Friday to Sunday Feb 3-5, 2023

The San Juan Star

Credit Unions Grant $20 Million Loan to El Conquistador Resort in Support of Tourism Development

Expectant Mother Gina Rodríguez Is ‘Learning at Every Single Turn’

To Boldly Go, with Joe!

Putin Promises

Victory in Ukraine as Forces Strike

Key City

NOTICIAS EN ESPAÑOL

Veteran Puerto Rican Astronaut Acabá Tapped to Lead

NASA’s Astronaut Office

GOOD MORNING

The San Juan Daily Star, the only paper with News Service in English in Puerto Rico, publishes 7 days a week, with a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday edition, along with a Weekend Edition to cover Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Puerto Rican astronaut Acabá tapped to lead NASA’s Astronaut Office

By THE STAR STAFF

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has named veteran Puerto Rican astronaut Joe Acabá as chief of the agency’s Johnson Space Center Astronaut Office.

A decorated veteran of multiple space flights and a former U.S. Marine and educator, Acabá is the first person of Hispanic descent selected to lead the office.

Acabá replaces NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, who has been acting head of the office since NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman stepped down late last year.

“Congratulations to Joe Acabá on his appointment as the new head of the Astronaut Office! Joe is a seasoned space pilot and recognized leader who will inspire the next generation of NASA astronauts,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Thursday. “As we build on the unprecedented success of the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, with our sights set on the Moon and then on Mars, Joe will play a critical role in ensuring that our NASA astronauts prepare for the challenges that await them.”

Acabá will be responsible for managing astronaut resources and operations in his new position. He will also help develop operational concepts for astronaut flight crews and assign crews for future spaceflight missions, including astronauts assigned to fly Artemis missions.

“Our Johnson Space Center team congratulates Joe Acabá on his appointment as Chief of the Astronaut Office,” said NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche. “We wish him the best as he takes on this exciting new leadership role.”

Acabá, a veteran of three space flights, was born in Inglewood, California. He received a bachelor of science degree in geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, an master of degree (MS) in geology from the University of Arizona, and another MS in education, curriculum, and instruction from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Before being selected as an astronaut in 2009, Acabá was in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and Peace Corps, working as a hydrogeologist and teaching high school.

“Joe is an excellent leader who brings a wealth of experience to the Astronaut Office,” said NASA Director of Flight Operations Norm Knight, who made the selection. “Knowing the importance of this posi-

tion and the integrity of those who have previously held it, I am confident that Joe will be an outstanding lead for the Astronaut Office, successfully leading our astronauts into an exciting future.”

Acabá has spent 306 days in space, serving as a mission specialist on space shuttle Discovery mission STS-119 and as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 31 and 32 in 2012 and Expeditions 53 and 54 in 2017-2018. During that time, he participated in three spacewalks to build and upgrade the space station, and assisted with the arrival of the first commercial resupply spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon, in May 2012. Acabá was aboard the station when its standard crew went from three to six, allowing NASA and its international partners to double the amount of time spent on research.

Since his return to Earth, Acabá has supported the Astronaut Office in various capacities, including director of operations in Russia and head of the Vehicle Integration Test Office.

Astronaut Joe Acabá

Probe sought into possible irregularities in disposal of ‘public nuisance’ properties

By THE STAR STAFF

As the number of abandoned properties that have become public nuisances goes up, more municipalities are hiring private firms to dispose of them as part of a process that some say is plagued with irregularities and benefits special interests.

For that reason, Puerto Rican Independence Party Sen. María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón called for a probe to document possible irregularities in the privatized processes for the disposal of properties declared public nuisances.

The pro-independence senator said that in recent public hearings of the Treasury Committee, officials from the Municipal Revenue Collections Center (CRIM its Spanish acronym) expressed suspicion about the invoices submitted by private companies to which several municipalities have delegated the powers related to the declaration and disposal of public nuisances.

CRIM said it was common to see invoices claiming the same amount for the maintenance expenses for various properties: $10,000.

“Added to this is the concern that the companies, using the state’s power to expropriate as part of their contracts, could be using unlawful criteria to choose which properties to intervene with,” Santiago Negrón said. “The Municipal Code also establishes that, at the moment of being acquired by the municipalities, the

properties declared public nuisances are relieved of the debts with the Municipal Tax Collection Center (CRIM).”

Once a property has been declared a public nuisance, the municipality can seize the property in an eminent domain process that can allow any person or entity under privileged conditions to acquire the property, the senator said. Eminent domain allows the government to seize a property after compensation by justifying the need to put it to public use.

“This is what happened years ago in San Mateo

de los Cangrejos in Santurce, where the properties of an entire community were expropriated at low prices to sell to builders of high-value buildings,” she said.

The municipalities operate as real estate agents for certain interests instead of protecting the common good, Santiago Negrón said.

“A company contracted by a municipality can choose a property for which there may already be interested buyers, declare it a public nuisance, invoice thousands of dollars in alleged maintenance, collect that invoice from the municipality, manage the CRIM exemption, put the property up for sale, and someone acquires it for their personal benefit at a price that is only possible through the scheme of expropriation of public nuisances,” the lawmaker said.

“By a determination of the Supreme Court of the United States, the declaration of public utility that allows the government to expropriate private properties has been extended in an unreasonable way, allowing the state to use its power for the benefit of individuals,” Santiago Negrón noted. “That is a matter that also requires legislative action. Given the concern about the alarming amount of abandoned properties in the country, which according to the Center for the Recovery of the Habitat is around 300,000 units, it is imperative that the Senate of Puerto Rico investigate this matter, which may also imply a decrease in income of the CRIM.”

Coffee industry remains weak over 5 years after Irma & Maria

By THE STAR STAFF

The Puerto Rican coffee industry has not not recovered, and growers expect that this year’s harvest will be only between 35,000 and 55,000 quintals, officials revealed Thursday in a public hearing of the Senate Government Committee, chaired by the Ponce District Sen. Ramón “Ramoncito” Ruiz Nieves.

The data was provided by the secretary-designate of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO by its Spanish acronym), Hiram Torres Montalvo.

“The reality that everyone should know is that this disparity of 10 to two, of foreign versus local coffee, has the real effect of limiting the options that consumers have,” Ruiz Nieves said. “Check those labels well when buying coffee.”

With regard to coffee prices in the distribution chain, for the use of consumers they will remain free of traditional control, Torres Montalvo said in a presentation submitted to the committee.

The hearing, which was held Thursday in the Luis Negrón López Hall of the Capitol, was conducted in accordance with Senate Resolution 647, which addresses the rise in the price of coffee, as discussed by DACO, the Department

of Agriculture, and the Farmers Association, as well as the Puerto Rico Agronomists Association. Similarly, the committee summoned coffee roasters José Torres Olivencia and Germán L. Negrón, along with the Association of Coffee Buyers and Processors and the president of the Farmers Association’s coffee sector.

Maricao Mayor Wilfredo “Juny” Ruiz, a prominent coffee grower, agronomist and former president of the Puerto Rico Coffee Processors Association, was also called to depose before the committee.

The determination by DACO for the increase in the price of coffee was made in accordance with Provisional Order 1 of Regulation 8578, which lasts for 12 months, establishes the minimum price to the farmer for mature almud bean coffee (22 units of almud make a quintal) to $18.

A quintal is roughly equivalent to a little over 3.5 bushes.

Imported semi-roasted coffee sold through the Administration for the Development of Agricultural Companies was set at $375 per quintal of arabica and $256 per quintal of robusta. That order is also provisional for 12 months.

“It is assumed that DACO will be constantly monitoring the market to evaluate, month by month, its behavior in case an adjustment is needed,” Ruiz Nieves said.

Puerto Rican Independence Party Sen. María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón

Sen. Ramón Ruiz Nieves

Credit unions team up to grant $20 million loan to El Conquistador

By THE STAR STAFF

In an unprecedented event, the island’s system of credit unions positioned itself as a significant promoter of the economy by granting a commercial loan of $20 million to the iconic El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo.

The loan’s closing occurred after an agreement among 16 cooperatives from all over Puerto Rico to grant historic financing for tourism development.

The loan will promote the creation of 1,200 jobs in the eastern region of the island.

Mabel Jiménez, president of the Public Corporation for the Supervision and Insurance of Puerto Rico Cooperatives (COSSEC), said the co-op system has always been a fundamental piece in the economic development of Puerto Rico. She congratulated the credit unions for coming together on a common front and becoming an alternative for commercial financing.

“The cooperative system is strong and united. There is no stopping them,” she said. “Once again, the cooperative system gives a class with its contribution to the economic development of our island. As the executive president of COSSEC and as a cooperative member, I am proud that 16 cooperatives have come together

to make a historic contribution to subsidize a large-scale project for the administration of the El Conquistador Hotel.”

Jiménez added that “it is important to us at the Corporation that cooperatives take full advantage of the guidelines and regulations we promulgate.”

“Through our regulations, we establish criteria that allow economic development

through the release of permitted activities and investments and the flexibility of their operations under a prudent administrative and financial framework,” she said.

The COSSEC regulations allow granting loans for economic development or activities of high public interest that create jobs and improve the economy in general, such as tourism.

The cooperatives providing financing were:

Credicentro Coop, Cabo Rojo Coop, Caguas Coop, HatiCoop, Moca Coop, Jayuya Coop, Cidreña, MaunaCoop, Las Piedras Cooperative, Jesús Obrero Cooperative, Cupey Alto Cooperative, Buena Coop, Roosevelt Roads Cooperative, Boni Coop, San Blas Cooperative and Manatí Coop.

Edgar López, president of the Las Piedras Cooperative, said the multi-million-dollar financing is the beginning of their contributions to the industry.

“We are opening the door to continue with this type of project and be a financing alternative for Puerto Rico, not only for the tourism sector but also for many other sectors, particularly of social interest,” he said.

Likewise, Néstor Amador, a hotel representative, stated that “the support of the 16 cooperatives is essential for the development of this company and to leverage the exponential growth of the Hotel El Conquistador.”

“A few years ago, everything was austerity, but we have gotten back on our feet, and the cooperative sector is supporting the economy,” Jiménez said. “For our part, I want you to know that at COSSEC we are ready to receive you and work together to forge a solid future for cooperatives and Puerto Rico.”

Design chosen for new diagnostic & treatment center in Maunabo

By THE STAR STAFF

Maunabo Mayor Ángel Omar Lafuente Amaro on Thursday presented the design of the new Diagnostic and Treatment Center (CDT by its Spanish initials) that will be built on the grounds of the old structure that was destroyed by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

The announcement represents a key step prior to the demolition and construction phases of the important project, the mayor said.

“I am proud to present to my Maunabo people the design of the most important work of our administration,” Lafuente Amaro said. “We will have a modern structure, for the well-being of all Maunabeños, neighboring municipalities and visitors.”

As part of the work agenda established by the island Department of Health, the removal of asbestos and lead in the old structure will begin at the end of this month. Demolition is scheduled for the end of March.

The mayor reiterated that the construction of a modern CDT represents the highest priority of his administration and is one of the “programmatic commitments of the Government of Puerto Rico and the Secretary of the Department of Health, Carlos Mellado.”

The project is being carried out in conjunction and coordination with representatives of the Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience (COR3) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Maunabo’s new CDT will boast “state of the art technologies” and will meet both pediatric and adult primary health and emergency needs, including an observation area

for cardiology in the adult section and a room for victims of sexual abuse. Likewise, it must have a space to provide telemedicine and another for radiology, as well as vaccination services, social work, psychiatry, and services for women, infants and children, among others.

The $20 million loan will promote the creation of 1,200 jobs in the eastern region of Puerto Rico.

Maunabo Mayor Ángel Omar Lafuente Amaro

González Colón steps aside as new congressional women’s caucus leadership is named

By JOHN McPHAUL jpmcphaul@gmail.com

The outgoing Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues co-chairs, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón (R-P.R.) and Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), and Vice Chairs Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), announced earlier this week the next group of women who will assume leadership of the bipartisan 118th Congressional Caucus.

Cammack will ascend as Republican co-chair and Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) as her Democratic counterpart. Newly elected Reps. Monica de la Cruz (R-Texas) and Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Ohio) will serve as vice chairs.

“As the first woman elected to represent Puerto Rico in Congress in its history, it has been a tremendous honor to be part of the leadership of this caucus and work to promote equitable policies to help ease burdens and help women succeed in all capacities,” González Colón said on Wednesday night. “From ensuring access to health care and mental health services to diversifying the workforce and honoring trailblazers in paving the way for future generations, as a caucus and as individuals, we have pushed our agendas toward our primary goal of helping to build a stronger, more equitable future for women. I am proud to pass the baton to an extraordinary group of esteemed colleagues. I will continue to be a proud and collaborative member of this bipartisan caucus, while continuing to do impactful work.”

González Colón has filed legislation to prevent sexual harassment and avoid discrimination against women for reasons of age, among others, has promoted discussion tables at the local and national level, as well as carried out empowerment workshops,

achieved a collaborative agreement with the island Department of Economic Development and Commerce and UPS that offers women training to enter international trade and other fields.

The resident commissioner has advocated and secured federal funding allocations to work with domestic violence cases such as $2 million by the end of 2022 for the construction of a Community Service Center where Hogar Ruth can offer its programs to help women victims of violence and their families.

In addition, she authored federal legislation as a measure to empower survivors of domestic violence, making it easier for them and their families to replace documents such as

birth certificates and driver’s licenses that were lost or disappeared after fleeing an abuser.

Dean, the outgoing co-chair, said she is “grateful for the opportunities we had to cross the aisle on issues that affect all women.”

“Our shared efforts and work for women veterans, women’s maternal health, and women in STEM have caught my attention,” she said. “I am confident that, under the leadership of Reps. Susie Lee, Kat Cammack, Emilia Sykes and Monica de la Cruz, the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus will continue to be a space for conversation, community and shared commitment to advancing policies for all women.”

Cammack, an incoming co-chair, thanked

Dean and González Colón for their leadership.

“For the past two years, the Women’s Caucus has played a pivotal role in uniting women legislators from both parties around key issues including child and maternal health, childhood education, support for women veterans and more,” she said. “Through briefings, events, and visits outside of the Capitol, we have demonstrated the power of working together to shape policies with real impact.”

Lee, the other incoming co-chair, said “I am honored to serve as co-chair of the Bipartisan Women’s Caucus, at a time when more women are working to serve in Congress than ever before, a record we have broken in each of my three terms on this body.”

Burglars make off with everything, including dog food

By THE STAR STAFF

Police were investigating a burglary that took place in the early morning hours Wednesday in Lares in which the robbers made off with everything including the dog food.

According to the police report, the complainant alleged that the intruders broke the padlock on the gate and some lattices from the windows of the dining room in order to enter the residence.

They took a 32-inch television, a

component radio, a microwave oven, a blender, a food processor and a 46-pound sack of dog food.

In addition, they caused damage to the main gate of the residence in the process of stealing a red 2009 Toyota Corolla with the license plate number HHT-171.

Agent Edluwincy Vélez of the Lares precinct initially investigated and referred the case to the Property Division and Stolen Vehicles Division of the Utuado Criminal Investigation Corps.

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, third from the right, served as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and has filed legislation to prevent sexual harassment and avoid discrimination against women for reasons of age.

Eager to challenge Trump, Republicans

By MAGGIE HABERMAN, MICHAEL C. BENDER and REID J. EPSTEIN

Increased uncertainty is rippling through the Republican Party over how to beat Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination, as an array of the party’s top figures move slowly toward challenging the politically wounded yet resilient former president.

Contenders have so far been unwilling to officially jump into the race, wary of becoming a sacrificial lamb on Trump’s altar of devastating nicknames and eternal fury. Some are waiting to see if prosecutors in Georgia or New York will do the heavy lifting for them and charge Trump with crimes related to his election meddling after the 2020 contest or hush-money payments to a porn star during the 2016 campaign. And the sitting governors weighing a 2024 campaign, including Ron DeSantis of Florida, are vying to score legislative victories they can use to introduce themselves to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The first entrant against Trump might be former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who served as United Nations ambassador under the former president and is set to announce her candidacy on Feb. 15, according to a person familiar with the plans. And this week, former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland said for the first time that he was “actively and seriously considering” running.

But other potential challengers have more quietly wavered over when, where and how to unleash attacks on Trump’s candidacy, and to begin their own, after a midterm election in which his endorsements failed to usher in the red wave Republicans had expected. Republicans who hope to stop him worry that dithering by possible candidates could only strengthen Trump’s position — and could even lead to a field that is far smaller and weaker than many in the political world have anticipated.

“There’s a non-Trump lane right now that’s as wide as the Trump lane, and there’s no one in that lane,” Hogan said in an interview.

The lack of activity has included major Republican donors, a number of whom have moved away from Trump but, with few exceptions, are keeping their options open.

But a flood of candidates into the race could also help Trump. Some Republicans fear a repeat of the primary campaign in 2016, when a cluttered field allowed Trump to win with roughly 25% of support in several contests, a possibility that his advisers are hoping for if he faces a particularly strong challenge from any one person.

The case would-be challengers and their aides make behind the scenes is not that Trump’s policies were wrong, but that he would lose a rematch with President Joe Biden, who won in 2020 in large part by presenting himself as an antidote to Trump.

Among those who have expressed concern is Paul Ryan, the former Republican House speaker, who has ca-

first

attack Haley and John Bolton, a former national security adviser under Trump who is also considering a candidacy.

The person Trump is most acutely concerned about is DeSantis, whose advisers in Tallahassee are planning for the state’s coming legislative session with an eye on a potential presidential bid.

The Florida governor, who has a book set to be published this month, has been promoting policies that could translate into applause lines for the Republican primary base, including a proposed “anti-woke” overhaul of the state’s education system and a potential new law letting residents carry firearms without a permit. One change that DeSantis would almost certainly need from a friendly Republican supermajority in the Legislature: loosening a state law that requires state elected officials in Florida to resign before running for federal office.

lled Trump a “proven loser.” In private conversations, Ryan has told people that donors and other Republicans need to find ways to ensure that there are not too many candidates splitting the vote against Trump. But what exact approach they might take is unclear, as is which would-be challengers would be receptive to it.

Trump has shown signs of both weakness and durability. His fundraising haul in the first weeks of his campaign was comparatively thin, and members of the Republican National Committee, long a bastion of pro-Trump sentiment, are not eager to back a third Trump campaign. A survey this week by The Bulwark, a conservative anti-Trump website, and Republican pollster Whit Ayres found that most likely GOP voters wanted someone other than Trump to be the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.

Yet other recent polls suggest that he remains the Republican front-runner. And the Bulwark survey also found that a staggering 28% of GOP voters would be willing to back Trump in an independent bid, a figure that would all but ensure another four years for Democrats in the White House.

“I think there are a lot of things that are still uncertain” about the 2024 primary race, said former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a former chair of the Republican National Committee.

Others considering a campaign include former Vice President Mike Pence, who has expressed disapproval of Trump’s efforts to use him to overturn the 2020 election while avoiding most criticism of his onetime ally. Pence has been building a campaign apparatus, including poaching a staff member from Haley, but he is not expected to make a final decision on running until later this year.

Another potential Trump rival, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has avoided going directly after his former boss. He has set his sights lower, using his recent book to

Yet while DeSantis has attracted interest in early primary states, he has a small, insular team, which has concerned some donors and activists. And his lack of a presence in those states has led to questions among activists in places like Iowa and South Carolina about whether he risks squandering a chance to consolidate support if he waits past spring.

Sen. Tim Scott, one of the party’s most prominent Black politicians, is another South Carolinian considering a campaign. He has proved to be one of the most prodigious Republican fundraisers, collecting $51 million for his reelection campaign last year.

Scott also laid the groundwork for a national campaign by spending $21 million helping elect Republicans in the 2022 midterms. He endorsed 77 candidates last year and participated in 67 campaign events in 21 states, an adviser said.

This month, Scott will travel to Iowa, where he will speak at a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Polk County, and he is beginning a “Faith in America” listening tour, including speeches in his home state and Iowa.

Some prospective candidates have taken on Trump more directly. Former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who lost her primary for reelection after helping lead the House committee investigating the former president’s role in the Capitol riot, is said to be considering a campaign, as well as possibly writing a book. Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has been one of the most vocal Republicans in calling for the party to find a new leader.

And Hogan has spent the two weeks since he left office speaking with political advisers and donors about running for president. In an interview Wednesday, he cast the field as one Trump-aligned figure after another aiming to lead a party he said must move beyond the former president in order to win the general election.

“Maybe a crowded field is good, with Trump and DeSantis fighting with each other and with six or eight other Trump people,” Hogan said. “It might create more of an opportunity for somebody like me.”

aren’t so eager to be the

From left: Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Harmeet Dhillon, a National Committeewoman of the Republican National Committee for California, and Michael Lindell, CEO of My Pillow, during the 2023 RNC Winter Meeting in Dana Point, Calif., on Jan. 27, 2023.

College Board strips down AP curriculum for African American Studies

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS and ELIZA FAWCETT

After heavy criticism from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board earlier this week released an official curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American studies — stripped of much of the subject matter that had angered the governor and other conservatives.

The College Board purged the names of many Black writers and scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience and Black feminism. It ushered out some politically fraught topics, like Black Lives Matter, from the formal curriculum.

And it added something new: “Black conservatism” is now offered as an idea for a research project.

When it announced the AP course in August, the College Board clearly believed it was providing a class whose time had come, and it was celebrated by eminent scholars like Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University as an af-

firmation of the importance of African American studies. But the course quickly ran into a political buzz saw — first from conservatives after an

early draft leaked to conservative publications like The Florida Standard and National Review. And then, once the curriculum was released

Wednesday, some academics and liberal groups protested the changes.

The pushback began in January, when DeSantis of Florida, a Republican who is expected to run for president, announced that he would ban the curriculum, citing the draft version. State education officials said it was not historically accurate and violated state law that regulates how race-related issues are taught in public schools.

The attack on the AP course turned out to be the prelude to a much larger agenda. On Tuesday, DeSantis unveiled a proposal to overhaul higher education that would eliminate what he called “ideological conformity” by, among other things, mandating courses in Western civilization.

In another red flag to the College Board, there was the possibility of other opposition: More than two dozen states have adopted some sort of measure against critical race theory, according to a tracking project by the UCLA law school.

David Coleman, the head of the College Board, said in an interview that the changes were all made for pedagogical reasons, not to bow to

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida banned the A.P. course, after a draft curriculum was leaked.

political pressure. “At the College Board, we can’t look to statements of political leaders,” he said. The changes, he said, came from “the input of professors” and “long-standing AP principles.”

Moreover, College Board officials said Wednesday that they had a time-stamped document showing that the final changes to the curriculum were made in December, before the Florida Department of Education sent its letter informing the College Board that it would not allow the course to be taught.

Coleman said that during the initial test of the course this school year, the board received feedback that the secondary, more theoretical sources were “quite dense” and that students connected more with primary sources, which he said have always been the foundation of AP courses.

“We experimented with a lot of things including assigning secondary sources, and we found a lot of issues arose as we did,” he said. “I think what is most surprising and powerful for most people is looking directly at people’s experience.”

After the curriculum was released Wednesday, Bryan Griffin, the press secretary for DeSantis, said the state education department was reviewing it for “corrections and compliance with Florida law.” Florida already requires the teaching of African American history.

In light of the conservative criticism, the College Board seemed to opt out of the politics. The revised 234-page curriculum framework ranges widely through content on Africa, slavery, Reconstruction and the civil rights movement. And there is content on redlining, discrimination and Afrofuturism, as well as stories of individual achievement and heroism

But the study of contemporary topics — including Black Lives Matter, incarceration, queer life and the debate over reparations — is downgraded. The subjects are no longer part of the exam and are simply offered on a list of options for a required research project.

And even that list, in a nod to local laws, “can be refined by local states and districts.”

The expunged writers and scholars include Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, a law professor at Columbia, which touts her work as “foundational in critical race theory”; Roderick Ferguson, a Yale University professor who has written about queer social movements; and Ta-Nehisi Coates, an author who has made the case for reparations for slavery. Gone, too, is bell hooks, a writer who shaped discussions about race, feminism and class.

After the curriculum was released, Crenshaw said that even if her name and others had been taken out of the curriculum because secondary sources — theorists or analysts — were being eliminated in favor of facts and lived experience, the decision sent a troubling message. “I would have made a different choice,” she said. “Even

the appearance of bowing to political pressure in the context of new knowledge and ideas is something that should not be done.”

But she said she was also disappointed because she had believed the course would capitalize on a hunger of young students to learn “ways of thinking about things like police brutality, mass incarceration and continuing inequalities.”

Instead, she said, “the very same set of circumstances that presented the need for the course also created the backlash against the content that people don’t like.”

David Blight, a professor of American history at Yale University, said Wednesday that he had written an endorsement of the new curriculum, at the College Board’s request, and that he believed it had much to offer not just about history but also about Black poetry, art and the origins of the blues, jazz and hip-hop. But he withdrew his endorsement Wednesday after learning that some sections had been cut.

“I withdrew it because I want to know when and how they made these decisions to excise these people, because that’s also an attack on their academic freedom,” Blight said.

PEN America, a free speech organization, echoed that concern. While the College Board had said the changes were not political, the board “risked sending the message that political threats against the teaching of particular types of content can succeed in silencing that content,” said Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America.

The changes were also condemned by the National Parents Union and CFT, a California affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, representing education workers from childhood through higher education.

Some conservatives were not completely mollified, either. Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, said he did not object to topics like the Black Panthers and the Black is Beautiful movement being included because “that’s certainly part of what was America.”

But after seeing the framework Wednesday, he faulted it for omitting conservative or independent Black thinkers like John McWhorter, Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell and Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court.

“Maybe further changes could be made,” he said. “Even though they said they’re not responding to the specific concerns that Florida raised, it very much looks like they’re addressing the letter of them by making them optional.”

AP exams are deeply embedded in the American education system. Students take the courses and exams to show their academic prowess when applying to college. Most fouryear colleges and universities grant college credit for students who score high enough on an AP exam. And more than 1 million public

high school students graduating in 2021 took at least one AP exam.

But the fracas over the exam raises questions about whether the African American studies course, as modified, fulfills its mission of mimicking a college-level course, which usually expects students to analyze secondary sources and take on contentious topics.

Chester E. Finn Jr., a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, said the College Board had come up with a smart strategy by not eradicating the “touchy parts,” but rather making them optional.

“DeSantis likes to make noise and he’s running for president,” Finn said. “But they’ve been getting feedback from all over the place in the 60 schools they’ve been piloting this in. I think it’s a way of dealing with the United States at this point, not just DeSantis. Some of these things they might want to teach in New York, but not Dallas. Or San Francisco but not St. Petersburg.”

AP exams have incited conflict before. A U.S. history curriculum guide in 2014 had to be revised after it was attacked for calling Ronald Reagan “bellicose” toward the Soviet Union and giving more prominence to a Native American chief than to Ben Franklin.

There are hints that the College Board is embedding some of the disputed material,

without being explicit about it. “Intersectionality” — a term that Florida says is foundational to critical race theory — is cited eight times in the draft curriculum, but only once in the new version, as an optional topic for a project. But the concept, which refers to the way different forms of discrimination work together, seems to sneak into required course content, under the heading of essential knowledge.

Writers Gwendolyn Brooks and Mari Evans, the curriculum says, “explore the lived experience of Black women and men and show how their race, gender and social class can affect how they are perceived, their roles and their economic opportunities.”

Acceptance for the new curriculum is important to the College Board, a nonprofit, because AP courses are a major source of revenue. The board took in more than $1 billion in program service revenue in 2019, of which more than $490 million came from “AP and Instruction,” according to its tax-exempt filing.

Teachers who are trying out the draft curriculum said it has been popular.

Sharon Courtney, a high school teacher piloting the course in New York state, said the backlash frustrated her, as every teacher tweaks and refines a new curriculum.

“You’re critiquing something that isn’t finished,” she said. “Wait until I cook the meal.”

Memphis gathers in grief at Tyre Nichols’ funeral

By RICK ROJAS

His siblings remembered his passion for skateboarding and his love of photography. They said he had a sense of independence, a comfort and confidence in being himself, that had taken hold at an early age. At 29, Tyre Nichols was finding his way.

But as his family gathered with hundreds of mourners for his funeral Wednesday, relatives said they were searching for meaning in the killing of Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers, who pulled him from his car and severely beat him. His mother, RowVaughn Wells, said she was sustained by the idea that her son had been part of a divine mission — “sent here on assignment from God” to change how police operated in Memphis and around the country.

“I guess now his assignment is done,” Wells said from the pulpit at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, “and he’s been taken home.”

The essential message from speaker after speaker was that a new mission was beginning, one that would have to be led by the many Americans who were angered and horrified by the nearly one hour of footage that showed Nichols being kicked, pummeled and pepper-sprayed by those officers.

“This is a family that lost their son and their brother through an act of violence at the hands and the feet of people who had been charged with keeping them safe,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at the pulpit. She noted that one vital effort would be renewing efforts to pass federal legislation that would bring increased accountability to cases of police violence.

As a senator, Harris helped author the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed in the Democratic-controlled House in 2021 but failed in the Senate. In her remarks, she called on Congress to pass the bill and said that President Joe Biden would sign it, drawing applause from the crowd.

“We will not be denied,” she said. “It is not negotiable.”

The service was in many ways an induction ceremony, officially adding Nichols to a group of Black men and wo -

men whose deaths have inspired widespread outrage and activism.

In attendance were Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, and Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police in Louisville, Kentucky. The mother of Eric Garner, who died in New York City, and the sister of Botham Jean, who was gunned down in his own apartment in Dallas, were there, too. Tiffany Rachal, the mother of Jalen Randle, a 29-year-old Black man who was killed by a Houston police officer last year, sang the gospel song “Lord I Will Lift My Eyes to the Hills.”

Their presence was meant to send a signal that Nichols’ death was the latest blow in a lengthy struggle. “These are not isolated incidents,” said Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who represents many of these families, including Nichols’. Perhaps, as his mother hoped, his death could be a force for something better.

Nichols died Jan. 10, three days after a traffic stop that turned into a brutal beating by Memphis police officers who were part of a specialized unit formed to help halt a surge of violence in the city.

Video from the officers’ body cameras and a stationary surveillance camera that was released last week showed the assault and Nichols begging for his life. The encounter began as officers approached his vehicle — they claimed he was driving erratically, although the city’s police chief has said no evidence of that has emerged — with guns drawn and pulled him from his car. The officers shouted often-contradictory orders before using pepper spray on Nichols, who ran off.

But officers soon caught up with Nichols and assaulted him, with one officer delivering a series of blows to Nichols’ head while two other officers held his hands behind his back.

Crump noted that within 20 days of his death, five police officers were fired for using excessive force and failing to render aid, and then were charged with second-degree murder, along with other felonies. The Scorpion unit, the specialized group patrolling high-crime areas that the officers had been part of, has been disbanded.

“His legacy will be one of equal justice,” Crump said of Nichols. “It will be the blueprint going forward.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who delive-

red the eulogy, sought to connect the death of Nichols to the larger history of Memphis, including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

He noted that King had been in Memphis to support sanitation workers who were on strike, an effort to help Black city workers gain better treatment. And he noted that the five officers charged with Nichols’ death were also Black — a fact that added to the anguish for him and many others.

“The reason why, Mr. and Mrs. Wells, what happened to Tyre is so personal to me,” Sharpton said, referring to Nichols’ stepfather and mother, “is that five Black men that wouldn’t have had a job in the Police Department, would not ever be thought of to be in an elite squad, in the city that Dr. King lost his life, not far away from that balcony — you beat a brother to death.”

Lawyers representing the officers have urged the community not to rush to judgment, saying that the video footage was not entirely conclusive.

As much as the funeral was employed as a call to action, it was also a moment to remember who Nichols was before his name became a rallying cry in protests around the country.

Nichols moved from California to Memphis in 2020 to be closer to his mother. He had a 4-year-old son and was working with his stepfather on the second shift at a FedEx facility in Memphis.

His family said his name had come from “Silverado,” one of his mother’s favorite movies, a Western released in 1985. The sheriff’s deputy was named Tyree.

Keyana Dixon, Nichols’ older sister by 11 years, described taking care of him when he was young, when all he wanted to do was eat cereal and watch cartoons. “I see the world showing him love and fighting for his justice, but all I want is my baby brother back,” she said through tears. “Even in his demise, he was still polite: He asked them to ‘Please stop.’”

His brother Jamal Dupree said Nichols saw the world in a way he did not. He pointed out the photos that Nichols had taken that were displayed during the service. “He set his own path,” Dupree said. “He made his own light.”

A casket containing the body of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers, is lifted into a hearse outside the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church following his funeral service, in Memphis, Tenn. on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023.

Fed raises rates a quarter point and signals more ahead

By JEANNA SMIALEK and ISABELLA SIMONETTI

Federal Reserve officials earlier this week made their eighth interest rate increase in a year and signaled perhaps two more to come as they continue their fight against rapid price gains. But they approved a smaller increase than in the past and acknowledged that inflation had finally started to meaningfully ease.

The central bank concluded its first meeting of 2023 by announcing a quarter-point rate increase, the smallest adjustment since March. The Fed’s policy rate is now set to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, up from near zero a year ago.

Wednesday’s move marked a major slowdown from last year, when the Fed lifted borrowing costs at the fastest pace since the 1980s in a bid to tamp down soaring inflation. Price gains have now moderated, with the Fed’s preferred inflation index at 5% in December, down from a peak of nearly 7% in June.

With interest rates already elevated, central bankers are adjusting policy gradually as they wait to see how their higher borrowing costs are affecting consumers and businesses. Incoming economic readings will help determine how high the Fed ultimately lifts rates and how long it keeps them there.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear during his news conference Wednesday that the central bank planned to be cautious about declaring victory over inflation. He said “a couple more” rate increases were under discussion to make sure that price pressures came firmly and fully back under control.

“We can now say, for the first time, the disinflationary process has started,” Powell said, but he later added: “We will stay the course until the job is done.”

Despite that, Wall Street welcomed Powell’s statements Wednesday as a sign that the Fed may stop lifting rates very soon — after March. Stocks surged as he spoke, and expectations that the central bank will end its adjustments after one more rate move solidified. Market pricing also suggested that investors had nudged up the chances that the Fed would cut

rates notably by the end of the year. The S&P 500 rose 1%, adding to a rally that has lifted shares more than 7% this year.

The disconnect between the Fed’s statements and investor expectations ties back in part to what is actually happening in economic data versus what is projected to happen next. Many forecasters expect the labor market, as well as inflation in many kinds of services, to weaken this year as the full effect of the Fed’s rate moves plays out; the Fed, on the other hand, is waiting for clearer signs in the data.

The Fed’s decision amounted to a shift to a more cautious period of inflation fighting. Its policymakers are welcoming the recent slowdown in price increases, and the disinflation trend gives them more room to tread carefully as they make further policy adjustments. But central bankers are worried that some portion of today’s inflation could prove difficult to stamp out entirely, which is preventing them from halting the assault altogether.

“We’ve moved into a new phase of policy,” said Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives. “The committee is no longer playing catch-up.”

Central bankers projected in December that they would raise interest rates to just above 5% in 2023 — implying two more quarter-point increases after this week’s move — and leave them there through the year. Those higher borrowing costs would make it more expensive to finance a car or expand a business, slowing demand and helping to bring the economy back into balance.

Officials reiterated in their statement Wednesday that “ongoing” rate increases were likely to be appropriate. But Powell said no decisions had yet been made about how high rates would go.

At times, Powell hinted that the central bank still expected to raise rates to just above 5% and then leave them there throughout 2023.

“We’re talking about a couple more rate hikes to get to that level we think is appropriately restrictive,” he said. He later added that he did not expect to cut rates this year if the economy performed as expected.

Powell also noted that he did not “feel a lot of certainty” about where rate increases would stop and that “it could certainly be higher,” and said it was difficult to manage the risk of doing too little and having inflation spring back up. On the other hand, he said, if the Fed went too far, that would be easier to deal with.

“The job is not fully done,” he said.

So far, evidence of labor market moderation in particular remains inconclusive: Initial claims for jobless benefits remain muted, and the unemployment rate is as low as it has been in half a century. Job openings rose in December, and 1.9 positions are now available for every unemployed worker.

“The labor market remains extremely tight,” Powell said Wednesday. The Labor Department will release January hiring and unemployment figures Friday.

The global economy is also not as weak as many expected, as a mild winter mitigates energy-related problems in Europe and as China reopens from rolling shutdowns. In their statement, Fed officials nodded to the fact that worldwide growth is less imperiled than it seemed last year, dropping a line that said the war

in Ukraine was “weighing on global economic activity.”

Instead, the Fed’s policymakers said the war “is contributing to elevated global uncertainty.”

Such signs of economic resilience could help the Fed to pull off a soft landing, in which it tempers inflation without causing a deep downturn. On the other hand, continued economic strength could shore up demand and keep price increases from moderating sufficiently, if growth proves too robust.

Fed officials will be focused on where the economy is headed — and how much more they think it needs to slow — in the coming months as they determine how high to raise rates and how long they need to leave them elevated.

Powell said he thought the Fed would be able to wrangle inflation without toppling the economy into a painful recession. But he also reiterated that the central bank was committed to bringing price increases under control, despite the potential cost to growth and the labor market.

“We have to complete the job,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, speaks at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a point, a less aggressive move than before, bit said that “ongoing” rate increases are warranted.

Judge is said to let Meta’s virtual-reality deal move forward

By DAVID McCABE and SHEERA FRENKEL

Afederal judge has rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s request to stop Meta, Facebook’s parent company, from buying a small virtual-reality startup, two people with knowledge of the matter said, signaling that efforts to rein in the tech giants may struggle in courts.

In a sealed order issued late Tuesday, Judge Edward J. Davila of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California declined the FTC’s demand for a preliminary injunction to block Meta from buying Within, which makes a virtual-reality fitness game called “Supernatural,” said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the orders are sealed.

Davila also issued a restraining order blocking the $400 million deal from closing through Feb. 7, allowing the FTC time to decide whether it wants to appeal the ruling, one of the people said.

The loss is a stinging defeat for the FTC’s chair, Lina Khan, and her broader efforts to expand the boundaries of antitrust law to better regulate the tech giants. The case was aimed at testing that line with a rarely used legal argument that Meta’s deal would hinder future competition in an undeveloped market, as opposed to a more traditional case that would focus on a mature economic area.

Khan has argued the FTC should file more novel cases if it wants to properly nurture competition in the modern economy. She has acknowledged that the agency must be willing to lose in some of them.

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The ruling is “a blow to the administration’s and the FTC’s interest in being stronger in merger enforcement,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School. She added that the agency clearly saw benefits to bringing risky cases to draw attention to what it considers the poor state of antitrust law.

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The decision was a vindication for Meta, which had argued in court that it was trying to create a platform that would be welcoming for all virtual-reality apps, including those developed independently. The company has invested billions of dollars in becoming a powerhouse of the so-called metaverse, where users work, play and consume content through virtual and augmented reality. It has acquired virtual-reality content studios and Oculus, a company that makes the headsets people use to view that content.

Meta, which reported a $4.2 billion restructuring charge in its quarterly earnings Wednesday, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the FTC said the agency was “not able to comment at this time” to respect the court’s seal order.

Bloomberg earlier reported Davila’s decision.

The FTC sued Meta in July in federal court to temporarily halt the deal, and then asked its in-house court in August to fully block the acquisition. The FTC will have to decide whether to proceed with its in-house challenge despite the ruling.

William E. Kovacic, a former FTC chair, said the sealed ruling in the Meta case would be more problematic for the agency if the judge panned the legal theories underpinning the challenge. But if Davila saw the FTC’s more novel approach as plausible — even if the agency’s factual assertions were weak in this case — “that’s a low-impact defeat” less likely to hurt its future efforts, Kovacic said.

The case was heard in San Jose, California, in December. During the seven-day hearing, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and its chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, testified. The FTC argued that if Meta did not buy “Supernatural,” it would develop its own virtual reality fitness game.

Meta’s case rested on proving that developing or acquiring a fitness app was just a small part of a strategy that would eventually push virtual reality, and by extension the metaverse, into wide popularity.

During the hearing, an FTC lawyer asked Zuckerberg if it was true that acquiring or developing a fitness app kept him up at night. Fitness apps, Zuckerberg said, were just one type of app that the company was interested in.

“Fitness was probably the fourth or fifth use case that I thought would be important,” he said, ranking apps that focused on gaming, productivity and social interactions as higher priorities. Developing a fitness app, he told the lawyer, did not cost him any sleep.

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The lawsuit was the first of the cases developed entirely under Khan, a legal scholar who rose to prominence after she wrote a critique of Amazon that went viral, to be filed in court. Looking to prevent more “vertical” deals, in which the two companies don’t compete directly, the FTC also challenged Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of video game publisher Activision Blizzard in December. Last month, the Department of Justice accused Google of abusing a monopoly over the technology

Zuckerberg also told Davila that if he blocked the deal, it would “have a chilling effect.”

“Maybe Meta gets banned from everything going forward,” Zuckerberg said. “That would make it so investors are less excited for investing in this space.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, leaves the federal courthouse in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022.

Nasdaq soars more than 3% on Meta boost, Fed relief

The Nasdaq rose to a near five-month intraday high as Meta Platforms surged on rigorous cost controls, while a dovish message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell boosted appetite for risky assets.

The Facebook parent soared 26.9% to a near eightmonth high after it announced a new $40 billion share buyback and said it would cut costs in 2023 by $5 billion to between $89 billion and $95 billion.

The S&P 500 Value index housing Meta jumped 2% to more than a year’s high.

“It certainly seems that markets are up because earnings for Meta were surprisingly positive,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

Seven of the top 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, with the communication services sector, which includes Meta, jumping 6.7% to its highest in five months.

Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc rose between 3.2% and 6.4% ahead of their quarterly results after markets close.

Wall Street’s main indexes got a boost as Powell acknowledged that inflation was starting to ease. The U.S. central bank raised rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday.

After a bruising 2022, U.S. stocks have made a strong comeback, with megacap companies gaining on hopes that the Fed will ease its hawkish monetary policy stance.

“Investors are finally looking beyond the specter of the Federal Reserve raising rates. They see there is an eventual end to the misery of rate hikes and are realizing so many stocks were oversold in the misery of last year,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.

Meanwhile, data showed jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week to a nine-month low, highlighting the labor market’s resilience, ahead of nonfarm payroll numbers on Friday.

At 13:23 ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 93.07 points, or 0.27%, at 33,999.89, the S&P 500 was up 61.41 points, or 1.49%, at 4,180.62, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 383.38 points, or 3.24%, at 12,199.70.

The S&P 500’s chart formed a “golden cross” pattern, in which its 50-day moving average vaulted above the 200-day moving average, perceived by many as a bullish signal for near-term momentum.

The price-weighted Dow was the only major index in the red after disappointing earnings by some of its components. Honeywell International Inc shed 0.5% after posting a 28.6% fall in quarterly profit.

Drugmaker Merck & Co slid 4.6% on a lower-than-expected annual forecast, while Eli Lilly & Co dropped 5.5% on missing quarterly revenue estimates.

Align Technology Inc surged 29.3% to a nine-month high on its first quarterly results beat in a year.

Analysts now see earnings of S&P 500 firms declining 2.4% for the quarter, according to Refinitiv estimates.

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Putin promises victory in Ukraine as forces strike key city

By ANTON TROIANOVSKI

As his military pressed its eastern campaign with missile strikes on a key Ukrainian military hub, President Vladimir Putin used a speech in the city formerly known as Stalingrad on Thursday to invoke the Soviets’ defeat of the Nazis in a decisive World War II battle and vow that Russia would be victorious again.

“We are again and again being forced to resist the aggression of the collective West,” Putin said. “The legacy of generations, values and traditions — this is all what makes Russia different, what makes us strong and confident in ourselves, in our righteousness and in our victory.”

The Russian leader’s defiant remarks came as Ukrainian officials warned that Moscow was opening a new offensive aimed at capturing more of eastern Ukraine, which could give Putin his first significant battlefield success in months. Hours before he spoke, missiles hit the city of Kramatorsk, a major military hub for Kyiv’s forces in the east, as Russia continued to direct attacks at towns and cities all along the front lines.

Russia has been making slow gains in the east that now pose an imminent threat to Ukrainian control of Bakhmut, the loss of which would add momentum to Moscow’s grinding bid for control of the entire Donbas region. But a Russian victory in Bakhmut would come at a huge cost in lives, Ukraine says; the Kremlin has thrown thousands of often inexperienced fighters into brutal ground combat against dug-in Ukrainian forces.

Putin made no mention of Russia’s mounting losses in his speech. Instead, speaking at a “celebratory concert” marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet triumph in Stalingrad, now known as Volgograd, Putin lashed out again at Western nations, which are sending increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine. He made his most direct remarks yet in response to Germany’s recent decision to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks, calling it part of “the aggression of the collective West.”

Putin said it was “unbelievable” that Russia was “again being threatened” by German tanks and made a vague threat directed

at Germany, which Putin long viewed as Russia’s most important link to the West.

“We aren’t sending our tanks to their borders,” Putin said. “But we have the means to respond, and it won’t end with the use of armor. Everyone must understand this.”

Stalingrad — the turning point in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union’s fight against the Nazis in World War II — holds totemic significance for Russians as a symbol of wartime suffering, sacrifice and heroism. In 1943, the Soviets reversed the tide of Germany’s invasion there after a 200-day battle that cost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians their lives.

After he landed Thursday in Volgograd — about 600 miles southeast of Moscow and about 200 miles east of Ukraine — Russian state media footage showed Putin laying red flowers at a Soviet commander’s grave below the nearly 300-foot Motherland Calls monument, one of the world’s biggest statues. He was also shown kneeling before a wreath at a memorial flame nearby.

For Putin, the symbolism is a central trope in his messaging to Russians to push them to support his war in Ukraine, with the Kremlin’s propaganda falsely describing the Ukrainians as modern-day Nazis and twisting reality to describe the Russian invasion as a defensive war.

In his speech, Putin said that the Soviets triumphed over the Nazis because of their “solid, absolute belief that truth is on our side” — the same language that Putin has used since the first day of his invasion in pledging a Russian victory in Ukraine.

Putin’s last delivered a speech at a major public event in September on Red Square in Moscow, celebrating Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Ukraine soon dealt Moscow a major setback forcing a Russian retreat in November from the city of Kherson, which prompted increased criticism within Russia of the military’s conduct of the war.

Now the promise of Western tanks and other powerful weapons has ramped up the pressure on Putin, whose speech on Thursday was an effort to color the invasion with both history and righteousness.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia visited a memorial on Thursday dedicated to fallen soldiers of the World War II battle for Stalingrad, as seen in a photo provided by the Russian state news media.

Mr. Putin laid flowers at a grave below the nearly 300-foot-tall Motherland Calls monument, one of the world’s biggest statues, as seen in a photo provided by the Russian state news media.

A couple danced in Tehran’s streets. Now they are in prison.

By CORA ENGELBRECHT

Ayoung Iranian couple appears alone in the video, dancing in front of the Azadi Tower in downtown Tehran. They smile as they move together. The woman’s uncovered hair trails behind her as he lifts her into the air.

The video was posted online in early November, weeks after the death of 22-yearold Mahsa Amini at the hands of the police sparked widespread protests in Iran. In the months afterward, those protests grew stronger, as the government has arrested thousands and conducted a campaign of public executions.

Now the couple — Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22 — have each been sentenced to five years in prison, according to Mizan, a news agency overseen by the country’s judiciary, on charges including “colluding against national security” and “propaganda against the establishment.”

The agency said the couple used their Instagram accounts “to call for people to participate in the ‘riots,’” a reference to the protests, and said the police arrested the couple on Nov. 1, after they ignored warnings to curb their “malicious activity” online.

The couple’s Instagram accounts have nearly 1 million followers each. On

Haghighi’s Instagram account, she describes herself as a blogger. Her photos show a young woman passionate about her relationship and fashion. She appears in loosefitting clothing. Her bleach-blond hair is variously shown only partially covered — with a bandanna, hat or occasionally a hood.

The verdict was handed down by Abolghassem Salavati, a Revolutionary Court judge with a reputation for imposing harsh punishments, according to Skylar Thomp -

son, who heads advocacy for Human Rights Activists in Iran. She said Haghighi was being held at Qarchak, a notorious and isolated women’s detention facility southeast of the capital. Ahmadi was detained at Evin prison, she said.

Their arrests were the “latest display of Iran’s ill-functioning judiciary” and another example of “how consequential a system lacking complete due process can be — and has been for many years,” Thompson said.

The group has estimated that 763 Iranians who participated in the demonstrations have been tried and convicted.

The video, which was uploaded at the height of the demonstrations, struck a nerve among Iranians, attracting views on multiple social media platforms. It also caught the attention of the Iranian police, who were working to quash the demonstrations. The video was taken down at some point, but has been since reposted by other social media users.

In one post on her Instagram account, published during the first week of the demonstrations, Haghighi wrote about the pressure she had come under from the government, and recounted several encounters she had with the morality police on the streets of Tehran.

“They put me into the van. I will never forget the fear — I was trembling,” she wrote, describing her abduction by the authorities. “But this was nothing compared to the stress I feel every day when I receive their anonymous calls.”

Haghighi and Ahmadi were both beaten as they were arrested at their homes, according to HRANA, an Iranian human rights news agency, citing sources close to the defendants. Their cases were accelerated by the Revolutionary Court system, with no defense lawyers present, HRANA said in its report.

US prosecutors detail plot to kill Haitian president

By JOHN PACENTI and CHRIS CAMERON

Chief suspects in the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti made their first appearances in a federal courtroom in Miami earlier this week, agreeing to detention as the government accused the men of a sprawling conspiracy to seize power.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department charged four men in connection with the assassination and detailed a scheme that prosecutors said involved a yet-unnamed former Supreme Court judge in the country, Colombian mercenaries and an illegal arms shipment from the United States.

Three of the men are accused of conspiracy in the killing of Moïse: James Solages, 37, and Joseph Vincent, 57, both of whom are dual Haitian American citizens, and Germán Rivera García, 44, a Colombian accused of leading the group of mercenaries operating in Haiti. The fourth, Dr. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 65, also a dual

Haitian American citizen, was charged with counts related to smuggling.

The suspects told Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo Reyes of the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday that they were destitute and in need of counsel, prompting her to assign a lawyer to each. Prosecutors said all four men, who appeared in court in tan jumpsuits and surgical masks, were a flight risk.

If convicted, Solages, Vincent and Rivera face up to life in prison. Sanon faces up to 20 years.

On July 7, 2021, a group of assailants stormed Moïse’s residence near Port-auPrince, Haiti, early in the morning, shooting him 12 times and wounding his wife. Since then, Haiti has descended into chaos, with roving gangs carrying out violence and government institutions in disarray. The case in Haiti has ground to a halt, with yet another judge in the case assigned after others had resigned or been dismissed.

According to prosecutors, Solages and

Sanon met in April 2021 in South Florida to discuss “regime change in Haiti” as well as backing Sanon, a pastor, doctor and aspiring Haitian political candidate. The next month, prosecutors said, Sanon contracted equipment needed to support his own military force in Haiti, including 20 Colombian citizens.

Rivera is accused of leading the Colombian group.

The purported plot against Moïse evolved over time: from an audacious plan to kidnap the Haitian president and escape the country via airplane to the assassination that was ultimately carried out, according to a court filing.

On July 6, 2021, the day before Moïse was killed, Solages, Vincent and Rivera met with other conspirators in a house close to Moïse’s residence, the filing said. Firearms and other equipment were distributed, and Solages announced that their mission was a “CIA operation” to kill the Haitian president.

The assassins drove in a convoy to

Moïse’s residence the next day, falsely claiming that they were U.S. law enforcement to ensure compliance as they stormed the residence.

Three others also have been charged in the U.S. in connection with Moïse’s death: a government informant and Haitian businessman, Rodolphe Jaar, 49; a former Colombian soldier, Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios; and a former senator of Haiti, John Joël Joseph.

Prosecutors in court Wednesday said all seven men will be tried under the same case.

Three of the lawyers declined to address the allegations, with one saying he knew only of the case from reading the newspaper.

Another, Ken Swartz, who represents Vincent, said, “The charges are serious and we want to know what evidence that the government has.”

The men are set for arraignment Feb. 15, when they will enter pleas.

Images from a video posted on social media showing Astiyazh Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi dancing in front of Tehran’s Azadi Tower.

US to boost military role in the Philippines in push to counter China

By SUI-LEE WEE

The United States is increasing its military presence in the Philippines, gaining access to four more sites and strengthening the Southeast Asian nation’s role as a key strategic partner for Washington in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan.

The agreement, announced on Thursday, allows Washington to station military equipment and build facilities in nine locations across the Philippines, marking the first time in 30 years that the United States will have such a large military presence in the country.

The deal comes as Washington has tried to reaffirm its influence in the region amid a broader effort to counter Chinese aggression, reinforcing partnerships with strategic allies and bolstering relations that have soured in recent years. Fears have also grown over a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the island democracy that China claims as its territory. Among the five treaty allies that the United States has in Asia, the Philippines and Japan are the most geographically close to Taiwan, with the Philippines’ northernmost island of Itbayat just 93 miles away.

On Thursday, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, accused the United States of threatening regional peace and stability with its announcement.

“Out of self-interest, the United States continues to strengthen its military deployment in the region with a zerosum mentality, which is exacerbating tension in the region and endangering regional peace and stability,” she said. “Countries in the region should remain vigilant against this and avoid being coerced and used by the United States.”

In a news conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that these new sites were not permanent. The last U.S. soldiers left the Philippines in 1990s, and it is now against the country’s Constitution for foreign troops to be permanently based there.

“This is an opportunity to increase our effectiveness, increase interoperability,” he said during a visit to Manila that began on Tuesday. “It is not about permanent basing, but it is a big deal. It’s a really big deal.”

Carlito Galvez Jr., the Philippines’ defense secretary, declined to name the locations of the four additional sites, saying the government needed to consult local officials first. American officials have long eyed access to the Philippines’ northern territory, such as the land mass of Luzon, as a way to counter China in the event that it attacks Taiwan.

In November, Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro of the Philippines said that Washington had identified five possible sites, including two in Cagayan, one in Palawan, one in Zambales and one in Isabela. Cagayan and Isabela are in the northern part of the Philippines, with Cagayan sitting across from Taiwan.

“Having increased U.S. access in Northern Luzon, close to Taiwan, is really ensuring that the Philippines and the U.S. alliance is going to have a front and center role in Northeast Asian security and deterrence,” said Drew Thompson, a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and a former U.S. defense official.

The Philippines is the United States’ oldest treaty ally in Asia. Washington is shoring up its presence in the country after relations deteriorated during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term, which ended last year.

During Duterte’s term, he frequently criticized Washington and complained that the United States, the Philippines’ former colonial ruler, had created defense treaty agreements that weighed heavily in favor of the Americans. (The Philippines was a U.S. territory for nearly half a century before the country gained independence.)

U.S. officials were concerned when Duterte threatened to scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement, a long-held defense pact that allows for large-scale joint military exercises between the two allies. He also threatened to disregard the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, the deal that formed the basis for Thursday’s announcement.

Since he took office last June, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sought to revive his country’s relationship with the United States, surprising many foreign policy experts. On the campaign trail, Marcos had indicated that he would try to forge closer ties with China, a hallmark of Duterte’s term.

Marcos, the son of former dictator Ferdinand

E. Marcos, has since said he “cannot see the Philippines in the future without having the United States as a partner.” At least 16,000 Filipino and U.S. troops will train side by side in the northern province of Ilocos Norte, the stronghold of the Marcos family, later this year.

Under Marcos, officials in the Philippines have started building contingency plans for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. When the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last August, China responded by launching military exercises in multiple areas, including the Bashi Channel, a waterway separating Taiwan and the Philippines.

Taiwanese officials called it an “air and sea blockade.”

If war were to break out over Taiwan, “the battle space will encompass the Philippines,” Thompson said. China’s moves in the Bashi Channel “really brought that home for Philippine leaders,” he added.

The U.S. Marine Corps has proposed shifting toward smaller units in the region that could deploy to remote islands for missile attacks, rear support, counterattacks or intelligence gathering in the case of a war with China over Taiwan. Along with islands in Japan, the islands of the Philippines represent what U.S. military planners see as one of the most important locations for such tactics.

“I would expect to see rotational access and more frequent deployments of these small marine teams for training and joint exercises alongside their Philippine counterparts,” said Gregory B. Poling, a senior fellow for Southeast Asia and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The five existing sites where the U.S. military has access are Cesar Basa Air Base and Fort Magsaysay near Manila; the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in central Cebu province; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, to the east, and the Lumbia Air Base in the south. Since being granted access in 2016, the U.S. has used these sites to build facilities and preposition defense assets.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced a deal to give the U.S. military access to four more bases in the Philippines, bringing the total to nine.

Hard drinking and murky finances: How an American veterans group imploded in Ukraine

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Andrew Milburn, a former American Marine colonel and leader of the Mozart Group, stood in a chilly meeting room on the second floor of an apartment building in Kyiv about to deliver some bad news. In front of him sat half a dozen men who had traveled to Ukraine on their own dime to work for him. “Guys, I’m gutted,” he said. “The Mozart Group is dead.”

The men stared back at him with blank faces.

One asked as he walked toward the door, “What should I do with my helmet?”

The Mozart Group, one of the most prominent, private American military organizations in Ukraine, has collapsed under a cloud of accusations ranging from financial improprieties to alcohol-addled misjudgments. Its struggles provide a revealing window into the world of foreign volunteer groups that have flocked to Ukraine with noble intentions only to be tripped up by the stresses of managing a complicated enterprise in a war zone.

“I’ve seen this happen many times,” said one of Mozart’s veteran trainers, who, like many others, spoke only anonymously out of concerns that the Russians might target him. “You got to run these groups like a business. We didn’t do that.”

Hundreds if not thousands of foreign veterans and volunteers have passed through Ukraine. Many of them, like Milburn and his group, are hard-living men who have spent their adult lives steeped in violence, solo flyers trying to work together in a very dangerous environment without a lot of structure or rules.

The Mozart Group thrived at first, training Ukrainian troops, rescuing civilians from the front lines and raising more than $1 million in donations to finance it all. But then the money began to run out.

After months struggling to hold itself together, Mozart was plagued by defections, infighting, a break-in at its office headquarters and a lawsuit filed by the company’s chief financial officer, Andrew Bain, seeking the ouster of Milburn.

The lawsuit, filed in Wyoming, where Mozart is registered as a limited liability company, is a litany of petty and serious allegations, accusing Milburn among other things of making derogatory comments about Ukraine’s leadership while “significantly intoxicated,” letting his dog urinate in a borrowed apartment and “diverting company funds” and other financial malfeasance.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m flawed,” said Milburn, who acknowledged in an interview that he had been drinking when he made

the comments on Ukraine. “We all are.” But he denied the more serious allegations about financial improprieties, calling them “utterly ridiculous.”

When Milburn showed up in Ukraine in early March last year, the capital, Kyiv, was seemingly on the precipice. Russian forces were blasting their way in from the suburbs and Ukraine was rushing thousands of inexperienced soldiers to the front.

That’s when, through a mutual friend, Milburn, 59, met Bain, 58. Also a former Marine colonel, Bain had been working in media and marketing in Ukraine for more than 30 years.

“The Two Andys,” as Mozart employees would come to call them, shared a vision of doing whatever they could to help Ukraine win the war.

Milburn, whose career has tracked America’s wars of the past three decades, from Somalia to Iraq, had both the combat experience and the contacts. He counts Marine heavyweights like the author Bing West and a former defense secretary, Gen. James Mattis, as friends.

Bain had the organization. For eight years, since Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014, he had been running the Ukrainian Freedom Fund, a charity he set up that turned donations into desperately needed gear for the Ukrainian military.

The two founded Mozart, the name a saucy response to the Russian mercenary force that uses the name of another famous composer, the Wagner Group. They also ran a shortlived podcast called “Two Marines in Kyiv.”

But they had very different styles. Milburn is gregarious, comfortable in the spotlight — he wrote a searing memoir — and by his own admission, hot tempered. Bain, who studied classics at Yale, is more reserved and cerebral.

From the beginning, there were tensions, both said. “For 30 minutes he’s the most charming man in the world,” Bain said of Milburn. “But at minute 31, you’re like, ‘Wait, something’s not working back there.’”

Milburn said that while he did not want to insult Bain, “the facts speak for themselves, and I can’t give any more insights into his character than what he’s done.”

With the Ukrainian military desperate for all the Western support it could get, Mozart quickly expanded from a handful of combat vets to more than 50 employees from a dozen countries. The group’s two specialties became last-chance extractions of civilians trapped on the front lines, which was extremely dangerous work, and condensed military training.

As spring passed to summer, more Ukrainian military units asked Mozart for training. But the Ukrainians could not pay for it, leaving Mozart reliant on a small pool of steady donors, including a group of East Coast financiers with Jewish-Ukrainian roots and a Texas tycoon.

Everyone involved said it became stressful just making payroll. And several employees said that the way the money flowed into the organization, which was overseen by Bain, was opaque.

“I can’t tell you how many people would come up to me at a party and said, “Hey, Marty, I love what you’re doing. I want to give you $10,000,” said Martin Wetterauer, one of Milburn’s old Marine friends and Mozart’s operations chief. “But we would never know if the money actually came in.”

Bain said he did absolutely nothing wrong and provided financial information whenever it was asked for, which was rare.

On top of that, the people Mozart hired were not the easiest to manage. Many were grizzled combat vets who admitted to struggling with PTSD and heavy drinking. When they weren’t working, they gravitated to Kyiv’s strip clubs,

bars and online dating.

“There was a lot of cursing, a lot of womanizing, a lot of things you wouldn’t want to take to Mass,” said another trainer, Rob.

In September, they lost an important funding stream when a charity called Allied Extract decided to use less expensive Ukrainian teams to rescue civilians. By November, Mozart was so short of cash that Milburn, Bain and Wetterauer gave up their salaries of several hundred dollars a day.

Bain, who owned 51% of the company then approached Milburn, who held the other 49%, about separating, both men said in interviews. Bain asked Milburn to pay $5 million to buy him out but Milburn refused, saying there was no way he could come up with such a sum. The two soon stopped talking.

As soon as Bain filed the lawsuit on Jan. 10, an internecine social media battle exploded. Bain published the allegations on Mozart’s Facebook page, which he controls, and Milburn fired back nasty comments about Bain from Mozart’s LinkedIn page, which he controls.

Milburn has rented a new office in Kyiv and says he is determined to resurrect the operation.

“I dream of going back to Donbas,” he said. “When you’re out there, and you’re scared, everything else shrinks into the shadows. You’re not thinking about money. You’re not thinking about your reputation.”

But he’s not going back to the front anytime soon. He spent hours this week in front of his laptop. He’s scouting out new business, such as training courses for hostile environments. He’s writing emails to donors.

And he’s talking to his lawyers.

Rob, left, a member of the Mozart Group, training Ukrainian soldiers last year.

Robbed of space to mourn

By CHARLES M. BLOW

When RowVaughn Wells arrived at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church on an icy, gray Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee, she was there to say goodbye to her son Tyre Nichols. He was dead. Killed. Beaten to death by local police officers while he screamed for her less than 100 yards from her house.

There was a phalanx of television crews across the street from the front of the church, and the Secret Service manned the doors. The sanctuary was full of dignitaries, including Vice President Kamala Harris.

Wells entered the church under the glare of TV cameras that craned over the balcony, and when she neared the front, and the black coffin surrounded by white flowers, she began to shake her head and fight back tears.

Her grief and mourning were not her own. They could not be walled off from the political drama in which she was thrust and caught.

When the church’s presiding pastor, the Rev. Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, opened the service, he said:

“This family has endured the unsolicited, unwarranted, unreasonable, unjustifiable and massive burden of grieving their loved one and at the same time fighting for justice.”

This is the thought that I have not been able to shake in this case and those that preceded it:

Not only is their loss staggering, but their ability to grieve that loss has also been altered and interrupted, converted into politics and performance. Privacy is unavailable to them.

As Hunter Demster, a local organizer, told me, the family members have endured “vigil, after protest, after news conference, after news interview.” Although he was leery of saying for certain, he didn’t believe they’d “had a moment to sit and grieve.”

Mourning, properly, slowly and messily if needed, shouldn’t be a luxury. It’s the least that any of us deserves when tragedy befalls our families.

As Collette Flanagan, whose son was also killed by a police officer and who runs the group Mothers Against Police Brutality, told me by phone just before the funeral started, she remembers telling herself that “you’re going to have to put this grief on a shelf,” that “you’re going to have to put aside all of your hurt and your sorrow, and you cannot go quietly

into the night.”

Forcing these families to subjugate their mourning is a crime, a moral crime.

Mourning in public, on repeat, under and in front of the lights and cameras, isn’t part of the normal grieving process. Many people can hardly understand their flood of emotion, let alone live with the pressure of constantly being asked to form those feelings into sound bites.

And yet, somehow, families like Nichols’ valiantly do just that. They put their personal mourning “on the shelf” to become leaders of a mass public mourning. They advocate for their dead child instead of simply mourning the dead child. They are drafted into a war — without warning or preparation — a war in which the enemy is entrenched and the comrades beleaguered.

What they surrender — what we force them to surrender — is what grief expert Joél Simone Maldonado described to me as the “sacredness in grief,” the sitting alone with it in silence, the honoring of loss and developing ritual around it. Families must engage instead in what Maldonado calls “performance grief.”

And sadly, the legions of these families are growing.

At the funeral, I sat in front of Donna Gates Bullard, who tapped me on the arm before the service and explained that her brother Michael Gates was also beaten to death by law enforcement in Memphis. He was killed by sheriff’s deputies in a so-called “jump and grab” sting operation in 1989. (Memphis seems to have no shortage of horrible names for their tough-on-crime efforts.)

Bullard said she came to the funeral to honor her brother. This is something I’ve often seen, the pilgrimage of mothers or sisters of other slain children to the sight of a funeral of the newest one. Their grieving is ongoing and unresolved.

During one of the musical interludes, I looked back and saw Bullard burst into tears, her hands clasped across her bosom, as if trying to hold herself together.

These family members are constantly told that they must be strong for their killed child, but where is the space for vulnerability? Where is the space for human frailty? Where is the opening to confess their fatigue without judgment? Where is the space for them to be when the only noise their mouths can make is that of wailing and cursing the sky?

We have a model for a kind of perfect performance of grief from these women, a single script to follow.

They are made to polish and professionalize mourning, to substitute oration for lamentation, to respectfully receive an endless stream of condolences when the soul craves silence.

I have seen this conflict up close in other mothers who have lost children to violence and who made that loss part of a cause.

When I first interviewed Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, in person, she was consumed and shrunken by grief. She brought her mother to the interview, and she reflexively wrapped her hands around her mother’s arm

and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder as she spoke.

When I spent the day with Sam DuBose’s family in 2015, his mother, Audrey, was so drained that she needed to cling to me just to leave the car and walk into a TV interview. But when the lights came on and the camera rolled, she delivered a stirring and spirited interview. After it was over, she confessed to me in a whisper, “All I want to do is just shut my door and cover up and never open it again.”

When I interviewed Tamir Rice’s mom, Samaria, that same year, on the one-year anniversary of her son’s death at the hands of a Cleveland police officer, one of the first things she told me was, “I’m tired and I’m overwhelmed, and I just want to go to bed.” But she couldn’t go to bed. That day, she had to perform; she had to receive hugs and do interviews and deliver a speech, which she did with passion and conviction just feet from where the blood of her 12-year-old boy had soaked the ground.

Not only do these women lose a part of their heart when their children are killed, the rest of the heart is bound in expectations and advocacy. The loss is compounded.

16 Cooperativas se unen para Financiamiento Millonario

POR EL STAR STAFF

FAJARDO– El pasado martes, 31 de enero de 2023 se llevó a cabo con gran éxito el cierre de uno de los proyectos más ambiciosos e importantes del año, 16 Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito, representantes de varios pueblos de Puerto Rico, se unieron para otorgar un financiamiento millonario a la empresa local Royale Blue Hospitality del Hotel El Conquistador en Fajardo. El préstamo comercial de 20 millones de dólares apuesta al desarrollo de la zona turística, la expansión del turismo en el área este del país así como la ampliación en el mercado

laboral con sobre 1,000 empleos.

“Este junte ha sido histórico y para Puerto Rico”, inició Nancy Banrey, presidenta de la Junta de Directores de la Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito de Las Piedras. Y es que por primera vez un grupo tan amplio de Cooperativas se unen para este fin.

La actividad contó con la presencia de los Presidentes Ejecutivos de las cooperativas participantes, miembros de la Juntas de Directores, empleados, la Presidenta Ejecutiva de COSSEC, la Sra. Mabel Jiménez, la Sra. Mildred Santiago, Presidenta Ejecutiva de la Liga de Cooperativas de P.R, representes del Hotel, asesores legales y comerciales.

“El sistema cooperativo es fuerte, no hay quien lo pare. Una vez más da cátedra con su aportación en el desarrollo económico de nuestra Isla. Me enorgullece que 16 cooperativas se hayan unido para hacer una aportación histórica con el propósito de subvencionar un proyecto a gran escala que realizará la administración del Hotel El Conquistador”, mencionó Jiménez.

Esta inyección económica es una puerta de oportunidades que se abre a otras empresas e inversionistas quienes estén en búsqueda de

oportunidades de desarrollo a que cuenten con el modelo cooperativo para la progresión económica sustentable en diversos proyectos.

Asimismo, la Sra. Mildred Santiago resaltó la importancia de la integración de las Cooperativas en este tipo de proyectos, posicionándose como un sector más fuerte, convirtiéndose en gran ejemplo y enfatizando en que “Las cooperativas no compiten, se unen y ahí está la diferencia”.

Por su parte, el Sr. Edgar López Román, presidente de Cooperativa Las Piedras, cooperativa líder del grupo, aseguró que el millonario financiamiento es la puerta para continuar con este tipo de proyectos y ser una alternativa de financiamiento para Puerto Rico, para no sólo el sector del turismo, sino también para muchos otros sectores”

Por consiguiente, el Sr. Néstor Amador, representante del hotel, expuso que “el apoyo de las 16 cooperativas es fundamental para el desarrollo de esta empresa y apalancar el crecimiento exponencial del Hotel El Conquistador”.

El financiamiento fue posible a las cooperativas: Credicentro Coop, Cabo Rojo Coop, Caguas Coop, HatiCoop, Moca Coop, Jayuya Coop, Cidreña, MaunaCoop, Cooperativa Las Piedras, Cooperativa Jesús Obrero, Cupey Alto Cooperativa, Buena Coop, Cooperativa Roosevelt Roads, BoniCoop, Cooperativa San Blas y Manatí Coop.

Continúan discrepancias entre el Departamento de Educación y la Autoridad de Edificios Públicos sobre el mantenimiento de escuelas

ras y la limpieza. Además, agregó que ellos desean trabajar sin importar quién tiene la titularidad.

EL CAPITOLIO – En seguimiento a una mesa redonda realizada en septiembre, la Comisión de Educación, Turismo y Cultura, que preside la senadora Ada García Montes, realizó una vista pública sobre la Resolución del Senado 114 en busca de soluciones a la situación del mantenimiento de las escuelas.

Nuevamente, el Departamento de Educación (DE) y la Autoridad de Edificos Públicos (AEP) expresaron discrepancias en torno al mantenimiento y los pagos emitidos. El director ejecutivo de la AEP, Yamil Ayala Cruz mencionó que el custodio de todas las titulares de los planteles es el Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP), pero el DE tiene la posesión de todas las escuelas. Por lo tanto, son los responsables del mantenimiento de las estructu-

“Usted nos aclara que la titularidad no es importante, pero cuando yo llamo a Educación para pedir cuentas de las escuelas, miran el listado y dicen ‘eso no es mío, es de Edificos Públicos’, así que a ellos les importa. ¿El dinero es de ellos o de ustedes”, preguntó la presidenta de la comisión.

Ayala Cruz respondió que Educación es el recipiente de todos los fondos federales para la reconstrucción de las escuelas, y de estos pagos, la AEP “no tiene ni uno solo de esos fondos en su cuenta”.

En su ponencia, el DE incluyó que paga, anualmente, un promedio de $72 millones a AEP por el alquiler y mantenimiento rutinario de 384 escuelas. Asimismo, menciona que se asignaron $6.8 millones para el mantenimiento rutinario que realiza OMEP en 468 planteles.

POR EL STAR STAFF

By CHRIS KORNELIS

In the ABC sitcom “Not Dead Yet,” premiering Feb. 8, Nell Serrano is an obituary writer who, according to the subject of one of her assignments — yes, she’s visited by the dead — envies other people’s happiness.

Gina Rodriguez, who is expecting her first child, spoke with us last month, saying that she’s in a different, happier place than Nell, whom she plays, but she knows things could change at any time. “I’m learning at every single turn,” she said.

Previously the star of the CW television series “Jane the Virgin” and heard in the title role of the Netflix animated series “Carmen Sandiego,” Rodriguez shared some of the music on her birth playlist, as well as other things that have been helping her get by, including “WandaVision” and “Be Here

Now.” (These are edited excerpts from the conversation.)

1. “WandaVision”: I started watching the show during my pregnancy. At first I was like, what is this show? It’s a take on “I Love Lucy”? And then I saw that it’s all wrapped up in her grief. The power of human emotion and the unconscious decisions that we make when we’re in these spaces of love and longing and grief are just wild and awesome. Its portrayal of a human journey through the possibility of action based on an unconscious emotion is really interesting to me.

2. Ram Dass: My husband discovered Ram Dass and brought him into our relationship. I find the way he viewed the world and the journey he went on to be very helpful to me. We have, like, 14 copies of his book “Be Here Now,” because it’s our No. 1 present we give people. Every time I listen to the audiobook “Becoming Nobody,” I learn something new, and I’m reminded that I fall right back into things, such

as feeling like my identity is my everything and my ego gets attached to the identity.

3. Failure: In my production company, we want to create a safe space for failure because it’s only in failure that you learn. And if you don’t get another chance after failure, it is such an unfortunate missed opportunity for growth. When you have a space where you can fail, you do better, you get stronger and you say, “OK, I’m not going to do it like this, I’m going to try it like this. Or that path didn’t work, let’s try this next path.”

4. “The Dawn of Everything”: I have always been interested in the history of humankind. It’s so interesting that every time we personify people of the past, they’re not as intelligent and not as civilized. I picked up David Graeber and David Wengrow’s “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” on a Barnes & Noble shopping spree. It’s riveting. It presents such an interesting perspective on the history of humanity, and it makes me think about everything just a little bit more.

5. Bidet: When we remodeled our home, we had a combination toilet/bidet put in our primary bedroom. It is a game changer. When we go overseas and the bidet is a separate unit, I’m like, this is fabulous. It should be like this everywhere.

6. “My Brilliant Friend”: After we shot “Annihilation,” Natalie Portman gave me Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels series as a wrap gift. I have read each of them multiple times. Starting with “My Brilliant Friend,” they are the most whiskyou-away, escape-into-another-person’s-world books. I love them so much. It was the best wrap gift I’ve ever gotten. And I always think about Natalie when I read them.

7. Mumford & Sons: I have a playlist of songs to listen to when I give birth. Several Mumford & Sons songs are on the playlist, including “Little Lion Man,” “Awake My Soul” and “I Will Wait.” They sing like they’re connected to the center of the universe. It makes me feel a sense of closeness to my ancestors, even though it’s not the kind of music my ancestors listened to. There’s just a spirituality to their music. Whether they were writing that or not, that’s what I respond to.

8. Bad Bunny: My fellow Puerto Rican artist is definitely the music of my ancestors. I think he is super innovative. He’s been able to introduce styles of music, such as merengue, that haven’t been popular in the United States. Bad Bunny makes me feel every nostalgia under the sun of my childhood. And I just think he’s super, super talented.

9. Oregon: After we started visiting friends in Bend, we fell in love with Oregon, which is now our second home. We try and spend half the year there. It’s such a beautiful state. There are so many different climates and things to see — the mountains, the coast, the woods. I saw my first owl in Oregon. I grew up in Chicago and Puerto Rico. We weren’t seeing owls.

10. Oahu: Hawaii feels like home. It feels like Puerto Rico. There is a oneness of Mother Nature there that feels like the center of the forest, but it’s beach, and it’s jungle, and it’s water and ocean. Oddly, you find a lot of people who vacation in Hawaii in Oregon, and vice versa. They feel like polar opposites, but they tend to draw people with the same kind of yearning for Mother Nature.

Previously the star of “Jane the Virgin,” Gina Rodriguez plays an obituary writer in the new series “Not Dead Yet.”

Horario: Lunes a Sábado

Bo. Quebrada Carr 929 Km 2.3 San Lorenzo, P.R. 00754 (cerca Gallera San Carlos) La Ruta 929 Auto Parts laruta_929_autoparts

Gina Rodríguez has a playlist for when she gives birth

‘80 for Brady’ review: Remember these titans

that Marvin is freed up to lavish attention on his bit players. Even brief parts like a book store clerk or an underpaid worker at a carnival game earn solid snickers from just a sentence or two of dialogue. The only thankless role goes to Sara Gilbert as the daughter tasked to nag Tomlin’s character about her health; Gilbert’s stuck in reality while everyone else is doing jazz hands with Gugu (Billy Porter), the halftime choreographer. Instead, the more absurd the gag, the better it works. As Trish, a lovelorn author of Rob Gronkowski erotica (sample title: “Between a Gronk and a Hard Place”), Fon-

da finds herself selecting the perfect Barbarella blond wig for a romance with a debonair jock played by Harry Hamlin. Moreno’s Maura, a widow with a flair for bold jackets, stumbles into a room steeling herself for an orgy only to find a poker table of Guy Fieri clones, a mesmerizing image destined to be painted on velvet and mounted over a plate of nachos. We’re so pleasantly pummeled by silliness that the film comes to feel like a massage. As soon as I roused myself to wonder if the friends would wind up on a Jumbotron, there they were, grinning for the camera. I grinned back.

By AMY NICHOLSON

Tom Brady, the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history, has said he is retiring “for good” at the age of 45. But at a combined age of 335, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno muscle “80 for Brady,” a comedy about a fan club’s frenetic Super Bowl weekend, over the goal line. The setup is that Lou (Tomlin), who is living with cancer, is adamant that she and her besties will attend a Super Bowl before she returns an urgent message from her oncologist. Betty (Field), a math professor, calculates that they have a 0.0013% chance of winning a callin contest to see the 2017 showdown between Brady’s New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. But wish fulfillment is in their favor, as is director Kyle Marvin’s choice to treat obstacles like breakaway paper banners to be torn through by its winning team.

This stubbornly charming romp is, quite literally, fan fiction inspired by a group of female friends from North Attleborough, Massachusetts, one of whom had a grandson with

the Hollywood connections to pitch their story to Tom Brady’s film production company. Brady serves as one of the movie’s producers, as well as its motivational mascot. In times of need, he pops up as a talking bobblehead who whispers advice, while flashbacks to the game itself hail that year’s victory as one of football’s most memorable comebacks.

Predictability doesn’t scare screenwriters Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, who collaborated previously as writers of “Booksmart.”

Their script is a barrage of quirky one-liners that punch up familiar set pieces like an accidental drug bender, a hot wings-eating contest, and a high-stakes card game. It gambles, correctly, that the veteran cast can convince the audience to play along with outlandish contrivances — including an assurance that four seniors in loudly bedazzled jerseys can, when needed, sneak around like ninjas.

The benefit of leads with decades of personal chemistry, plus the classic studio ingénue training to hoof it through corny material, is

CONVOCATORIA ASAMBLEA GENERAL

Conforme a resolución aprobada por el Directorio del PNP y al Artículo 15 del Reglamento de nuestro Partido se convoca a la Asamblea General de Ratificación. La misma se llevará a cabo, según se indica a continuación:

FECHA:

DOMINGO, 5 DE MARZO DE 2023

HORA: 9:00AM

LUGAR:

Coliseo Roberto Clemente San Juan, P.R.

Pedro R. Pierluisi Presidente Carmelo J. Ríos Secretario General

From left, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin and Rita Moreno in a scene from “80 for Brady.”

SOCIAL

Vino Di Mare 2022

By JUDY GORDON-CONDE and JENNIFER CONDE-POWERS

The Jane Stern Dorado Community Library board and staff welcomed delighted guests to their annual celebration, highlighting the many achievements of this prestigious non-profit at the Dorado Beach Resort and Club Pavillion.

Sumptuous hors d’oeuvres, plus fine wines from around the world, courtesy of Plaza Cellars, were passed around. The event’s mood was electric as guests acknowledged the Jane Stern Community Li-

brary and its continued dedication in Dorado to enhance literacy and learning opportunities to help transform lives.

The event also included a delicious buffet, charity gaming, and a live auction for an exceptional, fun-filled night.

Katie Shoen, Betina Castellví, Monica Hayes, Maritere Matosantos, Marilyn Stern

Carolina & Federico Stubbe

Francisco Zamora, Monica Hayes, Rosanna Briceño & husband

Casino Night

Ivette Navas & Gustavo Sepúlveda

Orlando Fiallo, Ivette Navas, Yamilette Torres, Cassandra Kruthoff, Luis A. Pérez

Maritere Matosantos, Monica Hayes, Waleska Rivera, Katie Shoen

The American wine industry has an old people problem

By GENEVIEVE KO

The state of the American wine industry is grim, according to a closely watched report that annually analyzes its trajectory. Winemakers and advertisers are missing out on younger consumers, the report says, by failing to produce wines that fit their budgets and neglecting to reach out to them with targeted marketing campaigns.

The newest edition of “State of the U.S. Wine Industry,” which has made recommendations for more than 20 years, found that the only area of growth for American wine was among consumers over 60, said its author, Rob McMillan, executive vice president of Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California, and a longtime analyst of the American wine industry. The biggest growth area, he said, was among 70- to 80-year-olds.

As it has in recent years, the report urged the wine industry to do a better job of appealing to younger consumers, who have many more beverage options today than baby boomers did in their formative years. Among those are craft beers, smallproduction spirits and craft cocktails, hard seltzer and other new beverages, like hard kombucha and cannabis drinks.

The problem, in McMillan’s view, is not so much wine itself but the marketing. He believes that the wine industry as a whole has to take steps to inspire curiosity and intrigue about wine, and to highlight aspects that he said would appeal to younger generations.

Specifically, he said the industry ought to emphasize the environmental sustainability of wine, and should embrace transparent nutrition and ingredient labeling, which the industry has resisted for years, to attract those concerned about health and wellness.

The pessimistic prognosis extends and amplifies last year’s report, which focused on millennials, who have not shown the same interest in wine as boomers, the prime consumers of wine.

New data from Sovos ShipCompliant, a company that helps wine producers comply with the myriad shipping laws governing 50 states, allowed McMillan to track 80 million consumer transactions since 2007 to paint a clearer picture for the 2023 re-

port. He said consumers younger than 60 were even less interested in buying wine today than they were in 2007.

“It’s worse than I thought,” McMillan said in a phone interview. “I thought we would have made some progress with under-60s. I’ve been talking about this problem for seven years and we still haven’t reacted.”

It’s not that younger consumers don’t have the money to buy wine, McMillan said. He cited an annual report on luxury goods by Bain & Company, a consulting firm that says the luxury market is experiencing healthy growth and attributes this to spending by millennials (those born 1981 to 1996) and Generation Z (those born 1997 to 2010 or so).

Sales of bottles costing more than $15, roughly what the industry refers to as “premium wines,” did quite well, with “excellent growth and returns.” The biggest problem is with wines under $15, what McMillan called “the production side” because, in the United States, at least, most brands under $15 are mass-produced.

What’s missing, McMillan argues, are enticing introductory wines, bottles that provide the sort of “aha” moments that will draw consumers into learning more about

wine and perhaps finding a lifelong pursuit in seeking the same pleasures. He cited wine coolers, wines mixed with carbonated water and sold in cans or small bottles under brands like Bartles & Jaymes, which he said were instrumental in introducing baby boomers to wine in the 1980s and ’90s.

Nowadays, the report said, this smallserving category has been co-opted by hard seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails, though it did suggest that wine in cans was an opportunity to build sales.

“There has never been a wider gulf between the success of the production side of the wine business and that of the premium side,” the report said, but it warned producers of higher-priced wines not to be complacent. “Those issues impacting lower-priced wine will eventually impact premium producers too if nothing alters the current consumer trajectory.”

Most people on the business side of the wine industry read the report, as Silicon Valley Bank is deeply connected in the wine industry and is often a source for loans and financing. Whether people act on the findings is another matter.

Last year’s report proposed an industrywide marketing campaign along the lines of the “Got Milk?” promotions of the 1990s.

But the initiative was stymied when some in the industry objected to mandatory contributions that would have financed the campaign.

Not everybody in the business agrees with the report entirely. Carlton McCoy Jr. — a millennial who is a managing partner of Lawrence Wine Estates, which owns estates in Napa Valley and Bordeaux — doesn’t entirely trust the Sovos data, which tracks transactions directly between producers and consumers. He believes it underestimates the number of younger people who are engaged with wine and buying in stores or restaurants.

“I’m not sure if 30 years ago we tracked the wine-drinking habits of those in their late 20s to late 30s,” he said, “but no one that I work with that is in their mid- to late-60s drank wine until after they were 30. I feel the wine industry is evolving to appeal to many different demographics.”

McCoy said he found it exciting that the wine industry is diversifying how it is selling and marketing wines under $15, including packaging, labeling and tone of marketing.

But McMillan said the wine industry is failing dismally at advertising and promotion, which plays an important role in sparking consumer interest in wine. He cited figures showing that $122 million was spent on wine advertising in 2021 — far less than for beer ($886 million), spirits ($533 million) or flavored malt beverages ($328 million).

What advertising there was, he said, was directed at older consumers, “selling white-linen hospitality and gracious living, with a nod to the lifestyles of the rich and famous in many cases — information that’s interesting to wine geeks and consumers over 60 but probably not to the vast majority of potential customers.”

“That message is at best wasted on a younger crowd,” he said. “At worst, it’s turning them off.”

Marketing to younger consumers ought to amplify sustainability and social responsibility, McMillan said, subjects that wine is well-positioned to highlight. Health awareness is an area where wine has already showed some success, with so-called clean

Continues on page 24

Canned wines at La Calenda restaurant in Yountville, Calif., on May 2, 2019. A new report finds that wine in cans is one way the American wine industry should court younger consumers.

From page 23

wines, a largely meaningless term meant to imply healthfulness, doing well.

Hard seltzers, he said, with a clear message of “no added sugars” and few ingredients, have excelled with healthminded consumers. Unlike wine, seltzers are required by the Food and Drug Administration to add a nutritional label to their packaging, which McMillan said works to their advantage. The wine industry has long resisted requirements for ingredients and nutritional information.

“We lack the transparency our consumers are demanding when we refuse to even put calories on the label, and that is a huge marketing miss,” he said.

McMillan asserted that young people are skeptical about inauthentic and opaque marketing. I haven’t seen evidence suggesting this is truer of younger generations than anybody else, but visiting a wine bar in a bigger city offers some support. The patrons are often young, and they are drinking wine. Often, it’s natural wine, mostly imported brands, not “clean wines,” which are often examples of opaque marketing.

I will go further about the appeal of natural wine. Perceived healthfulness is important, but authenticity and a spirit of unpretentious fun are the most crucial elements. If boomers portrayed wine as a reward of what Robert Mondavi used to call the “good life,” — epitomized by prosperity, bucolic surroundings and abundant leisure time — natural wine is seen as a feature of any life. It’s a staple of daily living rather than an aspirational symbol.

McMillan suggested an ideal sales pitch for wine: “Our wine is made from

organically farmed grapes and contains natural yeast, natural and added sulfites for freshness and less than 1% residual sugar from the harvested grapes. A 5-ounce serving has 140 calories.”

This pitch is attractive. It lacks only one element: price. I can guarantee that few, if any, West Coast wines farmed organically and made with natural yeast will sell for under $15, a price that, even if younger consumers are buying luxury goods, is essential for drawing in new consumers.

Back in the early days of the pandemic, I recommended 15 wines all under $15 a bottle. Only two were American: one from the Finger Lakes of New York and the other from Oregon. In my regular 20 Under $20 columns, it’s increasingly difficult to include West Coast wines without repeating past selections.

Plenty of inexpensive American wines are out there, of course. But for the most part, they are not particularly good and the winemakers find it difficult to compete with imports, particularly from historic wine-producing regions.

The reasons are clear, in my opinion. Land, especially on the West Coast, and labor are more expensive in the United States, particularly in places appropriate for making wine. Much of the inexpensive wine in California comes from the Central Valley, a hot, flat expanse devoted to quantity over quality. Many of the wines made there are mass-produced, inexpensive knockoffs of higher-status wines.

Consumers looking for American wines might see expensive, labor-intensive cabernet sauvignons, chardonnays and pinot noirs made to exacting standards from Napa and Sonoma, for

example, and inexpensive cabernets, chardonnays and pinot noirs made with technology and artifice to mimic the expensive bottles.

By contrast, Europe is full of familyrun wine businesses in little-known appellations growing unknown grapes that are well suited to the land. These wines express heritage and tradition, and can often be produced at lower costs than American wines of similar quality.

But they are at a disadvantage. If young people, or anybody, really, with little experience in wine, want to order a glass of wine in a restaurant, they are more likely to order a glass of familiar chardonnay, or even a mass-produced Italian pinot grigio, rather than, say, a grillo from Sicily or a baga from Bairrada in Portugal.

As a result, Americans might be paying $15 to $20 for a mediocre glass of wine, which is sad, as wines by the glass are a perfect introductory opportunity. Or, that money might go toward a world-class cocktail or craft beer, which represent better values.

The American wine industry is eminently capable of producing good, distinctive and moderately priced wine. It will come from lesser-known regions with little-known grapes. Small producers in California do it every year, though it’s hard for them to sell their bottles for $15 or less. Unfortunately, they are the exception. Wine, like network television in a streaming world, will probably never play the same central role for younger consumers as it has with older people. But it can do better.

Nuestra agencia de seguros continua operando via remoto para beneficio de nuestros socios. Podemos ayudarte a realizar:

• Reclamaciones

• Transferencias y/o retiros de cuenta IRA

• Información o adquisición de seguros

¡TODO

McMillan asserted that young people are skeptical about inauthentic and opaque marketing.

Puedes obtener una cubierta de seguro que puede ayudarte económicamente, si estuvieras hospitalizado o en gastos funebres.

DESDE LA COMODIDAD DE SU HOGAR!

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. SUCESION DE MICHAEL GEORGE SMOLIN PARKER, COMPUESTA

POR SU VIUDA AMERICA

ROBLES CARRION

Y FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; AMERICA ROBLES CARRION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: FA2022CV00146.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO (EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA). EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

A: SUCESION DE MICHAEL GEORGE SMOLIN PARKER, COMPUESTA POR SU VIUDA AMERICA ROBLES

CARRION Y FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, COMO HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS CON POSIBLE INTERÉS; AMERICA ROBLES

CARRION; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM).

Yo, SANDRALIZ MARTINEZ TORRES, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #737, Alguacil de este Tribunal, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO

SABER: Que el día 6 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina, sita en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Fajardo, Fajardo, Puerto Rico, venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad inmueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta se ordenó por la vía ordinaria al mejor postor quien hará el pago en dinero en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del o la Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al

procedimiento incoado, estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal de Fajardo durante horas laborables. Que en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación en la primera subasta a celebrarse, se celebrará una SEGUNDA SUBASTA para la venta de la susodicha propiedad, el día 13 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE y en caso de no producir remate ni adjudicación, se celebrará una TERCERA SUBASTA el día 20 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 1:30 DE LA TARDE en mi oficina sita en el lugar antes indicado. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: RUSTICA: Parcela de terreno radicada en el BARRIO JIMÉNEZ del término municipal de Río Grande, Puerto Rico, marcada parcela “B” en el plano de inscripción, que tiene una cabida de NOVECIENTOS TREINTA Y UNO PUNTO TREINTA Y CINCO (931.35) METROS CUADRADOS, equivalentes a PUNTO VEINTICUATRO (.24) CUERDA; en lindes por el NORTE, distancia de cincuenta y cinco punto veintiséis (55.26) metros, con Edwin Jacobo Colberg Ramírez y Betty Colberg Ramírez; por el SUR, distancia de treinta y seis punto ochenta y ocho (36.88) metros, con Juana Vélez Pérez; por el ESTE, distancia de trece punto once (13.11) metros, con Edwin Jacobo Colberg Ramírez y Betty Colberg Ramírez; y por el OESTE, distancia de treinta y cuatro punto treinta y siete (34.37) metros, con la Carretera Estatal número Novecientos Sesenta y Seis (966) y según plano por el Oeste, con la parcela “D” dedicada a uso público. La escritura de hipoteca se encuentra inscrita al folio móvil del tomo 431 de Río Grande, Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección Tercera, finca número 5,923, inscripción tercera. La dirección física de la propiedad antes descrita es: Parcela B, Rd. 966, Km. 0.7, Barrio Jiménez, Río Grande, Puerto Rico. La subasta se llevará a efecto para satisfacer a la parte demandante la suma de $32,727.73 de principal, intereses al 7.25% anual, desde el día 1ro. de agosto de 2021, hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad de $6,710.00 estipulada para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más recargos acumulados, todas cuyas sumas están líquidas y exigibles. Que la cantidad mínima de licitación en la primera subasta para el inmueble será de $67,100.00 y de ser necesaria una segunda subasta, la cantidad mínima será equivalente a 2/3 partes de aquella,

o sea, la suma de $44,733.34 y de ser necesaria una tercera subasta, la cantidad mínima será la mitad del precio pactado, es decir, la suma de $33,550.00. Si se declara desierta la tercera subasta se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si esta 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. La propiedad se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América en el momento de la adjudicación y que todo licitador acepta como suficiente la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes preferentes, si los hubiese, continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. La propiedad a ser vendida en pública subasta se adquirirá libre de cargas y gravámenes posteriores. Podrán concurrir como postores a todas las subastas los titulares de créditos hipotecarios vigentes y posteriores a la hipoteca que se cobra o ejecuta, si alguno o que figuren como tales en la certificación registral y que podrán utilizar el montante de sus créditos o parte de alguno en sus ofertas. Si la oferta aceptada es por cantidad mayor a la suma del crédito o créditos preferentes al suyo, al obtener la buena pro del remate, deberá satisfacer en el mismo acto, en efectivo o en cheque de gerente, la totalidad del crédito hipotecario que se ejecuta y la de cualesquiera otro créditos posteriores al que se ejecuta pero preferente al suyo. El exceso constituirá abono total o parcial en su propio crédito. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico, a 26 de octubre de 2022. SANDRALIZ MARTÍNEZ TORRES, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #737, ALGUACIL DEL TRIBUNAL, SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

CENTRO JUDICIAL DE AGUA-

DILLA SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

FRANCISCO JAVIER MORALES LORENZO, SU ESPOSA ZAYDA GONZÁLEZ SOTO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: AG2022CV00290.

Sala: 602. Sobre: 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, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, 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 19 de julio de 2022, 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: RUSTICA: Parcela marcada con el número 150 A en el plano de parcelación de la Comunidad Rural Rafael Hernández del Barrio Guerrero del término municipal de Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 946.05 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, con canal de riego; por el SUR, con calle número 6 de la comunidad y parcela número 410 de la comunidad; por el ESTE, con camino privado terrenos propiedad de Antonio Valle y por el OESTE, con la parcela número 150 de la comunidad. Inscrita en la finca número 20,329, al folio 50 del tomo 359 de Aguadilla. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Aguadilla. La propiedad ubica en: 150-A 6 St. Rafael Hernández Comm. Aguadilla, PR. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada en este caso el 3 de junio de 2022, en el presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $76,825.96 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 4.00%, anual desde el 1ro de septiembre de 2017, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $8,527.20 para

costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 19 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $85,272.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 26 DE ABRIL DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $56,848.00, 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 3 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $42,636.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas

que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, hoy día 18 de enero de 2023. Gerardo Méndez Villanueva, Alguacil, División de Subastas, Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Aguadilla.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE AGUADA SALA SUPERIOR DE AGUADILLA BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, INC.

Demandante V. CHARLIE ELVIN PÉREZ FELICIANO, T/C/C CHARLIE PÉREZ FELICIANO; SU ESPOSA EVELYN MUÑIZ SANTI Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS Demandados

Civil Núm.: ABCI2015-01447. 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, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, 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 23 de agosto de 2022, por la Secretaría del Tribunal, procederé a vender y venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor la propiedad que ubica y se describe a continuación:

URBANA: Solar número #16 de la Urbanización San José localizada en el Barrio Asomante del término municipal de Aguada, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 320.50 metros cuadrados. En lindes al NORTE, con el solar número #15, en una distancia de 20.50 metros; al SUR, con la Comunidad Agrícola Bianchi Inc., en una distancia de 29.00 metros; al ESTE, con la Calle número #2, en una distancia de 14.40 metros y al OESTE, con la Administración de Parques y Recreos, en una distancia de 14.80 metros. Inscrito al folio 52 del tomo 114 de Aguada, finca número #5,715 Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Aguadilla. La propiedad ubica, según pagaré, en: 16 C Ext. San José, Aguada, PR 00602. 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:

HIPOTECA: En garantía de un pagaré a favor de POPULAR MORTGAGE INC., o a su orden, por la suma de $10,000.00 de principal, intereses al 5.50% anual y vencedero el día 1ro de noviembre de 2041, según consta de la escritura número #240, otorgada en Aguadilla, el día 24 de octubre de 2011, ante el notario Roberto M. García Rodríguez e inscrita al folio 148 del tomo 316 de Aguada, finca número #5,715, inscripción 7ma. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance, la SENTENCIA dictada el 30 de junio de 2017, notificada el 7 de julio de 2017 en el

presente caso civil, a saber la suma de $160,237.68 por concepto de principal; $808.15 por concepto de intereses acumulados; $355.96 por concepto de 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 $16,927.60 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. La PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 4 DE MAYO DE 2023 A LAS 9:30 DE LA MAÑANA, en el Centro Judicial de Aguadilla, Segundo Piso, Oficina del Alguacil, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $169,276.00. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 11 DE MAYO DE 2023 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 $112,850.67, 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 18 DE MAYO DE 2023 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 $84,638.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá

pacio de dos semanas en tres sitios públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Este Edicto será publicado dos veces en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, por espacio de dos semanas consecutivas. Expido el presente Edicto de subasta bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 11 de enero de 2023.

GRETCHEN M. PÉREZ SEDA, ALGUACIL DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CAROLINA, SALA SUPERIOR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante Vs. BRENDA FELICIANO PÉREZ

Demandada

Civil Núm.: BY2022CV04678.

Salón: 703. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO ORDINARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: BRENDA FELICIANO

PÉREZ - URB. REXVILLE

AA16 CALLE 51

BAYAMÓN, PR 00957 / BO. GUADIANA CARR

826 KM 1 NARANJITO, PR 00719 / PO BOX 1539 TOA ALTA, PR 00954.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza y requiere para que conteste la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), la cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal.

Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, 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. Kevin

Sánchez Campanero cuyas direcciones son: P.O. Box 71418 San Juan, Puerto Rico 009368518, teléfono (787) 993-3731 a la dirección kevin.sanchez@ orf-law.com, y a la dirección notificaciones@orf-law.com. EX-

TENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y el sello del Tribunal, en Bayamón, Puerto Rico, hoy día 10 de enero de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 10 de enero de 2023. LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA

SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LUREIMY ALICEA

GONZÁLEZ, SECRETARIA

AUXILIAR DEL TRIBUNAL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA DE CAGUAS ORIENTAL BANK

Demandante V. ALBA CLARISSA

MARTINEZ MAUROSA

Demandada

Civil Núm.: GR2022CV00305.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: ALBA CLARISSA

MARTINEZ MAUROSA.

POR MEDIO del presente edicto se le notifica de la radicación de una demanda en cobro de dinero por la vía ordinaria en la que se alega que usted adeuda a la parte demandante, Oriental Bank, ciertas sumas de dinero, y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado de este litigio. El demandante, Oriental Bank, ha solicitado que se dicte sentencia en contra suya y que se le ordene pagar las cantidades reclamadas en la demanda.

POR EL PRESENTE EDICTO se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva a la demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://www.poderjudicial. pr/index/php/tribunal-electronico/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Si usted deja de presentar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra, y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente, sin más citarle ni oírle. El abogado de la parte

demandante es: Jaime Ruiz

Saldaña, RUA número 11673; Dirección: PO Box 366276, San Juan, PR 00936-6276; Teléfono: (787) 759-6897; Correo electrónico: legal@jrslawpr. com. Se le advierte que dentro de los diez (10) días siguientes a la publicación del presente edicto, se le estará enviando a usted por correo certificado con acuse de recibo, una copia del emplazamiento y de la demanda presentada al lugar de su última dirección conocida: Pradera de Navarro, 346 Calle Serpentina, Gurabo, PR 00778-9078. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal en Caguas, Puerto Rico, hoy día 25 de enero de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA. CARMEN L. SOTO PLANAS, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

JOSÉ ANTONIO

MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ, DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: RG2022CV00529. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S.

A: JOSÉ ANTONIO MARTÍNEZ LÓPEZ.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda 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://unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le apercibe que de no contestar la demanda dentro del término aquí estipulado, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia sin más citarle ni oírle. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: Lcdo. Guillermo A. Somoza Colombani, P.O. Box 366603, San Juan, PR 00936-6603. Tel. (787) 9190073, Fax (787) 641-5016. Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 24 de enero de 2023. WANDA I.

SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA

GENERAL. KATHERINE ROBLES TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. SUCESIÓN DE NOEL PÉREZ PÉREZ, COMPUESTA POR YANIRIS PÉREZ ORLANDO, ALIANIS PEREZ ORLANDO, MENGANO DE TAL, POSIBLE HEREDERO DESCONOCIDO; OMAYRA ORLANDO MUÑOZ, POR SÍ Y COMO PARTE DE LA SUCESIÓN DE NOEL PÉREZ PÉREZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: FA2019CV00696.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. INTERPELACIÓN POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: YANIRIS PÉREZ ORLANDO, ALIANIS PÉREZ ORLANDO Y OMAYRA ORLANDO MUÑOZ, como parte de la Sucesión de NOEL PÉREZ PÉREZ, a sus últimas direcciones conocidas: Ext. Alturas de Río Grande, B24, Río Grande, PR 00745; Urb. Vistas del Mar, B24 Calle D, Río Grande, PR 00745; Urb. Río Grande Estates, GG36 Calle 32, Río Grande, PR 00745-5079; Valle Universitario, 12 Calle Casiopea, San Juan, PR 00923-2223; 6301 Old York Rd. Apt. 213, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141-2232; newcreation615@gmail. com; peliroja7424.0061@ gmail.com. MENGANO DE TAL, posible heredero desconocido de NOEL PÉREZ PÉREZ, con dirección e identidad desconocida.

Quedan ustedes notificados que este Tribunal, antes del fallecimiento del causante NOEL PÉREZ PÉREZ, dictó sentencia a favor de la parte demandante, declarando con lugar la Demanda sobre Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca por la Vía Ordinaria, en la que se concedió la totalidad de la deuda vencida ascendente

a demandante a la suma de $38,559.58 de principal, más intereses sobre dicha suma al 6.5% anual desde el 1 de julio de 2017 hasta su completo pago, más $149.39 de recargos acumulados, más la cantidad estipulada de $5,196.80 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogados, así como cualquier otra suma que contenga el contrato del préstamo. La propiedad que garantiza hipotecariamente el préstamo es la siguiente: URBANA: Solar radicado en el Barrio Guzmán Abajo del término municipal de Río Grande, Puerto Rico, identificado con el #24 del Bloque B en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Alturas de Río Grande, ahora Vistas del Mar. Tiene cabida superficial de 220.80 m. c. Colinda por el NORTE, en 9.60 metros con los solares 186 y 185 del bloque K; por el SUR, en 9.60 metros, con la calle D; por el ESTE, en 23.00 metros, con el solar #25 del Bloque B; y por el OESTE, en 23.00 metros, con solar #23 del Bloque B (solar #1 del Bloque B según el Registro de la Propiedad). Enclava una vivienda de hormigón y bloques para una sola familia, construida de acuerdo con los planos y especificaciones aprobadas por la Federal Housing Administration y otras agencias gubernamentales. Inscrita al folio 186 del tomo 548 de Río Grande, Finca 29550. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III. La hipoteca consta inscrita al tomo Karibe de Río Grande, Finca 29550. Registro de la Propiedad de Carolina, Sección III. Inscripción 2da. La demandante es tenedora por endoso en blanco, por valor recibido y de buena fe del referido pagaré objeto de la presente acción. Se les interpela para que acepten o renuncien a la herencia del causante dentro de los 30 días subsiguientes a la fecha que fuesen emplazados o requeridos que contesten, para darle cumplimiento al Artículo 1578 del Código Civil de Puerto Rico, 31 L.P.R.A. §11091, entendiéndose que, si no se expresan dentro de dicho término, aceptan el caudal relicto; la renuncia se hará por instrumento público o por escrito judicial. La parte interpelada 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 y enviando copia de la contestación a la abogada de la Parte Demandante, Lcda. Belma Alonso García al: PO Box 3922, Guaynabo, PR 009703922, Teléfono y Fax: (787) 789-1826, correo electrónico:

oficinabelmaalonso@gmail. com, dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, excluyéndose el día de la publicación; advirtiéndoseles que de no hacerlo se concederá el remedio solicitado sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y el sello del Tribunal, hoy, 28 de noviembre de 2022, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico. WANDA I. SEGUÍ REYES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KATHERINE ROBLES TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. LA SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO

DÍAZ AYALA Y EVA

PASTRANA BATISTA

COMPUESTA POR JERRY

LUIS DÍAZ PASTRANA, REY FRANCISCO DÍAZ

PASTRANA, CARLOS

JAVIER DÍAZ PASTRANA

Y LA SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO

DÍAZ PASTRANA T/C/C

CARLOS ANTONIO DÍAZ

T/C/C CARLOS A. DÍAZ

PASTRANA COMPUESTA

POR CARLOS ROBERTO

DÍAZ TORRES Y KARLA

GINEIDY DÍAZ TORRES; DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA; DEPARTAMENTO DE JUSTICIA

Demandado

Civil Núm.: CA2022CV03066.

Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA

POR LA VÍA ORDINARIA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS

ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S.

A: LA SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO

DÍAZ AYALA Y EVA

PASTRANA BATISTA

COMPUESTA POR JERRY

LUIS DÍAZ PASTRANA, REY FRANCISCO DÍAZ

PASTRANA; CARLOS

JAVIER DÍAZ PASTRANAY

LA SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO

DÍAZ PASTRANA T/C/C

CARLOS ANTONIO DÍAZ

T/C/C CARLOS A. DÍAZ

PASTRANA, COMPUESTA

POR CARLOS ROBERTO

DÍAZ TORRES Y KARLA

GINEIDY DÍAZ TORRES.

Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda 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://unired. ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal. Se le apercibe que, de no contestar la demanda dentro del término aquí estipulado, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia sin más citarle ni oírle. Por la presente el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, conforme al caso de Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria vs. Latinoamericana de Exportación, Inc., 164 D.P.R. 689 (2005), le ordena que en el término de treinta (30) días, haga declaración aceptando o repudiando la herencia de la SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO DÍAZ AYALA; LA SUCESIÓN DE EVA PASTRANA BATISTA Y LA SUCESIÓN DE CARLOS ANTONIO DÍAZ PASTRANA T/C/C CARLOS ANTONIO DÍAZ T/C/C CARLOS A. DÍAZ PASTRANA. Se le apercibe que de no expresar su intención de aceptar o repudiar la herencia dentro del término que se le fijó, la herencia se tendrá por aceptada. Los abogados de la parte demandante son: Lcdo. Guillermo A. Somoza Colombani, P.O. Box 366603, San Juan, PR 00936-6603. Tel. (787) 9190073, Fax (787) 641-5016. Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, hoy 11 de enero de 2023. LCDA. MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

ORIENTAL BANK

Parte Demandante V. SYLVIA IVETTE

SERRANO VELEZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: BY2018CV04161.

Sobre: Ejecución de Hipoteca In Rem. 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, SYLVIA IVETTE SERRANO VELEZ; y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL que en cumplimiento del Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia

expedido el 8 de julio de 2021, 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: 55 C Calle 10 Urb. Villa Verde 55 Bayamón, PR 00959 y que se describe como sigue: URBANA: Solar marcado con el número 55 del Bloque “C’ en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización Villa Verde, radicado en el Barrio Guaraguao Abajo, termino municipal de Bayamón, Puerto Rico, con un área superficial de 247.2 metros cuadrados y colinda por el NORTE, en una distancia de 24 metros con el solar 56; por el SUR, en 24 metros con el solar 54; por el ESTE, en 10.30 metros con los solares 41 y 42; y por el OESTE, en 10.30 metros con la calle 10. Sobre el antes descrito solar se ha edificado una casa residencial de hormigón armado dedicado a vivienda. Inscrita al Folio 251 del Tomo 1305 de Bayamón, Finca número 58,767. Registro de la Propiedad de Bayamón, Sección Primera. La finca antes descrita se encuentra afecta a los siguientes gravámenes: (i) HIPOTECA en garantía de un pagaré a favor de Doral Mortgage LLC, o a su orden, por la suma de $131,700.00, con intereses al 5.625% anual y vencimiento 1 de junio de 2040. Constituida mediante la escritura 176 otorgada en San Juan el 20 de mayo de 2000 ante el notario Humberto Soto Mainardi. Inscrita al folio 158 vuelto del tomo 1810 de Bayamón Sur, finca 58767, inscripción 12ª. (ii) AVISO DE DEMANDA con fecha 14 de noviembre de 2018 seguido en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Bayamón, en el caso civil número BY2018CV04161, sobre cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca; Scotiabank de Puerto Rico, demandante v Sylvia Ivette Serrano Vélez, demandada. Por la misma se reclama el pago de $117,247.41, correspondiente a la hipoteca relacionada en la inscripción 12ª, supra. Anotada el 20 de diciembre de 2018 al Tomo Karibe, finca 58767 de Bayamón Sur, anotación “B”. 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 junio de 2019, mediante la cual se determinó que la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante la cantidad ascendiente a $117,247.41 de principal con intereses al 5.625% anual desde el día 1 de junio de 2017 hasta su completo pago, cargos por demoras , más las cantidades debidas de contribuciones e impuestos, primas de seguro contra riesgo y seguro

de hipoteca hasta su completo pago, más la cantidad estipulada de $13,170.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, respondiendo la propiedad “IN REM” de las mismas. La PRIMERA SUBASTA será celebrada el día 9 DE MARZO

DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 DE LA MAÑANA en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de BAYAMÓN, Puerto Rico. Servirá de tipo mínimo para la misma, la cantidad de $131,700.00 sin admitirse oferta inferior. De no haber remate ni adjudicación, celebraré SEGUNDA SUBASTA el día 16 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 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, $87,800.00. Si no hubiese remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, celebraré TERCERA SUBASTA el 30 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 9:15 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, $65,850.00. 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, que-

dando 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 26 de enero de 2023. 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 SUPERIOR DE PONCE LUNA COMMERCIAL II, LLC

Demandante V. NÉSTOR TORRES SANTOS; SU

ESPOSA LORENA VÉLEZ CINTRÓN; LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

ELLOS, Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: PO2022CV02996. Sala: 406. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO, EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA Y EJECUCIÓN DE GRAVAMEN MOBILIARIO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A: LORENA VÉLEZ CINTRÓN POR SÍ Y COMO MIEMBRO DE LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA CON SU ESPOSO, NÉSTOR TORRES SANTOS. PMB 291, 1575 AVE. MUÑOZ

RIVERA, PONCE, PUERTO RICO 007170211; PMB 291, 1575 AVE. MUÑOZ RIVERA, PONCE, PUERTO RICO 00717; 1575 AVE. MUÑOZ

RIVERA PMB 291, PONCE PUERTO RICO 00717; URB. VILLA GRILLASCA A20A AVE. INT., PONCE PUERTO RICO 00717; 2144 BLVD LUIS A. FERRÉ, PONCE, PUERTO RICO 00717-0722. Por la presente se le notifica que se ha radicado en su contra una Demanda Cobro de Dinero y de Ejecución de Hipoteca, reclamando unas sumas adeudadas que, al 21 de octubre de 2022, ascienden a un total de $ 14,282.37, la cual se desglosa como sigue:

(i) $13,991.42 por concepto de principal; más (ii) $1,807.00 por concepto de intereses acumulados y no pagados, cantidad que se continúa acumulando hasta su total y completo pago a razón de $3.16 diarios; más

(iii) $1,034.91 por concepto de cargos por mora; (iv) menos $2,550.96 por concepto de “escrow”; más (v) la suma de $10,500.00 por concepto de costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado pactados y se desprende en el Pagaré Hipotecario y la Hipoteca. Se le emplaza y requiere para que notifique a: FERRAIUOLI LLC

Lcdo. Luis G. Parrilla Hernández

P.O. Box 195168 San Juan, PR 00919-5168

Tel.: 787-766-7000 /

Fax: 787-766-7001 lparrilla@ferraiuoli.com

Abogados de la parte demandante, con copia de respuesta a la Demanda dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este edicto. Usted deberá presentar alegación responsiva a través del Sistema

Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: http://unired.ramajudicial.pr/ sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. 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. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, hoy 09 de enero de 2023. CARMEN G. TIRÚ QUIÑONES, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. EREINA AGRONT LEÓN, SUB-SECRETARIA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE CAROLINA

BANCO POPULAR DE

PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. PABLO SBRRANO FEBRES, TRINIDAD REYES ENCARNACIÓN Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, CUSTOM MORTGAGE CORP., JOHN DOE

Demandadas Civil Núm.: CA2022CV03715.

CANCELACIÓ DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO POR LA VÍA JUDICIAL. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTIT DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S. S.

A: PABLO SERRANO FEBRES, TRINIDAD REYES ENCARNACIÓN

Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS, CUSTOM MORTGAGE CORP. COMO TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS DEL PAGAR´ a favor de Custom Mortgage Corp., o a su orden, por la suma principal de $61,500.00, intereses al 11.5% anual, vencedero el día 1 de junio de 2029, constituida mediante la escritura número 532, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 31 de julio del 1999, ante el notario Enrique N. Vela Colon, e inscrita al tomo móvil 336 de Canóvanas, finca número 5,947, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Tercera Sección de Carolina. 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://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son.

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE DEMANDANTE:

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

BERMUDEZ & DIAZ LLP

Suite 209

500 Calle De La Tanca San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901

Tel.: (787) 523-2670

Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 30 de enero de 2023. LCDA.

MARILYN APONTE RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. MARICRUZ APONTE ALICEA, SECRETARI AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. CRUZ MENDEZ BECERRIL, EDDIE LOPEZ RIVERA, JOHANNA

YARITZA SERRANO Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR ELLOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: FA2022CV00295. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE GARANTÍAS - IN REM. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. A: CRUZ MENDEZ BECERRIL, 266 CALLE DESVIO COMUNIDAD IGUALDAD, FAJARDO PR 00738-4337 Y/O 1251 MADEIRA KEYWAY, ORLANDO FL 32824. (Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 30 de enero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 31 de enero de 2023. En FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, el 31 de enero de 2023. WANDA I. SEGUÍ RE-

YES, SECRETARIA. LINDA I. MEDINA MEDINA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE SAN JUAN SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE ANA

JULIA ROSADO

DÍAZ, COMPUESTA

POR: ANA CRISTINA GONZÁLEZ ROSADO Y MIGUEL ÁNGEL GONZÁLEZ ROSADO, COMO HEREDEROS CONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ANA JULIA ROSADO DÍAZ; JUAN PASCUAL MUÑOZ, POR CONCEPTO DE USUFRUCTO VIUDAL DE LA CAUSANTE ANA JULIA ROSADO DÍAZ; “JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE” COMO POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN DE ANA JULIA ROSADO DÍAZ; CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV10370. Sala: 508. Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM”. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, S.S. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO DIRIGIDO A: JUAN PASCUAL MUÑOZ, POR CONCEPTO DE USUFRUCTO VIUDAL DE LA CAUSANTE ANA JULIA ROSADO DÍAZ.

7-E APT. BLDG. B LOS NARDOS COND., SAN JUAN, PR 00907, Y APT.

7E COND. LOS NARDOS B, SAN JUAN, PR 00907. Queden emplazado y notificado que en este Tribunal se ha radicado Demanda sobre Ejecución de Hipoteca “In Rem” de la que surge lo siguiente: Que se ha incumplido con las cláusulas de la escritura de hipoteca antes mencionada por haberse dejado de pagar las mensualidades vencidas desde el día 1ro de junio de 2022, adeudándosele a la parte demandante la totalidad de la deuda ascendente a: $34,998.40 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a

razón del 7.00%, anual desde el 1ro de mayo de 2022, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $5,500.00 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La propiedad hipotecada cuya ejecución se solicita tiene la siguiente descripción y localización: URBANA: Propiedad Horizontal: Condominio Los Nardos. Edificio B apartamento número siete E (7-E) para fines residenciales con un área superficial de setecientos cincuenta y seis pies cuadrados (756.00 p/c). En lindes por el NORTE, en treinta un pies con seis pulgadas (31’ 6”) con una pared que da al patio interior del edificio y en parte al salón de recepción (lobby); por el SUR, hacia donde la puerta principal da entrada de este apartamento en treinta y un pies con seis pulgadas (31’ 6”) con una pared estructural que da al exterior del edificio y al solar donde enclava el mismo; por el ESTE, en veinticuatro pies con seis pulgadas (24’ 6”) con una pared exterior del edificio y al salón donde enclava el mismo y en parte con el apartamento número siete D (7-D) y por el OESTE, en veinticuatro pies con seis pulgadas (24’ 6”) con una pared al exterior del edificio y al solar donde enclava el mismo y en parte con el apartamento número siete F (7-F). Consta este apartamento de sala-comedor, tres cuartos dormitorios con sus respectivos guardarropas, un cuarto de baño y cocina. Tiene un valor de participación en los gastos, dividendos, derechos y deberes sobre los elementos comunes del punto cero uno dos seis cero uno cero por ciento (.0126010%). Inscrita en la finca número 7,984, al folio 120 del tomo 259 de Santurce Sur. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección I de San Juan. La finca antes relacionada se encuentra afectada a un gravamen posterior al que se pretende ejecutar, el cual se describe de la siguiente manera: Hipoteca en garantía de un pagaré a favor de La Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico, o a su orden, por la suma principal de $15,000.00, sin intereses, vencedero el día 24 de mayo de 2012, constituida mediante la escritura número 371, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 25 de mayo de 2004, ante la notario María Isabel García Mantilla, e inscrita al folio 39 del tomo 378 de Santurce Sur, finca número 7,984, inscripción 6ta. Sujeta a Condiciones

Restrictivas por un término de 8 años. Por la presente se le emplaza y notifica que debe contestar la demanda enmendada incoada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días a partir de la publicación del presente edicto. Además, en cuanto a la interpelación de los herederos del causante, a que dentro del término legal de treinta (30) días contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, acepten o repudien la participación que les corresponda en la herencia del causante conforme dispone el Artículo 959 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §2787, de no expresarse dentro de ese término de treinta (30) días en torno a su aceptación o repudiación de herencia, se tendrá por aceptada. También se les APERCIBE a los herederos antes mencionados que luego del transcurso del término de treinta (30) días antes señalado contados a partir de la fecha de la notificación de la presente Orden, se presumirá que han aceptado la herencia del causante y, por consiguiente, responden por las cargas de dicha herencia conforme dispone el Artículo 957 del Código Civil, 31 L.P.R.A. §2785. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https://unired.ramajudicial. pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio. Si usted deja de presentar y notificar su alegación responsiva dentro del referido término, el Tribunal podrá dictar sentencia en rebeldía en su contra y conceder el remedio solicitado en la Demanda, o cualquier otro, si el Tribunal, en el ejercicio de su sana discreción, lo entiende procedente. Los abogados de la parte demandante son:

ABOGADOS DE LA PARTE DEMANDANTE:

Lcdo. Reggie Díaz Hernández RUA Núm.: 16,393 BERMÚDEZ & DÍAZ, LLP Edificio Ochoa, 500 Calle De La Tanca Suite 209 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901 Tel.: (787) 523-2670 / Fax: (787) 523-2664 rdíaz@bdprlaw.com

Expido este edicto bajo mi firma y el sello de este Tribunal, hoy 31 de enero de 2023. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA GENERAL. BRENDA HERNÁNDEZ ZAVALA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA TRIBUNAL

TAMBIÉN CONOCIDO COMO PEDRO A. DÍAZ DÁVILA Y COMO PEDRO AMADIS DIAZ Demandante V. EX PARTE Demandado(a)

Civil: SA2022CV00056. Sobre: EXPEDIENTE DE DOMINIO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. A: DON ELATIONS ROLON Y DOÑA ADA IRMA DIAZ DÁVILA, INMEDIATOS ANTERIORES DUEÑOS; HEREDEROS, DENOMINADOS FULANO DE TAL Y ZUTANO DE TAL, JAVIER RIVERA, Y A LAS PERSONAS IGNORADAS O DESCONOCIDAS A QUIENES PUEDE PERJUDICAR LA INSCRIPCIÓN SOLICITADA.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se le notifican la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de enero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 31 de enero de 2023. En Guayama, Puerto Rico, el 31 de enero de 2023. MARISOL ROSADO RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA. IRIS V. RODRÍGUEZ RODRÍGUEZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE BAYAMÓN

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante V.

CARLOS SANTANA

NEGRON, MILDRED

TORO MARTINEZ

T/C/C MILDRED H.

TORO MARTINEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES COMPUESTA POR AMBOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: BY2022CV04269. 702.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA “IN REM” (VÍA ORDINARIA). NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CARLOS SANTANA NEGRON, MILDRED

TORO MARTINEZ

T/C/C MILDRED H.

TORO MARTINEZ Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE BIENES GANANCIALES

COMPUESTA POR

AMBOS.

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

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 27 de enero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 30 de enero de 2023. En Bayamón, Puerto Rico, el 30 de enero de 2023.

LCDA. LAURA I. SANTA SÁNCHEZ, SECRETARIA. MIRCIENID GONZÁLEZ TORRES, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA

TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INS-

TANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN

E.M.I. EQUITY

MORTGAGE, INC.

Parte Demandante Vs.

JOSÉ ALBERTO

FIGUEROA

VIZCARRONDO Y

CYNTHIA ENID MARRERO

MARTÍNEZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV04992. (604). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO; EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. NOTIFICACIÓN DE

SENTENCIA POR EDICTO.

A: CYNTHIA ENID MARRERO MARTÍNEZ.

LA SECRETARIA que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 24 de enero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 31 de enero de 2023. En San Juan, Puerto Rico, el 31 de enero de 2023. Griselda Rodríguez Collado, Secretaria Regional. Elsa Magaly Candelario Cabrera, Secretaria Auxiliar Del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

LEGACY MORTGAGE

ASSET TRUST 2019-PR1

Demandante Vs. DORAL BANK AHORA

BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS

Demandado(a)

Civil: HU2022CV00502. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO. A: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS.

P/C LCDA. MARJALIISA COLÓN VILLANUEVA.

EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 24 de enero de 2023, este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de

circulación general en la Isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 30 de enero de 2023. En Humacao, Puerto Rico, el 30 de enero de 2023. IVELISSE C. FONSECA RODRIGUEZ, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. IVELISSE M. MONCLOVA CRUZ, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA SUPERIOR DE MAYAGÜEZ REVERSE MORTGAGE FUNDING LLC. Demandante Vs. SUCESION JOSE AMILCAR VARGAS

MORALES T/C/C JOSE

A. VARGAS MORALES

T/C/C JOSE A. VARGAS COMPUESTA POR JOSE AMILCAR VARGAS MORALES, DELIA VARGAS MORALES; JOHN DOE Y JANE DOE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; SUCESION DELIA MORALES VARGAS

T/C/C DELIA MORALES DE VARGAS T/C/C DELIA MORALES

T/C/C DELIA MORALEZ VARGAS COMPUESTA

POR JOSE AMILCAR VARGAS MORALES, DELIA VARGAS MORALES; JOHN ROE Y JANE ROE COMO

POSIBLES HEREDEROS DESCONOCIDOS; ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMERICA; CENTRO DE RECAUDACION DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES

Demandados

Civil Núm.: MZ2021CV00776.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

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

A: LA PARTE DEMANDADA, AL (A

LA) SECRETARIO(A) DE HACIENDA DE PUERTO RICO Y AL PÚBLICO GENERAL:

Certifico y Hago Constar: Que en cumplimiento con el Mandamiento de Ejecución de Sentencia que me ha sido dirigido por el (la) Secretario(a) del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de Mayagüez, en el caso de epígrafe, venderé en pública subasta y al mejor postor, por separado, de contado y por moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América y/o Giro Postal y Cheque Certificado, en mi oficina ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, el 16 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, todo derecho título, participación o interés que le corresponda a la parte demandada o cualquiera de ellos en el inmueble hipotecado objeto de ejecución que se describe a continuación: URBANA: Solar marcado con el numero noventa y nueve (99) del bloque cinco (5) de la Urbanización Reparto El Valle de Lajas, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de trescientos treinta y siete punto cincuenta (337.50) metros cuadrados. En lindes por el Norte, en trece punto cincuenta (13.50) metros, con la calle C; por el Sur, en trece punto cincuenta (13.50) metros, con terrenos de don Salvador Pagan; por el Este, en veinticinco punto cero cero (25.00) metros, con el solar noventa y ocho (98); y por el Oeste, en veinticinco punto cero cero (25.00), con el solar cien (100), todos de la referida urbanización. Enclava casa. Finca número 5,132, inscrita al folio 120 del tomo 150 de Lajas, Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán. La Hipoteca Revertida consta inscrita al folio 148 del tomo 402 de Lajas, Finca 5132, Registro de la Propiedad de San Germán, inscripción 6ª. Propiedad localizada en: URB. EL VALLE, 99 CALLE MIRTOS, LAJAS, PUERTO RICO, 00667. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas anteriores o preferentes: Nombre del Titular: N/A. Suma de la Carga: N/A. Fecha de Vencimiento:

N/A. Según figuran en la certificación registral, la propiedad objeto de ejecución está gravada por las siguientes cargas posteriores a la inscripción del crédito ejecutante: Nombre del Titular: Secretario de la Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano. Suma de la Carga: $142,500.00. Fecha de Vencimiento: 25 de abril de 2087. 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 hubie-

re, continuarán subsistentes. El rematante acepta dichas cargas y gravámenes anteriores, y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Se establece como tipo de mínima subasta la suma de $95,000.00, 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 Mayagüez, el 23 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 DE LA MAÑANA, y se establece como mínima para dicha segunda subasta la suma de $63,333.33, 2/3 partes del tipo mínima establecido originalmente. Si tampoco se produce remate ni adjudicación en la segunda subasta, se establece como mínima para la TERCERA SUBASTA, la suma de $47,500.00, la mitad (1/2) del precio pactado y dicha subasta se celebrará en mi oficina, ubicada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala de Mayagüez, el 30 DE MARZO DE 2023, A LAS 11:30 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 la suma de $85,996.87 por concepto de principal, más la suma de $17,169.42 en intereses acumulados al 22 de febrero de 2022 y los cuales continúan acumulándose a razón de 4.30% anual hasta su total y completo pago; más la sumas de $3,699.03 en seguro hipotecario; $5,425.00 en tarifas de servicio; $1,526.29 de seguro; $525.00 de tasaciones; $440.00 de inspecciones; $4,088.30 de adelantos pendientes; más la cantidad de 10% del pagare original en la suma de $9,500.00 para gastos, costas y honorarios de abogado, esta última habrá de devengar intereses al máximo del tipo legal fijado por la oficina del Comisionado de Instituciones Financieras aplicable a esta fecha, desde este mismo día hasta su total y completo saldo. La venta en pública subasta de la referida propiedad se verificará libre de toda carga o gravamen posterior que afecte la mencionada finca, a cuyo efecto se notifica y se hace saber la fecha, hora y sitio de la PRIMERA, SEGUNDA Y TERCERA SUBASTA, si esto fuera necesario, a los efectos de que cualquier persona o personas con algún interés puedan comparecer a la celebración de dicha subasta. Se notifica a todos los interesados que las actas y demás 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 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, hoy 31 de enero de 2023. JOVINO

PÉREZ SANTIAGO, ALGUACIL REGIONAL. ALG. IVELISSE FIGUEROA VARGAS, ALGUACIL PLACA #924.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

E.M.I EQUITY

MORTGAGE INC.

Demandantes Vs. FIRST MORTGAGE CAPITAL, INC., DESPUES CITIBANK, N.A.; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES DESCONOCIDOS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV09781. 504. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ HIPOTECARIO EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A La Parte Co-

Demandada: JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE, DEMANDADOS DESCONOCIDOS

CUYA DIRECCIÓN SE DESCONOCE.

Se les notifica por este medio que en el caso del epígrafe se solicita la CANCELACIÓN de un pagaré extraviado a favor de First Mortgage Capital, Inc. o a su orden, por la suma de $90,250.00, intereses al 6 7/8% anual, vencedero el 1ro de noviembre de 2031, según consta de la escritura número 478, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico el 24 de octubre de 2001 ante el Notario Mario A. Quiles Rosado, inscrita al folio 191 vuelto del tomo 388 de Santurce Sur, finca 7965, inscripción sexta. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le(s) cite a usted(es) por edicto que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectado por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este Edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de Puerto Rico. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva

a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaria del tribunal y notifique copia de la Contestación de la Demanda a las oficinas de CARDONA & MALDONADO LAW OFFICES, P.S.C. ATENCIÓN al Lcdo. David Cardona Dingui, P.O. Box 366221, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-6221; Tel (787) 622-7000, Fax (787) 625-7001, Abogado de la Parte Demandante, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su Rebeldía y dictar Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado sin más citarle(s) ni oírle(s). EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el Sello del Tribunal. DADA hoy 30 de enero de 2023 en San Juan, Puerto Rico. GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. KEREN OLIVERAS PADILLA, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Parte Demandante Vs. JOSÉ A. TORRES FLORES T/C/C JOSÉ ARTURO TORRES

FLORES

Parte Demandada Civil Núm.: SJ2022CV10483. (604). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO; EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: JOSÉ A. TORRES

FLORES F/C/C JOSÉ

ARTURO TORRES

FLORES. Queda emplazado y notificado de que en este Tribunal se ha radicado una demanda de cobro de dinero y ejecución de hipoteca en su contra. Se le notifica que deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico,

Sala de San Juan y enviando copia a la parte demandante:

Lcda. Marie L. Quiñones Tañón, al PO BOX 9022512, San Juan, P.R. 00902-2512; Teléfono: (787) 724-0230. Se le apercibe y notifica que si no contestan la demanda radicada en su contra dentro del término de treinta (30) días de la publicación de este edicto, se le anotará la rebeldía y se dictará sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la demanda, sin más citárseles, ni oírseles. Expedido bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, a 30 de enero de 2023.

GRISELDA RODRÍGUEZ COLLADO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. LUZ ENID FERNÁNDEZ DEL VALLE, SECRETARIA DE SERVICIOS A SALA.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL GENERAL DE JUSTICIA SALA

SUPERIOR DE CAGUAS

WILMINGTON SAVINGS

FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR FINANCE OF AMERICA STRUCTURED

SECURITIES

ACQUISITION TRUST

2018-HB1

Parte Demandante Vs. TEODORO PIÑERO CAY; Y LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA

Parte Demandada

Caso Núm.: JU2021CV00301.

Sobre: EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA IN REM. NOTIFICACIÓN DE SENTENCIA POR EDICTO ENMENDADA.

A: TEODORO PIÑERO CAY.

(Nombre de las partes a las que se les notifica la sentencia por edicto) EL SECRETARIO(A) que suscribe le notifica a usted que el 19 de diciembre de 2022 este Tribunal ha dictado Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución en este caso, que ha sido debidamente registrada y archivada en autos donde podrá usted enterarse detalladamente de los términos de la misma. Esta notificación se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general en la isla de Puerto Rico, dentro de los 10 días siguientes a su notificación. Y, siendo o representando usted una parte en el procedimiento sujeta a los términos de la Sentencia, Sentencia Parcial o Resolución, de la cual puede establecerse recurso de revisión o apelación dentro del término de 30 días contados a partir de la publicación por edicto de esta notificación, dirijo a usted esta notificación que se considerará hecha en la fecha de la publicación de este edicto. Copia de esta notificación ha sido archivada en los autos de este caso, con fecha de 1 de febrero de

2023. En Caguas, Puerto Rico, 1 de febrero de 2023. LISILDA MARTÍNEZ AGOSTO, SECRETARIA REGIONAL. JESSENIA PEDRAZA, SECRETARIA AUXILIAR.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE SAN JUAN BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO, INC.

Demandante V. SUCESIÓN DE CARMEN GONZÁLEZ DE LA ROSA, COMPUESTA POR FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, SUTANO DE TAL, SUTANA DE TAL, A, B Y C COMO POSIBLES MIEMBROS DESCONOCIDOS DE LA SUCESIÓN, EL HONORABLE SECRETARIO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE HACIENDA DEL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, EL CENTRO DE RECAUDACIONES DE INGRESOS MUNICIPALES (CRIM)

Demandados

Civil Núm.: KCD2016-0842. (503). Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE. UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS. AVISO DE VENTA EN PÚBLICA SUBASTA. Yo, PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, Alguacil del Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, a la parte demandada y al público en general les notifico que, cumpliendo con un Mandamiento que se ha librado en el presente caso por el Secretario del Tribunal de epígrafe con fecha 3 de junio de 2021 y para satisfacer la Sentencia dictada en el caso de autos fechada 7 de septiembre de 2016, notificada el 7 de octubre de 2016, procederá a vender el día 1 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 11:30

DE LA MAÑANA en mi oficina, localizada en el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan, al mejor postor en pago de contado y en moneda de los Estados Unidos de América todo título, derecho o interés de la parte demandada sobre la siguiente propiedad:

URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Residencial Interamericana, localizado en el Barrio Las Cuevas del término municipal de Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, marcado con el número treintiuno del Bloque Z, con un área de ciento ochentisiete punto noventisiete metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NOR-

TE, con el Solar número treinta del Bloque Z en una distancia de veinticuatro metros; por el SUR, con el Solar número treintidos del Bloque Z, en una distancia de veinticuatro metros; por el ESTE, con la Calle doce, en una distancia de siete punto ochocientos treintidos metros; y por el OESTE, con el Solar número seis del Bloque Z, en una distancia de siete punto ochocientos treintados metros. Tiene una pared medianera con la casa en el Solar número treintidos del Bloque Z. Contiene una casa de concreto diseñada para una familia modelo “twin”. Inscrito al folio 205 del tomo 190 de Trujillo Alto, finca número 9,656, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección Cuarta de San Juan. La propiedad ubica en: Z31 Calle 12, Urb. Interamericana Gardens, Trujillo Alto, PR 009763429. Que con el importe de dicha venta se habrá de satisfacer a la parte demandante las cantidades adeudadas, según la Sentencia dictada en el caso de epígrafe, por el Tribunal de Primera Instancia, Sala Superior de San Juan. La subasta se llevará a cabo el día 1 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 11:30

DE LA MAÑANA. La venta de la propiedad será realizada para cubrir el importe adeudado a la demandante, el cual al momento de la Sentencia ascendía a la suma de $131,768.09 por concepto de principal, más intereses que se acumulen hasta su total y completo pago, más las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado, más los cargos, recargos y/o cualesquiera otros adelantos que se hagan y se acumulen. La deuda reclamada por la parte demandante emana del Pagaré suscrito por Carmen González

De La Rosa (QPD) a favor de METRO ISLAND MORTGAGE, INC., o a su orden, por la suma de $129,499.00 de principal, intereses al 4.5% anual y vencedero el día 1ro de octubre de 2040, según consta de la escritura número #325, otorgada en San Juan, el día 30 de septiembre de 2010, ante el notario Jorge Laborde Corretjer. Se le advierte a los licitadores que la adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el mismo acto de la adjudicación en moneda de curso legal de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, y para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda(s) aquella(s) persona(s) que tenga (n) interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción de los gravámenes que se están ejecutando, que los mismos serán eliminados del Registro de la Propiedad, y para conocimiento de los licitadores y el público en general, y para su publicación en un periódico de circulación general, una vez por semana durante el termino

de dos (2) semanas consecutivas con un intervalo de por lo menos siete (7) días entre ambas publicaciones, y para su fijación en tres (3) lugares públicos del municipio en que ha de celebrarse la venta, tales como, la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía, y se le notificará además a la parte demandada y a su abogado o abogada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo siempre que haya comparecido al pleito. Si el (la) deudor (a) por Sentencia no comparece al pleito, la notificación será enviada vía correo certificado con acuse de recibo a las últimas direcciones conocidas. Se les advierte a todos los interesados que todos los documentos relacionados con la presente acción de ejecución de hipoteca, así como la de la subasta, estarán disponibles para ser examinados en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere al crédito de ejecutante, continuarán subsiguientes entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. Y para conocimiento de la parte demandada, de los acreedores posteriores, de los licitadores, partes interesadas y público en general, expido el presente Aviso para su publicación en los lugares públicos correspondientes. Librado en San Juan, Puerto Rico, a 25 de enero de 2023. PEDRO HIEYE GONZÁLEZ, ALGUACIL.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE MAYAGÜEZ SALA SUPERIOR DE CABO ROJO

NIMIA SOCORRO MARRERO SANTIAGO

Parte Demandante Vs. MONTE CARLO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, ABC CORPORATION, FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ASEGURADORAS XYZ

Parte Demandada

Civil Núm.: CB2023CV00046.

Sala: 0200. Sobre: SENTENCIA DECLARATORIA / DECLARACIÓN DE DOMINIO POR USUCAPIÓN. EMPLAZAMIENTO E INTERPELACIÓN POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS E.E.U.U., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PR, SS.

A: MONTE CARLO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, ABC

CORPORATION, FULANO DE TAL, FULANA DE TAL, ASEGURADORAS XYZ: CUYAS DIRECCIONES Y TELÉFONOS SON DESCONOCIDOS. O SEA, LA PARTE DEMANDADA ARRIBA MENCIONADA.

POR LA PRESENTE se le emplaza para que presente al tribunal su alegación responsiva dentro de los treinta (30) días de haber sido diligenciado este emplazamiento por edicto, excluyéndose el día del diligenciamiento. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y enviando copia de su contestación a la parte demandante a través de su representación legal:

LCDA. LIZ ARABEL

RODRIGUEZ RIVERA

P.O. BOX 192655

SAN JUAN, PR 00936-2655

T. (787) 800.1800

T. (787) 915.3444

E-mail: info@abogada-notario.com

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. EXTENDIDO BAJO MI FIRMA y Sello del Tribunal, hoy día 30 de enero de 2023. Lic. Norma G. Santana Irizarry, Secretaria Regional Ii. María Avilés Bonilla, Secretara Auxiliar Del Tribunal I.

LEGAL NOTICE

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

Demandante V. LINETTE GERENA GARCÍA

Demandada Civil Núm.: HU2019CV01984. Sala: 205. 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, Centro Judicial de Humacao, Humacao, Puerto Rico, hago saber, a la parte demandada y al PÚBLICO EN GENERAL: Que en cumplimiento del Mandamien-

to de Ejecución de Sentencia expedido el día 13 de mayo de 2022, 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: Lote de terreno localizado en la Calle dos de la Urbanización Palma Royale en el Barrio Río del municipio de Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, identificado en el plano de inscripción de la Urbanización aprobado por la Administración de Reglamentos y Permisos para la Urbanización como Solar 198. El mismo tiene una cabida superficial de 300.04 metros cuadrados. Colindando por el NORTE, con Solar 197; por el SUR, con Solar 199; por el ESTE, con la Calle dos (2); y por el OESTE, con Solares 179 y 180. En el Solar enclava una estructura de hormigón armado y bloques. La misma consta de tres (3) cuartos dormitorios, dos (2) baños, sala, comedor, cocina, marquesina doble y demás dependencias. El Solar está afecto por una servidumbre de paso de 1.52 metros de ancho equivalente a 5 pies en colindancia con la Calle dos (2) para infraestructura de cable y telefonía. Inscrita al tomo Karibe de Las Piedras, finca #16,464. Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección de Humacao. La propiedad ubica en: Solar #198 en la Calle 2 de la Urb. Palma Royale, Barrio Río, Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. El producto de la subasta se destinará a satisfacer al demandante hasta donde alcance la SENTENCIA dictada y notificada a su favor el día 31 de marzo de 2022 por la cantidad de: $121,991.06 por concepto de principal, más los intereses sobre dicha suma a razón del 3.50%, anual desde el 1ro de diciembre de 2018, hasta su completo pago, más las primas de seguro hipotecario, recargos por demora y cualesquiera otras cantidades pactadas en la escritura de primera hipoteca, desde la fecha antes mencionada y hasta la fecha del pago total de las mismas, más la suma de $14,081.60 para costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado; y demás créditos accesorios garantizados hipotecariamente. La adjudicación se hará al mejor postor, quien deberá consignar el importe de su oferta en el acto mismo de la adjudicación, en efectivo (moneda del curso legal de los Estados Unidos de América), giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del alguacil del Tribunal. LA PRIMERA SUBASTA se llevará a efecto el día 1 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina del referido Alguacil, localizada en el Centro Judicial de Humacao, Humacao, Puerto Rico. Que el precio mínimo fijado para la PRIMERA SUBASTA es de $140,816.00. Que de ser

necesaria la celebración de una SEGUNDA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 8 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la SEGUNDA SUBASTA será de $93,877.33, equivalentes a dos terceras (2/3) partes del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Que de ser necesaria la celebración de una TERCERA SUBASTA la misma se llevará a efecto el día 15 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA, en la oficina antes mencionada del Alguacil que suscribe. El precio mínimo para la TERCERA SUBASTA será de $70,408.00, equivalentes a la mitad (1/2) del tipo mínimo estipulado para la PRIMERA subasta. Si se declarase desierta la tercera subasta, se adjudicará la finca a favor del acreedor por la totalidad de la cantidad adeudada si ésta es igual o menor que el monto del tipo de la tercera subasta, si el Tribunal lo estima conveniente; se abonará dicho monto a la cantidad adeudada si esta es mayor, todo ello a tenor con lo dispone el Articulo 104 de la Ley Núm. 210 del 8 de diciembre de 2015 conocida como “Ley del Registro de la Propiedad Inmueble del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico”. La propiedad a ser ejecutada se adquiere libre de toda carga y gravamen que afecte la mencionada finca según el Artículo 102, inciso 6. Una vez confirmada la venta judicial por el Honorable Tribunal, se procederá a otorgar la correspondiente escritura de venta judicial y se pondrá al comprador en posesión física del inmueble de conformidad con las disposiciones de Ley. Para conocimiento de la parte demandada y de toda aquella persona o personas que tengan interés inscrito con posterioridad a la inscripción del gravamen que se está ejecutando, y para conocimiento de todos los licitadores y el público en general, el presente Edicto se publicará por espacio de dos (2) semanas consecutivas, con un intervalo de por lo menos siete días entre ambas publicaciones, en un diario de circulación general en el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico y se fijará además en tres (3) lugares públicos del Municipio en que ha de celebrarse dicha venta, tales como la Alcaldía, el Tribunal y la Colecturía. Se les informa, por último, que: a. Que los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la secretaría del tribunal durante las horas laborables. b. Que se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titularidad y que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y los preferentes, si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante

continuarán subsistentes. Se entenderá, que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extinción el precio del remate. EXPIDO, el presente EDICTO, en Humacao, Puerto Rico, hoy día 31 de enero de 2023. JOSÉ LUIS RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, ALGUACIL REGIONAL INTERINO, DIVISIÓN DE SUBASTAS, TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA, SALA SUPERIOR DE HUMACAO. WILNELIA RIVERA DELGADO, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #249.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA CENTRO JUDICIAL DE CIALES SALA SUPERIOR BANCO POPULAR DE PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. CARLOS RUBEN RODRIGUEZ CRUZ

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CI2022CV00374. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO Y EJECUCIÓN DE HIPOTECA (VÍA ORDINARIA). EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO.

A La Parte CoDemandada: CARLOS RUBEN RODRIGUEZ CRUZ, A SUS DIRECCIONES CONOCIDAS: (A) COMUNIDAD SANTA CLARA, PR 149 LOT 197, CIALES, PR 00638; (B) 23 APOLLO DR., NEW BEDFORD MA 027451802; (C) 41 LINDEN ST., NEW BEDFORD MA 02740-6902. Por la presente se le(s) notifica que se ha radicado en la Secretaría de este Tribunal una Demanda en Cobro de Dinero y Ejecución de Hipoteca en su contra, en la cual se alega entre otras cosas que la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante por concepto de hipoteca la suma $61,232.93 por concepto de principal, desde el 1ro de mayo de 2022, más intereses al tipo pactado de 4.00% anual que continúan acumulándose hasta el pago total de la obligación. Además la parte demandada adeuda a la parte demandante los cargos por demora equivalentes a 4.00% de la suma de aquellos pagos con atrasos en exceso de 15 días calendarios de la fecha de vencimiento; los créditos accesorios y adelantos hechos en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca; y las costas, gastos y honorarios de abogado

equivalentes a $7,038.00. Además la parte demandada se comprometió a pagar una suma equivalente a $7,038.00 para cubrir cualquier otro adelanto que se haga en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca y una suma equivalente a $7,038.00 para cubrir intereses en adición a los garantizados por ley y cualquiera otros adelantos que se hagan en virtud de la escritura de hipoteca número 45, otorgada en San Juan, Puerto Rico, el día 7 de agosto de 2015, ante la notario José L. Colom Fagundo, de la finca número 9,931, inscrita al Folio 139 del Tomo 302 de Ciales, Registro de la Propiedad de Manatí. Por razón de dicho incumplimiento, y al amparo del derecho que le confiere el Pagaré, el demandante ha declarado tales sumas vencidas, líquidas y exigibles en su totalidad. Este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le(s) cite a usted(es) por edicto que se publicará una sola vez en un periódico de circulación general. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectando por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de Puerto Rico. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la secretaría del tribunal y notifique copia de la Contestación de la Demanda a las oficinas de CARDONA & MALDONADO LAW OFFICES, P.S.C. ATENCIÓN al Lcdo.

Duncan Maldonado Ejarque, P.O. Box 366221, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-6221; Tel (787) 622-7000, Fax (787) 6257001, Abogado de la Parte Demandante. Dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su Rebeldía y dictar Sentencia, concediéndose el remedio solicitado sin más citarle(s) ni oírle(s).

EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y con el Sello del Tribunal. DADA hoy 31 de enero de 2023, en Ciales, Puerto Rico. Janette González Vargas, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO

DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE SAN JUAN MPCPR OPERATING, LLC

Demandantes V.

JOSÉ BENÍTEZ MIER

Demandado

Civil Núm.: SJ2018CV10665.

Sala: 903. Sobre: COBRO DE DINERO - REGLA 60 DE PROCEDIMIENTO CIVIL. EDICTO DE SUBASTA.

A: JOSÉ RICARDO BENÍTEZ MIER.

Al: ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO.

Al: PÚBLICO EN GENERAL.

Yo, DENISE BRUNO ORTIZ, ALGUACIL AUXILIAR #266, Aguacil del Tribunal Superior de Fajardo, a la parte demandada y a los acreedores y personas con interés sobre la propiedad que más adelante se describe, y al público en general, HAGO SABER: Que el 31 DE MARZO DE 2023 A LAS 10:00 DE LA MAÑANA en la Marina Puerto Chico, sita en el Barrio Sardinera, Carr. 987, Km. 2.4 Fajardo, Puerto Rico 00738 venderé en Pública Subasta la propiedad mueble que más adelante se describe y cuya venta en pública subasta fue ordenada por el Tribunal en el caso de epígrafe. Los autos y todos los documentos correspondientes al procedimiento incoado estarán de manifiesto en la Secretaría del Tribunal durante horas laborables. La propiedad a venderse en pública subasta se describe como sigue: Número de Registro: PR1374BB. Marca: Westerly. Año de construcción: 1997. Número de casco: S00C00924.80. Pies de eslora: 31 pies. Esta venta fue verificada en virtud de la Orden Enmendada para Venta en Pública Subasta de fecha 21 de octubre de 2022, cuyo Mandamiento fue librado el 1 de noviembre de 2022, para que con el producto de la referida venta en pública subasta se hagan efectivas al demandante, MPCPR, Operating, LLC, las siguientes cantidades: la suma de $9,431.71 a la fecha de la Sentencia de 27 de marzo de 2019 por concepto de deuda no pagada de mensualidades de renta de espacio de muelle, más al pago de las sumas que se siguen acumulando a razón de $417.01 mensuales hasta su total y completo pago, además de imponerle el pago de costas del presente pleito y honorarios de abogados ascendentes a $500.00 e intereses legales al 6.25% anual, hasta el saldo total de la deuda, junto con los gastos de ejecución post sentencia de conformidad. Las cantidades obtenidas en la venta en pública subasta de la propiedad antes descrita se destinarán a la satisfacción de las sumas especificadas en la Sentencia. Se entenderá que todo licitador acepta como bastante la titulación. La embarcación se adjudicará al mejor postor, quien deberá satisfacer el

importe de su oferta en moneda legal y corriente de los Estados Unidos de América, en efectivo, giro postal o cheque certificado a nombre del Alguacil del Tribunal en el momento de la adjudicación. Que, según registros del Comisionado de Navegación del Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, a la fecha del 26 de abril de 2021 la embarcación estaba sujeta a un gravamen con el número SJ2018CV10665 activo registrado en aseguramiento de la sentencia de este pleito y cinco (5) multas activas: boletos número 21-125478 de 15 de marzo de 2021 por $800.00; 18-115197 de 17 de octubre de 2018 por $800.00; 18-106948 de 15 de agosto de 2018 por $800.00; 18-73515 de 7 de marzo de 2018; y 17-096254 de 16 de mayo de 2017 por $100.00. Que en aseguramiento de la sentencia para el caso SJ2018CV10665, el 26 de julio de 2020 se registró un gravamen a favor de MPCPR Operating, LLC., en el Registro de Transacciones Comerciales del Departamento de Estado del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Que las cargas y gravámenes anteriores y preferentes, además de las de aquí señaladas si los hubiere, al crédito del ejecutante continuarán subsistentes, entendiéndose que el rematante los acepta y queda subrogado en la responsabilidad de los mismos, sin destinarse a su extensión el precio del remate. EN TESTIMONIO DE LO CUAL, expido el presente Edicto para conocimiento y comparecencia de los licitadores, bajo mi firma y sello del Tribunal, en San Juan, Puerto Rico a 25 de enero de 2023. Denise Bruno Ortiz, Alguacil Auxiliar #266, Alguacil Del Tribunal, Sala Superior De Fajardo. Jorge A. Ortiz Estrada, Alguacil Regional Interino #622.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMER INSTANCIA SALA DE SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO GOBIERNO MUNICIPAL AUTÓNOMO DE FAJARDO, REPRESENTADO POR SU ALCALDE, JOSÉ A.

MELÉNDEZ MÉNDEZ

Peticionario V. ADQUISICIÓN DE FINCA

3,431 DE LA CALLE AMPARO, DEL TÉRMINO MUNICIPAL DE FAJARDO; LORENZO VÁZQUEZ BALLORIS, ET ALS.

Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: FA2022CV01080.

Sobre: EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS

EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: LORENZO VÁZQUEZ BALLORIS, MARÍA

ESTHER DÍAZ COLÓN Y LA SOCIEDAD LEGAL DE GANANCIALES Y/O CUALQUIER PERSONA CON ALGÚN POSIBLE INTERÉS.

Se le emplaza y notifica que, con el fin público de erradicar el abandono y peligrosidad de propiedades declaradas estorbos públicos, el Municipio de Fajardo ha radicado en esta Secretaría una Petición de Expropiación Forzosa al amparo de la Ley General de Expropiación Forzosa del 12 de marzo de 1903, según enmendada, la Ley Núm. 107 de 14 de agosto de 2020 conocida como el Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, en su Artículo 2.018 [21 L.P.R.A. §7183]; la Ordenanza Número 26, Serie 2014-2015, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal de Fajardo, Puerto Rico el 4 de septiembre de 2014 y firmada por el su Alcalde el día 30 del mismo mes; y, la Ordenanza Número 13, Serie 20212022, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal el4 de noviembre de 2021 y por el que suscribe el día 28 del mismo mes; para adquirir la siguiente Finca: “URBANA: Solar radicado en la Calle AMPARO del Municipio de Fajardo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 115.24 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en 13.40 metros, con Petra Western; por el SUR, en 13.30 metros, con Justino Rodríguez; por el ESTE, en 8. 60 metros, con Miriam Ortiz y por el OESTE, en 8.60 metros, con la calle Amparo. Enclava una casa terrera de madera y techo de zinc, que mide 16 pies de frente con 34 pies de fondo.

FINCA NÚMERO 3,431, INSCRITA al FOLIO 48 del TOMO 110 de Fajardo. Catastro Número: 150-046-036-35-001.

Existiendo una Deficiencia de Deficiencia de $1,059.73, se consignó la suma de $4,940.27 por la adquisición de dicha propiedad, la cual se tasó en $6,000.00. No habiéndose podido emplazar personalmente a las partes con interés antes relacionadas, por desconocer su paradero, este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le emplace por edicto, el cual se publicará una (1) vez por semana, durante tres (3) semanas consecutivas en un periódico de circulación diaria en Puerto Rico. Se le notifica que, si usted desea presentar objeción o defensa a la incautación de las estructuras descritas, debe presentar su contestación en este Tribunal dentro del término de 30 DÍAS, contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto, debiendo notificar con copia de la misma a la parte peticionaria,

a través de la LCDA. JOSEPHINE M . RODRÍGUEZ RÍOS - RUA 15,736, PO BOX 889, FAJARDO, PR 00728 Email: josephine.rodriguez@gmail. com. Este Tribunal ha señalado la vista del caso para el día 13 de abril de 2023 a las 10:00, en la Sala 307, en cuyo día se determinará el justo valor de la propiedad y las partes a ser compensadas. A dicha vista podrá usted comparecer y ofrecer prueba de valoración, aunque no haya contestado la petición. De no comparecer, el Tribunal dictará Sentencia declarando CON LUGAR la Petición de Expropiación Forzosa en todas sus partes, sin más citación ni vista. Expedida por Orden del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico a 27 de Enero de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria Regional. Linda I. Medina Medina, Sub-Secretaria.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMER INSTANCIA SALA DE SUPERIOR DE FAJARDO GOBIERNO MUNICIPAL AUTÓNOMO DE FAJARDO, REPRESENTADO POR SU ALCALDE, JOSÉ A.

MELÉNDEZ MÉNDEZ Peticionario V. ADQUISICIÓN DE FINCA 3,125 DE LA CALLE CHIQUITA, DEL TÉRMINO MUNICIPAL DE FAJARDO; MARÍA LUISA CALDERÓN, ET ALS. Partes con Interés Civil Núm.: FA2022CV00766. Sobre: EXPROPIACIÓN FORZOSA. EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS EE.UU., EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE P.R., SS.

A: MARÍA LUISA

CALDERÓN, TEODOMINA

DÍAZ Y JULIO LUIS

ROSARIO DÍAZ Y/O CUALQUIER PERSONA CON ALGÚN POSIBLE INTERÉS. Se le emplaza y notifica que, con el fin público de erradicar el abandono y peligrosidad de propiedades declaradas estorbos públicos, el Municipio de Fajardo ha radicado en esta Secretaría una Petición de Expropiación Forzosa al amparo de la Ley General de Expropiación Forzosa del 12 de marzo de 1903, según enmendada, la Ley Núm. 107 de 14 de agosto de 2020 conocida como el Código Municipal de Puerto Rico, en su Artículo 2.018 [21 L.P.R.A. §7183]; la Ordenanza Número 26, Serie 2014-2015, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal de Fajardo, Puerto Rico el 4 de septiembre de 2014 y firmada por el su Alcalde el día 30

del mismo mes; y, la Ordenanza Número 13, Serie 2021-2022, aprobada por la Legislatura Municipal el 4 de noviembre de 2021 y por el que suscribe el día 28 del mismo mes; para adquirir la siguiente Finca: “URBANA: Solar radicado en la calle CHIQUITA del Municipio de Fajardo, Puerto Rico, con una cabida superficial de 206.78 metros cuadrados. En lindes por el NORTE, en 10.00 metros, con Dolores Carmona; por el SUR, en 9.60 metros, con Alejandro Díaz; por el ESTE, en 20.00 metros, con la calle Chiquita, y por el OESTE, en 22.20 metros con el Caserío Santiago Veve. FINCA 3,125, INSCRITA al FOLIO 13 del TOMO 100 de Fajardo. Catastro Número: 150046-036-24-001. Existiendo una Deficiencia de $16,370.86, por contribuciones sobre la propiedad inmueble, se consignó $12,629.14 por la expropiación de la propiedad que tasó $29,000.00. No habiéndose podido emplazar personalmente a las partes con interés antes relacionadas, por desconocer su paradero, este Tribunal ha ordenado que se le emplace por edicto, el cual se publicará una

(1) vez por semana, durante tres (3) semanas consecutivas en un periódico de circulación diaria en Puerto Rico. Se le notifica que, si usted desea presentar objeción o defensa a la incautación de las estructuras descritas, debe presentar su contestación en este Tribunal dentro del término de 30 DÍAS, contados a partir de la última publicación de este edicto, debiendo notificar con copia de la misma a la parte peticionaria, a través de la LCDA. JOSEPHINE M. RODRÍGUEZ RÍOS - RUA 15,736: PO BOX 889 FAJARDO, PR 00728 Email: josephine.rodriguez@gmail. com. Este Tribunal ha señalado la vista del caso para el día 17 de mayo de 2023, a las 2:00 de la tarde en la Sala 301, en cuyo día se determinará el justo valor de la propiedad y las partes a ser compensadas. A dicha vista podrá usted comparecer y ofrecer prueba de valoración, aunque no haya contestado la petición. De no comparecer, el Tribunal dictará Sentencia declarando CON LUGAR la Petición de Expropiación Forzosa en todas sus partes, sin más citación ni vista. Expedida por Orden del Tribunal, en Fajardo, Puerto Rico a 26 de enero de 2023. Wanda I. Seguí Reyes, Secretaria. Sheila Robles Hernández, Secretaria Auxiliar I.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBU-

NAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA

SALA SUPERIOR DE CAROLINA

VIVIAN MUIÑA HERNANDEZ Y JOSE

RAMON HERNANDEZ

Demandante V. POPULAR MORTGAGE, INC.; JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA

Demandados

Civil Núm.: CA2023CV00024. Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PAGARÉ EXTRAVIADO. EMPLAZAMIENTO POR EDICTO. ESTADOS UNIDOS DE AMÉRICA, EL PRESIDENTE DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EL ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO, SS.

A: JUAN DEL PUEBLO Y JUANA DEL PUEBLO COMO POSIBLES TENEDORES Y CUALESQUIER PERSONA DESCONOCIDA CON POSIBLE INTERÉS EN LA OBLIGACIÓN CUYA CANCELACIÓN POR DECRETO JUDICIAL SE SOLICITA.

Por la presente se le notifica que ha sido presentada en este Tribunal una Demanda en su contra en el pleito de epígrafe. En este caso la parte demandante ha radicado una Demanda para que se decrete judicialmente el saldo de un (1) pagaré hipotecario a favor de Popular Mortgage Inc., por la suma de $192,000.00. El pagaré por fue suscrito el día 16 de septiembre de 2005, ante el notario Luis Angel Ruiz Chabrier, garantizado por hipoteca constituida mediante la Escritura número 430, e inscrita al folio 357 del tomo 560 de Rio Grande, inscripción 2da, sobre la siguiente propiedad: URBANA: Solar radicado en la Urbanización Coco Beach del término municipal de Río Grande, Puerto Rico, que se describe en el plano de inscripción de la urbanización, con el número, área y colindancias que se relacionan a continuación: Solar número: veinticinco (25) del Bloque “P”. Área del solar: trescientos setenta y cuatro metros cuadrados con cuarentiseis centésimas (374.46) de otro. En lindes por el NORTE, con el solar veinticuatro (24) del bloque “P”, en una distancia de veintidós metros con setenticinco centésimas (22.75) de otro; por el SUR, con el solar veintiséis (26) del Bloque “P”, en una distancia de veintidós metros con setenticinco centésimas (22.75) de otro; por el ESTE, con un canal periferal, en una distancia de dieciséis metros con cuarenticuatro (16.44) centésimas de otro; y por el OESTE, con la calle número ocho (8), en una distancia

de dieciséis metros con cuarenta y ocho centésimas (16.48) de otro. Tiene una servidumbre con ancho de un metro y cincuenta y dos centésimas (1.52) de otro, aledaño y a todo largo de su colindancia Este, a favor de la Puerto Rico Telephone Company. Enclava en el solar una casa de dos (2) niveles para fines residenciales. Finca número 23,893, inscrita al folio 201 del tomo 406 de Río Grande, Registro de la Propiedad de Puerto Rico, Sección III de Carolina. La parte demandante alega que dicho pagaré ha sido saldado según más detalladamente consta en la Demanda radicada que puede examinarse en la Secretaría de este Tribunal. Por tratarse de una obligación hipotecaria y pudiendo usted tener interés en este caso o quedar afectado por el remedio solicitado, se le emplaza por este edicto que se publicará una vez en un periódico de circulación diaria general de Puerto Rico. Usted deberá presentar su alegación responsiva a través del Sistema Unificado de Manejo y Administración de Casos (SUMAC), al cual puede acceder utilizando la siguiente dirección electrónica: https:// unired.ramajudicial.pr/sumac/, salvo que se represente por derecho propio, en cuyo caso deberá presentar su alegación responsiva en la Secretaría del Tribunal. Debe notificar con copia de ella a la abogada de la parte demandante a la Lcda. Zilmarie Delgado Pieras, 33 calle Resolución Suite 302, San Juan, PR 00920; Tel. (787) 7826500, dentro de los treinta (30) días siguientes a la publicación de este Edicto, apercibiéndole que de no hacerlo así dentro del término indicado, el Tribunal podrá anotar su rebeldía y dictar sentencia concediendo el remedio solicitado en la Demanda sin más citarle ni oírle. EXPEDIDO bajo mi firma y sello de este Tribunal, en Carolina, Puerto Rico, hoy día 24 de enero de 2023. Lcda. Marilyn Aponte Rodríguez, Secretaria Regional. Maricruz Aponte Alicea, Secretaria Auxiliar.

LEGAL NOTICE

ESTADO LIBRE ASOCIADO DE PUERTO RICO TRIBUNAL DE PRIMERA INSTANCIA SALA DE VEGA BAJA

FIRSTBANK

PUERTO RICO

Demandante Vs. LITTON LOAN SERVICING LP; PREFERRED MORTGAGE CORPORATION; JOHN DOE Y RICHARD ROE COMO POSIBLES

TENEDORES CON INTERÉS

Demandados

Civil Núm.: VB2023CV00022.

Sobre: CANCELACIÓN DE PA-

Tom Brady’s last season didn’t go as planned. Was it worth it?

By KRIS RHIM

The debates on sports talk shows and in barbershops about who is the greatest football player of all time will always start with Tom Brady. He is the most accomplished player in NFL history, with two decades of dominance over the sport. But along with all of the exclamation points — seven Super Bowl titles! Five Super Bowl MVP awards! — Brady’s career also now carries a question mark:

Should he have come back for one last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after initially retiring last year?

Brady, who announced his retirement again Wednesday, saying he meant it this time, did not have the kind of year, either on the field or off, that he had been used to when he returned to the Buccaneers at age 45. His season and his career ended in a 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC wildcard game last month, but things had started to unravel long before that.

Because of his style as a pocket passer (even early in his career he was not a scrambler), Brady relied heavily on having a talented offensive line that could give him time to find open receivers. The Buccaneers had built one of the best offensive lines in the league. But before this season, guard Alex Cappa bolted for the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency, guard Ali Marpet retired, and center Ryan Jensen suffered a knee injury in training camp that sidelined him for the regular season.

Brady himself missed 11 days in training camp to attend to what coach Todd Bowles called “some personal things.” His absence generated speculation about Brady and his relationship with former model Gisele Bündchen. In October, the couple divorced after 13 years of marriage, one day after the Buccaneers’ fifth loss in six games.

Throughout the season, the Buccaneers’ offense struggled to score, and Brady threw for just 25 touchdowns, tied for the fifth-worst total of his career as a full-time starter. Brady had never hidden his frustrations with a struggling offense, whether while playing with the New England Patriots or Tampa Bay,

sometimes slamming tablet computers on the sideline or yelling at linemen.

This year, Brady turned to a new tactic when frustrated: tripping or kicking defensive players. Brady kicked Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett at the end of a play in a Week 5 win and was fined $11,139 by the NFL. In the postseason loss to Dallas, Brady tried to slide tackle Cowboys safety Malik Hooker. (The slide tackle, illegal in football, is allowed in soccer.) The NFL fined Brady $16,444. He planned to appeal because, he said on his podcast, “I didn’t even hit him. I tried to trip him, but I didn’t.”

The problems off the field continued. Brady endorsed FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed last year. Many of the millions of people who lost money expressed some animus toward Brady and other celebrity endorsers. Brady himself was a major shareholder in FTX, according to a court document, and his stake went from tens of millions of dollars to virtu-

ally zero.

“I sure don’t feel bad for him,” said Lee Smith, a retired tight end whom the Patriots drafted before he played 11 seasons with Buffalo, Oakland and Atlanta. “Maybe his crypto losses I feel the worst for him on. And his family stuff because, once again, man, the guy’s a human being. He’s not a robot.”

Brady’s human vulnerability caught up with him. Getting hit by abnormally large men is a part of a quarterback’s job description, but in his final year Brady seemed afraid to face that, which was perhaps understandable given his age. Whether because of fear, pressure in the pocket or both, he made throws into the ground to avoid hits and threw a costly interception in the seasonending loss to the Cowboys. This year’s Buccaneers finished with the worst record (8-9) of any team for which Brady was the full-time starter in his NFL career. And the Buccaneers were only in the playoffs because their division, the NFC South, was the worst in the NFL.

Pundits stopped bloviating about how great Brady was for his age and insisting he could play into his 50s, as they did when he retired the first time, and began begging him to quit.

“You out here looking like somebody that’s stealing money,” Marcus Spears, a former NFL defensive lineman who is now an ESPN personality, said on a podcast. He added: “Bro, go home, bro. Go home. Figure out something else to do. I know it’s Tom Brady. I know it’s the GOAT. You scared to get hit, and you play football. Those two things don’t align.”

Many debated whether Brady, who was a free agent after the 2022 season, would sign with another team. The San Francisco 49ers, his favorite team as a child in the Bay Area, seem to be a good quarterback away from a Super Bowl appearance. The Las Vegas Raiders have Brady’s longtime offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, as their head coach and many talented offensive players.

“Honestly, after watching tonight’s game, who would want Tom Brady starting on their team next year?” Ryan Clark, a former NFL defensive back who works as an ESPN personality, wrote on Twitter after the Buccaneers’ loss to the Cowboys.

So was coming back in 2022 worth it for Brady? He will likely answer that one day on his podcast or on a Fox broadcast, for which he will be a commentator. Brady wasn’t terrible in his final season; he threw for the thirdmost passing yards in the league and the sixth-highest total of his career. But he was clearly not the player he once was nor did he have a championshiplevel team around him. So Brady’s career, which had played out like the perfect Hollywood movie, came to what seemed to be an unsettling end.

“All of us have to go out on our terms, or we won’t be happy, and most of us don’t get to leave on our own terms,” said Smith, who retired after the 2021 season, his 11th in the NFL. “They make that decision for you. So I think that it was worth it because he gets to have the closure that he walked away when he was supposed to.”

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the game’s MVP, faces a throng of photographers on the field after his team’s Super Bowl XLIX victory over the Seattle Seahawks, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 1, 2015.

Bobby Beathard, mastermind of NFL dynasties, dies at 86

By KEN BELSON

Bobby Beathard, a player personnel savant who helped build football dynasties with teams in Miami, Washington and other NFL cities, died Monday at his home at Franklin, Tennessee, a small city outside Nashville. He was 86.

The cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease, said his brother, Peter.

An outspoken and out-of-the-box thinker in a league known for buttoned-up team players, Beathard had an eye for assembling football rosters filled with overlooked players. Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, he was a scout, director of player personnel and general manager for 33 seasons with five NFL teams that went to the postseason a total of 12 times, advancing to seven Super Bowls and winning four of them.

One of those teams, the Miami Dolphins, completed the NFL’s only perfect season in 1972 when they defeated the Washington Redskins, Beathard’s future employer, in Super Bowl VII.

Throughout his career, Beathard turned NFL logic on its head. He was among the first general managers to routinely trade first-round picks, which teams considered as valuable as gold trophies, for fistfuls of picks in later rounds of the college draft. He aggressively signed free agents rather than rely on aging and often popular veterans with relatively expensive contracts. Unafraid of courting controversy, he called out player agents for what he considered their questionable tactics and stood firm against players who he felt demanded too much money.

“We did it a little bit different than a lot of people,” the Hall of Fame quoted him as saying. “A lot of people in the league thought I was nuts. Maybe that was true, because I started trading away first-round draft picks, and firstround draft picks were valuable. But we figured if it was a draft that we had evaluated, and it was rich in talent, we could get players in the later rounds.”

In his years with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Falcons, the Dol-

phins, the Redskins and the San Diego Chargers, his teams won 282 games, lost 226 and tied four times.

Beathard, who lived in San Diego, was an avid surfer and a marathon runner with a mischievous streak. In 1980, before Washington played the Dallas Cowboys in Texas, he ran a 15K road race wearing a shirt that read, “I hate the Cowboys.” After he finished the race, police officers put him in handcuffs at the finish line. He later admitted that the arrest was a stunt.

In the 1980s, he tried to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington in late October every year if the Redskins were playing at home that day. However, in 1984, the team was in New Jersey to play the New York Giants that Sunday, so Beathard instead ran the New York City Marathon before heading to Giants Stadium for the game.

That was during Washington’s heyday, when Beathard worked with coach Joe Gibbs to build one of the most formidable teams of the 1980s. Two years before, they had won their first Super Bowl title with a roster that included 27 free agents whom Beathard had signed since his arrival in Washington in 1978. During his 11 years with the team, a tenure that ended in 1988, he made only three firstround picks.

Beathard’s tenure in Washington came on the heels of an impressive run in Miami, where he helped build a roster filled with future Hall of Fame players and experienced veterans under coach Don Shula. The Dolphins won back-to-back championships in the 1972 and 1973 seasons.

“I think working for Don Shula was probably the thing that really prepared me for my career in the NFL,” Beathard said.

Robert King Beathard Jr. was born Jan. 24, 1937, in Zanesville, Ohio, to Robert and Dorothy Falconer Beathard (pronounced BETH-erd). His father managed a tile company.

A few years after Beathard was born, the family moved to El Segundo, California, where his brother was born. Beathard played single-wing tailback on his high school football team. He turned down a chance to

attend Louisiana State University and instead went to California Polytechnic State University, where he was a quarterback and defensive back on teams that won 18 of their 20 games. One of his teammates was John Madden, a future Hall of Fame coach and television announcer, who blocked for him.

“I loved football,” he later recalled. “I couldn’t get enough of it. John was the same way.”

Beathard had tryouts with several teams but failed to earn a spot on a roster. In 1963, he became a part-time scout for the Chiefs. He left to scout for the American Football League, then returned to Kansas City full time in 1966. While he was away, in 1964, the team drafted his brother, a quarterback at Southern California. Peter Beathard was Len Dawson’s backup in Kansas City for parts of four seasons.

In 1968, Bobby Beathard was hired as a scout by the struggling Falcons, who had joined the NFL two seasons before. In his last year with the team, 1971, Atlanta finished 7-6-1, their first winning season. The next year, he was hired as the director of player person-

nel for the Dolphins.

After a falling-out with Gibbs ended his long run in Washington in 1988, Beathard returned to California to surf near his home in San Diego. He worked for a year as a television analyst for NBC but found that he missed being around a team.

In January 1990, he was hired as general manager of the Chargers. In his third season with them, the Chargers won their first division title in more than a decade. Two years later, San Diego made its first and only Super Bowl appearance, losing to the San Francisco 49ers, 49-26. (The Chargers are now based in Los Angeles.)

Beathard’s first marriage, to Larae Rich, ended in divorce. He married Christine Van Handel in 1978. In addition to his brother, his survivors include his wife; a daughter, Jaime, from his first marriage; three sons, also from that marriage, Kurt, Jeff and Casey, a country music songwriter; and many grandchildren, including C.J. Beathard, a backup quarterback on the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tucker Beathard, a recording artist.

Bobby Beathard in 1975, when he was director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins. In his years in Miami, he helped build a roster filled with future Hall of Fame players and experienced veterans that won back-to-back championships.

Sudoku

How to Play:

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

Sudoku Rules:

Every row must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

Every column must contain the numbers from 1 through 9

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

Crossword

Answers on page 38

Aries (Mar 21-April 20)

The stellar picture can seem more homely than it has been Aries, with the coming day or so excellent for getting organized and doing some decluttering. With pleasant yet dynamic aspects on the cards, use this opportunity to crack on with your to-do list, especially any DIY items that might be hanging over you. Tackle this, and it will feel like a huge weight off your mind.

Taurus (April 21-May 21)

With a dynamic angle involving the Sun in the sign of Aquarius, you might say something that it would have been wiser to keep to yourself. But what is done is done, and perhaps now that it’s out in the open it has helped to clear the air. Don’t feel too bad Taurus, as accidents happen and perhaps someone really needed to know the truth about themselves, and may be better for it.

Gemini (May 22-June 21)

If out shopping, be guided by any intuitive nudges. You might be poised to make a purchase, but end up buying something different that is better suited to purpose. The Moon in your money zone inspires you to do some canny research so you’ll get the best deal. If you’ve considered investing your money in an item or experience, then stay alert as luck may be on your side.

Cancer (June 22-July 23)

A buoyant blend of energies can be perfect for bringing out the best in others. And with Uranus in Taurus, you’ll be open to new ideas that may come through conversation or via social media. This push to make fresh associations continues for some while, but it’s good for you. And with Jupiter helping you stand out, your efforts can pay big dividends over coming months, Cancer.

Leo (July 24-Aug 23)

If you feel a surge of positive energy, this might be all the encouragement you need to step out of your comfort zone. With a focus on your sector of goals and a lunar link to expansive Jupiter, it might be time to make a move. Your focus may be largely on the bigger picture Leo, which is fine for now. You can sketch in the details after this weekend, once a decision has been made.

Virgo (Aug 24-Sep 23)

Your natural urge to explore anything of interest continues to be strong, and could ramp-up even further. If you’ve put off making a start on a promising plan, this is the time to go for it, as your commitment can summon mighty forces. Still, someone could sow the seeds of doubt in your mind just as you’re about to make your move. Do it anyway, and prove them wrong, Virgo.

Libra (Sep 24-Oct 23)

With the Moon gliding through the topmost sector of your chart and linking to Venus, it may be time to take a personal goal further. Want a head start? You’ll save yourself time by picking others’ brains. Equally, an offer might come out-of-the-blue, and it may be worth considering if there are no strings attached. Tempted to make a sacrifice of time and energy? It’s best avoided.

Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)

Others may be obliging, and keen to help you out in a way that is very touching. But you are so motivated, that you need little assistance to get going. With an upbeat Moon/Jupiter aspect occurring, energy levels may be higher than usual, meaning you’ll have more time to give to fresh ideas and opportunities. Experimenting and exploring can also open new doors for you.

Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)

Ready to make adjustments to your strategies or daily schedule? Applying them could be all it takes to reach a cherished goal. With the potential to pull off something big over coming days Archer, don’t waste resources on activities that will only net you minor gains. Use the time available to get into your stride and prepare to showcase your skills, as others will be interested.

Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 20)

Short journeys and new contacts can be helpful to you over the coming weeks, and you may learn something that could be turned to your advantage. However, a key influence suggests that if you want to know something important, you might need to trade it for one of your own secrets. If you do, you’ll get a much better deal, even if this is the very last thing on your mind, Capricorn.

Aquarius (Jan 21-Feb 19)

You’ll soon have a better perspective on an issue and can stop fretting about it. Rather than overthinking, the emphasis is on doing, and once you get moving so much can begin to fall into place. You may find new solutions that make a difference to your outlook and help to supercharge your enthusiasm. Plus, an interesting line-up hints at an unusual invitation.

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)

Joining forces means you’ll soon find a constructive outlook for any pent-up energy. Don’t dismiss a brilliant idea just because it wasn’t yours, as the way things are looking you could gain so much from being part of it. Plus, due to a soothing lunar aspect, a desire to unwind is on the cards. This is an opportunity to channel your energy into a long walk in lovely surroundings.

Speed Bump