y solidaridad, un regalo que trasciende lo material y siembra esperanza en cada corazón”.
La directora de La Fondita resaltó que los voluntarios son esenciales para la gestión que realizan. La actividad del almuerzo navideño en particular la organiza y auspicia desde hace más de tres décadas la familia de la voluntaria María Fernanda Levis. Al evento de Nochebuena asisten unas 200 personas.
El próximo año se celebrará el 40 aniversario de La Fondita de Jesús con la misión de “hacer comunidades transformando vidas”, señaló BayrónRivera.
POR CYBERNEWS
SAN JUAN – El principal oficial ejecutivo (CEO) de MMM Holdings, LLC, Ricardo Rivera Cardona, informó el lunes haber suscrito un acuerdo civil con el Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos (DOJ) y la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS-OIG), en relación con reclamaciones previamente divulgadas sobre pasadas prácticas de mercadeo en planes Medicare Advantage en Puerto Rico.
“MMM Holdings, LLC suscribió un acuerdo civil con el Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Uni-
dos (DOJ, por sus siglas en inglés) y con la Oficina del Inspector General del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de los Estados Unidos (HHS, por sus siglas en inglés), relacionado con reclamaciones previamente divulgadas sobre pasadas prácticas de mercadeo del plan Medicare Advantage en Puerto Rico.
MMM Holdings, LLC reafirma su compromiso de mantener los más altos estándares de integridad y cumplimiento. Asimismo, continuará asegurando que sus prácticas cumplan o superen todos los requisitos legales y regulatorios. Resolver este asunto responde al mejor interés de la organización, sus em-
pleados y las personas a las que sirve, permitiendo a MMM Holdings, LLC avanzar en su compromiso de servir con transparencia, responsabilidad y confianza. Durante todo este proceso, MMM Holdings, LLC cooperó plenamente con el DOJ y el HHS”, expuso Rivera Cardona en declaraciones escritas. Por su parte, la Fiscalía Federal para el Distrito de Puerto Rico y HHS-OIG anunciaron que MMM pagará 15.2 millones de dólares para resolver alegaciones de violaciones al Estatuto Antisoborno y la Ley de Reclamos Falsos, específicamente relacionadas a tarjetas de regalo utilizadas como incentivo para la inscripción de beneficiarios de Medicare Advantage.
Policía arresta a sospechoso de asesinato de capitán de barco en San Juan
SAN JUAN – La Policía de Puerto Rico arrestó este lunes a Jorge Montañez Serrano, alias “Yabu”, principal sospechoso del asesinato del comerciante y capitán de barco José Iván Castillo Maxón, ocurrido el 18 de noviembre en Punta Las Marías, San Juan.
Montañez Serrano, quien tiene antecedentes
como convicto federal por narcotráfico, fue detenido durante un allanamiento ejecutado por agentes de la división de Inteligencia y Arrestos de San Juan. En el lugar, las autoridades le ocuparon un arma de fuego y municiones. En el momento del arresto, Montañez Serrano se encontraba acompañado por su pareja y el hijo de esta, de 19 años.
El asesinato de Castillo Maxón ocurrió a las 12:15 de la tarde en la calle Doncella, mientras transitaba
en su vehículo. Desde entonces, la Policía, bajo la dirección del Cuerpo de Investigaciones Criminales (CIC) de San Juan y con apoyo de la división de Inteligencia y Arrestos, formó un equipo especializado liderado por la Superintendencia de Operaciones Especiales (SAOE) para esclarecer este crimen.
La investigación continúa para determinar posibles vínculos adicionales y proceder con la radicación de los cargos correspondientes.
The San Juan Daily Star Tuesday, December 24, 2024 13
By ERIK PIEPENBURG
Every year in Seneca Falls, New York, a festival celebrates “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Frank Capra’s heartwarming 1946 drama about the trials and triumphs of a family man named George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart in a beloved role.
Thousands of visitors descend on the hamlet, which boosters say bears a striking resemblance to Bedford Falls, the Bailey family’s charming and tight-knit hometown. The festivalgoers can meet cast members or, as they did this year, attend a dance at a high school gymnasium that hopefully won’t end like the film’s comically disastrous one does, with decked-out revelers cannonballing into a swimming pool.
But this year’s event, which ran through Sunday, emphasized, more than it has since it began in the ’90s, a significant turning point in the film’s otherwise heartwarming message — a moment that some people might not want to dwell on in December when “It’s a Wonderful Life” is their comfort and joy.
It comes down to this: “It’s a Wonderful Life” is achingly, yet redemptively, a movie in which a man almost dies by suicide.
For the first time, that word appeared in the title of a festival presentation (“From Darkness to Light, From Despair to Hope: How ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Can Save Lives From Suicide,” led by Govan Martin). And the Seneca County Suicide Prevention Coalition received the George Bailey Award, given annually to a person or organization embodying the spirit of the character and “without whom Seneca Falls would be a very different place.” It’s the first time the honor is going to an organization dedicated to such a mission.
Returning to the festival as she has for years was Karolyn Grimes, who at 6 played George’s cutie-pie daughter, Zuzu. The pain of suicide is personal and
inescapable for Grimes: In 1989, her son Johnathan took his life, at age 18.
“When people come through the line for autographs, they share with me how their hearts have been broken many times because they lost someone” that way, Grimes, 84, said. Fans of the film, she added, “understand sadness, and happiness.”
Anwei Law, director of the nonprofit It’s a Wonderful Life Museum, one of three organizations that coordinate the festival, said the decision to underscore the difficult subject this year was sparked in part by noticing that the suicide prevention materials the museum offers to visitors “are always gone.”
Law said she hoped the museum’s efforts would remind people “that in this movie, we know hope is coming.”
“The message is that everyone has value and everyone is important,” she said. “It’s a good context for discussing this.”
George’s dark thoughts come in the film’s final stretch, as he grows despondent over his financial dire straits and dashed dreams, and after the miserly Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) tells him he’s “worth more dead than alive.” George stands at a bridge, ready to jump into icy waters, when his guardian angel, Clarence (Henry Travers), beats him to it as part of a divine plan to get George to come to his rescue.
Clarence grants George’s angry wish that he’d “never been born,” and together they travel to a noir-like alternate world where neither George’s mother (Beulah Bondi) nor his wife (Donna Reed) recognize him. Through tears George pleads with Clarence: “I want to live again.” Clarence returns George to be with family and friends who love that he’s alive. (The film is available on most major digital platforms.)
Karen Burcroff, who heads the Seneca County Suicide Prevention Coalition, said the film’s charms and goodwill can feel like distant pleasures for people stru-
ggling with depression, especially during the holidays. It’s not just adults at risk: In the last four years, three local young people, one as young as 10, have died by suicide.
“It still hurts,” she said. “But lives carry on by increasing awareness.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life” received mixed reviews and lost money when it opened just before Christmas, and those disappointments rattled Capra, said Joseph McBride, a Capra biographer and a professor at the School of Cinema at San Francisco State University. In McBride’s book “Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success,” the filmmaker recalled that he “often thought of suicide.”
“I came close to it a lot of times,” Capra told McBride. “I thought I would rid my wife of myself, but when I thought of my family, I couldn’t do it.”
After “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Capra went on to make the political dramedy “State of the Union” (1948) and other films, but his career “was in free-fall after that,” McBride said, adding that “It’s a Wonderful Life” was his “last hurrah.” Capra died in 1991 at 94.
The film turns 80 in 2026, and in preparation, the museum is raising money for an expansion. Donors can place a planet, star or seat plaque in the theater to honor a loved one. Martin, the executive director and founder of the Suicide Prevention Alliance in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who led the festival panel, donated a star in memory of his brother, Michael, who died by suicide at 16 in 1980. Martin remembered Michael as a high school swim team member and lifeguard — a “quiet kid and good brother” who stood up for others.
For people living with survivor’s guilt, “It’s a Wonderful Life” offers a bittersweet wish: That their loved ones had met a Clarence of their own.
“We can’t get them back,” Martin said. “It’s not a movie. It’s real life. But I still see how much the movie has enriched my life.”
For Grimes, December is always busy, with appearances at screenings of “It’s a Wonderful Life” across the country. Audiences know every word, none more so than Zuzu’s memorable line: “Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”
At the screenings and wherever she goes, Johnathan is never far from her mind.
“He was a very shy fellow, and he was kind and sweet — too sweet,” she recalled. “People hurt him all the time. I look back and think I wish I could have prepared him more for life. He was too tender. He couldn’t handle the pain.”
A bird house in Johnathan’s name hangs in his honor at the Kansas City, Missouri, nursing home where he played piano for residents.
Grimes said she’s especially heartened by people who tell her that they too “have been on the bridge and they see the movie and it gives them hope.”
“It heals everything that hurts,” she said.
By CHRISTINA JEWETT
The Food and Drug Administration late last week updated the definitions of the term “healthy” for labeling on foods, a move that reflected changes in nutrition and that tightened limits on saturated fat, sugar and salt in food that could be sold under that claim.
The effort, while seemingly an inconsequential update to a 30-year-old term, set off a veritable food fight of lobbying over which foods made the cut and whether the FDA would violate First Amendment protections in trying to define “healthy.”
The FDA said Thursday that its policy, outlined in a final rule, was meant to “empower consumers” by helping them quickly spot nutritious food at the grocery store.
“The FDA recognizes that diet-related diseases, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, are the leading cause of disability and disease in the United States and contribute to America’s status of having the lowest life expectancy amongst large, high-income countries,” Jim Jones, the director of the agency’s food division, said during a news conference. He added, “We also know that food labeling can be a powerful tool for change.”
The 318-page rule sets forth highly specific guidelines around what food manufacturers can label “healthy” or other terms, such as “healthful” or “healthiest.” To make that claim, for instance, a 50gram serving of a dairy product must contain no more than 5% of a person’s maximum recommended daily sugar level and 10% of a person’s daily salt and saturated fat limit. Similar standards would apply to fruits, grains, vegetables, meat and other foods.
The new definition would include some processed and packaged foods and several items previously excluded from the definition of “healthy,” such as nuts, seeds, salmon, some oils and water. It would also strip the label from other foods, including some yogurts, fruit cups and whole wheat bread products, that are considered too high in sugar or sodium.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is meeting with lawmakers this week to shore
up support for his upcoming confirmation hearings to become secretary of the nation’s top health agency, campaigned for President-elect Donald Trump on a message of making the nation healthier through more nutritious food. He criticized the food industry, saying it was poisoning children with artificial additives and ultra-processed foods.
While the FDA’s new rule is an incremental change that will not require any changes in food production, the effort offers a sobering preview for how difficult even small changes to the food supply can be in Washington and the headwinds Kennedy may face from the food and agriculture industries. The rule itself, which is supposed to take effect in 2028, would not be immune from congressional or executive branch meddling, given how late in the Biden administration it was issued.
“If the incoming administration is truly serious about making Americans eat healthier, then they should embrace the power of food labeling,” said Peter Lurie, a former FDA official and the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit advocacy group.
He said the rule was voluntary in the sense that companies would not need to meet the standards unless they wanted to market food as “healthy.”
There are several ways Congress or the incoming administration could derail the rule. Officials could take executive action to start a process to repeal, suspend or delay it, said Varu Chilakamarri, a partner with the law firm K&L Gates who focuses on administrative law. She also said Congress could pass a disapproval resolution to eliminate a rule within 60 days of its publication in the Federal Register.
The FDA, for now, is plowing ahead. Agency officials said they entered a partnership with the grocery-delivery company Instacart to help consumers find healthy items in an online marketplace. They also said they were working on a logo to help people quickly recognize healthy foods.
Jones also said during the news conference that the agency was working quickly to finalize another proposal: one that would require front-of-package labels that could serve as prominent warnings on foods with high levels of sugar, sodium or fat.
In general, the FDA’s updated rule follows the nutritional science and advice of the nation’s Dietary Guidelines of 2020-2025, which federal agencies issue every five years. A committee of nutrition experts is working on draft guidelines for the next set, which is expected to be released at the end of next year.
Public health advocates saw the rule as an important change.
“The updated definition should give consumers more confidence when they see the ‘healthy’ claim while grocery shopping,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said in a statement Thursday. “And we hope it will motivate food manufacturers to develop new, healthier products that qualify to use the ‘healthy’ claim.”
In 2023, as the proposal was moving forward, the Consumer Brands Association, which represents food makers and others, aired concerns. It called the proposal “overly restrictive” and said it would disqualify a vast majority of nutrient-dense packaged foods.
“We do not believe that FDA sufficiently market tested its proposed regulatory framework to determine how it would work in practice,” the group said in a comment on the proposal.
The association also raised freespeech concerns about the proposal, saying it would violate the First Amendment “by prohibiting truthful, non-misleading labeling claims in an unjustified manner.”
On Thursday, the group redoubled its criticism of the rule, emphasizing its role as “the largest domestic manufacturing employer” and saying the rule leaves out some packaged foods, “despite countless years of industry innovation to provide healthier options.”
“We remain concerned that this government regulation is not based on clear and unambiguous scientific evidence or an in-depth economic analysis that considers all the potential impacts to consumers and the market,” Sarah Gallo, senior vice president of product policy for the association, said in a statement.
The FDA’s rule said that about 5% of foods were currently labeled “healthy.” The estimated benefit of the changes over 20 years is about $686 million, the rule says, based on a calculation using a healthy eating score and death data.
The San Juan Daily Star
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 15
By ZACHARY SMALL and JULIA JACOBS
The most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold at auction, a stegosaurus that billionaire Kenneth Griffin bought over the summer for $44.6 million, has a new home: the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The museum announced earlier this month that it would be the first institution to exhibit the sought-after stegosaurus, as part of a four-year loan from Griffin.
“It’s one of the dinosaurs that every kid knows how to draw,” Sean M. Decatur, the museum’s president, said in an interview this week before the dinosaur was revealed. “This is a unique opportunity to have something that simultaneously, I think, really resonates in the public imagination about dinosaurs, but also from a research standpoint, is really a pretty special specimen to understand.”
The mounted stegosaurus was revealed from behind a billowing beige curtain Thursday morning to reporters, photographers, museum employees and a group of elementary school children. It is scheduled to go on view to the public Sunday after it is fully prepared for exhibition.
The Sotheby’s sale of the unusually complete specimen — which is nicknamed Apex — shattered records in the booming fossil market. And it established a new king of the dinosaur world, at least in the eyes of the auction market: The stegosaurus dethroned the Tyrannosaurus rex, the previous record-holder.
But the auction also stoked fears among academic paleontologists that museums and universities were being priced out of their research field by well-heeled private collectors. After purchasing the stegosaurus, Griffin, the founder and CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, said he intended to lend the specimen to an American institution so it would be available to scientists and the public.
In a statement about the museum loan, Griffin said, “I am grateful that millions of visitors and researchers will now be able to see and learn from this magnificent specimen of the late Jurassic period.”
Griffin’s loan includes funding that will go toward researching and documenting the specimen, including 3D scans of the fossilized bones that the museum says it intends to make accessible to researchers.
But it was not immediately clear how the wider scientific community would view the plans for Apex. Some paleontologists have
expressed concerns in the past about doing research on privately owned specimens, since there is rarely a guarantee that they will remain accessible to researchers in the future.
Stuart Sumida, the president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, said that “we have an internal ethics committee that is grappling with the situation right now.”
He said that the ethics committee would deliver a recommendation about how to handle loaned fossils like Apex as soon as early spring. “This is a new gray area for us,” he said.
The commercial fossil market has been on the rise for years. In 2020, the market was jolted by the sale of a T. rex skeleton called Stan that fetched a record $31.8 million, setting off a gold rush for dinosaur fossils in the American West. Stan ended up going to a natural history museum being built in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Apex became one of the world’s most famous dinosaurs in July when it beat Stan’s price at auction. Sotheby’s had estimated that the stegosaurus would sell for $4 million to $6 million. But a bidding war broke out and Apex wound up selling for more than 10 times the low estimate, stunning the paleontological community.
Eager to feature the celebrity dinosaur, the American Museum of Natural History reached out in the summer to Griffin, a major donor, to find out whether he had decided
where he wanted the fossil displayed. “We were happy to learn that the decision had not been made,” Decatur said.
Roughly the size of an elephant, Apex was quietly unloaded from wooden crates and assembled this week in relative secrecy inside the museum’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation.
The plate-backed, spiky-tailed herbivore is said to have walked the Earth about 150 million years ago in what is present-day Colorado.
At 11 feet tall and more than 20 feet long, it will not be the largest specimen to haunt the museum halls, but officials hope that its recognizable outlines will draw people to its exhibits and gift shop and provide valuable data for researchers.
“We want to figure out how it grows,” said Roger Benson, a curator of paleontology at the museum, who is planning to analyze a 10-centimeter wedge from the dinosaur’s femur that he hopes will aid research in learning about stegosaurus growth patterns and the extinct creature’s biology.
The American Museum of Natural History’s loan agreement will allow scientists to document the specimen by creating 3D scans of the skeleton. The museum also plans to commission a replica cast of Apex that it can display after the loan ends and the genuine fossil is relocated.
Benson noted that the ability to share
the data was a key condition of the loan. “I didn’t think we could do this project if we weren’t able to make the 3D data available to researchers,” he said.
The museum had a “stated commitment” from Griffin that his intention was that the specimen would continue to be available to researchers, Benson said.
New York marks a long journey for the stegosaurus, which was discovered by commercial paleontologist Jason Cooper in 2022 on his property near the town of Dinosaur, Colorado.
Paleontologists recognize that the specimen does not hold the same public allure as the T. rex, but it remains fixed in popular culture, thanks in part to appearances in franchises like “Jurassic Park” and “The Land Before Time.”
Benson said he viewed Apex as scientifically valuable in part because of its larger size compared with other specimens and its completeness; according to the museum, Apex contains about 254 fossil bone elements out of an approximate total of 320.
Cassandra Hatton, a Sotheby’s executive who helped organize the auction, said that Apex surpassed its estimate because potential buyers like Griffin had a clear view of its provenance. In this case, the auction house had been involved since the dinosaur’s discovery.
“Apex was fresh out of the ground, offered with full rights,” Hatton said. “And buyers were coming to me asking for transparency in the market.”
Griffin’s choice to lend the stegosaurus to the American Museum of Natural History was perhaps surprising, given that his name is already on dinosaur exhibits at the Field Museum in Chicago. While Griffin has supported other scientific endeavors at the American Museum of Natural History, this is his first partnership with its paleontology department.
Until next fall, Apex will be stationed near the entrance of the Gilder Center within an atrium named after Griffin in recognition of his previous donations. Then the specimen will be moved to a longer-term location on the fourth floor, where it will welcome visitors into the museum’s fossil halls.
Benson, the museum’s paleontologist, said he viewed the loan as a way of working to bring the worlds of commercial and academic paleontology together in the name of science. “To me it seems really important to try to bridge the gap and make the most of the scientific opportunity,” he said.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA REGION JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE
ASSOCIATION t/c/c FANNIE MAE
Demandante V. FERNANDO ESTEBAN
MELENDEZ DESALDEN, ALEXANDRA NICOLE
SOSA DOMINGUEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Demandados
Civil Núm.: BY2024CV03653. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y 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 BAYAMÓN, hago saber a la parte demandada, FERNANDO ESTEBAN MELENDEZ DESALDEN, ALEXANDRA NICOLE SOSA
DOMINGUEZ y la SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES compuesta por ambos y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL; que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el 30 de octubre de 2024, 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: N12 Calle Zaragoza, Villa España, Bayamón PR 00956 y que se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 12 del Bloque “N” de la Urbanización Villa España, localizada en el Barrio Juan Sánchez de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 350.00 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en 14.00 metros con el Solar 17; por el SUR, en igual distancia, con la Calle Zaragoza; por el OESTE, en 25.00 metros con el Solar 13 y por el ESTE en igual distancia, con el Solar 11. Contiene una casa de concreto y bloques. Finca 11,183 (antes 25968 de Bayamón Sur), inscrita al folio 197 del tomo 229 de Bayamón Norte. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Tercera. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) HIPOTECA constituida en garantía de un pagaré, aff. 17478
a favor de Home Mortgage Bankers Corp., o a su orden, por $121,500.00, al 4.75%, vencedero el 1 de noviembre de 2049, según Escritura #405, en Carolina, a 29 de octubre de 2019, ante Carlos Martinez Olmo, inscrita al Sistema Karibe de Bayamón Norte, finca #11183, inscripción 10ma, el 24 de mayo de 2022. Modificada la hipoteca de la inscripción 10ma, al amparo de la Ley 26 del 14 de abril de 2020, según Resolución 489 del 2020 (Cares Act), se le concede una moratoria en tres pagos vencidos sin recargos o intereses, según instancia del 8 de diciembre de 2022, suscrito bajo el # (no expresa) ante Carla M. Nevárez Pérez, inscrita al Sistema Karibe de Bayamón Norte, finca #11183, inscripción 12da 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 19 de septiembre de 2024, mediante la cual se determinó que la cantidad adeudada y vencida el 1 de febrero de 2024, de una cantidad ascendiente a $113,066.42 de principal, más $2,685.30 a intereses acumulados, que continuarán acumulándose al 4.75% de interés anual, hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más $3,037.14 a cargos por demora y otros cargos, más $120.54 de escrow, 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 16 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma, la cantidad de $121,500.00 sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 23 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA , 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, $81,000.00. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el 30 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 9:45 DE LA MAÑANA , en el mismo lugar en la que regirá como tipo mínimo, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado para la primera subasta, o sea, $60,750.00. 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 BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico, hoy 15 de noviembre de 2024. MARIBEL LANZAR VELÁZQUEZ, ALGUACIL PLACA #735, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE BAYAMÓN.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. IVELISSE VEGA MILLÁN; SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO URBANO Y VIVIENDA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA; UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Demandados Civil Núm.: CA2023CV01109. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA - IN REM. 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 Carolina, Carolina, 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 13 de noviembre de 2024, 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: RÚSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número ciento cuatro en el Plan de Parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Campo Rico del Barrio Hato Puerco del término municipal de Loíza, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de cero cuerdas con dos mil cuatrocientos cuarenta y siete diez milésimas de otra, equivalentes a novecientos sesenta y uno punto cincuenta y nueve metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con la parcela número ciento seis de la Comunidad; por el SUR, con la parcela número ciento dos de la comunidad; por el ESTE, con la parcela número ciento tres de la comunidad; y por el OESTE, con la calle número siete de la comunidad. En este solar enclava una estructura de concreto para fines residenciales. Inscrita en la finca número 13,380 (antes 6,944), al folio 1
del tomo 300 de Canóvanas. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de Carolina. 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 10 de mayo de 2016, expedido en el Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Carolina, Caso Civil número FBCI2016-00575, por concepto de Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca, por la Vía Ordinaria, seguido por el Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, versus Ivelisse Vega Millán también conocida como Ivelisse Vega Milliam, por la suma de $81,658.68 más intereses y otras sumas, anotado el día 24 de junio de 2016, al tomo Karibe de Canóvanas, finca número 13,380, Anotación A. Hipoteca subordinada a favor de Estados Unidos de América actuando por conducto de Vivienda Rural por la suma principal de $14,529.00, sin intereses, y vencedero el día 1 de abril del 2057, constituida mediante la escritura número 48, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 31 de marzo de 2017, ante la notario Tanhya V. Rodríguez Vázquez, e inscrita al tomo 389 de Canóvanas, finca número 13,380, inscripción 12da. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada el 3 de octubre de 2024, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $71,560.40 por concepto de principal; generando intereses a razón de 4.125% desde el 1ro de septiembre 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 $7,456.70 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al me-
jor 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 9 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $74,567.07. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 16 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $49,711.38, 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 23 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $37,283.53, 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 Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 21 de noviembre de 2024. ALGUACIL HÉCTOR PEÑA RODRÍGUEZ, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR ORIENTAL BANK
Demandante Vs. JESUS MANUEL RIVERA OCASIO, CHRYSTAL MITCHELLE NAZARIO SANTIAGO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Demandados
Civil Num.: CG2023CV03952. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente CERTIFICA, ANUNCIA y hace CONSTAR: Que en cumplimiento de un Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que le ha sido dirigido al Alguacil que suscribe por la Secretaría del TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS, SALA SUPERIOR, en el caso de epígrafe procederá a vender en pública subasta al mejor postor en efectivo, cheque certificado en moneda legal de los Estados Unidos de América el día 13 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA, en su oficina sita en el local que ocupa en el edificio del TRIBUNAL DE PRI-
MERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS. SALA SUPERIOR, todo derecho, título e interés que tenga la parte demandada de epígrafe en el inmueble de su propiedad que ubica en PR 30 KM 15.0 INT SECTOR GALARZA BARRIO CEIBA SUR JUNCOS, PR 00777 y que se describe a continuación: RÚSTICA: Predio de terreno radicado en el Barrio Ceiba Sur del Municipio de Juncos, Puerto Rico, con una cabida de uno punto nueve mil seiscientos seis cuerdas (1.9606 cdas), equivalentes a siete mil setecientos cinco punto nueve mil setecientos cincuenta y nueve metros cuadrados (7,705.9759 m.c.). En lindes: por el NORTE, en dos distancias que suman noventa y tres punto doscientos noventa y nueve metros lineales (93.299 m.l.), con terrenos de la Sucesión de Don Juan Díaz; por el SUR, en varias distancias que suman ciento veintirés punto setecientos setenta y nueve metros lineales (123.779 m.l.), con terrenos de Antonio Pomales; por el ESTE, en una distancia de setenta y uno punto cuatrocientos cincuenta y seis metros lineales (71.456 m.l), con uso público; por el OESTE, en varias distancias que suman setenta y siete punto cuatrocientos sesenta y tres metros lineales (77.463 m.l.), con Camino Municipal. Enclava estructura de hormigón de dos niveles compuesta de dos (2) cuartos dormitorios, un (1) comedor, una (1) cocina, dos (2) baños, family, marquesina y pozo séptico, con un valor de $75,000.00, mediante la escritura número 5, otorgada en Caguas, Puerto Rico, el día 6 de febrero de 2019, ante el notario Henry Menéndez Garced, inscrito al tomo Karibe de Juncos, finca número 17,186, inscripción 2da. La propiedad antes relacionada consta inscrita en el Folio 201 del Tomo 442 de Juncos, finca número 17,186, en el Registro de la Propiedad de Caguas, Sección Segunda. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta del inmueble antes relacionado, será el dispuesto en la Escritura de Hipoteca, es decir la suma de $176,700.00. Si no hubiere remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta del inmueble mencionado, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA en las oficinas del Alguacil que suscribe el día 21 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA. En la segunda subasta que se celebre servirá de tipo mínimo las dos terceras partes (2/3) del precio pactado en la primera subasta, o sea la suma de $117,800.00. Si tampoco hubiere remate ni
por la suma de $271,500.00 con intereses al 3.279% anual y vencimiento 14 de marzo de 2091. Constituida por la escritura 846 otorgada en San Juan el 10 de agosto de 2009 ante el notario Raúl Rivera Burgos. Inscrita el 3 de septiembre de 2009, al folio 35 del tomo 693 de Toa baja, finca 6420, inscripción 7ª. 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 mínimo de subasta la suma de $181,000.00, según acordado entre las partes en el precio pactado en la escritura de hipoteca. De ser necesaria una SEGUNDA SUBASTA por declararse desierta la primera, la misma se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, el 23 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $120,666.66 dos tercios (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $90,500.00 la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón el 30 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA. Dicha subasta se llevará a cabo para, con su producto satisfacer a la parte demandante, el importe de la Sentencia dictada a su favor ascendente a las siguientes cantidades: $90,053.12 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $81,936.84 en intereses acumulados y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 8.43000% anual hasta su total y completo pago; y otros gastos acumulados. La suma global vencida, líquida y exigible incluyendo intereses y otros gastos acumulados al 25 de abril de 2024 es de $200,764.43 y los cuales continúan acumulándose, así como la cantidad líquida estipulada en los documentos del préstamo para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado en caso de reclamación judicial y que correspondan a intereses y cargos por demora hasta su pago total, todo ello de acuerdo a los términos de la Sentencia dictada, la cual es final y firme. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás
constancias del expediente de este caso están disponibles en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables para ser examinadas por los (las) interesados (as). Y para su publicación en el periódico The San Juan Daily Star, que es un diario de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, así como para su publicación en los sitios públicos de Puerto Rico. Expedido en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 3 de diciembre de 2024. EDGARDO ELÍAS VARGAS SANTANA, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR PLACA #193, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE BAYAMÓN, SALA SUPERIOR. ***
LEGAL NOTICE
IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA. IN THE INTEREST OF MATTHEW CRUZ, Child, ADALEE CRUZ, Petitioner, and PERLA ROMAN, Respondent/Mother, JERRYEL FERMAIN
a/k/a JERRYS MEDINA HERNANDEZ, Respondent/Father. CASE NO: 48-2024-DR008928A001OX
NOTICE OF ACTION FOR TEMPORARY LEGAL CUSTODY OF MINOR CHILD BY EXTENDED FAMILY PURSUANT TO FLORIDA STATUTES CHAPTER 751 TO: JERRYEL FERMAIN
a/k/a JERRYS MEDINA HERNANDEZ
YOU ARE NOTIFIED that an action for Temporary Custody of Minor Child Pursuant to Florida Statutes Chapter 751 has been filed against you and that you are required to serve a copy of your written defenses, if any, on: Fenya Maria DelFyette, Attorney for Petitioner, whose address is 500 Winderley Place, Ste. 100, Maitland, FL 32751 on or before January 23, 2025, and file the original with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in and for Orange County, FL, 425 N. Orange Avenue, FL 32801, either before service on Petitioner’s attorney or immediately thereafter; otherwise a default will be entered against you for the relief demanded in the complaint or petition. WARNING: Rule 12.285, Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure, requires certain automatic disclosure of documents and information. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, inclu-
ding dismissal of striking of pleadings.
Tiffany Moore Russell, Esq. Clerk of the Circuit Court. By: S/Robert Hingston, Deputy Clerk.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE PONCE SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. JOSE RAFAEL
MELENDEZ QUIÑONES
T/C/C JOSE R. MELENDEZ QUIÑONES
Demandado
Civil Núm.: JCO2016-0316. Sala: 406. 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, Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, 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 15 de febrero de 2024, 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 marcado con el número ciento cincuenta y siete guion “A” (157-A) en el piano de segregación e inscripción, sita en la Urbanización El Monte, localizada en el barrio Coto Laurel de término municipal de Ponce, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 1,087.8510 metros cuadrados. En lindes al Norte, con la calle “ T” de Ia Urbanización El Monte; al Sur, con el solar#156 de Ia Urbanización El Monte; al Este, con el solar#158 de Ia Urbanización El Monte y al Oeste, con el solar#157 de Ia Urbanización El Monte. Consta inscrito al folio 198 del tomo 2046 de Ponce, finca 53,568, Registro de Ia Propiedad d Ponce, Sección Primera. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada en este caso el 15 de agosto de 2023, en el presente caso civil, a saber, la suma $498,323.93 por concepto de principal, más intereses al 6.875% anual, más recargos por todo pago en atraso, más costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato de préstamo. 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 28 DE ENERO DE 2025 A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $501,000.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 4 DE FEBRERO DE 2025 A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $334,000.00, 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 11 DE FEBRERO DE 2025 A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $250,500.00, 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 Artículo 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 Ponce, Puerto Rico, hoy día 8 de noviembre de 2024. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE PONCE.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE PONCE ESTRELLA
HOMES II, LLC.
Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE LUIS ANGEL RODRIGUEZ MELENDEZ, COMPUESTA POR IVETTE RODRIGUEZ
MATOS, ENRIQUE RODRIGUEZ MATOS, IVÁN RODRIGUEZ
MATOS, LUIS A. RODRIGUEZ MATOS, LUIS A. RODRIGUEZ
MATOS, JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE LUIS ANGEL RODRIGUEZ MELÉNDEZ, Y ADMINISTRACIÓN PARA EL SUSTENTO DE MENORES Y CENTRO DE RECAUDACIÓN DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: YU2022CV00439. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA. El suscribiente, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Puerto Rico, Sala de Ponce, a los demandados de epígrafe y al público en general hace saber que venderá en pública subasta en la Oficina de Alguaciles, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Humacao, al mejor postor, en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América en efectivo, cheque certificado, o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal de
Primera Instancia, el derecho que tenga la parte demandada en el inmueble que se relaciona más adelante para pagar la SENTENCIA por $50,985.81 de balance principal, los intereses adeudados sobre dicho principal y computados al 5.50% anual hasta su total pago y completo pago desde el primero de diciembre de 2021; cargos por demora devengados, más la suma estipulada para honorarios de abogado pactada en la escritura de hipoteca y cualesquiera otras sumas que por cualesquiera concepto legal se devenguen hasta el día de la subasta. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el numero A guion dos (A-2) en el plano de inscripción del Proyecto UM guion dos guion treinta y dos (UM-2-32) denominado Residencial Bacó, radicado en el Barrio Montalva del término municipal de Guánica, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de QUINIENTOS TRES METROS CUADRADOS CON VEINTISEIS CENTESIMAS DE METRO CUADRADOS (503.26). En lindes por el Norte con el solar A guion uno (A-1), distancia de veinticinco metros con veinticinco centímetros (25.25) en distancia de cuarenta punto cero seis metros (40.06), por el Sur, con la calle “A”, distancia de veinticinco metros con veinticinco centímetros (25.25), por el Este, con la calle F, distancia de doce metros cuarenta y siete centímetros (12.47), más un arco de cinco metros con cincuenta y cuatro centímetros (5.54) y por el Oeste, con terrenos de Juan A. Tió, distancia de dieciséis metros con noventa y nueve centímetros (16.99). Inscrita la hipoteca al folio 133vto del tomo 187 de Guánica, inscripción 7ª de la finca 2991, del Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán e inscrita la modificación al sistema Karibe de Guánica, con fecha 21 de febrero de 2018, inscripción octava. Dirección Física: Urb. Bacó, Bo. Montalva A2, Calle Orquidea Ensenada, Guánica, Puerto Rico 00647. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a cabo el día 28 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma la suma de $54,119.57 sin admitirse oferta inferior. En el caso de que el inmueble a ser subastado no fuera adjudicado en la primera subasta, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 4 DE FEBRERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y el precio mínimo para esta segunda subasta será el de dos terceras partes del precio mínimo establecido para la primera subasta, o a sea la suma de $36,079.71. Si tampoco hubiera remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará
una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 11 DE FEBRERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, y el tipo mínimo para esta tercera subasta será la mitad del precio establecido para la primera subasta, o sea, la suma de $27,059.79. El mejor postor deberá pagar el importe de su oferta en efecto, cheque certificado o giro postal a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se dará por terminado el procedimiento, pudiendo adjudicarse el inmueble al acreedor hipotecario dentro de los diez días siguientes a la fecha de la última subasta, si así lo estimase conveniente, por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada conforme a la sentencia, si ésta fuera igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta y abonándose dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si ésta fuera mayor. Se avisa a cualquier licitador que la propiedad queda sujeta al gravamen del Estado Libre Asociado y CRIM sobre la propiedad inmueble por contribuciones adeudadas y que el pago de dichas contribuciones es la responsabilidad del licitador. Que se entenderá por todo licitador acepte como suficiente la titulación y que los cargos y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes en entendiéndose que el rematador los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse su extinción al precio rematante. Todos los nombres de los acreedores que tengan inscritos o anotados sus derechos sobre los bienes hipotecados con posterioridad a la inscripción del crédito del ejecutante, o de los acreedores de cargas o derechos reales que los hubiesen pospuesto a la hipoteca ejecutada y las personas interesadas en, o con derecho a exigir el cumplimiento de instrumentos negociables garantizados hipotecariamente con posterioridad al crédito ejecutado, siempre que surgen de la certificación registral, para que puedan concurrir a la subasta si les convenga o satisfacer antes del remate el importe del crédito, de sus intereses, costas y honorarios de abogados asegurados, quedando entonces subrogados en los derechos del acreedor ejecutante. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Y para conocimiento de licitadores, del público en general y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria en Puerto Rico y en los sitios públicos de acuerdo a las disposiciones de la Regla 51.7 de las de Procedimiento Civil, así como para la publicación en un periódico de circulación general diaria y en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico,
por espacio de dos semanas con antelación a la fecha de la primera subasta y por lo menos una vez por semana. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento indicado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante las horas laborables. (Art. 102 (1) de la Ley núm. 210-2015). Expedido el presente en Ponce, Puerto Rico, a 13 de noviembre de 2024. MANUEL MALDONADO, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE PONCE.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA
BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Parte Demandante Vs. LA SUCESIÓN DE ROSA NÉLIDA CRUZ ÁLVAREZ T/C/C ROSA N. CRUZ ÁLVAREZ COMPUESTA POR SU VIUDO EDWIN CASTRO HILERIO, SU HIJO EDWIN CASTRO CRUZ Y MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLE HEREDERO DESCONOCIDO Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: AG2022CV00885. (603). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. AVISO DE PÚBLICA SUBASTA. El Alguacil que suscribe por la presente anuncia y hace constar que en cumplimiento de la Sentencia dictada el 19 de septiembre de 2023, la Orden de Ejecución de Sentencia del 26 de junio de 2024 y el Mandamiento de Ejecución del 27 de junio de 2024 en el caso de epígrafe, procederé a vender el día 23 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina del Alguacil Regional del Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, área del sótano, al final del pasillo, Calle Progreso Número 70, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América, cheque de gerente o giro postal, todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad: RÚSTICA: Solar 5 radicado en el Barrio Borinquén de Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, compuesto de 623.76 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con Antonio Fonseca Solá; por el SUR, con el solar #6, segregado; por el ESTE, con Antonio Fonseca Solá; por el OESTE, con la calle municipal. Inscrita
al folio 130 del tomo 375 de Aguadilla, Finca 21276. Registro de la Propiedad de Aguadilla. La hipoteca consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Aguadilla. Finca 21276. Registro de la Propiedad de Aguadilla. Inscripción sexta. Catastro Número: (01) 005-066-457-85-000.
DIRECCIÓN FÍSICA: SR 107 KM 2.8, LOT 146 ANEXOS ST, BORINQUEN WD., AGUADILLA, PR 00603. El tipo mínimo para la primera subasta será de $46,000.00. De no haber adjudicación en la primera subasta se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA, el día 30 DE ENERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será de dos terceras partes del tipo mínimo fijado en la primera subasta, o sea, $30,666.66. De no haber adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA, el día 6 DE FEBRERO DE 2025, A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en el mismo lugar, en la cual el tipo mínimo será la mitad del precio pactado, o sea, $23,000.00. 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 ésta es mayor. Dicho remate se llevará a cabo para con su producto satisfacer a la demandante el importe de la Sentencia por la suma de $39,106.01 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 5.875% anual desde el 1 de diciembre de 2020 su completo pago, más $138.46 de recargos acumulados los cuales continuarán en aumento hasta el saldo total de la deuda, más la cantidad estipulada de $4,600.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo, incluyendo pero sin limitarse a gastos de mantenimiento, inspecciones y otros adelantos “corporate advances”. Surge del Estudio de Título Registral que sobre esta propiedad pesan los siguientes gravámenes posteriores a la hipoteca que por la presente se pretende ejecutar. a. Aviso De Demanda: Pleito seguido por Banco Popular de Puerto Rico vs. Rosa Nélida Cruz Alvarez, también conocida como Rosa N. Cruz Álvarez, ante el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Aguadilla, en el caso civil número AG2022CV00885, sobre cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca, en la que se reclama el pago de hipoteca con un balance de $39,106.61 y otras cantidades, según Demanda de fecha 14 de junio de 2022. Anotada en el Tomo Karibe de Aguadilla. Anotación A.
Se notifica al acreedor posterior o a su sucesor o cesionario en derecho para que comparezca a proteger su derecho si así lo desea. Se le advierte a los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como los de Subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados, durante horas laborables, en el expediente del caso que obra en los archivos de la Secretaría del Tribunal, bajo el número de epígrafe y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general en Puerto Rico por espacio de dos semanas y por lo menos una vez por semana; y para su fijación en los sitios públicos requeridos por ley. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante, continuarán subsistentes; entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de estos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate y que la propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores tal como lo expresa la Ley Núm. 2102015. Y para el conocimiento de los demandados, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, EXPIDO para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes, el presente Aviso de Pública Subasta en Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, hoy 14 de noviembre de 2024. CAROL CHALMERS SOTO, ALGUACIL REGIONAL, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAGUAS SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO
Demandante V. JOAN ZAYAS GONZÁLEZ, LUIS RAUL DÁVILA RUIS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS
Demandado
Civil Núm.: CG2024CV03488. Sala: 804. Sobre: CORBO DE DINERO Y 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: JOAN ZAYAS GONZÁLEZ, LUIS
RAUL DÁVILA RUIS Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS - 168 PASEOS DEL RÍO, CAGUAS, PR 00725; PASEO DEL RÍO 168 RÍO INDIO, CAGUAS, PR 00725.
Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index.php/tribunal-electronico, salvo que el caso sea de un expediente físico o que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal y notificar copia de la misma al (a la) abogado(a) de la parte demandante o a ésta, de no tener representación legal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Además, se le apercibe que, en los casos al amparo de la Ley Núm. 57-2023, titulada Ley para la Prevención del Maltrato, Preservación de la Unidad Familiar y para la Seguridad, Bienestar y Protección de los Menores, entre los remedios que el Tribunal podrá conceder se incluyen la ubicación permanente de un (una) menor fuera de su hogar, el inicio de procesos para la privación de patria potestad, y cualquier otra medida en el mejor interés del (de la) menor. (Artículo 33, incisos b y f de la Ley Núm. 57-2023).
Se le advierte de su derecho a comparecer acompañado(a) de abogado(a) en los casos que proceda. Los abogados de la parte demandante son:
ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE
DEMANDANTE:
Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández RUA Núm.: 16,393
BERMUDEZ & DÍAZ LLP
500 Calle De La Tanca, Suite 209 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901
Tel.: (787) 523-2670 / Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdiaz@bdprlaw.com
EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal, hoy, 2 de diciembre de 2024. Irasemis Díaz Sánchez, Secretaria Regional. Liz Wharton Rosa, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal. LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-
NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA
CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUADILLA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN SEBASTIÁN
POPULAR AUTO LLC. ANTES RELIABLE FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC.
Demandante V. ROSA LYDIA NIEVES CRESPO
Demandado(a)
Caso Núm.: SS2024CV00254. (Salón: 002 DISTRITO Y SUPERIOR). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.
GINA H. FERRER MEDINA - LAWOFFICES. GINAFERRERMEDINA@GMAIL. COM.
A: ROSA LYDIA NIEVES CRESPO. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto)
EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 09 de diciembre de 2024, 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 16 de diciembre de 2024. En San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, el 16 de diciembre de 2024. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA. LAURA LUGO CRESPO, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA
ISLAND PORTFOLIO
SERVICES, LLC
COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante V. NEFTALI
CALDERON LEBRON
Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: CA2024CV01146.
(Civil: 406). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM. A: NEFTALI CALDERON LEBRON. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de diciembre de 2024, 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE MAYAGÜEZ SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ BAUTISTA CAYMAN
ASSET COMPANY
Demandante V. FULANO DE TAL Y OTROS
Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: MZ2023CV00860. (Salón: 306). Sobre: CANCELACIÓN O RESTITUCIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. LUIS G. PARRILLA HERNANDEZLPARRILLA@FERRAIUOLI.COM. A: VICTOR MANUEL VAZQUEZ MATOS, FULANO DE TAL, MENGANO DEL CUAL. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 12 de diciembre de 2024, 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. NORMA G. SANTANA IRIZARRY, SECRETARIA. YAHAIRA TORRES MATÍAS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE ARECIBO SALA SUPERIOR DE CIALES ISLAND PORTFOLIO
SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante V. EDELBERTO COLON OTERO
Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: CI2024CV00116. (Salón: 100 CIVIL - CRIMINAL). Sobre: COBRO DE DINEROORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM.
A: EDELBERTO COLON OTERO. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 18 de diciembre de 2024, 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 edic-
to 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En Ciales, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. VIVIAN Y. FRESSE GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA. BRUNILDA HERNÁNDEZ MÉNDEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE MAYAGÜEZ SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN GERMÁN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante V. RODOLFO MARTINEZ VAZQUEZ
Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: LJ2024CV00055. (Salón: 0200). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM. A: RODOLFO MARTINEZ VAZQUEZ. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 18 de diciembre de 2024, 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En San Germán, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. Norma G. Santana Irizarry, Secretaria. Caroline Hernández Valentín, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-
NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE FAJARDO SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante V. JAVIER SANTANA VELAZQUEZ Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: LU2024CV00047. (Salón: 307). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. JUAN ANTONIO RUIZ ROBLESJUAN.RUIZ@ORF-LAW.COM. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM.
A: JAVIER SANTANA VELAZQUEZRESIDENCIAL EL CEMI, APTO 18 EDIF. 2, LUQUILLO PR 00773. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de diciembre de 2024, 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En Fajardo, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. WANDA SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA. LINDA I. MEDINA MEDINA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA HERCILIA RODRIGUEZ ACEVEDO Peticionaria EX - PARTE Civil Número: AG2024CV01559. Sobre: INFORMATIVO DE DOMINIO. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESI-
DENTED E LOS ESTADOSU NIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS Y DESCONOCIDAS A QUIENES PUDIERA PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN DEL DOMINIO A FAVOR DE LA PARTE PETICIONARIA EN EL REGISTRO DE LA PROPIEDAD DE LA FINCA QUE MÁS ADELANTE SE DESCRIBIRÁ Y A TODA PERSONA EN GENERAL QUE CON DERECHO PARA ELLO DESEE OPONERSE A ESTE EXPEDIENTE.
POR LA PRESENTE se les notifica para que comparezcan, si lo creyeren pertinente, ante este Honorable Tribunal dentro de los veinte (20) días contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto a exponer lo que a sus derechos convenga en el expediente promovido por la parte peticionaria para adquirir su dominio sobre la finca que se describe más adelante. Usted deberá presentar su posición a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo de Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. poderjudicial.pr, salvo que se presente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de expresarse dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia, previo a escuchar la prueba de valor de la parte peticionaria en su contra, sin más citarle ni oírle, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la petición, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. “RÚSTICA”: Radicada en el Barrio Llanadas del término municipal de Isabela, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de CUATROCIENTOS NOVENTA Y CINCO PUNTO QUINCE CUARENTA Y DOS METROS CUADRADOS (495.1542 m.c.). En lindes por el NORTE, con Consuelo Carides; por el SUR, con Luis A. Quiñones Rodríguez; por el ESTE con Calle Inglaterra y por el OESTE con Luis A. Quiñones Rodríguez. LCDO. ADALBERTO RAMOS ORTEGA
40 RUTA 5 BARRIO ARENALES
BAJOS
ISABELA, PUERTO RICO 00662 TEL. (939) 258-0733 ramos485@gmail.com
Se le informa, además, que el Tribunal ha señalado vista en este caso para el 14 DE MARZO DE 2025, A LAS 11:15 DE LA MAÑANA, mediante video-
conferencia, a la cual usted puede comparecer asistido por abogado y presentar oposición a la petición. Este edicto deberá ser publicado en tres (3) ocasiones dentro del término de veinte (20) días, en un periódico de circulación general diaria, para que comparezcan si quieren alegar su derecho. Toda primera mención de persona natural y/o jurídica que se mencione en el mismo, se identificará en letra tamaño diez (10) puntos y negrillas, conforme a los dispuesto en las Reglas de Procedimiento Civil, 2009. Se le apercibe que de no comparecer los interesados y/o partes citadas, o en su defecto los organismos públicos afectados en el término improrrogable de veinte (20) días a contar de la fecha de la última publicación del edicto, el Tribunal podrá conceder el remedio solicitado por la parte peticionaria, sin más citarle ni oírle. En Aguadilla, Puerto Rico hoy día 25 de noviembre de 2024. SARAHÍ REYES PÉREZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. AWILDA CABÁN SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC
Demandante V. MARIA L MALDONADO MOQUETE
Demandado(a) Caso Núm.: NG2024CV00053. (Civil: 408). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - ORDINARIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. OSVALDO L. RODRÍGUEZ FERNÁNDEZ - NOTIFICACIONES@ ORF-LAW.COM. A: MARIA L. MALDONADO MOQUETE. (Nombre de las partes que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 17 de diciembre de 2024, 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 18 de diciembre de 2024. En Carolina, Puerto Rico, el 18 de diciembre de 2024. KANELLY
ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. KEILA GARCÍA SOLÍS, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO SALA DE RELACIONES DE FAMILIA Y MENORES SALA SUPERIOR DE AIBONITO
MARTA LUISA
ORTIZ CRUZ
Demandante V. MOHAMMAD
REZA TORABI
Demandado
Civil Núm.: AI2024RF00422. Sobre: DIVORCIO RUPTURA
IIREPARABLE. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.
A La Parte Demandada: MOHAMMAD REZA TORABI.
Por la presente se le notifica que se ha radicado Demanda de Divorcio por la Causal de Ruptura Irreparable. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le cite a usted por edicto que se publicará una (1) sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Se le emplaza y requiere que notifique copia de la Contestación a la Demanda radicada, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, excluyendo el día de la publicación de este edicto para que conteste la demanda. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio y no radica por SUMAC, debe enviar copia de la Contestación a la Demanda a las oficinas de LCDA. YAMILA RODRIGUEZ MALDONADO, P.O. BOX 11249 SAN JUAN PR 00922-1249, yamilarmlaw@ gmail.com, tel.:(787)412-4143, abogado de la parte demandante. Se le apercibe a los efectos de que si no contesta la demanda radicando el original de la contestación ante el Tribunal correspondiente, con copia a la parte demandante, se le anotará la rebeldía y se le
dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA Y SELLO DEL TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA DE MENORES DE SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, hoy 3 de diciembre de 2024. ELIZABETH GONZÁLEZ RIVERA, SECRETARIA. KEISHLA ENID COLÓN MATOS, SUB-SECRETARIA.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA
COOPERATIVA DE AHORRO Y CREDITO DE MEDICOS Y OTROS PROFESIONALES DE LA SALUD (MEDICOOP)
Demandante Vs. WALESSA L.
DONE MONTERO
Demandada
Civil Núm.: CA2024CV03501. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: WALESSA L. DONE MONTERO.
POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO, se le notifica que se ha radicado en esta Secretaría por la parte demandante, Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero, en la que se alega adeuda la suma de $31,778.65 de principal, intereses al 10.50% anual, desde el día 30 de marzo de 2024, hasta su complete pago, más un 33% del principal del Pagaré estipulado para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado y recargos acumulados todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Se le advierte que de no comparecer en autos dentro del término de los treinta (30) días siguientes a partir de la publicación de este Edicto, se le anotará la Rebeldía y se dictará Sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado, sin más citarle ni oírle, debiendo radicar el original de su contestación en este Tribunal, enviando copia a la abogada de la parte demandante: Lcda. Adela Surillo Gutiérrez, Bufete Collazo & Surillo, LLC, P.O. Box 11550, San Juan, PR 00922-1550; Teléfono: (787) 625-9999. 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 Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy 11 de diciembre de 2024. LCDA. KANELLY ZAYAS ROBLES, SECRETARIA. IDA L. FERNÁNDEZ RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE GUAYAMA SALÓN DE SESIONES 303 PEDRO QUILES LÓPEZ
Demandantes Vs. ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO P/C SECRETARIO DE JUSTICIA; DEPARTAMENTO DE CORRECCIÓN Y REHABILITACIÓN; SARGENTO PADILLA Y OTROS
Demandados Civil Núm.: GM2024CV00071. Sobre: IMPUGNACIÓN DE TESTAMENTO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. A: O/C MALDONADO, SARGENTO PADILLA O/C GONZÁLEZ, SARGENTO COLÓN O/C MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ - DIRECCIÓN
DESCONOCIDA.
Vista la moción para emplazar por edicto presentada por la parte demandante, el Tribunal provee de conformidad a la misma y ordena que al amparo de la Regla 4.6 de las de Procedimiento Civil, 32 LPRA Ap, III, R. 4.6, se publique en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla, el correspondiente edicto. Representa a la parte demandante:
LCDA. TERESA PACHECO CAMACHO
RUA Núm. 11,490
P.O. BOX 5004 PMB 200 YAUCO, PUERTO RICO 00698 TEL. (787) 267-5784 teresa@pacheco-camacholawfirm. com
Se le apercibe a la parte demandada arriba mencionada, que debe contestar la demanda dentro del plazo de treinta días a partir de la publicación del edicto. Dentro de los diez días siguientes a la publicación del edicto la parte demandante deberá enviar, vía correo certificado al codemandado, a su última dirección conocida una copia de la demanda y del emplazamiento. Se le apercibe, además que, de no presentar una contestación durante el término señalado, se le anotará la rebeldía y se podrá dictar sentencia para conceder el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello oficial, en Guayama, Puerto Rico a 11 de diciembre de 2024. z LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE UTUADO SALA SUPERIOR ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS
FUND, LLC.
Demandante Vs. MANUEL
CUEVAS MOLINA
Demandado
Civil Núm.: UT2024CV00193. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (PROCEDIMIENTO ORDINARIO). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO. A: MANUEL CUEVAS MOLINAURB. JESUS M. LAGO, D 61 CALLE ROSELLO, UTUADO P.R. 00641. El Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala Superior de Utuado, dictó la siguiente providencia: “Vista la Demanda y la solicitud de que se autorice el emplazamiento por edicto al amparo de la Regla 4.6 de Procedimiento Civil, de las cuales surge que Manuel Cuevas Molina es parte necesaria y legítima en el pleito, y que existe contra este una reclamación que justifica la concesión de un remedio, se ordena su emplazamiento mediante la publicación de edicto. Dicho edicto se publicará una (1) sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Se dispone que se le envíe a la parte demandada previamente mencionada copia de esta orden, el emplazamiento y la demanda presentada, dentro de los diez (10) días de la fecha de la publicación del edicto, a su última dirección conocida mediante correo certificado con acuse de recibo. Se ordena a la Secretaría del Tribunal expedir el emplazamiento por edicto correspondiente.” Se le emplaza y se le requiere que presente su alegación responsiva a la Demanda presentada, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto, que se publicará una (1) vez en un periódico de circulación general del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por Orden del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico, Sala de Utuado, Puerto Rico, notificando copia de la misma al abogado de la Parte Demandante o a ésta, de no tener representación legal. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Administración y Manejo 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, ello sin más citarle ni oírle. La Parte
Demandante está siendo representada por el Lcdo. Juan Antonio Ruiz Robles cuya dirección es la siguiente: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518. Tel. (787) 993-3731
Direcciones de correo electrónico: juan.ruiz@orf-law.com y notificaciones@orf-law.com. Expedido bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal para su publicación, en Utuado, Puerto Rico, hoy día 30 de octubre de 2024. DIANE ÁLVAREZ VILLANUEVA, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LEGAL NOTICE
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAT ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC.
Parte Demandante Vs. ANGELA NIEVES CRUZ
Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV04060. Salón: 1003. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: ANGELA NIEVES CRUZ - 1664 AVE PONCE DE LEON APT 301, SAN JUAN PR 00909-1863.
POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/index.php/tribunalelectronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Juan Antonio Ruiz Robles cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección juan.ruiz@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@ orf-law.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 23 de octubre
de 2024. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 25 de octubre de 2024. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA. LAURA C. REYNOSO ESQUILÍN, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.
ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN ISLAND PORTFOLIO SERVICES, LLC, COMO AGENTE DE FAIRWAY ACQUISITIONS FUND, LLC. Parte Demandante Vs. DELMIRA ROJAS CALDERON Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2024CV07431. Salón: 903. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS. A: DELMIRA ROJAS CALDERÓN – 109 CALLE FLAMBOYAN DEL RIO, SAN JUAN PR 00911. POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial.pr/index.php/tribunalelectronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la demanda o cualquier otro sin más citarle ni oírle, si el tribunal en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. El sistema SUMAC notificará copia a los abogados de la parte demandante, el Lcdo. Juan Antonio Ruiz Robles cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección juan.ruiz@orf-law.com y a la dirección notificaciones@orflaw.com. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, hoy día 23 de octubre de 2024. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 23 de octubre de 2024. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. GLORIAM MARTÍNEZ RIVERA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.
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
By JEFF ZREBIEC / THE ATHLETIC
The time to engage Mark Andrews is early in the week. That’s a known fact around the Baltimore Ravens’ facility in Owings Mills, Maryland.
The closer it gets to game day, the less inclined Andrews, a 29-year-old tight end, is to small talk. His piercing stare and no-nonsense demeanor send a clear message: There is a game to prepare for and distractions are unwelcome.
“Mark’s just an intense guy,” said Isaiah Likely, a fellow Ravens tight end.
His teammates are awed, and often amused, by Andrews’ unwavering intensity. Some, including safety Kyle Hamilton, watch how he approaches practices and meetings and try to emulate him. Baltimore’s players and coaches view him as a quintessential Raven, someone whose personality and playing style mirror the franchise he has represented for seven years.
“It couldn’t be any better said: I was born to be a Raven,” Andrews said recently. “The way we like to play football here, the style we play, there’s no place in the world I’d rather be. I just want to keep on winning games for this team and start hitting our stride.”
Two weekends ago, Andrews hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson, the first points in the Ravens’ 3514 rout of the New York Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was the 48th touchdown of Andrews’ career; he surpassed Jamal Lewis, a running back, to set a franchise record.
Andrews sprinted toward Jackson, and the two celebrated with a leaping chest bump. It was a fitting gesture between two players who were a part of the Ravens’ productive 2018 draft class and who developed an immediate chemistry. There’s a simple understanding between them that transcends X’s and O’s.
“Just get open,” Jackson tells Andrews.
The how and the where depend on what Andrews, who caught another touchdown pass from Jackson in the Ravens’ 34-17 win
over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, is seeing on the play. They trust that they know what the other guy is thinking and doing. Improvisation is their superpower.
Sometimes, Andrews does not even need to get open to get the ball. Against Philadelphia in Week 13, Jackson threw to Andrews when he was surrounded by three Eagles defenders in the end zone. The 14-yard touchdown throw had an 18.1% completion probability, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Andrews caught it anyway.
“Mark,” Jackson said, “is that guy.”
For the better part of seven seasons, Andrews has been Jackson’s go-to target, the player he looks for on third downs, in the red zone or whenever the quarterback is in trouble. Andrews is a three-time Pro Bowler, but he has probably been under the radar nationally. Such is life when Travis Kelce, one of the best pass-catching tight ends in NFL history, is playing for an AFC rival, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Only Kelce has more receptions among tight ends than Andrews since the 2019 season. Only Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle have more receiving yards. Andrews, however, has the most touchdowns during that time.
Andrews is one of the most productive pass catchers and playmakers in Ravens history. Going into this past weekend’s games, he ranked first in receiving touchdowns (48) and third behind Derrick Mason and Todd Heap in receptions (426) and receiving yards (5,371).
Playing one of the game’s most demanding positions, Andrews had not missed extensive time until he cracked his fibula and sustained ligament damage in his ankle in a Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals last year. He missed Baltimore’s final six regular-season games and the divisional-round playoff win over Houston before returning for the AFC championship loss to the Chiefs.
Otherwise, Andrews has been durable, consistent and productive since arriving on the scene as a third-round pick. (The Ravens drafted another tight end, Hayden Hurst, who is now with the Los Angeles Chargers, in the first round that year.)
“Just one of a kind,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He has the nickname Man-drews for a reason, because that’s
Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews scores a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Oct. 17, 2021. Andrews is now the Ravens’ all-time leader in touchdowns with 49. (Wikipedia)
what he brings. He’s all ball all the time. You can just tell he thinks about it driving home, driving into work, probably while he’s sleeping. He probably dreams about it. That’s really who he is.”
Friendly and easygoing off the field, Andrews becomes a different person when he steps inside the Ravens’ facility. The intensity ratchets up even more when the Ravens hit the practice field.
Andrews has yelled at defenders, slammed his helmet and flipped off a referee — all during a training camp practice. He practices at full speed, treating July workouts as if he were an undrafted free agent trying to make the team.
“You never want to take that fire away from Mark,” Likely said. “I feel like that’s what makes him go. That’s what makes the offense go.”
The Ravens’ decision-makers have talked about giving Andrews the occasional practice off, or at least limiting his reps. Andrews is not interested.
“An elite competitor,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “I think that’s the best way to put it. Football is important to
him. Everything we do is important to him — meetings are important to him, his body is important to him, how he plays. He’s a top-top-level competitor — one of the top competitors I’ve ever been around.”
Teammates joke with him, try to make him laugh and lighten up. Andrews is not humorless. He is an extremely popular teammate, but relaxing is a tough sell.
“I take this very seriously,” Andrews said. “There’s always room for improvement. There’s nothing like being out there and playing football with the guys. If you don’t get those real looks in practice, if you don’t feel good, if you don’t feel exactly right, I think it’s hard to play well.”
This has not been the easiest of seasons for Andrews. A leg injury from training camp has lingered. He was in a car crash near the Ravens’ facility Aug. 14 that he felt could have been fatal if he had not been wearing a seat belt.
In the first four games of the season, he had just six catches (on nine targets) for 65 yards. He was held without a catch in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. The questions began.
There was even some talk, at least outside the building, that the Ravens should trade Andrews to feature Likely and Charlie Kolar more. That there was even that discussion still rankles Jackson.
“I didn’t forget that, and I know he didn’t forget that, and he’s just showing it each and every game,” Jackson said two weekends ago.
Andrews acknowledged that there was a time in his career when the criticism and questions might have bothered him. But he handled this year’s slow start by staying positive. It has paid off.
Over the past 10 games, since enduring the back-to-back no-catch contests, he has eight touchdowns. He is also averaging just under 45 receiving yards per game. He is not getting the volume of targets that he has in the past, but the Ravens have the top-ranked offense in football. They have also had the best red zone offense in football, partly because of Andrews’ exploits.
Andrews was asked recently what inspired his effort and attention to detail. He offered a quick response.
“I like to compete and I love this game,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be the best at my position. I’ve always wanted to become the best version of myself. I know how good I can be. I feel like I’m just scratching that. I’m always trying to get there and get better. And I want to win a Super Bowl.”
Answers to the Sudoku and Crossword on page 21
